Suns VS Lakers : Game 2

[jibikao]

Man, why are the refs letting things get so damned physical? I was watching this game all night at a sports bar in St Louis, and you know the refs are bad when neutral fans w/ no bias are freaking out at the calls.

A few of the bad ones were:

Raja getting run over at the end
Nash was CHARGED by Bryant on that dunk
There were two plays early where Walton was cutting to the basket and no more than breathed on by a Suns player and he was "fouled".

These are just off the top of my head. Now Im not one to ever blame the refs,the Suns played like ass. But ********, that officiating was so damn lose.

The Tim Thomas confession effect!!!! We don't get any benefit of doubt in this game.

But besides the refs, we didn't play well at all. We were never in control of the game. Defense was non-existent in the first half and mised tons of open shots. We dugged a HUGE hole at half and just couldn't crawl out.

I still think we can win this series. I was hoping a sweep though. lol Laker hit many big shots. I don't expect to see that often.

 

[hsandhu]

Shawn Marion is essentially a superstar ROLE PLAYER. He can d up, grab boards, get garbage points, but you can't count him to carry a team.

A huge part of it is his ******** shot. The fact that he sets his feet together, and brings his elbows in everytime he shoots is such a detriment, because it limits him from creating his own shot. In NBA time it takes him a long time to shoot.

Why he get's so defensive about it I don't know, yeah it takes time to change it, but it'll improve your game immensely.

 

[Evil Ash]

I'll say it once, I'll say it again - no NBA team will EVER win a title with Shawn Marion as a key member of it.

In the playoffs the guy is as soft as the tissue paper I used for my colonscopy prep last night and worth just as much (in the playoffs, that is)>

The entire team sucked no need to single out players. Somehow whenever we got close by doing the smart things like driving and moving without the ball, we return to the moronic gamestyle that got us in trouble to begin with ... namely standing still and shooting horrific outside shots.

This team should be embarassed by their play tonight.

 

[mribnik]

Oh, and the strategy for the Suns to win this series, and perhaps the Championship is soooo simple they overlooked it.

All they have to do is leak to the press that if they don't make it to the finals, Shawn Marion will be traded for Garnett.

 

[Sundance]

Great game. Too bad Marion has to prove why, in spite of his great stats, he's not the MVP of this team, again.

 

[just do it]

Rat

 

[jibikao]

Oh by the way, the reporter said Marion DOES NOT want to switch player. He wants to guard Lamar because it's a pride thing. He said only croward do that.

This brings up a good question, why didn't we see Diaw on Lamar? I have a strong feeling that Marion said no.

 

[elindholm]

Look at the bright side: If the Suns had won this game, they would have been playing right into Phil Jackson's hands. At least now they've neutralized the coaching advantage.

 

[Sundance]

Look at the bright side: If the Suns had won this game, they would have been playing right into Phil Jackson's hands. At least now they've neutralized the coaching advantage.

 

[Cheesebeef]

The entire team sucked no need to single out players. Somehow whenever we got close by doing the smart things like driving and moving without the ball, we return to the moronic gamestyle that got us in trouble to begin with ... namely standing still and shooting horrific outside shots.

This team should be embarassed by their play tonight.

sorry Ash - when a guy ******* and moans about a lack of respect and how he can do SO MUCH more but isn't given the chance - and this is AFTER his "curl up in the fetal position" performance against the Spurs and then follows it up with ANOTHER piss poor start to the playoffs (as is the case for his entire career sans one playoff series versus Dallas), you better bet he's gonna get some criticism.

Honestly, if Marion never said a word, I wouldn't pick on him so much, but the idiot brings it on himself with his delusional comments on how good he thinsk he is.

 

[HooverDam]

And when a player dunks on your head and rises over and jams on your face, it ain't a charge - come on.

I watched the replay to me, from the two times I saw the play, it looked like Nash had his feet planted and Kobe just ran him over. Everyone in the sports bar watching the game flipped out. 1. Wow- Kobe can jump high! 2. Wait, why is he shooting free throws, he just ran someone over.

Id love to see the play again, but it looked like Nash was planted.

