Suns vs Spurs : Payback! 1/21

[jibikao]

Did you guys watch the game? What are you guys talking about?

This is easily one of the best games of the year. We were excellent. Nash, again, shocked me with his leadership and led Suns to battle Spurs. I thought we had the game but in the end, we were out of energy. Clearly nobody has energy to do anything effective.

I am pleased with Suns' effort.


I think we had the game if Amare could make A FEW MORE foul shots..just 2 or 3 more and if Marion made that layup... sigh. Well, it was a mental break-down but it doesn't mean we suck. In fact, I think we are the 2nd best team right now. The refs didn't make the greatest calls especially on Manu but I think overall, it balanced out.

Give us one more season to figure out our bench and we will be READY!

A few positive things:
1.) Suns made an adjustment that many of us made: Don't put Nash on Park. It was very effective and I like how Suns makes good adjustment after every loss.

2.) Nash is clearly the MVP if Suns has the best record. His leadership, passing and even his PRESENCE on the court makes a 100% difference. I didn't watch the previous losing games but I am convinced that Nash made this team Elite.

3.) Our defense wasn't that bad really. I don't expect us to play tough defense like Spurs because size-wise, we lose. We did have some decent defense and a lot of Spurs' shots were just too hard to defend. Barry made some key shots that were clearly out of our expectation - a lesson learned.

A few negative things:
1.) Amare: PLEASE PRACTICE YOUR FOUL SHOT!!!!!!!! PLEAES, I AM BEGGING YOU.

2.) Lack of bench, all startered were tired.

3.) Too Nash-dependent in the end especially after Nash was clearly in pain/tired. There were tons of turnovers because we didn't have any set plays that don't include Nash's penetration. It was way too easy to figure out in the end and we paid for it. So, in this aspect, coaching's fault. You can rely on Nash but not like 110% relying on Nash. I've seen this a few times in Mavs' playoff games and I hope we can adjust this weakness.

That's it for now. I am a PROUD SUNS fan. Just ask yourself this question: Would you have imagined that Suns could send Spurs to over-time before the beginning of the season? Would you have imagined that Suns could get 31W before all-star? This loss is not embarrasing at all. It's a test for this young team and I have faith in this young Solar team.

Now, I am going to sleep.

 

[StopTheMadness]

I watched a 17pt lead turn into a San Antonio lead and eventual win. I watched Manu G absolutley destroy us with his drives. And i also watched us miss free throws and throw the ball away.

 

[jbeecham]

That was an exciting and disappointing game to be at. I have no voice left from yelling at the refs and cheering for the Suns. There were so many blown calls and non-calls. So many plays that changed the outcome of the game if the refs had gotten it right (2-3 goal tends against Suns, phantom foul on Marion, moving screens, 3 second voilations on Duncan, fouls on Duncan not called, etc). I know it's the Spurs so I should expect the Suns to get screwed, but not out of a 17 pt lead in the 4th qtr.

The Suns played great tonight and it was great to see them get back to their up-tempo style. I was amazed that Popovich pulled Tony Parker & Bowen out of the game the entire 4th qtr and overtime (although they sucked). I think the Suns should've doubled down on Duncan everytime with Nash and made Udril try to beat them from the outside. Also, the Suns should've pulled Q and played Hunter & Voshkul more. Q was just horrible offensively and jacked up some really bad 3's.

 

[elindholm]

Q was just horrible offensively and jacked up some really bad 3's.

But remember, he always thinks the next one is going in.

 

[AZZenny]

First, let me say I took my computer guy's family, and have created 4 more Suns' fans. The two little boys were completely enthralled, and when we hit that basket to go overtime, I thought maybe their good baseball karma was working (and that their Dad was going to have a heart attack). Alas, the 3 year old fell asleep about then (good work, ESPN) and the 6 year old ended up in tears at HIS team's loss. But he wants a hoop on the garage "To play Suns with my friends" and to take everyone he knows to a game soon.

