Phoenix @ Dallas - Game Thread - Wed. Mar 14, 2007 - 6:00 pm

[sunsfn]

Marion - kind of disappeared, but again, came up with some HUGE ORs at the end of the game ala Game 6 in LA and played great D in the OTs and what else needs to be said about Nash but... M... V... P!

Marion did not disappear................! What game were you watching!?
He was all over the place all night! Great Defense, 15 points, 12 rebounds, 2 steals, 3 blocks, etc. etc..

And not just at the end like you say, it was the whole game!

I can never understand someone saying that after Marion just played a great game, "He kind of disappeared" WHAT!!!

 

[Covert Rain]

Marion did not disappear................! What game were you watching!?
He was all over the place all night! Great Defense, 15 points, 12 rebounds, 2 steals, 3 blocks, etc. etc..

And not just at the end like you say, it was the whole game!

I can never understand someone saying that after Marion just played a great game, "He kind of disappeared" WHAT!!!

Nash, Amare and MARION were all huge. Anybody who doesn't give credit to Marion is a hater. Period.

 

[sunsfn]

Cuban pushing the camera away was possibly one of the biggest crybaby things I have seen in a long time.

I absolutely loathe the man. He ALWAYS makes himself bigger than the game.

He was thinking about how he wished he had resigned Steve Nash! If he would have, they would be on their way to a 2nd NBA title!

 

[Cheesebeef]

Marion did not disappear................! What game were you watching!?
He was all over the place all night! Great Defense, 15 points, 12 rebounds, 2 steals, 3 blocks, etc. etc..

And not just at the end like you say, it was the whole game!

I can never understand someone saying that after Marion just played a great game, "He kind of disappeared" WHAT!!!

he had 9 points and 5 boards in the first quarter - then I didn't even notice him until the end of the game, where he came up HUGE. It was just my opinion - good lord.

 

[Chaz]

That was a fun game to watch. You guys are whining too much about the fouls...there were bad calls both ways.

Two great teams going at it...the Suns/Mavs series is going to be must-see TV in a couple of months.

Mavs had their way in the third but there were calls good and bad both ways.

I can see why Mavs fans would be pissed with the no calls late because Dirk was getting phantom trips to the line before that.

The key to officiating is consistancy!

 

[jenna2891]

Best. Game. Ever.

 

[fordronken]

In the words of Steve Smith: "Wohlee, wohlee, wohlee."

 

[Griffin]

Damn, I was hoping for a blow-out, but I'll take it

One of the best regular-season-late-game-comebacks-against-quality-opponent ever. For those of you who left before the game was over, let this be your lesson. When the Suns want to win a game, they will find a way.

 

[Lorenzo]

Mavs had their way in the third but there were calls good and bad both ways.

I can see why Mavs fans would be pissed with the no calls late because Dirk was getting phantom trips to the line before that.

The key to officiating is consistancy!

that is the key. You can't blame this loss on officiating......either way regardless of the outcome. Dallas collapsed in the last min. of the game. then phoenix was better in OT. calls were missed both ways....but either way the outcome had nothing to do with officiating.

 

[arthurracoon]

For those of you who left before the game was over, let this be your lesson. When the Suns want to win a game, they will find a way.

*sitsandfacescornerinshame*

 

[elindholm]

Agree with everyone ... I had to watch this on TiVo so I'm just getting caught up.

In the "Who will step it up?" poll, I went with Nash, and now I'm even more convinced I was right. He has the best combination of heart and desperation. Some of the other Suns have heart too, but aren't yet old enough to be desperate. Nash's entire soul is committed to winning this year's title.

The rebounding was appalling. I hope D'Antoni doesn't feel vindicated by the final result. Dallas had 27 offensive rebounds and the Suns had 27 defensive rebounds, which means that Phoenix collected only half of all possible Dallas misses. That's not even close to being acceptable.

Marion played very well. His offense suffered, as it always will in a hard-fought game, but he was active on both ends of the court and made some big plays.

Diaw is useless. As slinslin said, no one is going to take him off of the Suns' hands now. I don't blame them for giving him the extension, though -- most of us fell for it. I also agree with Chris Sanders that it was good to see fouls on Diaw, so that he'd get off the floor and stop doing so much damage.

Nice to see that celebrated Dallas defense hold Phoenix to 56% shooting. If the Suns could rebound worth a crap, they would have won by double digits.

Let's hope that's the last 30-point game we see from Stackhouse this season. Neither he nor Terry could miss from behind the arc.

This is one case where the phrase "instant classic" is fully justified. They'll be replaying this game for generations.

 

[fordronken]

The Diaw problem is pretty apparent to me at this point. He's a good fill in for Amare, but doesn't play well with him. While they play very differently in the same role, it is still the same.

 

[TheHopToad]

For those who missed the end of the game, ESPN is airing a replay at midnight. Set your DVR, or if you're still pumped up, stay up and watch it!

I'll be transferring this game to a DVD to put alongside other assorted gems, like the Nets 3OT game...

 

[Lorenzo]

I can't understand why people would have left that game. unless they work the graveyard shift.

