Suns vs. Clippers Game Thread

[Chris_Sanders]

Basketball is so easy even a Kaman can do it.

 

[Suns_fan69]

Glad we got the win but cringed a bit when I saw that Nash played 38 minutes; on a back to back no less.

I know it is the start of the season and all but I hope that this isn't indicative of what is to come. We really need to get banks integrated with the rest of the team or Nash is going to be dog tired by the time playoffs roll around.

Also, is there something physically wrong with Jumaine right now? I would expect him to at least see the court for 5-10 a game.

 

[arthurracoon]

Basketball is so easy even a Kaman can do it.

 

[panfolk]

Impressive to see LB outassist Banks and outrebound Amare

Wonder how long til we see the lineup of Nash LB Marion Diaw Amare starting. Before long this will be the most potent. But it would rob LB of the sixth-man honors

 

[msdundee]

I was at USAC tonight and just got home -- nice win! Have been to lots of games but never ever heard the fans as rowdy as they were tonight. Maybe that's the secret.

You all might enjoy this:
Along with the usual time-out and between-quarters entertainment, they did a great spoof of all the political ads on TV, "Pat Burke for Congress" on the big screen. Lots of stereotypical baloney all the way down to him shaking hands with farmers (his name painted on a barn in the background), promising to turn the country around, and kissing babies. The campaign slogan was:

PAT BURKE FOR CONGRESS -- BECAUSE HE'S JUST NOT THAT BUSY RIGHT NOW

Burke was on the bench laughing and giving a thumbs-up.

 

[krispydude]

I was at USAC tonight and just got home -- nice win! Have been to lots of games but never ever heard the fans as rowdy as they were tonight. Maybe that's the secret.

You all might enjoy this:
Along with the usual time-out and between-quarters entertainment, they did a great spoof of all the political ads on TV, "Pat Burke for Congress" on the big screen. Lots of stereotypical baloney all the way down to him shaking hands with farmers (his name painted on a barn in the background), promising to turn the country around, and kissing babies. The campaign slogan was:

PAT BURKE FOR CONGRESS -- BECAUSE HE'S JUST NOT THAT BUSY RIGHT NOW

Burke was on the bench laughing and giving a thumbs-up.

lol..thats great

 

[Nash]

The campaign slogan was:

PAT BURKE FOR CONGRESS -- BECAUSE HE'S JUST NOT THAT BUSY RIGHT NOW

Burke was on the bench laughing and giving a thumbs-up.

wow thats funny! Looks like Burke is one hell of a sport. We had the great Pat Burke wigs video last year and now this.

Burke for President!

PS: Hey dundee, did you get a good look at Nash's goofy stunt? How did the crowd react?

 

[JWF]

Good win. I was glad to see the team put in some real effort on Defense. Not to mention actually attack the paint a considerable amount. Hopefully dantoni learned his lesson about not using amare enough. It was obvious how much better our inside game was on both ends with him in there.

 

[msdundee]

wow thats funny! Looks like Burke is one hell of a sport. We had the great Pat Burke wigs video last year and now this.

Burke for President!

PS: Hey dundee, did you get a good look at Nash's goofy stunt? How did the crowd react?

We were on the opposite side of the court and I didn't see his face, just the body language. You probably got a much better view on TV. The fans literally exploded on the first call and again when they reversed it, so it's hard to tell how much they were reacting to Steve's acting job. He did get a couple of breaks last night -- after one call against him he bounced the ball twice (very slowly and deliberately) before tossing it to the ref. I was waiting for a T on that one too but they let it go.

Anything else I could report was already pretty much covered on the board by the time I checked last night. Amare looked to be moving really well, both on and off the ball. He went down pretty hard on one play, jumped right up and ran the court. I will say if his confidence needed a boost from the fans he got it, many times over.

D'Antoni's still juggling. It was interesting he had Nash and Banks on the floor together for a little bit, and good to see Banks have a better night. He'll figure us out.

Someone was asking why Jumaine Jones wasn't getting any time. I think I read he tweaked an ankle, nothing serious.

 

[arthurracoon]

KT seems like a foul magnet.

