Sixers vs Suns 3/30

[Dr. Dumas]

Happy b-day Chap. Pacific champs with a chance to go all the way sure makes that b-day a little bit better. Who would of though in the beginning of the year that this team would be this good.
I have not been this excited about the playoffs for sometime. The last time was when Kidd went down and Cotton brought KJ back out of retirement.

 

[jibikao]

I thought our defense was great. We guarded AI pretty well. I know AI can score a lot but his scoring doesn't mean Philly would win. I was more afraid of Webber because he can cause more problems to us than AI. Luckily, Webber just didn't play well at atll and he got injured (again! lol).

And yes, Nash stole quite a few rebounds last night. hehe.

 

[jibikao]

By the way, last night when Webber got hurt again the 2nd time, I thought he was crying.... he acts like he was totally out of it and he needs a Mama to help him. Even AI was trying to calm him down... god, how old is Webber?? Can't he act more stronger? He and Brad Miller make the most baby-crying faces in NBA!!!

 

[SweetD]

By the way, last night when Webber got hurt again the 2nd time, I thought he was crying.... he acts like he was totally out of it and he needs a Mama to help him. Even AI was trying to calm him down... god, how old is Webber?? Can't he act more stronger? He and Brad Miller make the most baby-crying faces in NBA!!!

Missed the game last night

 

[JCSunsfan]

So

Without Amare's offense, and with Hunter's defense, we are an equally dominating team?

Anyone else here believe that for us to win in the playoffs we need to see more of Hunter? And that keeping Hunter through the summer (he has a player option) is important.

I know we need a center, by I don't know of a center we could possibly get that has any more potential to fit with this team than does Hunter.

 

[elindholm]

Without Amare's offense, and with Hunter's defense, we are an equally dominating team?

Hmm, that's an interesting perspective. We'd have to see more games to be sure, but it does make one think. It is noteworthy that the entire team defense was pretty good last night, something we haven't seen in a long time.

Anyone else here believe that for us to win in the playoffs we need to see more of Hunter? And that keeping Hunter through the summer (he has a player option) is important.

Absolutely. Earlier this season I said that Hunter should be a higher priority this summer than Johnson. That might be going a bit far, but I think that Hunter has the "potential" to be vital to this team's success.

 

[fordronken]

Don't go too far with last night's defense. The Suns played pretty well, but the Sixers were awful.

 

[Chaz]

So

Without Amare's offense, and with Hunter's defense, we are an equally dominating team?

It is not like we played the top teams in the league. We played and played close with an injured Nuggets team and blew away a Sixers team that is really not equipped to score with the Suns even without Amare.


The defense of Hunter has been good as far as erasing mistakes goes. We will need all 3 or 4 regular bench players to play well in the playoffs including 20+ mpg from Hunter.

 

[Chaplin]

Don't go too far with last night's defense. The Suns played pretty well, but the Sixers were awful.

And why were the Sixers awful? Could it be because of our defense?

 

[Jersey Girl]

Sixers were horrible. I turned it off at the half and went to sleep.

 

[JCSunsfan]

It might cause MD though to think about a Nash, JJ, Marion, Amare, Hunter lineup while bringing Q, JJ, and Barbs off of the bench.

I know why he doesn't want to do it. It seems way too easy for Hunter to get in foul trouble early. But the advantage might be that it keeps Amare out of foul trouble early.

At the very least, these two games might light a fire under Amare defensively. Sitting on the sidelines he gets a little different perspective on how much difference it really does make.

 

[elindholm]

The Suns have made plenty of awful teams look competitive this season. Sure, the Sixers aren't very good, but when's the last time the Suns shut anyone down?

 

[Chaz]

Sixers were horrible. I turned it off at the half and went to sleep.

Probably a good plan. It didn't get any better for the Sixers after the 2nd quarter explosion by the Suns.

 

[coloradosun]

These last two wins also heightens the value of Nash to this team. Without him in the lineup they are a totally different team and regrettably is where we lost six straight games. They have enough depth to win without Q, Amare and Marion for a game or two out but without leadership at the point the offense falls apart.

This may lead me back to the position where we may really need to consider taking a point guard with Chicago's pick. Nash will be the first component to be replaced, might as well groom his successor. Barbosa might be the eventual replacement if his progress continues but why not have another insurance policy in place if that does not happen or someone to share that responsiblity.

The theory is always Best Player Available but to be more specific Best Player Available For The System.

 

[Chaz]

These last two wins also heightens the value of Nash to this team. Without him in the lineup they are a totally different team and regrettably is where we lost six straight games. They have enough depth to win without Q, Amare and Marion for a game or two out but without leadership at the point the offense falls apart.

This may lead me back to the position where we may really need to consider taking a point guard with Chicago's pick. Nash will be the first component to be replaced, might as well groom his successor. Barbosa might be the eventual replacement if his progress continues but why not have another insurance policy in place if that does not happen or someone to share that responsiblity.

