Tonights Game FYI

[Nashfan]

Thanks Arizonasportsfan!

 

[mribnik]

Amare played 30 minutes tonight and he looked better as the game went on!!

 

[Treesquid PhD]

I will say a little prayer that amare has no swelling. yes iam that shallow, i pray for sports miracles.

 

[mribnik]

I found this little gem on a Laker board...

"Losing by 6 ot 8 to the suns minus our entire starting front line and 30% of our scoring!? Can you guys say championship?"

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

all i want is to see a boxscore...

 

[Nash]

It certainly would help to have some versatility vs. the Spurs, don't you think?

yeah, thats what I was alluding to in my question. I wasn't being sarcastic in asking that q.

I guess I disagree about "quite a few"--he's played 3 games with the Suns, only one of which was against an NBA team, not including this one.

alright guys..easy now. my bad! maybe I shoudn't have judged Banks based on 4 games. The reason I thought 4 games was "quite a few" was because 2 complete rookies in Marcus and Rondo have been consistently dishing
assists close to 9 per game.

Since Banks has been around the lig for 2 yrs, I expected him to be atleast as good as the rooks.
Considering how important it is to have a healthy Nash in the post season, I got pissd with Banks' lack of spark.

They keep calling JR "Junior Jones." I don't know why, but it kinda bugs me.

this is the first time a commentator has consistently referred to him as Junior Jones, so it was kinda weird. But then, you do know 'JR' stands for 'Junior' right? So can't quite blame the comm.

"Losing by 6 ot 8 to the suns minus our entire starting front line and 30% of our scoring!? Can you guys say championship?"

How sad is that?? I feel sorry for these guys..


nba.com has a pic of Nash driving past Farmar with the same look on his face that spawned a 1000 photoshops (remember?)
http://www.nba.com/gallery/20061015/061015_1.html

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

The reason I thought 4 games was "quite a few" was because 2 complete rookies in Marcus and Rondo have been consistently dishing
assists close to 9 per game.

Different types of players.

 

[mribnik]

yeah, thats what I was alluding to in my question. I wasn't being sarcastic in asking that q.



alright guys..easy now. my bad! maybe I shoudn't have judged Banks based on 4 games. The reason I thought 4 games was "quite a few" was because 2 complete rookies in Marcus and Rondo have been consistently dishing
assists close to 9 per game.

Since Banks has been around the lig for 2 yrs, I expected him to be atleast as good as the rooks.
Considering how important it is to have a healthy Nash in the post season, I got pissd with Banks' lack of spark.



this is the first time a commentator has consistently referred to him as Junior Jones, so it was kinda weird. But then, you do know 'JR' stands for 'Junior' right? So can't quite blame the comm.

Still sounds weird to me. I wouldn't worry Williams or Rondo either. It's preseason and the stats don't give you any indication of how they will play during the regular season. Of course, good stats are still better than bad ones. Banks has a tough job to do. Our offense is much more complex than it looks, and it'll take him time to get used to it.

It sounds like he hasn't looked so great offensively, but how has his defense looked?

 

[Cheesebeef]

Different types of players.

I guess the question is - aren't those the type of guys we need to back up Nash? I mean, if we already have Barbs to play the short off guard, scoring blur, what good does it do to have two short off guard blurs, especially when one of which appparently can't shoot?

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

I guess the question is - aren't those the type of guys we need to back up Nash? I mean, if we already have Barbs to play the short off guard, scoring blur, what good does it do to have two short off guard blurs, especially when one of which appparently can't shoot?

No arguement there. I thought we should have extended Barbs or signed Banks - not both.

That doesn't change the fact you should compare Banks to Rondo and Williams....


I still wish the Suns traded for Travis Deiner last year before the asking price went up

 

[Nash]

I guess the question is - aren't those the type of guys we need to back up Nash? I mean, if we already have Barbs to play the short off guard, scoring blur, what good does it do to have two short off guard blurs, especially when one of which appparently can't shoot?

exactly! you hit the nail on the head!
someone mentioned in an earlier post that Banks brings a different dimension to the team, so it wasn't favorable to compare him to pass first guards. With Nash out, we need a poor man's Nash on the floor to keep our fast paced offense running.

subpar preseason performance is ok for proven guys but I'd expect Banks to spill his guts and prove himself capable of backing up Nash.

As for Banks' defense, from what I've seen and heard, he is a good defender but not the kind of pest Bell is. That said, I hope Bell makes it to the All NBA first defensive team this year

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

someone mentioned in an earlier post that Banks brings a different dimension to the team, so it wasn't favorable to compare him to pass first guards. With Nash out, we need a poor man's Nash on the floor to keep our fast paced offense running.

subpar preseason performance is ok for proven guys but I'd expect Banks to spill his guts and prove himself capable of backing up Nash.

As for Banks' defense, from what I've seen and heard, he is a good defender but not the kind of pest Bell is. That said, I hope Bell makes it to the All NBA first defensive team this year

Banks is a huge pest on D - just as much as Bell. He hasn't shown it consistantly though - hopefully he does this season.