I thought it was an excellent game, except for a problem already dissected here - the Suns' general lack of discipline, lack of fundamentals. That IS coaching, IMO, almost entirely. The Spurs were drilled, disciplined, a corps that could play a couple kinds of game very well. Call it experience, but it's more than just minutes logged in games.

SOMEONE please re-teach Amare to hit the effing FT - or at least not look like a bowlegged goalie at the line. He looks so awkward its no wonder his percentage has plunged. And ALL those missed easy layups by everyone! I was shrieking, "Just DUNK the damn ball next time!" The numerous sloppy/failed passes - very uncharacteristic, and clearly Nash was far from 100%.

Given that it was vs. the Spurs, it's not a 'huge' loss to me - a frustrating one, and a bummer since it's six in a row now - but once again I think our deficiencies were up there in neon.

So D'Antoni - DO something about it.

 

[jibikao]

I studied the box score a bit and we actually had a great game. Shooting % wise we are above average and we had a good defense game!!!

This loss... the more I look at it, the more I think we lost because of FT. I know it's a lame excuse but we really did have a great game. I know Manu and Barry brought Spurs back to the game but if Amare can make those foul shots and if Marion can finish that easy layout, we would have a good 7pt lead by that time but instead, we were only up by 3 and BANG, one 3pt from Barry and it's gone.

I don't think we would win in the overtime because all our players were super tired.

I think there are tons of favorite calls on Manu. Like how JJ fouls him whenever he drives to the hoop. I see VERY FEW calls when we drive to the hoop. Marion got fouled several times when he made the layup. One time Duncan even pushed him from behind and there's no call.

I believe calls are usually even out in the end but this is Suns' home court and PLEASE give us something better. Giving us that 3 second violation in the end is just plain SUCKS.

I still think Spurs got away a lot of over backs and fouls but it doesn't mean we can blow away 17pt lead. sigh.

FOUL SHOTS, FOUL SHOTS!!! If Amare can make all those, the outcome will be so different.

 

[jibikao]

Another thing is Nash was clearly tired out and D'Antoni still insisted on letting Nash run everything in the end. Spurs knew what Nash was going to do with the pick&roll. Nash did that like 20times!!!

Before 4th quarter, I thought our ball movement was EXCELLENT. Everybody shares the ball and everybody makes one extra pass to confuse the defense. We didn't see that in the 4th quarter. I don't know why players usually can't do those sorts of easy things in the 4th quarter. I mean Amare was pretty hot but he shot nothing until towards the end. We should have let Amare post end so our shooters can spread the floor a bit. When Nash penetrated in the 4th quarter, that was just TOO CROWDED and it doesn't help we had some bad communications in the end... sigh

Man..I want this win so bad...

agrrr. I CAN'T SLEEP!!!!

 

[cly2tw]

This is a great game with an inevitable outcome after middle of 4th quarter. The way the Suns lost in overtime is eerily similar to how they lost their last overtime game, against the Cav. There are many reasons for the loss and a lot of signs that our team can still be a strong title-contender despite this loss.

1. The same problem with the loss to Cavs, Nash played too many minutes. Particularly, DA inserted Nash back into the lineup too early in the 4th q. Both in the 4th and in ot, Nash had way too many turnovers and his shots lacked legs.

2. This brings me to ask why can't DA rest him more? Actually, with Nestrovic injured, the 2nd tallest player for the Spurs was Bowen at 6-7 who didn't even play in the 2nd half. We could have gone big with the lineup, say Amare/Hunter/Marion/Q/JJ, where either Amare or Hunter can post up his defender for easy basket all night long and we could extend the resting time for Nash all the while. So, with that big lead and potential size-advantage with a big lineup, we could have played a slower game for all the benefits just mentioned. Why didn't DA see it or do it?

3. Actually, a big lineup with Hunter would have slowed down the main weapon with which Spurs beat us last night, Manu's drives. Manu was on fire all night. I would not blame JJ for not being able to stop him. In this form, Manu is as effective an offensive weapon as Kobe or Tmac. Pops ingeniously decided to let Manu do the one-on-one a la MJ late in the game and they won exactly in the same mode MJ's Bulls killed the Suns in 1993, "We have a reliable weapon to score on you no matter what, and we have a good defense to hang in and eventually win out". With Hunter we'd have had a shot blocker to help JJ out in that case.

