Friday's News: Another day, more killer minutes versus a bottom feeder.....

[SwingMan]

Suns rally past SuperSonics (http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/0103suns.html)

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/pics/0103sunscov.jpg
Suns forward Grant Hill works around SuperSonics big man Nick Collison during the second quarter Thursday.

Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 3, 2008 11:27 PM

Nothing looked right early Thursday, whether it was Steve Nash in a headband or the bottom-tier Seattle SuperSonics building the biggest lead any team has had on Phoenix this season other than the home opener debacle against the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Suns tried to manufacture some fun Thursday, all coming out in headbands in lieu of throwback jerseys for a retro-looking 40th anniversary celebration. Instead, the look honored the franchise's start with play like the 1968-69's 16-66 team and Phoenix had to make their own fun by rallying.

The Suns did not just wipe out the 33-13 hole after one quarter. They obliterated it, pulling even in the first two minutes of the second half and never trailing again in a 104-96 win. The victory thrusted Phoenix into first place in the Western Conference with San Antonio's loss Thursday.
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"Between the orange headbands, the black and white on TV and how we played, I thought they might just cancel the game and say, 'This is enough,' " Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We set basketball back enough the first 10 minutes. It was not pretty. But from then on, I thought our defense and energy and what we have been talking about the last three quarters was great."

It was the largest margin Phoenix had overcome for victory since coming back from 21 points down against Houston in March 2004.

The Suns were spared national embarrassment early when TNT stayed with Portland's double-overtime win in Chicago into the second quarter in Phoenix, where the headbands had been ditched by the time Seattle led 26-9 after 9:32 (except for Marcus Banks' usual y one and Boris Diaw's new look).

The Sonics shot poorly but it didn't matter because they scored 12 of the first 26 points on second chances against the NBA's worst rebounding team.

The Suns. matched their season's worst scoring quarter at Minnesota with 13 first-quarter points. They missed 4 of their first 22 shots before rarely used guard Marcus Banks drove and dished to Amaré Stoudemire for free throws and then hit a pull-up jumper to spur some momentum. Phoenix kept Seattle to shooting almost exclusively jump shots in the Sonics' 12-point second quarter, a Suns opponent season low for any quarter.

Phoenix trailed 45-43 to a 9-22 team going into halftime but still got standing ovation for the final 29 seconds just for holding Seattle to two points over minutes.

"We played a lot of good minutes and, in my opinion, we could have won this game," Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo said. "They had a few more guys step up."

The Suns outscored the Sonics 59-30 over the middle quarters, using a stretch of 1-for-7 shooting by ex-Suns Kurt Thomas (14 points, 12 rebounds) to regain the lead midway through the third quarter.

Despite losing Stoudemire to his fourth foul and resting Nash, the Suns closed the third on a 7-0 run in the final two minutes with some of Leandro Barbosa's 14 second-half points. Phoenix led 72-63 entering the fourth.

Phoenix had held Seattle to 34.6 percent shooting for the first three quarters but the Sonics scored inside often in the fourth (18 points in the paint).

Seattle closed the lead to 98-94 with 1:25 to go but Stoudemire and Raja Bell teamed for a steal to send the Suns to their fourth consecutive win.

Stoudemire finished with 34 points and 11 rebounds, making Phoenix 12-0 when he has at least 20 points and 10 rebounds.

"I missed preseason, wasn't quite as healthy as I wanted to be in the first 15 or 20 games," said Stoudemire, who is averaging 30.8 points in the past four games. "But now I'm starting to feel better. My legs are back. My conditioning level is where it should be and it should go higher from there."

Report

Cheers

Phoenix shot 52 percent over the final three quarters. That is, if you can forgive a 4-for-20 first quarter.

Jeers

Phoenix gave up 12 second-chance points in the first quarter and another eight in the fourth.

Player of the game

Amaré Stoudemire was 1 of 4 in the second quarter until he made his second 3-pointer of the season to spark a 34-point game.

