Phoenix Suns Week in Review: Slipping Into Darkness
by East Bay Ray on Jan 16, 2012 10:29 AM MST
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PrintThe Suns entered last week with the biggest win of the season under their belt, a 102-77 dismantling of a Portland Trailblazers squad that had rolled into town with a 5-1 record. A 109-93 thumping of the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday gave the Suns hope going into a showdown with the rival Lakers, but a Kobe Bryant supernova performance in LA foreshadowed a gigantic crash as the Suns two-game homestand featured losses to the mediocre Cavs and lowly Nets before a difficult 5-game road trip started with a loss to a Spurs team missing Manu Ginobili.
Hope and a 4-4 record gave way to injuries and 4-game losing streak, dropping the Suns to 4-8 and a tie for the #11 position in the West with upcoming road games against the Bulls, Knicks, Celtics and Mavericks.
This was a rough week, and things figure to get worse before they get better. Read on for more of the gory details.
Record for the week (January 8-15): 1-4
Average Score: Opponents 101.0, Suns 95.2
Losing to the Lakers and Spurs on the road is excusable. Losing to the Cavs and Nets at home? Not so much. And it isn't as if we can point to one or two issues that are the cause of the problems; there are plenty to choose from. Against the Lakers, Kobe had one of his tremendous scoring performances and the Suns offense collapsed down the stretch. Cavs star rookie Kyrie Irving victimized us against Cleveland, then our elderly team leaders Steve Nash and Grant Hill missed the Nets game due to minor injuries, and the Nets shot the lights out from behind the arc. And the Spurs.....well, the Spurs are simply a better team than us. Shooting, defense, rebounding, lack of a go-to scorer late in games and age have taken turns as the fatal flaws with the team.
Western Conference Position: 11th (tied)
What's troubling when looking at the Western Conference standings is that the following teams are virtual shoo-ins to make the playoffs: Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets. That's six playoff spots. Then there are the Blazers, who have cooled since their fast start but still figure to be strong players in the mix, and the Utah Jazz, off to a surprising 8-4 start behind deep frontcourt play and defense. Who among those teams can the Suns realistically be expected to pass for a playoff spot?
Offensive Rating: 103.2 (13th out of 30), PPG: 93.8 (19th out of 30)
The Suns offense started to perk up with high output nights against the Blazers and Bucks, but came back down to earth during the losing streak, and the team still has only three players averaging double figure scoring with Marcin Gortat's measly 14.3PPG leading the way.
| Rk | Player | Age | G | GS | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marcin Gortat | 27 | 12 | 12 | 28.6 | 6.7 | 10.8 | .620 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.8 | .545 | 2.3 | 6.2 | 8.4 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 14.3 | |
| 2 | Steve Nash | 37 | 11 | 11 | 30.4 | 5.5 | 10.7 | .508 | 1.1 | 3.1 | .353 | 1.2 | 1.4 | .867 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 10.1 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 3.3 | 0.9 | 13.2 |
| 3 | Jared Dudley | 26 | 12 | 12 | 32.4 | 4.3 | 9.4 | .451 | 1.1 | 3.2 | .342 | 1.9 | 2.5 | .767 | 0.9 | 3.6 | 4.5 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 11.5 |
| 4 | Shannon Brown | 26 | 12 | 1 | 21.6 | 3.3 | 9.2 | .364 | 0.7 | 2.7 | .250 | 1.9 | 2.3 | .821 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 2.6 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 9.3 |
| 5 | Markieff Morris | 22 | 12 | 0 | 21.6 | 3.5 | 7.0 | .500 | 1.3 | 2.6 | .516 | 0.8 | 1.0 | .750 | 1.1 | 4.4 | 5.5 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 9.1 |
| 6 | Hakim Warrick | 29 | 11 | 0 | 17.9 | 3.2 | 6.9 | .461 | 0.1 | 0.6 | .143 | 2.2 | 2.9 | .750 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 2.8 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 8.6 |
| 7 | Channing Frye | 28 | 12 | 12 | 23.0 | 3.1 | 7.7 | .402 | 1.3 | 3.8 | .326 | 0.8 | 0.9 | .818 | 1.2 | 5.4 | 6.6 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 8.2 |
| 8 | Grant Hill | 39 | 11 | 11 | 25.0 | 3.0 | 9.0 | .333 | 0.1 | 1.3 | .071 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.000 | 0.6 | 2.6 | 3.3 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 7.8 |
