Houston loses!

[seattle_sunsfan]

This is the eighth spot nobody seems to want! N.J. crushes the Rockets!

Yao scores 24 but how does a guy who's 7'6" get only two rebounds ?!!?? How is that possible? If I was 7'6" and had absolutely zero athletic talent, I'm sure I'd be able to get at least 2 rebounds! Maybe blindfolded! (ok, maybe that's a stretch)

If the Suns (esp. coaching) can just get focused, the 8th spot is their's.

I watched the Sonics destroy the Lakers yesterday and I've got to tell you, the Sonics are going to do some damage next year. They look a whole lot more fluid on the floor than the Suns. This guy Ray Allen is way better than the aging Payton.

 

[green machine]

Go

Glad to see Houston lose, but it pains me that it had to be to the Nets.
________
Ferrari 125 history

 

[Joe Mama]

Originally posted by seattle_sunsfan
Yao scores 24 but how does a guy who's 7'6" get only two rebounds ?!!?? How is that possible? If I was 7'6" and had absolutely zero athletic talent, I'm sure I'd be able to get at least 2 rebounds! Maybe blindfolded! (ok, maybe that's a stretch)

2 rebounds is pathetic for someone that size. Jake Tsakalidis isn't even 7'6", he has zero athletic talent, and he can grab a couple rebounds each game. Well, that is when he actually gets playing time.

Joe Mama

 

[hcsilla]

Originally posted by seattle_sunsfan

I watched the Sonics destroy the Lakers yesterday and I've got to tell you, the Sonics are going to do some damage next year. They look a whole lot more fluid on the floor than the Suns. This guy Ray Allen is way better than the aging Payton.

I think that Allen plays much better than many people (including me) thought while MIL didn't become a better team so SEA will get a good #12-14 pick.

I thought that the MIL-SEA trade was MIL's favor but considering Allen's play and the better pick (what SEA will get) I changed my mind.

 

[Goldfield]

no way I thought Sea had a way better deal!

Ray Allen is damn good, and if u add in that payton is goin to be gone after this seaon OMG bad trade from MILL...

I cant believe sea got as much as they did for a guy in his last year...

 

[jbeecham]

I really though the trade favored the Bucks because they got Payton and Desmond Mason for Ray Allen. I didn't know Milwaulkee sent them a 1st rd pick as well. I'm still surprised how well Seattle is playing considering they traded away both of thier PG's.

 

[seattle_sunsfan]

I really though the trade favored the Bucks because they got Payton and Desmond Mason for Ray Allen. I didn't know Milwaulkee sent them a 1st rd pick as well. I'm still surprised how well Seattle is playing considering they traded away both of thier PG's.

A lot of people of Seattle thought the trade was crazy (myself included). I think what happened was that Payton was not a very good team player and a lot of guys on the team didn't get along with him. And this carried over on to the court. Also, aging players can continue to make their stats look good while things that don't show up on the stat sheet degrade with age...like hustle on defense, helping out, etc...

Ray Allen has injected fun back into the team.

 

[BALLERMANIA2]

all i know is that, if the suns dont make the playoffs, they sure didnt deserve to. i mean houston is absolutely blowing it and the suns should be up by at least two games right now. they are not taking advantage of the numerous losses houston is taking. truthfully, i dont know how the rockets are that sorry. they are at least solid at all positions. there are no glaring positon weaknesses. now thats a team with coaching issues. how do you start francis, mobley, griffin, posey,yao , with mo taylor, who should be starting , and lose like that. the suns have to start taking advantage immediately, starting tonight against the nuggets to get one game up.

 

[seattle_sunsfan]

Agreed!
Suns lose tonight and it's probably over.

 

[hcsilla]

Sorry, but aren't usually posting Suns fans here?

Everybody says about DEN's game as "bad feeling", "it's over", "to throw in the towel".

Are we really that bad?

 

[Chaplin]

Probably over? Huh?

This race for the 8th spot is going to come down to the last game of the season. And that's still a long way off. Of course, we want to win the Nugget game, but it won't be "over" if we lose tonight.

 

[JS22]

hc,

I said I have a bad feeling because Denver has won 3 out of their last five. The Suns have a tendancy to make games like this interesting...and with Denver actually wining games this week it might be more interesting than it should be.

And remember...Denver won earlier this year.

 

[SweetD]

Originally posted by seattle_sunsfan
Agreed!
Suns lose tonight and it's probably over.

I would not say it is over, we still could make the playoff and do well. I say this game will test Frank's ability to coach. If he doesn't match the height of Denver in this game it will be over quickly. Amare will want the ball more becouse he is going against Nene. If Frank doesn't get at least Big Jake some good minutes 20+ then we will not go far in the playoffs IF we do make it.

GO PHX

 

[hcsilla]

Originally posted by WastedFate
hc,

I said I have a bad feeling because Denver has won 3 out of their last five. The Suns have a tendancy to make games like this interesting...and with Denver actually wining games this week it might be more interesting than it should be.

Yes, they are seeming more dangerous.

And remember...Denver won earlier this year.