4. In the 4th q, Spurs erased the Suns lead mainly with the Suns weapon, fastbreaks, if you review the tape you will see. Who were on the court for them? TD, Manu and 3 bench players, Barry, and two no name rookies. Besides Manu, they all played much less minutes than the Suns starters. As a matter of fact, they negated the speed advantage the Suns normally have in the 4th against other team's starters. Actually, the spurs defense did their part to force turnovers and low-chance shots in addition to a tired Nash.

5. On a sidenote, I used to use Manu's contract as the upper limit JJ could get. Is there any doubt about it now? I still believe that JJ is slightly superior in physical talent but he lacks the experience and the nastyness and grittyness Manu possesses. He got intimidated later last night. Actually, he tried to post Manu up a couple of times but didn't seem to be able to handle Manu's nasty pushing, grabbing defense and never succeeded in holding a good and firm low post position against Manu. So, we as a team couldn't make Manu sweat a little more on defense to tire him up a little. Facing him on the parameter, JJ didn't have the gut to try to beat him one-on-one the way Manu humiliated JJ on the other side. Maybe partly due to the fear of Duncan's help defense. I really think that the contract issue still lingers on the mind of JJ that makes him hesitant.

Despite his imperfect rebounding, Amare was patient on offense. If he keeps it up, we should be able to develop some very effective halfcourt game too. And Marion was awesome. I think all this is more due to the confidence they regained with Nash back. Thus, my outlook and wishes for the team are the following:

1. Don't trade any starter away.
2. Add Malone. Plus the experienced JimJ, we'll be able to rest Nash more with our big-lineup: Malone-Amare and 3 out of Marion/JJ/Q/JJ who are almost equally potent offensively.
3. Moreover, we will have the option to not "always run to wear down the opponents' starters", in order to win. Spurs won with a combination of fastbreaks and halfcourt last night. The Sonics are more of that mode too, they seem to be the worst for the Spurs since they play the conventional defense more solidly than the Suns now. Malone-Stockton's Utah were as great at fastbreak as anybody, and Malone used to be a great fastbreak finisher. Nash can also play well in halfcourt sets a la Stockton, which in turn might save some of his energy for the most crucial late game situations.
4. All in all, with JimJ on board, our fast break game will be even more devastating. Yet, the bottleneck is Nash's play time and our bench depth. With Malone, we'd have 7 starters, so that bench problem is solved. If Barbosa is healthy again, plus Hunter/Jake, our team can go 9-deep whichever the matchups are. Without Malone, we still have a chance, but it's much more brittle. Yes, this brittleness is the main problem as to how deep we can go in the playoffs this year.

 

[jibikao]

This is a great game with an inevitable outcome after middle of 4th quarter. The way the Suns lost in overtime is eerily similar to how they lost their last overtime game, against the Cav. There are many reasons for the loss and a lot of signs that our team can still be a strong title-contender despite this loss.

1. The same problem with the loss to Cavs, Nash played too many minutes. Particularly, DA inserted Nash back into the lineup too early in the 4th q. Both in the 4th and in ot, Nash had way too many turnovers and his shots lacked legs.

2. This brings me to ask why can't DA rest him more? Actually, with Nestrovic injured, the 2nd tallest player for the Spurs was Bowen at 6-7 who didn't even play in the 2nd half. We could have gone big with the lineup, say Amare/Hunter/Marion/Q/JJ, where either Amare or Hunter can post up his defender for easy basket all night long and we could extend the resting time for Nash all the while. So, with that big lead and potential size-advantage with a big lineup, we could have played a slower game for all the benefits just mentioned. Why didn't DA see it or do it?

