Friday's News: Walking the talk? Let's see more than one-in-a-row, ok?

[SwingMan]

Stoudemire dominates in win (http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/1227sunsgamer1228.html)

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/pics/1227sunsgamer.jpg
Suns center Amaré Stoudemire puts up a shot as the Clippers' Chris Kaman (left) and Al Thornton defend during the first half Thursday in Los Angeles.

Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 28, 2007 12:00 AM

LOS ANGELES - Suns center Amaré Stoudemire's forceful, critical words of the past two days communicated his intent but his actions Thursday night showed his will.

Stoudemire called out the team and himself after the Christmas loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. But those words were painted fire, as Mark Twain once called them, compared to the fire that Stoudemire torched the Los Angeles Clippers with in the same Staples Center building two days later.

The Suns followed a loss with a win for the fourth consecutive time in the past 16 days by routing the struggling Clippers 108-88. Stoudemire, displeased with how many offensive chances he had Tuesday, started sending the Clippers along to their fifth consecutive loss from tipoff.
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In the game's first two minutes, he had eight points and two blocks as the Suns fed the beast on the game's first five possessions and he handled a center, Chris Kaman, who some pundits had actually suggested deserved an All-Star spot ahead of Stoudemire.

“I was attacking him offensively, making him play defense,” Stoudemire said. “That offsets a lot of centers. It’s tough for them to guard me because I’m quicker than most centers. When I get a chance to attack them, it makes it tough for them to have so much energy offensively. It kind of throws their rhythm off.”

Stoudemire had posted only one double-double in the past 10 games but had 20 points, 10 rebounds by halftime, when Phoenix led 59-42 with the Clippers shooting 30.8 percent.

"Once I get going, it's kind of hard to stop," Stoudemire said.

With four blocks by Stoudemire and three by Grant Hill, the league's No. 2 shot-blocking team had eight at halftime.

The Suns are 9-0 when Stoudemire has a 20-point, 10-rebound game, but he wound up with 30 points and 15 rebounds in 27 minutes Thursday, when Shawn Marion was the only starter playing in the fourth quarter.

Stoudemire scored aggressively early with his power game getting dunks and drawing free throws (all 10 attempts came in the first half) and then translating that confidence to a series of jump shots on a 11-of-14 shooting game.

Meanwhile, Kaman struggled like he did when he went 6 of 18 from the field in a 19-point loss at Phoenix on Nov. 23. Kaman, a 49 percent shooter averaging 18.6 points this season, was 1 for 13 from the field when Phoenix opened up its biggest lead of the season, 79-43, with 6:09 to go in the third quarter. Kaman's 4-of-17 shooting was a season worst.

"The whole game was just a blur to me," Kaman said. "I don't know if it was the time we had off or if we weren't prepared, but whatever it was, we weren't ready for that team. It shouldn't happen tomorrow."

The Clippers (9-18) are bad and beaten up, but Stoudemire and the Suns humiliated them so often that even Clippers fans were prompted to boo regularly.

Phoenix outscored Los Angeles 71-37 over the first three quarters with Stoudemire on the floor and did not suffer without Steve Nash playing. The Suns' 17-7 early lead went back to 23-18 after Boris Diaw replaced Stoudemire at center in the first quarter, but Brian Skinner's entry helped turn that around, and the Suns stretched a five-point lead to 14 in the seven minutes that Nash rested.

“Kaman missed about 10 layups,” Nash said. “There’s 20 points. Let’s not get carried away.”

The Suns held the Clippers to 37.0 percent shooting, just off their opponent low of 36.6 percent by Charlotte. It was also the least points the Suns had yielded since that 115-83 win 25 games ago. And the Suns get to play the Clippers again tonight at home and try for their first consecutive wins since Dec. 7.

"It's not a perfect game but it's the best game we've played in a couple of weeks," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said.

[fixxxer]

Fair enough. Bidness taken care of in savagely efficient fashion. Now let's do this again. And again. And against better teams. Go Suns! Granted, the Amare match-up was a terrible one for the Clips, but he really needs to do this with more frequency. For this game atleast, the signs were good.

But even amidst the shellacking, Boris Diaw somehow managed to make me (un)smile.

[zara_drummer]

Nothng like the good ol' Clippers to cure the what ails a struggling team...

Amare was just sick tonite!!! It saddens me that he is not this focused all the time. He should average 30 and 15 in this league!!! PERIOD!!!

[sunsdotcom]

january is supposed to be an easy month for us.

[Nodack]

Amare was just sick tonight!!! It saddens me that he is not this focused all the time. He should average 30 and 15 in this league!!! PERIOD!!!

Amare has definitely been improving game to game in the last several games, even if he has been toasted on interior D during a lot of those.

Amare started out the season aggressive and got called for all kinds of fouls leading to all kinds of frustrations.

Then he seems to get non-aggressive trying not to pick up fouls, but doesn't have an impact on offense or defense.

Then he seems to decide to play non aggressive in the first half in an attempt to save fouls so he can play aggressive in the second half of games at least.

In the Lakers game he seemed to play a little more aggressive early and not just in the second half even though another big scored at will for the opposing team.

Suns lose to the Lakers and the papers point to lack of interior defense. Suns have a few discussions and Amare comes out of the gate against the Clippers and has his most aggressive start of the season putting the cleaned up Kaveman on the defensive and out of his game early. The other guys were definitely helping out and looking for rebounds as well for a change.

A wise man once said "The best defense is a good offense". Translation-You are less likely to get Amare in foul trouble if he gets you into foul trouble first.

I bet Jed yelled at the TV in the first few minutes of the game "Now that's what I'm talking about!"

What do you bet the Clippers double Amare hard next game and whatever player for the Clippers that has the ball anywhere near Amare will be trying to draw the foul against him?

[SwingMan]

With Nash off court, play is erratic (http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/1228sunsnb1228.html)

Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 28, 2007 12:00 AM

LOS ANGELES - A lot of attention has been given to the Suns' recent inability to stop teams inside the key. But they struggled with inside defense long before a stretch that had them losing five of their past eight games entering Thursday.

A better recent indicator of wins and losses has been the Suns' play without guard Steve Nash on the floor. Phoenix cannot maintain the flow it has with Nash, but it can control the depth of the drop-off.

The backup units were a plus-18 in scoring differential in 41 minutes of play during the Utah, New Orleans and San Antonio games, a stretch in which the Suns were 2-1. But in the three leading up to Thursday, the play had gone back the other way with a minus-27 over the 40 minutes Nash rested in a 1-2 stretch against Dallas, Toronto and the Los Angeles Lakers.
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The view from the baseline floor, where Nash rests, says it should be better than plus-234 with him for the season and minus-100 without him.

"Our second unit should be the best in the league," Nash said. "Some nights they are. Some nights they struggle with poise. Hopefully their confidence will grow (enough) that they can do something special."

