Game Thread: Lakers @ Suns

[wager323]

he didnt cash in tonite

 

[matt_whitlock]

why did amare shoot that? casey was wide open

Well, Casey wouldn't have hit it.

I won't say anything about Shawn Marion right now. I'm too mad, and it'd be too easy. Way too easy.

 

[wager323]

i'd rather have an open casey than a guarded amare

 

[CardsFan88]

Sad about the loss, proud of the effort

Yes effort doesn't doesn't count in the standings

But with the talent the lakers have, we sure stayed with them and I think outplayed them.

It bodes well for a team that is so young.

There are always young teams in the league, but how many young teams are actually good????

None...Except the Suns...Thats what I'm proud about.

And this game is one for the young Suns to grow on.

I hate the loss, but I loved the game regardless of only a potentially series position standing.

LOVED what I saw.

Best 1-2 team in the league

GO SUNS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[fordronken]

Although on the plus side, it won't be long until Marion is our third option on offense.

 

[haverford]

Mixed feelings. Good job hanging with them, but most of that was due to Marbury's toughness, and some good spells by Johnson, Jake, and yes Marion. Little credit goes to FJ, who clearly has no offensive scheme other than to run those high picks for Marbury. This must be exhausting for him.

Why not run a few post plays for your ROY power forward, especially in the second half when he had weathered the foul trouble and the Lakers were tired? Or a few for Penny when he was being guarded by Fisher?

The team is not playing with their heads. Coaching......

 

[Billythekid]

Good Post CardsFan. Great effort by the Suns. Lets hope we put ourselves in a position like this again, but take it.

 

[slinslin]

Positives

Rockets lost, Kings lost!

 

[haverford]

Oh yeah, and still no Barbosa. Dude can play, and still they shove CJ out there. They MUST be showcasing him. In vain.....

 

[slinslin]

Mike Dunleavy has 26 points with 8 minutes left in the 3rd.

 

[Wally]

Marion had 11 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and 2 steals.....His shot wasn't going down. The Suns played tough but lost to the best group of all stars put together this season.
Give him (Marion) a break.

 

[Mike Olbinski]

Originally posted by sly fly
Is Marion as dumb as he looks right now?

Yup, third game into the season, the guy has turned into a complete idiot...write off the rest of the season, after three games, it's clear he has no hope this season.



The guy was an All-Star for crying out loud...give him a break, it's the THIRD GAME. Yup, dumb play at the end, but when you have a gimme basket (which it should have been), you take it, cut the lead to one and then foul again.

He didn't shoot well against Cleveland, and he didn't shoot well tonight...players go through slumps...relax.

Mike

 

[slinslin]

He shouldn't have taken about 4 shots in crunchtime when he was off anyway.

 

[Joe Mama]

Originally posted by slinslin
He shouldn't have taken about 4 shots in crunchtime when he was off anyway.

You guys are incredible. Regardless of what some of you think of Amare Stoudemire Shawn Marion is still the second-best player on this team. The only thing I really didn't like was when he rebounded the ball and tried to get two pointer instead of taking it out for another attempt at three. The very least he should have jumped into Malone.

I usually don't care much for moral victories, but this has to be look at as one. I honestly have no idea how the Phoenix Suns stayed in that game.

BTW, I hate Karl Malone more than ever now.

Joe Mama

 

[Mike Olbinski]

Originally posted by slinslin
He shouldn't have taken about 4 shots in crunchtime when he was off anyway.

Yeah, he's only the 2nd best player on this team...how dare he, lol. A good coach would have told him, "you're not hitting, so don't keep shooting, just stop it. If you get an open look, pass it up..."





Mike

 

[Wally]

Originally posted by slinslin
He shouldn't have taken about 4 shots in crunchtime when he was off anyway.

Then again, maybe the law of averages was on his side... Googs was 0 - 4. Now if he were in the game at the end & took the shots, then we could all complain.

I think Trybanski could have some use - either for fouls or maybe a blocked shot or two...... and - Is Barbosa really hurt that bad?????

 

[Joe Mama]

One thing that has really frustrated me about the half-court offense so far has been that they finally have a low post presence, and they hardly ever go to him in the low post. It also appears that he can get that 10-15 foot jump shot. He really could have given Karl Malone and even Shaquille O'Neal some trouble tonight.

Joe Mama

 

[JJ Slim]

The Suns came very close to winning a game that many tought they would get blown out in. Jake and Penny had great games. Nobody fouled out. JJ was flippin' huge! Marbury was Marbury. It's like Mike said, it's only the third game of the season. If they play this well and work on some of the things that weren't so good this team will win a lot of games.

Remember what doesn't kill you will make you stronger.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Originally posted by Chandler Mike
Yup, dumb play at the end, but when you have a gimme basket (which it should have been), you take it, cut the lead to one and then foul again.

Wow, you disagree with both Cotton and Al on that one.

With 2.3 seconds, kick it out to an open man outside the 3 point line...

 

[scotsman13]

my god guys this is the lakers. they have 4 of the best players in the nba on their team. kobe (i hope he rots in jail) is a very good defender, shaq and malone get calls if anyone is anywhere near them when they get the ball. payton is one of the best all time defenders in nba history and you all are acted like we just lost to the worst team in the nba. players have bad games more so this early in the season.

there are so many brite spots for the suns in this game that it is unbelieveable. jake stood up to shaq. jj had a great game. penny looked like he even played defense. think about this 26,26,25, 21,20 that is the ages of our starting line up. jj and amare are very young, we have a couple good young people that will develop off the bench in zarko and barbosa. dont loose sight of the big picture that is a couple years down the road.

 

[Wally]

Originally posted by Joe Mama

BTW, I hate Karl Malone more than ever now.

Joe Mama

I don't believe there is, or ever has been, any other player in the NBA I love to hate more than Malone.

 

[slinslin]

Is anyone listening to the post-game show on KTAR?

Someone called and basically said that Colangelo should sell the team if he is too afraid to go over the luxury tax to win a championship or can't afford to spend money on a center so we won't win a championship after 36 years.

Kevin Ray or whoever it was kind of went nuts and asked how Colangelo should have gotten a center and the guy who called in said that he should not have signed guys like Googs and Penny and keep money available to sign a Miller, Nesterovic or so this offseason.

Kevin Ray went absolutely nuts that the talk about a center is getting tiresome and that the Suns got their big guy in the draft with Amare when 8 teams passed.

....

I agree 99% with the guy who called in. The Suns should have at least offered the full exemption to Alonzo Mourning or Michael Olowokandi or someone.

Other teams are spending to win a championship and the Suns don't look at FAs at all because they want to shed salary.

 

[sly fly]

Mike,

No way you can defend Marion on that last play. You don't take that shot and hope to foul.

Any player with a half an ounce of intelligence knows BEFOREHAND to kick that ball back out.

I still like Shawn. An amazing talent. But, his basketball IQ just went down a few notches in my book.

Any case in point: Why did Marion keep shooting or forcing the shot off the dribble? Especially late in the game? He wasn't the hot hand. JJ and Marbury were. Marion needed to get them the ball. And, he didn't. It was selfish, low IQ ball.

 

[wager323]

i knew the game would be a close one because thats how it was all last year...so i wasnt too suprised...if only amare gave the ball to casey at the end

 

[slinslin]

I can't believe that talkshow host just said that the center-less Nets, Hornets, Nuggets, Pacers... won tonight.


Nets - Mourning and Collins
Hornets - Magloire
Pacers - Basically have JO at C and Harrington at PF
Nuggets - have Camby and Hilario.