Playoffs 2010: Western Conf Finals, Game 5 – Suns At Lakers Game Thread

[Michael]

It would just reinforce the fact that the Lakers are a very bandwagony team. They'll always be popular because of the fact that they're in LA.

I do wonder, though, what proportion of fans barrack for the Lakers and what proportion goes for the Clippers.

On another note, it annoys me how Kobe always gets bailed out by his late game misses. People always remember him for his clutch performance, but look at these playoffs: He missed a free throw in the dying seconds that is only forgotten, because Durant didn't connect on the game winner. He missed on a good look in game 6 and was bailed out by Gasol. He threw an airball tonight and was lucky again.

 

[scXfreakX]

Amare has to have a big game next game. Plain and simple. The aggressiveness that he came out with in Game 3 needs to occur again.

 

[scXfreakX]

I do wonder, though, what proportion of fans barrack for the Lakers and what proportion goes for the Clippers.

On another note, it annoys me how Kobe always gets bailed out by his late game misses. People always remember him for his clutch performance, but look at these playoffs: He missed a free throw in the dying seconds that is only forgotten, because Durant didn't connect on the game winner. He missed on a good look in game 6 and was bailed out by Gasol. He threw an airball tonight and was lucky again.

It's not even fair to compare the two teams. One is a thriving organization that has won many championships, and the other, although having had a few streaks of small success, haven't really done much.

 

[dodie53]

good game,
bad ending.

 

[jibikao]

Amare has to have a big game next game. Plain and simple. The aggressiveness that he came out with in Game 3 needs to occur again.

I see Nash finally attempted high # of shots this game. Is it because they chose to guard Amare more and that's why Amare only attempted 12 shots and made 7?

 

[AzStevenCal]

Amare....sigh.... I expected him to go off tonight...

Amare did go off tonight. Nobody knows where, but he definitely went off somewhere.

Steve

 

[Cheesebeef]

one day... maybe it happens this year... maybe not... but one day... when one of Phoenix's two flagship sports franchises (Cards/Suns) FINALLY wins the big one, it will be sweeter than ANY sweet nectar any other fanbase has ever tasted because no one... I mean NO ONE has tasted as much sour as Phoenicians.

Tough loss, but I am not deterred and neither should the Suns be. Said it before the game and it held true - to win crucial games on the road, your SUPERSTARS have to play like SUPERSTARS and get a couple other guys to chip in. Well, we got Frye, Duds and a little from J Rich and Nash, one of our superstars went OF, but we got ANOTHER really piss poor performance from our other "superstar".

We win Game 6 and it's really up to Amare whether or not we win Game 7. Does that make me feel confident? Not really, but anything can happen at that point and maybe, just maybe he needs one more game to REALLY believe. Either that or he hits the bricks if he lays another egg.

 

[scXfreakX]

I see Nash finally attempted high # of shots this game. Is it because they chose to guard Amare more and that's why Amare only attempted 12 shots and made 7?

Personally I want to see him driving the ball in more. He went to the line 7 times tonight, but in Game 3 he went to the line 18 times. I want to see that aggressiveness where he's drawing fouls and going for the and 1's as well.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Am i the only one not devastated by that. We had no reason being in that game, made amazing comeback, had a lucky banked 3 to get there...

let's take care of game 6. that's it.

i'm with ya.

 

[jagu]

Ya I'm not hurt. It takes a great deal to beat the Lakers at their home. We almost did it and it took some luck for them. I don't think Rolo and AMare will suck this bad if we go back there next time.

 

[The Dude]

Personally I want to see him driving the ball in more. He went to the line 7 times tonight, but in Game 3 he went to the line 18 times. I want to see that aggressiveness where he's drawing fouls and going for the and 1's as well.

you're sam from the mastodon forum aren't you?

 

[scXfreakX]

you're sam from the mastodon forum aren't you?

Yup. What gave it away?

 

[Bufalay]

Is there any truth to the rumor that kobe was out of bounds on that last shot? Unfotunately i watched the game on my ipod and couldnt really see anything. Was salvatore's ******* near the play?

