Round Two: Mavs vs. Suns

[jbeecham]

I was at the game, so I missed the TNT show.

What did Barkley have to say at half and the end of the game?

I was at the game too and I'd like to know what Charles had to say too.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I was at the game too and I'd like to know what Charles had to say too.

I think Charles is just afraid to really get behind this team for some reason because very time he talks about us - it's in pretty glowing terms. The Suns don't change - you CAN'T change the game against them - those are actually pretty bold statements - they're statements that we are special and that there's only one way we can possibly be beaten. Granted he picks the Mavs to win the series, but he's not even comfortable with that pick.

It was pretty awesome after the game watching Magic, Kenny and Charles, all just blown away by our dominance so far. They were just shaking their heads and basically saying they don't know how Dallas can beat us with Amare being able to score at will and the way we run and yada yada yada.

The fact that Nash has been the ring leader of a team who plays b-ball unlike anyone for a decade is what truly makes him the MVP - he's led a revolution in the NBA and scoring is up all over the place - in the regular season and the playoffs so far - when you have THAT KIND OF IMPACT - not only on your team but the entire league - it's pretty easy to see why he's the MVP. Not to mention - in the regualr season - we weren't just the highest scoring team - we outscored EVERYONE ELSE BY 8 POINTS - that's just ridiculous.

 

[clif]

I also like the fact that the first thing Charles did was call out that lame ass hack lebetard from the Miami Herald. I am glad that he made it clear it was not an issue of race. Why can't some people just accept that.

 

[fordronken]

They really didn't comment on how they all picked the Suns to lose. Barkley did have some good comments though about Amare vs. Dampier. It paraphrased to something along the lines of "When he scores over 30 a game against you, he don't respect you. He had 40 and 17 on you and you didn't do nothin'. You've got six fouls and two technicals. Use 'em! When somebody's schooling you, you gotta do something."

 

[Cheesebeef]

They really didn't comment on how they all picked the Suns to lose. Barkley did have some good comments though about Amare vs. Dampier. It paraphrased to something along the lines of "When he scores over 30 a game against you, he don't respect you. He had 40 and 17 on you and you didn't do nothin'. You've got six fouls and two technicals. Use 'em! When somebody's schooling you, you gotta do something."

uh - Magic and Kenny both picked us to win the series.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

It will be interesting to see what kind of adjustments the Mavs make for Game 2

Will they start playing more small ball to catch up with our speed?

Terry // Stackhouse // Finley // Howard // Dirk

CANT WAIT TILL WEDNESDAY

i don't think they can. they'd have to risk dirk getting fouls on amare.

 

[clif]

It will be interesting to see what kind of adjustments the Mavs make for Game 2

Will they start playing more small ball to catch up with our speed?

Terry // Stackhouse // Finley // Howard // Dirk

CANT WAIT TILL WEDNESDAY

what is up with Finley? He has been mister absent from the playoff games that I've watched. He usually is clutch, but I can hardly even remember his name being mentioned?

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

They really didn't comment on how they all picked the Suns to lose. Barkley did have some good comments though about Amare vs. Dampier. It paraphrased to something along the lines of "When he scores over 30 a game against you, he don't respect you. He had 40 and 17 on you and you didn't do nothin'. You've got six fouls and two technicals. Use 'em! When somebody's schooling you, you gotta do something."

yeah, he called dampier a "limo player" 'cuz when amare sees that he gets to play dampier he calls a limo to go pick up dampier and make sure he gets to the arena.

 

[Cheesebeef]

what is up with Finley? He has been mister absent from the playoff games that I've watched. He usually is clutch, but I can hardly even remember his name being mentioned?

when has Finley ever been clutch? I remember him ALWAYS having bad playoff series - actually, I remember both him and Nash usually having less than stellar playoff series - but that's when Nash was being asked to do to much, rather than just run the machine - which he is PERFECT AT!

Really glad there's only one day in between games leading up to Game 4 - that's sweet - Wed, Friday, Sunday - none of this waiting around crap! Can't wait for Game 2!

 

[CaptTurbo]

Dont watch much basketball anymore but still a suns fan. (Picked them when I was younger because I was a Barkley fan.

Was a very fun game to watch the first half until the sun came up and I just HAD to sleep.

You see they play west coast nba games in the east coast shortly before dawn for gods sake.

