The Hornets Beat the Suns. Is Anyone Surprised? Beware! Calculators Ahead!

by JSun on Oct 31, 2008 12:52 AM MDT Comment 34 comments

Home openers are the bane of my existence. I keep saying I'm not going back, but I do. After my second Guinness, I was kind of thinking that the Suns had a chance tonight.

Good things that happened:

1. I like the new player introductions, with the exception of Nash's wig. It's a little to Baron-Davis-Stepbrother-esque. Everything else was cool. The music was better, too. Although, there was something to be said for the Bolero-like crescendo and Shaq's penultimate scream of joy followed by seven, large looming men. The new one has a countdown and blast-off and stuff, so JSun2 should like the intro. I'm taking him on Saturday. I'll let you guys know how that goes.

2. My bartender is still working at Seamus McCaffrey's. That's a good thing. I only paid for two Guinness, but by the time we were walking to the game, I was telling Bluntman about how the Knicks would make the playoffs, so there must have been more than 2 in there.

3. My seats are getting closer.

4. A Goran Dragic-led second unit got the Suns to within 3 (I think, maybe 4) halfway through the fourth. But, then Nash came in and the Hornets ran away with it. Come to think of it, though, that was the same time that CP3 came back in. Maybe it had more to do with Paul than Dragic.

That second period sure was painful, wasn't it? This is why I hate opening night. Here is what I overhead when the second unit allowed the Hornets to get a 10 point lead: "Why isn't Nash in there? Is this the all-crap team? At least that dumbass D'Antoni was smart enough to know when to put the starters back in." So, the guy there on Amateur Night (that's what I call the home opener) who overpaid a scalper for his ticket knows enough to bitch about D'Antoni but doesn't know enough to make an intelligent statement about why D'Antoni was "allowed to talk to other teams"?

I guess the refs thought the second was so boring they had to liven it up. Paul must have said something really evil about that refs mother to get t-ed up. Not sure what Nash said, but Porter may have deserved it. Amare really shouldn't be doing the San Francisco wave after bad calls, but that wasn't a tech. Then, there was that make-up flagrant foul on Shaq. Armstrong did not go for Shaq's head on that play. I think Shaq should just start flopping when he gets fouled and land on people. That would be funny.

Even down 12 at half, I wasn't too worried. These Suns can still score. And they did. I blame Posey for the loss. That guy was just lethal. I'm sticking to my preseason pick as him being sixth man of the year.

I liked Boris taking it to Posey on the block, but 3 is more than 2. So, there you have it. Math. He did, though, come close to the Full French. He's had to above-average games in a row. Much more consistent than last year.

I think Shaq's bad free throw shooting is contagious. In junior high, we used to have this condition in American History class called "creeping brain rot." That happened when the dumb kids cheated off each other. Anyway, I think something like that is going on.

The Hornets took 10 more shots than the Suns. Oddly enough, the Suns committed 11 more turnover than the Hornets. There's that math thing again. The Hornets also got 10 offensive boards to the Suns' 7, but the leading rebounder was Chris Paul (2 boards away from a triple-double). More math. 14 more possessions leading to 10 more shots and 7 more free throws and 13 more points.

Lastly, here's something that's been bugging me: Why did D'Antoni -- and now Porter -- feel the need to run Bell off screens to get him shots like he Reggie Miller or Rip Hamilton or something? It might be wishful thinking, but I think there were less Bell-Ringers sitting over the Hawk tonight.

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Not a bad loss

Not as bad a loss as the 13 point final deficit would look like. Suns basically lost with all those turnovers and i dont think we would be that consistently bad in TO’s in future games. Even then we had a shot at winning this in the last quarter before Posey and Butler started shooting 3’s as if the goal was ocean-wide (5 or 6 straight right?). Biggest positive though is that Diaw actually came to play as a big man!

by toto_l2003 on Oct 31, 2008 1:21 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

on nash and the turn overs

I love Nash, but this is a team he has done poorly against, I’d make Hill the ball handler the entire game. It seems like to are always our problem against CP3, I think I heard he had 8 steals the game before…wow

by be-the-ball on Oct 31, 2008 11:49 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Paul is just that good

Paul would be making these steals against any ball-handler he was guarding. Your logic works so long as Paul doesn’t pick Hill up on the perimeter. Paul eats his guy alive.

