Official Round 1, Game #3 Thread.

[boisesuns]

now it's a 5 game series and the suns have home court!!

marion needs to step up. i think joe johnson is key but we need more than two people to show up with lets say 15-25 points, and the suns will win. we have a lot of scorers, but we need more overall production to get by teams. penny and steph showed up, but no one else did. weather its johnson, marion or amare we need three 15-25 point scorers to get a win. we know steph will show up, but who else will.

i expect the team to be ready to roll.

suns win
105
94

 

[JJ Slim]

You guys are right. Shawn and Stephon need at least one more player to score. It doesn't have to be the same one every night but it has to be somebody. JJ would seem to be the obvious choice. Penny and Amare can help too. But somebody has to be hot. The same could be said of the Spurs though. Maybe we can keep Duncan out of his game but if one or two other of their guys get it going it's going to be a long night.

Amare didn't have a very big game last time. I expect he will want to show the home fans what they want.

 

[jbeecham]

I don't know what happened to Shawn last game. I didn't think Bowen did anything differently guarding him than he did in game 1. I think Shawn effected his own game by standing out at the 3pt line all night instead of attacking the basket. In fact, the whole Suns team was standing around and watching Marbury most of the game. The only guys taking it inside were Amare and little Jake and Amare got fouled every time he took it in and only got 1 foul called for him all night (and I think that was called on Malik Rose).

I wish Amare could complain about the officiating without the possibilty of being fined or suspended or treated even worse by the officials in the next game because the refs were horrible to him in that game. He went 2-10 with 2 ft's and I guarantee you he was fouled on at least 7 of the 8 shots that he missed. Plus, he was called for a technical foul for complaining about the horrible officiating so SA got another bonus free throw thanks to the refs.

If things continue to be 5-8 for the rest of the series then I'm having serious doubts that the Suns will be able to contend. They beat them in game 1 despite the refs, but it took some serious clutch shots and a hell of a lot of luck. If both games were called straight then the Suns would've won in regulation in both.

 

[SirStefan32]

I agree. I've been saying this all season long:
As good as Stephon Marbury is, he needs help. Marion and Stoudemire will step up, but I think the key is the fourth and fifth scorer. (Read Penny Hardaway and Joe Johnson.)

The Suns are playing decent defense, but they are missing open shots. JJ, Penny, and Shawn have to hit open jumpers. Marbury creates so much space with his penetration that they don't to take quick three's. They can catch the ball, take a step or two, and take a jumper.

As far as officiating goes, I don't see anything terribly unusual about it. #1 seed is getting more calls than a #8 seed. I really don't have a problem with that. Spurs played well all year long to get the #1 seed, and they are bearing all the benefits now.

The Suns need to beat them despite the biased officiating. Once they do that, they will get more respect from the refs.

Stefan

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

me and my friends are going down to AWA at like 4:30 - 5:00 today. gonna be goin crazy down there all night! i am in sec 226, row 7, seats 18-20 if anyone wants to meet up

 

[Cheesebeef]

I can't wait for this freaking game!!!!! Although I am rather disgusted by the fact that as of today almost 2000 tickets remianed to be sold - that sucks - it just plain out sucks. We fans on this board and our players deserve better - as for the rest of the city - you are nothing but a bunch of

[cheesebeef, cut out the vulgar references. I'm getting really tired of them. Exhibit some decorum.]

 

[Matrix31]

I think the tickets may be sold out now. I wasnt sure if i was going to make it to Phoenix today so i didnt get tickets. I tried going to the ticketmaster website today and you cant get tickets there so i tried calling the number and when the were directing me to the SUns number i kept getting disconnected.

 

[elindholm]

Good luck Suns! I can't watch the game because of a work conflict. I'll be hoping for the best.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

im going downtown now.....I want to be able to hear all you all night long!!

GO SUNS

 

[Wally]

Originally posted by S_Marbury
Everyone keeps talking about smallball. Even though there's no chance of it ever happening, I think a big lineup of:

Penny/Marbury
JJ
Marion/Stoudemire
Lil' Jake/Stoudemire
Big Jake

would cause a few matchup problems. Pound the ball into the Jake's in the low block and let them try and create something. Penny and JJ are more than capable of triggering the perimetre offense. Try and get their big men in foul trouble. Marbury got Parker and Claxton in foul trouble simply by attacking the basket regularly.

