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Calling out all Suns
For starters, let's address the team as a whole. The Suns have been terrible in two departments -- turnovers and defense -- for four consecutive games.
Facing a team Saturday that was nothing like the Lakers, Pistons or Hornets, they didn't show improvement in either area of "concentration"? The 76ers rank 26th in offense but scored 24 points above their average in beating the Suns,119-114. The worst turnover average in the league is 16.2 (Seattle) but the Suns are averaging 17.8 in the past five games.
In four years, have the Suns looked further away from winning a championship when fully stocked than they appear right now? The talk in the locker room is that this will take another two weeks. Another two weeks of this?
Hey, at least they helped Atlanta stay in ninth place in the East!
Let's slice up the orange individually . . .
Steve Nash: Never have fans turned on Nash as much as they are doing so right now. He's earned it. If it's not enough that Nash's defense is a constant Suns handicap (especially now that they play straight-up more with Shaquille O'Neal), his run of turnovers is befuddling. He made six Saturday, giving him 23 turnovers in the past five games (4.6 per game, matching his career-worst February average).
By the way, when you run a high two man-game with Shaq and he dives, nobody believes the ball is going there on a roll 10-12 feet from the basket. That cross-court pass to the 3-point shooter is more predictable than ever so it's getting picked. (ZING!)
"We can play easily the way we used to play," Mike D'Antoni said before the game.
It sure doesn't seem like it.
Nash never talks about his own play being off but that's in line with him never banging his chest about his good nights either. It's always a team reaction with Nash, who was supposed to benefit from an emotional jolt out of O'Neal's presence but it looks like that already has passed amid the losing.
Between the final 30 seconds of the first half and first 2:30 of the second half, he made three turnovers that led to a one-on-nothing dunk, a three-on-one fastbreak layup and another one-on-nobody dunk, not to mention the missed jumper between them that created a breakaway layup. The 76ers had 30 fastbreak points with a bunch of those coming off Suns turnovers. Those turnovers for easy points are compromising the Suns defense effort but Nash's individual defense is not helping.
"Right now, we're just struggling," said Nash, who is 7 of 19 from the field in the past two games.
Raja Bell: You expect an impact from his defense at the least but the Suns aren't stopping anybody lately and he's included. See Andre Iguodala quote about how Bell lit his flame.
"He started giving me bumps here and bumps there," Iguodala said of Bell. "Getting on me really tight. That kind of turned me onto the game a little more. It gave me a little more focus. When he started to do that, I said to myself, 'Pick it up and try to get your team a win tonight."
Iguodala scored 32 on 15-of-23 shooting, some of it was just a sick streak. He made 11 of the 16 perimeter shots he tried with Grant Hill contesting many, including Iguodala's 50-foot heave at the end of the third quarter.
And his offense still hasn't been too hot. It's not just the mediocre 3-point shooting (17 of 56 in the past 10 games). He's having trouble scoring anywhere else, going 4 for 17 inside the arc in the past four games. (Raja needs to be benched, what's the point of keeping him in for defense if he can't even defend right now?)
Shaquille O'Neal: "This has nothing to do with Shaq," Mike D'Antoni said after the team went 2-4 with O'Neal playing.
Maybe. But O'Neal is contributing to the turnover problems. He has made 19 turnovers in his six games. His presence 15 to 18 feet away from the basket continues to look like a fish out of water. Defenses don't care if he has the ball out there. He is not used to being there with the ball. For the second straight game, he was in a position where he actually went into the air with the ball to make a pass.
His two early fouls compromised plans early Saturday but Phoenix fared better with him on the court (plus two) and he again helped the Suns play an even game on the boards against the league's No. 2 offensive rebounding team.
Shaq missed his first jump hook (short, like all his misses seem to be) and then made his other four shots, including a couple of impressive post-up shots.
Amare Stoudemire: Often a defensive liability as well, Stoudemire's shot was out of sorts Saturday too. He missed his first four shots. By then, the Suns were down 10 points. He didn't score for 12 consecutive minutes on the floor in the middle of the game. The five offensive rebounds were the highlight of Stoudemire's line for the night.
"I take this loss and put it on my shoulders tonight," Stoudemire said. "My energy wasn't quite where it should have been from the jump ball."
OK. Strange time to do that but at least he was willing to assess some self-blame.