View from press row

The best retro looks went to the Suns' staff, including the pink satin "Rick's Ladies" jackets for team president Rick Welts. Head athletic trainer Aaron Nelson paid homage to Joe Proski with his classic white warm-up jacket and white pants. Assistant athletic trainer Mike Elliott sported an Al Bianchi look with plaid pants and a white belt. The broadcast team kept the telecast vintage with Tom Leander's gold chains and Tom Chambers' turtleneck. The only thumbs down went to one staff member's one's choice of a Jerrod Mustaf warm-up.

- Paul Coro

Suns' 40th anniversary team

The Suns announced their 40th anniversary team Thursday, as voted upon on suns.com4 by fans. It included the nine Ring of Honor players and three active stars:

Alvan Adams

Charles Barkley

Tom Chambers

Walter Davis

Connie Hawkins

Kevin Johnson

Dan Majerle

Shawn Marion

Steve Nash

Amaré Stoudemire

Dick Van Arsdale

Paul Westphal

[SwingMan]

Marion looks for big January (http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/0103sunsnb.html)

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/pics/0103sunsins.jpg
SuperSonics forward/center Kurt Thomas chats with former teammate Shawn Marion during the fourth quarter Thursday.

Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 3, 2008 11:48 PM

Throughout four-time All-Star Shawn Marion's career,January has been his month. A 19.8 career scoring average in this month says so. The Suns forward might need it to be his best again.

It's campaign season, and Marion has four weeks to complete his platform to be an All-Star for a fourth consecutive year. Teammates Steve Nash and Amaré Stoudemire are more likely to be among the Western Conference coaches' Jan. 31 reserve selections.

Thursday's update on the fans' All-Star starter voting had Nash sliding behind Denver's Allen Iverson into fourth place among guards. Stoudemire remained a distant second to Houston's Yao Ming at center.
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Marion's scoring average is down for a second consecutive season, going from a career-best 21.8 in 2005-06 to 17.5 last season to 16.3 this season entering Thursday. His averages for rebounds (10.0), steals (2.1) and blocks (1.3) are consistent with last season, and his shooting percentage (52.6) is above 52 for a third year in a row.

"When you look at picking All-Stars, I think you have to say, 'Can that team win without that player?' " Marion said. "Or are they as good without that player? When Andrei Kirilenko was an All-Star (in 2004), his numbers didn't look like All-Star numbers, but he did everything for that team and they were having a good year."

Coaches, who pick reserve spots, often rave about Marion's unique skill set. His best All-Star chance will come if the coaches stick to positions for the reserves, because the pool is deep at guard, strong at center and top-heavy at forward.

San Antonio's Tim Duncan and Denver's Carmelo Anthony figure to be the West's forward starters, leaving coaches to pick among Utah's Carlos Boozer, Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard, New Orleans' David West, Marion and the Suns' Grant Hill.

"In their own way, they all deserve it," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said.

Last January, Marion had rebounding games of 17, 20 and 23. He ended last month with 16 rebounds in three games and 11 free-throw attempts in 10 games.

"If he's active, he's going to fall into a lot of double-doubles," Nash said.

Thomas returns

Seattle entered Thursday with a 9-22 record but went 6-7 in December when center Kurt Thomas started. Thursday marked Thomas' first game against Phoenix (he missed the opener in Seattle for an injury) since the Suns traded him to Seattle to trim his $9 million salary from the payroll.

Thomas can't qualify for NBA leaders due to a hamstring injury, but his 19.0 rebounds per 48 minutes would rank second in the NBA.

"Kurt brings a tremendous amount of professionalism to our team as a veteran presence and also adds some basketball identity that we're trying to establish," Seattle General Manager Sam Presti said.

Over the Hill?

Only Golden State's Monta Ellis and Baron Davis entered Thursday with more fast-break points than Hill. Hill, 35, started his 32nd consecutive game Thursday, his longest run of starts since he opened the 1999-2000 season in Detroit with 39.

[Dustbuster]

How did Amare manage to put up such great numbers and still be -2 for the game? I guess it must be the slow start. Still, he is the only starter with negative numbers for the game. You have to like his overall numbers for the year. With the exception of rebounds, all of his numbers are up over last years pretty much.

Better assists, less turnovers, more blocks, more points, less minutes...and he just seems to be hitting his stride now.

On the downside, he still makes just about every opposing big look like a monster on the glass and as a scorer in the post. Maybe heightened conditioning and confidence will help that a big more.