 

[The Dude]

Yup. What gave it away?

the troy gif

 

[scXfreakX]

the troy gif

Figured. Do you post on there, or just browse? If so, whats your username?

 

[jibikao]

Personally I want to see him driving the ball in more. He went to the line 7 times tonight, but in Game 3 he went to the line 18 times. I want to see that aggressiveness where he's drawing fouls and going for the and 1's as well.

I didn't watch the game 'cause if I watch it and we lose, I can't sleep and I need to work everyday. I used to watch Suns' games until that loss at Staples with two Lakers mauling Nash" Out of bound" and Kobe finished it in the end, and then Suns came back and won the series down 1-3. I haven't really watched the games after that. It was too much to take. lol I used to get too worked up so right now I am just browsing forums/box scores. Yes, I know I am weird but I feel it's not good for my health to get worked up like that! lol


Well, judging from box score, if Nash was taking 2.5x more shots in this game, that means somebody was taking less and it seems like it was Amare. So I have to think either Lakers was determined not to let Amare touch the ball or Nash was trying to set a tune on scoring and he ended up hitting quite a few shots?

I am not as bothered by Amare's offense (7/12 is still efficient) as by his rebounds only because this team has shown that they have more than enough weapons to score. I am not even asking Amare to defend well but I just think he needs to grab defensive rebounds more and defensive rebounds is about 65% efforts and 35% luck (if the ball bounces to your way or not).

Well I didn't watch the game but if you guys are disappointed in Amare, then he must have not played liked a Superstar tonight.

 

[mojorizen7]

I only had access to Al's radio play-by-play tonight(stuck @ work) so i cant comment on the garbage officiating......

Offensive rebounding,missed FT's and our MIA power forward are the keys to tonights loss.
Also, Gentry has done an outstanding job in these playoffs but not having Lopez in there for defensive purposes with 3 sec left was a mistake.

Tough way to lose but i will say this,the LAKERS have gone from being in complete control of this series to looking like the inferior team IMO. Hopefully the SUNS can prove me right & get 2 more. The LAKERS couldn't put us away up 17 points at home?.....um thats not a good sign for those guys.
This one ain't done by any means.

However i think Amare may be done,what a **** performance. 4 rebounds. Four.
Easily the most difficult guy to root for on this team and maybe in the league among star players. FRUSTRATING.

Props to Nash for having the type of game we needed from one of our star player's. Quite frankly Nash & Amare have been dissappointing thru 5 games.

Hopefully Gentry & co will be focused on winning gm 6 rather than what may be looming ahead in a possible monster gm 7 in LA.
I think that fatigue may be becoming a factor for the other guys....we can use all the help we can get.

Chin up SUNS fans.

EDIT: I just went back to read thru some the recent post-game posts...i posted this b4 reading your nearly identical post Cheese,glad you're not demoralized by this one either......the LAKERS escaped with a win tonight & we're still in this series. Like i said, i think we look like the better team as this series progresses, but we've got to step up and "take it."

 

[jibikao]

I only had access to Al's radio play-by-play tonight so i cant comment on the garbage officiating......

Offensive rebounding,missed FT's and our MIA power forward are the keys to tonights loss.
Also, Gentry has done an outstanding job in these playoffs but not having Lopez in there for defensive purposes with 3 sec left was a mistake.

You know what, you've got a great point! Lopez only played 11 mins and he didn't foul out. With 3s left, Lopez should be in the game guarding the paint and secure rebound. Not that there is an excuse for Richardson not even laying his hands on Ron because even if it wasn't an air-ball, Ron still beat Richardson to the middle.

 

[green machine]

Amare played poorly but he's been at his best this year (and his career) when he plays next to a real center. I don't think it's a coincidence that he struggled tonight with Lopez only playing 11 minutes.