Yes,they did.
And that is why I think that Suns will probably will win tonight.
It's highly unlikely that Suns will finish 0-2 at home against he 2nd worst team of NBA.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Originally posted by SweetD
I would not say it is over, we still could make the playoff and do well. I say this game will test Frank's ability to coach. If he doesn't match the height of Denver in this game it will be over quickly. Amare will want the ball more becouse he is going against Nene. If Frank doesn't get at least Big Jake some good minutes 20+ then we will not go far in the playoffs IF we do make it.

GO PHX

This is just an observation, none of my views are represented

It is funny how this board is always saying that we seem to follow other teams stratagies. They go small, we go small....they go big we go big. We never make our own path, we never determine how the game will be played, FJ wont take charge.

Then we get posts that say the measure of Johnson's coaching ability is if he matches Denver's big play with our own big play. Seriously now, does everyone just need something to bitch about or what? It seems to me that no matter what happens our coaches will get looked down on.

Like I said, this is just an observation

 

[JJ Slim]

Actually I think it's that everybody wants the coach to play big regardless of the matchups. In other words small-ball sucks!

 

[SirStefan32]

Originally posted by JJ Slim
Actually I think it's that everybody wants the coach to play big regardless of the matchups. In other words small-ball sucks!

Amen to that JJ.
We want a legitimate center on the floor for 48 minutes. (Stoudemire and Outlaw do not qualify to be centers.)

We want a legitimate power forward in the game for 48 minutes.
(Langhi, Marion, and JJ do not qualify to be power forwards.)

 

[jbeecham]

I agree for the most part, but a smaller lineup has helped us in the 4th qtr of many games. For Instance:

PG: Marbury
SG: JJ/Hardaway
SF: HArdaway/JJ
PF: Marion
C: Amare

This isn't even neccesarily us trying to go small. It's more like putting our 5 best players on the floor to ive us the best chance to win.

 

[SirStefan32]

Jim, that lineup works for two or three minutes. A smart coach is going to put in a huge PF & C combo, and they will abuse and destroy Marion and Amare.

Stefan

 

[SweetD]

We get out rebounded all game long and the other team is able to score down low every time down. Because we don't play a true center. Bo runs around with is head cut off and Amare just is not there Defensively yet. We really need Big Jake in there. I don't think Googs, Casey, Williams should get minutes unless foul trouble or injuries.

Rotation:
Steph
JJ
Marion
Amare
Big Jake

Penney(to rest Marion or get JJ out)
Lill- Jake(rest Big Jake)
Bo(Big Jake or Amare get in foul trouble or Lill Jake is ineffective)
Dan(Penney or JJ rest for coming in for Marion)
Googs (spreads the floor for Amare in the 3rd)
Casey (Both Penney and JJ are not doing well)
Williams (Need someone to fill Amare's rebound stats) Just Kidding

 

[jbeecham]

Originally posted by SirStefan32
Jim, that lineup works for two or three minutes. A smart coach is going to put in a huge PF & C combo, and they will abuse and destroy Marion and Amare.

Stefan

That lineup has won us a lot of ball games when we've been down 10+ pts going into the 4th qtr. I'm not saying I want to see it all game long, but I don't mind seeing it when it's out in the 4th qtr trying to come back and get us a win.

 

[SweetD]

Originally posted by jbeecham
That lineup has won us a lot of ball games when we've been down 10+ pts going into the 4th qtr. I'm not saying I want to see it all game long, but I don't mind seeing it when it's out in the 4th qtr trying to come back and get us a win.

How do you think we get down by 10+points? Frank just stared using Ultra Small Ball a few games ago. We have not had a C most of the season. I say give it a try Frank small ball did when all the games in the begining of the season...

 

[notakiddfan1]

We get out rebounded all game long and the other team is able to score down low every time down.

Well, this seems to make sense, and what I don't like is for Frank Johnson to put in a small-ball lineup and then complain after the game that we got outrebounded. That's like throwing Daniel Santiago into an all-black dance club and getting pissed at him for not bringing home a girl.

Although, in truth, we normally start out with a comparably regular-sized lineup to start the game, and we don't just struggle on the boards when we go small. Moreover, our best rebounding frontcourt would not be to have Scott Williams and Amare, would not be to have even Scott Williams and Big Jake. Just because a lineup is big doesn't mean they're gonna get a lot of rebounds. To have a lineup of Marbury, JJ, Penny, Marion, and Amare would actually be a very good rebounding lineup. We'd be small, but Amare and Shawn are the only guys we have on the team that average 9+ rebounds per game. After that, I don't know if anybody is higher than Penny at about 4.5 a game..?

The place where small ball really hurts us is inside on the defensive end, especially when teams are making runs. There've been nights where teams have just gotten layup after layup after layup and we've done nothing to stop it. Still, I'm not sure our centers are quick enough to defend against some of the better guys in the league anyway. You have Jake Tsakalidis in the middle, he might take up space, but he can't stay in the lane all night anymore. When the opposition's center goes out of the lane, it opens it up, and when Jake is in there, he's not quick enough to get to a spot where he can block a close-in shot. So how go large?