So much for a championship

[Lorenzo]

you're preaching to the choir here zo. I just wanted to debunk the myth that Miami struggled down the stretch last year - they totally turned their season around after an ass-whopping at the hands of your Mavs in late-Feb.

i agree with you. I'm just trying to point out to others that if the suns want to win in the playoffs they have to start rebounding the basketball.

 

[Cheesebeef]

but it's amazing to see how many people jump off a cliff after a loss like tonight.

right, cause it's just TONIGHT that people are worried about. Come on man.

 

[green machine]

I think it's pretty bad, but we'll agree to disagree and I'll apologize for being somewhat of an ass to you on this thread. It's only b-ball!

 

[SO91]

right, cause it's just TONIGHT that people are worried about. Come on man.

Did I say "just tonight"? No, I said "like tonight"

 

[arwillan]

i agree with you. I'm just trying to point out to others that if the suns want to win in the playoffs they have to start rebounding the basketball.

that and contesting shots of course.

 

[Covert Rain]

you're preaching to the choir here zo. I just wanted to debunk the myth that Miami struggled down the stretch last year - they totally turned their season around after an ass-whopping at the hands of your Mavs in late-Feb.

The Heat were 4 and 7 in April going into the playoffs. You call that a myth they struggled?

 

[mribnik]

The Heat were 4 and 7 in April going into the playoffs. You call that a myth they struggled?

If you go back a little farther, they were 7-9 in their last 16 games.

 

[Cheesebeef]

The Heat were 4 and 7 in April going into the playoffs. You call that a myth they struggled?

again - the heat went 23-5 until their last three games where Shaq and Wade didn't play - is that struggling SteelDog?

 

[arwillan]

If you go back a little farther, they were 7-9 in their last 16 games.

you cant hold the last 3 or so games at high value because iirc the last 3 games D wade and shaq both sat.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

We didn't play well at the end of the regular season last year, yet we made it to the Western Conference Finals, so it is possible to end a year on a downer but put it into another gear in the playoffs.

I can't stand when people use last year as a reason why this team will be fine. The Suns got a dream draw last year, they played a #6 and #7 seed in the first two rounds and barely got by both of those mediocre squads. Then they got beaten down by the first decent team they played. Make no mistake, whoever we play in the first round this year will be much better than last year's Clips or Lakers and I'm not sure we're that much better.

 

[Covert Rain]

again - the heat went 23-5 until their last three games where Shaq and Wade didn't play - is that struggling SteelDog?

OK, they were still 4 and 3 before that. Almost .500 basketball. I would call that a struggle.

 

[BuddyFranklin]

Ok i've cooled off and don't mean alot of what i said... but i still think our lack of consistanty WITHIN the game will really hurt us. Like really really hurt us to the point where we won't win a title.

Just my take.

I don't think we have what it takes.

 

[Cheesebeef]

OK, they were still 4 and 3 before that. Almost .500 basketball. I would call that a struggle.

at the end of the year, with playoff seeding locked up? 23-5 until their last three games when a ridiculous number of scrubs filled their starting lineups - they were ready for the playoffs.

 

[mribnik]

you cant hold the last 3 or so games at high value because iirc the last 3 games D wade and shaq both sat.

Even so, they weren't exactly lighting it on fire. My point was that you don't necessarily have to be in some sort of rythym going into the playoffs. If you go 7-9 in the last 16 games and win the championship then those last 16 games aren't necessarily that important. They certainly can be, but just because the Suns are playing poorly (in this case, going 14-5 since the all-star break, haha) doesn't mean that they can't turn it on and win. I think my point still stands.

 

[Lorenzo]

you cant hold the last 3 or so games at high value because iirc the last 3 games D wade and shaq both sat.

either way. it's pretty clear that the heat did everything well in the playoffs. They defeated the pistons in 5 or 6 games. The offense was there, the defense was brutal, and they were the best rebounding team in the playoffs.

