So much for a championship

[Lorenzo]

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.

maybe so. the spurs also appear to be a little weaker at this point. but with the way the suns are rebounding and defending....they will have to pick it up in that regard. I just meant that amare and nash were playing as well as they ever have, and they lost in 5 games. wasn't that suns team playing better b-ball than this one though?

 

[arwillan]

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).

i would agree with bringing in banks, only if he gets a decent amount of playing time these next few games. Id like to see him at some point in the dallas game to put some stoppage on Terry the way he did Baron Davis. That'd really give us some hope for defense. I agree that kt needs more time. he can rebound and play defense and those 2 things are what we have struggled with. id still like marion on dirk, but maybe he would match up better with duncan who for the most part is not a perimeter threat.

 

[HooverDam]

Ug the Suns have a bad stretch at the end of the regular season, I want to kill myself. I just got off the phone with Tony LaRussa and he said the Suns are done, no way you can come back from a poor end to the regular season, he's mailing me a nice hand gun in the mail to blow my brains out with.

 

[arwillan]

maybe so. the spurs also appear to be a little weaker at this point. but with the way the suns are rebounding and defending....they will have to pick it up in that regard. I just meant that amare and nash were playing as well as they ever have, and they lost in 5 games. wasn't that suns team playing better b-ball than this one though?

maybe better by the standards of playing D and rebounding, essentially the fundamentals, but this suns team IMO is playing better at just worrying about their style and imposing it on other teams, which they did not do as effectively back then.

 

[PHX 32]

Try reading the actual thread next time.

Ummm I did? and my comment still stands.

 

[elindholm]

Ug the Suns have a bad stretch at the end of the regular season, I want to kill myself. I just got off the phone with Tony LaRussa and he said the Suns are done, no way you can come back from a poor end to the regular season, he's mailing me a nice hand gun in the mail to blow my brains out with.

Come on. Baseball playoffs are random. You get eight teams together, you flip coins for three rounds, and you declare a winner. There's a reason that the MLB championship is usually won by a non-elite team.

The Suns' loss tonight may not mean much, but the St. Louis Cardinals' title means even less.

 

[Lorenzo]

maybe better by the standards of playing D and rebounding, essentially the fundamentals, but this suns team IMO is playing better at just worrying about their style and imposing it on other teams, which they did not do as effectively back then.

i don't get it. that suns team had the best record in the league. they rolled in the playoffs over a memphis team that was supposed to have had their number. They beat a good dallas team in 6 games on the road. They played as well(probably better) as they had all year offensively against S.A. in the WCF. There are some different faces, but honestly what's the difference. The suns are trying to win with offense. and that's what they do well. so no problem with that. My whole point goes along with the comparisons to those other championship teams. When you look at all of those teams they did struggle in their respective regular seasons. but down the stretch they all got the job done in every aspect. For the suns that means they will have to play defense and rebound the b-ball to go along with scoring points....which isn't the problem. so i don't understand that statement. That suns team played better defense and rebounded the ball better? The scoring seems about the same. but this team is better?

 

[Cheesebeef]

i don't get it. that suns team had the best record in the league. they rolled in the playoffs over a memphis team that was supposed to have had their number. They beat a good dallas team in 6 games on the road. They played as well as they had all year offensively against S.A. in the WCF. There are some different faces, but honestly what's the difference. The suns are trying to win with offense. and that's what they do well. so no problem with that. My whole point goes along with the comparisons to those other championship teams. When you look at all of those teams they did struggle in their respective regular seasons. but down the stretch they all got the job done in every aspect. For the suns that means they will have to play defense and rebound the b-ball to go along with scoring points....which isn't the problem.

the difference is Amare - the Amare of the 2005 playoffs, the entire playoffs, was one of the sickest things anyone's ever seen - the difference also is we've now been running this system for three years and it no longer is taking peopleby surprise - combine a not as ridiculously dominant Amare and familiarity, not to mention the west being tougher now and you have your reasons why the 2005 team has an advantage over this team.

 

[Covert Rain]

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.

They do? It's not like they have 40 losses. That would add up. This team plays well on the road so I am not convinced it would be that huge. Not to mention that last years team was last years team. We had no Amare, no Kurt and a banged up Bell. Last years team has no bearing on this years.

If it did, then we might was well count on the Mavs having another NBA history like choke job in the playoffs.

 

[arwillan]

the difference is Amare - the Amare of the 2005 playoffs, the entire playoffs, was one of the sickest things anyone's ever seen - the difference also is we've now been running this system for three years and it no longer is taking peopleby surprise - combine a not as ridiculously dominant Amare and familiarity, not to mention the west being tougher now and you have your reasons why the 2005 team has an advantage over this team.

though i was not a huge b-ball fan during that season, i can say this: the difference between these two teams is that we are more effective with imposing our running style onto other teams. back then, though we were dominant, we were more like the warriors who play the style well but couldnt always get other teams to play that way with them.

 

[Lorenzo]

They do? It's not like they have 40 losses. That would add up. This team plays well on the road so I am not convinced it would be that huge. Not to mention that last years team was last years team. We had no Amare, no Kurt and a banged up Bell. Last years team has no bearing on this years.

If it did, then we might was well count on the Mavs having another NBA history like choke job in the playoffs.

what about the heat beating the mavs? don't let wade see that post.

 

[arwillan]

If it did, then we might was well count on the Mavs having another NBA history like choke job in the playoffs.

personally id rather see dirk choke again on sunday, seems more entertaining. a choke in the playoffs against the likes of GS would be very welcomed too

 

[Lorenzo]

though i was not a huge b-ball fan during that season, i can say this: the difference between these two teams is that we are more effective with imposing our running style onto other teams. back then, though we were dominant, we were more like the warriors who play the style well but couldnt always get other teams to play that way with them.

I thought that suns team was better overall to this point....when you compare the two. they imposed their will every night and had a franchise best season. having said that the whole point to this recent topic is that this suns team can turn it on in the playoffs which remains to be seen.

 

[Lorenzo]

personally id rather see dirk choke again on sunday, seems more entertaining. a choke in the playoffs against the likes of GS would be very welcomed too

that's why i hope the mavs play golden state in the first round.

 

[Cheesebeef]

though i was not a huge b-ball fan during that season, i can say this: the difference between these two teams is that we are more effective with imposing our running style onto other teams. back then, though we were dominant, we were more like the warriors who play the style well but couldnt always get other teams to play that way with them.

man, I totally disagree with this - hell, even the Spurs ran with us... and ran us off the court. if anything, over the second half of the season, we're seeing teams dictate tempo to us MUCH MORE than we have in the last two seasons combined.

that team two years ago was NOTHING like the Warriors in any shape or form - they dominated everyone but the Spurs and the Pistons and everyone was too shocked to know what to do with us for most of the season.

 

[Lorenzo]

man, I totally disagree with this - hell, even the Spurs ran with us... and ran us off the court. if anything, over the second half of the season, we're seeing teams dictate tempo to us MUCH MORE than we have in the last two seasons combined.

that team two years ago was NOTHING like the Warriors in any shape or form - they dominated everyone but the Spurs and the Pistons and everyone was too shocked to know what to do with us for most of the season.

I agree. the warriors beat the suns at their own game tonight. so did the nuggets. the pistons even looked like a better offensive team than the suns when they played. granted detroit is one of the best defensive teams in the league.

 

[Covert Rain]

what about the heat beating the mavs? don't let wade see that post.

The Mavs shouldn't bother showing up if they are going to make history again. For that matter hand the Heat the rings right now.

personally id rather see dirk choke again on sunday, seems more entertaining. a choke in the playoffs against the likes of GS would be very welcomed too

 

[Lorenzo]

The Mavs shouldn't bother showing up if they are going to make history again. For that matter hand the Heat the rings right now.

I agree. the mavs haven't proven anything untill they win a ring. right now the heat deserve all the credit in the world.

 

[CardNots]

What is the fret about? Can you say MEMPHIS?

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

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 just wish we didn't do it AGAIN.

i'm not sure i'd say we put it into another gear in the playoffs. it's not like we blew through any opponents. the first round was a struggle. we won one more game than the lakers. the second round was a struggle. we won one more game than the clips. then we lost in the wcf without even getting to a 7th game. was the wcf an accomplishment? yeah, but to say we kicked it up into another gear isn't exactly accurate. we were .500 in the playoffs, pretty close to how we closed the season, albeit against playoff-level competition.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

The Heat did finish strong, you're right about that. Nobody gave them a chance because they had a terrible record against the leagues elite. My point is that none of this crap matters once the playoffs begin, especially for a team that's been there before. I'd rather the Suns were playing great but it's not the end of the world either.

when have any of these suns "been there before" other than raja (a long time ago) and kurt (a long time ago)?

 

[Chaplin]

i'm not sure i'd say we put it into another gear in the playoffs. it's not like we blew through any opponents. the first round was a struggle. we won one more game than the lakers. the second round was a struggle. we won one more game than the clips. then we lost in the wcf without even getting to a 7th game. was the wcf an accomplishment? yeah, but to say we kicked it up into another gear isn't exactly accurate. we were .500 in the playoffs, pretty close to how we closed the season, albeit against playoff-level competition.

That's a pretty big caveat. Remember, the Clippers were pretty good last year.

 

[mribnik]

when have any of these suns "been there before" other than raja (a long time ago) and kurt (a long time ago)?

I meant deep into the playoffs. Getting to the WCF two years in a row is deep into the playoffs. Technically, Jalen Rose and Jumaine Jones also played in the finals, though they don't have an apparent role on this team right now.

 

[phillycard]

C'mon arwillan. i'm by no means a kool-aid drinker, but damn man. Buck up and support a damn good team. I think the Suns CAN do this. (thanks everyone for my admission on the bandwagon) Hell, try being a Sixers fan for the last 2 years. You don't know how good you have it.

 

[TucsonDevil]

the first round was a struggle. we won one more game than the lakers.

For the record, the Suns won the Series 5 games to 2. Just ask Nash and Coach D'Antoni.