Coaled-blooded Roger Mason Delivers Win For Spurs in Phoenix

by Mike Lisboa on Dec 25, 2008 8:18 PM MST Comment 17 comments

Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.

That was a really good game. As much as the loss left me feeling a bit gut shot, I liked a lot of what I saw. And for the record, I sadly called this in my Christmas poem with the line, "J-Rich needs to find his man on rotation." I do not like being prescient.

What I liked:

Energy - The 9-0 start was nice and featured some excellent ball movement. And, to mixed effect, there were lots of bodies flying around on defense. The guys came to play.

Shaq-a-Claus: The Big Santa set the tone early on both ends of the floor. He used his size to make life miserable for Tim Duncan (drawing several fouls in the process) on the offensive end and made him settle for jumpers on the defense (jumpers, sadly, that kept going in).

Amare Pays Attention - It's sad that Amare having is head in the game is something to get excited about, but he seemed completely present, if not dominant, throughout the game. Seems kind of odd to complain about focus and consistency from a guy who has record 20 or more points in the last 11 games (tying Dirk Nowitzki for longest active streak in the NBA) AND led the team in rebounding for the last 8 games, but sometimes he just doesn't seem like he's into it. Sharing balls with Shaq does that to you, I suppose.

Clearing the Glass: As poorly as Robin and Sweet Lou rebounded, the rest of the Suns were emphatic about getting to the glass. Matt Barnes and JSun Richard Sun were all over the boards and that translated to a 50-43 Suns edge.

What I didn't like:

Steve Nash and Grant Hill on the bench: Please, Dee Brown, be ready to run this offense soon. Very soon. Like before this game. The Suns are simply lost without Nash on the offensive end. And when Porter chooses to rest Hill at the same time, well, good luck finding a Suns point. Dee Brown can't suit up soon enough and the bar is slow, he should impress quickly.

Big Guys off the Bench: Sweet Lou rocked and incredible 4 TRILLION. Robin Lopez was good for 2 rebounds, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in his 8 minutes. For the first time since the trade, I miss Boris Diaw.

Not Exploiting Matt Bonner: I know Porter wanted to get Shaq going early versus Timmy, but why wasn't every offensive play of the first quarter going through Amare Stoudemire? Bonner can't keep up with Amare.

Turnovers: 14 to 6. 'Nuff said.

Cold Wings: Barbosa and Barnes combine to go 1-10 from the field? That's not going to win too many games. Barnesy at least got after the glass and finished with 7 boards.

Rotation, rotation, rotation: There's some work to be done on the defensive end. While the Suns looked good and high energy, some of that "flying around" was due to blown assignments.

Overall, there was a lot to like about this game. The Suns showed grit when the Spurs fought there way back into it. They demonstrated a consistency of effort that's been lacking and seemed focused throughout the game. At the end of the day, though, Pop AGAIN demonstrated himself to be the master of the mid-game adjustment. Nash's playmaking ability was basically nullified after the first quarter and while Amare ended up with 25 points, he was unable to assert himself against Kurt Thomas and Tim Duncan down the stretch. Also, I hope one of the skills Dee Brown brings to the table is the ability to keep Tony Parker in front of him

Yes, it sucks to lose to the Spurs yet again. However, I think the Suns are moving in the right direction. This squad is looking more cohesive with each game. And with a little more integration, J-Rich doesn't leave the 48% 3-point shooter alone in the corner the next time these teams meet. I just hope these Suns take this as "just a bad loss", instead of as a reason to give up hope.

Here's the post-game audio courtesy of Sports 620 KTAR.

And in other Suns news, Alando Tucker is going to the D-League for a rehab assignment and poor Goran will be following shortly behind (thanks, Phoenix Stan!).

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GRR.

Well, I’m sure Bobcats fans were smiling a little bit after watching Richardson cost us the game. His defense is probably the reason he was traded. At least we can count on Diaw breaking their hearts a few times, at least until he ends up getting traded to the Knicks.

