We win it all this year

[Arizona's Finest]

That post made Gee's look like Chaucer.

I think we need to set those two up.

ASFN eharmony anybody?

LOL DDOGG - you netbanger!

 

[D-Dogg]

LOL DDOGG - you netbanger!

 

[The Risen Phoenix]

Reality Check

Look. The Suns are in deep trouble. Not a bad team, but not built to win the championship. The team looked rather pedestrian last night. The Lakers have fresher legs, better shooting, better defense, better free throw shooting, and a DEEPER bench.

What will the Suns do when teams go to the "Hack-a-Shack" late in the game? Shaq at the line is a LIABILITY.

We have no answer for Kobe. Strawberry could offer some support, but it's a long shot.

The only hope the Suns have if they face the Lakers in the playoffs is if Bynum comes back and disrupts their chemistry, or they suffer an injury.

The Suns need another defensive presence and a deadly 3-pt. shooter coming off the bench. Someone like JJ Redick.

I just don't see how anyone can think that the Suns are equipt to beat L.A. right now.

 

[BeeBeard]

That post made Gee's look like Chaucer.

Considering that a lot of Chaucer is just fart jokes and innuendo, that's not very high praise.

 

[abomb]

Considering that a lot of Chaucer is just fart jokes and innuendo, that's not very high praise.

 

[jlove]

Yeah, they did kind of look pedestrian last night. Did you not think that they wouldn't for the most part going into the game, no matter who they were playing? Shaq and the team aren't fully acclamated to each other yet. Shaq even said it himself after the game. He was lost a quite a few plays last night. As far as Gasol beating the Suns down the floor, etc. If he's playing against Amare the whole time, he doesn't get that open. Period. Amare has and always will dominate against Gasol when he plays against him. Gasol was out running because Shaq was on him, plain and simple. Give the Suns about a week, then we will see how good they are and then compare them to the Lakers, Spurs, Celtics, etc. Plus, we still don't know who the Suns are gonna get today in trade.

 

[The Risen Phoenix]

Yeah, they did kind of look pedestrian last night. Did you not think that they wouldn't for the most part going into the game, no matter who they were playing? Shaq and the team aren't fully acclamated to each other yet. Shaq even said it himself after the game. He was lost a quite a few plays last night. As far as Gasol beating the Suns down the floor, etc. If he's playing against Amare the whole time, he doesn't get that open. Period. Amare has and always will dominate against Gasol when he plays against him. Gasol was out running because Shaq was on him, plain and simple. Give the Suns about a week, then we will see how good they are and then compare them to the Lakers, Spurs, Celtics, etc. Plus, we still don't know who the Suns are gonna get today in trade.

I see your point about waiting another week. Let's just see how the Suns gel down the stretch and how the Lakers gel when Bynum comes back. Let's wait to see what personnel we have.
At the end of March we will be able to say "what we see is what we get" for the Suns. Then we can make a comparison to the Lakers and we'll be able to better predict how we matchup in the playoffs. It definitely will be interesting.

 

[jandaman]

The Lakers shot the ball really well last night, they went toe to toe with the Suns on the offensive end. What they were able to do were get stops near crucial stages, just when you think the Suns can get momentum, they pull a defensive stop/steal and score twice in a row.


Suns looked to be playing catch up all night and thats not good for a team that doesnt play defense, as you basically have to be white hot and/or the other team has to go cold.


No defensive wing could do much with Kobe last night, you simply have to force him give the ball up. One on One coverage with any of the Suns players was insufficient. As some said, the physical, wing defender would do wonders.


O'Neal looked awkward early, but when he got rolling showed he can play in this team, he has great passing skills and the big body does help significantly inside. Sure Gasol and Odom scored a lot, but thats due to 2 factors, Gasol scored a lot when he was being guarded by a smaller man and when he beat Shaq by running.
Second, Odom has a habit of just killing the Suns, he thrives agains the Suns because they allow him to put the ball down, Odom is 6'10 who is quick and very good at handling the ball for that size... you have to play him close and out muscle him... coincidently Nowitski does the same.

