I believe the Denver Nuggets have the Phoenix Suns' number this season. I would give the Suns a chance to win tonight if Amare Stoudemire was going to play. However without him the Suns are going to be too small against the long, athletic Denver Nuggets.
By now the Suns should know better than to double-team Anthony. When he faces the basket from 15 ft. on out the defender needs to back off him a bit and play disciplined defense. That means not jumping off their feet every time he shows the ball. The guy is not a very good outside shooter, but he will go to the basket and create opportunities for his teammates if the Phoenix Suns allowed him to do it. If he gets good position down low they need to allow one player to try to defend him anyways. If he makes a basket so be it. The Suns can't give open looks and layups to his teammates, especially Leonard.
When the Suns lose big tonight all of the news reports and articles will talk about how they are still a bad team. Well, I do think there playing better, but I don't give them much of a chance tonight.
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/0121suns0121.html
Suns gauge streak vs. Nuggets
Rematch with Denver chance to rectify humiliation
Bob Young
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 21, 2004 12:00 AM
DENVER - Only eight days ago, the Denver Nuggets humiliated the Suns so badly it seemed plausible that the Valley's first major pro franchise was headed toward its worst season since 1968, the Suns' first in the NBA.
After that 105-92 loss to the Nuggets on Jan. 13, the Suns had won 12 games, they were approaching the midway point of the season and there were no signs of a turnaround.
There was certainly no reason to believe the Suns would win four in a row, as they have going into a rematch with the Nuggets tonight at the Pepsi Center.
"That was rock bottom," coach Mike D'Antoni said. "It happens. You hit the bottom, and there's nowhere to go but up."
Granted, the Suns defeated a troubled Portland team twice in the streak, knocked off a disappointing Golden State club and caught the Lakers without three - Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and Karl Malone - of their four potential Hall of Fame stars.
Still, the Suns had lost to worse teams under easier circumstances this season.
How far have they come?
Maybe they will find out tonight when they get another shot at the Nuggets.
"We're just finding a way to win right now," D'Antoni said. "That's why winning kind of breeds winning. We have that aura about us, believing we're going to do it."
That might be the biggest surprise in this turnaround, which has led to the club's longest winning streak in a season of dashed expectations, turmoil, trades and losses.
For much of the season, the biggest problem the Suns had was simply finding a way to hold on to games that they seemed to have under control. Their go-to players of last season - Stephon Marbury, Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire - weren't producing the game-winning shots.
A team "meeting" - really just dinner together - in Portland, Ore., seemed to renew chemistry and camaraderie.
It hasn't hurt that guard Joe Johnson, who must have biorhythms that look like an electrocardiogram, hit a peak.
Now Marbury is gone, and Johnson is the player who has stepped into the closer's role.
"Joe Johnson has been terrific," said center Jake Voskuhl, who is coming off his best game of the season. "We had that big trade, and he was given an opportunity to step up. And he really has."
Voskuhl credited the attention Johnson was getting from the Lakers for Voskuhl's pair of offensive rebounds and resulting putbacks in the final 1:24 Monday in Los Angeles.
"Joe was doing such a good job, they were double-teaming him trying to keep him from getting to the basket," he said. "Situations like that, it's hard for them to box out. I was fortunate to get the rebounds."
Despite the streak, the Suns remain entrenched in last place among Western Conference teams. The playoffs seem like a distant fantasy. Yet the Suns insist nothing is beyond the realm of possibility.
"We're not just out there playing to be playing, man," Johnson said. "We're out there playing for a purpose."
D'Antoni is hopeful but realistic.
"We're, what, eight games out in the loss column?" he said. "We'd have to have some luck, and we would need some help. Some other teams would have to lose.
"But I think our attitude is changing. We're playing hard, sharing the ball, hustling. Those are the keys for us. We've done that in four straight games. We're making gains."
By now the Suns should know better than to double-team Anthony. When he faces the basket from 15 ft. on out the defender needs to back off him a bit and play disciplined defense. That means not jumping off their feet every time he shows the ball. The guy is not a very good outside shooter, but he will go to the basket and create opportunities for his teammates if the Phoenix Suns allowed him to do it. If he gets good position down low they need to allow one player to try to defend him anyways. If he makes a basket so be it. The Suns can't give open looks and layups to his teammates, especially Leonard.
When the Suns lose big tonight all of the news reports and articles will talk about how they are still a bad team. Well, I do think there playing better, but I don't give them much of a chance tonight.
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/0121suns0121.html
Suns gauge streak vs. Nuggets
Rematch with Denver chance to rectify humiliation
Bob Young
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 21, 2004 12:00 AM
DENVER - Only eight days ago, the Denver Nuggets humiliated the Suns so badly it seemed plausible that the Valley's first major pro franchise was headed toward its worst season since 1968, the Suns' first in the NBA.
After that 105-92 loss to the Nuggets on Jan. 13, the Suns had won 12 games, they were approaching the midway point of the season and there were no signs of a turnaround.
There was certainly no reason to believe the Suns would win four in a row, as they have going into a rematch with the Nuggets tonight at the Pepsi Center.
"That was rock bottom," coach Mike D'Antoni said. "It happens. You hit the bottom, and there's nowhere to go but up."
Granted, the Suns defeated a troubled Portland team twice in the streak, knocked off a disappointing Golden State club and caught the Lakers without three - Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and Karl Malone - of their four potential Hall of Fame stars.
Still, the Suns had lost to worse teams under easier circumstances this season.
How far have they come?
Maybe they will find out tonight when they get another shot at the Nuggets.
"We're just finding a way to win right now," D'Antoni said. "That's why winning kind of breeds winning. We have that aura about us, believing we're going to do it."
That might be the biggest surprise in this turnaround, which has led to the club's longest winning streak in a season of dashed expectations, turmoil, trades and losses.
For much of the season, the biggest problem the Suns had was simply finding a way to hold on to games that they seemed to have under control. Their go-to players of last season - Stephon Marbury, Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire - weren't producing the game-winning shots.
A team "meeting" - really just dinner together - in Portland, Ore., seemed to renew chemistry and camaraderie.
It hasn't hurt that guard Joe Johnson, who must have biorhythms that look like an electrocardiogram, hit a peak.
Now Marbury is gone, and Johnson is the player who has stepped into the closer's role.
"Joe Johnson has been terrific," said center Jake Voskuhl, who is coming off his best game of the season. "We had that big trade, and he was given an opportunity to step up. And he really has."
Voskuhl credited the attention Johnson was getting from the Lakers for Voskuhl's pair of offensive rebounds and resulting putbacks in the final 1:24 Monday in Los Angeles.
"Joe was doing such a good job, they were double-teaming him trying to keep him from getting to the basket," he said. "Situations like that, it's hard for them to box out. I was fortunate to get the rebounds."
Despite the streak, the Suns remain entrenched in last place among Western Conference teams. The playoffs seem like a distant fantasy. Yet the Suns insist nothing is beyond the realm of possibility.
"We're not just out there playing to be playing, man," Johnson said. "We're out there playing for a purpose."
D'Antoni is hopeful but realistic.
"We're, what, eight games out in the loss column?" he said. "We'd have to have some luck, and we would need some help. Some other teams would have to lose.
"But I think our attitude is changing. We're playing hard, sharing the ball, hustling. Those are the keys for us. We've done that in four straight games. We're making gains."