The theory is always Best Player Available but to be more specific Best Player Available For The System.

The Suns were not as bad the last time Nash was out.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

This may lead me back to the position where we may really need to consider taking a point guard with Chicago's pick. Nash will be the first component to be replaced, might as well groom his successor.

The theory is always Best Player Available but to be more specific Best Player Available For The System.

I don't think it is time to draft a protoge. While I am not sold on Barbosa being a PG (although he is getting a little better), the timing isn't right this summer to draft another PG. Nash should be able to perform at a high clip for 3-4 more years. That is right around the time a new PG would be coming off a rookie contract. It is possible that we wouldn't be able to afford his new deal with Nash at the end of his contract, especially since he wouldn't be starting. Not to mention the player could turn out to be great, and would want to go to a team where he could get 35mpg running a team.

Or he could realize his playing time will not be sufficent for his development, and request a trade a la Nash in his first go around as a Sun.

I would prefer drafting a PG in 2 or 3 drafts. That way he gets an increase in playing time as Nash slows down. Also, we can get enough time to evaluate him before his is due for a contract - and it will not overlap to much with Nash's deal.

 

[George O'Brien]

D'Antoni has experiemented with Hunter starting a few times. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Last night he limited Webber and still kept AI from making layups, so his value went well beyond his stat line.

Hunter still seems terribly inconsistent, but when he plays well he is very effective.

 

[Jersey Girl]

Probably a good plan. It didn't get any better for the Sixers after the 2nd quarter explosion by the Suns.

Yeah, I don't like to stay up til 1 a.m. just to get my butt kicked.

 

[King A]

and some quotes I read from Hunter on AZCENTRAL.COM say that he
REALLY wants to become better

 

[F-Dog]

This was obviously a good game for Amare to sit out--first, because Hunter played so well, but also because the Suns were scoring so well on drives-and-kicks. They never had to go to plan B, which is usually dumping the ball to Amare in the post.

Oh yeah, and on the other side, Philly doesn't seem to match up well with the Suns at all, and they played a lousy game to boot. Iverson shot under 40%, and Dalembert and Webber played 40 minutes combined; the Sixers aren't going to win too many games when those things happen.



Here's a post from a Sixers board that made me LOL:

Have you seen that Dairy Queen commercial where the father tells the son they can go if the kid makes the shot? There were a whole lot of misses and the father even took the rim down and brought it to the kid. He still couldn't make it.

Have you seen it?

Oh well, I told you about the commercial to let you know that I've seen the future: that kid will someday be a Sixer.

 

[SirStefan32]

As terrible as Philli was last night, you have to give Phoenix credit for being focused, aggresive and determined to play hard on both ends of the floor.

I keep liking Hunter more and more after every game. This guy is awesome. Not only does he block shots but his presence intimidates oposing teams' players. I don't care if he starts in place of JJ or Q or comes off the bench, but I want to see him get a lot of minutes, especially alongside Amare Stoudemire when playoffs roll around.

Stefan

 

[JPlay]

Webber was awful last night. He missed a bunch of jumpers and the Suns scored on those missed. It wasn't the Suns D that was great, it was the Sixers inability to make shots. They missed a lot of open shots. Bad teams usually do. The good teams always make those shots. I do like Hunter to get more PT. He's a good player, he can swat some shots. He's more agressive on D than Amare is, which is what we need. Voskul is horrible. Every game he gets multiple moving screen calls and stupid fouls. Please don't play that fool and give Bo Outlaw some PT. Bo will scrap for boards and can block shots.

 

[jibikao]

Webber was awful last night. He missed a bunch of jumpers and the Suns scored on those missed. It wasn't the Suns D that was great, it was the Sixers inability to make shots. They missed a lot of open shots. Bad teams usually do. The good teams always make those shots. I do like Hunter to get more PT. He's a good player, he can swat some shots. He's more agressive on D than Amare is, which is what we need. Voskul is horrible. Every game he gets multiple moving screen calls and stupid fouls. Please don't play that fool and give Bo Outlaw some PT. Bo will scrap for boards and can block shots.

Considering both Bo and Voskul have almost ZERO offense..I'll take Bo. lol


But Philly was REALLY bad last night. For a team that is fighting for the 8th spot, they certainly didn't act like one!'

D'Antoni even wrote down "They will play desperatedly".... hello? Did I feel any sense of urgency last night from Philly?

 

[George O'Brien]

The Sixers were obviously tired and probably had a letdown after the Kings game. However, I couldn't help thinking about Jerry Sloan's comment early in the season about the Suns destroying a team's will to win. That second quarter onslaught did it to the Sixers.

 

[jbeecham]

Also, Miami lost to the Pacers tonight so we're 1 game ahead of them for best record in the league, but we have 2 less losses (they're 54-19, we're 54-17).