 

[clif]

when has Finley ever been clutch? I remember him ALWAYS having bad playoff series - actually, I remember both him and Nash usually having less than stellar playoff series - but that's when Nash was being asked to do to much, rather than just run the machine - which he is PERFECT AT!

Really glad there's only one day in between games leading up to Game 4 - that's sweet - Wed, Friday, Sunday - none of this waiting around crap! Can't wait for Game 2!

Yeah -
I wasn't implying that he was clutch in the playoffs. what I meant to say was that I recall him usually having pretty good games against the suns in the past. I catch a few Mavs games a year and I always remember him being a real threat to score. He just really seemed to be in no mans land last night.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Yeah -
I wasn't implying that he was clutch in the playoffs. what I meant to say was that I recall him usually having pretty good games against the suns in the past. I catch a few Mavs games a year and I always remember him being a real threat to score. He just really seemed to be in no mans land last night.

gotcha - he did kill us in one game this year. That whole team looked hungover fromt he get go - I expect a much tougher game in Game 2 - gonna be a war aqnd another big test for us. I LOVE THE PLAYOFFS!

 

[JS22]

And damn near everyone claimed that I didn't know a thing about basketball when I was praying that Phoenix would stay far far away from Dampier.

Hmm, we remember differently what the majority opinion was. I admit that I was heavily in the pro-Dampier camp, but I didn't think there were too many of us -- a couple of other diehards, and that was about it. I think most people were saying that Dampier was a joke who played well only in contract years.

Dampier was awful in Game 1, but he's actually been pretty good for the Mavericks this year. The Suns wouldn't have been able to play this kind of game if they had him instead of, uh, whoever, so it worked out well not to pursue him. I think Dallas did okay for themselves, though.

Hey, I'm just glad everything worked out as it has this year.

 

[JS22]

Great performacne! This series ain't over yet but it was the best way to start it. Mavs had some good chemistry after some incredible games against Rockets but now they might be a little crushed.

Because of time difference (game starded 4.30am in here) I couldn't even follow this game via espn.com (of course there were no TV relation) but I woke up twice to check up the score. Right now I'm downloading this game and I'm so excited to see it.

GO SUNS!

Ps. And when I read all those articles and comments... It is just... WOW! I'm so very proud.

Downloading the game? Where? I would LOVE to know. I may very well miss Wed night's game, and the VCR is on the fritz.

 

[AZZenny]

From Arizona Daily Star - I love Q's comments.
By James Bennett
ARIZONA DAILY STAR

PHOENIX - Quentin Richardson raised his eyebrows, amused and surprised, when he heard the Dallas Mavericks talk about turning their NBA second-round playoff series with the Suns into a defensive struggle.

The Mavericks were supposed to be making the transition from a defensive-minded series with the Houston Rockets to a run-and-gun series with the Suns. Then former UA guard Jason Terry said before Game 1 at America West Arena: "We have to turn it into a defensive series. The team that does that will win."

Not necessarily. The Suns roared to a 127-102 victory, their highest-scoring game in the playoffs this season, by shooting 52.3 percent from the field and getting 40 points and 16 rebounds from unstoppable inside force Amare Stoudemire.

"We've been preaching that we're going to run the ball, win or lose, all season," Richardson said. "We're not going to change our game plan.

"Everybody seems to think they're a defensive juggernaut when they play us," he added, scoffing at Terry's suggestion.

Even though the Suns and Mavericks were the first- and third-highest scoring teams in the NBA this season, Dallas tried to slow the onslaught by zoning Stoudemire with up to four players and harassing league MVP Steve Nash in the backcourt. It did not work, with Stoudemire scoring 25 first-half points and Nash committing only four turnovers in 31 minutes.

"They are going to push the ball at every occasion," TNT analyst Doug Collins said of the Suns. "You have to find a five-minute stretch of the game and slow them down."

The Mavericks played into the Suns' hands by taking quick shots and failing to get to the foul line. Dallas shot only six free throws in the first half and fell behind 63-47 by halftime.

"The Suns have to keep the Mavericks away from the basket, then rebound," Suns broadcaster Eddie Johnson said. "If they rebound, the Suns are going to win the series."

The formula was simple enough Monday night. The Suns had 33 defensive rebounds to the Mavericks' 29 and kept Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki off the foul line. Nowitzki, who took an average of more than 10 free throws per game in Dallas' seven-game first-round series with the Rockets, took one free throw against the Suns.

"We have to adjust to the pace," Mavericks center Shawn Bradley said. "We have to find a way to deal with it.