Diaw's numbers aren't all that great from last night, but it should be noted that he was a +12 for the game. I would like to see better numbers for him, although he did have limited minutes last night.

We started by getting killed on the boards, but finished only down 4 overall, although Seattle was a +8 in offensive rebounds. We managed to allow KT and Collison 26 rebounds (11 offensive) between them.

As per usual, a pretty mixed bag. Hard to complain about being #1 in the West, however! If we can improve our weaknesses and chemistry as the season progresses, we might just fare fine come playoff time. We still have the big question as to whether Hill will still be available then, although he seems to have done very well so far.

[CTSuns]

Being from Connecticut I was only able to see the game on TNT last night, but was very curious about the black and white feed that was shown on Phoenix local TV. I checked Youtube and they didnt have anything...just wanted to know if anyone from Phoenix who has the game still available were thinking of uploading it.

[bobster]

i wouldn't say amare is a bad rebounder, he actually rebounds at a better rate per 48 minutes than marion [13.8/13.1], it's just that outside of amare, marion and skinner they don't have anyone else who is even passable on the boards.

amare's defense isn't good, but the reason other bigs kill the suns on the offensive boards is because when amare or skinner goes to help on defense they have free reign to do whatever they want inside.

here are the rebounds per 48 for the rotation players -

skinner - 14.8
stoudemire - 13.8
marion - 13.1
diaw - 7.8
hill - 6.2
nash - 5.2
bell - 4.8
barbosa - 4.7

this is the problem with d'antoni playing diaw as a PF/C - sure he draws centers away from the basket offensively and can hold his own most of the time defensively, but they just get killed on the boards.

[Xcon]

Being from Connecticut I was only able to see the game on TNT last night, but was very curious about the black and white feed that was shown on Phoenix local TV. I checked Youtube and they didnt have anything...just wanted to know if anyone from Phoenix who has the game still available were thinking of uploading it.

Isn't that the normal quality picture that 45 broadcasts?? ;-) God they must be using 50 year old technology for that station. It's horrible. And they say it's HD??? My ass.

As far as the Suns are concerned, I think they still need to make one more small change. Either another decent big or a good long range shooter, but i guess that's stating the obvious. Not sure there are any opportunities to pick someone up anyway.

[bobster]

Suns' 40th anniversary team

Alvan Adams
Charles Barkley
Tom Chambers
Walter Davis
Connie Hawkins
Kevin Johnson
Dan Majerle
Shawn Marion
Steve Nash
Amaré Stoudemire
Dick Van Arsdale
Paul Westphal

i don't have any complaints except one - i would have gone with larry nance over majerle. nance was a better defensive player and offensive player and was just as versatile.

nance - 487 games, .561 fg%, .717 ft%, 7.8 reb, 2.6 ast, 1.92 blk, 17.3 pts
majerle - 595 gp, 32.6 min, .443 fg%, .364 3P%, ,741 ft%, 4.7 reb, 3.1 ast, 1.36 stl, 13.5 pts

[Billyjoejimbob]

How did Amare manage to put up such great numbers and still be -2 for the game? I guess it must be the slow start. Still, he is the only starter with negative numbers for the game. You have to like his overall numbers for the year. With the exception of rebounds, all of his numbers are up over last years pretty much.

Better assists, less turnovers, more blocks, more points, less minutes...and he just seems to be hitting his stride now.

On the downside, he still makes just about every opposing big look like a monster on the glass and as a scorer in the post. Maybe heightened conditioning and confidence will help that a big more.

Diaw's numbers aren't all that great from last night, but it should be noted that he was a +12 for the game. I would like to see better numbers for him, although he did have limited minutes last night.

We started by getting killed on the boards, but finished only down 4 overall, although Seattle was a +8 in offensive rebounds. We managed to allow KT and Collison 26 rebounds (11 offensive) between them.

As per usual, a pretty mixed bag. Hard to complain about being #1 in the West, however! If we can improve our weaknesses and chemistry as the season progresses, we might just fare fine come playoff time. We still have the big question as to whether Hill will still be available then, although he seems to have done very well so far.

