Stay with me. I promise this will all make sense...

You probably aren't aware that I'm a huge fan of the movie, "The Last Samurai" starring Tom Cruise. For that matter, you probably don't know that it inspired a tattoo of mine that says (well, I hope it says) "No Mind" in Japanese characters.

If you haven't seen it, the movie centers around an American soldier who is sent to Japan in the 1800's to help stop an internal uprising by the Samurai. For centuries, the Samurai were relied upon to protect the Japanese kingdom; however, a money-driven consultant to the Emperor is attempting to industrialize Japan, and the Samurai culture. Tom Cruise's character (yes, the American) is sent to guide the Japanese army to stop the Samurai uprising. He ends up getting captured by the Samurai, finds their way of life to be simplistic and honorable, and falls in love with their beliefs and culture. Hence, the movie's themes very much deal with honor, integrity, resilience, redemption, and sacrifice.

At one point in the movie, Tom Cruise's character (Nathan) is being taught how to fight with a Samurai sword. Obviously, he's struggling and having a difficult time adjusting to the technique. He's thinking about the position of his hands, his stance on the ground, the correct motions of the sword, the people watching him, and what the right attack/protection is. That is, until a member of the Samurai comes and gives him the best advice possible. "Too many mind," says the Samurai. "Mind the sword, mind the people watch, mind the enemy. Too many mind."

Of course, the Samurai is trying to tell Nathan to stop thinking so much. He's focusing on way too many things to be effective. He's not letting the fighting come to him, and accepting that his natural instincts will pay off. Nathan listens to the Samurai's advice, frees his mind, and competes against his teacher (an expert) beautifully.

If you haven't guessed yet, this is exactly what the Mercury need to do - stop thinking. Stop thinking about everyone's expectations, about Lisa Leslie's last game, about awards, about the Finals, about the back-to-back, about everything.

Just play basketball. Mercury basketball.

Let's not forget how poorly the Mercury shot from the floor all game, the free-throws they uncharacteristically missed, the 7 lay-ups they didn't convert, the -15 rebounding deficit, and the 23 second-chance points and, yet, still cut the Sparks lead to 9 with about 5 minutes to go. In fact, if you take away the 1st quarter, the Mercury outscored the Sparks by 3 in the subsequent quarters.

At this point in the season, over-thinking can get you in a lot of trouble - and it's easy to do. There are a lot of "shoulds" that come with the territory of being an elite team and winning multiple awards; but the Mercury must block all that out. They have to ignore the fact that they "should" get out-rebounded by a taller team. They have to ignore that they "should" be able to run on the Sparks. And most importantly, they have to ignore the fact that they "should" win at home tomorrow. "Shoulds" lead to stagnant activity, and a false sense of confidence.

Rather, Phoenix just needs to go out and play their behind's off. That's it. They need to follow the example of Diana Taurasi not backing down from Lisa Leslie. They have to ensure their collective mind is clear, and go out and quite literally...just play. That's when they are at their best - the Mighty Mercury.

And something tells me that's the exact mindset they'll have going into the deciding game 3 tomorrow.