Official Game 2 Thread

[PhiLLmattiC]

The ball slipped out of his hand. Apparently the tape was bothering this game and probably has been bothering him since he came back. Its kind of hard to play if you have no feel for the ball in your shooting hand. By the way that was a terrible turnover because Amare had a wide open lane to the hoop and that might have gotten him off. Then again if penny would have never got his thumb injured if in the first place the suns could have been a top 5 seed. Sh*t happens.

 

[devilalum]

Suns snatch defeat from the jaws of victory!

I didn't expect the Suns to win this one but they really let it slip away. If anybody had just stepped up a couple of times in the last 5 minutes it would be 2-0.

 

[KloD]

Reading the posts on the game I was thinking about the comments on Marbury shooting too much. It made me think about the movie The Bad News Bears and how Kelly Lee (can't believe I remember the name) was told by the coach to get every ball and of course to everyone else he looked like a jerk. I wonder if Frank
asked Steph to shoot a little more, keep the ball in his hands a bit more? Just a thought.. I too was having a hard time watching that game with the calls that were made and not, but our forwards were the reason we lost. They were sloppy with the ball and let the officials get in their heads. I didn't see any emotion out of Marion, but it was great to see Amare hit those two buckets near the end. We can take these guys, let's just hope the young guys can shake this off and come back Friday with poise and focus.
Go Suns!

 

[AZ Shocker]

I've been watching NBA basketball for over 25 years. Tim Duncan gets away with a lot of stuff. He is good if not great, but why do refs make those type of guys even better? $$$$$$$

Voskul would be a stud center if he got half the "calls" and "no calls" Tim Duncan gets. The Suns will never be allowed to have a competitve center. It is a "league rule". I promise you, if we had Shaq on our team...he would be a stiff riding the pine in constant foul trouble while other centers in the league like Jake Voskul would dominate him. It's the anti-Jerry rule.

 

[Joe Mama]

See I think Jake Voskuhl actually does commit a lot of fouls. I think most of the time that calls on him are good and correct. The problem is that the referees never make the calls when it is the other way around.

I didn't think Tim Duncan really committed a lot of fouls tonight. The few he did commit were given to Danny Ferry anyhow.

I already pointed out what I thought were the biggest problems down the stretch for the Phoenix Suns. However I thought the biggest players were San Antonio tonight were Stephen Jackson (obviously) and Speedy Claxton. Claxton harassed Marbury and did a very good job of breaking down the Phoenix Suns defense. He was a huge improvement that point guard over Tony Parker.

Joe Mama

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Ok now I have finally calmed down after the loss. Nothing like a couple hours of Calc 2.

Voskuhl is hurting as much as he is helping IMO. He is playing out of control. He is getting whisteled for a lot of fouls, and they are costing the team. He just has a way of getting his fouls when it hurts us the most. The problem is we have no one to fill in. Scott williams probably plays the best defense on the big guys, but he gets cocky on offense. Outlaw can't handle guarding one person instead of the entire team. He has been pretty bad since getting hit anyways. I think we need to see Big Jake in game 3, just to see what he does. He might slow the offense up a little bit, but we might need to make that sacrifice.

Amare needs to just keep doing what he has been. Hopefully they will start calling some of the fouls.

Marion needs to sleep. For the next 3 days. Period.

Steph just needs to be Steph and Penny needs to stop trying to save the day. He is so effective when he just plays, but near the end he seems to try to do to much. JJ just needs to show up.

 

[AZ Shocker]

Agreed Mama. Although Jake does seem to get some mysterious fouls called on him. There's no doubt TD will get every benefit of the doubt. Member when TD landed on Jake? That was pretty obvious that TD was pushing JV.
But here's where you hit the nail on the head that makes watching the NBA harder and harder for me as a 32 year old who's been watching since I was 7.

The problem is that the referees never make the calls when it is the other way around.

 

[Chaz]

The Suns had this game and untill Ginobili hit that three we where still right there.

I have no problem with Steph taking the shots, but he was not making threes the entire game. The jumpers off screens and driving to the basket is where he got his points and built the 7 point lead.

So why is Steph taking threes at the end?

TAKE IT TO THE BASKET STEPH!!
STEP IN FOR THE TWO STEPH!!

I guess he can't hear me through the TV

The refs made some bad calls but the Suns should have won anyway. They have to play tougher than that. Amare will learn (sooner rather than later I hope) to go up strong and force the refs to make a call.

We got the split we wanted but we should be up 2-0. I hope this game doesn't cost us the series.