Diaw isnt physical enough, Stoudemire is strong but Odom still drives pass him easily, he doesnt have quick lateral movement. Marion was 3 inches too short when they matched up. Basically you need a 6'9~6'10 player who is quick.. or a really physical 6'7~6'8 guy.

Fischer is gold for the Lakers system. He will kill you outside if you give him the look but will also dribble the ball around well enough till the team can find the good shot. Nash doing his usual will not work on Fischer who will hit crucial shots when the Lakers need it.

 

[WuRaider]

Half Empty: We got the Shaq leftovers. He kicked our ass all those Laker years and never did I imagine that he would become a Sun. In his prime, every time the ball went to him in the post, the defense would brace themselves. Now, you just hope he does something positive.

Half Full: I wanted Shaq to get some burn before the Laker game because I knew there would be a ton of mistakes made out of confusion. We only lost by 4 when I thought we would lose by about 12. They didn't have Bynum but I think Shaq's bulk will hamper him some. The Lakers are a REALLY good team because they have the best player along with some great pieces around him. But if Shaq can get in better condition and keep the same pace he had in the 2nd half, I don't see how we lose a series. Can't wait till the Boston game!

 

[Stout]

I was observing his body language, his movements and his facial reactions last night, very closely. And i know there had to be at least 4 or 5 instances where Shaq whinced or grimaced like he was experiencing some form of discomfort/pain. What i thought was very interesting was the fact that when he went to mid-court for the initial jumpball, he was grimacing then. Did anyone else catch this ? This diving, and hustling for loose balls, while impressive, had to aggravate that hip. Im very interested to see how he holds up over the next three weeks.

Um, no. I watched the whole game, and noticed nothing of the sort. I saw him grimace a few times, but it was in situations where he didn't look comfortable, as if he wasn't in synch with what the team was doing. Never once did I see him appear hurt at all. If his hip was bothering him, he would not have been playing balls-to-the-wall like he was.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

And the Lakers were without Andrew Bynum (nightly double-double who would be gathering up some of those boards that went our way) and the game was in Phoenix. We desperately need another perimeter defender and a shooter if the goal is to win a title.

This is how I feel as well. We need another defender off the bench who can hit the 3.

 

[az1965]

And the Lakers were without Andrew Bynum (nightly double-double who would be gathering up some of those boards that went our way) and the game was in Phoenix. We desperately need another perimeter defender and a shooter if the goal is to win a title.

And the Lakers were playing the 2nd game of back to back...

 

[D-Dogg]

And the Lakers were playing the 2nd game of back to back...

The starters rested the entire fourth in that one that they blew out in the first half. Still had a minor effect, but not like as if they played a tough game, then flew cross country.

 

[ArizonaSportsFan]

And the Lakers were playing the 2nd game of back to back...

In this case, I would rather had it be the Suns on the second night of a back-to-back. Their record after layoffs (anything more than one night) is terrible. But I called that before the game. They actually shot well for the game, but the first half wasn't good.

Obviously Bynum has become a nice player, but the Lakers still aren't allowed to play 6 players (refs excluded, of course ). The Lakers were awfully efficient last night. How do they get even more efficient with Bynum in? VladRad spread the floor, which helped. Vujacic spread the floor, which helped. I am sure they could squeeze out something somewhere, but it is not like suddenly the Lakers will score 150 and play lights-out defense because Bynum has returned.

 

[Hat]

Um, no. I watched the whole game, and noticed nothing of the sort. I saw him grimace a few times, but it was in situations where he didn't look comfortable, as if he wasn't in synch with what the team was doing. Never once did I see him appear hurt at all. If his hip was bothering him, he would not have been playing balls-to-the-wall like he was.

Totally agree. If Shaq was in pain, he wouldn't run full steam down the court, 4th quarter, after Kobe goal-tended him.