I dont know...

two of the foul calls on him seemed kinda lame (the two back to back fouls)

 

[msdundee]

So now that we've dissected the game and agreed that Amare's looking good, Barbosa just keeps getting better, Banks is coming around, and Nash earned an appearance on youtube .....

it's time to give props to the player of the game and that would be Marion. He played all but 8 minutes, led the scoring with 27, had 10 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals -- pretty much did it all. As usual.

 

[Chaplin]

I know Banks isn't very popular on this board, but I thought his defense on Shaun Livingston was stellar. He almost forced him into a couple 8 second violations.

 

[basketballfan]

I dont know...

two of the foul calls on him seemed kinda lame (the two back to back fouls)

Oh man, those calls were horrible. When they happened, I turned to my friend and said, "Kurt must have slept with that ref's wife cause that ref's definitely got something against him." Neither of those calls were fouls and they cost us 3 or 4 points.

 

[msdundee]

Brand's post-game comment: "They’re like piranhas when you play their tempo."

 

[Cheesebeef]

Marion abuses the Clippers - very, very solid game from him all around. His energy has no bounds... unless it's the WCF (c'mon, you KNEW I couldn't resist at least one jab at Shawn for old times sake!)

 

[nowagimp]

So now that we've dissected the game and agreed that Amare's looking good, Barbosa just keeps getting better, Banks is coming around, and Nash earned an appearance on youtube .....

it's time to give props to the player of the game and that would be Marion. He played all but 8 minutes, led the scoring with 27, had 10 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals -- pretty much did it all. As usual.

Marion also opened up the game guarding livingston at the point and pretty much shut him down in the early going(missed his first 6 shots, all contested). Marion was also a force defensively in the lane. Amare seemed to have 90% of his old footspeed/footwork if not the lift, and his defense was suprisingly good(for amare) for short periods of time. When he was matched up on Brand early, he didnt seem to bite on fakes, tended not to overplay him. I think that this and Amares length seemed to bother Brand a little in the first half. I am hoping that this injury/recovery helps Amare to be a better position defender, limits his tendency to overplay opponents. He's so quick that if he just stops overplaying people and keeps his position, he could be a decent defender by years end. His stamina is still low, he really didnt have any pop to his step after the first half. I think D'Antoni deserves some credit for limiting his minutes. If KT hadnt fouled out, Amare probably would have only played about 18-20 minutes. Amare's presence did improve spacing for the perimeter shooters, but they missed alot of outside shots. With that kind of spacing, they will be very tough if they hit some outside shots. It was also nice that Boris stepped up and became a primary option in the 4th quarter, he just needs to get in better shape as its effecting his play all around.

 

[Suns_fan69]

So now that we've dissected the game and agreed that Amare's looking good, Barbosa just keeps getting better, Banks is coming around, and Nash earned an appearance on youtube .....

it's time to give props to the player of the game and that would be Marion. He played all but 8 minutes, led the scoring with 27, had 10 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals -- pretty much did it all. As usual.

I saw that one play where Marion blocked Brand, and then someone else (Livingston?) and then stole the ball away from them all in one defensive sequence.

Unfortunately when they turned it around on O he didn't get the ball back to finish it with a slam.

 

[basketballfan]

Marion also opened up the game guarding livingston at the point and pretty much shut him down in the early going(missed his first 6 shots, all contested). Marion was also a force defensively in the lane. Amare seemed to have 90% of his old footspeed/footwork if not the lift, and his defense was suprisingly good(for amare) for short periods of time. When he was matched up on Brand early, he didnt seem to bite on fakes, tended not to overplay him. I think that this and Amares length seemed to bother Brand a little in the first half. I am hoping that this injury/recovery helps Amare to be a better position defender, limits his tendency to overplay opponents. He's so quick that if he just stops overplaying people and keeps his position, he could be a decent defender by years end. His stamina is still low, he really didnt have any pop to his step after the first half. I think D'Antoni deserves some credit for limiting his minutes. If KT hadnt fouled out, Amare probably would have only played about 18-20 minutes. Amare's presence did improve spacing for the perimeter shooters, but they missed alot of outside shots. With that kind of spacing, they will be very tough if they hit some outside shots. It was also nice that Boris stepped up and became a primary option in the 4th quarter, he just needs to get in better shape as its effecting his play all around.

