Suns @ Hornets Game Thread

[dodie53]

is the game worth watching on replay later even though we lost?

 

[LavaLamp2]

Wow I am Mr Negative Nancy on the Suns and they impressed me more in defeat today then they did in victory yesterday.

What impressed you about the Suns tonight?

For me, it was how they relied on defense and a patient offense to close that gap with NOH to 3 points. I think Nash wasn't even on the floor during that run.

 

[Chaplin]

In the Spurs game, we might not have been great, but we were solid the entire game. In this game, we were pretty bad in the first half but much better in the 2nd half. Who knows how the game would have gone if we would have had a better start in the 1st quarter?

 

[Muggum]

I am licking my chops for the statistic I'm waiting for: that we're no better on defense than last year. (using opp FG% as the yard stick) That will make me cackle at Kerr/Sarver/Porter.

 

[bigfoot]

What do you guys think is a realistic time frame for this team to really come together? I mean how long before we really know what we got?

 

[carey]

I am licking my chops for the statistic I'm waiting for: that we're no better on defense than last year. (using opp FG% as the yard stick) That will make me cackle at Kerr/Sarver/Porter.

We're two games in. Simmer down.

 

[Bayless2Budinger]

Nash is ****ing worthless. Against star point guards we need to bench him. I dont care for what he does on offense b/c everything is voided by his lack of defense. The Suns were scrambling all night to make up for the fact that it was 5 on 4 out there.

Diaw/Hill/Amare have all been playing good defense. Shaq can body up a guy but he still cant move. Hes pretty much out there to get rebounds and score the occasional basket.

In this system Amare should be given more shot opps but that hasnt been the case so far. Yes he got 16 shots off but he should have got more and if he did you would see him going to the foul line more too.

 

[mojorizen7]

Just got home from the game & walked away thinking........

13-24 on 3's for New Orleans. Good lord.

In the 1st half Referee Ken Mauer i think his name is was calling a completely corrup... different game than the other two zebras were. He was capital A Awful!
How many three's did NO hit in a row late in the 4th? Four? Five?
Unfrickenbelievable.
R. Lopez? LOL What a joke.
Nash was trying to make passes in close traffic even he couldn't make 3 yrs ago.
Liked Dragic's effort in the 2nd half.
It was nice to see Bell make a shot this year.
Defense was sporadic...Amare's rotations were *****.
Tough night.
All i can say again is that for some reason visiting teams get off the plane at sky harbor and come into that building(since it opened in '92) and the basket gets (T H I S----------------------------- B I G)
It's disgusting. Give me the SUNS on the road any day of the week.
Had fun though. Seats were good,pics weren't...sorry.
Was a little dissappointed in how many fans left w/2:00 to go only down 9.......but then again the Hornets couldn't miss all night long

 

[mojorizen7]

In this system Amare should be given more shot opps but that hasnt been the case so far. Yes he got 16 shots off but he should have got more and if he did you would see him going to the foul line more too.

Totally agree,as well as getting Shaq a couple more opportunities.
Too much dribbling around tonight and the screens were not well executed either.

 

[mojorizen7]

Most of my pics were junk but i tried to fix up a couple. Still just too far away without a monster zoom and a higher quality camera.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[Chris_Sanders]

What impressed you about the Suns tonight?

For me, it was how they relied on defense and a patient offense to close that gap with NOH to 3 points. I think Nash wasn't even on the floor during that run.

Pretty much this was it. Typically Nash sits and extended period of time and everything goes to crap. It was what happened in the first half. The lineup of Amare, Diaw, Hill, Barbosa, and Dragic played very well defensively (especially Hill and Dragic).

Seeing a SERIES of stops was a breath of fresh air.

 

[AfroSuns]

What do you guys think is a realistic time frame for this team to really come together? I mean how long before we really know what we got?

Who knows? but i wouldn't bag on them till after the all-star game, rookies like Dragic and Robin have to develop more confident, especially Dragic who came from Europe. Although i have to say a stat of 0 rebound 1 turnover for Robin and 0 Assist and 2 turnover for Dragic is HORRID!!.

I didn't get to see the game (currently out of the country) so i cant comment on it, but i am not too surprised that we got beat, i was only hoping we will be able to pull it off. NO owned us last season, yes, some of the games were close but a season sweep is equivalent to being owned and the main reason is in David West comments "C.P. and our guards have an advantage over their guards with their speed and ability to get up and down the floor". That statement should be painted on Nash, Barbosa and Bell's locker. After watching one of his idols on tape numerous times, CP knows Nash, heck last season i thought the dude was psychic because he seemed to know what Nash will do even before he does it. Nash needs to be smart and switch it up with Paul or he will always lose that matchup.
Hopefully Porter and his team will learn from this game.

 

[dodie53]

Nash is ****ing worthless.

 

[Ninjafish]

This team still does not have a backup PG and Nash is showing signs of age...

Dragic is tragic... so far has not shown anything to be excited about.

Here's an interesting note about last night's game. Dragic was the only player on our team with a positive +/- number. He had +2. Nash had -15.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

I hate the crowd in USAC. Why are they always so quiet? Even when the game started, they didn't make any noise. Does anybody else find it strange that we have one of the quietest arenas in the entire league?

