Suns @ Lakers Game Thread

[Brian in Mesa]

Nash 12 pts 17 ast 6 reb.

My fantasy league point guard (auto-draft).

 

[playstation]

basic observations:

-we are deep...and we are STILL fun.

-jones & bell, while being good shooters, don't seem to like taking too many shots. i don't know if that's good or bad yet.

-this is a passing team. 35 assists is insanity. nash obviously is part of that, but not all of it. we have a very unselfish group of guys. midway through the second qtr, we had 48 pts and our leading scorer had 6, now that's balance!

-if nash is not on the floor, diaw MUST be in the game. Barbosa is still not a highly dependable ball handler, and still drives to the hoop with his head down. i don't understand why coach doesn't see this.

-we can play defense, and we got serious fight on the rebounding side, but we're just not big enough. if amare comes back like amare, this team will compete for a title.

-i'm reminded more and more of the kings when cwebb went down. we basically shoot lights out, have some creators, have a pick-n-pop center. before i was hoping we'd hold down the fort through the all-star break, now i'm sure of it.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Diaw has a lot of potential. I am starting to see why the Suns went after him.

Hopefully our coaches can work the same miracle with him that they did with Joe Johnson.

 

[Chaz]

Diaw has a lot of potential. I am starting to see why the Suns went after him.

Hopefully our coaches can work the same miracle with him that they did with Joe Johnson.

I don't think he will never be Johnson from the outside. That is JRs job.


He may work those floaters though.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

I don't think he will never be Johnson from the outside. That is JRs job.


He may work those floaters though.

I will settle to see his game evolve like Grant Hill's...he has Hill's handle...but nowhere near his smooth shot.

LOL settle to be like Grant Hill. I am a homer.

 

[Chaz]

...he has Hill's handle...but nowhere near his smooth shot.

I like Diaw's outlet passes and the high post.

I noticed how for a while he played that point center spot Amare was supposed to play this year.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

Diaw reminds me of D Manning.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

I think Nash tears the Lakers apart (scoring a bunch), but the Matrix gets relatively shut down again on offense.

LOL, well I was wrong.

At least we got the win!

 

[Amare32]

122 without Amare, very impressive

JJ came up huge late on and showed why he will be so good for us this year. Good to see KT also stepping as did Marion who really did come to play tonight

good soild win and nice to get off the mark. Now need to get another win on the road on saturday, this time in Utah.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

Too me the key was D'Antoni putting KT back into the game late. I was screaming at the TV on tuesday because i could tell that KT in the game ups our intensity on D and the rebounding quite a bit. And D'antoni just let the lead wilt away against Dallas when our shots began to not fall. I was worried D'Antoni was going to be using him like Stephen Hunter all season.

In this game he kept KT in and we manage to maintain our lead. I think this is very important. With the team we have as of now, i think we should try to get our lead and then bludgeoun them with KT playing the 5 later in the game, but still maintaining 4 other scorers on the floor. I also like Thomas on the pick and roll if we need points. His stats may not say it but so far i like what he brings to the team....

 

[BC867]

Nash 12 pts 17 ast 6 reb.

Nash scores 30, with less than 10 assists -- we lose. Nash scores 12, with 17 assists -- we win.

It was the same with Kevin Johnson, but KJ had to have his 20 points every night.

Let's stick with a Point Guard who values assists over individual points scored.

 

[scotsman13]

for me the thing that i liked the most about this game was just a couple plays after kobe blooded bell's lip marion came in and blooded odem head. this sent a very clear message if you mess us we are going to get back at you. without amare some teams out there may have gotten the idea that they could get away with beating on us to take nash or some other player out. now they see if they try something like this it will cost them.

 

[justAndy]

for me the thing that i liked the most about this game was just a couple plays after kobe blooded bell's lip marion came in and blooded odem head. this sent a very clear message if you mess us we are going to get back at you. without amare some teams out there may have gotten the idea that they could get away with beating on us to take nash or some other player out. now they see if they try something like this it will cost them.

They actually called a couple fouls on Saint Kobe!

 

[Chaz]

They actually called a couple fouls on Saint Kobe!

I love the look on his face after he fouled Nash at the end of the half.

Like he said "why are you calling foul on me now? I only grabbed his arm."

 

[JCSunsfan]

In both games, we advanced our lead with our second unit, and gave up a lead when the first unit entered in the 4th quarter.

Nash is trying to do too much.

BTW, Barbosa is developing well, seems to be playing within himself, and is looking like a pg. Surprised about that, because I had given up on him as a pg and figured he would be a 2.

Eric, do you notice how House is a factor? Weren't you the one that was saying he's not a significant signing--end of the bench material only? This is exactly what I was expecting he would do.

 

[elindholm]

Eric, do you notice how House is a factor? Weren't you the one that was saying he's not a significant signing--end of the bench material only?

Yes, that was me. So far House has been playing great and I have been quite humbled. However, I am going to wait for more than a couple of games before I start making grand confessions about how wrong I was.

Like all erratic shooters, House looks brilliant when he's hitting, and so far he's shooting 67% on the season. When he goes through the cold streak that brings his numbers back down to career levels, we'll see how much of an impact he has.

 

[sunsfn]

Eric, do you notice how House is a factor? Weren't you the one that was saying he's not a significant signing--end of the bench material only?

Yes, that was me. So far House has been playing great and I have been quite humbled. However, I am going to wait for more than a couple of games before I start making grand confessions about how wrong I was.

Like all erratic shooters, House looks brilliant when he's hitting, and so far he's shooting 67% on the season. When he goes through the cold streak that brings his numbers back down to career levels, we'll see how much of an impact he has.