With all that said....I'm never one to blame the refs. No matter how bad the refs are, you should be able to over come it. The Suns played like cornholio most of the night and they lost. Ah well, hopefully they play w/ a chip on their shoulder in LA.

 

[BirdMan21]

On the post game it was nice to hear Barkley finally say something sensical.....that the Lakers have to play PERFECT to have a chance to beat the Suns in this series. That they played perfect in two games and were only able to manage a split.

 

[jibikao]

The entire team sucked no need to single out players. Somehow whenever we got close by doing the smart things like driving and moving without the ball, we return to the moronic gamestyle that got us in trouble to begin with ... namely standing still and shooting horrific outside shots.

This team should be embarassed by their play tonight.

There was NO intensity at all in first half. Everybody just wanted to watch Nash when he had no room to pass. We got a lot better when Nash decided to score inside. He broke down defense and got ourselves a chance. I like Bell. I want to keep him if we can. If it weren't for his intensity, I don't think the game would have been this close.

Laker has made their adjustment, and it's time for ours.

I'll name some:

1.) Diaw POPS IN. I don't know how many times Nash was waiting for Diaw to pop in during pick&roll. If it was Amare, he would have owned Laker's paint soooooooooooo bad. Lucky he made 2-3 open jumpshots. If we don't attack inside, we'll never get that many open shots.

2.) Barbosa, READ THE FKING DEFENSE. Don't just hide your face and mindlessly go in. Laker defended Barbosa very well today. They cut down Barbs' driving lane. He still has a long way to be Tony Parker.

 

[mribnik]

I watched the replay to me, from the two times I saw the play, it looked like Nash had his feet planted and Kobe just ran him over. Everyone in the sports bar watching the game flipped out. 1. Wow- Kobe can jump high! 2. Wait, why is he shooting free throws, he just ran someone over.

Id love to see the play again, but it looked like Nash was planted.

With all that said....I'm never one to blame the refs. No matter how bad the refs are, you should be able to over come it. The Suns played like cornholio most of the night and they lost. Ah well, hopefully they play w/ a chip on their shoulder in LA.

That play was clearly a charge from the replay, but I'm not about to blame the refs for this loss. I didn't like the officiating, for both sides in this game, but the Lakers just played a better game tonight.

 

[jibikao]

The officiating sucks 'cause we didn't get any questionable calls in our favor during clutch time but the game was never that close. After Kobe charged Nash, we immediately got 2 FT from Bell. That's a pay back IMO.

Well, if Kobe can make such a BIG deal about getting fouled and not get the call, I think it's time for us to say that Nash got charged and the ref did not even catch that!!! How about how Kwane ran over Bell?

 

[Evil Ash]

sorry Ash - when a guy ******* and moans about a lack of respect and how he can do SO MUCH more but isn't given the chance - and this is AFTER his "curl up in the fetal position" performance against the Spurs and then follows it up with ANOTHER piss poor start to the playoffs (as is the case for his entire career sans one playoff series versus Dallas), you better bet he's gonna get some criticism.

Honestly, if Marion never said a word, I wouldn't pick on him so much, but the idiot brings it on himself with his delusional comments on how good he thinsk he is.

I'm not disagreeing that he deserves criticism. After this debacle, EVERYONE deserves criticism.

Our bench was attrocious
Nash although he shot the ball well, had way too many turnovers
The defense was non-existent for the overwhelming majority of the game
D'Antoni was outcoached
and the team in general played like it had their heads lodged up their butts

The way they played tonight, the Lakers should almost be ashamed that they only won by 6.

 

[Evil Ash]

The officiating sucks 'cause we didn't get any questionable calls in our favor during clutch time but the game was never that close. After Kobe charged Nash, we immediately got 2 FT from Bell. That's a pay back IMO.

Well, if Kobe can make such a BIG deal about getting fouled and not get the call, I think it's time for us to say that Nash got charged and the ref did not even catch that!!! How about how Kwane ran over Bell?

If you rely on the refs, you already lost.

Happened to the Lakers in game 1 and to us in game 2. You should go through a game and never expect them to bail you out

 

[jibikao]

If you rely on the refs, you already lost.

