Toronto@Phoenix

[devilalum]

The Suns suck!

There may be a light at the end of the tunnel but this team is bad.

Just as easily as this team could sign a couple of players and turn it around next year they could be in the lotto for the next 4 years. Every team that makes the lotto thinks they're gonna turn it around.

I once heard Jerry talking about being in the lotto during the 80's and how hard it is to get out of it once you get in. During the interview he swore he would do everything in his power to keep from going back.

Sorry, I just thought somebody needed to stick a pin in all the optimism. This team is a LOSER.

But hey look at the bright side, Jerry's gonna save lots of money. We should all be proud to root for a team that's fiscally responsible.

 

[Billythekid]

1 freethrow attempt by Shawn and Joe combined is freakin terrible!

This team needs help. We're really bad

KOBE + Someone who can rebound! Please! We need you! j/k (please, i don't want to start anything to do with salaries or court cases... just a joke)

 

[George O'Brien]

I was pretty upset with the game, but maybe it was just one of those nights. While it is true that Peterson had a huge number of wide open looks in the first half, in the second half the Raptors were hitting shots even when they were well defened. It seemed like every fall away jumper they were taking was going in.

The Suns have a young team and it was obvious they were totally demoralized by the way the Raptors were shooting. Nothing the Suns did made the slightest difference in even slowing them down -- and it is pretty hard to run the break when you are always getting ball after a made shot.

In any case, the Raptors packed in the middle and the Suns were not shooting well after a great start.

The Suns got killed on the boards AGAIN. While some of this is due to "small ball", it is just as much about their inability to block out because they are always trapping.

The Suns are going to have to learn to play tough man defense if they are ever going to be a good team. Double teaming always leaves someone open. For example, Mo Peterson is averaging only 41.3% from the field, but averages 40.4% for three's. He can't shoot unless he is left open and he is pretty accurate if he is open. Yet the Suns consistently left Peterson to double team guys like Milt Palacio who only shoots 35.3% from the field and 9% for 3.

On a side note, Donyell Marshall's performance against the Suns is no fluke. Since going to the Raptors, he went from 8.7 ppg to 17.5 ppg and his shooting percentage went from 41.9 % to 50.1%. He is a very good outside shooter, so it is not surprising that Amare had a lot of trouble defending him.

The irony is that as bad as the Suns shot, their overall season shooting percentage is 44.1% compared to only 42% by the Raptors. But while the Raptor's opponents shoot 42.4%, Suns opponents shoot 44.2%. Curiously both the Suns and the Raptors are outrebounded by an average of 4 rpg, but the Raptors got 9 more rebounds in the matchup.

 

[Joe Mama]

Great post George. I really did not understand why the Suns didn't play man-to-man most of the game last night. The raptors get most of their points from outside shooting. Other than Vince Carter they don't have any great one-on-one scorers. They aren't a very big team. That double team, trapping defense frequently left the Phoenix Suns out of position for rebounds, and more importantly left the raptors' shooters wide open. JJ should have been defending Vince Carter. I couldn't believe how Carter kept driving right by Shawn Marion like he wasn't even there.

I also include George that it was probably very demoralizing when the raptors kept making their shots even when they were defended extremely well.

I'll also point out that the Suns would have won that game easily if there big men, specifically Little Jake and Amare, would not have missed so many open shots close to the basket, Shawn Marion also had some ugly, and untimely turnovers late in the game.

Devilalum mentioned something Jerry Colangelo said a longtime ago about teams getting "stuck" in the lottery. It's even worse in today's NBA because players in the draft are generally young and raw. Up until the last five or six years a team could expect that their top draft pick would contribute sooner rather than later. So far it looks like Okafor will be the only experienced big man in the lottery.

Oh well, at least the Suns are making an interesting. I sure wish they would pull out some of these games for the sake of their own psyche, but at least they aren't getting blown out every night.

Joe Mama

 

[NDSunsfan]

I have found that the Suns have become virtually unwatchable. Even when the look good, it's such a surprise you know it won't last. They might have the 3rd or 4th worst record in the league, and that's because they are the 3rd or 4th worst team. I can't imagine them being any worse.

