Thunder Thoughts

by Phoenix Stan on Nov 26, 2008 9:04 AM MST

Good morning sports fans. I managed to watch 3 quarters of this game on Tivo before work today (1st, 2nd and 4th) and wanted to drop some quick thunder thoughts while fresh in the mind:

The Suns really didn't play that bad and I am less worried after having watched the game then after seeing the score on my Black Berry
The 2nd quarter was obviously key. Suns could not get a basket. Wonder why? Look at the line up for most of the Thunder Run: Nash, Diaw, Bell, Barnes and Lopez.. Amare only played 1:15 during the 2nd quarter and that was early in the period.
During this period the Suns offense was totally stagnant with the wing players missing (1-8 shooting) and no inside presence. Diaw was the brightest spot (2-4) but the Thunder front line are long and athletic and over played him. There was no other go to guy on the floor and this unit doesn't have enough experience working together in the half court.
Bell having his break away layup blocked (which was pathetic btw) really sparked the Thunder and ignited their offensive run. As Zona Flash said in his great recap - the kids played hard but so did our guys.
12 turnovers in the 1st half. 5 in the second.
It felt like the 1st half was pre-season as Porter used the time to try and get some different line-ups floor time together
Lopez did look good on D and active but 5 rebounds isn't going to cut it and the Suns offense with him on the floor sucked. I think he just needs more time and the team needs more time with him. He's SO DIFFERENT than Shaq.
Nash is like that super bomb in a Nintendo game. You have this super special weapon but can only use it so many times per season.
My new theory for Nash's 1st half suckiness is this: He's trying to learn to play less hard. His mental focus is off when he's not going full bore. Keep at it Steve. We need to be able to play w/ 60% Nash for 70% of the season and save Mega Nash Bombs for key stretches.
As great as Steve was on O during the 4th - Amare was better on D. He shut down the Thunder single handedly.
Good for Amare knowing what's needed and when.
Shaq in pin stripes. Not very thinning on him for some reason

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Great post

I didn’t get to see the game until late last night (well, early this morning I guess) but it certainly wasn’t as bad as my score updates from friends would indicate.

Here are a few more thoughts…

- I love Matt Barnes. I have followed him since UCLA and though he has struggled this season, his good far outweighs the bad. He is a huge addition and will be clutch come playoff time.
- I also love Grant Hill.
- Man was it good to see Nash get that confidence in his shot again. Loved that play at the end where he was triple teamed leaving Barnes open. Shows teams still respect him.
- Diaw looked really good cutting to the whole
- Barbosa didn’t look as “thin” as Coro made him out to be
- Stan you are right on the money, Amare had great D in the 4th. I loved that flop by Wilcox and Amare’s standing there saying to the ref, “let’s go, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go”. Awesome.

It's Ba-Nash. It's a no brainer.

by Suns Ben on Nov 26, 2008 9:12 AM MST 0 recs

More Lopez plx

There was a point last night where it almost seemed like Lopez was leading us back into the game. Whether or not he can play like that consistantly remains to be seen, but regardless i do want to see him out there more. He certainly needs to work on his O, but I like how he was taking it hard to the hole last night. As for his rebounding I saw quite a few times where he was just slow getting off his feet to get to the ball. I’m sure with time he can become a very solid rebounder.

"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 Nov 26, 2008 12:24 PM MST 0 recs

Thinking about Boris

Maybe the sight of Lopez is motivating him.

I heard Porter say on an interview somewhere that Lopez doesn’t get as many minutes when Shaq plays because Boris is coming off the bench and playing well. I bet we see more Lopez when Boris plays poorly. Who was behind Boris last year?

Mmmmm ... Guinness

by JSun on Nov 26, 2008 1:02 PM MST 0 recs

I was

I’ve always been behind Boris. He’s my main French Man.

I really don’t think though that Lopez is having that impact. I think its more Thunder Dan doing his Dan Dan impersonation and leaving love notes (in French) in Le Diaw’s locker.

As for Lopez – I am reminded of a giant fuzzy super ball. Always in motion but you never know where he’s going to be. Right now, I think his presence is disruptive b/c no one (himself included) knows where he’s going. That’s not a bad problem btw and one that time will cure.

Anyone have the ability to photo shop Lopez fuzzy head on a super ball? Free Suns ticket if you do.

Blogging Suns Basketball

by Phoenix Stan on Nov 26, 2008 1:06 PM MST up 0 recs