Suns at Magic Game Thread

[Stargazer]

Why the hate on Hill? 14 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block and 1 steal, and the highest plus/minus of anyone on the team tonight. That's more than solid play. So he took 8 threes in a blowout game -- good, I say, keep shooting 'em. He was 2 of 8 from behind the line. If he makes one more of those, he's shooting 38%. People keep riding on D'Antoni for supposedly going all out to win every night without building for the future, but then when he really does sacrifice some offense now to build for the future -- by having Hill work on his 3's -- suddenly nobody likes it. I'd love to see Hill turn into a major 3-point threat in the Spring just to prove all the doubters wrong.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Why the hate on Hill? 14 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block and 1 steal, and the highest plus/minus of anyone on the team tonight. That's more than solid play. So he took 8 threes in a blowout game -- good, I say, keep shooting 'em. He was 2 of 8 from behind the line. If he makes one more of those, he's shooting 38%. People keep riding on D'Antoni for supposedly going all out to win every night without building for the future, but then when he really does sacrifice some offense now to build for the future -- by having Hill work on his 3's -- suddenly nobody likes it. I'd love to see Hill turn into a major 3-point threat in the Spring just to prove all the doubters wrong.

who's hating on Hill? I know at least as far as I'm concerned my issue is with DA who's trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. I think Hill's skills could be put to BETTER use. As much as I'd love to see turn into a major 3-point threat, I think that's a lot to ask of a 35-year old guy who's never shot threes in his life and has SERIOUS skills going to the hole and hitting the midrange shot. Just because you shoot a lot of threes doesn't necessarily mean you're going to become a better three point shooter. Some people are just better than others and I think that after playing ball a certain way for 20 some odd years, it's a difficult adjustment to make for a guy like Hill... or anyone else put in that position.

 

[Mainstreet]

i was just watching the gamecast, rashard lewis was realllllly struggling! was he shooting that poorly by himself or being guarded well?

IMO, Rashard was just being his over-rated self. Marion is so much better in all facets of the game except 3 point shooting. I still can't figure out how Rashard got that mega contract. I can understand the Magic building their team around Howard, but Rashard.... I can't see it.

 

[mribnik]

I have to say that I've been pleasantly surprised by Hill's defense so far this season. The team needs to make better use of his offensive skills but his defense has been pretty good.

 

[Rab]

Hill has played well enough, but he's certainly not being utilized properly IMO. If he takes 2 threes in a game, that should be enough. We've rarely seen his mid-range game, and slashing, and when we do, the result is usually good. Get him off the 3 point line, I don't care how open he is.

Enough of that.

Props to LB tonight. He more than made up for the absence of Raja. The Magic backcourt had no idea what to do with him from minute 1. Marion had a solid defensive effort, Nash was Nash, and I thought Amare looked much better tonight. Not anywhere close to where he needs to get, but I was encouraged with how he was moving. The block he made on Dwight was pretty sweet, and athletic to boot. He'll make it back if his knee holds up. He defense was again awful, however. I'm afraid we'll just have to live with that.

Talk about a Jekyl and Hide team. One night they look great, and the next they look awful, or vice versa. Hopefully they can build on this win and Amare will continue to get better.

 

[Mainstreet]

I think someone already said it. LB should be the starting SG and Raja should be brought off the bench. Raja might even play better in this capacity.

 

[Rab]

I think someone already said it. LB should be the staring SG and Raja should be brought off the bench. Raja might even play better in this capacity.

I don't know about that. We'll be worse defensively, and I like LB playing against the other team's second units.

 

[arwillan]

I don't know about that. We'll be worse defensively, and I like LB playing against the other team's second units.

absolutely. it's hard to bring your best defensive player off of the bench, especially when he's a guard in today's league. you dont want LB guarding koby and tmac and the likes at all, but you wouldnt mind so much if he had to guard the other teams' second unit SG. it's also much easier for him to score when he's in the second unit and doesn't have to worry so much about getting team mates involved.

 

[Mainstreet]

I don't know about that. We'll be worse defensively, and I like LB playing against the other team's second units.

I guess it's how one looks at it. My thought process was that LB just has too much talent to be coming off the bench and he can give the Suns a faster start at the beginning of games which they need to set tempo.

Raja used to be a nice defensive player and he might be even be more effective after watching the game for a few minutes. It also might take the pressure off him to produce at the beginning of games.

 

[dodie53]

LB is ok off the bench

 

[krispydude]

nice dominate win. but whats the deal with these stupid fouls on amare. he's not even allowed to play defense. plus the poor guy is taking elbow after elbow and still gets called for the foul. maybe amare should just drop to the ground after each elbow to get a damn call.

 

[jandaman]

I've always liked Hill's defense since he came here, he is very smart in both ends as expected.


The problem is, he is 35 years old with several ankle surgeries in the past, the general concensus is he might get injured, hence my stance against D'antoni using him for 35+ minutes a night.


Dwight destroyed the Suns interior tonight... and if it wasnt for Barbosa' 39 point, career high... who knows how close this game could be... Barbosa wont hit 8 3pt a night....

But good to see Amare playing "okay".

Nash back to his play making self...

And definitely a "NO" to Barbosa starting..... that basically removes one of the key Suns advantage.

 

[simply_amare]

I agree, Amare needs to drop an elbow or two to make it worth the stupid calls. It's ridiculous that he also gets called on touch fouls.

 

[simply_amare]

The game plan was to let Howard score but stop the magic perimeter players. And it worked like a charm. So, I don't think Dwight destroyed the Suns interior. It was by design.

