Phoenix vs. Detroit Pistons...

[sly fly]

Is PHX really improving? This game is a good barometer.

I'd like to see Marbury come out and stay aggressive. Plus, he needs to contain Billups.

The three-headed center MUST produce.

A win here, and we may be on to something.

(PHX is 7.5 pt. underdogs.)

 

[SirStefan32]

I hope Brown doesn't hit us with a zone.

 

[George O'Brien]

The remarkable part about the Suns is that their offensive productivity is actually pretty good. They are shooting 43.9% from the field compared to 42.4% for the Pistons.

HOWEVER, the Pistons opponents are shooting 42.5% while the Suns opponents are hitting 45.5%. The Pistons are outrebounding their opponents by 1.1 boards per game compared to the Suns that are being outrebounded by 4.2 boards per game. The Pistons outscore their opponents by 2.9 ppg while the Suns have been outscored by 2.9 ppg.

Obviously the Suns will have to play very hard to win, but the key will be to play good defense. The Pistons are too good a defensive team to let them have easy points.

 

[Chaz]

Well,.....not a great start.

The Suns look a little flat. Good TO by D'Antoni.

They need to play better defense than they have shown so far.


I agree Sly, this will be a good barometer game. The Pistons have won 3 straight and the Suns have won 2 after having problems in December.

 

[SirStefan32]

If somebody other then Marbury and Hardaway doesn't start scoring this will be a long night.

 

[sly fly]

Here we go again...

- JJ should have stayed in his room and played video games.

- Marbury refuses to try and take over. Although, his teammates make it hard for him.

- It looks like men playing boys out there. The next rebound PHX takes away from DET will be the first.

- The defensive core of this team is their biggest weakness.

 

[Chaz]

Leander just reported Pistons out rebounded the Suns 32-13 in the second half

 

[sly fly]

Piss poor defense by Marion.

GET THE BALL TO MARBURY AND CLEAR OUT.

 

[sly fly]

NO HEART.

Way to run out the clock. That's friggin pathetic.

I've never seen such zombies in my life.

Are these guys for real? Or, are they just video game characters?

If I'm BC, I'm looking to shed some DEAD weight.

 

[Chaz]

Suns @ Pistons



I don't expect them to be saviors for this team but It will be really nice to add a couple forwards to the roster. They are taking a beating right now. They have some nice pieces but they have to play out of position to much of the game.

 

[green machine]

They got killed on the boards tonight by a team that should kill them on the boards. Who on our team is quick enough and strong enough to battel Ben Wallace? Amare. Without him we were doomed in the rebounding department this game.

 

[Joe Mama]

Originally posted by green machine
They got killed on the boards tonight by a team that should kill them on the boards. Who on our team is quick enough and strong enough to battel Ben Wallace? Amare. Without him we were doomed in the rebounding department this game.

That is true to a certain extent, but to get outrebounded by 20 in a single half is inexcusable. You guys know I've been happy with D'Antoni so far. However, I do not understand how on a team starved for size the combination of Scott Williams and Donnell Harvey only played 11 minutes. Actually Williams didn't even play.

Originally posted by sly fly

- Marbury refuses to try and take over. Although, his teammates make it hard for him.

We must have been watching different games because I thought Marbury was trying to do too much by himself.

Without Amare Stoudemire and Zarko Cabarkapa the Phoenix Suns have 4 main weapons. They are Stephon Marbury, Shawn Marion, JJ, and to a lesser extent Hardaway. When two of those players are shooting the ball poorly the Phoenix Suns are just not going to win. Tonight Marion and JJ were a combined 8-27 from the field.

Joe Mama

 

[George O'Brien]

Originally posted by green machine
They got killed on the boards tonight by a team that should kill them on the boards. Who on our team is quick enough and strong enough to battel Ben Wallace? Amare. Without him we were doomed in the rebounding department this game.

I think it was a mistake to not play Harvey more. (10 minutes total). Detroit is not a good team to go small against.

 

[Chaplin]

Sorry, Joe, but Joe Johnson has NOT been a better player than Penny Hardaway over the past few weeks. In fact, Penny has CLEARLY been our 3rd best player in that span. JJ has shown some consistency, which is nice, but Penny is playing some of the best basketball since he's come to Phx.

 

[sly fly]

Originally posted by Joe Mama
We must have been watching different games because I thought Marbury was trying to do too much by himself.
Joe Mama

That may be. But, when the rest of your team is sucking on both sides of the ball... what is he supposed to do?

Marbury is part to blame. His defense is non-existant. With his skills, he should be a royal pain-in-the-butt against most guards. His D is a definite non-factor on most nights. And, this is why he's not a "superstar".

- Marbury scores on two straight possessions in the 4th. Next time down JJ clanks a jumper and Marion barely hits the rim from 15 straight on. In fact, Marbury never touched the ball on those two possessions.

Definitely an identity crisis with this team.

 

[Joe Mama]

Originally posted by Chaplin
Sorry, Joe, but Joe Johnson has NOT been a better player than Penny Hardaway over the past few weeks. In fact, Penny has CLEARLY been our 3rd best player in that span. JJ has shown some consistency, which is nice, but Penny is playing some of the best basketball since he's come to Phx.

Oh, I definitely agree. Hardaway has been playing better than JJ, but I believe JJ is still taking more shots and getting quite a few more minutes.

Joe Mama

 

[George O'Brien]

Originally posted by sly fly
That may be. But, when the rest of your team is sucking on both sides of the ball... what is he supposed to do?

Marbury is part to blame. His defense is non-existant. With his skills, he should be a royal pain-in-the-butt against most guards. His D is a definite non-factor on most nights. And, this is why he's not a "superstar".

- Marbury scores on two straight possessions in the 4th. Next time down JJ clanks a jumper and Marion barely hits the rim from 15 straight on. In fact, Marbury never touched the ball on those two possessions.

Definitely an identity crisis with this team.

The team clearly regressed. Hardaway played pretty well, but even he started throwing up three's at the end when what was needed was high percentage shots.

My biggest complaint about the Suns all season is how they don't box out. Indeed, they tend to knock the ball out of each other's hands. At the same time, the guards don't get back into the paint.

During the first half, the Suns seemed to be able to get to the line, but in the second half they were settling for jumpers. Ball movement and moving without the ball seemed to completely disappear.

 

[Joe Mama]

OK. Apparently Harvey only played 11 minutes because of the flu. I guess he had not eaten much and did not have any energy.

Of course this brings me to my only real complaint about D'Antoni's coaching. That is this silly idea that only two of the three centers should play on any given night. Too often it is Scott Williams who is left out. Perhaps he is struggling with some little injury we do not know about. Otherwise it makes no sense to let him sit on the bench with his ability to knock down the midrange shot. D'Antoni did try White and Jake Voskuhl together at the beginning of the second half, but I think if you are going to play two of the three centers at the same time one of them must be Williams.

Joe Mama

 

[George O'Brien]

Originally posted by Joe Mama
OK. Apparently Harvey only played 11 minutes because of the flu. I guess he had not eaten much and did not have any energy.

Of course this brings me to my only real complaint about D'Antoni's coaching. That is this silly idea that only two of the three centers should play on any given night. Too often it is Scott Williams who is left out. Perhaps he is struggling with some little injury we do not know about. Otherwise it makes no sense to let him sit on the bench with his ability to knock down the midrange shot. D'Antoni did try White and Jake Voskuhl together at the beginning of the second half, but I think if you are going to play two of the three centers at the same time one of them must be Williams.

Joe Mama

I agree. In a game when Penny was the only guy hitting outside shots, Williams could have made a difference on both ends.