Grant Hill: He would seem to be one of the players trying to find his fit in the O'Neal era as well. Again, offense really isn't the team's biggest problem but it can be when misses and turnovers are getting the other teams running more against the Suns.
Hill is 21 of 54 from the field in the past five games. That's not very Hill-like, although those jams he had in Memphis and New Orleans were classic Hill. He even sped up on the latter one when he saw a poster shot waiting. And that baseline reverse he made in the first quarter was just as impressive.
His jumper failed him Saturday. And he's going to prove me wrong on 3-pointers. I thought he'd become a fair threat out there and he was until the appendectomy. He made 16 of 37 (43 percent) 3-point tries in the 22 games prior to his surgery. He is 2 for 13 since then in 17 games.
Boris Diaw: Might as well leave this blank and let you all do this one. What more can be said? He's as talented as his 13-point second quarter and as pass-from-the-rim frustrating as his one-shot second half. You can't just stop being aggressive when it is the most effective thing your team had going.
Without seeing the replay, I can't be sure but it sure seemed like there was a play in which Diaw got the ball on the block with a guard on him. The guard was not even on his back but Diaw flung the ball to the cross-court corner for a 3-point shot. Of course, it went in so he made "the right play."
Leandro Barbosa: His defensive liabilities probably don't get called out nearly enough. The Suns can't hardly afford to have Barbosa and Nash play simultaneously because of the defensive impact.
It does look like LB has found his 3-point stroke. He is 11 for 19 on the long ball in the past three games. He has not made that made in a three-game stretch since mid-November.
Sean Marks: The buzz cut is 0-1.
Mike D'Antoni: It's the trade he wanted so now he's got to make it work.
And just for grins . . .
The Adio Sol Patrol broke the net on the Suns basket between the third and fourth quarters, when it does its dunking exhibition. The dunkers still did all of their routine and the game was held up until the net was replaced. The new one stayed tight-looking for a while because Phoenix did not score on its first five possessions of the fourth.
Philadelphia has won 11 of its past 12 second games in back-to-back sets. That's crazy impressive.
Remember how awful the offense looked in that Boston game when Leandro Barbosa got whacked and left after a minute of play? That showed some vulnerability at point guard depth that led to this exploration of signing Tyronn Lue.
Calling out all Suns
For starters, let's address the team as a whole. The Suns have been terrible in two departments -- turnovers and defense -- for four consecutive games.
Facing a team Saturday that was nothing like the Lakers, Pistons or Hornets, they didn't show improvement in either area of "concentration"? The 76ers rank 26th in offense but scored 24 points above their average in beating the Suns,119-114. The worst turnover average in the league is 16.2 (Seattle) but the Suns are averaging 17.8 in the past five games.
In four years, have the Suns looked further away from winning a championship when fully stocked than they appear right now? The talk in the locker room is that this will take another two weeks. Another two weeks of this?
Hey, at least they helped Atlanta stay in ninth place in the East!
Let's slice up the orange individually . . .
Steve Nash: Never have fans turned on Nash as much as they are doing so right now. He's earned it. If it's not enough that Nash's defense is a constant Suns handicap (especially now that they play straight-up more with Shaquille O'Neal), his run of turnovers is befuddling. He made six Saturday, giving him 23 turnovers in the past five games (4.6 per game, matching his career-worst February average).
By the way, when you run a high two man-game with Shaq and he dives, nobody believes the ball is going there on a roll 10-12 feet from the basket. That cross-court pass to the 3-point shooter is more predictable than ever so it's getting picked. (ZING!)
"We can play easily the way we used to play," Mike D'Antoni said before the game.
It sure doesn't seem like it.
Nash never talks about his own play being off but that's in line with him never banging his chest about his good nights either. It's always a team reaction with Nash, who was supposed to benefit from an emotional jolt out of O'Neal's presence but it looks like that already has passed amid the losing.
Between the final 30 seconds of the first half and first 2:30 of the second half, he made three turnovers that led to a one-on-nothing dunk, a three-on-one fastbreak layup and another one-on-nobody dunk, not to mention the missed jumper between them that created a breakaway layup. The 76ers had 30 fastbreak points with a bunch of those coming off Suns turnovers. Those turnovers for easy points are compromising the Suns defense effort but Nash's individual defense is not helping.
"Right now, we're just struggling," said Nash, who is 7 of 19 from the field in the past two games.
