Suns have WINNING RECORD over one of the most brutal stretches of games in the NBA.

[se7en]

Has anyone noticed this schedule? This 8 game stretch is unbelievable.

Suns have a won 4 of last 7 games for a winning record over that period.

That may not seam great on the surface.
But consider that 5 of those 7 were on the road.
And 6 of those 7 were against playoff bound teams.
Even more brutal is that there were 3 pairs of back to back games.
4 if you count tonight and tomorrow's games.
That is absolutely a brutal schedule.

This is a fantastic team effort. If they can put up a good fight AT San Antonio tomorrow night (the second of back to back games on the road no less against another playoff bound team) this team should be damn proud of itself.

Even if they lose, going 4-4 is impressive. This 8 game stretch has got to be one of the most difficult of any team in the NBA this year.

4 pairs of back to back games
7 of 8 against playoff bound teams
6 of 8 on the road
8 games in 13 days

WOWZA

After looking at this schedule I can't find any shame in their collapse against Philly. They've got to be exhausted. All I can say is that I'm really excited by the potential of this team right now.

I'm ammending this post after stating that 7 of the 8 teams were playoff bound. Philly is actually a game out of the 8th spot. But still a playoff contender at this point. Oddly enough 2 of those 3 losses were against the Clippers and 76er's. The 2 teams not currently in the playoffs. Of course those games were also on the 2nd night's of back to backs. The stretch is still impressive in my mind. It's difinitely progress. They're beating teams that are fighting for their playoff lives or that are jockying for favorable seeding.

 

[George O'Brien]

Has anyone noticed this schedule? This 8 game stretch is unbelievable.

Suns have a won 4 of last 7 games for a winning record over that period.

That may not seam great on the surface.
But consider that 5 of those 7 were on the road.
And 6 of those 7 were against playoff bound teams.
Even more brutal is that there were 3 pairs of back to back games.
4 if you count tonight and tomorrow's games.
That is absolutely a brutal schedule.

This is a fantastic team effort. If they can put up a good fight AT San Antonio tomorrow night (the second of back to back games on the road no less against another playoff bound team) this team should be damn proud of itself.

Even if they lose, going 4-4 is impressive. This 8 game stretch has got to be one of the most difficult of any team in the NBA this year.

4 pairs of back to back games
7 of 8 against playoff bound teams
6 of 8 on the road
8 games in 13 days

WOWZA

After looking at this schedule I can't find any shame in their collapse against Philly. They've got to be exhausted. All I can say is that I'm really excited by the potential of this team right now.

I'm ammending this post after stating that 7 of the 8 teams were playoff bound. Philly is actually a game out of the 8th spot. But still a playoff contender at this point. Oddly enough 2 of those 3 losses were against the Clippers and 76er's. The 2 teams not currently in the playoffs. Of course those games were also on the 2nd night's of back to backs. The stretch is still impressive in my mind. It's difinitely progress. They're beating teams that are fighting for their playoff lives or that are jockying for favorable seeding.

The only fly in the ointment is that many of those wins were against Eastern Conference teams. New Orleans is 4th in the East but would not even be in the playoffs if they were in the West. This is in spite of playing more games against other Eastern teams.

None the less, the Suns are certainly playing much better than before and the sudden emergence of Dice as solid player has been a huge boost.

BTW, the way the refs called the Sixer game hurt the Suns performance. The Sixer defenders got away with murder and the Suns were unable to score when being fouled.

 

[Joe Mama]

And, as I just pointed out in another thread, several of these victories have an against opponents without their best players or key players. I find it hard to get excited about yesterday's victory considering New Orleans was without Jamaal Mashburn and Baron Davis. They were also beaten by Atlanta night before. Still not was a close game for the Suns in the fourth quarter.

Late yesterday afternoon I watched the fourth quarter of the Philadelphia game again. Those referees really were just awful. About half way to the quarter there was a bad stretch of calls where I couldn't believe D'Antoni didn't get tossed. To be fair, the Phoenix Suns also had a couple of charging calls go their way that were kind of questionable. It was also clear that the Suns were exhausted in the fourth quarter.

Joe Mama

 

[George O'Brien]

And, as I just pointed out in another thread, several of these victories have an against opponents without their best players or key players. I find it hard to get excited about yesterday's victory considering New Orleans was without Jamaal Mashburn and Baron Davis. They were also beaten by Atlanta night before. Still not was a close game for the Suns in the fourth quarter.

Late yesterday afternoon I watched the fourth quarter of the Philadelphia game again. Those referees really were just awful. About half way to the quarter there was a bad stretch of calls where I couldn't believe D'Antoni didn't get tossed. To be fair, the Phoenix Suns also had a couple of charging calls go their way that were kind of questionable. It was also clear that the Suns were exhausted in the fourth quarter.

Joe Mama

D'Antoni played the Big Three a lot in the Cleveland game which made it hard for them on the second of back to backs.

As for the officiating, it wasn't specific calls that got me but the way they let the Sixers be consistently over physical. The Suns are just not good enough to score when being fouled all the time, especially when tired.