Looking at the Box Score

[George O'Brien]

I didn't see the game against the Clippers, but in looking at the box score several things stand out:

1. 22 turnovers is awful. I don't know if it is the new ball, jet lag, or new player combinations, but it is amazing the Suns only lost by 11.

2. The Suns shot just 7 of 20 for three. This team has to be closer to 40% for the three to be effective because missed threes lead to long rebounds.

3. I would guess the Suns were not moving well without the ball, since 18 assists is very low for this team.

4. The Suns got killed on the boards - 31 to 50. Some of this was due to short minutes by Marion, KT and Stoudemire; still the Suns cannot give up 19 offensive rebounds if they expect to be a contender.

5. If the stat line is any indication, Boris was very passive on offense. He had four assists but no free throws.

On the plus side, Amare had 6 rebounds in 18 minutes. Reports are that he looked very slow, but he still helps if he crashes the boards.

Besides leading the team in scoring, Barbosa had three steals.

James Jones did not shoot well (2 of 6) but he did have 3 blocks.

 

[Suns_fan69]

2. The Suns shot just 7 of 20 for three. This team has to be closer to 40% for the three to be effective because missed threes lead to long rebounds.

That's only one make away from 40% (well technically I guess you have to convert one miss)... I don't think that was a big factor in the grand scheme of things.

 

[ampersand]

They weren't even moving WITH the ball very much.

Also there were about half a dozen times where a guy (usually Amare and Burke at least once) was standing under the basket waving both hands with no one near them. Banks particularly wasn't looking for people.

So I'm not surprised assists were down...

 

[Puppet]

I know it's only preseason, but the Suns have looked pretty ordinary in all of their games so far. They lost to the 76ers and a watered down Clippers, and barely beat a severely watered down Lakers team.

Banks in particular has been disappointing. I don't see Nash playing much less than 35 minutes a game this season based on what I've read and heard about Banks so far (I haven't seen him play I admit). Barbosa's the only guy who has really stood out.

Hopefully they're just trying new gameplans etc but I hope this level of play doesn't carry into the season.