3. Actually, a big lineup with Hunter would have slowed down the main weapon with which Spurs beat us last night, Manu's drives. Manu was on fire all night. I would not blame JJ for not being able to stop him. In this form, Manu is as effective an offensive weapon as Kobe or Tmac. Pops ingeniously decided to let Manu do the one-on-one a la MJ late in the game and they won exactly in the same mode MJ's Bulls killed the Suns in 1993, "We have a reliable weapon to score on you no matter what, and we have a good defense to hang in and eventually win out". With Hunter we'd have had a shot blocker to help JJ out in that case.

4. In the 4th q, Spurs erased the Suns lead mainly with the Suns weapon, fastbreaks, if you review the tape you will see. Who were on the court for them? TD, Manu and 3 bench players, Barry, and two no name rookies. Besides Manu, they all played much less minutes than the Suns starters. As a matter of fact, they negated the speed advantage the Suns normally have in the 4th against other team's starters. Actually, the spurs defense did their part to force turnovers and low-chance shots in addition to a tired Nash.

5. On a sidenote, I used to use Manu's contract as the upper limit JJ could get. Is there any doubt about it now? I still believe that JJ is slightly superior in physical talent but he lacks the experience and the nastyness and grittyness Manu possesses. He got intimidated later last night. Actually, he tried to post Manu up a couple of times but didn't seem to be able to handle Manu's nasty pushing, grabbing defense and never succeeded in holding a good and firm low post position against Manu. So, we as a team couldn't make Manu sweat a little more on defense to tire him up a little. Facing him on the parameter, JJ didn't have the gut to try to beat him one-on-one the way Manu humiliated JJ on the other side. Maybe partly due to the fear of Duncan's help defense. I really think that the contract issue still lingers on the mind of JJ that makes him hesitant.

Despite his imperfect rebounding, Amare was patient on offense. If he keeps it up, we should be able to develop some very effective halfcourt game too. And Marion was awesome. I think all this is more due to the confidence they regained with Nash back. Thus, my outlook and wishes for the team are the following:

1. Don't trade any starter away.
2. Add Malone. Plus the experienced JimJ, we'll be able to rest Nash more with our big-lineup: Malone-Amare and 3 out of Marion/JJ/Q/JJ who are almost equally potent offensively.
3. Moreover, we will have the option to not "always run to wear down the opponents' starters", in order to win. Spurs won with a combination of fastbreaks and halfcourt last night. The Sonics are more of that mode too, they seem to be the worst for the Spurs since they play the conventional defense more solidly than the Suns now. Malone-Stockton's Utah were as great at fastbreak as anybody, and Malone used to be a great fastbreak finisher. Nash can also play well in halfcourt sets a la Stockton, which in turn might save some of his energy for the most crucial late game situations.
4. All in all, with JimJ on board, our fast break game will be even more devastating. Yet, the bottleneck is Nash's play time and our bench depth. With Malone, we'd have 7 starters, so that bench problem is solved. If Barbosa is healthy again, plus Hunter/Jake, our team can go 9-deep whichever the matchups are. Without Malone, we still have a chance, but it's much more brittle. Yes, this brittleness is the main problem as to how deep we can go in the playoffs this year.

I agree with your analysis. D'Antoni was trying to rest Nash early in the 4th but Spurs made a 7-0 run within a min and you know how we are scared of losing big leads... sigh.

If we had big men inside, we probably won't score much but we would at least be able to stop Manu's penetration and slow the game down which will ONLY BENEFIT us in the end because Nash will rest more and we can run the clock down.

Basically, we have no bench and that is the problem. Hunter... he was great defensively especially he blocked that Parker's rainbow shot, oh, I love that. But I don't know Hunter would respond in that critical 4th quarter. I mean the refs were callling almost every time Hunter guards Duncan and this of course has a lot to do with Duncan's star treatment.

We are still great and we will beat Spurs!

 

[cly2tw]

If we had big men inside, we probably won't score much but we would at least be able to stop Manu's penetration and slow the game down which will ONLY BENEFIT us in the end because Nash will rest more and we can run the clock down.

Exactly. We need to add players that makes it possible for us to still win while not playing Nash more than 35 mins even in the most contested games. Besides a stronger bench as such, we also need experience for the stretches when Nash is resting, which we didn't have until JimJ. That's the reason I'm pushing for Malone.