 

[scXfreakX]

I didn't watch the game 'cause if I watch it and we lose, I can't sleep and I need to work everyday. I used to watch Suns' games until that loss at Staples with two Lakers mauling Nash" Out of bound" and Kobe finished it in the end, and then Suns came back and won the series down 1-3. I haven't really watched the games after that. It was too much to take. lol I used to get too worked up so right now I am just browsing forums/box scores. Yes, I know I am weird but I feel it's not good for my health to get worked up like that! lol


Well, judging from box score, if Nash was taking 2.5x more shots in this game, that means somebody was taking less and it seems like it was Amare. So I have to think either Lakers was determined not to let Amare touch the ball or Nash was trying to set a tune on scoring and he ended up hitting quite a few shots?

I am not as bothered by Amare's offense (7/12 is still efficient) as by his rebounds only because this team has shown that they have more than enough weapons to score. I am not even asking Amare to defend well but I just think he needs to grab defensive rebounds more and defensive rebounds is about 65% efforts and 35% luck (if the ball bounces to your way or not).

Well I didn't watch the game but if you guys are disappointed in Amare, then he must have not played liked a Superstar tonight.

Oh you were being serious in your post. I honestly thought you were trying to have a friendly debate with me. Honestly I just didn't feel that Amare was being nearly as aggressive as he could have been. Nash carried our offense. Him and Frye actually haha.

That's too bad that you get that stressed over it. I don't mean this in a negative way. I get that way as well. I used to be a HUGE Suns fan. Then I lost weightt so Im not so big. Joking, wow that wasn't funny at all. Anyways, all I can say is it's just a game. I used to be a HUGE suns fan, then I started working and it didn't seem so important anymore. While tonight's loss sucked a lot and reminded me of times of old, it still isn't as big of a deal.

Anyways, yeah Nash and Frye were essentially our biggest offensive contributors I feel, with Nash basically keeping us in the game with his shots.

I hope you can continue to support the Suns. DOn't be afraid to watch the games. It's just a game after all!

 

[jibikao]

Oh you were being serious in your post. I honestly thought you were trying to have a friendly debate with me. Honestly I just didn't feel that Amare was being nearly as aggressive as he could have been. Nash carried our offense. Him and Frye actually haha.

That's too bad that you get that stressed over it. I don't mean this in a negative way. I get that way as well. I used to be a HUGE Suns fan. Then I lost weightt so Im not so big. Joking, wow that wasn't funny at all. Anyways, all I can say is it's just a game. I used to be a HUGE suns fan, then I started working and it didn't seem so important anymore. While tonight's loss sucked a lot and reminded me of times of old, it still isn't as big of a deal.

Anyways, yeah Nash and Frye were essentially our biggest offensive contributors I feel, with Nash basically keeping us in the game with his shots.

I hope you can continue to support the Suns. DOn't be afraid to watch the games. It's just a game after all!

It just seems like every time I watch, Suns loses. I was on vacation in Florida last year and there was a game on TNT Suns VS Nuggets and Suns lost...

I still care about the team. It is 1:46am in the morning. It is way past my bed time! lol I can't fall asleep yet.

Anyway, don't want to change the main topic here. I think Richardson will be REALLY fired up in game 6 after watching the clip over and over again.

 

[scXfreakX]

It just seems like every time I watch, Suns loses. I was on vacation in Florida last year and there was a game on TNT Suns VS Nuggets and Suns lost...

I still care about the team. It is 1:46am in the morning. It is way past my bed time! lol I can't fall asleep yet.

Anyway, don't want to change the main topic here. I think Richardson will be REALLY fired up in game 6 after watching the clip over and over again.

I'm not questioning your support for our team. I know your a fan. But yeah, hopefully Richardson can come out extra motivated. Really, everyone on the team needs to come out with a chip on their shoulders. It's do or die.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Offensive rebounding,missed FT's and our MIA power forward are the keys to tonights loss.

I don't think you're supposed to say MIA power forward until later on this summer. MIA can't actually give him his contract until then.

Steve

 

[Proteus]

So why did Lopez play so few minutes anyway?

 

[Cheesebeef]

I only had access to Al's radio play-by-play tonight(stuck @ work) so i cant comment on the garbage officiating......

there's nothing to comment on. The officiating was about as even as I could have imagined it. The bench didn't show up in the first half and Amare didn't show up at all. That's what did us in.