Official Game 2 Thread

[Cheesebeef]

Originally posted by carey
The officials gave SA this game. So many bad calls I lost count.

That's BS! And I knew I would see this crap on this thread after the game - We had a 72-65 lead and we stopped making shots. Shawn was too busy looking to see if his feet were behind the three point line before shooting, JJ was too lax guarding Ginobli on the wing, Stoudemire didn't go up strong at the end and we decided we were the second re-incarntation of the Person, Chapman, KJ team and decided the only good shots we could get were threes. We blew this game, plain and simple. Were there a couple bad calls? Yes - could we make a shot to save our lives to take the lead? No - that is why we lost. Don't be a frickin' crybaby becasue we gave a game away - just hope we come back on Friday and pummel these guys - and that Shawn decides not to do a second playoff disappearing act like the one he showed two years ago when he had a great game 1 against Peja and then sucked the rest of the series.

Tough loss tonight - but this team hasn't even played well together yet and we should still be up 2-0. Bring it home -let AWA rock and roll and don't let these guys breathe - I think this sucker's going 7 and it's gonna be Steph at the end with a tear drop to win it.

 

[BMF]

Originally posted by carey
The officials gave SA this game. So many bad calls I lost count.

I didn't see the game, but if anything it was Marion's no show on offense, right now he's 3 of 14, he should be stepping it up in games like this...............

 

[notakiddfan1]

And now we have to wait till Friday? Jeez.

 

[green machine]

Tough game. Suns didn't play well down the stretch, refs didn't get any better from game 1. However, the key is to take one game. We did that. We swept the Spurs at home this year, and we are a much better team on our home court. I feel very good about where this series is going.

adam

 

[elindholm]

1-16!

That was the Suns' three-point shooting tonight. 16 attempts isn't a terrible number, given how much the Spurs were collapsing on Marbury's penetration. But if a team can't shoot better than 6% from three-point range, they are in trouble.

 

[JS22]

Ok, the Suns got the split...thats what they wanted right?

They'll take 'em at home.

 

[cheng]

I thought we had it when the score was 72-65, Marbury looked like he was going to score over 40.

That 4 point play was the turning point, Jake didn't foul Duncan on that play, it seemed to me that Duncan pushed Jake down. The Spurs went on 19-4 run after that play.

Another thing either Penny or JJ need to bring the ball up then feed Marbury off dribble, Marbury can't handle the ball full court and go 1 on 5.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Originally posted by notakiddfan1
The Suns need to get a small forward. Maybe Byron Russel would work, but anybody would be an upgrade over Shawn Marion. That guy doesn't do sh*t.

ill take that as sarcasm.....he had an off night offesnsively, but he did post double digit boards I believe.

The refs blew ass, but we all expected that. That no call on Amare when rose hacked him pissed me off. the play that amare got a T for. There was a bit of a meltdown by the suns, the spurs went on a run, and we started rushing shots instead of running the pick and roll. Tough loss, but we stuck in it. We could of and should have had this one. Did I mention the officiating was crap?? It just bothered me how they allowed Amare to get hacked. That play were duncan ran over voskuhl and landed on him was ********. That gave them a 4 point play. Also that looseball foul on lil Jake when he kocked over rose with his stomach. Dan marjle said it best "I just think it is pretty hard to knock a 50 lb person over with your stomach, maybe just a little acting there"

overall im pissed, this was our game, they better come out with a serious chip on their shoulder friday.

I am glad amare didnt loose confidence, and got those last 2 buckets though

 

[carey]

Originally posted by cheesebeef
That's BS! (snip) Don't be a frickin' crybaby becasue we gave a game away

You and I did not watch the same game. Not hitting shots are part of it, but when Tim Duncan is going over the back on rebounds and you aren't getting calls, Stoudamire is getting mugged and you aren't getting calls, and any time Jake Voskhul even breathed on someone.... well you get the point. It was total b.s. and I was complaining about it all game, not just because we lost.

If we would have won I would have said we won in spite of the officiating.

 

[green machine]

Originally posted by Brian in Mesa
You guys definitely have a rising star in Amare.
Quatrow

Thanks for confirming it for us, BIM

adam

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Have the Suns ever played a game in which they were not allegedly jobbed by the refs multiple times? It seems to always be the excuse after a loss and can even dominate the threads after a win.

Quatrow

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

not really brian

The officials didnt really cost us the game, they just made it a lot harder. we should have been able to close it out. I am not sure if you were able to catch it, but that hack on amare by rose, and when duncan jumped on voskuhl were pretty bad. They were also important fouls, one took amare out of the game because he lost his cool, the otehr sparked the 19-4 run.