The unit scores well when the Suns strike quickly in transition with Leandro Barbosa but is slow-developing in half-court sets with Barbosa turning it over for Boris Diaw to create. Many times, without as many playmakers on the floor, Barbosa is prompted to beat a dwindling shot clock

A big move

The idea of the Suns going bigger with Brian Skinner and Amaré Stoudemire playing more together has its limits. Suns coach Mike D'Antoni is not willing to sacrifice too much of Diaw's time.

"To change roles, we've got to go bad," D'Antoni said. "If you change bad for a long time, then maybe you do something.

"I hate it (the recent losing). I grow irritable. It makes you grow old fast. But I've got great guys, and they're trying and my coaches are trying. They're going to be fine."

Skinner said he is more comfortable playing with Stoudemire than earlier in the season.

"I'm able to direct a little more, do other things, like some other keys - block shots and rebound and do all the small things," Skinner said. "We've just got to get it on the same wavelength.

"When we've got that lineup with me at the five, Amaré at the four and Shawn (Marion) at the three, we make a lot of big stops, and we can still score. That's always an added plus."

Nash running 3rd

Nash's chances of starting the All-Star Game lessened with the second returns on All-Star ballots Thursday. Houston guard Tracy McGrady's hold on the second starting West backcourt spot alongside Lakers guard Kobe Bryant strengthened with his lead widening from 71,868 on Dec. 13 to 136,648 Thursday.

[SwingMan]

(The latest from Paul Coro's blog - I swear, I didn't see this before posting the thread header)

Anybody up for 2 in a row ... or more? (http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/PaulCoro/13460)

At halftime of Thursday’s rout, Suns coach Mike D’Antoni emphasized to his team that it was imperative for the Suns to quickly dispose of any Clippers’ hope so that the starters could get some rest before traveling home to face the Clippers again Friday.


And they did. They defended. They ran. They won and there does not seem to be any reason that the Suns won’t be doing a lot more of that after escaping that treacherous part of the schedule.

If Amare Stoudemire (30 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks in 27 minutes Thursday) is going to bring that kind of juice regularly, Phoenix is going to tear through the next month of the schedule with more home games and fewer heavyweights.


“He was just being a beast,” Suns coach Mike D’Antoni said.

You could see Stoudemire was intent on backing up his recent talk of the team playing with more effort and getting in tune defensively. He blocked two of the Clippers’ first three shots and got going with a pull-up in the lane, drawing a foul in transition, diving off a pick-and-roll for a dunk and getting fouled in the post in the first two minutes.


Stoudemire’s will was more impressive.

Exhibit A: In the first quarter, Stoudemire missed on a drive but gathered in the offensive rebound with his left hand while straddling the baseline. He then took one step and dunked on the reverse side with his right hand against Chris Kaman.


Exhibit B: When Steve Nash missed a jumper in the third quarter, Stoudemire snatched the rebound away from Kaman and kicked out to Nash, who gave it right back to him for a dunk.

“I came out focused,” Stoudemire said. “I was determined. I felt like we are on the cusp of becoming a better team so we’ve got to start tonight and we did that.”


Stoudemire was not the only star big man Thursday. Stoudemire’s early work had gone to waste when he exited with Boris Diaw’s entry. It’d be easy to totally blame Diaw for the game quickly getting tight but Shawn Marion did miss an alleyoop off a Diaw pass on the first play.

But it was Brian Skinner’s return to the lineup at the end of the first quarter and his teaming with Stoudemire for most of the second quarter until the Clippers went small that opened up the game. Skinner was a plus-15 in the first half. The play that stood out most was one that Skinner won’t even get a stat for doing.


Leandro Barbosa had missed a jumper and Skinner, always hustling, was jumping amid some Clippers to keep the ball alive until it finally went out of bounds off a Clipper. He then rolled for a dunk off a Nash feed after the ensuing inbound. D’Antoni, always the Diaw loyalist, never went back to Diaw as he normally would.

Skinner had seven points and eight rebounds in 22 minutes. Diaw had six points and four rebounds in 24 minutes but did not have a point or a rebound until the fourth quarter, when he played the whole period and the Suns scored 19 points (11 by Marcus Banks) after entering the quarter leading by 30.

That big lead led to the biggest second-half cheer amid the second-half boobirds at Staples Center. The ovation came with 6:50 to go, when ex-Clipper favorite Eric Piatkowski entered the game.

Friday night, you're in the better hands of Bob Young. Talk to you again before the Sacramento game.

[frezix]

marcus had a great game tonight, I'm always happy to see him excel. If this could be more consistent then it would be a major boost.

[fixxxer]

“I came out focused,” Stoudemire said. “I was determined. I felt like we are on the cusp of becoming a better team so we’ve got to start tonight and we did that.”

Hey Man Nice Quote. (Bonus points for tagging the Filter reference. :mrgreen:)

Encapsulates both recogniztion of the recent listlessness and setting the focus on re-establishing our team's uber-elite status.

[sunsdotcom]

http://wwwq.tmz.com/2007/12/27/cash-nash-and-jessica-alba-huh/

[OE]

“I came out focused,” Stoudemire said. “I was determined. I felt like we are on the cusp of becoming a better team so we’ve got to start tonight and we did that.”

Hey Man Nice Quote. (Bonus points for tagging the Filter reference. :mrgreen:)

Does this mean Amare's about to blow his brains out with a shotgun?

Yay points!

[k_kwan]

“I came out focused,” Stoudemire said. “I was determined. I felt like we are on the cusp of becoming a better team so we’ve got to start tonight and we did that.”

Hey Man Nice Quote. (Bonus points for tagging the Filter reference. :mrgreen:)

Does this mean Amare's about to blow his brains out with a shotgun?

Yay points!


Now thats was the Amare we all expected at the start of the season! Maybe Amare had to stumble a bit for him to finally turn on the light respectively. Only time will tell........

[LU]

marcus had a great game tonight, I'm always happy to see him excel. If this could be more consistent then it would be a major boost.
I didn't watch the game, so I may be way wrong... I disregard the +/- figure, because I suppose he played during garbage time, but c'mon, no assists (but 8 shots) in 12 mins. To me it looks like he was trying to show off regardless of his teammates. He won't gain minutes this way.

[ShelC]

Banks was a mixed bag IMO. He was definitely active, but looked to be pressing. He knew it was a blowout and was looking for his own rather than trying to show the poise and control he probably normally would if he was sent out there to maintain a lead in the middle of the game. He can get to the basket literally at will and missed some easy ones that i think was more rust than anything else. But he also had a great drive, slicing thru defenders for a reverse layup. I still cant understand why Barbs can pound the ball and go up for difficult shots inside, yet when Banks does it he's frowned upon. I think he has better breakdown abilty than Barbs. I liked Banks' aggressivenes on defense and his willingness to try to take a charge. I think he tried 3 times for a charge but was called for blocking when at least 2 of the times he was in good position. He had a nice steal in the middle of the floor that led to a layup, but had a bad foul on Frahm on a jumper. He was a little too aggressive trying to guard the bigger Frahm but i also didnt like that the refs were really late on teh call and basically blew the whistle after Frahm complained after he missed. Those were the bigger plays i remember. He really wasnt looking to set up offense, but was more intent on scoring, which is fine as long as Hill or Boris are on the floor as playmakers.