GO SUNS!!

 

[elindholm]

1-16. End of analysis. Why doesn't anyone believe me?

 

[Cheesebeef]

Originally posted by thegrahamcrackr
Ok now I have finally calmed down after the loss. Nothing like a couple hours of Calc 2.

Voskuhl is hurting as much as he is helping IMO. He is playing out of control. He is getting whisteled for a lot of fouls, and they are costing the team. He just has a way of getting his fouls when it hurts us the most. The problem is we have no one to fill in. Scott williams probably plays the best defense on the big guys, but he gets cocky on offense. Outlaw can't handle guarding one person instead of the entire team. He has been pretty bad since getting hit anyways. I think we need to see Big Jake in game 3, just to see what he does. He might slow the offense up a little bit, but we might need to make that sacrifice.

Amare needs to just keep doing what he has been. Hopefully they will start calling some of the fouls.

Marion needs to sleep. For the next 3 days. Period.

Steph just needs to be Steph and Penny needs to stop trying to save the day. He is so effective when he just plays, but near the end he seems to try to do to much. JJ just needs to show up.

Cracker - everything you said is dead on the money and I couldn't agree with you more. I can't believe we have to wait four days until the next game. AWA better be rocking and f*cking rolling. Game 3 is beyond huge. I'll be interested to see how this team responds.

 

[cheng]

Re: The Suns lost

Originally posted by Chris_Sanders
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.

I couldn't agree more. Our small lineup got outplayed by their guards in the 2nd and 4th quarter.

We did play very good defense, but Marbury, JJ and Marion all rushed their shots. Penny had the hot hand and didn't even get a chance to shoot in the 4th until the game was out of reach. I agree Johnson needed to tell the team to stop shooting 3s, run some pick and rolls and get all players involved in the offense.

I don't have problem with Marbury taking all those shots, but someone needs to feed him off dribble. He was like full court 1 on 5 after inbound pass. Claxton's full count press worked, Marbury spent too much energy just to get through him from backcourt. Because nobody else touches the ball, there was no movement in offense so Marbury had to settle for outside shots.

I thought Jake did a better job guarding Duncan than Stoudemire, Duncan scored two huge baskets on Stoudemire after Jake was taken out. I would probably keep Jake on the floor and took JJ out so we would have size advantage at all positions except center while maintaining the mobilty to recover from double team Duncan.

I am not surprised we went 1-16 from 3pt with the types of shots we took from there. Most of them were forced and contested. I am actually surprised that the Spurs didn't shoot a higher percentage from outside, they were so wide open. I think I overestimated their shooters before the series started. If Parker, Jackson and Bowen are replaced by Fisher, Horry and Fox or Cassel, Maxwell and Kenny Smith of the Houton team in the mid's90s, we should get blown out every game with the way we double team Duncan in the low post.

 

[Joe Mama]

1-16 from behind the three-point line is definitely one of the big reasons the Suns lost. It is not the only reason.

I thought it was apparent that many of the Suns, especially Shawn Marion, looked exhausted.

P.S. somebody must teach Amare Stoudemire this summer that half of playing defense and rebounding in the low post is maintaining position before the ball gets to the frontcourt player and/or before the ball goes up in the air.

Joe Mama

 

[reedykat]

I expected to be 1 and 1 at this junction of the series. The good news is we have things to work on that will not be hard to master. We are back at home and the film of last night's game should give the coaching staff plenty to work on.
I was quite impressed with our ability to come back and make a run towards the end. It's obvious that Amare has alot to learn and we have to realize that he is in learning curve but I know that he will represent at AWA. Marion looks exhasted and these next four days will be good for him. Everyone assumes that because he is nicknamed the Matrix, he is superhuman. The Matrix has logged alot of hours and four rest days will be the ticket for him. Bo has not been the same since his injury. He is probably not accustom to being injured. We will need him to bounce back and I guarantee that he will. He wants this series badly. JJ seems to be in awe over the entire playoffs but I think he will snap back in the next two games and perform. Lil' Jake needs to chill and resume his defensive prowess and he'll be just fine. Scot needs to be used sparingly because he is looking quite old but his leadership more than makes up for his old bones. Penny seems to be back to being "Mr. Playoffs" he was key to our run last night. He will remain healthy and do what ever it takes to help his team. Steph needs to play within the team more and I'll bet after he views the last nights film, he'll make the adjustments. Steph is the "feared one "in the Spurs camp and he should use that to the team's advantage.