I’ve decided. Paul is not KJ. He is a pissed-off KJ. He’s KJ with an MJ attitude.

Mmmmm ... Guinness

by JSun on Oct 31, 2008 11:53 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

yeah...

I was afraid that was likely the case, he tore jason kidd apart last year even worse than nash or others, good comparison on the mj attitude….bad for us though, NO is definitely one of the top 2-4 teams, I was sad to see the suns at 8 in rankings on the west, but I think we can be in the top 3-4 by all star break

by be-the-ball on Oct 31, 2008 12:00 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

I can live with it

still very much a learning experience out there. I’ll give them until the All Star break, if they still fail at life like tonight then the panic mode begins to take hold

"Yeah I could have been king, but maybe I already am king. Hail to the king baby." Ash from Army of Darkness

by Turambar on Oct 31, 2008 1:28 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Finally Manu won't be a run away for Sixth Man.

We have Posey and Batier/Artest, and Andrei Kirilenko, and Grant Hill off the bench. Should be a fun race.

The more you try to erase me, the more that I appear.

by clarkpojo on Oct 31, 2008 1:44 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Odom

should get mention on this list too. But Ginobili is still clearly better than any of those players, and if he’s healthy, he’ll run away with it again.

Purchasing my Dragic jersey

by rosewood on Oct 31, 2008 6:57 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ginobili as a sixth man

to me is a joke, he’s one of the top 20 players in the league, just because they put him in later (which is a smart move for the spurs) but throws the 6th man judging off, Same could be said for Artest. I really like the second group, I expect good things in the future from this team

by be-the-ball on Oct 31, 2008 11:51 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

rosewood...

your right though, manu will run away with it again…depending on his health…isn’t he out for another 1-2 months?

by be-the-ball on Oct 31, 2008 11:52 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Shaq????

I pretty much watched the whole game and was wondering why Porter didn’t put Shaq back in the game when we had pulled to within 5 points? He had been on the bench for awhile. There was one point when the hornets had two offensive rebounds and CP3 ran in the paint without being even touched. I am not too impressed with DRAGIC, I know he is new to our style of basketball, but I think he needs to slow it down a little bit. He seems to be running around like a chicken with its head cut off. And I know LEANDRO is going through a rough spot with his mothers illness, he definately needs a boost of confidence, he should have been the one knocking down all those 3’s. But all in all it was just turnovers and all the 3’s that sealed the deal. I like BARNES on the floor he seems to play with defensive intensity, I liked how he was talking crap to peja when they were running back down the floor. I know he was trying to disrupt his rhythm, unfortunately it didn’t seem to work. But I am sure he was happy when he rolled his ankle. DIAW has looked good so far……I liked that dunk against the Spurs. GO SUNS!!!!!

by phatassjay on Oct 31, 2008 3:01 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Paul

Come to think of it, though, that was the same time that CP3 came back in. Maybe it had more to do with Paul than Dragic.

That’s not true. Paul was in for most of the 4th quarter run, then he was pulled for the last maybe 1/5th of it, then he came back in when Nash entered the game.

That’s what made Dragic’s defense impressive: it was on Paul, albeit a pretty tired Paul

Now Dragic’s offense: well, yeah. The floater was nice. The one man fast break was not.

Purchasing my Dragic jersey

by rosewood on Oct 31, 2008 6:53 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

About half-way through

Both Paul and Nash came back in. Watching the benches, it was almost a Mexican stand-off with Porter and Scott waiting to see who would blink first. It was kind of cool, actually. When Paul started walking to the scorer’s table, Nash popped up and ran over (w/o a signal from the coaches to do so) while ripping off his warm-ups.

For most of the game Dragic did an okay job on Paul. About as good as you could hope for a rookie on Paul. He actually frustrated Paul into getting that tech (for whatever that’s worth).

