Suns at Kings Game Thread

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

I thought we were the 4th quarter suns... we usually tank the 3rd and rock the 4th but this was a scary change of pace.

Go suns!

 

[jbeecham]

I think Barbosa got the crap scared out of him by that buzzer going off. He fumbled the ball right as that happened. It's pretty crappy that a timekeeper error almost lost us the game. Luckily Amare had a great block to seal it.

For whoever said the refs favored us tonight, I don't think we were watching the same game. We might have shot almost the same # of free throws (1 less), but there was so much crap against the Kings that wasn't called. We had 2 defensive 3 second calls and the Kings had none, yet packed the paint all night long.

 

[CaptainInsano]

I will just hold onto the hope that this was "one of those games" but this game set off a lot of alarms for me.

Marion better find some points in the next meeting.

 

[jbeecham]

The Pike experiment needs to be stopped. Sure he might hit a 3 once in a while, but if he gives up 6-10pts on defense then he's a liability out there. I'd rather take a chance with Banks or Strawberry for the 8 minutes Pike is getting.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

I saw the barbosa fumble, and saw dantoni's head almost explode, but the tv was muted. wtf happened there?

 

[CaptainInsano]

First we tried house and that didn't work (especially in the playoffs) now we try pike and already he lays an egg. Just imagine the playoffs then. For gods sake try to work banks in already since his D would be useful in the playoffs at least. He single handedly won us a victory with his 3's before so why exactly is he on the bench?

 

[jbeecham]

I saw the barbosa fumble, and saw dantoni's head almost explode, but the tv was muted. wtf happened there?

Right as LB catches the ball, he starts to transfer it into his right hand for the layup and the shot clock buzzer goes off really loud because the timekeeper didn't reset the shot clock after the Suns got the ball. I think just about everybody jumped because you don't expect that kind of a noise during a fast break wide open layup.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I'll just come out and say it: This team does nothing for me right now. I'm pretty stoked with a 9-2 record and a 6-1 road record, but I've watched four of their games, and the only time I've registered ANY kind of emotion, good or bad, was when Skinner hammered in that three pointer right before the buzzer. It's weird. I've never been like this about ANY sports team. Just too much pressure this year maybe, or maybe I just don't find us all that exciting to watch right now, but there's literally zero emotion coming out of me when I watch these games.

That's not to say I think we've got no shot to win the title, or that I hate DA or anything negative about the team so please don't project that on me. I'm just reallly numb. It's a really weird, weird feeling. Anyone who's read my posts over the years knows that's if you can expect one thing from me, it's gonna be a pretty heated opinion. With this team right now though, I'm just flat.

I guess what I'm saying is wake me for the playoffs (or at least let's start playing some of our rivals so we can just exactly where we are!)!

 

[bigfoot]

I'll just come out and say it: This team does nothing for me right now. I'm pretty stoked with a 9-2 record and a 6-1 road record, but I've watched four of their games, and the only time I've registered ANY kind of emotion, good or bad, was when Skinner hammered in that three pointer right before the buzzer. It's weird. I've never been like this about ANY sports team. Just too much pressure this year maybe, or maybe I just don't find us all that exciting to watch right now, but there's literally zero emotion coming out of me when I watch these games.

That's not to say I think we've got no shot to win the title, or that I hate DA or anything negative about the team so please don't project that on me. I'm just reallly numb. It's a really weird, weird feeling. Anyone who's read my posts over the years knows that's if you can expect one thing from me, it's gonna be a pretty heated opinion. With this team right now though, I'm just flat.

I guess what I'm saying is wake me for the playoffs (or at least let's start playing some of our rivals so we can just exactly where we are!)!

Here's a suggestion: Take a break. Don't watch any SUNS games until after the All stars.

 

[cly2tw]

The positive in this game: Amare has learnt to be patient on both defense and offense. His block timing has been very good. And he did not jump into the air too early too often which normally got him the foul. Maybe it's because he was not 100% yet, but if he keeps this we will be the favorite for the title this year.

Also, it was visible that his energy was not as high in the second half. Again the positive is that he seemed to adapted his game to his condition and made the best out of it for the win.

