Bench leads Suns to 1st win in 2 weeks

by Seth Pollack on Mar 14, 2009 10:25 PM MST in Phoenix Suns: Game Coverage

Even though the Thunder are a young and dangerous team, they still aren't a deep or experienced group. They are going to let you hang around and over come mistakes that better teams won't and the Suns needed that to pull out a win.

The story of this game is pretty darn simple: Suns starters come out flat and fall behind. Suns bench comes in with energy and lifts the team. A young Thunder team helps by playing sloppy and without cohesion. Late big shots by the Suns to close out the game.

Not a surprising story really and one we wouldn't really think twice about if the Suns had 10 more wins in the win column and were solidly in the playoff hunt. But given what this team has gone through this season, including going the last 13 days and 6 games without a win, it was a very nice result.

It was fun to see guys like Dragic, Lopez and Tucker play well and Dudley was the difference in the game. Defensively, the Suns were able to tighten up in the 2nd half only giving up 43 points. This is a game that is played on both ends of the floor and you have to appreciate and applaud the effort when it's given.

Box Score * Yahoo! Recap * WTLC

Of the starters, only Grant Hill played great and Nash was solid if not spectacular. Shaq got into early foul trouble for the second game in a row. That could be coincidence but Shaq is a very smart player and knows how to use his fouls. If he starts to consistently find himself on the bench with three fouls you can be sure we will be talking more about this topic. Of course at this point, maybe giving those extra minutes to Lopez isn't the worst option.

The Big Fella did play better in the second half and we saw some signs of improvement with how the team worked with him and the double teams he's drawing.

Richardson was non-factor, only putting up 6 points in 21 minutes. After a rousing welcome to Phoenix, he's not exactly endeared himself to the locals.

Barbosa's three big three's helped close out the game but at that point and really all of the second half it felt as if the ~~Suns~~ Dudley's effort on the glass and on defense were going to earn the win.

It was good to see the Suns get the win and I liked the way they got it.

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ironic

my football(soccer) team gets killed by our rivals at home and finally loose a game in ages and phoenix finally win lets hope they can now go on a big run now just to save face

by phxuk: Ap on Mar 14, 2009 11:28 PM MST reply actions

I didn't see the game

but the AP made it sound less than an overwhelming victory. But at this point, a win is a win. I know a lot of people want them to tank for the lottery, but I want to see some effort, and if they end up in the lottery anyway, so be it.

"I can shoot with my left hand, I can shoot with my right hand, I'm amphibious"

by Diosnomeama on Mar 15, 2009 7:30 AM MST reply actions

hmm

I agree. I want effort, I want wins. What I dont want is to tank for lottery. And I say this for a few reasons.

A) I havent seen too many players entering the draft that jump out and make statements. Basically, I dont see those Durrants, Odens, etc. I just dont think there’s any players worth tanking for.

B) We hav a history of drafting good players only to never have them play. We either keep them on our bench or get rid of them. What resulted in the case of Rondo has made me unsure about any future regarding any drafts this team will ever make.

C) Even though we have a few players ready to go to the nursing home (Nash, Shaq, Hill), the team is relatively a young team. What good would adding another youngster do? We need to have solid players IN their prime.

by KnowGood on Mar 15, 2009 9:15 AM MST up reply actions

Sweet!

I didn’t see the game. I had to work. I’m very glad we won because I REALLY want to finish over .500. To me that’s an accomplishment.

But from reading your post Stan, you make it seem like our bench (including the awful Dragic and even more awful Lopez; whatever) somehow outplayed the young superstars of the Thunder.

If that’s true, it makes me feel even better about this win. It must be, in its own mysterious way, like a child taking his first steps. I hope someone took a picture. I hope Lopez and Dragic get more playing time. I hope Lopez can go another 8 and a half minutes picking up only 1 foul.

Take care of the little things, and the big things will take care of themselves.

by SunDolphin on Mar 15, 2009 8:33 AM MST reply actions

Went to the game...

It seemed pretty dead in the arena… Maybe it was hard for everyone to get fired up to play the Thunder. After I left I really remember how we won the game…

by whatisboxhappening on Mar 15, 2009 10:03 AM MST reply actions