Amare had 20 and 10 here, but his weak side defense is bad, he can’t come up with big plays down the stretch, and playing next to Shaq inflates his numbers. I know Steve Kerr has completely demolished our team so far, so I’d say Amare has the best chance of being traded next. That, or an exasperated Nash asks to be moved.

This is the first season where from the beginning, it seems obvious that we don’t have a chance to win it all. We can’t beat the better teams, our GM continues to make bad, reactionary moves, and our players aren’t having fun any more. Not a lot of smiles and high fives. Lots of chatter (and some useless Twitter, courtesy of Shaq) and not a lot of promise. I know the original post says we’re headed in the right direction, but let’s wait until we beat a few good teams before saying so.

Oh, and Barbosa. You suck.

by zooropa77 on Dec 25, 2008 8:59 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

Here's the thing guys...

A few things I’d love to tell to some Suns players:

Amaré: You played really well, I’ll give you that. But once again you came up short when it most mattered. You failed to convert on three different plays that would have given your team the lead. You seemed more focus on making Duncan foul out than scoring!! You wanna be “the man”? well those are big boy shots and you missed on every single one of them.

Nash: please…please stop looking for someone to pass the ball to and shoot it. WTF is wrong with you?! It’s like every team expects you to pass the ball. Do what you have been doing for many years, become a scoring threat! Penetrate and if they come to you make the pass to the open man, otherwise make them pay!

J-Rich: Jesus man, basic basketball! Stay with your man unless your coach tells you to double team during the timeout!! Hill seemed to had Parker under control and if he would have made a circus shot, well to bad and we go to OT.

This one hurts, really bad.

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

by PanamaSun on Dec 25, 2008 9:54 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

Great Game

and Merry Christmas

Superman wears Manu Ginobili pajamas to bed.

by CMoney on Dec 25, 2008 11:41 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

PanamaSun hit the nail on the head...

…I knew, I just KNEW, Nash was being just a little too unselfish in the first half. He barely took any shots in the first half, in fact, the only one I remember him hitting was the runner off the backboard. He never got into any kind of rhythm and didn’t take a SINGLE shot in crunch time. Nash is one of the greatest shooters in the league, and you’re telling me at least once in crunch time he couldn’t have spotted up and tried draining a three? Instead of going to Amare three fruitless possessions in a row, Nash couldn’t have gotten a shot off? Ridiculous.

AAAAND, one more thing. Did anyone notice the glaring disparity between the Suns’ crowd and the one that cheered on the Lakers? Why, why does it always take Phx fans until the last 30 seconds of a ballgame to get on their feet and stay on their feet? Lakers fans are certainly not the best in the league, but they standing and cheering continually with four minutes to go. One would be hard-pressed to find a worse home crowd (for a somewhat good team) in the NBA. We’ve had one of the best teams in the league for four years in a row, yet our fans are constantly being outdone by those from Boston, L.A., San Francisco, Portland, and even Utah. I love the Suns, but I cannot stand Phoenix fans…

by Silkster on Dec 26, 2008 12:00 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

Sadly, at 4.3 seconds left, I turned to my kids and wife

and said this is the Spurs they will hit a 3 and run off the court.
J Rich just looked lost the whole play, sad thing is who do the Suns put on the floor in replace of him? Dudley? Barbosa?
I would trade Amare in a minute, he is one of the most overrated players in the league, I don’ t want to hear this 20 and 10 shit, all the tomahawk dunks and the occasional block shots. In big spots he never comes through, never. I want to be the man, yeah right Amare. Fricken kills me, him and Shaq call for ball, and they both will take this team down.
Start up the Cell Kerr, get those GM’s on speed dial and move the so called Chosen one. Gut it all. And this is just not reactionary from this one game, I wanted to move Amare from the start of the season. This is a 8th or 9th seed in the West.

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

by Grockcubs on Dec 26, 2008 5:27 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

I'd reckon we're a 6th seed actually

It could be up and down depending on other teams’ form and injuries. I don’t think J-Rich cost us the game. Sure, that was not a good rotation on the last play, but he’s trying harder than can be said for some other players.