 

[NDSunsfan]

the thing that impressed me so much with the Suns win on saturday was they never freaked out at the end, they got the easy 2, then fouled. they stretched out the game. so many teams get down in the last 60-90 seconds and start firing 3's. and if they don't go in (like usually for any team) the game is over with 45 seconds to go. the suns didn't do that on saturday, but they did tonight. they seemed to panic and get frantic at the end. their lack of control hurt them at crunch time. but i'm happy with a split.

and like barkley said after the game, you can see that the suns have no fear when it comes to the spurs. that's a good sign.

i had hoped that when they went to 7 game first rounds, these 4 day layoffs would be a thing of the past, silly me. what a momentum killer as a fan.


this from an earlier post in this thread:

OK, I can't stand it. I'm up her in Colorado and I kicked my son-in-law off the computer.

i know it's only a typo, but it reads funny and i laughed out loud. to be doing that and have the ability to get someone off the computer takes talent..........sorry i don't mean to be sophomoric, it just struck me.......



go suns!

brad

 

[Cheesebeef]

Originally posted by thegrahamcrackr
not really brian

The officials didnt really cost us the game, they just made it a lot harder. we should have been able to close it out. I am not sure if you were able to catch it, but that hack on amare by rose, and when duncan jumped on voskuhl were pretty bad. They were also important fouls, one took amare out of the game because he lost his cool, the otehr sparked the 19-4 run.

If you're team gives up a 19-4 run because of one play - that's pathteic - we couldn't stop the run and that is why we lost - not the officials. By the way Brian was being sarcastic - We lost this game because we couldn't close the f*cker out - plain and simple - to say otherwise is just being a bad sport. Officials are part of the game - they didn't make any calls down the stretch that we couldn't recover from - we just didn't make shots at the end.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

The Suns lost

Because they were content to take outside brick after outside brick.

Frank Johnson never adapted and told his players to stop shooting 3s. Several times I saw a wide open lane for Marion and JJ and they pulled up and bricked a jump shot instead.


You live by the J and you die by the J. That is why small ball doesn't win consistently in the playoffs. You have an off night shooting and you lose.

Don't blame the refs. That is what home court advantage is.

Suns had the chance to win and flat blew it. BUT...they had their chance to win and that is all you can ask for when you are an 8 seed going against a 1 seed.

P.S. When the outside jumper isn't falling, you don't sub in Bo Outlaw and clog the lane even more for Marbury. Googs would have been a better choice. He certainly could not have done worse.

P.S.S. We are in game 84 of the season now. Why doesn't Voshkul know what a moving screen is yet? He is good for one TO every game because he won't plant on the screen.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Originally posted by cheesebeef
By the way Brian was being sarcastic.

Thanks for noticing!

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Thats why is said "not really" saying there is never a game where we dont argue. I was playing into his sarcasm. If you actually read my post, you would see that I said that the officials did not cost us the game. I ALSO stated that we should have been able to close it out.

By the way - Every run trails back to a turning point. A momentum giver. A spark. In this case the 19-4 run was sparked by a 4 point play that turned our seven point lead into a 3 point lead because of a bad call.


So before you start calling people "bad sports" maybe you should ACTUALLY read their post.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Re: The Suns lost

Originally posted by Chris_Sanders


Don't blame the refs. That is what home court advantage is.

That is the exact attitude that makes the NBA get such bad press about officiating. Home court advantage is having the luxury to

A) Sleep in your own bed the night before
B) Practice and warm up in your own facility
C) Play on a court you a very familiar with
D) Have fans cheering you on instead of booing you

Home court advantage is NOT getting preferencial treatment from officials.

 

[green machine]

The refs did not help us. That is for sure. The problem is our young team let the refs get to them. A veteran team learns to just deal with it. When Amare gets out of the game, ala that game against Memphis earlier in the year, we struggle. Is it the ref's fault that we lost the game? Hell no. The refs never "decide" the game. Did the refs call a good game? I don't think so.

adam

 

[Brian in Mesa]

I'm sure there are people in San Antonio right now moaning about some calls that didn't go their way. It likely happens in most NBA cities. The officiating is pretty bad throughout the league. It has been for years and years.

 

[PhiLLmattiC]

I'm noticing that there is less and less ball movement. Marbury doesn't look like he is willing to give the ball up as much anymore. Granted he's the main man and he wasshooting pretty well there were some instances where he would be caught dribbling around the perimeter with the clock ticking down and he would have to force up a shot. Another thing is that except for marbury and a lot of times penny there is no one on the team who wanted to take it in against duncan. Even Amare seemed to back down this game. They should really take it to him a lot more like the spurs were taking it in earlier in the first quater.

