Jarryd Bayless Ends DJ Strawberry's Career

by Seth Pollack on Jul 19, 2008 10:33 PM MDT in Phoenix Suns Commentary

Or at least he ruined his evening with 36 points most of which seemingly came in the final crucial minutes of a tight game. DJ on the other hand turned the ball over four times including calling a non-existent time out with 1:03 left.

The suddenly very young and inexperienced point guard was bringing the ball up court with a Suns 5 point lead and as he felt some pressure on the side line called time out. Problem being of course that the Suns had no remaining time outs which resulted in lose of possession and technical free throw.

On the other end Bayless blew by Strawberry getting into the lane for bucket and 1.

Strawberry with less then a minute remaining then dribbles off his foot, regains control, gets pressured by his man, almost calls timeout again and is called for an 8 second violation. Turnover.

Game over. Bayless drops 36 including key late buckets while DJ folds in the clutch.

Is it the end of DJ's career? Of course not. But you have to think that his poor performance in the critical part of the game will have a lasting impression on Kerr and Griff. From the looks on their faces it certainly seemed that way.

Tucker continued to dominate other guards in the paint and Robin was again spectacular.

For a much more coherent version of the game from the very nice, professional and non-bloggery bloggers - Dave and Ben - check out Blazer's Edge.

More to follow from me in the morning including a recap and hopefully video of Robin Lopez' face up 360 spin dunk.

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It wasn't the first guard who was blamed for Bayless

What has to hurt is Joel Meyers saying how much Strawberry was dominating Bayless most of the game and then have it turned tables. Strawberry is a terrific player and under Terry Porter should be highly valued.

Aldridge said. "We feel like we can beat any team. We feel like we can beat the Spurs, Suns, Lakers, Mavericks, whoever any night right now, and we'll still be here when those teams get old and their guys retire. We're going to be here for a long time."

by lee3022 on Jul 19, 2008 11:10 PM MDT reply actions

PS - yes I am from Portland but no Suns hater

by lee3022 on Jul 19, 2008 11:10 PM MDT up reply actions

I don't know what game he was watching

In the first half, Tucker was on Bayless and DJ was on Koponen. Bayless had a fairly quiet first half but he also wasn’t very aggressive.

DJ on offensive was able to get into the lane and draw fouls but rarely did he finished or create a shot for someone else. And several times Bayless was quick enough to stay in front of him and stop his drives.

It was Tucker that owned Bayless in the post a couple of times.

Blogging Suns Basketball

by Seth Pollack on Jul 20, 2008 12:04 AM MDT up reply actions