And yes, I agree that Nash, for all his clutchness, is too unassertive and cowardly at times. Yes, cowardly. It takes courage to do what is right, to execute the correct basketball play, and to face up to the pressures and the risks of the game-deciding shots. Nash keeps shirking away from that, and unselfishness is the completely wrong angle from which to attempt to interprete it. It is not about giving up glory/stats, it is about his giving up of responsibility, when it is his DUTY, as the best shooter, and ironically the best clutch shooter, to be a factor in the clutch.

Being a clutch player is not about calling for or demanding for the ball when the game is drawing to a close. It is about TAKING the ball at the right time, and making the right play with it, be it scoring or passing. You don’t Kobe it and force up an off-balance faceup long 3 pointer after excessive pump-faking. You don’t Nash it by throwing the ball away, or throwing it into the hands of guys who won’t be able to make things happen. Pierce, Wade, and specifically Lebron have gotten to the level where they are excellent in the clutch through the combination of driving, shooting, and finding the open man when defenses collapse on them. Nash is able to do it, and he has shown us before so, so many times. We need him to do it more.

by felixthm on Dec 26, 2008 9:47 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

So

If Nash took and missed highly contested shots (Bowen was in his shorts) instead of feeding Amare to go at Duncan who had 5 fouls you would be ok with that?

I think the Suns did the right thing going at Duncan the first time. Or two. I do wonder (and will rewatch) who was guarding Shaq if Duncan was on Amare and perhaps trying something different would have been good.

But let’s not forget that the Suns did get a lot of key stops on Parker as well and did run a great play to take the lead.

As Popovich predicted – the game came down to one or two plays. The Suns did make one of the plays and the Spurs made the other.

JRich blew it. Porter admitted that he blew it by not emphasizing the need to stay home on the shooters. And finally Parker made the right play and Mason hit the clutch shot. Mason is a almost 50% 3pt shooter. That’s still a coin flip.

If he misses that shot Suns fans are ecstatic over the win and gushing over the late game defense and execution to take the lead.

Let’s not go overboard here.

And finally – Suns fans have been clamoring for change. JRich was the face of that most recent change. You have to expect to pay the price when you make a move like that. Hopefully, this lesson is learned and the team can move on.

There’s a lot to build on there’s no doubt that despite “blowing” games to Portland and Spurs that this Suns v3.0 is the best version so far this season. Its still early and its not like we are 5 games out of the money in the standings.

The Spurs are the better team right now. The Lakers are the better team. I am less sure about NO but when healthy they are probably better and against us w/ the matchups certainly are. Utah. Dallas. Denver. Portland. Houston…..we are right there with those teams and we are getting better.

Merry Christmas.

Blogging Suns Basketball

by Seth Pollack on Dec 26, 2008 9:59 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Well, he's not really 48% on open 3 pters. He's 48% on all 3 point shots taken

So given that it’s a corner trey, the easiest to hit, and that he was considerably open, I’d daresay it’s a 60% shot. On the other hand, Parker was clearly going at Hill and in a position to finish. Hill might try to contest and end up giving Parker the And1.

Stoudemire going at Duncan late in the 4th with Duncan on 5 fouls sure sounds good, until you remember Duncan will NEVER get called for his sixth. He’d have to punch Amare in the face for the refs to reluctantly call it. What’s with the naivety, man? The ball should go to Shaq when Duncan is guarding Stoudemire in the high post. Or you could run a double back screen for Nash and give him the shot. Once Nash gave up the ball to Amare in that one-on-one against Duncan, I knew it was over. It’s not always about the “right basketball plays”. It’s about what’s right in that situation. This is an extremely important point, don’t give it to the wrong players.

They could even have run the catch-and-shoot for Nash ala Ray Allen. I can’t remember what that play is called, but it involves a baseline screen and it’s perfect for Nash. Anything but Mr Unclutch going one on one against Mr Never-gets-called-for-a-foul.

by felixthm on Dec 26, 2008 9:04 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

So Phoenix Stan...