 

[Lorenzo]

The Diaw problem is pretty apparent to me at this point. He's a good fill in for Amare, but doesn't play well with him. While they play very differently in the same role, it is still the same.

I agree. I don't think suns fans need to worry too much about diaw's production.

 

[elindholm]

For those who missed the end of the game, ESPN is airing a replay at midnight. Set your DVR, or if you're still pumped up, stay up and watch it!

A replay of the whole game, or just the end? Thanks for the heads-up.

 

[TheHopToad]

A replay of the whole game, or just the end? Thanks for the heads-up.

Well, it's scheduled for a two-hour time block and ESPN usually re-airs all of their games, edited to fit that two hours. They'd have to cut a lot of good action out of this game to fit it into two hours, but surely they will show the end of regulation and both overtimes.

Might not hurt to program a little extra time though....

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Best. Game. Ever.

No doubt. I didn't think the Nets game could be topped, but this one did it. Down by 16 in the fourth, with Nash's heroics and Amare's unstoppable play, the Suns pulled this one out. Others certainly stepped up, but Amare put himself back in the major national spotlight with that game. I wasn't pleased with his rebounding but was pleased with his hustle throughout the game, diving all over the floor and playing his ass off throughout 2 ot's.

I think Amare at this point is the best big man in basketball. Sure, Dirk is a better shooter, but Amare's progression as a shooter is amazing. His stroke from the outside continues to get better and he is just an unstoppable scoring machine. 16 of 19 is an unbelievable line, especially when he hit many of them from the outside. His progression as a player from a raw kid who would just try and dunk everything to a polished all around player has been extremely impressive. If he continues to improve his passing and all around defense/rebounding, he can be one of the best ever.

The only negative in the game has to be the play of Diaw. I really looked to this game as an opportunity for Diaw to make an impact, especially considering that he averaged 26 points a game against Dallas in the playoffs last year. His withering lilly routine is wearing old, especially considering how talented he is. He can score on pretty much anyone at anytime; he is too fast for big men, and can post up on smaller players. When he is agressive and takes control of the game, he can run the team and play excellent team defense. When he is not in it, he seems more of a detriment than a positive. I am not sure whether it is the injury or not, but this has not really been the Boris Diaw of last year. Hopefully he can get near that level of play by the playoffs.

Regardless, this team is just such a thrill to watch, with this game and Nets game being some of the best games I've ever watched. I have tickets to the game in April against the Mavs, I can't wait for that one. It could be pretty important in seeding, especially with San Antonio looking like a hell of a second round matchup. The playoffs can't come soon enough...

 

[TucsonDevil]

When the game started, Diaw and Amare were very active - Amare was about as aggressive as I have seen him since 2005. Diaw was driving to the hoop and making good crisp passes...
... then, Diaw just disappeared. Someone made the comment about his back - if that is what happened, then it explains a lot. I don't think Boris is afraid of this team, considering what he did to them last summer.

If we are to beat this team in the playoffs, KT has to teach Amare how to box out bigger guys (KT does this every night). At the end of the first half, we had a 5 rebound deficit to Dallas... by the 6 min mark left in the 3rd quarter, that deficit was already 14! They just stormed the boards in the second half. Give credit to Avery, he smells blood in the water and he calls in the sharks. Dampier and Diop (Diop especially) climb over our guys underneath the basket for rebounds. I believe the refs look the other way because the Suns do little about it - they just take it. Should the Suns show a little more passion and fight under the defensive glass, the refs would make more calls in order to keep the peace - and that would benefit the Suns.

Finally, I complained about Marion in the second half, but when he finally made the switch to Dirk, we got the stops we needed for the win. Thank you Shawn.

BTW, where was Bell most of the game? He was such an emotional leader last year, but seems to have left us.

 

[SO91]

Amare was sick all game, with 2 of his 3 misses coming in the OT periods!

 

[Chaplin]

BTW, where was Bell most of the game? He was such an emotional leader last year, but seems to have left us.

He was pretty busy fighting Dirk Nowitzki at the defensive end. And even though Dirk had a good night, Bell did an absolutely amazing job considering he gives up something like 7 inches to Dirk.

 

[Covert Rain]

He was pretty busy fighting Dirk Nowitzki at the defensive end. And even though Dirk had a good night, Bell did an absolutely amazing job considering he gives up something like 7 inches to Dirk.

I think Bell got worked for the most part but it wasn't for lack of trying. I think Bell was spotty on offense but he was expending alot of energy guarding guys bigger then him. Got to give him credit for that.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

I think Bell got worked for the most part but it wasn't for lack of trying. I think Bell was spotty on offense but he was expending alot of energy guarding guys bigger then him. Got to give him credit for that.

If Bell had a broken neck, he would want to tape it up and play. The guy is just a gamer, and relentless on the defensive end. Play well or not, he is just a gutty guy and a definite winner.

 

[fordronken]

Bell and Nowitzki both played a ridiculous amount of minutes this game.

 

[mribnik]

Everybody in the media used Steve Nash's defense and Dirks "improvement" on the defensive end as a reason why Dirk should win the MVP, yet two of the biggest plays in the game were a charge Nash took after getting up off the ground, and the turnover he forced on terry at the end of the game. He's just a baller, and the best player in the world IMO.