Tough road ahead

[Griffin]

Starting with the Saturday game, we play seven games over the span of 11 days (including four games in five nights), of which five are away (including two sets of back-to-backs with the second game on the road both times).

Houston
@ Detroit
@ Boston
@ Philadelphia
@ New Jersey (second night b2b, last game on road trip)
Denver
@ Denver (second night b2b)

I hope we are ready.

 

[arwillan]

i saw the back to back with denver the other night, i'm very worried about that. we all know that 2 games can do to you in the west. I also fear denver because they are hungry for that last playoff spot and will most likely play their butts off.

 

[mojorizen7]

If we can go 5-2 at the end of that stretch it would be a success IMO.

 

[Bufalay]

I am making the 4 hour drive to go to that NJ game on the 29th.

 

[Darth Llama]

If we can go 5-2 at the end of that stretch it would be a success IMO.

I think you will.

 

[arwillan]

i think we'll lose to denver once and to detroit (though i really would love for us to beat detroit). The rest shouldn't be all too bad.

 

[mojorizen7]

It'd sure be nice to have the CELTICS beat the Hornets and then go home feeling really good about themselves after beating the 7Sixers and have a let down when we roll into town.
I get the feeling though that the

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might remember the beating they took from the SUNS about a month ago and not overlook us.
They might get beat by the 7Sixers though.

 

[elindholm]

I'm guessing 3-4 and would be quite satisfied with 4-3. That is a brutal stretch. 5-2 would leave me delirious.

 

[TucsonDevil]

The sad truth is this, the Suns can't afford to lose games anymore - especially during this stretch. None of those teams are in the WC playoffs today, so winning just keeps pace with everyone else and doesn't worsen the outlook for our direct competitors. Losing drops the Suns like a stone in the standings. Remember, 4 losses could eliminate us from the playoffs (not that it would, but it could).

I believe we will drop the second b2b in Denver due to tired legs and higher altitude. They need to win the rest!

 

[Kody Rumin]

Houston - I think the Suns are better than the Rockets, but they are still a tough team to play.

Detroit - They killed Phoenix last time, and have done pretty well against the Suns over the last few years. Of course, Detroit does seem to take a night off every now and then.

Boston - It won't be as easy as the last win over them. Boston is very good at home, and might have revenge on their mind.

Philly - After losing to them earlier this season, you can't overlook them too much. But I think Phoenix will be ready to get their win back.

New Jersey - The easiest game of this trip. I don't fear them.

Denver - We will win at least one against them. I'd probably bet on both.

All of these games will be tougher without Bell though. I don't know how long he is out, but at least for several of these games.

 

[jbeecham]

We might want to lose to NJ to help them stay ahead of the Hawks for that last playoff spot.

 

[arwillan]

The sad truth is this, the Suns can't afford to lose games anymore - especially during this stretch. None of those teams are in the WC playoffs today, so winning just keeps pace with everyone else and doesn't worsen the outlook for our direct competitors. Losing drops the Suns like a stone in the standings. Remember, 4 losses could eliminate us from the playoffs (not that it would, but it could).

I believe we will drop the second b2b in Denver due to tired legs and higher altitude. They need to win the rest!

Houston is in the playoffs as of today, still. I think we can afford to lose to Boston simply because we already know how to beat them (as we did last game). We need to beat the pistons to prove that we can, we need to beat the sixers because they beat us last time, and we really need to beat denver because our defense was terrible last time we played them (especially on the 3-pt line).

 

[scXfreakX]

Not looking forward to this trip. Without Bell, we'll need Barbosa, Giri, and even DJ to be ready. We'll need big games from them if they can't provide any defense. I would like to see DJ get some time because he is a better defender than Barbosa and Giri. But it wont happen.

The Denver back to back is brutal. Boston definitely scares me. After a sweep of the texas triangle, what can't this team do? Houston I think we can take, I really do. But without Bell makes me somewhat nervous.

 

[TucsonDevil]

Houston is in the playoffs as of today, still.

Sorry, I was looking at this from "road trip" point of view.

 

[arwillan]

Sorry, I was looking at this from "road trip" point of view.

oh gotcha.

 

[Covert Rain]

This is it fellas. There is no more time left to experiment etc. By the end of this trip Suns fans should know if this team is a contender or pretender. I called out in a post a few weeks back this part of the schedule was due or die time. I was thinking around the Detroit game.

So, if we play .500 ball on this trip, I would have to say we probably are not going to get very far in the playoffs. If we post a good winning percentage or dominate on this trip, I will feel very good about our chances.

I think either way most of us should have a clearer feel for this team when this stretch is done.

 

[arwillan]

I think either way most of us should have a clearer feel for this team when this stretch is done.

 

[nash2crosby]

Wow, this is make or break time. Will Shaq intimidate Boston's shooting again, and what effect will he have on Detroit? With Bell gone aren't we lucky to have Giricek? Will Nash go for more threes to break down Boston's awesome defense, and will Shaq get get lots of offensive rebounds? Hopefully we're a team they won't recognize.

 

[jbeecham]

Well if we beat Houston tonight and Boston beats New Orleans tonight then we'll go from the #5 seed to the #2 seed.

 

[Hat]

Well if we beat Houston tonight and Boston beats New Orleans tonight then we'll go from the #5 seed to the #2 seed.

It doesn't work like that.

 

[jbeecham]

It doesn't work like that.

Yeah, the Lakers would be #1, We'd be #2, NO would be #3 & Utah would be #4. Division winners are guaranteed one of the top 4 seeds, but teams are still ordered by their record.

 

[Hat]

NO

Re-read how standings work.

Division leaders get top 4 seeds in western conf. We have to pass Lakers in order to get a top 4 seed.

Confusing, yes I know...blame Mark Cuban

 

[jbeecham]

NO

Re-read how standings work.

Division leaders get top 4 seeds in western conf. We have to pass Lakers in order to get a top 4 seed.

Confusing, yes I know...blame Mark Cuban

NO

There are only 3 divisions and therefore only 3 division winners. A 4th team that is not a divison winner also gets into the top 4 (right now it is Houston). If we win tonight and Boston beats New Orleans then we will have a better record than NO & Houston so Houston drops to 5th place, We move to 2nd & NO is 3rd.......still 3 division winners in the top 4 (LA #1, NO #3 & Utah #4) and teams are ordered by record.

 

[Bufalay]

NO

Re-read how standings work.

Division leaders get top 4 seeds in western conf. We have to pass Lakers in order to get a top 4 seed.

Confusing, yes I know...blame Mark Cuban

There are only 3 divisions. Notice that in the current standings there are 2 teams from the southwest in the top 4 (NO and HOU). If the Suns win tonight, then they pass both of those teams and the standings look like

1. LA
2. PHX
3. NO
4. UTA

In the old scheme the top 3 seeds are all division leaders in which case we'd have

1. LA
2. NO
3. UTA
4. PHX

So I wouldn't "blame" Mark Cuban. I would thank him for moving the Suns from 4 to 2.

 

[Hat]

My bad...meant 3 divisions. I understood that if you lead the division, you will atleast get a top 3 spot (still by record on how they order it).

I don't understand why two teams in the same division have a top 4 spot?