Besides, Smush Parker was playing the point in that 0-7 run early 4th, trying to push the ball a la Nash. But the no-names of the Spurs were better at fastbreak! So, we should have slowed it down, particularly because the Spurs players on the court were bench players and thus not to be tired via more push. We really lost on our own poison this time. This is also the reason I'm not panicking because of the loss. We can beat them. But the coach has to do a better job at recognizing the specific situations we are in and change something when it is required!

 

[jibikao]

Well, all I can say is a lesson learned. I can understand why D'Antoni kept pushing the ball 'cause that's our strength but Suns players are not Supermen. They don't have unlimited amount of energy, not when you play so many games in a row.

Nash's tiring out in the end is a huge issue we need to address soon before playoffs. I've seen that so many times as a Mavs fan. He is 30 years old and his style of play can easily tire out ANYBODY, including him.

If we want to be successful in the playoff, we need to develop Amare's inside game more. Players other than Nash has to create pick&rolls for Amare. You can tell Amare clearly doesn't like the job Barbosa did. Amare said, "It's hard to play when there's no point guard". LOL What an insult on Barbosa... but it's a truth.

Nash's half court game is actually not that bad. He ran pick&rolls so well last night in the 3rd quarter. He can penetrate and he can dish out very good passes. The only thing we need is some set plays to slow the game down. D'Antoni needs to figure that out in the end. We can't run 48mins... nobody can really.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Amare will be the key in playoffs. He is not the MVP but he will be the reason why Suns is not Mavs. I won't say who will advance further but we need Amare to draw fouls in the end and to have a great inside presence.

Amare, you can start by practicing your foul shot!! Please.

 

[sunsfn]

I do not think the whole team was so tired, (in the 4th) I think Nash was exhausted because he has not played or practiced a lot lately.
The overtime and getting into 50 minutes, now that is when they all were tired.

Nash ran out of gas in the 4th quarter and we had no one to put in. Smush did not play well when he was in, and that was somewhat expected, hopefully he can learn how to play with this team in the next few days. I think Smuch can play if he has time to learn this team. He is big and strong and fast, but there may not be enough time for him, because the report is he will be gone when Barbosa comes back.

I was thinking that they should have rested Nash and let JJ play the point with Hunter or Voskuhl at center until later in the 4th, thenb Nash would have had some rest. Then knock down the little Italian a couple times and stop the going up the middle.

Defense, defense, when they were 17 points ahead, and the suns could have won this game.

If the suns would have had CJ, or Jackson had been here, they would have won this game.

 

[Wally]

I do not think the whole team was so tired, (in the 4th) I think Nash was exhausted because he has not played or practiced a lot lately.
The overtime and getting into 50 minutes, now that is when they all were tired.

Nash ran out of gas in the 4th quarter and we had no one to put in. Smush did not play well when he was in, and that was somewhat expected, hopefully he can learn how to play with this team in the next few days. I think Smuch can play if he has time to learn this team. He is big and strong and fast, but there may not be enough time for him, because the report is he will be gone when Barbosa comes back.

I was thinking that they should have rested Nash and let JJ play the point with Hunter or Voskuhl at center until later in the 4th, thenb Nash would have had some rest. Then knock down the little Italian a couple times and stop the going up the middle.

Defense, defense, when they were 17 points ahead, and the suns could have won this game.

If the suns would have had CJ, or Jackson had been here, they would have won this game.

I agree 99.9% ..... I would have let Hunter use up all his fouls. He was doing a good job on Duncan.

 

[jibikao]

The sad news is D'Antoni did want Nash to rest in the 4th quarter but I think Spurs made a 7-0 run within a minute!! Our lead just evaperated.

Smush came in a made a few turnovers.

I think Hunter should have come in and deny Manu's penetration but what is done is done. Hopefully D'Antoni doesn't make the same mistake again. Forcing Nash to play 40mins+ is just not a good idea.

