What happened to Marion?

[Greg Popovich]

He was incredible--in the first half.

But something happened to him in the second.

I don't know enough about Suns basketball theory or strategy.

Did Coach D. do something which effected his play in the second half, or was it more a matter of him being tired or the way SA defended against him in the second?

 

[The Man In Black]

They stopped going to him for a time and Pop countered by going small with his lineup negating the speed advantage that Marion had.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

He was incredible--in the first half.

But something happened to him in the second.

I don't know enough about Suns basketball theory or strategy.

Did Coach D. do something which effected his play in the second half, or was it more a matter of him being tired or the way SA defended against him in the second?

They talked about it on the Suns post game show. Popovich adjusted his defensive schemes so the Suns sought to exploit Kurt Thomas on the pick and roll instead of Marion. Unfortunately it was slightly less successful (not that KT had a bad game).

I am also guessing he blew a ton of energy in the first half and was a bit gassed come the second half.

In the post game Popovich was talking about how Marion was killing them and they had to focus on him.

 

[Hat]

Popovich's big fat greasy nose distracted him.

 

[azirish]

The pick and roll to KT was a bit ragged, but it worked reasonably well. I would have worked even better if it weren't for the league rule that no calls can be made against Duncan.

 

[jpjapes]

They stopped feeding him the ball and then resorted to how the suns usually treat Marion (as a garbage-picker type player)

DA shoulda been feeding Shawn more in the second half

 

[azirish]

Actually Shawn had some shots in the second half that looked good but didn't go in. I think the strategy of going to KT who sets better picks was a sound one, it's just that they did not have the timing.

 

[The Man In Black]

When they focused on giving the ball to Thomas, Thomas "popped" more than "rolled". Pick and pop's are fine as long as you make your jumpshots, but the negative is that if your the primary post player and you miss that jump shot...you have a longer distance to cover to gather the rebound. Pop played the percnetages and felt that KT was going to start missing those shots and since he played more minutes than normal (You could hear that he was a little tired in the just before halftime interview), that his legs might be letting him down a bit. IMHO that is when he should've went back to Marion.

Since I know that Nashie played soccer a lot of soccer, I can guarantee that his fitness level must be very high. I think he will be ready no matter what come Friday, the other guys I'm not too sure except for Barbosa for the same reason.
A little off-topic but if you let your kids play soccer at an early age, they build good endurance, learn team play and angles, and develop moves that could benefit any other sport they play. Wanna know why Nash is so "shifty"? That's the reason right there. In fact, there is a whole bunch of players who played soccer as their primary sport before making basketball #1. Besides Nash, Parker, Ginobili, Nowitzki and going back a bit, Olajuwon, and my favorite PG growing up, Randy Smith.

 

[ma_falaa_50]

There is no excuse, if he was hot then he should have called for the ball. I know its a "team game" but stars want the ball in there hands when it counts. Shawn will bitch about he unappreciated, who cares?!!! YOu play to win and thats it. You dont play to gain respect. you play to win the game.
Shawn is beggining to sound like Kobe wihtout he offensive game. what does he do during the offseason? His game hasnt improved since he got into the league.

you know he is going to slack off in game 6.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

There is no excuse, if he was hot then he should have called for the ball. I know its a "team game" but stars want the ball in there hands when it counts. Shawn will bitch about he unappreciated, who cares?!!! YOu play to win and thats it. You dont play to gain respect. you play to win the game.
Shawn is beggining to sound like Kobe wihtout he offensive game. what does he do during the offseason? His game hasnt improved since he got into the league.

you know he is going to slack off in game 6.

Tonight's "bad fan" award goes to....

 

[Strike]

Popovich's big fat greasy nose distracted him.

Didn't the pockmarked grill as a whole have something to do with it?

I'm a die-hard Spurs fan, but I still refer to dude as "Pizzafaceovith" or "Pockovich" from time to time.

 

[ma_falaa_50]

you guys can ban me, ignore me and call me a troll but We know shawn's MO. He disapears when phx plays San Antonio. He hasnt adapted his game the last three yrs to able to contribute whenever Phx plays the spurs. There really is no excuse. This is a game of adjustments and obviusly San Antonio adjusted to shawn but he didnt adjust to them.

Let him complain his DPOY crap on another team. His 16 million salary is too muc for someone that disappears in moments that count.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

you guys can ban me, ignore me and call me a troll but We know shawn's MO. He disapears when phx plays San Antonio. He hasnt adapted his game the last three yrs to able to contribute whenever Phx plays the spurs. There really is no excuse. This is a game of adjustments and obviusly San Antonio adjusted to shawn but he didnt adjust to them.

Let him complain his DPOY crap on another team. His 16 million salary is too muc for someone that disappears in moments that count.

24 and 17 is not disappearing. It's just pointless to even have this conversation either you or slin.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

and ma falaa...most people already ignore you. Trust me the calls to ban you are significant.

 

[ma_falaa_50]

The game is more than just stats. Of course he was going to get more rebounds. Amare is not there to get it. He only scored 4 after the half. He doesnt get it much like you dont get it. He once again went cold when the spurs applied heat on him. He has doen this the last 3 yrs. He is getting 16 milion next yr. Honestly I dont think he deserves it considering nash is only getting 11 million.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

What? I thought you said something but no one cares.

 

[kps0001]

24 and 17 is not disappearing. It's just pointless to even have this conversation either you or slin.

plus, I don't know if he was on him all night but, Parker had 11 pts was 5-13 from the field. Marion shot well from the field 9-16, 100% free throws(4-4) woulda liked to have seen a few more, 2-4 from 3pt. Dude was a stud. Plain and simple.

 

[Greg Popovich]

I did not mean to cause a fight.

But if just seemed like in the first half, he could score at will and in the second half, he was not a factor.

 

[ma_falaa_50]

your right pop. He was good in the first half but disappeared in teh second half when SAN ANTONIO FOCUSED ON HIM.

He was a stud but not a star. They needed more from him and sadly he didnt deliver.

Stop with the stats. I know his stats for the night. honeslty the most important stat was 4 points and 3 rebounds after the half.

Stoudemire and Nash teamed up to steal game 4 in San Antonio and Shawn choked and allowed the momentum to swing in San Antonio's favor.

Shawn is a playoff veteran expecting him to score 30 points, in a game that was packaged just for him, is not being absurd.

When Amare and Boris got suspended, the light was on him and Nash. I dont think its unfair to expect so much form him mainly because he is a vet. He hasnt played like a vet this whole psotseason. Odom schooled him and San Antonio turned him into houdini.

 

[green machine]

Guys, I am usually one of the first to rip Marion, but tonight it just isn't warranted. The only time he frustrated me was with that three right after Bowen made his to give the Spurs the lead. I think that's when Marion bricked a three from the top of the key. That just wasn't the right guy to be shooting.

But the guy got the Suns the early lead and was playing great in the 1st half. He took what the Spurs gave him, and that was huge.

In the 2nd half the Spurs focused on him and shut his offense down, but he still played good defense. Sure, the rebounding wasn't there, but who here thought the Suns would be boarding great tonight anyways?

All in all, Marion came up big tonight. The Suns just needed one more guy to step up, and nobody did.