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