 

[Cheesewater]

Totally agree. If Shaq was in pain, he wouldn't run full steam down the court, 4th quarter, after Kobe goal-tended him.

I saw that and we watched it over and over. Shaquille literally SPRINTED down the court. It was very impressive.

 

[Hat]

I saw that and we watched it over and over. Shaquille literally SPRINTED down the court. It was very impressive.

Seeing that happen gave me a huge boost of confidence in him. He also seemed to energize the team like "Hey guys, we're still in this!"

 

[KOBEnPAU]

Lakers,2007-2008 Champions.

 

[Stout]

Lakers,2007-2008 Champions.

Dang, I thought you were pulling a Borat lengthy pause. Since you aren't, I'll supply the part you forgot.

NOT!

 

[cly2tw]

We'd have won the game had Nash and LB stayed close to Fisher and Vujanic every time they were parked behind 3pt line. They still have the habit of earlier gimmick defense trying to steal the balls and helping and scrambling. With Shaq in there, we could stick to one-on-one defense now.

 

[arwillan]

???? Bynum back creates loads of matchup problems for you. We had Lamar Odom and Vlad guarding Amare...no rebounder in there to speak of. With Bynum, the spacing sets up so that Amare doesn't get flash rebounds. The rebounds tail off, we have better interior defense with shot blocking and the pick and roll can work with either Bynum or Gasol, both excel at it.

Oh, and Diaw over vlad, uh...no. Vlad is 13th in the leage in 3pt% right now, and has been aggressive going to the hole. Skinner and Turiaf a wash? Ronny avg's 6.7 in 17 minutes, and Skinner 3.6 in 14 minutes...both have similar block and rebound numbers with Ronny the much better passer (and only in his second year, getting better).

Your bench consists of barbs (who is practically a starter). Ours is 10 deep.

And Ariza takes Luke's spot when healthy, which gives more defense, better spacing and athleticism.

Gasol will do just fine offensively against Amare...he's not a good defender. Amare will score his, as well.

I have no clue where you are coming from with your thought process, other than hope, but saying that Bynum back on the court for the Lakers makes you match up better with us is silliness. It puts Grant Hill on Lamar, where Lamar will eat him alive. Marion couldn't guard Lamar...there's no way Hill does.

when bynum comes back, lamar will probably fade like he always does because he is the 4th option with kobe, gasol, and bynum ahead of him. lamar may be able to post up hill, but might he think twice about doing so knowing that shaq and amare will be shadowing ready to swat any shot he may put up? amare can do just fine on gasol. he is a perfectly average defender when he can guard people of the same size as him. the people who go off on him are people like duncan, yao, etc. pao is more like dirk, who amare can stay with just fine. pao loses his speed advantage with amare on him. Also keep this in mind: if bynum is on the block against shaq, and you want lamar down there on hill, where is there room for gasol to play the post? either he is forced to be a jump shooter, or lamar is. both of those things work back to our favor. Ariza will be coming off the bench, unless you start him over odom. from our bench, there is nobody he will guard that will have any huge impact. he can stay on diaw, who has the advantage in the post. he can't stay with barbosa, either. so really, unless you start him, his defense won't have any real impact. if you take odom off the bench, you get lamar and diaw on him at all times which slows him down quite a bit. now that Straw gets minutes, he can stick with sasha. linton johnson can also help with that, as well as on kobe. one more thing: to say the suns bench consists of barbosa is garbage talk. Skinner is a quality player, diaw is as good as he wants to be and has been better as of late, and DJ/Johnson are both very good defenders.

 

[Stout]

I took flak for this, and then our season started to go into the crapper, IMO. I took flak for that as well, commenting out of pessimism. You know what? A game like tonight is just what the doctor ordered to get that optimism a-flowin' again. If we can maintain a good deal of consistency, we can be dangerous, baby. I think it's time to bump this thread up a little.