Suns Erase Rockets (122-113)

by TexSUN on Mar 22, 2008 10:53 PM MDT in Game Coverage

As Phil Jackson once said, it's a big man's game, and the Suns are now a big man's team. Amare and Shaq teamed up nicely tonight, and the crowd responded by officially passing the Suns MVP torch to the former man-child. There was a telling moment in the fourth quarter. When Steve Nash went to the free throw line for the first time in a game in which he was little more than a role-player hitting the occasional timely shot: Complete and total silence. Moments later, Amare was serenaded with the "MVP!" chants that normally accompany Nash. The torch has been passed, folks, and I'm sure Amare fans everywhere are saying, "It's about time!".

Well, I said the Yao-less Rockets would make a good matchup for the Suns, and if this game is any indication, they will and then some. Sure, there was the huge caveat that the Rockets were on the second night of a grueling back-to-back that had them arriving in the wee hours of the morning. Sure, they're in the middle of the proverbial post-streak malaise. Who cares? The Suns were without their preferred Tracy McGrady defender, and the guy who took the assignment in his place is nursing a sore wrist. I'd say that evens things up pretty well.

There was a tale of two halves theme in this game. The Suns came out smoking in the first quarter, outscoring the Rockets by 17. They played near flawlessly, out-rebounding the Rockets, making only one turnover, while practically everything they threw at the basket went in. The shooting accuracy continued into the second quarter, although turnovers and a few offensive rebounds by the Rockets kept the scoring even. The Suns shot an amazing 76% for the first half, and kept an edge on the boards. The second half can be summed up in two little words: Let down. The Suns came out a little sloppy, made a few more turnovers, gave up a few more offensive boards, and proved the old cliché that nobody shoots 70%+ for an entire game. Before they knew it, it was a 10-point lead heading into the fourth. But the Suns kept the Rockets at arms length from there on out, and the end result was a nine-point win that moves them to the top half of the Western Conference standings.

Our Suns are a big man's team now. May God have mercy on the league.

Player of the Game: Amare "MVP" Stoudemire, because he scored 38 points, had 13 rebounds, shot 9-of-15, made all 20 free throws, and most importantly, because the crowd said so.

Runner-Up: Grant Hill. Sore wrist and all, he played a huge role in holding McGrady to the quietest 30-point, near triple-double game ever.

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great game!

the 20 in a row by amare was a new suns record for in a row in 1 game!

Also tied another suns record for 57 games in a row for 15+ or more points in a game (by Amare) tying Walter Davis. (I think it was 57)

No question, Amare is the star of our team, and he has young legs, when our older guys slow down, bell, l.b., and amare can still run full speed. What a great mix of players our team is turning into.

Great win, now in 3rd in the division. If and when we beat the Pistons this Monday, regardless of the remaining tough games, I'll feel great about this team! A piston victory and 8 in a row to me, will officially make the Shaq trade a good move and the Suns team recovered from the transition. I already liked the trade, but this would go even farther in
convincing others.

On tough teams to play, I'd say N.O. , Lakers, and Detroit are our toughest matchups. With emphasis on detroit and a healthy laker team. N.O. owned us this year, but we haven't played them recently, and it's clear the Suns are starting to really do well at the right time. Still frustrating on the turnovers, etc. This should've been a 20-30 point win. But, a win is a win! GO SUNS!!

by jasonsuns1 on Mar 22, 2008 11:04 PM MDT 0 recs

GH also the PG tonite

10 assists, no TOs.

5 rebounds, 3 blocks and a steal to add to the defensive presence.

The SUNS - NOW THE HOTTEST TEAM IN THE NBA!

by ZonaFlash on Mar 22, 2008 11:19 PM MDT 0 recs

awesome option to have!!

Getting Hill was as good as losing Joe Johson was bad, or even greater!!

by jasonsuns1 on Mar 23, 2008 12:15 AM MDT up 0 recs

Life is good.

Two inside guys shooting 60% from inside, getting fouled about 23% of the time, good for tons of rebounds and 12 defensive fouls per game.

The SUNS - NOW THE HOTTEST TEAM IN THE NBA!

by ZonaFlash on Mar 23, 2008 12:01 AM MDT 0 recs

Now he's talking like an MVP

http://www.nba.com/suns/news/quotes_080322.html

Suns center Amare Stoudemire

(On the fans chanting MVP): "It felt great and I appreciate the fans for their support. But what I do is continue to get better as a player and whatever accolades come my way that's a bonus. But I'm just playing for my team and trying to play for us as a whole."

(On his free-throws): "I was never a horrible free-throw shooter, there were just a few techniques that I had to work on and I was able to get that done these past few years with repetition. I think from shooting the jumper that allows me to find my rhythm from the free-throw line. So I think both of those play equally, so I feel great for both jumper and free-throws."

The SUNS - NOW THE HOTTEST TEAM IN THE NBA!

by ZonaFlash on Mar 23, 2008 12:22 AM MDT 0 recs

Amare

I was there at the game and while I heard some MVP chants coming from one corner of the building, it wasn't the full arena chant like we've heard for 3 years for Nash but it will be if Amare keeps it up!!! It seemed like everyone played well tonight and while a 2-point scoring line looks pretty bad for a player like Grant Hill, the rest of his line more than made up for it!!

by TwinnerA on Mar 23, 2008 12:44 AM MDT 0 recs

on Hill

but he had 10 ASSISTS!!! To me, Hill was a few bad breaks (ok years of bad injuries) away from being the next great player after MJ left. Noticed I didn't say the next MJ, I'll never use that phrasing, it's just silly. It's like saying the next Larry Bird or Next Magic Johnson...