I know everybody wish Nash could play full 48mins every game but that is not going to happen. Not in Suns' up tempo game. Nash's shots usually fall short in the playoffs 'cause Mavs was running him like a dog. We have to learn from our previous mistakes.

I don't know if Smush is better or not. It's unfair to make that kind of judgement but what I do know is when Barbosa comes back, he betters plays Shooting Guard.

 

[cly2tw]

The sad news is D'Antoni did want Nash to rest in the 4th quarter but I think Spurs made a 7-0 run within a minute!! Our lead just evaperated.

Smush came in a made a few turnovers.

I think Hunter should have come in and deny Manu's penetration but what is done is done. Hopefully D'Antoni doesn't make the same mistake again. Forcing Nash to play 40mins+ is just not a good idea.

I think DA was a victim of his own religion, "if we can run, nobody can keep up with us, thus we'll run all the time". Spurs not only kept up and they ran even better than us in the 4th quarter. The problem is DA didn't recognize other matchup advantages we had in size that night. With Hunter or Jake, we could have posted up either Amare against TD or Brown, which he did well both before and after that 0-7 run, or Hunter against Brown, or Q against Udrih/Barry. Well, JJ has size advantage to Manu too but that was not in it last night. Mind you, most of loss of the remaining 10pt lead was due to Spurs outrunning us in open court. Manu's isolation plays came mostly after the Suns' lead was gone.

 

[F-Dog]

This one reminded me of Cleveland--the Suns just ran out of gas. Marion's 3 was a great shot, but there was no way the Suns were going to win once the game went to OT.

The Suns have a pretty good excuse this time, though, since 2/3 of the bench (and all of the backup guards) were absent. Smush Parker played like he had a taxi waiting outside, presumably to take him back to the NBDL.

The Suns made an adjustment on defense that I really liked: they took Nash off of Tony Parker. The Spurs usually have a player out there that Nash can guard, Parker wasn't nearly as effective, and the switches made it tougher for the Spurs to catch up in transition in the first half. I hope this is a permanent move and not a concession to Nash's back.

Ginobili still owns Joe Johnson, no question. The Suns did a better job of stopping penetration than last game, but they couldn't identify the hot hand on the perimeter; Ginobili and then Brent Barry got open shots the Suns should have been conceding to other players.

I love to see Amare have big games against the Spurs. The Spurs may think they can win by controlling Steve Nash, but one of these games Amare is going to spring for 50 or 60 and the story will be different. Marion had a great game, too.


I guess I'm happy that the Suns looked good and competed...they need to start winning games, though. Hopefully they'll get back to wielding the dagger at the end once Barbosa and Jim Jackson start to get minutes.



Is it just me, or are the Spurs the new Lakers? They spend most of their time whining to the officials and flopping for cheap calls. (This was with Robert Horry in street clothes, too.) I'm still angry the officials overturned Amare's three-point play in the first half.

Duncan gets away with as much as any player in the league, I've noticed. If a Suns player went in for a layup and Duncan wasn't holding him down with the off hand, it was only because Duncan didn't get there fast enough.

 

[Errntknght]

TD has been getting away with that torso push with his off hand as long as I can remember. Lately he's added a new wrinkle, after he delivers the push he lifts his hand and holds it conspicuously as if to say, 'see, I ain't using it.' And then there's his look of incredulous innocence when he's called, followed by some pleading and whining. He's got all the fundamentals down pat.

 

[Joe Mama]

TD has been getting away with that torso push with his off hand as long as I can remember. Lately he's added a new wrinkle, after he delivers the push he lifts his hand and holds it conspicuously as if to say, 'see, I ain't using it.' And then there's his look of incredulous innocence when he's called, followed by some pleading and whining. He's got all the fundamentals down pat.

I know I said this the other day, but I honestly think Tim Duncan gets away with more fouls that are called great defense or a blocked shot and then the other player in the NBA. I think he's a great player. Don't get me wrong. I just think that if it wasn't for his defensive reputation he would be less effective for fouling out of a lot of games.