 

[arwillan]

I can't stand when people use last year as a reason why this team will be fine. The Suns got a dream draw last year, they played a #6 and #7 seed in the first two rounds and barely got by both of those mediocre squads. Then they got beaten down by the first decent team they played. Make no mistake, whoever we play in the first round this year will be much better than last year's Clips or Lakers and I'm not sure we're that much better.

maybe our players are not much better, but now we have our two biggest players in full swing and healthy so ... also i think i would rather play this years lakers in the first round as opposed to last years because we finally have some inside presence. id also take this years nuggets as opposed to last years lakers (talking all first round here) because dallas is worse than we are defensively, and equal at best to us offensively. I think bell on iverson and marion on anthony are both good matchups so i dont foresee them to be a 7 game team unless we play them the way that we did last week or two weeks ago, whatever it was.

 

[Covert Rain]

at the end of the year, with playoff seeding locked up? 23-5 until their last three games when a ridiculous number of scrubs filled their starting lineups - they were ready for the playoffs.

OK, so if the Suns go .500 the rest of the way I guess we are ready too. It's dumb to try and predict what the Suns can do in the playoffs based on the regular season. In a 7 game series against the same team it's different.

 

[arwillan]

Even so, they weren't exactly lighting it on fire. My point was that you don't necessarily have to be in some sort of rythym going into the playoffs. If you go 7-9 in the last 16 games and win the championship then those last 16 games aren't necessarily that important. They certainly can be, but just because the Suns are playing poorly (in this case, going 14-5 since the all-star break, haha) doesn't mean that they can't turn it on and win. I think my point still stands.

nobody can say that your point isnt valid here. id bet a pretty penny that the miami fans were far from confident in their team entering the playoffs and even entering the finals series and that was when dwade took over. hopefully amare will do in this years postseason what he did to the spurs a few years back.

 

[Lorenzo]

nobody can say that your point isnt valid here. id bet a pretty penny that the miami fans were far from confident in their team entering the playoffs and even entering the finals series and that was when dwade took over. hopefully amare will do in this years postseason what he did to the spurs a few years back.

that's the thing.

 

[Covert Rain]

Even so, they weren't exactly lighting it on fire. My point was that you don't necessarily have to be in some sort of rythym going into the playoffs. If you go 7-9 in the last 16 games and win the championship then those last 16 games aren't necessarily that important. They certainly can be, but just because the Suns are playing poorly (in this case, going 14-5 since the all-star break, haha) doesn't mean that they can't turn it on and win. I think my point still stands.

Great point. I guess it's a still a blessing to have a team that struggles and still goes 14 and 5. Things could be worse and we could be struggling and go 5-14. I think the standards are so high right now that people are having trouble seeing the big picture.

 

[arwillan]

that's the thing.

what is? the fact that the heat werent exactly surging into the post season last year either?

 

[Lorenzo]

what is? the fact that the heat werent exactly surging into the post season last year either?

no.....i meant that amare went off against the spurs and it still wasn't enough.

 

[arwillan]

Great point. I guess it's a still a blessing to have a team that struggles and still goes 14 and 5. Things could be worse and we could be struggling and go 5-14. I think the standards are so high right now that people are having trouble seeing the big picture.

these little losses add up,though, in the big picture. 2 games in front of san antonio who we have been ahead of for quite some time is the big picture and this game put us one step closer to being passed up. without homecourt, it will be even more difficult to beat the spurs. Somebody pointed out that we played mediocre teams the first 2 rounds last year and lost to the first good one we played. well, we also had HCA those first two rounds, and didnt the 3rd.

 

[arwillan]

no.....i meant that amare went off against the spurs and it still wasn't enough.

i think we have surrounded amare with some better players than we did that year, so lets hope if he does do that again we have the firepower to put down that team.

 

[WuRaider]

The bright side:

-Golden State gets closer to the 8th seed where they can give the Mavs some trouble

I hope coach was paying attention to how they crawled back into the game. I think he should experiment a little these last few games. The Suns always build a big lead with their high powered offense, no need to tinker with that.

They should start putting a defensive unit after the leads are built. Let them try to defend it for a good portion of the game. If they can sustain long enough, the offensive unit can come back rested and really put the game away. If they start to lose the lead, pull them and start trying to match with O again.

Whatever he decides, he really needs to play Kurt more, not just in random spots. Leave James Jones on the bench, his confidence is crap right now. Bring in Banks only if they're facing a score first PG (ie Iverson).