[Dustbuster]

Diaw is really, really disappointing me right now. I am just about out of things to defend right now. His play is just wretched.

[scosuns]

Amare was awesome. Seeing him dominate the first six minutes was just sick and exciting. I don't know whether the Clippers just sucked or theeir shorthandedness was the reason, but, our guys looked pretty good. Hopefully, as Swing said, we can get two in a row.

And Mike played the whole freaking roster tonight! Cheers to Mike D'antoni!:D

[tbrkingofthesouth]

“I was attacking him offensively, making him play defense,” Stoudemire said. “That offsets a lot of centers. It’s tough for them to guard me because I’m quicker than most centers. When I get a chance to attack them, it makes it tough for them to have so much energy offensively. It kind of throws their rhythm off.”

This is sooo true..If Amare has to guard these guys we should make these big guys work on the defensive end by letting Stat attack them..I think coach D'Antoni realizes this now...I hope so.

[scosuns]

Yeah, this might have been a defining moment in our season, and possibly in the organization. While this team still has issues, if we can attack with STAT the way we did, that will really help.

By the way, the Skinner alongside Amare might be great. I know they weren't together all of Skinner's minutes, but Skinner was a +12 last night. He was our only positive bench player of the night.

[ShelC]

This is sooo true..If Amare has to guard these guys we should make these big guys work on the defensive end by letting Stat attack them..I think coach D'Antoni realizes this now...I hope so.

Word. Amare needs to be our go-to guy. Its similar to last year when he was relegated to being a glorified screener. We need Amare inside, attacking, drawing fouls on opposing bigs and getting to the line. And if it engages him defensively, all the better.

Regarding Diaw, hes looking for his shot more but we need to make sure hes not settling for jumpers and taking them just to show hes being more aggressive. I dont mind the jumpers, but those long 20footers are out of his range. He can hit the 16-17ft FT line extended jumpers. Thats his range and the shot hes shown to hit with regularity. But anything further comes up short, so he needs to be made aware of that. And those shots inside will fall. Its just a matter of finding that comfort zone again. But i love those drives and baby-hook finishes.

[ShelC]

On a different note, the raps may be looking to move Joey Graham and/or Juan Dixon. I like Dixon but dont think we need him with Barbs. Not a real big fan of Graham but hes a real athletic wing player. The Raps also have Maceo Baston, an athletic 6-9 guy who can step out a bit and shoot. With their lack of depth at the PG spot now that Ford is out and figures to be out a while, would BC consider trading for Banks? Sometrhing tells me he wouldnt like Banks, but maybe Mitchell could have some use for him defensively? And they also run a more traditional offense where Banks could drive a bit more. So Graham and Baston for Banks? We gain some cap flexibility both short and long term, they add PG depth.

[Billyjoejimbob]

I was glad to see Amare back up his words, but I'm not going to get too excited. It was one game against one of the worst teams in the league. If he can continue to be aggressive on both ends of the floor for a period of time then I will be happy. The one thing that stands out to me the most is that the team is undefeated when Amare gets at least 10 rebounds. In other words when he hustles the team wins.

[tbrkingofthesouth]

I hope I am wrong, but Looking at some post game comments from Nash on Amare...I don't know if this is what Nash wants, but it is what the Suns need to do...I think Nash has a pretty big ego as well..Nash wants to spread the ball around the perimeter..He doesn't like Stat stealing headlines from him..Nash do what is best for the team get Amare involved early and often and you will be a Champion...I know you are the 2-time MVP and we all love you, but for the good of the team Stat has to dominate. We are undefeated when Amare has a double-double

[Billyjoejimbob]

I think Nash is probably just trying to tone down the hype. He doesn't want anybody to get complacent over 1 win against a bad team. I don't think it has anything to do with him needing his ego stroked.

[Wormwood]

Some items of note:

If we trade for a PG, for the love of al that's good and holy, get someone who's pass first. I don't care who, just not another chucker.

Kaman played 41 minutes last night. He's going to be one tired puppy tonight. I expect to see him even more winded tonight than he was last night.

[v9]

Diaw is really, really disappointing me right now. I am just about out of things to defend right now. His play is just wretched.

I WAS going to say that he remains aggressive.

But - he reminds me of the kid who deliberately sabotages himself when asked to do something that he doesn't want to do...just to say "See? I was right."

[scosuns]

Speaking of quotes in the news, can someone please explain to me what Mike means by this:

"To change roles, we've got to go bad," D'Antoni said. "If you change bad for a long time, then maybe you do something.

I might have an idea of what he's saying, but the second part loses me.

[EDC]

Yeah that quote from Nash was interesting. It was probably an answer to some crazy question. The fire was good to see in Amare thats why his rebounding numbers were up. The scoring is a different story. Amare can always score. The problem is the coach/team decide not to feed him the ball. His shooting percentage is just plain insane. I really do think this team has a problem with Amare. The coach and his teammate just don't seem happy when he gets a lot of shots. I was shocked at how much they went to him at the beginning of the game. It is exactly what I hope they do every night. It just kinda seemed like coach was like fine Amare we will feed you the ball and see what you can do. He is just so beastly on offense he can carry the team.

Do I think coach D learned anything from last nights game? No. Coach D is Coach D he will revert back to outside-in basketball in a few games.

That first 6 minutes of the game was so much fun to watch though. Amare doing his thing is just as fun to watch as Nash doing his. Hopefully they continue to feed the beast.

[Xcon]

So a win against a shitty team seems to totally erase the debacle of getting owned by the Lakers for most. For me, the win last night wasn't that compelling for me. The Clippers are HORRIBLE this year. When Amare can play like he did last night against the Bynums, Duncans, Boozers, etc, of the league then I'll get excited again. Guess I'm still in pessisism mode.

[scosuns]

I don't think Bynum deserves to get mentioned with Duncan, Boozer, or any top big man. However, he did have a great game against Amare. I do agree that Amare needs to play well against all his matchups. But, we've seen Amare dominate others in the playoffs. How about the series against SA in 04-05. What was it, 37 points a game? Yeah, I know the defense isn't quite as good, but he's a solid help defender, if that floats your boat...

[JustWinBaby]

Diaw is really, really disappointing me right now. I am just about out of things to defend right now. His play is just wretched.

We think we have a problem defending Boris. How would you like to be Coach D.

Boris is basically untradeable no matter how many scenarios I or others put together, based on his current play. He is better than anyone behind him on the bench unless you consider Skinner behind him so he has to play him. Basically he has a spot in the rotation by default.

I have trust in 6 of our first 8 and really believe we can compete against any team with those guys when it comes to playoff time. The only two I really question are Boris and LB.