Mmmmm ... Guinness

by JSun on Oct 31, 2008 11:18 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Just early

This team needs more reps, more games. Some nights this team will play like a top 3 team in the league, other nights or quarters like the second, they will look horrid.
It is a tough spot, the core of this team is veterans who have played alot of ball, so adjustments are tougher.
Will see, I think in the end this team will be solid.

"Have You heard of the Boom on Mizar 5?"

by Grockcubs on Oct 31, 2008 7:12 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

but..

the beauty of 10 deep and a second unit instead of 1-2 subs, is that the older guys will get much, much more rest and be able to play much harder. I’m very excited about this, in the past, we have lost games, playoff games, very, very big games due to running out of steam. If Porter and Kerr stick to this, the second team will improve and amare and Nash will be at full strength at the end of games, very cool

by be-the-ball on Oct 31, 2008 11:56 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

quick side note

I think d’antoni’s 7 seconds or less system would’ve had much more success with a 10 deep approach, I just think he wasn’t very bright about this, watching the suns get half time leads again and again and then lose should start to tell him something,

by be-the-ball on Oct 31, 2008 12:03 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Missed the second half

I was under the weather a bit and fell asleep during the 2nd quarter. Looks like I didn’t miss much but of course I will watch the game later tonight…

Going into this game there was little doubt the NO was the better team and it showed (I guess it showed since I missed most of it).

No worries. Work in progress.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Blogging Suns Basketball

by Phoenix Stan on Oct 31, 2008 8:02 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Hey Jsun

I know that NO controlled the whole game but what’s up with the Crowd? They were so quiet…

"Basketball doesn't build character. It reveals it"

by PanamaSun on Oct 31, 2008 8:50 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

It was a decent crowd

It was a lot noisier than I’ve seen a lot of November and December games. I noticed your comment in the game thread when I returned. For the most part, the crowd was into the game (if not intelligently into the game).

There were some chants of “De-Fense” without being told to do so by the jumbotron. There was an appropriate amount of booing the refs and the other team. There was cheering even without Ced and t-shirts. Overall, for a Phoenix crowd at this part of the season, I was impressed.

Mmmmm ... Guinness

by JSun on Oct 31, 2008 11:21 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's good to know

’Cause on the TV everyone seemed very quiet.

"Basketball doesn't build character. It reveals it"

by PanamaSun on Oct 31, 2008 11:55 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Some familiar themes could be seen

When the 3rd quarter ended with the Hornets having held their 12-point hanlf-time lead, I knew how the 4th quarter was going to go—Suns would rally to within 4 or 5, then be unable to get over the hump. Those are the worst, as you know how it’s going to end but you can’t help but watch anyway just in case.

The thing that ultimately killed the Suns (that’s how it looked from my couch, anyway) was the same thing from last year—poor defensive rebounding leading to too many 2nd chance points. Shaq sat the whole 4th, is that going to be the story here—Nash sits and the offense staggers, Shaq sits and nobody else can get a board?

Still, getting a split out of these 1st two was really what I was hoping for, and more than anything else, it’s great to have the Suns on my tv again!

by SoCalSun on Oct 31, 2008 12:30 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Rebounding

I think Shaq being out was part of the plan in regard to back-to-back games. Save him for the postseason … or something like that.

Mmmmm ... Guinness

by JSun on Oct 31, 2008 12:42 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Is it just me...

…or do the Hornets now look like the Suns of ‘05-’06 kinda?

by JohnnyyGo on Oct 31, 2008 12:34 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

I had the same thought

You can still watch the Suns 7SOL this year, you just have to watch Hornets games to do so.

by SoCalSun on Oct 31, 2008 12:41 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

In many ways

Paul gets ungodly minutes (but is under thirty and does not have a degenerative back condition). The bench is not very deep. They’ve got some gunners from the outside.

However, the defense is better. Unquestionably. That makes this Hornets team better than the 7SOL Suns.

Mmmmm ... Guinness

by JSun on Oct 31, 2008 12:44 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Missed it!