 

[Joe Mama]

Home court advantage? That is BS. It would be somewhat acceptable, but I guarantee it isn't going to get any better on Friday. You guys are right. The referees did not cost the Phoenix Suns the game. The Suns did many things poorly down the stretch. However the officiating certainly did not help. I honestly don't know how Amare Stoudemire stays as calm as he does. The officiating was lopsided in Game 1, and it was worse tonight. And Brian, the reason you never complained about the officiating is that you cheer for the team who gets the most help from the officials. At least until recently that is true.

All that said the Suns lost this game down the stretch for these reasons in order.

1. For some reason they reverted back to their weak-ass double teams. For the last in living quarters he's teams had faced each other the Phoenix Suns had smothered Tim Duncan with aggressive double teams. Then inexplicably down the stretch may either stopped double teaming or ran a weak double team banking. I keep thinking ahead to be a coaching decision because it started happening right after that lame timeout by Penny Hardaway.

2. Shawn Marion look absolutely dead. Frankly I think FJ ran him into the ground on Saturday and during most of this game when he got almost zero rest. He did have some nice plays on the board and on defense, but he couldn't get anything going to the basket. Of course part of the problem was that Bowen played some fantastic defense on him.

3. Poor, poor shot selection in the last 5-6 minutes.

4. That timeout that Penny Hardaway was apparently forced to call because of the tape on his hand was a momentum killer. The Spurs came back, got that ridiculous 4 point play, and ran away with the game.

The Suns did not play well tonight. Marbury had some incredible stretches, but the rest of the team (minus Hardaway) did almost nothing.

BTW, have you guys noticed that Penny Hardaway has to give away at least one lazy turnover per game?

Joe Mama

 

[NDSunsfan]

i think the main reason it seems like marbury dribbled too much was that jj and marion were just standing at each corner on the baseline waiting for the ball. they didn't move. penny was cutting and amare was trying to set screens but that was about all the movement there was. plus, when they just stand there waiting for the ball, there is no way they are ever going to get to the offensive boards from 20+ feet away on the baseline. it hurt the suns tonight.

playoff basketball seems to grind down to standing around doing nothing for the first 12 seconds of the possession, then frantically trying to get something and often times putting up a bad shot. that's why barkley was so good in playoff time (at least that's how i remember it ) he could hold the ball on the block and then back down and get his normal shot. it worked great during playoff runs. the suns don't have anyone with that ability.

like someone said, you live by the jumper, you die by the jumper. the suns are 1-1 so far in that respect. here's to a better plan at awa.

go suns!

brad

 

[Cheesebeef]

Sorry - din't mean to call anyone a bad sport or a baby - but this is the way games go. Come on guyts, none of us were complaing when we had Barkley and used to get all the calls - I mean Western Confernce Finals Game 7 - didn't we shoot something like 55 free throws? It's about respect in the NBA - and right now we will have to KO teams and beat them and the refs.

Also - Brian, the Lakers do get an obscene amount of calls in their favor - especially at home - but again - if you're gonna beat the best, you have to do it decisively and not let anyone take it away from you. That game wasn't taken away from us by the refs - it was taken away from us by a team that absolutely had to win, who made tough shots when it mattered most. We did it in Game 1, they did it in Game 2 - this series is going to be a legendary first round series - I just can't wait for that game when Steph explodes fror 40 something.

As far as Steph forcing too many shots tonight - I don't really blame him - Shawn looked terrible out ther, and while JJ had a couple nice plays, he was too timid as well. As far as Hardaway is concerned, I'm always afraid when he has the ball at the end for some reason - I'm just expecting a tunrover or a charge.

Onto Amare - the fact that the kid put in two tough shots against Duncan when we were down three, cutting the lead to one both times, put a big smile on my face. I mean the kid wasn't hitting squat tonight - but still wanted the ball at the end and was making plays. What happened on that last layup that he badly missed I don't know, but he's gotta dunk that crap. Regardless, another good playoff game and experience for him and this team. This team ain't winning it this year, barring some kind of miracle run (don't get me wrong - I want to see the miracle run) - but the experience and toughness they have shown thus far bodes well for the future and that's what this team is all about.

That being said - let's knock San Antonio's d*ck in the dirt come Friday!

 

[NDSunsfan]

BTW, have you guys noticed that Penny Hardaway has to give away at least one lazy turnover per game?

yes, i've noticed it for some time. i posted a similar thought toward the end of the regular season. he just seems to get lazy (for lack of a better word) every now and then. he almost seems surprised by the defender's speed. they're not even in the flow of the offense, they are just mental let downs (imo).

but, having said that, he is a steadying influence and i'm glad frank keeps him in there down the stretch.


brad