I think Amare's minus numbers are probably because he played almost the whole first quarter when everybody was terrible. He did have a couple of turnovers in that quarter, didn't seem to be able to hold on to the ball and he was very passive on defense.

[scosuns]

Banks played last night and Banks played last night. And it was the first quarter. WOW! Ok, its just exciting. I'm happy D' Antoni gave him actual time. Anyways, happy we won the game. Just an ugly first quarter.

[jed]

This was obviously not our best game. Plenty of challenges we've yet to overcome. However, I'm glad to see that both the team and the media have realized the main one -- that getting Amare involved early and regularly gets both he and the team going. Simple as that.

[wpmiller42]

Banks played last night and Banks played last night. And it was the first quarter. WOW! Ok, its just exciting. I'm happy D' Antoni gave him actual time. Anyways, happy we won the game. Just an ugly first quarter.

I thought Banks played pretty well last night. Good defense, kept the ball moving, didn't force anything. Honestly, I think if he just got 5-10 minutes a half, we might start to really see something from him.

Last year, Coach had every right to bench him. This year I think he is playing much better (even if the stats don't show it) and if he got consistent minutes, even if they weren't alot to start with, he would show alot of improvement and become a much better asset to the team.

[sehan]

"How did Amare manage to put up such great numbers and still be -2 for the game? I guess it must be the slow start. Still, he is the only starter with negative numbers for the game. You have to like his overall numbers for the year. With the exception of rebounds, all of his numbers are up over last years pretty much."

That is why i think that statistic is the dumbest thing to track on a game by game basis. Just has no merit what so ever below 20 or 25 game sample size.

[Nodack]

The only thing worse than their first quarter start last night was having to put up with the retro black and white, low rez, fake dust on the screen broadcast. I could barely tell who was playing on my 50 inch plasma for gods sake. I thought it was cool for about two plays, but then is was just real annoying. The second quarter was a little better in low red color, but not much. Seeing Al McKoy broadcast again was great though along with all the other announcers throughout Suns history.

As far as the game goes, it looked like a lot of rust or like they were going through the motions in the first quarter except for Nash. I guess after being down 20 they decided to start playing basketball and cought up in a hurry. They won the game so I won't give them too much grief.

[scosuns]

That first quarter was just ugly. It worked out well that it was in black and white. But, the game was on national television, so that didn't help. But, the POR-CHI game went into overtime, so it wasn't a big national thing. Its actually pretty sad that we won. Of course I'm happy about it, but, it doesn't say much for the inverse Sonics.

[Phoenix219]

Did Hill get hurt last night? Theres no talk about it but he seemed stiff and then got tripped up and they took him out, he looked wobbly. Is he okay?

[Billyjoejimbob]

This is Paul Coro's blog from today. It does say a little something about Grant's tailbone, but not a lot of information.

http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/PaulCoro/13893


How's the view up there?

Suns fans woke up Friday with the West's longest win streak and a view overlooking the West. It's qualified, of course. Really, the Suns are tied in the loss column with San Antonio and the Spurs have not had their Big Three together for an entire game since the end of November.

But first place is first place, sort of like a win is a win Thursday no matter if it was an eyesore for the first quarter. If that 33-13 Seattle lead felt about as bad as it's been this season, you were right. The biggest holes Phoenix had been 33 (loss to the Lakers), 18 (loss to Golden State, 16 (loss to New Orleans), 14 (loss to Miami), 13 (win over Miami) and 11 (loss to Houston). It was only the 14th time in club history that Phoenix has rallied from a deficit of at least 20 points.

Care to relive any of the first quarter? Grant Hill had a rough one. Tthere was some postgame speculation that the tailbone he bruised while trying to take the charge on Trevor Ariza's dunk on Christmas was agitated Thursday. Hill was 0 for 5 in the first, ending the quarter by traveling and then losing the ball inside on the next trip after a nice Marcus Banks pass. There were eight Seattle offensive rebounds for 12 second-chance points. There was Leandro Barbosa fouling twice in his first two minutes and three times in 5:35. Phoenix made four baskets, all unassisted, especially when three of them are made by Steve Nash.

"Our success is sufficiently linked to playing well, playing hard and being more competitive," Nash said. "We made up for it the last 3 1/2 quarters."

