azdad1978
Championship!!!!
By Mike Tulumello, Tribune
Meet the Maytag repairmen of the NBA: The bench players for the Suns.
They don't play a whole lot, and they surely don't score regularly.
With the league's highest scoring starting unit — by far — playing between 34 and 39 minutes a game and scoring a combined 90 points, there's not a lot of demand for bench production.
The way coach Mike D'Antoni figures it, if his team is averaging nearly 110 points a game, most in the NBA in 10 years, "It doesn't matter who's scoring."
Take that huge win Friday night in Seattle. The Suns were outscored on the bench, 27-7.
Yet they still eked out their season's biggest win, 112-110. That's pretty much the way things are going for the Suns, who — at 21-3 — have gotten off to one of the best starts ever in the NBA.
"My gosh, we have five starters averaging nearly 20 points," D'Antoni pointed out. "There's not much time" for reserves. "But they're doing a good job."
The player who seems to have thrived most in these uncertain conditions is center Steven Hunter.
Whether he plays 10 or 20 minutes, he's been consistently effective by giving the Suns shot-blocking and a much-needed defensive presence. Sometimes, he even breaks through at the offensive end, as in his 17-point game Saturday against Washington, which tied his career high.
Moreover, he's unusually quick down the floor for a big man, so the Suns' vaunted running game doesn't suffer when he plays.
"If I play a lot of minutes one night and not the next, it doesn't matter as long as we're getting the win," Hunter said.
"The big picture is the win."
The biggest factor, he said, is that, "We have good chemistry. Everybody likes each other." Like many stellar reserves, Hunter views his role as providing energy.
"The less I play, the more energy I should have," he reasons. "I'm comfortable with my role."
A player who has been affected a great deal by the starters' exploits is Casey Jacobsen. He's regarded as the designated shooter off the bench.
But shooters need time to get in a rhythm. And that's not happening.
Besides, even when he gets extended minutes, a couple of those starters are still in the game putting up shots.
Said D'Antoni, "Sometimes they don't score, because if Amare (Stoudemire) is out there, we're going to him. Jacobsen has only shot 24 times in the past 156 minutes (the rough equivalent of three full games).
He took only one shot in 14 minutes vs. the SuperSonics, yet it was a big one. He nailed a 3-pointer, part of the Suns’ comeback from a 16-point deficit.
"It does take a different mental approach," he said.
In his first two NBA seasons, "I played less, but I got more shots" playing behind a more ordinary starting unit.
"My role is less about shooting (now) and more about playing defense, being a solid role player who makes good choices."
In certain games, such as when a starter is in foul trouble, reserves will be called on to score, he pointed out.
But that's more the exception that proves the rule.
"Would I like to shoot more? Yes, but right now, we don't need that," said Jacobsen.
The other two players who get in games regularly are point guard Leandro Barbosa, who struggled for a couple of weeks but has played well lately, and Bo Outlaw, the old pro who gets a few minutes here and there.
To hear Outlaw tell it, his irregular appearances don't bother him a bit.
"I know how to play," he said. So do the Suns as a whole, including a reserve corps with a downsized role.
"I don't find anything wrong with it," D'Antoni said.
As long as his team can boast the NBA's best record, neither will anybody else.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=33422
Meet the Maytag repairmen of the NBA: The bench players for the Suns.
They don't play a whole lot, and they surely don't score regularly.
With the league's highest scoring starting unit — by far — playing between 34 and 39 minutes a game and scoring a combined 90 points, there's not a lot of demand for bench production.
The way coach Mike D'Antoni figures it, if his team is averaging nearly 110 points a game, most in the NBA in 10 years, "It doesn't matter who's scoring."
Take that huge win Friday night in Seattle. The Suns were outscored on the bench, 27-7.
Yet they still eked out their season's biggest win, 112-110. That's pretty much the way things are going for the Suns, who — at 21-3 — have gotten off to one of the best starts ever in the NBA.
"My gosh, we have five starters averaging nearly 20 points," D'Antoni pointed out. "There's not much time" for reserves. "But they're doing a good job."
The player who seems to have thrived most in these uncertain conditions is center Steven Hunter.
Whether he plays 10 or 20 minutes, he's been consistently effective by giving the Suns shot-blocking and a much-needed defensive presence. Sometimes, he even breaks through at the offensive end, as in his 17-point game Saturday against Washington, which tied his career high.
Moreover, he's unusually quick down the floor for a big man, so the Suns' vaunted running game doesn't suffer when he plays.
"If I play a lot of minutes one night and not the next, it doesn't matter as long as we're getting the win," Hunter said.
"The big picture is the win."
The biggest factor, he said, is that, "We have good chemistry. Everybody likes each other." Like many stellar reserves, Hunter views his role as providing energy.
"The less I play, the more energy I should have," he reasons. "I'm comfortable with my role."
A player who has been affected a great deal by the starters' exploits is Casey Jacobsen. He's regarded as the designated shooter off the bench.
But shooters need time to get in a rhythm. And that's not happening.
Besides, even when he gets extended minutes, a couple of those starters are still in the game putting up shots.
Said D'Antoni, "Sometimes they don't score, because if Amare (Stoudemire) is out there, we're going to him. Jacobsen has only shot 24 times in the past 156 minutes (the rough equivalent of three full games).
He took only one shot in 14 minutes vs. the SuperSonics, yet it was a big one. He nailed a 3-pointer, part of the Suns’ comeback from a 16-point deficit.
"It does take a different mental approach," he said.
In his first two NBA seasons, "I played less, but I got more shots" playing behind a more ordinary starting unit.
"My role is less about shooting (now) and more about playing defense, being a solid role player who makes good choices."
In certain games, such as when a starter is in foul trouble, reserves will be called on to score, he pointed out.
But that's more the exception that proves the rule.
"Would I like to shoot more? Yes, but right now, we don't need that," said Jacobsen.
The other two players who get in games regularly are point guard Leandro Barbosa, who struggled for a couple of weeks but has played well lately, and Bo Outlaw, the old pro who gets a few minutes here and there.
To hear Outlaw tell it, his irregular appearances don't bother him a bit.
"I know how to play," he said. So do the Suns as a whole, including a reserve corps with a downsized role.
"I don't find anything wrong with it," D'Antoni said.
As long as his team can boast the NBA's best record, neither will anybody else.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=33422
I didn't know I was supposed to be part of the team 