I disagree with the need to bring a poor man's nash in to back up nash. Your second unit does NOT need to duplicate your first unit. In fact, it is often better to have multiple kinds of offenses to throw at a defense. For example, if Nash can't lead the running game against a D, why would we want a poor mans nash coming in as a backup?

Basketball is about balance. Banks is more of an offense intiator than Barbosa - that is the main difference between the two. Barbosa doesn't intiate an offense at all, he just needs the ball in order to score like most 2 guards. Banks however is a score first PG - he can run an offense, just not the same way as Nash.

 

[Nash]

No arguement there. I thought we should have extended Barbs or signed Banks - not both.

That doesn't change the fact you should compare Banks to Rondo and Williams....


I still wish the Suns traded for Travis Deiner last year before the asking price went up

why is it wrong to compare the production of Banks with Marcus or Rondo? Atleast Marcus is more of a half court guy who doesn't have outstanding speed. Rondo on the other hand, flourishes on the open court...he suffered in Kentucky from being stifled by Tubby's deliberate style. He is a defensive stud as well and is working on his shooting.

Oh no! Please don't bring up Diener. I've been hollering along with you all off season to get that dude here. He would be damn good with the Suns. In fact he doesn't stand a chance in Orlando with Jameer Nelson and Carlos Arroyo ahead of him.
Trade proposal : Burke for Diener
Diener was a 2nd round pick, so I'm sure their salaries match..

 

[mribnik]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=261015013

Finally!

Amare with 15, 9, 5 steals and 2 blocks.

 

[Sundance]

Not the best of nights for Banks:

Min: 23

FG : 0-7
3pt: 0-4

3 assists
4 turnovers


Total Points: 1

 

[Errntknght]

I'm not very worried about Banks offense. In the Philly game his shot selection and shooting weren't good but he kept his head up when he drove and made passes in traffic so he's an improvement on Barbosa in that regard. In that game he was running the offense just fine. He was keeping the tempo up, too. His D was a bit of a disappointment to me after all the good things we've heard so thats what I'm going to keep my eye on.

I suspect he's a little anxious shooting the ball - he probably doesn't really know how to play with a green light. We've got to give him some time to get used to it. He shot over 48% from the field last year so that means he's capable of good shot selection. What I liked so far is that he seems to go all the way to the rim and pick up more fouls than Barbs does when he drives. I think in one game he shot 10 FTs.

 

[CaptainInsano]

You know I just thought about something, with the suns having to get used to the new ball, and this I believe being their first game back from international where there is a completely different spaced and looking court (and I think the international 3 line is shorter) maybe jumping to conlclusions about Banks shooting is a bit premature.

Basically the whole team except raja and marion (with marion just chucking up 1 out of 2) shot complete garbage for 3's. We finished with 25% for 3. I say give it a game or two until they get Reprogrammed back to the US court.

 

[Nash]

alright y'all, 1:40 highlights video of last night's game is up on nba.com

 

[George O'Brien]

I'm disappointed that Banks has not been as effective from the start, but it is still early days. My suspicion is that he's trying too hard which often leads to guys tightening up. He may need just one or two good games to get his rhythm.

I'm more concerned that the Suns seem to be having so much trouble shooting three pointers. Getting Amare back will give them an alternative to shooting 15 threes every game, but they have to hit a good percentage to make the D'Antoni system work.

 

[Chaplin]

I just read that the team took 19 hours to fly home from Germany last week and some were still suffering from jetlag. Add to that the fact that Banks missed the practice the day before because of a death in the family (or of a friend). Considering it is only his 4th game in a Suns uniform, I think we can all give him the benefit of the doubt right now.

 

[Nash]

I just read that the team took 19 hours to fly home from Germany last week and some were still suffering from jetlag. Add to that the fact that Banks missed the practice the day before because of a death in the family (or of a friend). Considering it is only his 4th game in a Suns uniform, I think we can all give him the benefit of the doubt right now.

yes. I read that piece too. He flew in to NV earlier than the rest of the team because he had to attend the funeral of his grandmother. That loss could have been the reason his game was completely off against the LAL.

Here's to hoping and praying he can fight through these tough times.

 

[nowagimp]

I'm more concerned that the Suns seem to be having so much trouble shooting three pointers. Getting Amare back will give them an alternative to shooting 15 threes every game, but they have to hit a good percentage to make the D'Antoni system work.

Is it the ball? 3 pt shots have the least margin for error, the touch must be right. Are these guys having problems with the changing grip of the ball? They may get used to it, but if not, it could lead to a reduction in shooting percentage. It could be that FG% across the NBA this year drops as the players adjust to the new ball, not good for the suns, who rely on outside shooting to produce spacing. NBA play happens at a frenetic pace and the suns are the most frenzied attack. Adjusting to a new ball (and grip characteristics) could be most problematic for teams that catch and shoot quickly or handle the ball with speed and pass alot. It could also mean that turnovers go up due to changing grip(wet slip) during the game. In the long run maybe the new ball is good for the game, but in the short run, it may hurt the efficiency of the offensive game. If this is so, I can understand why Nash is not happy with the new ball.