Sonics vs Suns 2/11

[Joe Mama]

Barbosa is just a complete liability when he is on the court these days, and for the life of me, I can't understand why he is getting minutes in these important games against the best in the west. We have plenty of players that are as competent as him as a ball handler and distributor. I have no problem with him getting minutes, but let's pick good times, when we have leads against weaker teams, not against the best teams in basketball.

I agree. He will make a few good plays here and there, but overall the team is better without him on the floor. With the interchangeable parts this team has I would rather see Jim Jackson, McCarty, and Hunter getting the lion's share of the minutes off the bench. I would prefer not to see Barbosa unless it is junk time.

- Hunter has been non-existant on the offensive end for quite some time. And, his relationship with Mike D has turned sour. You can just see it when Hunter is yanked and walks by the coach.

On another play, Hunter doesn't box out and the guys gets an "and 1". Alvin Gentry was livid.

Hunter really is not a player who is going to produce much on the offensive end of the court. If the other teams leave him alone too much he will hurt them, but they haven't lately. I don't understand what Mike D's problem is with Hunter. He has such a quick hook with him.

If we are thinking about the same play (I think we are because I remember one of the coaches really getting upset with him) Hunter was clearly grabbed and pulled down by one of the sonics players. It was right during the stretch where there were several questionable calls/no calls that went against the Suns. The crowd was going nuts.

I do agree that the Phoenix Suns players need to learn how to emphasize fouls. At one point Amare was trying to post up Ray Allen. I believe it was the fourth quarter. Might have been the third period. Ray Allen was manhandling and shoving Amare, but Amare kept just trying to fight through it instead of forcing the official to make a call.

There were several problems the Suns had last night. Let's not forget to give the sonics some credit as well. They played a very good game despite the fact that they play to the previous night until almost midnight.

Joe Mama

 

[coloradosun]

Here's what I see from Barbosa

On offense, he dribbles with his head down. He has no court vision at all and all of his motion is going forward never side to side like Nash.

On defense, he does not shuffle his feet. If the offensive player makes a move either left or right, Barbosa crosses his feet over which puts him a step behind ever time.

I'm not a coach but these things are obvious to me why can't the coaching staff see it.

Could somebody e-mail this to D'A.

 

[BC867]

Apparently, the Coach is enamored with Barbosa's speed. But that alone can't keep the Nash magic going while he is being rested.

I certainly agree with a Nash-type Point Guard as his backup . . . if that backup has the skills to do it.

Alot of us feel that Barbosa is a small "2" Guard and that's what he'll be.

I hope that Mike D' has the only player who can train Barbosa to cover for Steve Nash -- Steve Nash -- give it his best shot for the next 2 or 3 weeks.

If Barbosa shows significant improvement, and the Suns prosper from it, great. If not, I hope the Coach is flexible enough to go to Plan B, or rather Plan JJ -- probably Jim Jackson over Joe Johnson.

 

[Errntknght]

Elindholm, "The one bright spot was that McCarty seems to be a pretty good defender after all. I guess I wasn't paying attention the right way when I watched him with the Celtics."

I was watching McCarty pretty close and his defense looked no better than typical of the Suns to me... just one game though. EJ credited him with good D on Radman once but I didn't agree with him - he did cut him off and force him into a 3 pt shot but McCarty contested the shot very weakly, though the shot did miss.

coloradosun, "On offense, he dribbles with his head down. He has no court vision at all and all of his motion is going forward never side to side like Nash."

We've been concerned about his lack of court vision since the beginning. Not too sure there is much wrong with his forward motion.

"On defense, he does not shuffle his feet. If the offensive player makes a move either left or right, Barbosa crosses his feet over which puts him a step behind ever time."

Actually, he slides sideways in the correct fashion most of the time but what kills him is that he doesn't slide around screens - when his man turns the corner he always leans back and turns thus getting his inside shoulder hung up on the screener - and he oftens grabs his man at that point. It looks to me like he usually isn't aware of the screen until he smacks into it. He's got to learn to keep his arm out to the side feeling for the screen then getting his lead shoulder around the screen before he turns.

 

[BC867]

Apropos Malone-Stockton, in comparison to Stockton, Nash dominates the ball way too much . . . you needed to elicit as much as possible from the other talent you have on your team.

In our recent games, Nash has been the leading, or 2nd or 3rd, leading scorer on the team. It detracts when your Point Guard has too much of a scorer's mentality.

I hope that Steve hasn't let this MVP talk (richly deserved) force him into thinking that he has to average over 20-25 points per night. It will hurt the team.

Kevin Johnson averaged 20-10 for, I believe, three straight seasons. It got him accolaids, but didn't make the Suns a true contender.

You knew that, with the game on the line, KJ was going to drive into the land of giants, not involve his teammates, and get blocked.

Despite the presence of an overwhelming Charles Barkley on the court, KJ couldn't accept the position of "franchise, jr."

If Steve averages more than 15 ppg from here on out, we have a problem.

 

[arthurracoon]

In our recent games, Nash has been the leading, or 2nd or 3rd, leading scorer on the team. It detracts when your Point Guard has too much of a scorer's mentality.

I hope that Steve hasn't let this MVP talk (richly deserved) force him into thinking that he has to average over 20-25 points per night. It will hurt the team.

Kevin Johnson averaged 20-10 for, I believe, three straight seasons. It got him accolaids, but didn't make the Suns a true contender.

You knew that, with the game on the line, KJ was going to drive into the land of giants, not involve his teammates, and get blocked.

Despite the presence of an overwhelming Charles Barkley on the court, KJ couldn't accept the position of "franchise, jr."

If Steve averages more than 15 ppg from here on out, we have a problem.

I dont care how many points he scores, as long as he is shooting a very high percentage.

 

[F-Dog]

I thought the Suns got out-coached a little. Nate McMillan is very aware that the Suns' fast break has a bottleneck (everything has to go through Steve Nash). The first game, he had Ridnour jam Nash going up the court, which was somewhat effective; This time, the Sonics focused on taking away the long pass, which worked even better. D'Antoni needs to find a way to compensate--long term, they need to be able to run the break through Joe Johnson and Marion, but in this game, I think they needed to be sending more players to the defensive boards.

Mainly, though, the Sonics made their shots and the Suns didn't. The offensive rebounds the Suns gave up were the most frustrating--they didn't give up a huge number like they have sometimes done, but the Sonics seemingly cashed in every single time.

Nash wasn't hitting his shot at the end, and I think there's a connection between that and the Suns not playing very smart down the stretch.

Still, it was nice to see a clean game between the two new WC powers. :tips hat:

 

[Amare32]

this was one of those games that the sonics wanted it more. We looked flat and un-interested at times.they wanted to beat us after we beat them in seattle. Not a big deal though, as Q said It's only one game..we are still right at the top with the best record.