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Practice Report: Nash Says Suns Got "Fat" and "Cozy" with 10-2 Record
by Phoenix Stan on Nov 20, 2009 4:01 PM MST
in Suns News
9 comments
Unlike last week when the Suns came home from a road loss to the Lakers and took Friday off before a Sunday game, today they went hard for a full two hours.
The media are let in for the last half hour of practice which almost always is just guys taking shots on their own or in small groups and perhaps a group of four or six of the younger players doing some extra work with the assistant coaches.
Today though Coach Gentry had the team going hard in five on five scrimmage with an 18 second shot clock. Everyone but Nash participated with Barbosa taking his spot on the starters squad and Taylor Griffin subbing in and out for Grant Hill. Nash was fine by the way - obviously there's no need for HIM to get in extra floor time.
The guys were into it and it was great to hear communication on the defensive end and see Gentry really lay into guys when he didn't like what he was seeing. At the same time between plays there was still some joking around.
It was nice mix between intense focus and loose camaraderie.
The highlights of the scrimmage were:
- Earl Clark throwing down a massive jam which drew plenty of oohs and aaahhs
- Robin Lopez practicing with the team for the first time and moving well. Offensively, he hit a nice mid-post hook shot which drew a sharp clap of approval from David Griffin and then on the very next trip down missed a wide open reverse layup which also drew a reaction I won't bother repeating
- It was fun seeing Jason Richardson argue (loudly) for a goal tending call on an inside look by Amare
- The highlight though was in the last couple of plays which were end of game side line out of bounds situations. Gentry had JRich inbound the ball off of Dudley's ass (if you notice he often turns his back to the inbound passer). Jason caught the ball and nailed the three and was fouled by Dudley who turned to contest the shot...laughter ensued as did a joke about the ball almost not bouncing back which you can interpret for yourself
- Practice ended on another inbound play that had the ball going in and Amare setting a screen on Dudley as Jason got open in the corner for a three. That certainly ended the tough work-out on a high note
Steve Nash had some interesting thoughts on the game in New Orleans. I love how he's willing to call out his team for a poor performance and not sugar coat anything. The Suns played poorly. They weren't prepared to battle. They were a little complacent with themselves.
Great to hear Steve acknowledge that:
"If we're honest we didn't deserve to win. We came out lackluster. We got ourselves back in the came but never really curbed the ills that we started the game with. We didn't really have any attention to detail and we gave up a lot of rebounds so our concentration and effort weren't good enough."
9 comments | 0 recs |
Steve Nash, that’s all it is. If you look at this team (now) and go back to when they had the best record in the West (Conference) when Mike D’Antoni was there, the only constant has been Steve Nash. This is the perfect situation for him. It’s an honor and pleasure for me, living in Phoenix, to watch this team every team. This guy has the heart of a lion, he is unbelievable.
Hornets sting Suns 110-103
by PanamaSun on Nov 19, 2009 11:59 PM MST
in Game Coverage
61 comments
During this game, The Phoenix Suns were victims of a severe case of Amnesia. They forgot to not underestimate an opponent. They forgot that they need to earn every win. They forgot to do the little things that have led them to have a good record to start the season. They forgot that they still have a lot to prove.
The Suns went to New Orleans with a 10-2 record, tied for the best record in the NBA with The Atlanta Hawks and had a chance to improve to 11-2 facing a young team without their best player. Most of us thought this game was going to be easy for The Suns. There's nothing wrong with that. We are fans and after comparing their team to ours you can say it was a logical and educated guess. But Basketball is a crazy game and unlike fans...professional players can't afford to think like that. You actually have to play and earn it, because regardless of who you're facing, this is the NBA and any team can beat you. Any team.
Back when I was in High school, we were playing in a Tournament Finals against a team who was clearly inferior to ours. So we showed up to the game feeling good about ourselves and thinking that it was going to be piece of cake. We were relaxed and some might even say that we were cocky at times.
And so the game started and everything was going their way. Shots were raining, three point plays, fast breaks, steals. We couldn't by a bucket to save our lives but even under those circumstances we were thinking: "they can't stay this hot for a long time" or "our defense will get better" but none of those things happened and we ended up losing the game. We argued every single whistle that was called against us, our coach was thrown out of the gym and I fouled out of the game with still 10 minutes to play. My dad, who was watching from the bleachers, had to listen to me bitch about the refs on the way back home until he said the following:
"Jose, the refs didn't make you lose that game. You guys lost it. You didn't hustle, you didn't execute, and you didn't rebound the ball. It's like you were expecting them to suck at some point but it never happened. The fact that all of you, including your incompetent coach, were arguing calls throughout the whole game and blaming them for your misery just proves the fact that you are so arrogant that you can't even tell that you were beaten by the better team tonight and that it had nothing to do with the refs taking it away from you. Suck it up and learn from it"
Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting the Suns were cocky tonight but it certainly looked like they were thinking (just like we did back then) "They can't stay this hot all night"
But they were wrong and just like me...they need to suck it up and learn from it.
That's enough of my stories. Let's talk hoops now.