"We have to regroup. We have to go over film. We have to study their last series. We have to study our last series. We have to continue to prepare." (Sounding just a leeeeeetle panicky, there, fella.)

Stoudemire made more free throws (14 in 17 tries) than the Mavericks attempted (12), a fact that upset Mavericks coach Avery Johnson. He was ejected in the second half after charging onto the court and arguing with officials.

"We didn't do anything on Amare," Johnson said. "We have some guys who can be physical with him and contain him, but I don't think I implemented the right kind of defense.

"Hopefully, we can bring more intensity and energy (to Game 2)," Johnson said.

 

[F-Dog]

Originally Posted by F-Dog
Anyway, I'm almost willing to guarantee that Jason Terry will put up 25+ ppg this series, on 50+% shooting. The Suns can win anyway, but it's going to be because of the other guys stepping up to help Steve Nash, not the other way around (a.k.a. the usual way).

FDog, I'm not trying to say anything big after only 1 game, but i just don't think this can happen...

Well, Terry did shoot over 50%.


What happened was that the Suns decided to single-cover Dirk, and allow other players (besides Marion) to try and cover him on switches. The Mavs decided to go to Dirk instead of JET in the third quarter, and in the fourth quarter, it was every Maverick for himself, seemingly.

I hope the Mavericks keep letting the Suns off the hook with this matchup, though.


Anyway, it was a great game and a great effort by Amare, Joe J and the rest of the Suns--really, I couldn't have asked for anything better from them. Now I just hope the Road Warriors can make it through game 2 at home, like they did in the Memphis series...

 

[meth]

Downloading the game? Where? I would LOVE to know. I may very well miss Wed night's game, and the VCR is on the fritz.

I use this site to download torrent:
http://bt.davka.info/
Then I use Azureus to download game.
Unfortunatly sometimes there is chinese comment. It sucks!

 

[jbeecham]

If I had a Tivo, I'd export the games and put them up on a FTP server somewhere.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

tough half we'll be alright if Nash gets those hands from his throat and starts playing.

 

[Evil Ash]

tough half we'll be alright if Nash gets those hands from his throat and starts playing.

Dude Nash is our leading scorer, Amare is the one is that has done absolutely nothing thus far.

DRIVE the ball!!

 

[clif]

what is up with Finley? He has been mister absent from the playoff games that I've watched. He usually is clutch, but I can hardly even remember his name being mentioned?

i spoke too soon

 

[mribnik]

I think I'll post before everybody goes crazy. I hate that we lost, but I'm encouraged by it. We couldn't buy a shot in the last 5 minutes of the game. We got tons of open looks and missed easy shots. We shot 42% for the game while the mavs shot 52%. We were without JJ for the second half which sucks not only because we lost his ability, but we were even less deep than we were before. All this happened but we still managed to be 2" away from a victory. I think we'll go into Dallas and win a couple. Now, for all of you that are feeling low, watch this video. It is totally unrelated to basketball, but you'll laugh, and get ready for friday! Go suns!

http://web.mit.edu/patil/www/media/video/yatta.asf

 

[Cheesebeef]

i spoke too soon

I gotta take partial credit for that one also - oye!

tough loss - and Suns fans - WELCOME TO THE PLAYOFFS - they've finally started and now we have a war on our hands. If JJ plays, we win this game - but alas he didn't, we lost - move on and get ready to get a split in Dallas and watch this sucker go 7.

Also - get ready for EVERYONE in the media to jump up and down poitning at this loss as prrof that the Suns can't play in the playoffs. Even though no one will say a word about Detroit losing.

Oh - and delete that other ridiculous thread looking forward at San Antonio - it's embarassing.

 

[Pandaemonaeon]

Will JJ be back for the next game?

 

[clif]

I think I'll post before everybody goes crazy. I hate that we lost, but I'm encouraged by it. We couldn't buy a shot in the last 5 minutes of the game. We got tons of open looks and missed easy shots. We shot 42% for the game while the mavs shot 52%. We were without JJ for the second half which sucks not only because we lost his ability, but we were even less deep than we were before. All this happened but we still managed to be 2" away from a victory. I think we'll go into Dallas and win a couple. Now, for all of you that are feeling low, watch this video. It is totally unrelated to basketball, but you'll laugh, and get ready for friday! Go suns!

http://web.mit.edu/patil/www/media/video/yatta.asf

careful... careful.. you sound like me. You might get called insane in a minute.