What is you’re honest opinion?

[capologist]

I think that, if we’re going to win the championship, we’re going to have to be a lot better in the playoffs than we have so far shown we can be.

 

[arthurracoon]

It means that the 8 playoff teams in the west are going to beat each other up in the playoffs.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

I agree. The Suns were force-feeding Stoudemire and O'Neal when it wasn't working. This is the same "tunnel vision" they used to fall into earlier in the year (with Stoudemire only).

I mentioned something similar in the game thread. I felt Barbosa and Bell were definitely not doing enough to create an open shot for themselves and we kept defaulting to the clogged paint to no avail.

 

[Louis]

Honest opinion...

Brandon Bass is going to be a very good player. He was playing so well and not backing down from Amare that there was a small exchange of pushes that Amare appeared to have started have Brandon Bass screamed after a shot and got to the line.

Dirk on 1 1/2 good wheels is a better offensive player than the majority of the league.

Strawberry needs more PT.

 

[zett]

I think it is a big deal, this pretty much seals us into the 5 or 6 seed, with no home court advantage at all, we can win on the road but we don't play with any urgency until it's too late. This team panics and loses confidence in their shooting when things aren't going their way,you can see it in their machanics. nash may be the exception, but he still forces up too many off balance shots. His percentages go way up when his feet are squared up. he still thinks he can make them and does so alot, but it still would be good to see us not panic so much.

 

[nowagimp]

The suns got beat by a team that wanted it more. Dirk made some tough shots and the suns perimeter shooters looked pretty ragged. When Diaw is the most productive perimeter shooter, the suns are in big trouble. IF the suns poerimeter guys make some shots, it losens up inside for amare and shaq. I didnt like the offense with nash not play making, the ball was getting stuck too easily, too many bad shots were taken. The suns have always seems to have a problem building early leads and holding them, they seem to go through psychological letdowns. Ironically the mavs made their push around the time when Diaw went to the bench.

Hopefully the suns want to win more when the playoffs start. They looked pretty lethargic in the 4th quarter.

 

[CardShark]

I think it really screams as to how much the Suns need a point to run the team when Nash is on the bench. I thought Dantoni took too long to get Amare back in the game. As soon as it was down to single digits I would have had my best five on the floor.

 

[Phade]

I think it really screams as to how much the Suns need a point to run the team when Nash is on the bench. I thought Dantoni took too long to get Amare back in the game. As soon as it was down to single digits I would have had my best five on the floor.

i dont think we should change anything.. should we tire out our guys and win all the games the rest to season to get home court advantage and be tired as hell anyways?

i'd rather us be well rested come playoff time and have one less game at home..

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

We played solid. But we still have not shown the killer instinct we need to win it all.

Also, we went like 8 min's without a FG. Thats unheard of for this team. Why didnt we go to Shaq or Amare MUCH more in that time???

b/c dantoni doesn't make in-game changes. he doesn't feed the ball to the hot hand. he relies on nash and the end of that game was the worst decisionmaking i have ever seen out of steve nash. it was like he felt HE had to be the hero. i was stunned by his poor shot selection and terrible turnover. just stunned.


we are not a clutch team. our main scorer misses FTs down the stretch and nash is almost always good for one horrendous TO down the stretch in close games. we'll win in the playoffs b/c of our talent . . . not our heads unfortunately. we're not the resilient tough minded team when amare was lost for the season. i think we're good enough to win it all, but soft enough to lose in the first round. i just can't get my hands around this team.

 

[nowagimp]

b/c dantoni doesn't make in-game changes. he doesn't feed the ball to the hot hand.

Who exactly was that hot hand in that game? Bringing amare in sooner probably wouldnt have helped. After amare came in. he missed 2 short shots, his shot blocked twice and had the ball stolen from him by Kidd. Amare also was fouled 3 times and missed 3 FT's, and made 2 buckets.

The way I counted it, amare had the ball 12 possessions in the forth quarter and the suns got 3 FT's and 2 baskets(7pts) from those possessions. His shot was blocked twice, the ball was stolen from him, he missed a dunk and a 9 footer.

the suns need another strategy besides force feeding amare stoudemire in the paint at the end of games. Its too easy to defense in the absence of some credible threat in outside shooting.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Honest opinion...

Brandon Bass is going to be a very good player. He was playing so well and not backing down from Amare that there was a small exchange of pushes that Amare appeared to have started have Brandon Bass screamed after a shot and got to the line.

Dirk on 1 1/2 good wheels is a better offensive player than the majority of the league.

Strawberry needs more PT.

how much more damning can the evidence of amare being an ineffectual defender be than to have a talented offensive team like the mavs run clear-outs for bass to go one-on-one amare? ugh.

 

[Maligzar]

We lost the game because of poor coaching and poor performance. Amare with 6 rebounds, LB with 2 points in 27 minutes. A good coach would have pulled LB at the 15 minute mark and put DJ in the game. Instead, we play Mike's infamous "he'll play out of his slump" routine and we get 2 points out of a guy that needs to give at least 10.