In the case of LB it is all a matter of consistency. He has the tools and plays hard all the time. While he has been criticized for making poor decisions at times he always works hard.

Boris on the other hand is a real mystery for us and I would expect Coach D. If somehow he can turn the corner and become productive we should be just fine. There appears to be a spark of life at times with Boris but he is really hard to watch. When right he is fluid and agressive. Right now he is taking shots he should not take just to take a shot and still not forcing the ball inside enough and trying to score for my taste. That is his strength IMO not trying to become a jump shooter.

Boris please get your act together, we need you.

Go Suns

[MTSunsFan]

Spot on, EDC. They went to Amare early and often and look @ the results: 30 & 15 in 27 minutes! Amare seems to be the type of player who once he gets in a groove offensively (which isn't difficult to do provided of course coach and his teammates help him out), his defensive intensity picks up greatly...

[frezix]

If i was D'antoni I would ask Diaw nicely to "never take another jumpshot this season." lol

[JustWinBaby]

{Word. Amare needs to be our go-to guy. Its similar to last year when he was relegated to being a glorified screener. We need Amare inside, attacking, drawing fouls on opposing bigs and getting to the line. And if it engages him defensively, all the better.

Regarding Diaw, hes looking for his shot more but we need to make sure hes not settling for jumpers and taking them just to show hes being more aggressive. I dont mind the jumpers, but those long 20footers are out of his range. He can hit the 16-17ft FT line extended jumpers. Thats his range and the shot hes shown to hit with regularity. But anything further comes up short, so he needs to be made aware of that. And those shots inside will fall. Its just a matter of finding that comfort zone again. But i love those drives and baby-hook finishes.}

Shell

I agree with everything.

Amare has to be our go to guy and take it to the hoop. Boris has to take it to the hoop. I would also love to see Grant hill take it to the hoop more.

All three of these guys can beat there man off the dribble at will. Why not force the issue to the defense in the paint like other teams do to us? So we get some shots blocked, we are the agressor rather than just shooting jump shots. If we shove it down the opposing teams centers throat they will foul. We were all excited about getting Grant Hill for that very reason. He can take it to the hoop and get fouled. Boris has the same ability but when we gets near the rim something goes off in his brain telling him to pass but when at 20 ft he wants to throw up a brick to show he is agressive.

Hopefully everyone follows Amares lead.

PS: and Nash it is time you stop being nice to everyone so they can all get an equal number of shots and get it to the big dog.

[ShelC]

Yeah that quote from Nash was interesting. It was probably an answer to some crazy question. The fire was good to see in Amare thats why his rebounding numbers were up. The scoring is a different story. Amare can always score. The problem is the coach/team decide not to feed him the ball. His shooting percentage is just plain insane. I really do think this team has a problem with Amare. The coach and his teammate just don't seem happy when he gets a lot of shots.

Agreed. I dont know the context of the quote, but its a pretty big dick thing to say. Hes basically taknig all credit away from Amare by saying Kaman missed the shots on his own and wasnt affected by Stouds at all. Whether its true or not, he usually always remains positive about his teammates and the team in general. I dont think its jealousy or ego, but i get the feeling there may be some friction between Stat and Nash. Nash has called out teammates he feels dont always play hard, Amare has been vocal in his own right (maybe stcking up for himself?) and that could rub nash the wrong way. Now Stouds has a great game and has all the attention, maybe sticking his chest out a bit and saying, "See, i told u guys i need the ball on offense. Keep feeding me". As you said, this may not sit well with MikeD and Nash, who want a spread offense as opposed to 1 guy dominating the ball. Nash is the ultimate team player in a superstar league. MikeD is trying to coach a team-based, pass/share the ball offense. Amare is trying to dominate the game in his own right.

[ShelC]

All three of these guys can beat there man off the dribble at will. Why not force the issue to the defense in the paint like other teams do to us? So we get some shots blocked, we are the agressor rather than just shooting jump shots.

I think thats been the main culprit for us in our losses or close games. We tend to go very long stretches where we're just shooting jumpers. Its more frequent with the 2nd unit where its just penetrate and kick all the time, but its been happening more and more with the starters. We absolutely need to look to go to the basket more, even if it means going to the line, stopping the clock and slowing the game down a bit. We should actually look to accomplish this early on to get soem fouls on the other team, make them cautious defensively because of the fouls, and then run and keep the game going at our pace the rest of the way. But we need to be the aggressors, otherwise you live by the jumper and die by it. The refs always reward the more aggressive team, just as long as its not being forced.

[Wormwood]

Another item:

There's been some serious love for Banks going on after last nights game here, and on other boards. I for one, was pretty unimpressed.

* Banks picked up 4 fouls in 12 minutes. He still has no clue how to play without fouling all the time.

* Yes, he scored 11, but he always puts up big numbers against bad competition. It still doesn't change the fact that we were -10 when he was in. Remember, we lost the summer league game where he dropped 42 as well. Banks putting up numbers rarely seems to be correlated with team success.

* He's still guarding people way to close, and getting destroyed. Richie Frahm had Banks draped all over him 30 feet from the basket, and then proceeded to blow by him. Banks was forced to foul hard from behind to prevent the easy hoop.

* No assists or rebounds in 12 minutes at PG. 2 Turn overs though.

[scosuns]

And we don't have to be the fastest team in the league. We have a very talented team. I just think that as part of our style, Mike wants shots taken, and then the players to get back on defense. But, I do agree that we should be attacking the paint. It was beautiful to see Amare going to the line so much in so little time. How often do we see that? As said in that Dwayne Wade commercial, "Do it again, do it again!"

[ShelC]

* Banks picked up 4 fouls in 12 minutes. He still has no clue how to play without fouling all the time.

Dont know if u saw the game but 3 fouls came on him attempting to take charges and at least 2 of the 3 blocking fouls he picked up were bad calls that should have been charges.

[JustWinBaby]

{Agreed. I dont know the context of the quote, but its a pretty big dick thing to say. Hes basically taknig all credit away from Amare by saying Kaman missed the shots on his own and wasnt affected by Stouds at all. Whether its true or not, he usually always remains positive about his teammates and the team in general. I dont think its jealousy or ego, but i get the feeling there may be some friction between Stat and Nash. Nash has called out teammates he feels dont always play hard, Amare has been vocal in his own right (maybe stcking up for himself?) and that could rub nash the wrong way. Now Stouds has a great game and has all the attention, maybe sticking his chest out a bit and saying, "See, i told u guys i need the ball on offense. Keep feeding me". As you said, this may not sit well with MikeD and Nash, who want a spread offense as opposed to 1 guy dominating the ball. Nash is the ultimate team player in a superstar league. MikeD is trying to coach a team-based, pass/share the ball offense. Amare is trying to dominate the game in his own right.}

I can see Amare getting pissed at Nash, I probably would as well if I were him.

