Game Thread: Suns vs. Cavs

tobiazz

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I just noticed that the Suns have an easy Nov schedule. But if they lose this game, they will start 0-3 (with the Lakers on Saturday). I don't care how good Lebron is, they should win this game.
 

devilalum

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Originally posted by Pimpin
ZARKO!!!!!

OMFG!:D

Ricky Davis just joined the Suns poster club.

He'll look good next to Olowakandi.
 

tobiazz

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nice swipe by Googs. If he can play like he has today, I will be happy. As long as no one has those 1-for-6 type of nights, the Suns will be in great shape.
 

tobiazz

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Ilgauskus should get the T for hitting Amare in the head, nowhere near the ball. That is worse than pointing.
 

Wally

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Good, bad & ugly... but it was a win although we didn't win this as much as the Cavs lost it.
 

Joe Mama

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Originally posted by Wally
Good, bad & ugly... but it was a win although we didn't win this as much as the Cavs lost it.

Hogwash. The Suns struggled ostensibly because for the most part the Cavaliers packed the middle and forced them to shoot from outside. However the Suns also tightened up their defense and won the game.

Joe Mama
 

JCSunsfan

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Credit this win to:

1. Suns defense. Through the 0-15 offensive drought in the second half, they still scrapped defensively, and stayed in the game. Its quite amazing to have that kind of drought, start with less than a double-digit lead, and be in the lead with your first score.

2. Amare is struggling offensively. He doesn't seem to have the same lift or power as last year, BUT he does have the ability to get to the foul line. We haven't had that kind of player in a while. It makes him quite effective even when his shot isn't falling.


Weaknesses:

1. The half court offense. Is there one? No real plays that I could see. Very few cuts. Lots of players standing around watching Stephon. I'd love to see them spread the floor more in the half court. I'd also like to see an "inside out" half court set. But to do that, Amare can't just put his head down and go to the hoop every time.

2. Shots falling short in the 4th. Is there a conditioning problem? This should get better as the season progresses.

3. Shawn's jumper. While it does go in, it also gets blocked alot. He needs to add a jumper with a higher release to use when a player is running at him.


I was impressed with Jake's play. All we need is a back up bruiser. Add Adonal Foyle and we're set.
 

Yuma

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I agree Amare tried too many jumpers out of his range, but he did have the game high 25 points!! :D

This team, while weak on the zone in half court still, has enough firepower that they SHOULD be scoring over 90 points a night each night out. The reason I think this, isn't the starters so much as our bench has more potential to add points this year with Penny, Zarko, Casey, and Googs if/when he finally gets his jumper going. I like how Amare is taking it to the hole a lot more now!! He is running the court a lot more in just the first two games. :D
 

Yuma

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Another thing I thought was cool was that Marbury didn't have to do all the scoring in the fourth quarter like he had to do last year!! That's a good sign!! Guys are starting to step up a little more. Also, that dunk by Zarko was SWEET!! I haven't seena Euro dunk with that kind of authority since the guy who died overseas tragically, sorry I can't remember his name, and that sucks since he is in the Hall Of Fame now!
 

elindholm

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Has anyone found a correct box score yet? All the ones I can find have Ricky Davis playing 54 minutes, or some other obvious error.
 

jbeecham

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I'm glad we won. It was pretty ugly at times (especially with the lineup of Knight, Penny, Zarko, Googs & Jake). We missed Big Jake tonight, he really could have dealt with Ilgauskas better than anyone else on the Suns.

It would have been nice if Marion could have played well offensively in the 1st 3 quarters, but he stepped it up when we needed it the most. Stephon had an excellent all around game and had some big baskets in the 4th including a 3 from about 28 ft out. Amare was very active even though a lot of his shots didn't fall (it still looked like he was trying harder than everyone else on the Suns). Amare also went 11-14 from the ft line which is an amazing improvement (possibly thanks to laser eye surgery). JJ played much better tonight and he played good defense. Zarko didn't play much but that dunk was awesome and he also had 2 good steals. Penny looked like he was pressing offensively and gunning a little. Voshkul played decently and hustled for rebounds and stayed in the game for 41 minutes. I'm still not impressed with Brevin Knight at all. They need to give Barbosa a few minutes and forget about showcasing Knight for a trade. Any team that would want Knight would want him for the salary relief, not for his game.

Also, while watching this game I didn't realize the Suns got so many calls in their favor until the commentators kept talking about the free throw difference. A lot of those were because we were attacking the basket, but it was surprising to get so many calls. If I were a Cavs fan I would probably think they got shafted by the officials.
 
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scotsman13

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http://www.sportsline.com/nba/gamecenter/boxscore/NBA_20031030_CLE@PHO

here is what i saw in the game.

first of all, i think that the refs are ready to give labron the mvp already. there was one play where he goes down the lane and amare jumps to try to block his shot doesnt come anywhere near him and gets called for a foul. what kind of s#$% is that?

we need to work on a better half court game. there is no much one on one ball from the wrong people. if you clear out a side and give the ball to amare on the blocks that is one thing but it is marbury and marion, and hardaway and jj each trying to do it one on one.

zarko is very nice.

where is barbosa? is he still hurt.

overall i dont care for knight but anyone that can stop a 4 on 1 and the one is 5'10" you have to be doing something right.
 

elindholm

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I got to watch only the final couple of minutes. However, based on that and the box score (thank you ESPN for finally getting it right), I can say the following things were good:

1. Voskuhl was on the floor at the end. A center on the floor in crunch time! What a concept.

2. Voskuhl had zero turnovers, from which I conclude that he had zero offensive fouls on moving screens.

3. Stoudemire shot 14 free throws. That is fantastic.

4. The Suns shot only 10 three-pointers. They are a poor three-pointing team, so they should keep their attempts down. Single digits would be better, but 10 isn't bad.

It looks like there were some bad things too, but I'll let someone else point those out. :p
 

jbeecham

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Voshkul did a couple of good tonight and had a couple of mistakes too. He didn't get called for any illegal screens which was good, but he had a couple of fumbles passes and he tipped a couple of rebounds to Cavs players including a few to Lebron for easy layups.
 

JCSunsfan

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Originally posted by elindholm

It looks like there were some bad things too, but I'll let someone else point those out. :p


All right, who's using Eric's computer?

Did you notice that Voskul played 35 mins? He does so much that doesn't show up on the stat line. He's like Majerle in that way.
 

wager323

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marion dunk

the dunk by marion was awesome
his foot was in between the free throw line and the dotted line ...awesome
 

Chaplin

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Actually, out of all the players we have discussed possibly acquiring, Jake would still be my preference to start. I think you will see the maturation of Jake more when Scotty comes back and we have another large body in the 5 spot. Right now, I'm not as concerned with the center spot as I was last week. Little Jake has done some really good work, he's aggressive and actually jumping to get rebounds! Big Jake never did that.

I think, though, that our biggest problems, are a) Shawn Marion's hesitation and b) our shooting guard spot.

I haven't been impressed yet with either JJ or Penny, but if we had identical games by the same guys and just either JJ or Penny have a good game (JJ got some points, but they were ugly), we can beat anyone.

Shawn, though, I can't figure out. Against the Spurs, he took an above-average defender in Bowen down in the low blocks and tried to post. Against the Cavs, he didn't even bother to try to back down James. And what about Penny? Back down Ricky Davis, fool! Why didn't anyone try to draw fouls in the half court on Davis?
 
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