The feeling I get when I watch them, is they're a little high school playing with 10th graders, playing against a bunch of bigger schools with older, more talented kids. They hang around for a while, then are just completely outclassed. They have no vocal leader on the floor. They have no presence inside. They have so many weaknesses right now, they can draft or sign just about anybody, and it will be an upgrade.....

All I can think is I really wasted my $149 bucks on the NBA package, I can't even bring myself to watch the Suns very much......

Brad

 

[scotsman13]

yes jerry said a long time ago that once you get into the lottery that it is hard to get out. but he last year that the draft was very inportant to build a team. free agents are harder then ever to get and trades are harder to do. so if you are going to build a successful team you have to work on a couple of things. first getting young players who will develop over time into better or star players (the bulls are a good exmaple of a team that gets players who dont develop). another important key is not loosing the knowledge of winning. this maybe the most important key to a successful team. teams with less basketball knowledge or talent can still be successful if they dont loose the winningness to win as a team, to do whatever it takes to win. has this team lost the kwonledge or talent to win games? i honestly dont know but i do think that we are maybe being a little hard on the youngest team in the nba, also a team that has had some really bad injury problems and on top of all this very little time to practice together. collins said last night that amare had practice only 1 in 9 weeks that will make it very hard on the team and on his shooting.

personally i am not going to judge this team until next year after they have had a full training camp together and sometime around early dec.. at this time i look to see if the team is playing hard, and watching the games i would honestly say yes they are playing hard and the biggest problem that they are facing is they are very young and have been handed a lot of set backs this season on playing successful.

 

[George O'Brien]

Originally posted by scotsman13

personally i am not going to judge this team until next year after they have had a full training camp together and sometime around early dec.. at this time i look to see if the team is playing hard, and watching the games i would honestly say yes they are playing hard and the biggest problem that they are facing is they are very young and have been handed a lot of set backs this season on playing successful.

I think they are generally playing hard. The disconcerting part is that they are not playing smart on a consistent basis. Overall, I think the physical talent is there but not the mental toughness. I keep hoping they will gain it with experience, but it is frustrating.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Originally posted by Joe Mama
JJ should have been defending Vince Carter. I couldn't believe how Carter kept driving right by Shawn Marion like he wasn't even there.

Because JJ played such great defense on Mo Pete we should have given him Carter.

Marion had held Carter until the 4th quarter when everything came undone.

 

[George O'Brien]

Originally posted by Chris_Sanders
Because JJ played such great defense on Mo Pete we should have given him Carter.

Marion had held Carter until the 4th quarter when everything came undone.

Carter hit several incredible shots. I'm not sure it matters who is on him - when a guy of his talent gets hot, he is impossible to stop.

The tough thing is that the Suns offense lost discipline near the end, so there was no response to the way Carter was shooting. Also, the Raptors grabbed some key offensive rebounds the hurt big time.

 

[Joe Mama]

Originally posted by Chris_Sanders
Because JJ played such great defense on Mo Pete we should have given him Carter.

Marion had held Carter until the 4th quarter when everything came undone.

Please. Peterson got 90% of his points by finding soft spots (the corners of the three-point territory) in the Phoenix zone/double-team defense. This Carter drove right by Shawn Marion like Marion had his feet glued to the floor at least 10 times last night.

Joe Mama

 

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by Joe Mama
Please. Peterson got 90% of his points by finding soft spots (the corners of the three-point territory) in the Phoenix zone/double-team defense. This Carter drove right by Shawn Marion like Marion had his feet glued to the floor at least 10 times last night.

Joe Mama

Marion did a great job on Vince Carter in the first half. That's a fact.

 

[F-Dog]

I thought the first half of this game was great--both JJ and Amare were productive at the same time (and Voskuhl too!), the substitutions were solid, and the team played great defense on Vince Carter. The only major problem I could see was a failure to recognize MoPete at the corner and get over to him quicker in the trap.

Of course, the wheels fell off in the second half.


It seems like the Suns keep finding new ways to lose...