I was also pretty impressed with Amare's defense. There were times that he got blown by, but he at least looked like he had a passion to play defense. He wasn't out there just looking to score. I could tell that he cared about playing defense. Sometimes it seems like the Suns could care less about defense, so I was happy that he was at least trying. I also noticed that when he got switched onto Mobley on the perimeter, he was playing him so that he'd go right. I was impressed that he wasn't letting Mobley play to his strenghts. Eddie Johnson always stresses not letting players drive with their favorite hand, so it was nice to see Amare trying to do that.

 

[Chaz]

Interesting to see Jones matched up on Cassell.

Sure would take away his post up game.



Clearly it will take a couple of weeks for the team to get things together and settle into a somewhat regular rotation.

 

[Errntknght]

Lots of encouraging things in this game. Off ball movement was about as good as I've ever seen from the Suns. Even a good bit on the baseline, particularly from Marion. Jones and Raja even made a few good cuts though nothing came of them. Banks cut a couple of times and got a nice reverse layup off one along the baseline. Several times I thought that they could have made passes to cutters and didn't but if they keep cutting that will change.

Diaw - nice, smart play on a Clipper throw in after a made basket to force a turn over and he almost did the same thing later. One notable change from last year - he was shooting jumpers off the dribble and making them. Haven't seen his P&R with Shawn yet - in fact he's not working off a perimeter dribble so far.

Nash - played 38 minutes but they were an easy 38. Barbosa and Banks initiated some of the offense and in general he was not going to the P&R all that much. Finished the game looking relatively fresh.

Marion - he actually completed a pick on the P&R with Nash and got a bucket on the roll. Of course, he persisted in jacking up 3s. What I liked best was his cuts on the baseline and some of the time they were backdoors when his defenders attention wandered. Hopefully its the start of a trend and not just a fluke.

Stoudemire - twice he got the rebound from his own missed shot and went up very quickly for the put back - one thunked hard off the back rim but, as EJ kept saying, the result isn't important at this point. Surprising D as others have noted - he was bodying up and he caused Brand to give up the ball several times. He made some switches that were ill advised - worthy of TT they were. One time he let Kamen go down floor while he tried for a steal at midcourt which resulted in an easy bucket.

Banks - definitely starting to come around - on both ends of the floor. He missed a great opportunity for a lay off to Amare on a drive but you've got to like his attacking the rim. One thing I really liked to see was him pulling up for a 12 ft jumper on a fast break and on another break he laid the ball off to Barbs nicely. EJ said his pass to Barbs was late on another break but I disagree, Barbs just muffed an easy cross under. Definitely more aggressive D than we've seen before and thats good.

Barbosa - Dan D'A has some more work to do as Barbs mid range shooting has disappeared again and he was out of control a few times. He did seem to be keeping his head up more while he was attacking and he made some nice passes. The only time I saw him make a good cut in the half court, he ruined it by not looking for a pass. His defense looked a bit improved - he stayed upright when he was crowding Livingston on a drive and got the offensive foul call. I think that is a first.

Thomas - on that first bogus foul call, one of Brand's teammates got his caught in Brand's jersey and pulled him under the basket. Thomas was behind Eldon so it looked like he pushed him from the ref's angle. The second one he and Brand were jockeying for position in a perfectly normal way - maybe the ref just felt like blowing his whistle. Of course, its early days for the refs, too, so they haven't gotten into top form yet.

Jones - it was sure nice to see him can that three. And he didn't do a leg kick! I think he's running and moving better than last year - and not being quite so static in the half court. I thought he was forcing it on the one drive he made and the refs bailed him out. I still think driving is not his game - much rather see him learn one or two dribbles and pullup. Of course, if he can learn to drive well, I wouldn't complain.

 

[jenna2891]

PAT BURKE FOR CONGRESS -- BECAUSE HE'S JUST NOT THAT BUSY RIGHT NOW

Burke was on the bench laughing and giving a thumbs-up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCIdn7uCL4g


lol... too funny.