Grizzlies at Suns 12-08-2010

[BC867]

I knew he'd do that as soon as he faced up on that thug Randolph!

That's the reality of the NBA. Muscle always beats finesse.

It hurt to watch the Suns with a 7-footer who plays like a "2" Guard, two Small Forwards and two Point Guards on the court playing offense-watch/offense-watch/offense-watch up and down the court.

We'll have to start calling the Suns the Mercury II. But the Mercury have won two recent league championships. That's two more than their big brothers have ever won.

 

[Chaplin]

What a tough, tough loss. But it was clear that our starters were gassed, and pretty badly at that. Probably the most gassed we've been on the 2nd of a back-to-back all season.

The bench was great, and I loved that Gentry stuck with them in the 4th, but he again switched things around in the 2nd quarter that made things strange. I'm not sure we'll ever see a set rotation -- and that is not a good thing.

 

[jagu]

Dragic needs to get in the game more, his confidence really boosts the second unit up IMO. Let the dragon loose and emphasize aggressiveness.

 

[jagu]

8-14 = bad team.

They are a big mismatch to us. Randolph is huge and no one on the Suns can guard him, and they have a lot of muscle guys who can power their way on the Suns. We are finesse all the way.

 

[Proteus]

Nash is now shooting a career worst 32% from the 3 point line. Will he get a chance this season to get physically right?

 

[BC867]

Nash is now shooting a career worst 32% from the 3 point line. Will he get a chance this season to get physically right?

Not if he is constantly leading the Suns in minutes played, as he is.

Nash's avg. minutes of 33.8, with Dragic at 17.5, sounds reasonable. But Nash has more starter's minutes than anyone on the team. That is not effective in the long run.

And it seems to come in clumps, rather than consistently. For example, in the past two games (back-to-back), Steve played 38 and 30 minutes. We lost when he played 38, then we lost when he played 30 the next night.

It is not too late to give Dragic more minutes every game, for his confidence and skill level to be up when fatigue and/or injury really catch up with Nash later in the season.

On a related note, I like Alvin Gentry and I admire his not being afraid to try new concepts. But I feel that his new philosophy of no set rotation pattern is going to hurt the players more than it helps, in terms of both team chemistry and individual confidence. Case in point -- Goran Dragic.

I used to hate when John MacLeod took out a hot player because his pre-planned allotted minutes were up. That's why I referred to rotation pattern, rather than the exact minute to take them out.