Blame the headbands. Suns pharaoh of media factoids Vince Kozar pointed out after the game that Phoenix outscored Seattle 93-70 after ditching the headbands.

The defense was pretty good, but for the lack of loose ball and rebounding hustle, until the fourth quarter when it seemed Seattle could get into the paint as much as it wanted.

The best thing for the Suns again was to see Amare Stoudemire look like the STAT that you want to see -- aggressive, intense and getting touches down the stretch for his fourth consecutive big game.

Stoudemire was at the heart of holding Seattle off down the stretch, scoring on pick-and-roll when the game was in the balance in the final minute ("I couldn't miss him," Stoudemire said of setting the screen on 6-foot-9 Kevin Durant defending Nash) and teaming up with Raja Bell for two turnover stops on the Sonics' high screen-and-rolls late in the game. (By the way, you have to appreciate that Durant apologized to his teammates after the game for the two key turnovers).

Stoudemire had a lot of head-to-head time with former locker room neighbor Kurt Thomas, who implored Nash before the game to "Take it easy on us" before he saved his best double-double of the season for the Suns.

"It was fun, a lot of fun trash-talking between the two kind of reminded me of practice," Stoudemire said. "I loved playing with Kurt. I had a great time. He's a great locker room guy. He's a great friend, a great motivational veteran. It was fun to be back with him."

[scosuns]

So I guess D' Antoni will give him 40 minutes tomorrow night to make sure its ok. Honestly, if its something more than the usual nagging injury, Grant should sit. We have much more important games and we need to make sure this isn't a constant thing throughout the season. But, knowing D' Antoni, Grant will play 30-35 minutes and its not going to help the tailbone.

[Xcon]

A leopard can't change it's spot unfortunately. D'Antoni is who he is, much like Boris is who he is. To expect them to change is a lesson in futility imo.

[Superbone]

How did Amare manage to put up such great numbers and still be -2 for the game? I guess it must be the slow start. Still, he is the only starter with negative numbers for the game. You have to like his overall numbers for the year. With the exception of rebounds, all of his numbers are up over last years pretty much.

Wow. These +/- stats might be the worst thing to happen to basketball in a long time.

[MTSunsFan]

How did Amare manage to put up such great numbers and still be -2 for the game? I guess it must be the slow start. Still, he is the only starter with negative numbers for the game. You have to like his overall numbers for the year. With the exception of rebounds, all of his numbers are up over last years pretty much.

Wow. These +/- stats might be the worst thing to happen to basketball in a long time.

Agreed, sup. That's why I pay little to no attention to them.

On a side note, I again am really leaning towards wanting to have Barbs start. Especially after reading this:


Leandro Barbosa, meanwhile, has actually fared better in Phoenix's first five -- averaging 25.7 points on 58 percent shooting in six starts, compared to 14.7 points on 43 percent shooting as a reserve -- than he's fared trying to live up to last season's Sixth Man Award.

[Mori_Chu]

Is anyone else tired of reading this after every single game the Suns play?

"Hill, 35, started his XXth consecutive game today, his longest run of starts since he opened the 1999-2000 season in Detroit with 39."

We get it. He isn't injured yet. Stop mentioning it. You will jinx it.

[IcebergSlim]

Dwight Howard or Amare Staudamire?

[INFORMER]

Amare. I love Howard's rebounding and D, but I think Amare can be the best big-man offensive force in the game.

[Nate]

So I guess D' Antoni will give him 40 minutes tomorrow night to make sure its ok. Honestly, if its something more than the usual nagging injury, Grant should sit. We have much more important games and we need to make sure this isn't a constant thing throughout the season. But, knowing D' Antoni, Grant will play 30-35 minutes and its not going to help the tailbone.

If Hill has just a bruised tailbone, coach would actually be wise to play Hill. You cant really worsen it by playing and it will heal faster if you move a lot and have high blood circulation. In case it is worse than only a bruise Hill should certainly sit and take a few days off with Raja.

[JustWinBaby]

{We started by getting killed on the boards, but finished only down 4 overall, although Seattle was a +8 in offensive rebounds. We managed to allow KT and Collison 26 rebounds (11 offensive) between them.}

This is exactly why we won. We made it close of the boards when all was said and done. Coach D calls it energy. He can call it whatever he wants. But if we get outrebounded by double digits, we basically have no chance of beating anyone. If we out rebound teams, even by one rebound, they virtually have no chance to beat us.

