Passive Amare?

[jbeecham]

I know it's only been 2 games and opposing defenses have been double & triple teaming Amare every time he gets the ball, but it seems like Amare is being really passive on offense. The Suns also won both games so I probably shouldn't be worried.

Still, Amare has not been attacking the basket on offense. 3-4 games ago he was getting to the hoop even against double teams. Last night he got his points on uncontested dunks and his 15-18 ft shot. He also had a pretty nice turn-around fade-away jumper from about 10 ft out on the baseline. I really wanted to see him step up once Nash went down, but he just passed the ball whenever he got it in the paint. This is the same team he scored 38 against 10 days ago (they made some adjustments, but he still should've been able to dominate).

Like I said, it's only been 2 sub-par offensive games and he did have a lot of rebounds and blocks against NO, but I just haven't seen his fire the last 2 games.

 

[JS22]

I was mentioning in the chat that he looked a little under the weather. Atleast that's how it seems to me.

 

[StatsAmare]

it seems like after Amare got those 5 assts. he's trying to work on that part of the game more. He saw the game shawn was having and tried to feed the ball more. I think that's much smarter than trying to fight through a double/tripple team defense. I doubt he'll be doing that in tougher western teams. It will be good ole' wham bam slam time when it needs to be, i'm sure.

 

[Goldfield]

I agree Amare does look timmid the last 2 games. I was wondering if he was sick.

He has been alittle soft around the hoop settling for 2-3 footers. That is not like Amare to do that. I also noticed he hasnt been working as hard on the defensive end either. My bet is he is sick or slightly hurt.

I am not worried about it, he has been playing at such a high level he was bound to have alittle let down.

 

[Chaz]

Defenses are really converging on him. It may just take a couple games to adjust and learn what works. I think teams have just been trying to keep Amare from beating them.
It also seems like he has missed some easy shots lately. If he keeps after it they will start falling again.

As long as he plays hard on defense and rebounds the ball the offense will come around.

 

[JCSunsfan]

14 pts, 14 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Hardly timid. It looks like Amare is concentrating on other aspects of his game.

Could it be that Amare needs Nash to feed him? Nash was out the entire second half, and not right for a few mins in the first.

 

[Joe Mama]

The referees last night were also allowing the Hornets to play much more physically with Amare then he is used to. Right or wrong if the game had been called like some previous games he would have been at the free-throw line much more last night. He's still drawing the contact, but the referees aren't giving him the whistles when he is driving into a group of players.

Joe Mama

 

[Chris_Sanders]

The referees last night were also allowing the Hornets to play much more physically with Amare then he is used to. Right or wrong if the game had been called like some previous games he would have been at the free-throw line much more last night. He's still drawing the contact, but the referees aren't giving him the whistles when he is driving into a group of players.

Joe Mama

I am with Joe here. The refs allowed an "east coast" style of basketball last night and the Suns managed to win it thanks to an amazing game by Marion.

 

[elindholm]

The referees last night were also allowing the Hornets to play much more physically with Amare then he is used to.

Unfortunately, that's playoff basketball. Stoudemire and the rest of the Suns will have to adjust.

By the way, did anyone else notice that Marion had his best half of the season when he actually got to play -- gasp -- small forward? There could be something to that.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

The referees last night were also allowing the Hornets to play much more physically with Amare then he is used to.

Unfortunately, that's playoff basketball. Stoudemire and the rest of the Suns will have to adjust.

By the way, did anyone else notice that Marion had his best half of the season when he actually got to play -- gasp -- small forward? There could be something to that.

Not sure, I noticed we won again.

 

[Chaz]

By the way, did anyone else notice that Marion had his best half of the season when he actually got to play -- gasp -- small forward? There could be something to that.

Never mind his 15 first quarter points came against P.J. Brown.

 

[jbeecham]

The Suns did play with a big lineup for almost all of the 2nd half.

JJ - 6'8
Q - 6'5
SM- 6'7
AS - 6'10
JV - 6'11

When they brought in subs it was CJ for Q (JJ played the whole 2nd half) and Hunter got 3 minutes for Jake (Hunter had 3 fouls in 3 minutes).

I agree the refs haven't given Amare many calls in the last 2 games which has really hurt his scoring, but he wasn't nearly as aggressive even when he got the ball in good position. He just seemed much more comfortable taking a back seat to Marion & Q when he should've been stepping up himself.

 

[elindholm]

Never mind his 15 first quarter points came against P.J. Brown.

Yes, because he got lucky and bombed some three-pointers from the top of the circle. We all know that's not Marion's game.

Marion's game is slashing, rebounding, and "filling up the stat sheet." That is what he did in the second half. In his 15-point first quarter, he amassed one rebound, zero assists, and zero blocks. The second half was when he became a great player again.

 

[F-Dog]

As I see it, the Hornets were perfect to play Big Ball against--if you took away their strength on the inside, they didn't have enough firepower to win. I doubt it's a coincidence that the Suns played more Big Ball in two games against New Orleans than they have in the rest of their games combined.

On the other hand, the Utah Jazz are almost ideal candidates for Small Ball. Collins is a stiff, and Boozer and Okur are both undersized, so they're not going to overpower a smaller team; plus, better spacing makes it tougher for Kirilenko to roam around wreaking havoc on D. By Tuesday, D'Antoni might have 'forgotten' all of the lessons he learned from this game...


It's possible that Amare's problems on offense go back to that 5-assist game--now, he's waiting around looking for passes instead of attacking his man as soon as he gets the ball (and before help can arrive). If that's the case, this is just a growing pain on the way to Amare becoming an even better player down the road.

 

[Chaz]

Never mind his 15 first quarter points came against P.J. Brown.

Yes, because he got lucky and bombed some three-pointers from the top of the circle. We all know that's not Marion's game.

Marion's game is slashing, rebounding, and "filling up the stat sheet." That is what he did in the second half. In his 15-point first quarter, he amassed one rebound, zero assists, and zero blocks. The second half was when he became a great player again.

He hit his first couple of shots from out there but then was faking and driving. Those threes were wide open too because Brown was scared to come out and guard him.

With Nash out I was glad to see Voskuhl in instead of CJ.

But then later it was JJ, CJ Q, Marion, and Voskuhl.

 

[George O'Brien]

It certainly seemed like the Hornets were able to get away with much more physical inside play than the Suns (Hunter got three fouls in three minutes ). We don't see many replays of "non-calls), but it seemed like Amare was getting hacked repeatedly in the low block.

If this is playoff basketball, I guess the Suns proved they win at it; but they won't look pretty doing it. Unfortunately, the Suns don't have the kind of physical big defender who can exploit situations where the refs swallow their whistles.

 

[panfolk]

good to see him develop his passing game even if his scoring suffers a little in the short run

 

[PhxGametime]

Some of the players have looked a little tired in some of the games I watched (at least it appears that way) it's early on year and it could of been a few of the other players sick but I defend smallball at times - regardless of what it is, I don't want team worn down...

I could be paying more attention to that area though... I guess it's no big deal but the team comes out so strong and I know players get tired during game but has anybody else noticed other players (the way Amare looked last game)?