The negatives:
1. We still have some problem getting Amare the ball in the post when he gets fronted by smaller players like Garcia (Finley in the playoffs). Part of it is Amare's fault. But the team should practise this very aspect more often, so that we could optimally utilize the only reliable scoring option, Amare, down the game.

2. Pike was a pain to watch. I don't know how he got +5 in the stats but his presence visibly reenergized the beat-down Kings and gave them confidence. Again, we should have played some young legs for pressure defense and get some better fastbreak opportunities. (I guess his main effect is to have other players cover for his slow ass so that they got unnecessarily more tired and became less sharp on offense as the game went on.)

Hill seemed to be tired with the short misses from midrange in the second half. Marion was very good despite only 2pts. Skinner and LB were also very good at defense. They didn't get so many easy layups which we usually allow. And marin was held in check.

 

[Stargazer]

Strange game. Even though it came down to the last shot, I never really felt like the Suns could lose. Both teams were really flat. It used to frustrate me that the Suns could give up such large leads over bad teams out of sheer boredom, but the truth is that's one flaw that will never matter in the playoffs. It's amazing how helpless the Suns can seem when their shooting abandons them, though.

I still don't know what D'Antoni is doing with Pike, though. Even if he had a shot or two (and he was off tonight), it doesn't seem worth it to play him. And like D'Antoni himself says, you already know what you're getting with him, so it's not like you need playing time to evaluate him. If D'Antoni truly thinks that Pike is the 9th man on the bench, then that tells me we'll be sticking with an 8-man rotation anytime the team is healthy.

On the bright side, the way the game ended ought to give the Suns some motivation going into tomorrow's game.

 

[SactownSunsFan]

Marion was very good despite only 2pts.

Funny, because if this were the Playoffs, people would have said this game was one of his biggest disappearing acts. Bottom line- Marion doesn't need to score the ball to have a huge positive impact for our team, yet time and time again he's blamed for our team's shortcomings as opposed to the entire team being held accountable.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Here's a suggestion: Take a break. Don't watch any SUNS games until after the All stars.

unfortunately, I'm just not wired that way.

 

[Stargazer]

I'll just come out and say it: This team does nothing for me right now. I'm pretty stoked with a 9-2 record and a 6-1 road record, but I've watched four of their games, and the only time I've registered ANY kind of emotion, good or bad, was when Skinner hammered in that three pointer right before the buzzer. It's weird. I've never been like this about ANY sports team. Just too much pressure this year maybe, or maybe I just don't find us all that exciting to watch right now, but there's literally zero emotion coming out of me when I watch these games.

That's not to say I think we've got no shot to win the title, or that I hate DA or anything negative about the team so please don't project that on me. I'm just reallly numb. It's a really weird, weird feeling. Anyone who's read my posts over the years knows that's if you can expect one thing from me, it's gonna be a pretty heated opinion. With this team right now though, I'm just flat.

I guess what I'm saying is wake me for the playoffs (or at least let's start playing some of our rivals so we can just exactly where we are!)!

I sort of felt this way tonight as well. I was looking forward to the game all day, but it felt sort of flat. I think it may simply be that the Suns have literally nothing to prove playing poor teams. They should win, and even if they lose, it won't be because of anything the other team does. Sort of gives you some insight into how the players must feel in these games as well, though, and why they might be flat and lose a bit of focus.

 

[SactownSunsFan]

I sort of felt this way tonight as well. I was looking forward to the game all day, but it felt sort of flat. I think it may simply be that the Suns have literally nothing to prove playing poor teams. They should win, and even if they lose, it won't be because of anything the other team does. Sort of gives you some insight into how the players must feel in these games as well, though, and why they might be flat and lose a bit of focus.

It felt flat because the Arco crowd was flat until the 4th. It felt like a preseason game.

 

[BirdMan21]

I'll just come out and say it: This team does nothing for me right now. I'm pretty stoked with a 9-2 record and a 6-1 road record, but I've watched four of their games, and the only time I've registered ANY kind of emotion, good or bad, was when Skinner hammered in that three pointer right before the buzzer. It's weird. I've never been like this about ANY sports team. Just too much pressure this year maybe, or maybe I just don't find us all that exciting to watch right now, but there's literally zero emotion coming out of me when I watch these games.

