Quagmire
The thread killa strikes again
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2004
- Posts
- 527
- Reaction score
- 84
By Joe Gilmartin, Suns.com
Posted: Dec. 2, 2004
Awesome! Just awesome! Not to mention spectacular, to say nothing of downright dazzling.
I know we’re only a month into the season, but no matter how many times you remind yourself of that and plead with yourself to please hold your superlatives until at least the end of the second month in the NBA marathon, they just keep spilling out when you watch these Suns in action.
They not only have the most high-powered offense in the league, but also the best balanced one, although I admit I haven’t crunched all the numbers on the latter. But you don’t need any numbers to see this is also the most entertaining one by far.
All you have to do is watch and try to look and sound as professional as possible while attempting to keep your tongue from hanging out, and keeping your gasps of astonishment to a minimum.
In case you haven’t caught the drift yet, the Suns were at their explosive, entertaining best Wednesday night. And they were good sports, too, as witness the fact they obligingly played the entire first half at the visitors’ tempo -- which explains why they scored “only” 48 points and led by only two at intermission.
But in the second half they put the pedal to the metal, and then their offense got rolling it’s like a runaway steamroller -- only much faster. And the stunned Cavs, who are by no means chopped liver, never did get the numbers of the steamroller that that flattened them.
But even if they had there were just too many to write down. Like 3, 31, 32, 13 and 2. Reading from left to write that would be Quentin Richardson, Shawn Marion, Amare Stoudemire, Steve Nash and Joe Johnson. Every one of those starters is averaging in double-digits for the season, and last night three of them hit 21, one 18 and another 10 (although that last as part of a Marion double-double that included 11 rebounds).
When the starters took most of the fourth period off, Leonardo Barbosa led a charge that produced 34 points and almost as many oohs and ahs as the first five. To show you just how well things are going these days at one point Casey Jacobsen’s perfect lob set up a spectacular stuff by Jake Voskuhl in a very passable imitation of Nash to Stoudemire.
The numbers just keep coming. Nine straight wins, a league-best 13-2 record, 72 second-half points (yes, 72!), 30 fast break points, best start for the franchise in 24 years, etc., etc., etc.
When these guys are at the top of their game they are positively scary. And it’s not just the offense. The defense and rebounding have been much better than expected. Indeed, when so inclined, Marion and Johnson are two of the premier defensive weapons in the league. The former has a well documented history of shutting down top guns of all sizes and reputations, especially in the fourth period, and last night the latter hounded LeBron James (who, trust me, is the real deal) into 6-of-19 shooting.
Of course, Joe had some help and, yes, LeBron did miss some shots he usually makes. But when you are being hounded by a guy with Johnson’s combination of reach, size and quickness, it’s not unusual to start missing even good looks you manage to get.
Overall, the Suns are starting to demonstrate, in rather convincing fashion, that they can just flat out run you out of gas. And when you run out of gas in the middle of a lane, you are basically road kill.
The Suns wore down the Jazz Tuesday night, turning a tight game into a rout in the fourth period. And by the late stages of the third period, the Cavs had nothing left in the tank either. (Of course, when you look at their bench, you realize they have a rather small tank).
The bottom line: The Suns can’t possibly have gotten this good this fast. Can they?
Posted: Dec. 2, 2004
Awesome! Just awesome! Not to mention spectacular, to say nothing of downright dazzling.
I know we’re only a month into the season, but no matter how many times you remind yourself of that and plead with yourself to please hold your superlatives until at least the end of the second month in the NBA marathon, they just keep spilling out when you watch these Suns in action.
They not only have the most high-powered offense in the league, but also the best balanced one, although I admit I haven’t crunched all the numbers on the latter. But you don’t need any numbers to see this is also the most entertaining one by far.
All you have to do is watch and try to look and sound as professional as possible while attempting to keep your tongue from hanging out, and keeping your gasps of astonishment to a minimum.
In case you haven’t caught the drift yet, the Suns were at their explosive, entertaining best Wednesday night. And they were good sports, too, as witness the fact they obligingly played the entire first half at the visitors’ tempo -- which explains why they scored “only” 48 points and led by only two at intermission.
But in the second half they put the pedal to the metal, and then their offense got rolling it’s like a runaway steamroller -- only much faster. And the stunned Cavs, who are by no means chopped liver, never did get the numbers of the steamroller that that flattened them.
But even if they had there were just too many to write down. Like 3, 31, 32, 13 and 2. Reading from left to write that would be Quentin Richardson, Shawn Marion, Amare Stoudemire, Steve Nash and Joe Johnson. Every one of those starters is averaging in double-digits for the season, and last night three of them hit 21, one 18 and another 10 (although that last as part of a Marion double-double that included 11 rebounds).
When the starters took most of the fourth period off, Leonardo Barbosa led a charge that produced 34 points and almost as many oohs and ahs as the first five. To show you just how well things are going these days at one point Casey Jacobsen’s perfect lob set up a spectacular stuff by Jake Voskuhl in a very passable imitation of Nash to Stoudemire.
The numbers just keep coming. Nine straight wins, a league-best 13-2 record, 72 second-half points (yes, 72!), 30 fast break points, best start for the franchise in 24 years, etc., etc., etc.
When these guys are at the top of their game they are positively scary. And it’s not just the offense. The defense and rebounding have been much better than expected. Indeed, when so inclined, Marion and Johnson are two of the premier defensive weapons in the league. The former has a well documented history of shutting down top guns of all sizes and reputations, especially in the fourth period, and last night the latter hounded LeBron James (who, trust me, is the real deal) into 6-of-19 shooting.
Of course, Joe had some help and, yes, LeBron did miss some shots he usually makes. But when you are being hounded by a guy with Johnson’s combination of reach, size and quickness, it’s not unusual to start missing even good looks you manage to get.
Overall, the Suns are starting to demonstrate, in rather convincing fashion, that they can just flat out run you out of gas. And when you run out of gas in the middle of a lane, you are basically road kill.
The Suns wore down the Jazz Tuesday night, turning a tight game into a rout in the fourth period. And by the late stages of the third period, the Cavs had nothing left in the tank either. (Of course, when you look at their bench, you realize they have a rather small tank).
The bottom line: The Suns can’t possibly have gotten this good this fast. Can they?
- with Bulls Draft Pick and/or Milos Vujanic (a decent player), or a Trade with these pieces... I say repeat. 