Amare is probably thinking - They have forced me to play center when I want to be a PF and they have me guarding all these big fuckers in the paint. Then the MVP gets beat off the dribble by his man and I have to guard his man as well and still recover in time if he passes to cover my man and stay in position to get a rebound. At the same time he keeps passing the Ball to his buddy Raja who has been throwing up bricks and not feeding me the ball so I can dominate and get some of the opposing teams big guys in foul trouble. Then I get blasted in the press that I suck on defense and am not playing hard, other people are wanting to trade me for a bag of beans.

We say we are in this together, bullshit, I'm taking over. Everyone better do their job or I am getting in their grill just like they are mine.

That is what I think Amare is thinking and quite frankly, if he is, he ain't wrong IMO.

[EDC]

Feed The Beast!

[scosuns]

The Suns tied for their most successful regular season in 04-05. Amare had his biggest average of shot attempts that year with an average of 16.7 attempts per game. He averaged 26 points that year. Whether or not other guys get less attempts, Amare needs to be getting the most attempts. He draws the fouls and goes to the line more than anyone else on this team. He can dominate on offense, and is so freaking strong.

Steve's comments weren't very nice. Either way, the team needs to make sacrifices to win. I'm sure situations will change as the season goes along. We just need to adapt to whatever happens.

[sehan]

Worm,

Your numbers are precisely why I think Banks needs to see more minutes:

1. Agreed full court press on Richi Frahm is pretty ridiculous, but would love to see that against legit starting points guards in the league, specially the big ones that usually are not fast enough to blow by him. Full press for 5 mins get you in foul trouble, but full press for 20 or 30 min a game will seriously drain the opposing point guards energy.

2. Regarding big numbers against bad teams. I still see him playing more controlled and within himself. Love the fact that he developed the standing 3 pt jump shot. Given how weak we are on the arc this season, we can sure use that with the starters.

3. For Bank's other faults, why not assign him a personal coach. If we saw enough potential in Barbs to invest in a personal coach, I can't see why we don't see enough in Banks to do the same. I know barbs is the nice golden boy, but really can't stand this preferential treatment for nice guys or good character guys. I appreciate character guys to the point that it helps us with team concept and helps us win games. Outside of that, I just want people who will help us win. Besides, nice guys finish last.

And before someone starts quoting +/- stats for couple of games, I think that stats is the most useless stat without sample size of at least 30 games. This is a team game, is it Banks fault that he is always in there with the second unit or the garbage players who doesn't spread the floor? That stat is more useless for our team, given the coach's strict adherence to his "set" units in substitution.

[sehan]

Speaking of quotes in the news, can someone please explain to me what Mike means by this:

"To change roles, we've got to go bad," D'Antoni said. "If you change bad for a long time, then maybe you do something.

I might have an idea of what he's saying, but the second part loses me.

In the second part, I think he is saying that if we play bad for a "long time" he may need to consider playing Skiner more.

Either way, I am getting sick of his favoritism for certain players. Banks deserves minutes and Diaw for the most part does not. Piatkowski definitely does not - don't care who his old team is.

Don't want to be too negative post a win, but I think Mike D is taking this "I will prove to the world" too far and letting his ego get in the way of our dreams for a ring.

[JustWinBaby]

{And before someone starts quoting +/- stats for couple of games, I think that stats is the most useless stat without sample size of at least 30 games. This is a team game, is it Banks fault that he is always in there with the second unit or the garbage players who doesn't spread the floor? That stat is more useless for our team, given the coach's strict adherence to his "set" units in substitution.}

I agree with this and the biggest culprit of all is Boris.

He has (-) stats with virtually anyone he plays with. If he wanted to get some confidence going he should have taken over at mop up time and try to dominate. Boris is usually the one remaining starter with the mop up crew and he always goes further into his shell.

[tbrkingofthesouth]

Yeah that quote from Nash was interesting. It was probably an answer to some crazy question. The fire was good to see in Amare thats why his rebounding numbers were up. The scoring is a different story. Amare can always score. The problem is the coach/team decide not to feed him the ball. His shooting percentage is just plain insane. I really do think this team has a problem with Amare. The coach and his teammate just don't seem happy when he gets a lot of shots.

Agreed. I dont know the context of the quote, but its a pretty big dick thing to say. Hes basically taknig all credit away from Amare by saying Kaman missed the shots on his own and wasnt affected by Stouds at all. Whether its true or not, he usually always remains positive about his teammates and the team in general. I dont think its jealousy or ego, but i get the feeling there may be some friction between Stat and Nash. Nash has called out teammates he feels dont always play hard, Amare has been vocal in his own right (maybe stcking up for himself?) and that could rub nash the wrong way. Now Stouds has a great game and has all the attention, maybe sticking his chest out a bit and saying, "See, i told u guys i need the ball on offense. Keep feeding me". As you said, this may not sit well with MikeD and Nash, who want a spread offense as opposed to 1 guy dominating the ball. Nash is the ultimate team player in a superstar league. MikeD is trying to coach a team-based, pass/share the ball offense. Amare is trying to dominate the game in his own right.


Shel C I can see what you are saying..Great post

[ShelC]

Thanks...I get the feeling we're basically in the same place as last year when we were trying to integrate amare after really playing team ball in 05-06 and being just as successful without him. In reality, the 05-06 season and its success may be comnig back to haunt us. It showed we can be successful without Amare (tho how successful we'll never really know). In 04-05 it was the "amare show" in the playoffs. He had really broken out and everyone was deferring to him, even Nash, who was giving him the ball everytime off the pick and roll. Then Amare sits a year, Nash and the suns are just as successful without him, he comes back and wants to take his rightful place among the superstars and get his shots. Didnt happen last year and really hasnt happened this year. However, because of the success in 05-06, Nash and MikeD probably feel like they dont have to cater to Amare. Hes a product of their doings, not the other way around so he should be the team player. Had we struggled and missed the playoffs in 05-06, would we really be having this discussion? Or would everyone be again deferring to Amare and looking for him to take over games and dominate?

[Billyjoejimbob]

I think all this stuff about Amare and Nash is hogwash. Nash basically said calm down and don't get too excited over this win. I want Amare to be the beast as much as the next guy, but I have seen a number of games this season where they have started off giving him the ball and he doesn't do anything with it. It seems to me that if he is aggressive and taking it to the hole and being productive they keep feeding him like they did last night. If Amare continues to play that well against better competition I'll be happy, but until then my optimism is guarded because I've seen the lazy side of Amare a few times already this season as well.

[tbrkingofthesouth]

{Agreed. I dont know the context of the quote, but its a pretty big dick thing to say. Hes basically taknig all credit away from Amare by saying Kaman missed the shots on his own and wasnt affected by Stouds at all. Whether its true or not, he usually always remains positive about his teammates and the team in general. I dont think its jealousy or ego, but i get the feeling there may be some friction between Stat and Nash. Nash has called out teammates he feels dont always play hard, Amare has been vocal in his own right (maybe stcking up for himself?) and that could rub nash the wrong way. Now Stouds has a great game and has all the attention, maybe sticking his chest out a bit and saying, "See, i told u guys i need the ball on offense. Keep feeding me". As you said, this may not sit well with MikeD and Nash, who want a spread offense as opposed to 1 guy dominating the ball. Nash is the ultimate team player in a superstar league. MikeD is trying to coach a team-based, pass/share the ball offense. Amare is trying to dominate the game in his own right.}

I can see Amare getting pissed at Nash, I probably would as well if I were him.

Amare is probably thinking - They have forced me to play center when I want to be a PF and they have me guarding all these big fuckers in the paint. Then the MVP gets beat off the dribble by his man and I have to guard his man as well and still recover in time if he passes to cover my man and stay in position to get a rebound. At the same time he keeps passing the Ball to his buddy Raja who has been throwing up bricks and not feeding me the ball so I can dominate and get some of the opposing teams big guys in foul trouble. Then I get blasted in the press that I suck on defense and am not playing hard, other people are wanting to trade me for a bag of beans.

We say we are in this together, bullshit, I'm taking over. Everyone better do their job or I am getting in their grill just like they are mine.

That is what I think Amare is thinking and quite frankly, if he is, he ain't wrong IMO.


I agree

[tbrkingofthesouth]

Keep feeding the beast and the wins will pile up

[SpecialSauce]

Another item:

There's been some serious love for Banks going on after last nights game here, and on other boards. I for one, was pretty unimpressed.

* Banks picked up 4 fouls in 12 minutes. He still has no clue how to play without fouling all the time.

* Yes, he scored 11, but he always puts up big numbers against bad competition. It still doesn't change the fact that we were -10 when he was in. Remember, we lost the summer league game where he dropped 42 as well. Banks putting up numbers rarely seems to be correlated with team success.

* He's still guarding people way to close, and getting destroyed. Richie Frahm had Banks draped all over him 30 feet from the basket, and then proceeded to blow by him. Banks was forced to foul hard from behind to prevent the easy hoop.

* No assists or rebounds in 12 minutes at PG. 2 Turn overs though.


hmmm big numbers against bad teams....who does that remind me of?!?! OH YEAH
LB!!

[tbrkingofthesouth]

[QUOTE=Wormwood;9179]Another item:

There's been some serious love for Banks going on after last nights game here, and on other boards. I for one, was pretty unimpressed.

* Banks picked up 4 fouls in 12 minutes. He still has no clue how to play without fouling all the time.

* Yes, he scored 11, but he always puts up big numbers against bad competition. It still doesn't change the fact that we were -10 when he was in. Remember, we lost the summer league game where he dropped 42 as well. Banks putting up numbers rarely seems to be correlated with team success.

* He's still guarding people way to close, and getting destroyed. Richie Frahm had Banks draped all over him 30 feet from the basket, and then proceeded to blow by him. Banks was forced to foul hard from behind to prevent the easy hoop.

* No assists or rebounds in 12 minutes at PG. 2 Turn overs though.[/QUO


hmmm big numbers against bad teams....who does that remind me of?!?! OH YEAH
LB!!

LOL true

[Wormwood]

Ummm.... not really true.

LB has 3 30 point games this year... and all of them were against teams with winning records. Last year, he had 4 games where he scored 30+ points, and one where he scored 29. All but one of those games last year were against very good teams (LAL, Dallas (x2), Houston, and Charlotte).

In 2005-2006, he had 13 20+ point games... 4 of those came in the playoffs against good teams when we needed them.... Overall in 2005-2006 8 of his 13 20+ point games came against winning teams.

Based on the evidence in front of us, the opposite seems true.

[Shabazz]

Some items of note:

If we trade for a PG, for the love of al that's good and holy, get someone who's pass first. I don't care who, just not another chucker.

Kaman played 41 minutes last night. He's going to be one tired puppy tonight. I expect to see him even more winded tonight than he was last night.

Yup. That was Dunleavy showing his coaching chops. Nothing says good strategy like playing your best player for 41 minutes in a fast paced blowout loss, when you have to play the same team the next night. Brilliant!

[misteradiant]

I hope I am wrong, but Looking at some post game comments from Nash on Amare...I don't know if this is what Nash wants, but it is what the Suns need to do...I think Nash has a pretty big ego as well..Nash wants to spread the ball around the perimeter..He doesn't like Stat stealing headlines from him..Nash do what is best for the team get Amare involved early and often and you will be a Champion...I know you are the 2-time MVP and we all love you, but for the good of the team Stat has to dominate. We are undefeated when Amare has a double-double

that might be your smartest post, tbr, but i wouldn't say nash has an ego. i think he prefers to pass the ball around more and that's it. now if amare can play like he did last night every night, and all steve has to do is keep giving him the ball, well, so be it. we all know the suns are not as fast or as accurate from the three as they were just two years ago.

if amare averaged 27 and 10 for more than a month, he might make it to the all star game as a player. but that's what he has to do. this getting stomped by bynum and jefferson bullshit has to end.

[Shabazz]

A few people have mentioned it already, but I think it needs to be repeated: One of Amare's most important attributes is his ability to draw fouls. Last night he had 10 FTAs in the first half and IIRC he got 3 clippers into foul trouble by himself. It's important we go to him early, but it's equally important we go to him early DOWN LOW. It seems like we usually start the game by running that high post weave that ends in a Raja long jumper. Why? Why not start the game by, as people have been saying "feeding the beast?"

On a related note, I remember there was a point midwat through the 3rd quarter of the Lakers game where both Amare and Bynum had 3 fouls. I told my wife (who had no idea what I was talking about) that whoever draws the opposing Cs 4th foul first will win the game. Sure enough we went 3 or 4 plays without looking for STAT and without taking it to Bynum until finally Bynum plowed into Amare and got rewarded with a (disputable) blocking call. Amare goes to the bench and the Lakers controlled the rest of the way.

Lets feed Amare inside early and often. It also seems that his outside shot falls better when he makes a few inside first.

[wpmiller42]

A few people have mentioned it already, but I think it needs to be repeated: One of Amare's most important attributes is his ability to draw fouls. Last night he had 10 FTAs in the first half and IIRC he got 3 clippers into foul trouble by himself. It's important we go to him early, but it's equally important we go to him early DOWN LOW. It seems like we usually start the game by running that high post weave that ends in a Raja long jumper. Why? Why not start the game by, as people have been saying "feeding the beast?"

On a related note, I remember there was a point midwat through the 3rd quarter of the Lakers game where both Amare and Bynum had 3 fouls. I told my wife (who had no idea what I was talking about) that whoever draws the opposing Cs 4th foul first will win the game. Sure enough we went 3 or 4 plays without looking for STAT and without taking it to Bynum until finally Bynum plowed into Amare and got rewarded with a (disputable) blocking call. Amare goes to the bench and the Lakers controlled the rest of the way.

Lets feed Amare inside early and often. It also seems that his outside shot falls better when he makes a few inside first.


I think this is a really good and strong point. We are usually a great free throw shooting team, and getting to the line early and often not only helps us from the perspective of the other team in foul trouble, it also opens up lanes for our slashers, and allows our shooters to get in an early rhythmn by seeing the ball go in a couple times.

[misteradiant]

So a win against a shitty team seems to totally erase the debacle of getting owned by the Lakers for most. For me, the win last night wasn't that compelling for me. The Clippers are HORRIBLE this year. When Amare can play like he did last night against the Bynums, Duncans, Boozers, etc, of the league then I'll get excited again. Guess I'm still in pessisism mode.

i am in agreement, xcon. i turned the game off when pike entered because i knew they'd win and didn't care to see the end of our bench for the next 7 minutes. it was boring to me. we came out and even when we dropped our early lead, we got it back and then some, all with the bench out. i knew the clips were decimated by injury. i mean, frahm is on their team and at one point, didn't they have 4 white guys on the floor at the same time? what is it, 1965? anyway, it's nothing to get excited about and we better kick their ass again tonight. we need to win the next 3 games going into games against new orleans and denver. we'll see how amare responds to those guys and if his talk since getting his panties exposed by bynum are just words or an attitude adjustment for both him and the coaching staff.

[misteradiant]

If i was D'antoni I would ask Diaw nicely to "never take another jumpshot this season." lol


that's just because he was taking long 20-footers instead of inside his range at 16 feet. he wasn't even playing his game, whatever it really is, but we know it does not include 20-foot jumpers.

[Nodack]

Amare was great last night and I am very happy to see a motivated Amare be a man in the post again. I do disagree with several that might think Amare was only successful because they fed him the ball for once or that there might be petty jealously going on with Nash, possibly deliberately not giving him the ball. I say complete hogwash. I think Amare goes as far as Amare wants to go and that Amare was motivated on that night and that is the reason he was successful. I believe if Amare is motivated and "engaged" as D'Antoni likes to call it then he is capable of all kinds of good things. Last night was a different Amare than a month ago and I hope he continues to be aggressive.

[Superbone]

There's been some serious love for Banks going on after last nights game here, and on other boards. I for one, was pretty unimpressed.

Yeah, but how about that bank shot 3?

[Billyjoejimbob]

Amare was great last night and I am very happy to see a motivated Amare be a man in the post again. I do disagree with several that might think Amare was only successful because they fed him the ball for once or that there might be petty jealously going on with Nash, possibly deliberately not giving him the ball. I say complete hogwash. I think Amare goes as far as Amare wants to go and that Amare was motivated on that night and that is the reason he was successful. I believe if Amare is motivated and "engaged" as D'Antoni likes to call it then he is capable of all kinds of good things. Last night was a different Amare than a month ago and I hope he continues to be aggressive.

I coudn't agree more Nodack. That is what I was trying to say, but I think you said it better.

[tbrkingofthesouth]

A few people have mentioned it already, but I think it needs to be repeated: One of Amare's most important attributes is his ability to draw fouls. Last night he had 10 FTAs in the first half and IIRC he got 3 clippers into foul trouble by himself. It's important we go to him early, but it's equally important we go to him early DOWN LOW. It seems like we usually start the game by running that high post weave that ends in a Raja long jumper. Why? Why not start the game by, as people have been saying "feeding the beast?"

On a related note, I remember there was a point midwat through the 3rd quarter of the Lakers game where both Amare and Bynum had 3 fouls. I told my wife (who had no idea what I was talking about) that whoever draws the opposing Cs 4th foul first will win the game. Sure enough we went 3 or 4 plays without looking for STAT and without taking it to Bynum until finally Bynum plowed into Amare and got rewarded with a (disputable) blocking call. Amare goes to the bench and the Lakers controlled the rest of the way.

Lets feed Amare inside early and often. It also seems that his outside shot falls better when he makes a few inside first.


Right on Shabazz

[ShelC]

Yeah, but how about that bank shot 3?

That was such a BS shot lol, especially from the angle he shot it at. If my last name were Banks tho, i'd try and bank everything.

[Superbone]

Yeah, but how about that bank shot 3?

That was such a BS shot lol, especially from the angle he shot it at. If my last name were Banks tho, i'd try and bank everything.

:lol:

The best part was how he didn't smile or anything. "Of course I meant to do that."

[misteradiant]

Amare is probably thinking - They have forced me to play center when I want to be a PF and they have me guarding all these big fuckers in the paint. Then the MVP gets beat off the dribble by his man and I have to guard his man as well and still recover in time if he passes to cover my man and stay in position to get a rebound. At the same time he keeps passing the Ball to his buddy Raja who has been throwing up bricks and not feeding me the ball so I can dominate and get some of the opposing teams big guys in foul trouble. Then I get blasted in the press that I suck on defense and am not playing hard, other people are wanting to trade me for a bag of beans.

We say we are in this together, bullshit, I'm taking over. Everyone better do their job or I am getting in their grill just like they are mine.

that was awesome. don't know if it's true, but you make a strong argument for it. steve's remark doesn't sound like one coming from a friend. it's a little disconcerting to me and leads us to think that either it's by design/coaching and steve is against it or amare didn't follow the gameplan and it pisses steve off. either way, it's a disappointing remark from one captain about another.

maybe steve doesn't want to be stockton to amare's malone. what if that is true, folks? if we don't capitalize on amare's recently expressed ability to score and rebound while making it tough on an opponent's offense, it becomes the fault of our 2-time mvp? that's a stretch, isn't it? is steve nash really that way? the hybrid-driving free thinker basketball hero against the odds with a rep for 'splodin' other people's reps? ever heard of a player that said he didn't want to play with steve nash? even kobe wants to play with steve nash. i don't think steve would do that. he'd be stockton if he was asked. if amare can be malone, why not? i think steve's pissed at amare's work against the lakers and he knows it's easy to dominate the physically and probably emotionally decimated clippers. i mean, ritchie frahm and dickau? a fart in their general direction about now would make them miss a play.

so let's not get carried away. let's see if amare can keep playing this way. if he can, then who cares if shawn and boris and raja have sub-par games.

that means amare has to go on a tear. he has to do it against teams like sacramento and seattle as well as against teams like new orleans and denver. if he can play as inspired then as he did last night, then we're going to own a championship trophy. if he fails, then the hand-wringing my recommence.

[ShelC]

that's just because he was taking long 20-footers instead of inside his range at 16 feet. he wasn't even playing his game, whatever it really is, but we know it does not include 20-foot jumpers.

Is that a veiled shot at my post?

[misteradiant]

what post? i veil nothing but my women! go mohommad!

screaming like a musilim assasin, eye-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i!

[EDC]

It definitely wasnt aggressiveness that got Amare the ball that often that early in the game. There have been plenty of games where Amare has been aggressive and never seen that many touches in one quarter. It was definitely a coaching decision to feed him the ball over and over. It was almost over done. We threw it to him what 6 straight times? When have the Suns ever done that before. Do you guys think that maybe this was word from above? Kerr stepping in and giving directions to Coach D?