What makes this team and D'Antoni's system amazing is that we really do not "have to" out rebound our opponent to win, but we need to keep our rebounding deficit within reason, like last night.

[jkalldaway]

Here is a link to a video showing Amare's 34 points last night. He is getting pretty high on those dunks. Honestly I would have believed it was '04-05 with the headband and all. http://youtube.com/watch?v=_ur0Fz65lpM

[Wormwood]

+/- Stats aren't all that useful in judging a player based on only one game. In fact, the stat has a very high variance, so you need a lot of samples to be reasonably sure of it. Also, it needs to be adjusted for playing time.

After 30 or so games, when the sample size is big enough and the stat has stabilized and the confidence interval on the mean has shunk to a reasonable level, +/- per 48 is probably the best single stat for comparing players on a team. In order to compare players from different teams, you need to add the total team differential per 48. Thus, players on good team are rewarded with higher +/- scores.

Unlike PER, it captures defense. Unlike eff, it doesn't discrimiminate against certain positions (PG).

[LazarusLong]

"I missed preseason, wasn't quite as healthy as I wanted to be in the first 15 or 20 games," said Stoudemire, who is averaging 30.8 points in the past four games. "But now I'm starting to feel better. My legs are back. My conditioning level is where it should be and it should go higher from there."

If that's true, and not just bravado, the second half of the season should be fun to watch.
He could be capable of putting up another 50-point game.

[JediSkywalker]

Right now I think the Suns are an above average team, just over 0.5, even though their W/L gives gaudy numbers. They have beaten just a couple of playoff caliber teams. Last night they were being humiliated by lowly Seattle- a certain lottery team. However, I will forgive them for the 1st quarter. Those headbands and the 40th anniversary celebration must have been distracting. They have two tough teams coming to US Airways center- NOH and Nuggets. Both are playing very well. Will the Suns beat them? They better. Denver beat SA last night, so it will be tough to beat them in Denver. Better take advantage of the home court. Not every team will collapse the way Seattle did.

It was nice to see Kurt Thomas play though.

[Xcon]

Dwight Howard or Amare Staudamire?


DH for the win. Maybe Amare if he didn't have the knee issues. But damn Howard is a beast. Looks like they made him in the lab that they made Ivan Drago in.

[jkalldaway]

yeah, we are an above average team. Please. I honestly can't wait until playoff team just so everyone can say, "Oh, I see, there was never really a reason to freak out."

[ethan_cohen]

"Right now I think the Suns are an above average team"

Wow. Just wow. Where's Mr. Radman with the Hyperbole award for the night?

It's hard to get up for a team like Seattle because we're not just above average. We're elite. That doesn't excuse the first quarter, but let's deal in reality here.

Go tell fans from Indiana, Washington, Houston or Utah that we're just above average and you'll have a fight on your hands. It's insulting.

Wow, we're spoiled.

[Andy_S]

Wow, we're spoiled.

We're not only spoiled, but desperate. I think that is the source of much of our fan base's angst through this last run we've had at a championship (ie, all of D'antoni's tenure). For all the years we've been in the league, we've usually been a good team. In fact, we've usually been quite good, if not always contending then usually on the verge of it. But our inability to get the ring has made people a little crazy.

Add to that our recent era of redefining basketball and almost singlehandedly changing the way the game is being played around the league, and hell yeah, we're spoiled. But spoiled and desperate make you even crazier. "We're under .750 -- let's fire the coach! Let's trade Amare! Let's trade Marion!"

I say let's settle down.

[Xcon]

I think we're desperate because we've leverage our future for this year and maybe next. After that, I fear we're going to have a large dropoff with no draft picks to help turn things around. So I think fans feel the need win now as the post Nash era will probably be somewhat grim for a while.

[desertcoast]

Suns are still an elite team.

Thing is...other perennial door mats of the league got better this year.
GS , NO, Denver, Portland are good
Lakers: better than expected
Utah might still be good, Houston doesn't totally suck
Boston...duh...