Happened to the Lakers in game 1 and to us in game 2. You should go through a game and never expect them to bail you out

It's not relying on refs. It's making a statement. You gotta play some mind games man. Why do you think Kobe made such a big deal about it? He gotta let the league know that Kobe was so mistreated in game 1. We should mention how Laker got all the benefit of doubt even though that wasn't the deciding factor (maybe).

 

[jibikao]

I'm not disagreeing that he deserves criticism. After this debacle, EVERYONE deserves criticism.

Our bench was attrocious
Nash although he shot the ball well, had way too many turnovers
The defense was non-existent for the overwhelming majority of the game
D'Antoni was outcoached
and the team in general played like it had their heads lodged up their butts

The way they played tonight, the Lakers should almost be ashamed that they only won by 6.

Nash's turnover mostly came from wanting to create when there's nothing to create. People just stood there and although Marion usually cuts in, he just stood there most of the time.

The turnover went way down when Nash decided to score. And plus, as a team, we didn't turnover more than Laker.

D'Antoni didn't get the other guys prepared. Only Bell got it. Several times Bell wanted to break the defense by going in hard. Smart players don't need coach to tell you all the time. Laker's defense is to shut down our 3pt. That's our bread and butter. And how do you get open shots? Penetrate and move around.

Diaw doesn't want to go in all the time. He is soooooooooooo used to pick and pop out at 3pt line when there's nobody open to pass to.

Marion only wants to go in every once a while and even if he goes in, he can't finish strong. His little jumper can't compare to dunks.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I'm not disagreeing that he deserves criticism. After this debacle, EVERYONE deserves criticism.

Our bench was attrocious
Nash although he shot the ball well, had way too many turnovers
The defense was non-existent for the overwhelming majority of the game
D'Antoni was outcoached
and the team in general played like it had their heads lodged up their butts

The way they played tonight, the Lakers should almost be ashamed that they only won by 6.

oh - I agree with that for the most part - although the Nash turnovers I attribute to him wearing himself out because NO ONE came to play and I can't fault Bell - he played solid D and was the only other guy who could hit a bucket.

As far as the Lakers being ashamed - Ash - they're the 7th seed and they just stole homecourt away from us and have controlled both games to a great extent - I'm sure they are FAR from ashamed - it's not like they're a great team or anything.

This weekend's gonna be a war - and I don't know if I could take it - luckily my heart probably won't have to as I'm getting blahtooed at Coachella on Sunday. Hopefully we pull out a win against an overconfident Lakers squad on Friday - if we lose that one, we're going down in flames.

 

[jibikao]

I also want to add that Laker is not a good shot-blocking team. Laker probably has the second worst inside presence and we have the worst. How many times Diaw missed that SOFT layups? How many times did you see Marion going in strong and actually dunk the ball?

 

[hsandhu]

Steve Nash did everything humanly possible to try and win this game, the turnovers were a result of forcing because his teammates weren't enough help.

Raja also showed his true heart, not only with the shots, but forcing kobe into really tough shots in the most clutch moments.

 

[Folster]

no way dude - Nash just got sh*t on - it happens. To call a charge there would have been ridiculous.

Agreed. Kobe's shins hit Nash's chest. You can't call a charge on that. The correct call would have been no call. What Nash did was similar to what everybody used to try to do to Amare last year. As soon as he would jump, a player would set their feet and get a ridiculous charge call.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

The officiating sucks 'cause we didn't get any questionable calls in our favor during clutch time but the game was never that close. After Kobe charged Nash, we immediately got 2 FT from Bell. That's a pay back IMO.

Can we please not do this? The officiating was horrible but it was pretty even. I recall a three second violation on Kwame Brown about five seconds into the shot clock that was completely brutal. And there was no way they were calling a charge of Kobe on the play, but it should have been a no call.

 

[jibikao]

Can we please not do this? The officiating was horrible but it was pretty even. I recall a three second violation on Kwame Brown about five seconds into the shot clock that was completely brutal. And there was no way they were calling a charge of Kobe on the play, but it should have been a no call.

I just said the refs paid it back with 2FT. It's giving and receiving business and I don't think the refs caused the game if that's what you are implying.