Our offense has made many changes, and I'm not just talking about Shaq, it's very clear Amare is the number one option, or at least when it matters the most. And unlike a year or 2 ago, I couldn't agree more with this. A lot of fun right now, Monday should be awesom, early game - 4:30 Phoenix time, or 6:30 Dallas time since it's being played at Detroit.
Weird, I'm so used to the games starting at 9-10pm.

by jasonsuns1 on Mar 23, 2008 1:39 AM MDT up 0 recs

Still he has a 70% of becoming a Hall of Famer

and he was an All-star just as recently as 2005!

Hope he can get/stay healthy, because he's our crunch time leader in plus-minus.

The SUNS - NOW THE HOTTEST TEAM IN THE NBA!

by ZonaFlash on Mar 23, 2008 2:06 AM MDT up 0 recs

Amare and friends

Wow - is this guy having a coming out party at the right time or what.

Maybe "coming out party" isn't the right term for a 1st team all NBA center. Maybe its "leveling up" into a new category.

38 points on 15 shots? Are you kidding me! 20/20 at the line. And that from a Suns team that was last in the league at FTA's just weeks ago. He was unstoppable. He is so smooth and so unpredictable in his moves. He twice hit short jumpers with Scola's hand in his face. Give him the ball facing the basket and you know he's going to score. Go to the line. Or both.

TexSun really hit it on the head. This isn't Nash's team anymore and that's a good thing all around. Steve has gone from being the lead actor, to the director to his new role as The Producer!

But the best part is the balance. When you look at LeBron or Kobe, if they put up 38 its on a ton more attempts and they might (in the case of LA) have one other guy that had a good game. The Suns had all players in double digits except Grant who had 10 assists and only two points. LB had a great game. Boris is creating more and had a fantastic move in the paint against DPOY candidate Battier. GG is a great addition that can do quite a few things. And Shaq's offense is starting to find the range. Wow.

This team is really looking good. Still a long way to go and still some stiff competition out there. But right now anyway, you see this team hanging with anyone.

Phx - where artistic vision happens

by Phoenix Stan on Mar 23, 2008 9:13 AM MDT 0 recs

Wooohooo!

The last game reminds me of the playoffs against the Spurs in 2004-2005. Amare averaged 40 points a game and we really thought we saw the arrival of a new NBA superpower. Tim Duncan saw it too.

But then, we lost Amare the following season and Nash showed that he could drive our team to (relative) success even without Amare.

Last year, the team was not ready to give everything (shots mainly) to Amare when they were able to win without him. Amare definitely wanted more shots.

This year, the same was true. The main roadblock was keeping Marion happy too.

However, now with (co-team captain and lead complainer) Marion out of the way, Amare is has been able to reassert himself as the dominant focal point of the SUNS offense.

And srp is right - it doesn't appear as if Amare is taking that many more shots.

Comparing January to March (the month before and month after the Marion trade), here are his shot counts.

Shots, +2.5:
January: 14.25 avg
March: 16.73 avg

Free Throws +2.7:
January: 8.125 avg
March: 10.82 avg

He is also sharing the ball more with his assists doubled from 1.06 avg in January to 2.00 in March. This is mainly due to having a big target like SHAQ to shuffle the ball too, but he also hit Grant Hill for a big outside shot late in a game. I credit some of these assists to Amare having the ball more in his hands and consequently sharing the wealth.

Of course, his turnovers are up to 3/game avg in March compared to 1.94/game avg in January. If we exclude his 9 TO Seattle game, his TOs are 2.4/game, in line with his additional assist attempts and increased ball-handling role.

The SUNS - NOW THE HOTTEST TEAM IN THE NBA!

by ZonaFlash on Mar 23, 2008 1:50 PM MDT up 0 recs

MVP Chants

You know...I was at the game on Saturday and I wouldn't say that the "MVP" chants for Amare were boisterous...it was the section next to mine on the lower level that did the chanting. It started with a few people during one trip to the line then it grew throughout that one particular section the next time Amare was at the line. It's funny, because if you read Coro's recap of the game you would think the whole place was revebrating with the chants.

by LatoyaNash on Mar 26, 2008 11:00 AM MDT 0 recs

Well, Coro has no excuse since he was there...

...but in my case, I had to go by what it sounded like on the broadcast. The first time around, it sounded like just a few people, and I wasn't even sure I was hearing right. The second time, it was a larger smattering, but still quite faint. But during the fourth quarter, there was little doubt. It sounded pretty wide-spread, and pretty similar to what it usually sounds like (again, over the TV) when they do the same thing for Nash. But since I posted the above recap, I have heard from others that it wasn't nearly as wide-spread as it sounded on TV. So, maybe I was overstating things a little, but it's still obvious just from watching the Suns play that much more is running through Amare (and Shaq), and even Grant Hill than it is through Nash right now, and my gut says that's a permanent thing.

The other thing I thought was telling was that (again, as near as I could tell over the TV) no one was making "MVP" chants for Nash. He used to just get them by default whenever he stepped to the line at the end of any game the Suns were winning. Even in games where (much like this one) he was not as dominant as another player, he would still be the one the fans were serenading at the end. The eerie silence spoke as loud as the crowd showering Amare.

by TexSUN on Mar 26, 2008 12:43 PM MDT up 0 recs