If you think the solution is "a backup point guard" then I suggest you stop watching the Suns and posting about them until late June. We're not getting a backup PG, this team is what it is. Suggesting that we need a backup point guard at this point is a little Rainmanesque if you catch my drift...

 

[French Fries]

how much more damning can the evidence of amare being an ineffectual defender be than to have a talented offensive team like the mavs run clear-outs for bass to go one-on-one amare? ugh.

he's effective as a help defender though...

honest opinion? huge loss for the suns, not the end of the world though, it's still just one loss. i hoped for giri to take over with his 3-ball in the late 4th, the interior was too tight to make anything happen. even our pick and rolls were covered well...

 

[CardShark]

We lost the game because of poor coaching and poor performance. Amare with 6 rebounds, LB with 2 points in 27 minutes. A good coach would have pulled LB at the 15 minute mark and put DJ in the game. Instead, we play Mike's infamous "he'll play out of his slump" routine and we get 2 points out of a guy that needs to give at least 10.

If you think the solution is "a backup point guard" then I suggest you stop watching the Suns and posting about them until late June. We're not getting a backup PG, this team is what it is. Suggesting that we need a backup point guard at this point is a little Rainmanesque if you catch my drift...

The topic was what was honestly thought about this loss and I think it just showed a glaring hole in the Suns offense when Nash goes out. Sure it's too late to do anything about it now, but I think this is the area that will cost us in the playoffs.

If you think DJ will be anymore effective than Barbosa at running the point or as a scorer, then you are a fool. If you can't see the Suns need a backup PG then you haven't been watching the Suns and maybe you should, instead of telling someone they shouldn't.

 

[Proteus]

Strawberry was our best point guard in our short handed game in Utah.

 

[elindholm]

Nash's +/- last night was -11, and the Suns lost by 7, which means that they outscored the Mavericks by 4 when Nash was on the bench.

But hey, never let facts get in the way of a good argument.

 

[cly2tw]

Who exactly was that hot hand in that game? Bringing amare in sooner probably wouldnt have helped. After amare came in. he missed 2 short shots, his shot blocked twice and had the ball stolen from him by Kidd. Amare also was fouled 3 times and missed 3 FT's, and made 2 buckets.

The way I counted it, amare had the ball 12 possessions in the forth quarter and the suns got 3 FT's and 2 baskets(7pts) from those possessions. His shot was blocked twice, the ball was stolen from him, he missed a dunk and a 9 footer.

the suns need another strategy besides force feeding amare stoudemire in the paint at the end of games. Its too easy to defense in the absence of some credible threat in outside shooting.

Did they ever feed Shaq downlow for a change while Amare was there in the 4th?

From what I saw in recent games without the Mavs one, Nash's shots were almost exclusively pullups after a simple screen by Shaq or Amare. Since Amare is only a face-up offensive threat, the two men game with Nash becomes predictable. I wonder why we don't work more on Shaq back to basket games and use Nash as catch-n-shooter for a change.

 

[mojorizen7]

It's waaaay to late to think we can ask D.J. to come in and contribute at the backup PG.
D'Antoni had ALL season to work him in to the rotation and chose not to.
We're gonna have to go with Barbs & live with his tunnel vision & weak defense in the playoffs. Thats the way it is unfortunately.

 

[Maligzar]

I think with Shaq and Hill in the game DJ could "run" the offense. I also think giving him 5-10 minutes a night (which is what I was suggesting) doesn't hurt our offense much but gives us a bit of extra defense.

Play Skinner 5-10, play DJ 5-10, these are reasonable suggestions worthy of debate. These are things that a coach could reasonably do on any given night.

"Find a quality backup PG for Steve" has been any fan's mantra pretty much since he got here. It's not going to happen here in April. Let it go until June.

I'm just trying to keep the discussion moving forward. If ya'all want to talk about how we need a quality backup PG, better shooters, and maybe one more big man well hey; go for it. It's not going to happen this season but whatever.

 

[nowagimp]

Did they ever feed Shaq downlow for a change while Amare was there in the 4th?

From what I saw in recent games without the Mavs one, Nash's shots were almost exclusively pullups after a simple screen by Shaq or Amare. Since Amare is only a face-up offensive threat, the two men game with Nash becomes predictable. I wonder why we don't work more on Shaq back to basket games and use Nash as catch-n-shooter for a change.

The mavs were clogging the lane in the 4th, shaq did get the ball, but had too many defenders around. In that scenario the suns just have to hit the outside shots that the mavs are daring them to make. I would rather have had giri and raja shooting outside than amare driving into a clogged lane and getting his shot blocked and the ball taken away. Amare needs to be less of a black hole, pass the ball oiut to a shooter for once. THAT is all too predictable. Once amare puts the ball on the floor he is one of the most predictable players in the NBA. WHile I would like him to develop his passing, his timing on the pass is often terrible, as its probably his last thought. Kind of like boris' last thought is to shoot.

 

[Covert Rain]

Nash didn't have his normal shooting game. How often is that guy going to miss wide open shots like that?? How often does the entire team go cold like that in a quarter. It doesn't bother me at all. The Mavs have to count on that happening 4 out 7 games in a series......just won't happen.