Couple of Curious Things

[TucsonDevil]

Kamen played 19 min - he had 11 points and 10 rebounds... but he was taken out the second half. Was his shoulder hurting?

Why was Diaw sitting on the bench most of the 3rd and 4th quarters? Lack of aggression? Lack of defense? With Diaw out of the game, did that open the lane more for Marion?

In a double Overtime game - NO CLIPPER had more than 4 fouls until Livingston finally picked up his 5th in the 2nd OT. Suns had TT with 6, Marion with 4, Bell with 5, and Nash with 4.

Even though JR couldn't hit a the open sea, he was a hustle man with 8 boards - good for him. JR seems to have lost confidence in his shot, but wants to stay on the court... that is true team play.

Finally, I thought that LB quit driving in the second half. Granted, most of that is due to defensive switches... but that doesn't explain all of it.

OVERALL - Great win. Congrats to the Suns.

 

[Gaddabout]

I'm guessing Diaw was sitting because Thomas was picking up points and the Suns got some good minutes out of JR.

 

[jibikao]

I don't know why Diaw was sitting but he was TERRIBLE in overtime. Yes, it's a lot to ask from him but he's been playing so well. He was not only cold but I just hate that last pass he gave to Marion when he was CLOSER to the rim and he could have used his baby hook shot. That's the passiveness that Nash was talking about. I thought Diaw got out of it since game 3 in Round 1.

Well, he is still young and I do believe he'll play better in game 6/7. You have to give credits to Clippers. They defend Diaw/Nash very well. Both of them are creaters on this team.

 

[az1965]

Diaw was not playing that well and JJ was really playing with energy.

Also, I think the turning point in Clips favor was when in 3rd quarter Kaman was benched and replaced by Ross and Radmanovic. I believe Kaman was struggling with the pace of the game and these guys matched well with us running. That was when Clips started to chip away the lead. Maybe coincidence but that is how I saw it.

 

[jibikao]

Oh yeah, I also think James Jones brought great energy tonight. He got a few hustle plays even though he is just as cold as Nash.

Diaw didn't even look tired. He was blowing his hands so much when he played in the overtime.

 

[cly2tw]

We lost the lead with a couple of iso attempt to post up TT, among others. The way we did it, TT was getting the ball too far away. He seemed to lack the stamina to back down the defender all the way to the basket without fumbling the ball to finish it strong. The had a couple fastbreaks and the lead was gone. Later in the 4th, he scored downlow when he got the ball deep in the lowpost.

If we we had to give away the 19pts lead, we could have at least given Nash some rest and let Diaw and LB control the flow for a while, with better defense at the same time. We might even have had House untracked with that much lead in the hand.

Like last year, we need to give Nash more rest to prepare him for the eventual OTs and intensive 4th qs. The two TOs almost cost us the game if not for Raja's heroics.

 

[Joe Mama]

I think they benched Diaw for a while because his defender was frequently leaving him on the perimeter to double down and clog the middle. Offensively he was far too passive again around the basket.

Joe

 

[TucsonDevil]

Why would Diaw revert back to a passive player? I agree, he has done so, but why? Did they talk mean to French man below... did someone speak German to him and intimidate him? Diaw played HUGE against the Lakers in Games 4-7 and continued strong play early in this series. however, you just don't see that right now.

Here is my thought on Diaw and the soft layups by Marion at times... Brand OWNS that lane at times. If you are going up against him - it is coming back in your face. He has every player thinking about him. Because of his presence, others are getting cheap blocks (ala Radmonovic). I think Diaw (with his great length) believes that Brand is going to swat all of his up and unders from behind, so why try... As childish as that may sound - my belief in that theory grew more last night. However, when we screen out Brand, or he is pulled out of the lane - that is when Shawn dunks and others drive... It is all about the BRAND. He is amazing.

 

[zett]

In a double Overtime game - NO CLIPPER had more than 4 fouls until Livingston finally picked up his 5th in the 2nd OT. Suns had TT with 6, Marion with 4, Bell with 5, and Nash with 4
Finally, I thought that LB quit driving in the second half. Granted, most of that is due to defensive switches... but that doesn't explain all of it.

OVERALL - Great win. Congrats to the Suns.

That was due to the new 8 sec in the key rule designed specificly for the clippers the refs forgot about it in game one, then I'm sure stern called and
set them straight!

 

[DeAnna]

I just think Diaw was missing his open looks (and getting blocked); Coach wanted more offense so they went LB instead.

 

[jibikao]

I just think Diaw was missing his open looks (and getting blocked); Coach wanted more offense so they went LB instead.

And Diaw wasn't stopping anyone. He looked flat last night. Maybe he was sick? We didn't get out rebounded that bad when Diaw sat down.

 

[George O'Brien]

I expect Boris to come back, but it seemed like the physical play got into his head. The Clippers were kicking the bejeebers out the Sus when they went inside without anything being called (one foul on Nash sent him halfway into the stands without a peep). I think Mike realized Boris was getting frustrated and went with the more physical Jones.

I expect Boris will do well on Thursday. He may be the only guy on the court who is well rested.

 

[F-Dog]

I was wondering where Diaw was myself, right up until he checked into the game. Once Diaw got in the game, I remembered why D'Antoni was sitting him.

My hope is it was just a bad game; Diaw had a bad start and wasn't mentally into the game for some reason. It was nearly very costly--the Suns desperately needed his offense, because Nash couldn't shoot and Barbosa was in tentative mode himself until the 2nd overtime--but now that the Suns have survived, I expect Diaw will be back in form for game 6.

 

[jibikao]

I was wondering where Diaw was myself, right up until he checked into the game. Once Diaw got in the game, I remembered why D'Antoni was sitting him.

My hope is it was just a bad game; Diaw had a bad start and wasn't mentally into the game for some reason. It was nearly very costly--the Suns desperately needed his offense, because Nash couldn't shoot and Barbosa was in tentative mode himself until the 2nd overtime--but now that the Suns have survived, I expect Diaw will be back in form for game 6.

I think Diaw will do fine. They probably have already watched the tape and Diaw himself should realize how passive he was. I am sure he'll be a lot more aggressive tonight.

Clippers are letting Diaw shoot from outside. He just has to find a way to make them. He did make quite a few in the playoffs.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Kamen played 19 min - he had 11 points and 10 rebounds... but he was taken out the second half. Was his shoulder hurting?

No one answered your first question, so I will take a stab at it. Yes Kaman's shoulder was bothering him. He had to get 2 shots in it before gametime to allow him to play.