Sonics @ Suns Game Thread

[fordronken]

Speaking of other teams...the Clips lost tonight against the Nets. So we are both 15-9 and tied atop the division I think. The Lakers are playing well and will probably overtake the Warriors soon for 3rd place in the division.

Kobe is having a reeeeeeeee-diculous night.

 

[jibikao]

What a night for Nash = crap. lol

Sonics shot horribly too.

I am glad all the bench players step up!!!! James Jones does make a difference!

Great job Marion. I think we can have some winning streaks now.

 

[brianarizona]

btw where is George O'Brien? I enjoyed his stats analysis after every game...

PLEASE PLEASE do not encourage that man to start posting again. He had some of the craziest most ridiculous posts I have ever seen on this board. I just recently became a member but I have been reading as a guest for years and I specifically remember him becuase his posts were so pointless and long. He truly sat around all day and night thinking of what would be the most pointless ridiculous thing he could say and then would type multiple pages worth of useless nonsense.

 

[ProdigalSun]

lol ok then...I guess he's like a Dan Majerle...i kinda like his long pointless posts i guess

 

[ProdigalSun]

Kobe is having a reeeeeeeee-diculous night.

Kobe has 62 at the end of the 3rd. He outscored the Mavs 30-17 by himself ...unbelievable. Is it a full moon out?? cuz the Black Mamba is out in full force hehe.

 

[reader]

What a night for Nash = crap. lol

Sonics shot horribly too.

I am glad all the bench players step up!!!! James Jones does make a difference!

Great job Marion. I think we can have some winning streaks now.

Ray Allen paid Nash a compliment for his game play,

Allen gave Nash credit, even though the Suns' playmaker had just five points and eight assists.

"I think a lot of people don't appreciate some of the things he does, or some of the things he doesn't do," Allen said. "He didn't have a big night statistically, but he got into the game and just kind of got out of his teammates' way, passed the ball to Shawn or Eddie and let them play."

"When the point guard directs a team like that, they all develop confidence, they all learn to play very unselfishly."

 

[JS22]

PLEASE PLEASE do not encourage that man to start posting again. He had some of the craziest most ridiculous posts I have ever seen on this board. I just recently became a member but I have been reading as a guest for years and I specifically remember him becuase his posts were so pointless and long. He truly sat around all day and night thinking of what would be the most pointless ridiculous thing he could say and then would type multiple pages worth of useless nonsense.

That's funny. Because this post is complete nonsense.

 

[Chaplin]

If Shawn Marion doesn't at least get some mention in Defensive Player-of-the-Year voting, then it's a sham. Another 4 blocks tonight.

 

[CaptainInsano]

If Shawn Marion doesn't at least get some mention in Defensive Player-of-the-Year voting, then it's a sham. Another 4 blocks tonight.

Also his 29 points is just monstrous when coupled with that, yikes. I realised something looking at the boxscore, if both House and Marion have good nights (has seemed to be pretty rare) there isn't anything the opposition can do. Nash did not have that bad a game he didn't even need to score. 8 Assists to keep this team running and gunning was well more then enough.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

PLEASE PLEASE do not encourage that man to start posting again. He had some of the craziest most ridiculous posts I have ever seen on this board. I just recently became a member but I have been reading as a guest for years and I specifically remember him becuase his posts were so pointless and long. He truly sat around all day and night thinking of what would be the most pointless ridiculous thing he could say and then would type multiple pages worth of useless nonsense.

I personally appreciate all the work George puts into his posts. They certainly weren't nonsense.

 

[haverford]

I personally appreciate all the work George puts into his posts. They certainly weren't nonsense.

I agree. That guy was as thoughtful and insightful as they come on this board....

 

[Amare32]

When Eddie and JJ play like that It takes alot of the pressure off Nash and Marion. Good to have an easy win.

 

[Errntknght]

"PLEASE PLEASE do not encourage that man to start posting again. He had some of the craziest most ridiculous posts I have ever seen on this board."

George's posts were sometimes lengthy but "crazy and ridiculous" is a good bit off the mark, IMO. And I disagreed with him as often as anyone. Actually, I sort of wonder if you don't have him confused with someone else... come to think of it I'm the most likely candidate for that - I'm equally long winded and while I don't go on with elaborate stats, I certainly have a different point of view than the average poster in here, which is enough for someone to apply the 'crazy and ridiculous' label, I'm sure.

Don't you think it speaks poorly of someone's judgement when they kvetch about the content of posts they have voluntarily read - and with the writer's name right up there at the top for all to see?

 

[haverford]

The more I think about it, the more outrageous this guy's whining about George O'Brien becomes. Takes a lot of nerve to make accusations (after only venturing 24 posts of your own), vaguely substantiated by fluffy words like "ridiculous." We need more George's on this board....

 

[MigratingOsprey]

well that was a pointless game

pretty well played by the suns for the most part

one day the sonics will figure out that layups are a high % shot and that most people in the league will hit a good % of wide open shots

if they press the perimeter people walk to the basket ... if they pack the lane they either charge at shooters and foul them or any team smart enough to pass the ball a couple times will have a wide open look

on offense they have gone from a passing team that will drive and dish to a ball dominating team heaving long range shots twisting off screens

please fire bob weiss ASAP

 

[Chaz]

The Sonics sure have fallen off this year.

Ray Allen still amazes me everytime I see him play.

His jumper is so quick and so pure it is fun to watch.



Nice win for the Suns. Keep building that home record.

Nice to have JR and Burke back. The bench is back and I thought it was the differeence in the game tonight.

 

[MigratingOsprey]

probably the only part of the game i enjoyed was watching evans call for the ball everytime burke was in the game

it was kinda like he was saying "all i do is rebound, i never score, but I can take this guy, c'mon, please .... just this once"

 

[nowagimp]

I personally appreciate all the work George puts into his posts. They certainly weren't nonsense.

I also think that George O'Brein has had alot of good posts. He's obviously a thinker that has some good basketball insight. I dont understand why the adverse reaction(allergic?) to him.

 

[nowagimp]

If Shawn Marion doesn't at least get some mention in Defensive Player-of-the-Year voting, then it's a sham. Another 4 blocks tonight.

Right on the money Chap, Marion is a defensive gem. Who else can control Artest, Nowitski, Rashard Lewis, Jason Richardson and a host of other top 2's and 3's. And I never read about his defensive effort, it just gets lost in the confection of a storyline, its a shame! There should be a Marion effect stat. These guys probably average 25 against the rest of the league and only 18 against shawn. How about a shooting percentage "against Marion" stat? I think that the defensive player award is too much popularity and too much team award. The best defensive player should be outstanding as an individual defender and as a team defender.

 

[Errntknght]

nowagimp, "Right on the money Chap, Marion is a defensive gem. Who else can control Artest, Nowitski, Rashard Lewis, Jason Richardson and a host of other top 2's and 3's. And I never read about his defensive effort, it just gets lost in the confection of a storyline, its a shame!"

It's sort of nitpicking but Marion isn't matched up again JRich most of the time, and, in general, Raja gets all the 2's including the tough ones. Marion does spell him at times and he certainly is a great guy to have doing that. Between the two, I'd say Marion is the better defender though Raja gets more mention in that regard - except Raja is much better at getting under people's skin and, thence, being noticed. If Marion was as good at that the number of mentions for DPOY would skyrocket.

 

[Errntknght]

MigratingOsprey, "probably the only part of the game i enjoyed was watching evans call for the ball everytime burke was in the game

it was kinda like he was saying "all i do is rebound, i never score, but I can take this guy, c'mon, please .... just this once"

Reggie was having a field day against everyone the Suns put on him in the first half, not just Burke.

I'm liking Burke more and more. He is clever with the ball down around the hoop and the Suns need every bit of inside game they can muster. And he shoots pretty well from a distance, too. I like the enthusiasm he brings - like Marjele mentioned, you can see he's having blast when he's out there. His defense leaves something to be desired but he likes playing defense so I think he'll improve. And he surprises people with his shot blocking. Like I said before if he ever gets his timing down he'll be about as good as Hunter because he has the knack for it. Let's just hope he can get over his shoulder problems.

James Jones is showing some shot blocking skills of late, too, and Diaw has always looked pretty good in that regard. Neither are great leapers but the main thing is that they can swat it away when perimeter players come into the lane. With Marion and Amare those three will almost guarantee we have two or three shotblockers on the floor at all times. That could be huge against the Spurs though it remains to be seen if they can bother Parker and Manu enough.

I do think we are getting close to being able to control those two with Raja annoying the heck out of Manu and Leandro's defense improving along with his confidence. We've got KT for a hard foul or two and shot blockers helping from every angle. Now if Marion would just figure out that he has to keep his butt in constant motion and look for screeners to bang Bowen into if he wants to be successful against him. The good news is that we have KT, who will set him good picks if he pays attention. Grant will, too, if he ever returns. The bad news is, of course, that D'Antoni doesn't have a clue about it...

 

[jbeecham]

Apparently, the Suns trainers found a pressure point under Burke's armpit that releaved the pain he was having in his neck and shoulder. I guess they did some treatment on him just before the game and he said it's the best it's felt since he injured it.

 

[Errntknght]

Ha! He was just grabbing those rebounds one handed to show off then!

That does sound like pressure point therapy... I'm having that form of treatment and it does have an immediate effect - at least when it's intensely painful it does. According the first practitioner of that I went to, shoulders are the most difficult part of the body to treat because many of the muscles are under or partially under bones. He had just picked it up on his own - he was trained as a chiropractor not a pressure point therapist - so he probably wasn't that knowledgeable. In fact, I went to him once for a shoulder problem and he wouldn't even try - he said to forget therapy as I was going to wind up having surgury anyway. (Happily, he was mistaken about that.)