Suns V Bulls

[Chaz]

At least 8 of Gill's points were garbage points, two 3s and a 2 pt shot with about 2 min left. Gill was the only guy making baskets down the stretch for the Bulls.

 

[Errntknght]

Nice to see signs of teamwork on offense. The Bulls defense was rather 'polite', to put it kindly, but at least we took advantage. It looks like FJ finally took Casey off his 'finishing' team... better late than never, I guess.

One bad thing was the our big guys were doubling too much on the perimeter again. It's not a bad thing to do as a change of pace but good teams will burn you if you're doing it consistently. They got away with it against the Bulls.

I agree that Orlando is going to be dangerous Thursday night on the heels of the coaching change. McGrady had a field day against us the last time we played them in Orlando and you know he'll be up for this game. We'd better hope that JJ and Marion will get themselves psyched up to make life difficult for him one-on-one. Yep, I'd play him single coverage until the very end of the game and keep the rest of the team in check. He should tire if they make him work hard all game long instead of doubling and forcing him to pass.

 

[Joe Mama]

Originally posted by Errntknght
Nice to see signs of teamwork on offense. The Bulls defense was rather 'polite', to put it kindly, but at least we took advantage. It looks like FJ finally took Casey off his 'finishing' team... better late than never, I guess.

One bad thing was the our big guys were doubling too much on the perimeter again. It's not a bad thing to do as a change of pace but good teams will burn you if you're doing it consistently. They got away with it against the Bulls.

I agree that Orlando is going to be dangerous Thursday night on the heels of the coaching change. McGrady had a field day against us the last time we played them in Orlando and you know he'll be up for this game. We'd better hope that JJ and Marion will get themselves psyched up to make life difficult for him one-on-one. Yep, I'd play him single coverage until the very end of the game and keep the rest of the team in check. He should tire if they make him work hard all game long instead of doubling and forcing him to pass.

I've been watching that double-team you were talking about closely because I know you don't like it. I agree that it's not a bad idea sometimes, but when they do it every time they end up getting burned. I was thinking that it was working well until the guards started splitting the double-team. Obviously on a good double-team that should not happen, but it did, especially against Detroit. The double-team would result in more turnovers if the guards weren't expecting it every time down the court.

If the Suns double-team anybody tomorrow night I'll be disappointed. Tracy McGrady will score his points against Joe Johnson and Shawn Marion, but I don't think he'll go wild. One-on-one they are both solid defenders. Nobody else on the team should command at double-team either. That goes especially for their big men.

I was definitely impressed with the Phoenix Suns offense in the first half. In the second half they rely more on the two-man game with Marbury that we've seen a little too much of so far this season. It worked at times, but by the fourth-quarter Chicago wasn't having much trouble with it.

Zarko looked great against the zone defense last night. Perhaps that is due to his experience against the zone defenses in the European leagues. I also liked the way that Marbury was looking to pass the ball first. I think the other players moved around more and tried to get open when they knew there was a chance he would actually get the ball to them. I know Frank Johnson was nervous to take Marbury out of the game because the team needed a victory so badly. However, he does need to get Marbury's minutes down.

Lastly, I really liked the way they were trying to get the ball to Amare Stoudemire in the low post. There was a stretch in the first half where they went to him on several straight possessions. He posted up his defender and looked for the open man. Within a couple minutes he had quadrupled his assist total for the season.

There are obviously still many things to work on, but overall it was an encouraging game.

Joe Mama

 

[elindholm]

Wish I could have seen it. Damn Tuesday and Thursday evenings!

 

[scotsman13]

it was a good game. again i will say that i think that we saw the best that penny has left. i dont think that the team is getting amare the ball enough. i would say that there have been long periods where amare doesnt even touch the ball. amare is ending up like cedrick ceballos in that he doesnt get his points from plays.

 

[SweetD]

Penny played well for a back which he is now. Barbosa is just not ready yet to take over the game like Penny can. I think later in the year he will be ok to be put in the rotation. Glad to see Casey and Googs stats. I think it realy helped the team by putting your best players in the game the hole game. I for one know it is hard to get back into a rythem once you have been sitting for awhile.

 

[reedykat]

I'm really disappointed that I missed this game. I've been reading about it on the message boards and in the press. The consensus seems to be the same. I know that the Bulls are not a playoff caliper team however, we should always beat those type of teams. I was especially happy to hear about the ball movement and the attack of the zone defense.

Being a Penny fan, I was thrilled to hear that he was back to being a floor general. One writer said that he must have set some sort of record for most effective minutes played (18) without a point. This win was well needed.

We need to be careful with Orlando mainly because TMac is great and a new coach always raises the bar. I almost would like for us to let TMac score all he wants but not allow him to get his teammates involved.

 

[SirStefan32]

Didn't see the game, but it looks like good things are happening. Nice to see Z doing well.

 

[justAndy]

stephan -

do you have some lowdown on the Eastern Euro/Slavic hoopers?
ones that may be on the horizon, ready to break into the majors?

 

[SirStefan32]

 

[Krangodnzr]

Originally posted by SirStefan32

What's this for? I think Andi was asking a legitimate question.

I'm interested as well. Any sleepers that you can think of?

 

[SirStefan32]

Kosta Perovic. Heck of a player.

 

[SirStefan32]

He's not really a sleeper though, I should clarify. I am keeping my eyes on several players. Waiting for some tapes before I pass any judgment.

 

[slinslin]

Cool thing is I am getting all of my Suns games on DVD this year!

 

[Joe Mama]

Originally posted by slinslin
Cool thing is I am getting all of my Suns games on DVD this year!

How are you doing that?

Joe Mama

 

[JCSunsfan]

Originally posted by Joe Mama
How are you doing that?

Joe Mama

I'd take the fifth, or pm that one. You never know where the copyright police might be lurking.

 

[slinslin]

Originally posted by Joe Mama
How are you doing that?

Joe Mama

No I am getting all of my Suns games from pontel.

It is a store that sells tapes of your favorite american sports teams for people who are not living in the US and can't see live Suns games other than some lucky ones who can get NBA TV.

Last season they were still shipping normal video tapes, now they let you decide wether you want dvds or video tapes.

 

[PhiLLmattiC]

How much is that? I only get to seem the nationally televised games because I live in NY. I NEED NBA LEAGUE PASS!! Too bad I'm broke.

 

[slinslin]

It is more than league pass and you still only get your teams best 2 games per week.

So actually it is pretty expensive but for me it is worth it because I am dying to get some Suns action on the TV screen and the games being on dvd is real real nice in my opinion.

 

[Chaplin]

On the site, it looks like each game is about 16 bucks. And it appears if you live in the US, you can't get them.

 

[slinslin]

There is always 2 games on each tape/dvd.

And they have special offers before every season. It was like 299,00 Euros for the entire season + the dvd of the last finals game or next draft for free.

 

[SweetD]

Originally posted by slinslin
It was like 299,00 Euros for the entire season + the dvd of the last finals game or next draft for free.

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