2010 Playoffs: Round 1, Game 6 - Suns At Trail Blazers Game Thread

[Cheesebeef]

Apparently Nash was REALLY hurting tonight. The three days off here is hopefully just what the doctor ordered. The entire Spurs series hinges on one game and one game only... Game 1. Whoever wins that game, wins the series IMO.

 

[ninous26]

Cheesebeef you're scaring me..

 

[Suns_fan69]

GRANT HILL DRINKS SPRITE!

I was yelling this after that huge block on Bayless. Texted to my brother and another good friend and answered my phone with that when my confused sister called.

Good stuff!

 

[Covert Rain]

Apparently Nash was REALLY hurting tonight. The three days off here is hopefully just what the doctor ordered. The entire Spurs series hinges on one game and one game only... Game 1. Whoever wins that game, wins the series IMO.

I will take it one step further. Something is wrong with Nash. I don't know if the guy is hurting or what. Three games in a row I have seen him make some of the worst passes (turnovers) I have EVER seen him make.

I mean really really bad passes that are un-Nash like. Then to top it off, the guy could not hold onto the ball. Yes he had a couple big plays at the end but we won despite Nash's horrible play for 3 quarters.

My guess is that his back is acting up or he chose the wrong time to hit the Veteran wall. Hopefully, the rest does him good. He obviously needs it. Gentry even mentioned in the press conference how tired Nash was after game 4.

 

[Michael]

WOW! What a game by Phoenix! Clearly the worst I've ever seen Nash play and I felt more comfortable with Dragic on the floor. But still, Phoenix managed to win the ball game!
Grant Hill was just amazing, and that block woke my neighbors (or my reaction to it, rather...).
And although so much has been said about Dudley and Looooouuuuu, these guys are the fire that keeps the Suns burning. If we'd have had a bench like that in previous years....
J-Rich is the series MVP. If he can play even close to that in the second round, we might even ... not I don't wanna write it.

 

[Covert Rain]

Nash is injured. It's been confirmed.

Nash post game said "I strained my hip before Game 2 and it just came back really bad tonight," said Nash. "I was really hurting tonight but I didn't want to make my physical problems the center of attention. I just tried to not even talk about it and just be there for my team if I could at some point."

Great...just what we need. An injured Nash. Obviously, this is a pretty bad strain if it happened 2 games ago and was a huge problem during this game.

 

[Michael]

Nash is injured. It's been confirmed.

Nash post game said "I strained my hip before Game 2 and it just came back really bad tonight," said Nash. "I was really hurting tonight but I didn't want to make my physical problems the center of attention. I just tried to not even talk about it and just be there for my team if I could at some point."

Great...just what we need. An injured Nash. Obviously, this is a pretty bad strain if it happened 2 games ago and was a huge problem during this game.

Damn! Can't we ever get a break?!? I don't like the Suns' chances without Lopez and an injured Nash.

 

[dodie53]

very good win!

kill the spurs!

 

[AfroSuns]

Anyone hear Amare post-game comment after the game on TNT, when asked about the Spurs? it really showed how far he has come and how matured he is. I hope Steve gets better soon, because we dont stand a chance against the Spurs if he is not on top of his game.

 

[95pro]

damn, start of the 4th...barbs was handling the ball again running the offense. not good.
reminded me of game 4 at portland last saturday.

refs in the 4th really wanted to make it interesting. plenty of questionable calls to go around.

 

[jagu]

I loved Amare's rebounding total last night. 3 rebounds.

With 3 rebounds from Amare, and 7 TO's by Nash. It's still pretty amazing we got a victory in that game. Gentry stayed with the bench and even though it looked like the bench wasn't doing the job they did pretty well to manage it.

The only reason the game drew closer was because Webster was en fuego and hitting all types of shots. As much as I dislike Portland's Bayless, I really enjoyed watching Martell Webster play ball this series. He looks like he is going to be a legit scorer. He makes tough shots and in clutch situations as well.

I have to say, I think its probably for the better if we avoid going to Barbosa in the next series.

A) He is atrocious against the Spurs.
B) He takes shots like he is Lebron and bricks all of them.

There is a panic inside when he even touches the ball now. The ball feels a lot safer when its in Dragic's hands, like he is going to do something positive with it. Barbosa, Frye scare me.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Apparently Nash was REALLY hurting tonight. The three days off here is hopefully just what the doctor ordered. The entire Spurs series hinges on one game and one game only... Game 1. Whoever wins that game, wins the series IMO.

I've a huge Nash fan but have been screaming for him to play less minutes as he has looked so bad... so ineffective... Now we know why I guess. Bummer about the injury!

