SEASON OPENER- Suns @ Lakers Offical Game Thread

[hawaiiansun]

Where did the Arizona sports fans chat link go?

They redesigned the front page con and now I can't find it.

Joe

Its on the top right between forums and old site story archive. Join!

 

[arthurracoon]

*sigh*

 

[az1965]

Great way to open the season... just let the Fakers score at will and get all the rebounds...

 

[BuddyFranklin]

Yeah, SlinSlin, we are going to waltz to 60wins right?

This team hasn't proved sh*t! We are an overrated one dimensional unit right now.

This was expected if you'd watched any of the preseason.

 

[Chaplin]

Regardless if we come back and win this game, this team should be ashamed of themselves. ASHAMED.

Although D'Antoni really has to look in the mirror and see where he went wrong as well. Mainly playing Banks way too much and Kurt Thomas not enough.

We may be "overrated" in this game, but we aren't overrated in the scheme of things. It's still only the first game of the season, with big minutes going to Marcus Banks and James Jones, two guys who had miserable preseasons.

Buddy, if you want to jump off the wagon, go right ahead.

 

[BuddyFranklin]

I'm on the wagon but can't stand people with their head up in the clouds oblvious to the massive issues we suffer.

 

[az1965]

Same problems as last season -- poor defense, poor rebounding

 

[BuddyFranklin]

Same problems as last season -- poor defense, poor rebounding

The reason why we will NEVER... thats NEVER... win a championship if we don't improve drastically in those areas.

 

[hsandhu]

Boris Diaw is in terrible shape, and looks terrible on the court.

 

[sly fly]

Opening night on the road. Clearly ran into a buzzsaw. Lakers played great when they needed a bucket.

That being said, it looked like some guys didn't come to play (Diaw, Bell, James Jones, Marion at times). Too many cutesy passes, and soft play down low.

Bynum has made great improvement. Only 19 years old, too.

Odom just gives PHX fits every time he steps on the floor. He came into camp in great shape. Walton is a thorn.

PHX needs to play with a chip on its shoulder for 48 minutes every night. There are teams and people who think they're "soft". Games like this prove them right.

We'll see how they bounce back against the Clips. PHX should be nice and rested for this game.

 

[Chaplin]

Too bad the playoffs start tomorrow, huh? Oh wait. This is only game 1 of 82.

I would MUCH rather them lose a game that makes them get their heads out of their arses now then in March. We're going to have bad losses. Hell, the defending champions -- and the team most are picking to win the East -- lost by 42 points tonight.

 

[Evil Ash]

A Suns tradition continues ... they suck in the opener. I don't know why anyone is shocked by this but we typically lose to bad teams in our first game.

 

[JS22]

Diaw is much heavier. But I assumed he put the weight on since he's a PF / C now.

He does look slower though.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Rats, there goes my 82-0 prediction.

Suns teams cannot play Suns ball if they are not in as good as condition as the other team.

Methinks that European training camps are for losers.

 

[az1965]

But you just can't give games away that you SHOULD WIN, if you want to tout yourself as a championship team...

 

[BuddyFranklin]

What do people see in James Jones? I've always been interested in why people even rate him. I've always seen him as an absolute hack!

 

[JCSunsfan]

A Suns tradition continues ... they suck in the opener. I don't know why anyone is shocked by this but we typically lose to bad teams in our first game.

Our problem is that we didn't look so hot in preseason either. I know the games don't count, but sometimes it seems to be an indicator.

 

[mribnik]

It always sucks to lose the opener, but it just didn't seem like the effort was there. It didn't really seem like D'Antoni made any adjustments defensively, or that this team knows how to make adjustments defensively (or knows how to play team defense). Other than that, this sucked, but we're an elite team in this league and we'll get it together.

 

[Suns_fan69]

To put things in perspective... at least we didn't lose by 42 on our home floor on opening night.

 

[Evil Ash]

But you just can't give games away that you SHOULD WIN, if you want to tout yourself as a championship team...

The playoffs are what matter. There are 81 games left

We've sucked in the opener for years even when we've been a championship caliber team in the past. This is nothing new.

 

[krispydude]

im still shocked we were up by 19. bell, diaw, jr and thomas looked like crap tonight. i heard KT was ready to make an impact this year? we got DOMINATED down low. bell and jr couldnt hit anything. diaw looked lazy and showed no emotion once again.

thank god LB came to play or woulda been even uglier.

 

[JCSunsfan]

But you just can't give games away that you SHOULD WIN, if you want to tout yourself as a championship team...

Only on paper so far. This 06/07 team hasn't yet shown us anything that remotely looks like a championship team. I know its only one game, but you think you would have seen at least flashes in preseason.

 

[Nashfan]

What is the deal with Diaw tonight? Not aggresive in the least. Very disappointed in his performance tonight. Also we were outrebounded major time! Why do we get lazy like this against teams we should beat? I am just very frustrated with the whole team right now!

 

[JWF]

First off, I love this team and always will. But its clear they still have the exact same difficiencies that cost them last year in the postseason at this point. No interior defense, no rebounding, and to much an emphasis on jump shots and 3 pointers. I know a big part of the offense is indeed shooting, but it was getting a bit ridiculous by the 2nd half. You could almost count on one hand the number of designed interior plays.

Until this team can consistently play solid defense, you can expect more of the same from them. That doesnt mean they wont win alot of games, but it wont be enough come playoff time. I just see the problem being our offense is very High risk, High Reward. Its a bit streaky, and considering they cant play consistent defense, the momentum can change in almost any game. Especially against teams with quality front courts.

 

[Chaplin]

To put things in perspective... at least we didn't lose by 42 on our home floor on opening night.

And that was more than just an opening night. The Heat got their championship rings before the game.