That's not to say I think we've got no shot to win the title, or that I hate DA or anything negative about the team so please don't project that on me. I'm just reallly numb. It's a really weird, weird feeling. Anyone who's read my posts over the years knows that's if you can expect one thing from me, it's gonna be a pretty heated opinion. With this team right now though, I'm just flat.

I guess what I'm saying is wake me for the playoffs (or at least let's start playing some of our rivals so we can just exactly where we are!)!

I feel the same way Cheese. What I have kinda decided is just that I have gotten so used to us winning 60+ games during the season and it not really leading to anything. So I am just expecting 58+ wins, a top 3 seed and hopefully see some development of a bench along the way. It is weird though, I wonder if this is what Spurs fans feel like during the season (just dont really care cause they know their team will step up in the playoffs). Hopefully this team will start showing a little heart.....but as long as they keep winning, stay healthy, and some how don't have to face both Dallas and San Antonio, I feel pretty good about this teams chances.

 

[TheHopToad]

maybe I just don't find us all that exciting to watch right now, but there's literally zero emotion coming out of me when I watch these games.

Perhaps this is a good thing. Seems like only boring teams have been winning championships lately.

 

[cly2tw]

Funny, because if this were the Playoffs, people would have said this game was one of his biggest disappearing acts. Bottom line- Marion doesn't need to score the ball to have a huge positive impact for our team, yet time and time again he's blamed for our team's shortcomings as opposed to the entire team being held accountable.

The problem with Marion is that he is providing the solid foundation for the team to win but unable to lead the team like, say, Artest if needed. As long as Amare, and to a lesser extent Nash and LB plus Hill and Diaw, could be relied on in those late game situations, it's all fine if Marion just does the little things. But against good game, Amare and Nash might be heavily covered, then people would blame Marion for not taking over like a max player is supposed to. That's not gonna change.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Grant Hill in the post game on FSN:

"Yeah we let them back in the game but SO WHAT?"

He really emphasized the so what. It was kind of shocking because he comes across as such a mellow guy. He then followed with something like:

"We got another road win. Yeah we know we should run it up from the teens to the twenties but we are relaxing in the 4th."

Perhaps cheese is bored because the Suns are bored too. Huge leads are coming so easy right now and that is with a good number of injuries.

 

[jbeecham]

Marion was invisible on offense because he chose to be. He made little to no effort to get involved in plays or to try to get open. The Kings packed the paint and put Artest on Marion and he just disappeared.

I'm just glad he finally switched over to Artest to finish the game because Artest was abusing Hill, Diaw & Skinner when they tried to guard him. Artest & Carmello can just slam into defenders and get the call every time. Marion at least played him tough and made him take contested shots.

 

[mojorizen7]

Marion finished with what?...2 points?
Ahhh...Ron Artest. He'd look good in a SUNS's playoff uniform.
Where have i heard that one before..? Thats right,now i remember.
http://www.arizonasportsfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=100312

 

[mojorizen7]

Sorry, i forgot, Artest doesn't fit the mold

 

[jbeecham]

Artest also threw a tantrum the 1 time he didn't get a call (after getting every call all night) and got a tech. The guy has screws loose and I don't want our team around him when he snaps.

 

[mojorizen7]

Artest also threw a tantrum the 1 time he didn't get a call (after getting every call all night) and got a tech. The guy has screws loose and I don't want our team around him when he snaps.

Sounds alot like Rasheed Wallace. That didn't keep his team from getting a championship.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

Artest also threw a tantrum the 1 time he didn't get a call (after getting every call all night) and got a tech. The guy has screws loose and I don't want our team around him when he snaps.

It was like a toddler temper tantrum. He got the ball stolen, fell down, and started yelling and flailing his arms all over the place, locking up barbosa and stalling him from joining the fast break. Then he looked straight at the ref, still sitting on the floor, and started yelling at him.

Screw is still lose...