 

[AnonymouslyKnown]

I noticed that Amare isn't allowed to play D. If Howard shot Amare with a gun, Amare would go to jail for murder.

 

[jbeecham]

I noticed that Amare isn't allowed to play D. If Howard shot Amare with a gun, Amare would go to jail for murder.

I don't know if he'd go to jail, but he'd definitely get called for the foul for getting in the way of Dwight Howard's bullet.

 

[dodie53]

I noticed that Amare isn't allowed to play D. If Howard shot Amare with a gun, Amare would go to jail for murder.

amare would die.

 

[cly2tw]

LB seems to have improved on D. So far into the season, I haven't seen him burned as badly as he was. He also is finding his midrange game, a very good sign. With him starting, we have a better chance to rest Nash more with leads built up early. Then again, I didn't understand why DA re-incerted Nash so early to start the 4th quarter with about 20 pts lead in hand.

 

[jandaman]

The game plan was to let Howard score but stop the magic perimeter players. And it worked like a charm. So, I don't think Dwight destroyed the Suns interior. It was by design.

I dont think they want Dwight scoring 30 and grabbing 18... No one does.

They allowed Dwight to take shots is one thing, but letting him to dunk it is suicide...

But I know what you mean... let Dwight take shot away from Hedo, Rashard etc.... Still they should be letting him shoot it over them, bot dunk it...

 

[Louis]

I'm just happy that the Suns are finally deep this year.

I mean a starter goes down and the bench fills in nicely.

Those 24 minutes from Banks/Strawberry/Skinner were great contributions. Thankfully only 5 guys exceeded 30 minutes of play tonight.

Sean Marks must be a secret weapon. Whatever happened to all the talk about his earning minutes?

 

[Chris_Sanders]

I'm just happy that the Suns are finally deep this year.

I mean a starter goes down and the bench fills in nicely.

Those 24 minutes from Banks/Strawberry/Skinner were great contributions. Thankfully only 5 guys exceeded 30 minutes of play tonight.

Sean Marks must be a secret weapon. Whatever happened to all the talk about his earning minutes?

He got hurt like two games ago.

 

[Delmon Young]

Amare flopped all over against Dwight last year in Orlando and got Howard to foul out in 17 minutes, so let's not act like Amare doesn't get any calls.

 

[bigfoot]

Suns looks sharp tonight.

Great, the one game I missed is the one they played well in.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

who's hating on Hill? I know at least as far as I'm concerned my issue is with DA who's trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. I think Hill's skills could be put to BETTER use. As much as I'd love to see turn into a major 3-point threat, I think that's a lot to ask of a 35-year old guy who's never shot threes in his life and has SERIOUS skills going to the hole and hitting the midrange shot. Just because you shoot a lot of threes doesn't necessarily mean you're going to become a better three point shooter. Some people are just better than others and I think that after playing ball a certain way for 20 some odd years, it's a difficult adjustment to make for a guy like Hill... or anyone else put in that position.

Here is the situation with Grant Hill's three point shooting - it's funny because this is the biggest crisis in NBA history all of a sudden - and why we shouldn't worry.

The SF in this offense being able to take and make a 3 is what really puts this offense to another level. Notice why DA likes to go small and put Marion at the 4 - he likes to have his 1 -3 guys be able to drain the Whata -shot.

So with Grant hill they want him to develop that at the beginning of the season when everyone is rounding into form as it will make our offense that much better. And for everyone killing DA for it - it is absolutly the right coaching move to make.

Hill had a telling comment yesterday on the Orlando telecast after the game. Matt Goukas came up to him and said "Its obvious you are not comfortable shooting the three - are you going to sit down coach and tell him you want to go back out to slashing and midrange shooting?" Hill just looked at him like "WTF?" and said "No - I am going to keep shooting them. I was making them at a 50% clip in the preseason. This coaching staff is different in that they see the big picture and want me to be knocking these shots down in May and April. And I will. A couple guys on the team, especially Raja, said when they first joined the team that couldn't hit a three all of Novemeber as they were getting used to the spacing and getting their legs under them. My shot will come. "

First of all I love Grant Hill for loving this team as much as he does. Over and over again he talked about how he has never been on a team this close and how great the coaching staff is for him and his career. Second of all he is right. its not like he isn't a dang good shooter already and he has the range. Once he gets his legs and spacing down I think his 3 point shooting will win us 4 -5 games down the stretch. And if its still not working at that point - I think they will have him go back to his slashing/mid range game exclusively.

Either that or DA will make him a '4'

 

[cly2tw]

So with Grant hill they want him to develop that at the beginning of the season when everyone is rounding into form as it will make our offense that much better. And for everyone killing DA for it - it is absolutly the right coaching move to make.


First of all I love Grant Hill for loving this team as much as he does. Over and over again he talked about how he has never been on a team this close and how great the coaching staff is for him and his career. Second of all he is right. its not like he isn't a dang good shooter already and he has the range. Once he gets his legs and spacing down I think his 3 point shooting will win us 4 -5 games down the stretch. And if its still not working at that point - I think they will have him go back to his slashing/mid range game exclusively.

Either that or DA will make him a '4'

There are two sides to the coin. We all want Hill to develop his 3pt shooting rather early in the season. On the other hand, it's also DA's obsession to win every regular season, which explains why he goes to the 8th man in the rotation for only 10 min or so. Hill also has to integrate his midrange game into the Suns team anyway. It's not like everyone else knows how to best play with him handling the ball around the midrange area. So, optimal should be that Hill shoot say only half of the 3pt attempts and do some more midrange games for now and slowly increase his 3pt attempts over the season.