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Early Charge Needed to Ignite Suns Engines
By Steven Koek, Suns.com
Posted: Feb. 10, 2004
With the Suns in desperate need of a set of jumper cables to spark a rare first quarter charge, one of the league’s best leapers is coming to America West Arena intent on keeping them in their recent early-game stall.
When Phoenix hosts Vince Carter and the Raptors tonight before a national television audience (8 p.m., FSN/TNT), they will be trying to snap a three-game losing streak and steer into the All-Star break after Wednesday night’s game at Golden State in a forward motion.
After a four-game winning streak in mid-January that saw the emergence of Joe Johnson as a consistent scorer and floor leader, the club has lost nine of their last 11, seven of those by five points or less, while dealing with the absence and return of Amaré Stoudemire.
With Stoudemire back from a second stretch of games on the shelf this season nursing ankle and toe injuries, the team has had to readjust to his presence in the middle after getting used to a smaller lineup that had Shawn Marion at the power forward position and Casey Jacobsen at the three spot.
“With a new guy in the lineup and a guy as important as Amaré, the ball goes different places that it didn’t go before,” said Head Coach Mike D’Antoni. “(Without Stoudemire), we didn’t even look in there and now we’re really looking and throwing it in there. We got comfortable and we played well differently, and now we’ve got to switch gears again and get the ball into him and play inside-out, which is where we need to play if we’re going to be a good team.”
Based on his record-tying 10-block, 20-point performance against Utah on Saturday night, the second-year forward appears to be back at 100 percent, and believes that to overcome their recent struggles, it is imperative that he and his teammates play hard from the opening tip.
“We’ve just got to start out strong, that’s the only correction we need to make,” he said. “We just have to come out and play hard from the jump. It’s mental. You’ve got to be able to focus in the first couple of minutes of the game. I’m pretty sure (tonight) we’re going to start off strong and finish strong.”
Joe Johnson, who has played at an All-Star level since the Jan. 5 trade that sent Stephon Marbury and Penny Hardaway to New York, thinks the youngest team in the league is starting to realize that if they take anything for granted at this level, they are in for a rough night.
“I don’t feel like we’ve started the games whole,” Johnson said. "We try to wait until the fourth quarter and a lot of times it’s too late. We’ve got to start off the game hungry and we know they’re going to come in with a dog fight. We’ve got to come out and we’ve got to be prepared.”
With the Suns’ last two games before the midseason break against sub-.500 teams, nothing would please them more than ending the first half of this season of change with a couple of victories to alter their recent misfortunes. However, with losses to Utah, Portland and Washington over the past couple of weeks, and Phoenix still in the Western Conference basement, no team can be overlooked.
“We’ve got to stop playing to our opponent’s level and play to our level,” said team captain Shawn Marion. “That’s our biggest thing as a young team. Regardless of how they’re playing, we’ve just got to play our level of play, which is pushing the ball, trapping and creating a fast break game.”
The level of play will have to be shifted to a higher gear tonight when the purple and orange gang take on Toronto and the high-flying Carter. The Suns realize that keeping the top vote getter in this year’s All-Star Game grounded is key to putting the brakes on their skid.
“You know Vince,” Stoudemire said. “He’s probably the highest jumper in the league right now. We’re going to do a great job on defense and not let him get in the air.”
Early Charge Needed to Ignite Suns Engines
By Steven Koek, Suns.com
Posted: Feb. 10, 2004
With the Suns in desperate need of a set of jumper cables to spark a rare first quarter charge, one of the league’s best leapers is coming to America West Arena intent on keeping them in their recent early-game stall.
When Phoenix hosts Vince Carter and the Raptors tonight before a national television audience (8 p.m., FSN/TNT), they will be trying to snap a three-game losing streak and steer into the All-Star break after Wednesday night’s game at Golden State in a forward motion.
After a four-game winning streak in mid-January that saw the emergence of Joe Johnson as a consistent scorer and floor leader, the club has lost nine of their last 11, seven of those by five points or less, while dealing with the absence and return of Amaré Stoudemire.
With Stoudemire back from a second stretch of games on the shelf this season nursing ankle and toe injuries, the team has had to readjust to his presence in the middle after getting used to a smaller lineup that had Shawn Marion at the power forward position and Casey Jacobsen at the three spot.
“With a new guy in the lineup and a guy as important as Amaré, the ball goes different places that it didn’t go before,” said Head Coach Mike D’Antoni. “(Without Stoudemire), we didn’t even look in there and now we’re really looking and throwing it in there. We got comfortable and we played well differently, and now we’ve got to switch gears again and get the ball into him and play inside-out, which is where we need to play if we’re going to be a good team.”
Based on his record-tying 10-block, 20-point performance against Utah on Saturday night, the second-year forward appears to be back at 100 percent, and believes that to overcome their recent struggles, it is imperative that he and his teammates play hard from the opening tip.
“We’ve just got to start out strong, that’s the only correction we need to make,” he said. “We just have to come out and play hard from the jump. It’s mental. You’ve got to be able to focus in the first couple of minutes of the game. I’m pretty sure (tonight) we’re going to start off strong and finish strong.”
Joe Johnson, who has played at an All-Star level since the Jan. 5 trade that sent Stephon Marbury and Penny Hardaway to New York, thinks the youngest team in the league is starting to realize that if they take anything for granted at this level, they are in for a rough night.
“I don’t feel like we’ve started the games whole,” Johnson said. "We try to wait until the fourth quarter and a lot of times it’s too late. We’ve got to start off the game hungry and we know they’re going to come in with a dog fight. We’ve got to come out and we’ve got to be prepared.”
With the Suns’ last two games before the midseason break against sub-.500 teams, nothing would please them more than ending the first half of this season of change with a couple of victories to alter their recent misfortunes. However, with losses to Utah, Portland and Washington over the past couple of weeks, and Phoenix still in the Western Conference basement, no team can be overlooked.
“We’ve got to stop playing to our opponent’s level and play to our level,” said team captain Shawn Marion. “That’s our biggest thing as a young team. Regardless of how they’re playing, we’ve just got to play our level of play, which is pushing the ball, trapping and creating a fast break game.”
The level of play will have to be shifted to a higher gear tonight when the purple and orange gang take on Toronto and the high-flying Carter. The Suns realize that keeping the top vote getter in this year’s All-Star Game grounded is key to putting the brakes on their skid.
“You know Vince,” Stoudemire said. “He’s probably the highest jumper in the league right now. We’re going to do a great job on defense and not let him get in the air.”