The crowd wasn't loud, but they were emotional. They were on the refs case the entire time. They boo'd them coming out from halftime, on bad calls, etc. The crowd was pretty good for a USAC crowd..... really.

Brian McKnight performing at halftime and the national anthem was a treat. Those suite level tickets center court were awesome too. Thanks Adam.

Here's an interesting note about last night's game. Dragic was the only player on our team with a positive +/- number. He had +2. Nash had -15.

I thought he played a solid game. The combination of Peja and West killed us, like they do every time we play them.

 

[cly2tw]

T

I thought he played a solid game. The combination of Peja and West killed us, like they do every time we play them.

I beg to differ. The only reason we got killed was Paul. Everyone else just got incredible space for their shots and manuver following Paul picking our defense apart, aside from a stretch in the 4th when Dragic neutralized him and got us within 3-5.

 

[nashman]

Peja and Paul both of those guys need to hit the floor with some hard fouls. When someone is lighting you up like Peja does hit him a few times then it means alot more when you jump and put a hand in their face, you have to do something to break their rythm. All in all we started bad and still made a game of it, not bad.

 

[Mulli]

Anyone see Shaq push H Armstroing into Nash with two hands? Foul on Armstrong.

That was classic.

 

[nowagimp]

The hornets have some excellent perimeter shooters and with west and paul working in the lane area, they are very balanced. The suns are a weak perimeter team, the hornets collapsed onto the lane, making it very difficult to get the ball down into the post. The suns just dont have balance offensively. And by the way paul ate up barnes who was guarding him most of the 1st half. Only when paul had no rest and dragic hustled did he slow down. In the 1st half paul ate up dragic as well. Bottom line all you guys want to dump the ball down low havent figured that alot of the TO's were committed tying to do just that. the hornets collapsed the defense, disrespecting the suns perimeter game.

 

[Skkorpion]

Here's an interesting note about last night's game. Dragic was the only player on our team with a positive +/- number. He had +2. Nash had -15.

Against top point guards like Parker and Paul, Steve Nash's utter defensive incompetence will always undermine our team defense. That's a given. Not much we can do about it.

From the first two games, it looks like the overall upside of the team is good, so the Nash thing might not be a killer weakness.

 

[nowagimp]

I beg to differ. The only reason we got killed was Paul. Everyone else just got incredible space for their shots and manuver following Paul picking our defense apart, aside from a stretch in the 4th when Dragic neutralized him and got us within 3-5.

paul played 40mins weds against the warriors and then 30 mins without a rest against the suns the next night. At that time, dragic "neutralized" him and scott sat him down for a break. In the first half, dragic did not do well against paul, maybe being tired in the second half had something to do with him being "neutralized".

 

[cly2tw]

paul played 40mins weds against the warriors and then 30 mins without a rest against the suns the next night. At that time, dragic "neutralized" him and scott sat him down for a break. In the first half, dragic did not do well against paul, maybe being tired in the second half had something to do with him being "neutralized".

You can't deny the fact that anytime Nash faces Paul, we lose, and in an embarrassing way. At that point, Dragic with his luck presented a better odd to get the better of a winded Paul-led NOH team. With Nash inserted back into it, that's sure recipe for humiliation #5 in sequel.

And, Dragic played James who subbed in for Paul equally well. And he proved his smart by stripping the ball off West when he surprised the latter by not following his guy on the baseline, for a turnover. This all suggests that he is good for his own right, at least much better a defender on Paul than Nash. With Nash's turnovers then, Paul's use proved to be overwhelming on both ends of the court, which finally did us in, as in previous 4 games. Confidence is all what this guy needs to be of great value to us.

 

[nowagimp]

You can't deny the fact that anytime Nash faces Paul, we lose, and in an embarrassing way. At that point, Dragic with his luck presented a better odd to get the better of a winded Paul-led NOH team. With Nash inserted back into it, that's sure recipe for humiliation #5 in sequel.

And, Dragic played James who subbed in for Paul equally well. And he proved his smart by stripping the ball off West when he surprised the latter by not following his guy on the baseline, for a turnover. This all suggests that he is good for his own right, at least much better a defender on Paul than Nash. With Nash's turnovers then, Paul's use proved to be overwhelming on both ends of the court, which finally did us in, as in previous 4 games. Confidence is all what this guy needs to be of great value to us.

Most of the game it was Barnes or dragic guarding paul and even then the suns were burned when help came, CP3 just dished to the shooters. Nash cannot defend CP3, but neither can any other sun IMO. I'd be happy if hill or barnes could guard peja or west on a switch, but thats apparently also a NO! Bottom line the hornets drilling all those 3 pters made the difference and that happened because the suns doubled CP3 no matter who the on ball defender was. It was also apparent during the spurs game that no sun could guard tony parker either(32 points). Mostly parker singed dragic, barnes, hill, and nash.

 

[Skumbag]

Nash should sit out games vs TP, CP3, & Baron the Beard... Period.

 

[Mulli]

Nash should sit out games vs TP, CP3, & Baron the Beard... Period.

that would be sad.