Now, I love the Tim Duncan look of disbelief when he is called for a foul. His eyes get huge then he holds both hands out like "what, what did I do?". A lot of players complained about the foul calls, but the ones that really annoy me are the guys that do it even when it is the most clear-cut, blatant foul. Same goes for the coaches. Too often TD falls into this category.

Joe Mama

 

[cly2tw]

Now, I love the Tim Duncan look of disbelief when he is called for a foul. His eyes get huge then he holds both hands out like "what, what did I do?". A lot of players complained about the foul calls, but the ones that really annoy me are the guys that do it even when it is the most clear-cut, blatant foul. Same goes for the coaches. Too often TD falls into this category.

Joe Mama

The Suns players don't know the art of acting yet. The way Manu was pushing and pulling JJ to deny him a low post position, JJ just needs to exaggerate his body reactions a little bit to get some calls in his favor. And Amare is always trying to power through. That's one reason we need Malone here, if only to teach our nice young and innocent guys some acting lessons.

 

[frdbtr]

This loss pisses me off so damn much. Blowing a 17 point lead going into the 4th quarter is friggin' unexcuseable.

I agree with this sentiment totally. I was unable to watch the game but was listening to it on the internet. One thing is completely clear to me now, this may be a good team and they are a lot of fun to watch/listen too but they are definately not a championship team yet. I hope this doesn't sound like whining or sour grapes but how many championship teams have 6 game losing streaks during the season? How many championship teams get outscored 40-23 in the 4th on their home floors. I love the suns and will chear them as far as they go this year but unless they get more depth so that the starters can stay off of the floor for more then 30 seconds without the back ups blowing leads, then I don't see a championship yet. However, in the next couple of years......

 

[Quagmire]

" how many championship teams have 6 game losing streaks during the season?"
Last years champion, the Pistons. I believe it was the ESPN announcer during the Spurs game that brought up this point.

 

[Joe Mama]

" how many championship teams have 6 game losing streaks during the season?"
Last years champion, the Pistons. I believe it was the ESPN announcer during the Spurs game that brought up this point.

And I believe the last Lakers team that won the championship had a losing record at this point in the season. They certainly played poorly until the last half of the season.

I really wouldn't put too much into the losing streak. They faced a tough stretch of games in a short amount of time without their best player. As soon as he came back the Suns played the best team in the NBA into overtime with absolutely no bench support.

Do I believe this is a championship caliber team right now? No, I do not. They have got to improve defensively if they are going to win a championship. But I've thought that the entire season. The losing streak played no part in that thinking.

Joe Mama

 

[Chaplin]

Do I believe this is a championship caliber team right now? No, I do not. They have got to improve defensively if they are going to win a championship. But I've thought that the entire season. The losing streak played no part in that thinking.

Joe Mama

I know we concentrate on the Suns, but outside of San Antonio, which teams in the NBA ARE championship-caliber? Even with all the naysayers, we have as good a chance for the championship as any Eastern team and most of the Western teams.

 

[elindholm]

Even with all the naysayers, we have as good a chance for the championship as any Eastern team and most of the Western teams.

I would tend to agree with that. If tragedy were to strike the Spurs (in other words, a serious injury to Duncan), I think the Suns would have probably as good a chance as anyone except Miami. Miami has the advantage of an easier road to the Finals.

However, the Wolves, Pacers, and Pistons are all teams that are in a better position to "get to the next level" than the Suns currently are. The Wolves need a healthy Cassell and to resolve their ego clashes, but that can happen. The Pistons need to rediscover their selfless attitude, and I think that will be difficult, but it's possible. The Pacers are missing Artest, but you never know if the league might decide to let him come back for the playoffs after all.

The Suns' problems aren't quite so easily solved, because they mainly have to do with personnel and experience, neither of which is likely to be satisfactorily addressed within the next few months.

 

[cly2tw]

The Suns' problems aren't quite so easily solved, because they mainly have to do with personnel and experience, neither of which is likely to be satisfactorily addressed within the next few months.

Well, with Malone, you kill two flies you mentioned with one clap. Well, actually three flies, since if we have him no other team we eventually face in the finals can have him.