Not sure about your Game 1 prediction there Cheese... I think the Suns can afford to lose game 1, ONLY if they pick up a game in San Antonio. I can easily see this series going in a very similar direction to the Blazers series in that even if the Suns lose Game 1 and can pick up a game in SA, they would have a shot at closing this series out in 6.
However, there is an equal, if not greater chance that the Spurs take us in 6 games.

Just wish Lopez was healthy... He would've been HUGE in this series...

 

[AfroSuns]

I loved Amare's rebounding total last night. 3 rebounds.

With 3 rebounds from Amare, and 7 TO's by Nash. It's still pretty amazing we got a victory in that game. Gentry stayed with the bench and even though it looked like the bench wasn't doing the job they did pretty well to manage it.

The only reason the game drew closer was because Webster was en fuego and hitting all types of shots. As much as I dislike Portland's Bayless, I really enjoyed watching Martell Webster play ball this series. He looks like he is going to be a legit scorer. He makes tough shots and in clutch situations as well.

I have to say, I think its probably for the better if we avoid going to Barbosa in the next series.

A) He is atrocious against the Spurs.
B) He takes shots like he is Lebron and bricks all of them.

There is a panic inside when he even touches the ball now. The ball feels a lot safer when its in Dragic's hands, like he is going to do something positive with it. Barbosa, Frye scare me.

You might want to go watch that game again and see how Amare was blocking Camby and not allowed him to get to rebound. Camby who is one of the best at that in the league only got 5!! Without Amare Grant Hill will not have 12 rebounds.
It is rebounding by committee with the Suns and they are doing a very good job of it.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I've a huge Nash fan but have been screaming for him to play less minutes as he has looked so bad... so ineffective... Now we know why I guess. Bummer about the injury!

I think I got accused of not watching the games the last time I mentioned this but IMO Nash has hurt us ALMOST as much as he's helped us since the All-Star break. Whether it's his back problem or his stomach tear or his hip the guy is breaking down right before our eyes. When you consider that for the first 6 weeks of the season he was probably the best point guard in the game that's a huge dropoff.

I really think his minutes need to be severely limited. I'd say no more than 25 minutes a night and no back to backs next season. If this team can't function with those limitations then we need to move him to a team that can afford to restrict his playing time.

Steve

 

[ArizonaSportsFan]

You might want to go watch that game again and see how Amare was blocking Camby and not allowed him to get to rebound. Camby who is one of the best at that in the league only got 5!! Without Amare Grant Hill will not have 12 rebounds.
It is rebounding by committee with the Suns and they are doing a very good job of it.

+1. JRich and Hill and to some extent Nash is the recipient of boxing out. Watch Portland play. Instead of boxing out, Lou tries to jump for it, gets shoved out of the way (no fouls called on this for some reason) and the Blazers get the board. Instead, Amar'e stays on the big man and others come grab the ball. It was working well, as the rebound totals suggest.

 

[jagu]

You might want to go watch that game again and see how Amare was blocking Camby and not allowed him to get to rebound. Camby who is one of the best at that in the league only got 5!! Without Amare Grant Hill will not have 12 rebounds.
It is rebounding by committee with the Suns and they are doing a very good job of it.

In that case you might as well pay the committee the money. I watched Amare close enough to know what he does on the glass. It's pretty pathetic. Camby isn't built anymore to last a full series and it seemed quite clear the guy wore down as the series pushed on. To even defend Amare after getting 3 rebounds is pretty sad. Amare provides a lot to the Suns, but his rebounding was pathetic this entire series.

I think Amare's passing in the 4th quarter was awesome (he's really become a better passer than his heydays), and he started to do better things on the floor in the fourth as well.

 

[AfroSuns]

In that case you might as well pay the committee the money. I watched Amare close enough to know what he does on the glass. It's pretty pathetic. Camby isn't built anymore to last a full series and it seemed quite clear the guy wore down as the series pushed on. To even defend Amare after getting 3 rebounds is pretty sad. Amare provides a lot to the Suns, but his rebounding was pathetic this entire series.

I think Amare's passing in the 4th quarter was awesome (he's really become a better passer than his heydays), and he started to do better things on the floor in the fourth as well.

So Camby getting 4 rebound the whole game is not due to a good box-out, Camby is just old and tired even after getting an extra day of rest this last game. your ridiculous bashing of Amare is baffling. Like i said, without the box-out, Blazers will kill us on the board and you can take that to the bank.

 

[jagu]

So Camby getting 4 rebound the whole game is not due to a good box-out, Camby is just old and tired even after getting an extra day of rest this last game. your ridiculous bashing of Amare is baffling. Like i said, without the box-out, Blazers will kill us on the board and you can take that to the bank.