61 comments | 0 recs |
Game Thread: Suns vs Hornets
by Phoenix Stan on Nov 19, 2009 5:00 PM MST
in Game Coverage
346 comments
346 comments | 0 recs
GAME PREVIEW: SUNS VS. HORNETS (less Chris Paul and Byron Scott)
by Wil Cantrell on Nov 19, 2009 1:26 PM MST
in Game Coverage
15 comments
My how the mighty have fallen. The New Orleans Hornets plight is one that every Suns fan can relate to. Sucking, then becoming a contender, and then sucking again. Going through a coaching change, etc. Of course the Hornets descent from up-and-comers to down-and-outers was much shorter than the Suns. What in God's name happened to these guys? In 2008 the Hornets picked up 56 wins, and barely lost in the Western Conference Semifinals to the dreaded San Antonio Spurs. That team was 5th in the league in offense and 6th in the league in defense. That lineup included the youngster CP3, the up and comer David West, the tenacious Tyson Chandler, and Peja Stojakovic. On the bench was Pargo and Bonzi. That year they owned the Suns, taking all 4 of the match-ups.
But last year the Hornets were one and out in the playoffs. Tyson Chandler fought the injury bug. CP3's main target for assists was gone, leaving David West to shoulder the scoring burden, while the gimpy Peja Stojakovic and James Posey attempted to carry the offensive and defensive load.
15 comments | 0 recs |
Daily Links: MVP Steve Times 3 ?
by Phoenix Stan on Nov 19, 2009 8:39 AM MST
in Daily Links
43 comments
Basketball-Reference.com Blog " Blog Archive " Nash Gunning For a Third MVP?
The Suns' performance so far has been both surprising and commendable, but the jury is still out on whether they can maintain it, because the best predictor of future results says they're not quite as good as their record says they are.
I have to agree with this....The Suns have played great but in many ways it's been done with hustle and grit and a bit of smoke and mirrors. I am no where near ready to say that the Suns can beat the Lakers, Spurs or Nuggets in a playoff series. And as GREAT as Nash has been he has tendency to slow down as the season wears on.
Enjoy the early season success but this ride will still be more roller coaster than rocket ship....
Now go prove me wrong, Phoenix Suns and keep winning!
More Linkers
- Lakers already playing catch-up to Suns - Lakers blog : The Orange County Register
DON'T CLICK THIS LINK. JUST ENJOY THE HEADLINE! - Be wary of betting the Phoenix Suns
Sell the Phoenix Suns – The Suns are off to a scintillating 10-2 start, but don’t expect the good times to continue for 82 games. HATER! - Hardwood Paroxysm " Blog Archive " SUPER!BASKETBALL!FIGHTING!EXCITEMENT!BATTLE!
Check out Steve Nash's Fighting Trading Whatever Card - Hardwood Paroxysm " Blog Archive " Nichols and Dime: How Accurate are some of the Advanced Stats That We Use?
Using advanced stats to attack advance stats....but forget all that. There's pretty pictures! -
Rookies Proving the \'09 Draft Class Can Play - Sean Deveney - The Baseline - Sporting News
No Earl Clark? I kid!
43 comments | 0 recs
Steve Kerr Weekly Check-in
Steve Kerr checks in with Sports 620 KTAR to talk about his 10-2 team
2 days ago
Phoenix Stan
0 comments
0 recs
The 10-2 Phoenix Suns Are Tough
by Phoenix Stan on Nov 18, 2009 11:16 AM MST
in Commentary
43 comments
Gone are the days when the Suns ran teams off the court with high-paced fun and gun basketball. This version of the Phoenix Suns has already proven to be more versatile, mentally tough and resilient than any of the earlier Nash-era teams.
Asked before Sunday's game against the Raptors what his favorite part of this year's team is, Suns head coach Alvin Gentry quickly mentioned the teams resiliency. His favorite win up to that point wasn't the big upset over the Celtics at the Garden. He was impressed with his team coming from behind in Philadelphia on the last night of a long road trip. It was a game the team easily could have let go but they battled back and got the win.
Five times in ten wins the Suns have been trailing going into the fourth quarter and five times now the Suns have overcome double digit deficits to get the win. Obviously the Suns don't want to have to come from behind but what it shows about this team are a few things that have been missing in Phoenix for the past 5 years.
43 comments | 0 recs |
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Phoenix Suns
Sunday, Nov 22, 2009, 6:00 PM MST
US Airways Center
Suns Schedule
Next 5 Games
|
Detroit
|
Sun 11/22 | 6:00 PM MST |
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Memphis
|
Wed 11/25 | 7:00 PM MST |
|
@
Minnesota
|
Fri 11/27 | 7:30 PM MST |
|
@
Toronto
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Sun 11/29 | 1:30 PM MST |
|
@
New York
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Tue 12/01 | 5:30 PM MST |
Last 5 Games
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@
New Orleans
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Thu 11/19 | L 103 - 110 |
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@
Houston
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Tue 11/17 | W 111 - 105 |
|
Toronto
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Sun 11/15 | W 101 - 100 |
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@
Los Angeles Lakers
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Thu 11/12 | L 102 - 121 |
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New Orleans
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Wed 11/11 | W 124 - 104 |
Pacific Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Phoenix
|
10 | 3 | .769 | 0 | Lost 1 |
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Los Angeles Lakers
|
9 | 3 | .750 | 0.5 | Won 2 |
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Sacramento
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5 | 5 | .500 | 3.5 | Lost 1 |
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Los Angeles Clippers
|
4 | 9 | .307 | 6 | Lost 2 |
|
Golden State
|
3 | 8 | .272 | 6 | Lost 3 |
(updated 11.20.2009 at 2:52 PM MST)
Certain photos copyright © 2009 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
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