House is like Q.
The difference in this team is that D'Antoni is going to pull House if he misses a couple. He will not stay with him like he did Q last year.

 

[sunsfn]

In both games, we advanced our lead with our second unit, and gave up a lead when the first unit entered in the 4th quarter.

Nash is trying to do too much.

BTW, Barbosa is developing well, seems to be playing within himself, and is looking like a pg. Surprised about that, because I had given up on him as a pg and figured he would be a 2.

Barbosa is playing very good! He is not turning the ball over and is using his incredible speed to get to the basket. He is playing the point, but gives the ball up quick and keeps running and that is helping the offense. When Barbosa comes in the other team has a problem just watching for him and keeping up with him. He throws a whole new wrinkle on offense for the suns, and if you have not noticed he has played more minutes and has been in there in the 4th quarter a lot.
When he comes in so does Diaw, that way they have two guys to handle the ball, not just Barbosa.


In regards to Kurt Thomas, did you hear Collins say that D'Antoni was upset with himself for not playing Thomas late in the game against the Mavs? He said he made a mistake and they should have had him in the game.

 

[LakeShowMan]

Good win fellas.

Game pretty much went how I predicted, of course since TNT sucks and doesn't space their games properly, we only got about 3 qtrs of the game. I know that it is cool to have National TV games, but since I have the League Pass it frustrates me to no end to miss the beginning of games just to watch the end of some Eastern Conference game. Oh well.

Odom, Kobe, and Smush all played pretty well. Our transittion D is still horrible. I hate the second games of back-to-backs.

Nash played like an MVP, and made everyone on that team better. Marion is an animal around the tin. You guys stole Kurt Thomas from the Knicks. I believe I was on record as saying that was a great move for your franchise.

Good luck, until we meet again.

 

[jibikao]

In both games, we advanced our lead with our second unit, and gave up a lead when the first unit entered in the 4th quarter.

Nash is trying to do too much.

BTW, Barbosa is developing well, seems to be playing within himself, and is looking like a pg. Surprised about that, because I had given up on him as a pg and figured he would be a 2.

Eric, do you notice how House is a factor? Weren't you the one that was saying he's not a significant signing--end of the bench material only? This is exactly what I was expecting he would do.

They need to review both 4th quarters and see how +17 lead faded away. I didn't watch both games 'cause it was really late for me (I am on the east coast).

Were we not hitting our shots or we couldn't defend like we did in the previous 3 quarters? Losing +17 lead in the 4th is as bad as losing the game. Great teams know how to hold their leads and come back from -17 deficit. We were really good at coming back last year but without Amare, I am not too sure if we can do it anymore. They need to seriously stop losing the lead. Slow down the game or something...I don't know.

 

[SweetD]

They need to review both 4th quarters and see how +17 lead faded away. I didn't watch both games 'cause it was really late for me (I am on the east coast).

Were we not hitting our shots or we couldn't defend like we did in the previous 3 quarters? Losing +17 lead in the 4th is as bad as losing the game. Great teams know how to hold their leads and come back from -17 deficit. We were really good at coming back last year but without Amare, I am not too sure if we can do it anymore. They need to seriously stop losing the lead. Slow down the game or something...I don't know.

The biggest thing is rebounds. The Suns get out rebounded in the begining of the 4th. I think brining in KT helps but Mike need to make it happen sooner. I would like to see House and Barbosa in at the start of the 3rd if we have a lead.

 

[zett]

Nash scores 30, with less than 10 assists -- we lose. Nash scores 12, with 17 assists -- we win.

It was the same with Kevin Johnson, but KJ had to have his 20 points every night.

Let's stick with a Point Guard who values assists over individual points scored.

This must be why we finished the season with the best record while KJ was here your constant rants about the past don't hold much water.

 

[nathan]

I had a class at 9:00, but it was worth staying up until 1:30+ to see the Suns beat the Lakers.

Shawn Marion: Lamar Odom was drafted five spots higher in '99. Marion is much better.

Steve Nash: Everything seemed a little off (except for the passing). I don't think we'll see him get his pocket picked so many times again this season.

Raja Bell: I had pretty high expectations for him and he surpassed. I loved how me got on Kobe's nerves enough to get Kobe T'd up. His shot looks pretty smooth. He's not the rebounder Q is, but he is a better all-around player. I think rebounding is just about the only Q does better than him.

Boris Diaw: I was wrong about Boris Diaw. The reason he did so little on the Hawks was everyone else sucked. He's still limited offensively, but his defense is pretty good and he passes well (e.g. the awesome alley-oop to Shawn Marion). He's going to be the first or second player off the bench IMO.

Kurt Thomas: Unlike Steven Hunter, Thomas actually has a clue about what to do on a basketball court. He seemed a step slow on the fast break, maybe his conditioning will improve as the season goes on.

James Jones: Made some big shots. He is a pretty good on ball defender and smart enough to block some shots. I'd like to see him develop a little bit more of a offensive repertoire than a jump shot. It would also be nice if he tried to rebound.

Leandro Barbosa: Barbosa looked pretty good too with no turnovers. He got to the basket pretty easily at times (which is nice on this team).

 

[Amare32]

Only real concern is building the big leads and losing them. That must stop. We got away with It last night and held on. No need to make It hard for ourselves.

Good to see JJ play so well. I had a feeling he would shoot well.

I said it before the season, JJ and Q's points per game will be basically be replaced by Bell and James Jones...and James and Raja might average more.

 

[DeAnna]

I was pretty impressed with Boris Diaw also. Granted, I knew nothing about him, but he can handle the ball well for a big guy.

Raja Bell - pretty good defensive guy (maybe better than Joe Johnson!)