…the shots Nash took against Denver weren’t contested? What about the three he hit that night to ice the game. It was a high-arching shot with a defender in his face. I’m not asking that he Kobe up a shot, but do you remember him taking one shot in the last 5 minutes yesterday? I’m not hating on Nash, he’s my absolute favorite player in the league, largely b/c of his unselfishness and leadership, but in that case, he should have been more assertive.

by Silkster on Dec 26, 2008 4:23 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

Maybe

I am going to rewatch the end of the game tonight with a more critical eye…The Spurs have a way of just shutting him down like no other team does.

Blogging Suns Basketball

by Seth Pollack on Dec 26, 2008 4:29 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

It's because they're willing to put their 3 on a skinny PG

In this sort of cases, when we had Diaw, we always went to him in the post to exploit the mismatch, but he was a really good post-scorer who could score against any team in non-playoff games, but got locked down by Tony Parker in the post when it matteed most.

Most other teams go point-on-point, and with Bowen’s length and peskiness, Nash struggles mightily.

by felixthm on Dec 26, 2008 9:06 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

This game hurts more than any other game because it was the Spurs. However, I do see the Suns improving offensively and their defensive schemes are much better. I would like to see Jason Richardson get more touches and get some one on ones. The bench was pathetic but I also saw some shots that were half way in but they came out. I see this game as a that gets our attentions. The Suns have upcoming games vs. Memphis, Thunder. Clippers and Indiana. I see us getting phat vs those teams and this game will be forgotten. The next 20 games favors us eventhought we have games vs Celtics, Hawks and Spurs as a top tier teams. We also have Dallas, Knicks and Bobcats in those games. We are going to see the Phx Suns develope some chemistry and cohisiveness in those games.

Go Suns!!

by Phxsunsfan on Dec 26, 2008 5:57 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

I liked most everything except that last 4.3...

The Suns look pretty good overall, i think, and if ESPN’s Hollinger is right, those close games are pretty much a 50-50 proposition for both teams. Stan is right, missing that rotation or not, the Sun’s were a coin flip away from a great final score and the win. Say what you want about “the Suns just can’t get the big stop when they need it”, but the Spurs didn’t get the big stop either, and let Amare make the same pass to Grant on the exact same play in the exact same scenario that won them a game less than 2 weeks ago. The only flaw was the amount of time left on the clock. Definitely a bit of a bummer to have that ending on Christmas, but if that’s the worst thing that happened to you yesterday (it was in my house), I’ll take it.

by SoCalSun on Dec 26, 2008 6:07 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

Too much time

I was thinking about this – if the Suns ran that play too soon and gave the Spurs too much time on the clock.

But I don’t think that’s the case. The play is all about timing. Hill has to go right after the inbound pass as Nash streaks up and sets the pick.

If the Spurs switch, they you need to have enough time on the clock to get the ball to Nash (his man would be trailing him at that point) mostly likely on a hand off from Amare where Nash would curl off and take an open shot around the free throw line OR if Nash’s man is closer or Amare’s man cheats over to trap then Amare would keep the ball and either drive or shoot.

Lots of options on the play but other then option A (the back cut to the open Hill) you need to leave some time.

Btw – did anyone else notice that the Magic did a better job rotating over from the weak side to at least force Hill to make a tougher reverse layup while the Spurs just watched sail in totally uncontested.

So, for all the vaunted Spurs whatever, they blew that play on the defensive end completely and allowed an absolutely uncontested layup to break a tie game w/ under 10 seconds left.

If Mason misses then would be talking about how crappy a defensive team the Spurs are?

Blogging Suns Basketball

by Seth Pollack on Dec 26, 2008 6:52 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

All to familiar

I am trying to stay positive, but these games ring a familiar tune. This seems to happen on a regualar basis against good teams. I respectfully disagree with the seeding, Suns are the 8th seed if they get in at all.

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

by Grockcubs on Dec 26, 2008 9:37 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

We shall see

Blogging Suns Basketball

by Seth Pollack on Dec 26, 2008 10:32 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

04 sec left on the 24 clock

When this play started there were only 4 ticks left and when Hill made the layup it was with under 1 sec. I think the shot clock read about 48/100 or pretty close to that.

So, no way to burn more time.

Blogging Suns Basketball

by Seth Pollack on Dec 26, 2008 10:31 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs