Suns at Clippers 8:30 MY45 HD

[TheHopToad]

I'm not too worried about this game. They just took the night off; it happens. Hell, Dallas lost to Sacramento last night and they had been in a groove before that. Over a long 82 game season, you're going to have games like this.

In the end, the Suns fate won't rest on a mid January game against the Clippers. Perhaps they're taking the "ho-hum" San Antonio attitude towards the regular season and will get focused and motivated come playoff time. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt....until May.

 

[Proteus]

How was the overall tempo of this game tonight?
I had to work late.

It was slow. The Suns had 4 fast break points and the Clippers 2.

 

[Proteus]

I'm not too worried about this game. They just took the night off; it happens. Hell, Dallas lost to Sacramento last night and they had been in a groove before that. Over a long 82 game season, you're going to have games like this.

In the end, the Suns fate won't rest on a mid January game against the Clippers. Perhaps they're taking the "ho-hum" San Antonio attitude towards the regular season and will get focused and motivated come playoff time. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt....until May.

The Suns haven't been in a groove for awhile.

If the Suns really were taking a San Antonio type approach, they'd be playing/developing the bench.

 

[green machine]

The Suns haven't been in a groove for awhile.

If the Suns really were taking a San Antonio type approach, they'd be playing/developing the bench.

Or working on different lineup combos and not playing guys huge minutes.

Oh wait, that's what they're doing.

 

[supernova]

It's not about him pulling up for jumpers off dribble. It's about set plays featuring him to catch and shoot like Stockton used to do. This way, we also happen to save his energy for better use in the late game situations and a longer career.

Agree. Nash is one the best shooters in the league, arguably the most efficient shooter period. The problem is that the scenario you describe requires a coach, which the Suns apparently don't have. Part of me thinks Nash should shoot more regardless. On the other hand, there were at least a dozen occassions tonight where he made perfect passes to players in perfect positions to score, be it a wide open Diaw a few paces from the net or Marian directly under it -- and they simply didn't produce. Same with STAT. I can only attribute this to lack of concentration/focus/mental toughness and other cliches.

The bottom line is that if the Suns don't take care of a Bynum-less Lakers on Thursday it might be time to press the panic button. I've stayed away from the chicken-littlisms but the lack of consistent effort/production by Barbs, Diaw, even Marion has grown increasingly disturbing.

Perhaps the players think they're not up to snuff this year. Even on a subconscious level. They're still mourning over the hipcheck. Perhaps they're coasting. With the obvious exception of Nash and (to a slightly lesser extent) STAT I haven't seen consistent effort by any Suns player this year. I see flashes of brilliance, however.

Call me a romantic but I still think they can win it all. No, scratch that, I'm not THAT romantic. A trade will have to be made if the Suns wanna go all the way. The loss of KT was obviously a much bigger deal than anticipated. I don't care how brilliant Nash is on the court, he can't just will the team to victory with no rebounding and piss-poor defense.

 

[mathbzh]

I am fine with Diaw 7 pts and 6 ast... but 1 rbds in 37 minutes when you are 6'8 is just beyond my understanding.
I didn't see that game and maybe he did a couple of things that doesn't show up in the stats but 1 rebound is just not enough

 

[cly2tw]

Agree. Nash is one the best shooters in the league, arguably the most efficient shooter period. The problem is that the scenario you describe requires a coach, which the Suns apparently don't have. Part of me thinks Nash should shoot more regardless. On the other hand, there were at least a dozen occassions tonight where he made perfect passes to players in perfect positions to score, be it a wide open Diaw a few paces from the net or Marian directly under it -- and they simply didn't produce. Same with STAT. I can only attribute this to lack of concentration/focus/mental toughness and other cliches.

The bottom line is that if the Suns don't take care of a Bynum-less Lakers on Thursday it might be time to press the panic button. I've stayed away from the chicken-littlisms but the lack of consistent effort/production by Barbs, Diaw, even Marion has grown increasingly disturbing.

Perhaps the players think they're not up to snuff this year. Even on a subconscious level. They're still mourning over the hipcheck. Perhaps they're coasting. With the obvious exception of Nash and (to a slightly lesser extent) STAT I haven't seen consistent effort by any Suns player this year. I see flashes of brilliance, however.

Call me a romantic but I still think they can win it all. No, scratch that, I'm not THAT romantic. A trade will have to be made if the Suns wanna go all the way. The loss of KT was obviously a much bigger deal than anticipated. I don't care how brilliant Nash is on the court, he can't just will the team to victory with no rebounding and piss-poor defense.

To be fair, Nash fumbled a couple just on his own. Case in point, Amare made a perfect short pass to him at high post with a clear path to basket. But he lost it with nobody defending him by picking it up from dribble. It seemed that he was tired and his concentration wasn't there. That's a sign that we need to take the ball handling duty off Nash a little bit, while still optimally utilizing his shooting threat.

 

[Greg Popovich]

I realize this is not any consolation.

But for what its worth.

The Spurs are also playing really poorly. And the Mavs have lost back to back games if I am not mistaken.

I don't know what is up with the West's "big three." Don't know if its parity.Or is age is finally creeping up with SA and other assorted issues plague the Mavs and the Suns right now.

I believe deep down that all three teams will get their act together, and I predict the Suns and the Spurs will face off again in the WCF with the series going to 7.

BTW--belated happy new year to Suns fans. You guys have really treated me kindly and I appreciate that.

GP

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Why not try Banks on Cassel?

They did in the second quarter and Cassell torched him as well.

It's one of the nights for Sam. Bell is on him now and gettting torched no matter what.

Our offense has improved the moment Nash stopped his senseless dribbling.

Banks was playing pretty good defense on Cassell. Hands in his face, forcing him to shoot later in the shot clock, etc. Cassell was just hitting every damn thing.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

I realize this is not any consolation.

But for what its worth.

The Spurs are also playing really poorly. And the Mavs have lost back to back games if I am not mistaken.

I don't know what is up with the West's "big three." Don't know if its parity.Or is age is finally creeping up with SA and other assorted issues plague the Mavs and the Suns right now.

I believe deep down that all three teams will get their act together, and I predict the Suns and the Spurs will face off again in the WCF with the series going to 7.

BTW--belated happy new year to Suns fans. You guys have really treated me kindly and I appreciate that.

GP

 

[dreamcastrocks]

If the Suns lost to the Clippers, I can't imagine how they are going to beat the Lakers!!

To the Clippers credit, they got lucky as hell and lost on a buzzer beater 3 pointer to Dallas, gave San Antonio, and Orlando all they could handle.

Still, the Suns are not clicking right now and I think that is to be expected at this time of the year.

 

[DeAnna]

I posted somewhere else that Nash looked out of sorts. Watching his body language - he had his hands on his waist few times, and in the 4th qtr he was bent over gasping for air. Is he still ill??

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

In today's LA times

http://www.latimes.com/sports/print...,0,2045743.column?coll=la-headlines-pe-sports

... SPEAKING OF dead men, I stopped by the Clippers' locker room and ran into Sam Cassell.

Cassell is playing for a team with 11 wins, and given his postseason experience and the Clippers' look to the future, it's a good bet Cassell will be a goner by the Feb. 21 trade deadline.

Cassell didn't disagree. "You know I can help somebody," he said, and then as if to prove it, he went out and scored 32 points on 15-of-21 shooting against the Suns.

 

[DeAnna]

In today's LA times

http://www.latimes.com/sports/print...,0,2045743.column?coll=la-headlines-pe-sports

AHA! That would explain it - trying to showcase his talents.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

my thoughts on last night:

1. can the marion on pg's experiment please end now? it was a nice gimmick that worked in the playoffs TWO YEARS AGO on cassell. but now that cassell has torched him (and make no mistake about it - cassell burnt marion repeatedly last night), can we officially say it was a nice little trick but it's done now?

2. i hate boris. he looked LAZY last night. not bad, just freaking lazy. i hate boris.

3. well, all those that argued that teams hide bad defenders on marion were proved right, at least for last night's game. i didn't concentrate on it the entire game, but there was a stretch during which cassell d'ed up marion on 4 or 5 straight trips. and lo and behold! we didn't capitalize on the mismatch! when we first began this run it was always us capitalizing on the mismatch, seems now teams are capitalizing on these mismatches instead of the other way around. yaaaaaaaay!

4. man did steve look off last night. deanna is right, something wasn't right with him.

5. i may hate dantoni more than boris now. actually, i DEFINITELY hate dantoni more than boris now when nash is not in the game. it's embarrassing that the talent on the floor couldn't keep pace, much less blow out, a lineup of clips scrubs including guillermo diaz. GUILLERMO-FREAKING-DIAZ!

6. missing hill is a blow, but it shouldn't be that big of a blow. last night's debacle may be just one of those single game let downs, but the problems seemed to be in all the areas we normally have problems. let's just keep blinding ourselves to our issue areas, shall we?

7. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

 

[Covert Rain]

my thoughts on last night:

1. can the marion on pg's experiment please end now? it was a nice gimmick that worked in the playoffs TWO YEARS AGO on cassell. but now that cassell has torched him (and make no mistake about it - cassell burnt marion repeatedly last night), can we officially say it was a nice little trick but it's done now?

2. i hate boris. he looked LAZY last night. not bad, just freaking lazy. i hate boris.

3. well, all those that argued that teams hide bad defenders on marion were proved right, at least for last night's game. i didn't concentrate on it the entire game, but there was a stretch during which cassell d'ed up marion on 4 or 5 straight trips. and lo and behold! we didn't capitalize on the mismatch! when we first began this run it was always us capitalizing on the mismatch, seems now teams are capitalizing on these mismatches instead of the other way around. yaaaaaaaay!

4. man did steve look off last night. deanna is right, something wasn't right with him.

5. i may hate dantoni more than boris now. actually, i DEFINITELY hate dantoni more than boris now when nash is not in the game. it's embarrassing that the talent on the floor couldn't keep pace, much less blow out, a lineup of clips scrubs including guillermo diaz. GUILLERMO-FREAKING-DIAZ!

6. missing hill is a blow, but it shouldn't be that big of a blow. last night's debacle may be just one of those single game let downs, but the problems seemed to be in all the areas we normally have problems. let's just keep blinding ourselves to our issue areas, shall we?

7. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

#1. It appeared to me that the majority of SC points were scored when Marion wasn't covering him. Marion actually did better then anybody else on him. Having said that we need Marion to cover other SF/PF not PG.

#2. I think it's fair to say that Boris will never be that Boris that we had seen in the past. We made a mistake signing this guy to a big contract.

#3. I had seen several mismatches that were not exploited. I kept yelling at the TV. We didn't not take advantage often enough when we had them.

#4. Something isn't right with Steve Nash period. His shot has been hot and cold much more then I can remember. Usually, if Steve has been off it's only been for a half. It seems like now when he is off it's for an entire game with his shooting.

#5. D'Antoni is starting to look like he is getting out coached every other game. Anytime a game is close or we are down playing catchup to a big lead, it seems like D'Antoni can't figure it out.

#6, I disagree about Hill not being that big a blow. The guy not only has turned out to be one of our best defenders this year, but his midrange jump shooting was really really missed last night when our jump shooters couldn't hit a barn.

 

[Suns_fan69]

Cassell would be perfect for this team. Low maintenance guard who can create his own shot and for others who doesn't need a lot of minutes.

 

[Nash2Amare]

hooray for 6th seed for a night!

 

[TheHopToad]

hooray for 6th seed for a night!

We would actually be the 5th seed. We're a game ahead of New Orleans. If the playoffs started now, we would play Portland and still have the home court advantage.

 

[Ninjafish]

We would actually be the 5th seed. We're a game ahead of New Orleans. If the playoffs started now, we would play Portland and still have the home court advantage.

Not anymore, we're not. Since the Hornets destroyed Seattle by 31 points last night. If the playoffs started today, out first round would be against.. Dallas.

What's the chances of Dallas losing in the first round two years in a row?

 

[green machine]

Not anymore, we're not. Since the Hornets destroyed Seattle by 31 points last night. If the playoffs started today, out first round would be against.. Dallas.

What's the chances of Dallas losing in the first round two years in a row?

I'd much prefer Dallas. The Suns would beat them in a 7 game series.