We're not going to be blowing people out of the water this year 'cause the league actually got better ( and we're still not "playoff sharp")

But we're still pretty damn good :wink:

[frezix]

http://www.nba.com/dleague/games/20080104/ABQANA/boxscore.html DJ with an impressive shooting night

[ethan_cohen]

"I think we're desperate because we've leverage our future for this year and maybe next. After that, I fear we're going to have a large dropoff with no draft picks to help turn things around. So I think fans feel the need win now as the post Nash era will probably be somewhat grim for a while."

Irrational fear. You mean like how we were screwed after we traded Marbury for dirt and a 6 inch meatball sub? How long was the drop off? When has this team ever dropped off? Last time we appeared in the lottery, we followed the season up with a trip the WCFs.

History doesn't support your fear. We've consistently built teams through sleeper draft picks and big free agent signings. Nash's eventual retirement won't change that.

The desperation is because we're soooooo close. And that's why we're not just an above average team.

[JediSkywalker]

Suns are still an elite team.

Thing is...other perennial door mats of the league got better this year.GS , NO, Denver, Portland are good
Lakers: better than expected
Utah might still be good, Houston doesn't totally suck
Boston...duh...

We're not going to be blowing people out of the water this year 'cause the league actually got better ( and we're still not "playoff sharp")

But we're still pretty damn good :wink:

It means the league average has gone up a lot. The eastern conference still has just 3 elite teams (Celtics, Pistons, Magic)and 2 of them are capable of beating any team in the west.

The western conference is crowded, with many teams vying for the top playoff spots. The really bad teams will be weeded out, and there are not many of those (Minnesota, Memphis, Clippers, Seattle). Out of the playoff contenders, any team can beat any other team. Most teams have improved over last year. The Suns have improved some, but some key deficiencies exist. Age could catch up with them. One injury could ruin the rest of the season for us, and there are no backups to step up if the need arises. That is why I feel that the Suns are not as good as their current record indicates. There is a lot of basketball to be played; will they last the whole season?

The Suns fans are tired of seeing their team make a run toward the playoffs, with a nice regular season record, only to be eliminated. They need to take the next step (NBA Finals) and I don't see that happening with this team.

[RDM2]

But you saw it with the 05-06 team I'm sure. :roll:

[JediSkywalker]

But you saw it with the 05-06 team I'm sure. :roll:

That team did not go to the NBA Finals.:roll:

[Andy_S]

Seeing Al McKoy broadcast again was great though along with all the other announcers throughout Suns history.

I disagree. Having Al do the broadcast for a bit made me painfully aware of how much the Suns and their fans lost when he was put on radio only.

It wasn't great; it hurts. The man is brilliant, and should be the voice of the team. But for some reason, he's not.

[Andy_S]

But you saw it with the 05-06 team I'm sure. :roll:

That team did not go to the NBA Finals.:roll:

I'm just rolling my eyes because they're sore. :roll:

[ethan_cohen]

C'mon NashFan.

You say we got older so we're at risk. Kind of like Detroit, Boston, Dallas and San Antonio. Garnett Pierce and Allen are racking up 38 minutes per game. San Antonio has been plagued by injuries and losing games because of it. Dallas relies on veterans like Eddie Jones and Jerry Stackhouse to play big minutes. And they're playing really bad.

Which contender in the West isn't older AND can survive a major injury?

Your fear is justified, but it's not a unique situation. Everybody has the same problem.

[Nate]

C'mon NashFan.

You say we got older so we're at risk. Kind of like Detroit, Boston, Dallas and San Antonio. Garnett Pierce and Allen are racking up 38 minutes per game. San Antonio has been plagued by injuries and losing games because of it. Dallas relies on veterans like Eddie Jones and Jerry Stackhouse to play big minutes. And they're playing really bad.

Which contender in the West isn't older AND can survive a major injury?

Your fear is justified, but it's not a unique situation. Everybody has the same problem.

A big WORD.

[desertcoast]

Seeing Al McKoy broadcast again was great though along with all the other announcers throughout Suns history.

I disagree. Having Al do the broadcast for a bit made me painfully aware of how much the Suns and their fans lost when he was put on radio only.

