Lakers @ Suns Playoff thread - Sunday April 22, 2007 -12:00 pm

[dodie53]

good win..

i'm very happy

 

[Chaplin]

KT was brought here for one series and one series only - SAN ANTONIO... and then if we got to the Finals, some minutes against Miami or Detroit.

besides that, he's riding pine IMO.

I have to agree with cheese on this one. In this series, KT will only really be able to guard Bynum or Brown--mostly Brown. However, with Kwame being as bad as he is (the guy has NO vertical jump and can barely move), having Amare on him is a much better proposition because we can abuse him like crazy (like Amare did at the start of the 3rd).

In this game, KT wasn't needed (except for maybe in the 1st quarter), but through the 2nd half, our running game is what got us the lead and the win, and KT is a detriment to that, unfortunately. I love KT and I love what he brings (I'm one of the few that advocates NOT trading him), but I know his limitations as well.

 

[TucsonDevil]

Just for fun...

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[F-Dog]

I was watching the game with my friend, and after Kobe closed out the second quarter with that big run, he was concerned about Kobe dominating the 2nd half, too. I told him, "The Suns just have to weather the storm here--Kobe will be missing those same shots in the 4th".


The Suns did a good job IMO, considering they couldn't buy a jump shot in three of the four quarters. My hope is that the first half was last year's playoff jitters, but it won't take them three-and-a-half games to work through them this time.

On the other hand, Nash still looks shaky from 3pt range, Marion needs to stick to the sideline 3pt shot and lay off the wing 3s, and JR really only looked good on the one shot he made off the dribble. Bell and Barbosa were just off, but I don't think the Suns will be leading the playoffs in 3pt% unless Nash can get his shot back pretty quickly.

I thought Diaw looked OK on offense (aside from all the missed jumpers, but then Amare had the same issue). However, Diaw's defense was even worse than usual--he added some Tim Thomas-style help-defense issues that I don't recall seeing from him before. The Lakers went at Diaw repeatedly late in the 3rd quarter and were rewarded almost every time.


Anyway, the Suns have one game down, which is more than their WC rivals can say. Still, it would be nice to see them start out hot in game 2 and put the Lakers in a hole early.

 

[TheHopToad]

On the other hand, Nash still looks shaky from 3pt range

How so? He made 2-4, 50%. Right at his season avg.

Now Raja and LB had some problems....and Junior too, but we won't go there.

 

[F-Dog]

How so? He made 2-4, 50%. Right at his season avg.

The two makes were the short sideline three where he had plenty of time to set up, and the three on the break where his body was flying towards the basket. The two misses were not close.

Dunno, right now it feels like the longer wing 3pt shot is outside of Nash's range.

 

[cly2tw]

On the other hand, Nash still looks shaky from 3pt range, Marion needs to stick to the sideline 3pt shot and lay off the wing 3s, and JR really only looked good on the one shot he made off the dribble. Bell and Barbosa were just off, but I don't think the Suns will be leading the playoffs in 3pt% unless Nash can get his shot back pretty quickly.

I thought Diaw looked OK on offense (aside from all the missed jumpers, but then Amare had the same issue). However, Diaw's defense was even worse than usual--he added some Tim Thomas-style help-defense issues that I don't recall seeing from him before. The Lakers went at Diaw repeatedly late in the 3rd quarter and were rewarded almost every time.

Our jumpers just never fell, particularly Diaw's and Amare's since they are supposed to open up the paint with their jumpers.

Diaw's defense was OK except for a couple of missed switches with Amare that allowed easy baskets for Odom. They gotta work on that play and communicate better.

Aside for a stretch in the first half, Amare's defense and rebounding was very good. He was very active as shown in those blocks and steals and also boxed out well enough as long as he was not out of position due to helping out.

Marion was solid with defense and consistent on the offense.

I stick to my prediction: Suns in 4.

 

[azirish]

Every time the Suns have a bad game shooting from the outside, opponents get the idea that the Suns are an easy team to beat if only they don't make as many mistakes. But with the league lead in three point percentage at 39.9% - 785 of 1965 should suggest that the Suns have a lot more hot games than cold. (BTW, the Suns shot more threes last year at 837 of 2097 for almst exactly the same percentage). It is really hard to beat the Suns when they are hitting their open shots.

In game two, I expect the Suns to go inside a bit more than they did today at the start of the game and focus on weak side help against Odom (he got most of his points on drives past the defender at the hoop, which is why weak side help against him made a difference in the second half). But mostly, I expect the Suns will get over their jitters and start hitting some jump shots.

 

[mjb21aztd]

Great 1st game for the suns they made it a little intresting till the 4th qtr but when Kobe is shooting like that through the 1st 3 qtrs it will be close no matter what, but great job on double teaming in the 4th qtr to make him miss. Also great game by barbosa he came up huge and pretty much won us the game in the 4th qtr also good games by amare and marion hopefully we can keep this up in game 2 GO SUNS BEAT THEM FAKERS