Raja Bell: You expect an impact from his defense at the least but the Suns aren't stopping anybody lately and he's included. See Andre Iguodala quote about how Bell lit his flame.
"He started giving me bumps here and bumps there," Iguodala said of Bell. "Getting on me really tight. That kind of turned me onto the game a little more. It gave me a little more focus. When he started to do that, I said to myself, 'Pick it up and try to get your team a win tonight."
Iguodala scored 32 on 15-of-23 shooting, some of it was just a sick streak. He made 11 of the 16 perimeter shots he tried with Grant Hill contesting many, including Iguodala's 50-foot heave at the end of the third quarter.
And his offense still hasn't been too hot. It's not just the mediocre 3-point shooting (17 of 56 in the past 10 games). He's having trouble scoring anywhere else, going 4 for 17 inside the arc in the past four games. (Raja needs to be benched, what's the point of keeping him in for defense if he can't even defend right now?)
Shaquille O'Neal: "This has nothing to do with Shaq," Mike D'Antoni said after the team went 2-4 with O'Neal playing.
Maybe. But O'Neal is contributing to the turnover problems. He has made 19 turnovers in his six games. His presence 15 to 18 feet away from the basket continues to look like a fish out of water. Defenses don't care if he has the ball out there. He is not used to being there with the ball. For the second straight game, he was in a position where he actually went into the air with the ball to make a pass.
His two early fouls compromised plans early Saturday but Phoenix fared better with him on the court (plus two) and he again helped the Suns play an even game on the boards against the league's No. 2 offensive rebounding team.
Shaq missed his first jump hook (short, like all his misses seem to be) and then made his other four shots, including a couple of impressive post-up shots.
Amare Stoudemire: Often a defensive liability as well, Stoudemire's shot was out of sorts Saturday too. He missed his first four shots. By then, the Suns were down 10 points. He didn't score for 12 consecutive minutes on the floor in the middle of the game. The five offensive rebounds were the highlight of Stoudemire's line for the night.
"I take this loss and put it on my shoulders tonight," Stoudemire said. "My energy wasn't quite where it should have been from the jump ball."
OK. Strange time to do that but at least he was willing to assess some self-blame.
Grant Hill: He would seem to be one of the players trying to find his fit in the O'Neal era as well. Again, offense really isn't the team's biggest problem but it can be when misses and turnovers are getting the other teams running more against the Suns.
Hill is 21 of 54 from the field in the past five games. That's not very Hill-like, although those jams he had in Memphis and New Orleans were classic Hill. He even sped up on the latter one when he saw a poster shot waiting. And that baseline reverse he made in the first quarter was just as impressive.
His jumper failed him Saturday. And he's going to prove me wrong on 3-pointers. I thought he'd become a fair threat out there and he was until the appendectomy. He made 16 of 37 (43 percent) 3-point tries in the 22 games prior to his surgery. He is 2 for 13 since then in 17 games.
Boris Diaw: Might as well leave this blank and let you all do this one. What more can be said? He's as talented as his 13-point second quarter and as pass-from-the-rim frustrating as his one-shot second half. You can't just stop being aggressive when it is the most effective thing your team had going.
Without seeing the replay, I can't be sure but it sure seemed like there was a play in which Diaw got the ball on the block with a guard on him. The guard was not even on his back but Diaw flung the ball to the cross-court corner for a 3-point shot. Of course, it went in so he made "the right play."
Leandro Barbosa: His defensive liabilities probably don't get called out nearly enough. The Suns can't hardly afford to have Barbosa and Nash play simultaneously because of the defensive impact.
It does look like LB has found his 3-point stroke. He is 11 for 19 on the long ball in the past three games. He has not made that made in a three-game stretch since mid-November.
Sean Marks: The buzz cut is 0-1.
Mike D'Antoni: It's the trade he wanted so now he's got to make it work.
And just for grins . . .
The Adio Sol Patrol broke the net on the Suns basket between the third and fourth quarters, when it does its dunking exhibition. The dunkers still did all of their routine and the game was held up until the net was replaced. The new one stayed tight-looking for a while because Phoenix did not score on its first five possessions of the fourth.
Philadelphia has won 11 of its past 12 second games in back-to-back sets. That's crazy impressive.
Remember how awful the offense looked in that Boston game when Leandro Barbosa got whacked and left after a minute of play? That showed some vulnerability at point guard depth that led to this exploration of signing Tyronn Lue.