Say what you want. It's ridiculous to think that a player as dominant as Amare can get 3 rebounds in a game. If you are in fact boxing out a player and logging minutes in the game you can get more than three rebounds in the game. Camby played 21 minutes in the game, and he wasn't even in foul trouble. So your premise of Amare boxing out Camby for the whole game is silly because obviously Camby didn't even play the whole game. 21 minutes comes around to less than two quarters of basketball. Not only that, Camby was playing in the first and second quarters when Amare was on the bench in foul trouble. And if you bothered to watch the 4th quarter you could see how out of position he was on numerous rebounding attempts, giving up offensive rebounds to the likes of Dante Cunningham.

I guess Amare was boxing out the ghost of Camby.. I like Amare but if your defending an NBA player who is supposed to be top 10-15 in the NBA and he gets 3 rebounds in the game, it's a bit of a stretch. But hey, the Amare koolaid drinking lives on.

Amare offensively has been solid, with a great FG% and FT%. However, to average 5.5 RPG in a playoff series is unacceptable IMO.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I've a huge Nash fan but have been screaming for him to play less minutes as he has looked so bad... so ineffective... Now we know why I guess. Bummer about the injury!

Not sure about your Game 1 prediction there Cheese... I think the Suns can afford to lose game 1, ONLY if they pick up a game in San Antonio. I can easily see this series going in a very similar direction to the Blazers series in that even if the Suns lose Game 1 and can pick up a game in SA, they would have a shot at closing this series out in 6.
However, there is an equal, if not greater chance that the Spurs take us in 6 games.

that's just it, if we lose game 1... at home... AGAIN, I have no reason to believe we'll win a Game in SA. SA ain't Portland.

 

[82CardsGrad]

that's just it, if we lose game 1... at home... AGAIN, I have no reason to believe we'll win a Game in SA. SA ain't Portland.

I know... and without a healthy Lopez, it's gonna be so damn tough...

 

[jagu]

I know... and without a healthy Lopez, it's gonna be so damn tough...

After the last game Rolo played against the Knicks the Suns have gone 12-4(including playoffs) and gave up 100 points or more in 3 of those losses. Rolo would help, but the Suns can definitely win without Rolo, they played a whole bunch of tough games to close out the season without him and won.

 

[leclerc]

There is a panic inside when he [Barbosa] even touches the ball now. The ball feels a lot safer when its in Dragic's hands, like he is going to do something positive with it. Barbosa, Frye scare me.

Chill out jagu, they'll be fine. I also prefer Dragic handling the ball and Leandro cutting hard and spotting up though. I knew Nash had to be injured the way he played game 6. Hopefully his back will be better over the weekend. Dragic will just have to play more minutes in the next round.

And how well Grant played tonight. I was wanting to see a smile on his face when Sager asked him about finally being out of the first round

God I hate the Spurs. If we beat them I'll sacrifice something... like a goat.

BEAT THE SPURS
BEAT THE SPURS
BEAT THE SPURS

 

[AzStevenCal]

After the last game Rolo played against the Knicks the Suns have gone 12-4(including playoffs) and gave up 100 points or more in 3 of those losses. Rolo would help, but the Suns can definitely win without Rolo, they played a whole bunch of tough games to close out the season without him and won.

I don't think we really played all that tough of a schedule down the stretch. Several of the better teams we faced were undermanned (much more so than we were minus Lopez) and half of our final 16 games were against non-playoff teams. In fact, several of them were among the absolute worst the league has to offer. We also had plenty of days off down the stretch and even managed to be on the better side of the back to back's we all have to live with. We closed out well without Lopez but we caught a few breaks schedule-wise.

Steve

 

[82CardsGrad]

After the last game Rolo played against the Knicks the Suns have gone 12-4(including playoffs) and gave up 100 points or more in 3 of those losses. Rolo would help, but the Suns can definitely win without Rolo, they played a whole bunch of tough games to close out the season without him and won.

Clearly, you don't understand the difference between playing "games" in the regular season versus playing "GAMES" in the post season...
Suffice to say, it's two entirely different seasons dude. Entirely different teams. Entirely different dynamics.

I'm not at all saying that we can't beat the Spurs without Lopez. I just think it becomes MUCH more difficult.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

I loved Amare's rebounding total last night. 3 rebounds.

With 3 rebounds from Amare, and 7 TO's by Nash. It's still pretty amazing we got a victory in that game. Gentry stayed with the bench and even though it looked like the bench wasn't doing the job they did pretty well to manage it.

y'know, i was bashing amare's rebounding numbers until i realized that camby only had 4. if he's battling with camby to keep him off the boards so others on our team can clean glass, i'm okay with that. i'll trade 3 boards from amare for 4 boards from camby any day of the week and come out the better for it.