Glad I’m not the only one who fell asleep. I AM on the east coast, though…and I had just watched the Coyotes humiliate the Pens.

Talking about Ginobili as a Sixth Man seems strange to me.

Opening nights are the same in every sports. Amateurs everywhere.

How much closer are your seats?

---sunnie

by Sunnie on Oct 31, 2008 2:28 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Saw the highlights.

Sorry your Penguins lost. I saw the highlights. The Coyotes did humiliate. The Pens do have two good scorers in Crosby and Malkin. Wish my Vancouver Canucks had big scorers along those lines. Too bad the Pens lost Hossa, and Detroit gets another big star. I’m on Canada’s west coast near Vancouver ( Victoria to be exact ). It is Canucks country and on the same night your team lost, my Canucks shut out L.A. Luongo is a stud in goal. Hopefully the Pens do better, and should beat the Blues in their next game.

by CanadianBlazerfan on Nov 1, 2008 4:29 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not a bad loss.

Many losses are uglier. I wouldn’t call this one of them. We are early in the season. Off to a good start against the nemesis in SA. But New Orleans are good. Paul is definetly an elite level talent. Good supporting cast with West and Chandler too. We’ll be back. No need to panic.

by CanadianBlazerfan on Oct 31, 2008 7:13 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

i agree

hey, CanadianBlazerfan, are you a trailblazer fan, if so, I have to tell you, even though I’m suns first, I really wanted to see Oden play this weekend, and will be counting the days until he returns, it’s not very often (once every 10 yrs or so) that someone with his potential and attitude and strength comes around, I really am anxious to watch…the number 2 reason I bought nbalp is to watch him play this year…

by be-the-ball on Nov 1, 2008 12:12 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yes I am. A new fan. But don't be dismayed by the name CanadianBlazerfan.

Yes I am a Trailblazer fan. A new one. The Sonics moved and the Trailblazers became a new team of mine as they are the closest team to me. It is too bad you’ll miss out on seeing Oden this weekend. And it is cool that you are a Suns fan first. I am in Victoria, B.C. Canada the home of Steve Nash and he is big here. Suns and Trailblazers are pretty much 1 and 1A as favorite teams of mine. It’ll be great when he returns and talents like him with the attributes you mentioned don’t come by often. When he gets healthy he’ll be a treat to watch. And don’t be dismayed by the name CanadianBlazerfan. My first foray into blogging was on Blazers Edge and that was the name I chose. But I do like the Suns and have been to a game seeing them in Seattle.

by CanadianBlazerfan on Nov 1, 2008 4:19 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

cool man...nice post

I now live in Dallas (at least I didn’t choose San Antonio) but still love the Suns, til next time, hopefully we play you again soon with Oden back, that Aldridge and Roy, wow!

by be-the-ball on Nov 2, 2008 12:19 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Brandon fan here too.

Thanks for the good response. What’s wrong with San Antonio? Got nothing against Big D but what’s wrong with SA? Wondering as I have never been to TX. I think the next Suns Blazers game is Decemeber in Portland, and I think Coach Porter’s jersey will be retired on that night. Have to check the schedule. I could be wrong. Oden should be back by then. Warmed up to Aldridge. Love Brandon. 2 of my favorite players hail from nearby. Nash here in Victoria, Brandon Roy from a ferry ride away from here in Seattle. That game should be a good one in December.

by CanadianBlazerfan on Nov 2, 2008 3:33 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Plus I like Amare too.

I’m a big Nash fan. Jersey, shirts, poster, zillion Nash pics on my wall. Great player on the court, great guy off ( my 87 year old grandmother is a non sports fan, but sure has good to say about Steve Nash ). I like Amare too. Everyone talks about Shaq, Nash and Hill getting old, but we still have Amare and he isn’t old, and definetly a big star. And at least a few of his dunks have made highlight reels. Got a poster of him too. And by the way the Suns won 112-110 in the game I mentioned of. Would love to get to a Suns game in AZ too. Fairly new here to Bright Side.

by CanadianBlazerfan on Nov 1, 2008 4:24 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs