- Joined
- Jan 29, 2005
- Posts
- 22
- Reaction score
- 0
There was an interesting article about tonights Suns/Jazz game in the Tempe Gazette.
http://www.tempegazette.com/sports/suns/articles/1105suns-ON.html
Salt Lake City- The Utah Jazz took the floor of the Delta Center with a confident swagger. To a man, the Jazz declared that they had no fear of the Phoenix Suns. They felt that they matched up well and could exploit the absence of injured All-Universe star Amare Stoudemire. For a while Saturday night, it looked like the Jazz might be right. In front of a raucous crowd, the Jazz were making crisp passes, shooting well, and grabbing every rebound. Then the warm-ups ended and the game started.
Two minutes into the game, frazzled Jazz Center Greg Ostertag left with a sprained knee. After the game, a source close to the team explained that the injury was psychosomatic, or in other words, it was all in Ostertag’s head. Make no mistake, the injury felt very real to Ostertag, but team doctors could find nothing wrong with Ostertag’s knee and expect him to start the next game.
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, while not confirming Ostertag’s fragile mental state, did explain a little further. "Greg doesn’t mind getting slammed on by Shaq or taken to school by Duncan or even Yao", explained Coach Sloan, "but it really bothers him when Sean Marion goes ballistic on him. After all, Marion’s just a little guy. It’s embarrassing to visit your nephews and see they have a Nike poster of you looking like a deer in the headlights while getting facialized buy a guy only slightly taller or bigger than a Munchkin." A teary Ostertag left immediately after the game and had no comment. His nephews, did state however, that they "still love Uncle Greg".
Midway through the first quarter it became obvious that this game would once more turn into a runaway Suns victory. True, the Suns paced themselves, allowing the Jazz to cling to a slim 5 point lead after one quarter, but as Suns coach Mike D’antoni explained, "Maybe Phil Jackson could get these guys motivated to play the Jazz, but I haven’t figured out how yet. The truth is, if we’re playing the Hornets, Bobcats, or Jazz, the guys just don’t take it too seriously. One of these days, if they’re not careful, the Hornets are going to teach them a painful lesson".
Former Jazzman, Raja Bell, acquired by the Suns in the offseason, did little to help motivate his new teamates, "I told them, man, unless 20 year old clones of Stockton and Malone suddenly sign with the Jazz, they’ve got no chance. Normally we hold a team meeting prior to the game where we go over strategy and assignments. Today we just went to IHOP for a late lunch. Have you tried their stuffed french toast? That’s some good %$#@ . Anyways, the new guy (Eddie House) said ‘Hey, should we be stuffing ourselves with all these pancakes and bacon?, Nash just laughed at him and said, "Dude, Come on, we’re not playing the Spurs’. We all had a good laugh."
Shawn Marion had 20 points and 14 rebounds, and the Phoenix Suns handed the Utah Jazz their first loss of the season with a 97-88 victory Saturday night. Marion, who started the second half with back-to-back alley-oop dunks from Nash, continued his scoring tear after scoring 30 points in the Suns' 122-112 win over the Lakers on Wednesday. "It was easy", Marion said, "Even ‘Tag could score twenty on that weak Kirilenko defense." Kirilenko had offensive woes too, shooting just 4-for-15 from the field.
Steve Nash had 14 points and 11 assists and Boris Diaw added 14 points. Gordan Giricek scored 17 points for Utah. Utah outrebounded the smaller Suns 55-34 (mainly because the Suns weren’t trying very hard), but shot under 40 percent and committed 21 turnovers. Mehmet Okur had 13 points and 12 rebounds but because he’s Turkish, nobody really cared.
The Suns take on the Kings tomorrow night in Phoenix. It remains to be seen whether a well-rested Phoenix squad will come out sharp or whether they will be rusty from their time off. The Suns record now stands at 2-1, but only 1-1 against NBA caliber competition.
http://www.tempegazette.com/sports/suns/articles/1105suns-ON.html
Salt Lake City- The Utah Jazz took the floor of the Delta Center with a confident swagger. To a man, the Jazz declared that they had no fear of the Phoenix Suns. They felt that they matched up well and could exploit the absence of injured All-Universe star Amare Stoudemire. For a while Saturday night, it looked like the Jazz might be right. In front of a raucous crowd, the Jazz were making crisp passes, shooting well, and grabbing every rebound. Then the warm-ups ended and the game started.
Two minutes into the game, frazzled Jazz Center Greg Ostertag left with a sprained knee. After the game, a source close to the team explained that the injury was psychosomatic, or in other words, it was all in Ostertag’s head. Make no mistake, the injury felt very real to Ostertag, but team doctors could find nothing wrong with Ostertag’s knee and expect him to start the next game.
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, while not confirming Ostertag’s fragile mental state, did explain a little further. "Greg doesn’t mind getting slammed on by Shaq or taken to school by Duncan or even Yao", explained Coach Sloan, "but it really bothers him when Sean Marion goes ballistic on him. After all, Marion’s just a little guy. It’s embarrassing to visit your nephews and see they have a Nike poster of you looking like a deer in the headlights while getting facialized buy a guy only slightly taller or bigger than a Munchkin." A teary Ostertag left immediately after the game and had no comment. His nephews, did state however, that they "still love Uncle Greg".
Midway through the first quarter it became obvious that this game would once more turn into a runaway Suns victory. True, the Suns paced themselves, allowing the Jazz to cling to a slim 5 point lead after one quarter, but as Suns coach Mike D’antoni explained, "Maybe Phil Jackson could get these guys motivated to play the Jazz, but I haven’t figured out how yet. The truth is, if we’re playing the Hornets, Bobcats, or Jazz, the guys just don’t take it too seriously. One of these days, if they’re not careful, the Hornets are going to teach them a painful lesson".
Former Jazzman, Raja Bell, acquired by the Suns in the offseason, did little to help motivate his new teamates, "I told them, man, unless 20 year old clones of Stockton and Malone suddenly sign with the Jazz, they’ve got no chance. Normally we hold a team meeting prior to the game where we go over strategy and assignments. Today we just went to IHOP for a late lunch. Have you tried their stuffed french toast? That’s some good %$#@ . Anyways, the new guy (Eddie House) said ‘Hey, should we be stuffing ourselves with all these pancakes and bacon?, Nash just laughed at him and said, "Dude, Come on, we’re not playing the Spurs’. We all had a good laugh."
Shawn Marion had 20 points and 14 rebounds, and the Phoenix Suns handed the Utah Jazz their first loss of the season with a 97-88 victory Saturday night. Marion, who started the second half with back-to-back alley-oop dunks from Nash, continued his scoring tear after scoring 30 points in the Suns' 122-112 win over the Lakers on Wednesday. "It was easy", Marion said, "Even ‘Tag could score twenty on that weak Kirilenko defense." Kirilenko had offensive woes too, shooting just 4-for-15 from the field.
Steve Nash had 14 points and 11 assists and Boris Diaw added 14 points. Gordan Giricek scored 17 points for Utah. Utah outrebounded the smaller Suns 55-34 (mainly because the Suns weren’t trying very hard), but shot under 40 percent and committed 21 turnovers. Mehmet Okur had 13 points and 12 rebounds but because he’s Turkish, nobody really cared.
The Suns take on the Kings tomorrow night in Phoenix. It remains to be seen whether a well-rested Phoenix squad will come out sharp or whether they will be rusty from their time off. The Suns record now stands at 2-1, but only 1-1 against NBA caliber competition.