It wasn't great; it hurts. The man is brilliant, and should be the voice of the team. But for some reason, he's not.

As I listened, I considered what it would cost to make several thousand buttons featuring a picture of Tom Leander with a red slash through it. Maybe with the words: Give Us Back Al or Free Al!!
http://www.desertcoast.com/images/NoLeander.jpg

Hand them out to fans as they enter the arena....maybe that would get the management's attention. We want Al back, dammit :wink:

One of our Gambo and Ash spots was basically a tribute to Al, and I even mention the fact that real fans with HD surround systems have an AM radio next to their TV sets tuned to Al.
Ash has told me that the Suns love the spot.

They know this sentiment is out there...but they aren't getting the message.....

[Nodack]

He fell on his ass and bruised his tailbone a little. He's a little sore, but nothing life threatening.

[ShelC]

I dont know why, but i feel like at least 2-3 times every game Hill hits the floor super hard. It was really only a matter of time before something got tweaked.

[INFORMER]

The eastern conference still has just 3 elite teams (Celtics, Pistons, Magic)and 2 of them are capable of beating any team in the west.

The Magic are not elite.


The western conference is crowded, with many teams vying for the top playoff spots.

With that said, I'm not really afraid of anyone. I still think that all that stands in the way of Phoenix is San Antonio. The Lakers have me slightly worried, I'll admit. And New Orleans seems like they could potentially upset the Suns (Chris Paul is seriously challenging for the title of best point guard in the league).

Utah has the guns to threaten Phoenix, but they just can't seem to get it together, and they don't seem like they could stop or even slow the Suns on offense.

I'm not worried about Dallas as at all. Denver, Houston, Golden State, Portland (though they're really nice, they just don't have the experience), etc. are all extremely beatable and I don't see any of them improving enough to challenge the Suns in the playoffs.

[INFORMER]

Here is a link to a video showing Amare's 34 points last night. He is getting pretty high on those dunks. Honestly I would have believed it was '04-05 with the headband and all.

Regarding the ongoing debate on what Amare has or has not lost post-microfracture: I think his athleticism is fine; he just can't drive (putting the ball on the floor) and dunk over people. A loss in "wow" factor perhaps, but still an extremely potent offensive force.

[misteradiant]

With that said...

smoking i am laid out for the sun
and though it rains
i am dry
waiting for the mad dog butterflies from the drought
they pass my window by the dozens
god and the devil flapping wind breezes
dreams flashing blind on high
second story
flat grey sky

[INFORMER]

Does that count as an assist?

[misteradiant]

or an and-one ;)

[Mori_Chu]

Don't underestimate Dallas. They, like us, are not playing up to their full potential yet. But I think they are just as much a threat as San Antonio, and I want no part of them in a series.

[Mori_Chu]

But I agree with most of what you said otherwise, INF. Houston has never scared me; ditto Denver. The Warriors actually scare me a little bit, but I think they lost something when they shipped out Richardson for the unimpressive Italian rookie. I have a healthy respect for the Lakers, and I think they'd give us a tough series, but I think we'd beat them in 6 or so.

I'll say this: I think that if our path to the title is the following:

LAL
DAL
SA
(BOS or DET)

, then we will NOT win the championship. In fact, I don't think we'd get to the NBA finals. One of DAL or SA would probably knock us off; probably it'd be the Spurs after we were so worn out from a series with the Mavs.

I think that if things work out where we only have to face one of SA or DAL, we have a great chance.

[INFORMER]

All the Suns have to do is beat San Antonio. They do that, and you can throw whomever you wnat at them. I'll qualify that though by admitting that the Pistons would be a very formidable foe, and even if the Suns can conquer the Spurs, the Pistons could knock them off.

[Mori_Chu]

I remain convinced that the Pistons will come out of the East. The Celtics have an amazing record, but I love the Pistons' balance and depth. As much impact as their big 3 have had, I don't fully believe in any of them as "winners" yet.

[JediSkywalker]

Even though the Pistons lost last night to the Celtics, I think they are the best team in the NBA this year. They are a very complete team, and could knock off the western conference champs in the NBA finals. If the Celtics somehow win the east, I think THEY will beat the western team. The west does not look that formidable this year; may be they are just making each other look not so good.