If Robinson doesn't play and they start Kevin Willis or Danny Ferry, you need to pound it inside. Don't do it for just 2 possessions, do it for about a 3-5 minute stretch. And if it doesn't work then try something else. If you get Duncan in foul trouble, you've won the game. He's the basis for their offense. All of San Antonio's open jumpshots come from Duncan passing out of the double-team and then the Spurs using good ball movement.

Also, it gives Marbury a chance to have a bit of a rest.

I like this lineup but it has as much chance of happening as a fart has in a hurricane. I would include Outlaw and Williams off the bench. But, since they haven't used this type of lineup, they wouldn't know how to play together and it's probably too late to experiment.

I am really concerned about tonight’s game. The Spurs will come out with determination and they’ve had a lot of practice against our small-ball line-up. FJ refuses to play big Jake and doesn’t understand how to use big men effectively….it’s going to be the reason we exit in the first round and when it’s over we’ll all say “If only….” I hate to be so pessimistic, but I can’t help it, I don’t believe small-ball is going to get us to the next round.
It’s hard to say that we should change what has been effective for us but I believe that we should not be so predictable. If big Jake is given a chance – and I mean really given a chance; not a token 1 - 5 minuets, I feel this team has the ability to go to the finals. If by some miracle we pull this out, maybe I’ll join the small-ball fan club for a day..... or two

 

[elindholm]

I'm not a small-ball fan, but it at least has a chance of working if all of the guards can make shots. In Game 2, the Suns went 1-16 from three-point range. That is hopeless. Playing small is a calculated risk, and if they can make some shots, the gamble may pay off.

 

[Wally]

Tired of listening to "maybe that-el get him going" Bender and switched over to DirecTV. Announcers there have it right -

"The only thing that has stopped Parker is the floor".

"The Suns defense has broken down"

"No answer for David Robinson inside"

1st guy "They still have Tsakalidis..."
other guy "at this point, do you think he'd be effective?
1st guy "Hey, you gotta use what you got."

"Suns need badly someone to hit from the perimeter - the Spurs have it in Parker"

So if we get far enough behind, maybe JAKE will play.

 

[se7en]

Down by 14 and the Suns have only scored 33 points with 2 minutes to go before the half? Maybe our expectations are too high for this team. Clearly they're not ready to take it to the next level. Bummer...

Game is not over yet... But this is the 2nd game in a row they haven't been able to put points on the board.

 

[BMF]

I cant see the game, or hear it today, but the suns need to get something going soon!!!!!

 

[se7en]

This is humiliating. I'm glad I can't watch.

 

[se7en]

36 points at the half. Down by 17. This is sad.

In game one they only scored 35 points at the half. In game 2 they scored 41. Now 36. Why can't this team full of scorers score any points?????

 

[Chaz]

The Suns offense has been horrible. I guess it could be due to the Spurs defense. But I think the Suns have hurt themselves more than anything. They have got to get Marion going.

Spurs are starting to hit their shots. Parker having a good game so far.

Big mountian to climb in the second half.

One thing I know the Suns will not give up. If the Spurs can score +17 in the 1st half Suns can do the same in the 2nd.

 

[Chaplin]

This stretch at the beginning of the 2nd half is the best we've played all game. Only down by 10 now.

 

[S_Nash]

I swear to God, these missed free-throws are going to come back and bite us in the ass.

 

[Wally]

So is Jacobsen gonna play PF? He came in for Amare.

 

[BMF]

why is casey in, thats just dumb............

 

[Wally]

Originally posted by BMF
why is casey in, thats just dumb............

Nobody else has been able to hit the outside shot and we don't have an inside game. We're just throwing people in..... maybe JAKE will get a minute at the end.

 

[dyle_ph1]

It seems like the Spurs have figured out a way to play through the double teams. Hope to see an adjustment from the suns in the next game...

 

[BMF]

12 points in 2 minutes.......never say never...........

 

[BMF]

Originally posted by BMF
12 points in 2 minutes.......never say never...........

So much for that...........