I just know it felt pretty odd to see the Suns doing it. I loved it and hope it continues but will it just take one bad night from Amare for them to revert? Or maybe just one bad quarter? How long does Coach D stick with it?

Edit: Had to fix my rambling. Said the same thing like 3 times :)

[tbrkingofthesouth]

It definitely wasnt aggressiveness that got Amare the ball that often that early in the game. There have been plenty of games where Amare has been aggressive and never seen that many touches in one quarter. It was definitely a coaching decision to feed him the ball over and over. It was almost over done. We threw it to him what 6 straight times? When have the Suns ever done that before. Do you guys think that maybe this was word from above? Kerr stepping in and giving directions to Coach D?

I just know it felt pretty odd to see the Suns doing it. I loved it and hope it continues but will it just take one bad night from Amare for them to revert? Or maybe just one bad quarter? How long does Coach D stick with it?

Edit: Had to fix my rambling. Said the same thing like 3 times :)

100% right dude...We have to stick with this from here all the way to a few chips atleast

[Wormwood]

There's been some serious love for Banks going on after last nights game here, and on other boards. I for one, was pretty unimpressed.

Yeah, but how about that bank shot 3?

Blind squirrels and nuts, baby. Blind squirrels and nuts.

[desertcoast]

Funny how everyone is running wild with that nash quote.

I didn't take that as *aimed* at Amare at all.
I saw it as trying to not get carried away with a win that could have been different if *one* player has a better night than he had.

I would like to have more context to that discussion before I leap to the conclusion that Nash is a selfish prick who wants to see Amare knocked down a peg or two.

[OE]

Usually all it takes is a turnover from Amare and a ball-stop and we stop going to him. The problem has more to do with us not running any designed offense from the post.

The last team that won a championship with run-n-gun (Showtime Lakers) went to a post offense in the half-court. I would like to see us attempt the same. But that would require us keeping Amare out of foul trouble, which requires us giving him some help down low.

I will keep saying we need to make a change until it happens. And it needs to happen.

[misteradiant]

nothing to see here folks, move along.

[ShelC]

I didn't take that as *aimed* at Amare at all.
I saw it as trying to not get carried away with a win that could have been different if *one* player has a better night than he had.

I would like to have more context to that discussion before I leap to the conclusion that Nash is a selfish prick who wants to see Amare knocked down a peg or two.

Youre right about wanting to see the entire interview. Id like to see the questions asked as well. But the fact that he mentioned Kaman alone, and not the fact that the entire clipper team played poorly and was missing their best players, seems like a shot at Amare. If he had made a blanket statement about the team, like "Well, theyre missing a lot of key guys and we were able to take advantage", then i'd say hes trying to keep things in perspective after a big win against a weakened opponent. But it sounded like he was answering a question about how well Amare mightve played defensively and put it more on Kaman missing those 10 layups himself rather than give Amare credit.

You have to admit that usually Nash is the ever-positive teammate. I wouldve expected, "Amare did a great job tonight. He was great on offense and that led to a great night on defense which is what we need everynight."

Maybe hes just trying to motivate Stouds and send a message that he still needs to get better and stay focused. Tough love maybe?

I really dont think there are issues that will create a rift or undermine the season. I just found that quote funny, as some others did. When i saw that quote and its honesty, i have to admit i thought it was payback for Stouds' saying he'd vote for Kobe for MVP last year.

[CNY_xplant]

McCoy released, again

The news release is starting to look familiar.

The Nuggets waived center Jelani McCoy, marking the third time since Oct. 23 the reserve big man has been released.

"We have another team that is going to give us a guaranteed deal," McCoy's agent, Giovanni Funicello, said, declining to name the team. "It should come together in the next 48 hours."

The Nuggets re-signed McCoy on Dec. 21 after Camby and Kenyon Martin were dinged up in a double-overtime win against Houston.

McCoy started against Portland that night but did not appear in either of the previous two games.

With Martin and Camby healthy and Nene back in the mix, McCoy was deemed expendable.

Funicello said the only way McCoy would return to the Nuggets in the future would be with a seasonlong guaranteed deal.

I'm not familiar with this guy's play. Anyone have any thoughts on his defense? His stats aren't bad. I know very little about him other than his stat line.

The comment from his agent about a deal in the works, along with all of the discussions about needing another big to backup Skinner/Amare, makes me wonder if the Suns are the team arranging the deal. Not that I'm proposing it, just wondering.
He's no Camby, but could he help us in the post?

[SwingMan]

McCoy released, again

The news release is starting to look familiar.

The Nuggets waived center Jelani McCoy, marking the third time since Oct. 23 the reserve big man has been released.

"We have another team that is going to give us a guaranteed deal," McCoy's agent, Giovanni Funicello, said, declining to name the team. "It should come together in the next 48 hours."

The Nuggets re-signed McCoy on Dec. 21 after Camby and Kenyon Martin were dinged up in a double-overtime win against Houston.

McCoy started against Portland that night but did not appear in either of the previous two games.

With Martin and Camby healthy and Nene back in the mix, McCoy was deemed expendable.

Funicello said the only way McCoy would return to the Nuggets in the future would be with a seasonlong guaranteed deal.

I'm not familiar with this guy's play. Anyone have any thoughts on his defense? His stats aren't bad. I know very little about him other than his stat line.

The comment from his agent about a deal in the works, along with all of the discussions about needing another big to backup Skinner/Amare, makes me wonder if the Suns are the team arranging the deal. Not that I'm proposing it, just wondering.
He's no Camby, but could he help us in the post?

Poor man's Calvin Booth. 6' 11" 240 or there-a-bouts. Better than Marks.....

[LazarusLong]

" ...Amare is probably thinking - They have forced me to play center when I want to be a PF and they have me guarding all these big fuckers in the paint. Then the MVP gets beat off the dribble by his man and I have to guard his man as well and still recover in time if he passes to cover my man and stay in position to get a rebound. At the same time he keeps passing the Ball to his buddy Raja who has been throwing up bricks and not feeding me the ball so I can dominate and get some of the opposing teams big guys in foul trouble. Then I get blasted in the press that I suck on defense and am not playing hard, other people are wanting to trade me for a bag of beans. ..."

Well said. I think Nash is a great player, but has more Teflon on him than Ronald Reagan when it comes to owning up for blame, sometimes. To a lesser extent, same with Bell, who has had an uneven season, mainly due to injuries, but still gets his minutes and has hurt the team with his play. Give him a couple of weeks off and let others play. What ever happened to "enjoying the journey" or whatever, and not taking the regular season record too seriously? Why not start DJ or Banks or play them more in the early season?

[LazarusLong]

McCoy is one of those guys who looks promising in practice and disappears during the game. See Langhi, Dan, among others ...

[Superbone]

McCoy is one of those guys who looks promising in practice and disappears during the game. See Langhi, Dan, among others ...

Yep, definitely not the real McCoy...

(The real McCoy sits behind the mic.)