| 9 | Michael Redd | 32 | 3 | 0 | 15.0 | 1.7 | 6.0 | .278 | 1.0 | 3.3 | .300 | 1.0 | 1.3 | .750 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 5.3 |
| 10 | Ronnie Price | 28 | 12 | 1 | 16.1 | 1.9 | 4.6 | .418 | 0.5 | 1.6 | .316 | 0.8 | 1.0 | .833 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.8 | 3.1 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 5.2 |
| 11 | Robin Lopez | 23 | 12 | 0 | 15.9 | 1.5 | 3.6 | .419 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 2.3 | .741 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 3.8 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 2.7 | 4.7 | |
| 12 | Sebastian Telfair | 26 | 7 | 0 | 8.9 | 1.1 | 4.0 | .286 | 0.6 | 1.0 | .571 | 1.3 | 1.4 | .900 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 4.1 |
| 13 | Josh Childress | 28 | 5 | 0 | 11.4 | 0.8 | 2.4 | .333 | 0.2 | 1.4 | .143 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 1.8 |
Through twelve games, the Suns have only scored 100+ points four times. Remember when the Nash-led Suns used to blow the doors off teams with relentless scoring? Those days are in the past, and there are plenty of reasons for that. Our wings are poor shooters and generally not NBA starter quality players. Gortat continues to improve his mid-range shot and post game and has been our most dependable threat, but Channing Frye is as inconsistent as ever. Markieff Morris has been a mixed bag as well, to be expected from a rookie.
Defensive Rating: 104.8 (23rd out of 30), PPG Allowed: 95.3 (17th out of 30)
Unfortunately, after a strong defensive start, this is closer to what we're used to seeing and, while the Suns have shown flashes of improved defensive play, breakdowns persist and the Suns last three opponents scored over 100 points while their star players (Kyrie Irving, Deron Williams and Tim Duncan) all exceeded their PPG averages playing against the Suns.
Pace: 90.9 (20th out of 30)
The Suns are not pushing tempo the way they were in their heyday, and the way coach Alvin Gentry claims they still want to with this team. The uptempo game has been the Suns identity throughout the Nash era. What is the team's identity now?
Game of the Week: Suns 109, Bucks 93
It seems like so long ago that the Suns blew the Milwaukee Bucks out 109-93 on January, 8th in Phoenix behind the double digit scoring of seven players and 56% shooting from the field. Of course, the Bucks are a team that a.) had played the Clippers in LA on the previous night and b.) hadn't beaten the Suns in Phoenix since Reagan was president, but the Suns dominated this game from the beginning and led the Bucks by 25 points going into the fourth before emptying the bench.
Stud of the Week: Marcin Gortat
Marcin Gortat has been a solid defender and rebounder since joining the Suns, and his offensive game has continued to progress. Over these last 5 games, he averaged 18.4 points and 10.8 rebounds per game on 64.7% shooting. Those right there are all-star numbers, as he's playing better since the splint was removed from his thumb. We finally have a center! Now, can somebody please consistently help the Polish Hammer out?
Dud of the Week: Grant Hill
Remember the last couple of years when we marveled at how Grant Hill looked like an athlete 5-10 years younger than he is? Well, this year's edition of Grant Hill looks every day of his 39 years and 103 days of age. He had his best offensive performance of the year against the Bucks with 14 points on 6-11 shooting, then followed it up with a train wreck of a 1-12 shooting night as the Lakers dared him to take open shots. Then he injured his quad early in the Cavs game. Removing the one game he completely missed and the other he missed most of, Hill averaged 7.7 points, 1.3 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game on 32.1% shooting. Yes, he's been dinged up most of the season and his defense is still an asset but his offensive production is truly awful right now.
Outlook
All in all, lots of holes on this team and a brutal stretch of games coming up. It was critical that the Suns come out of the gate strong and win their games against "beatable" opponents before this road trip, and that didn't happen. Time is running out quickly. At the end of this road trip, the Suns will have completed about 25% of their schedule (16 games out of 66) and are staring 4-12 or 5-11 in the face. Day of reckoning is approaching as hopes for the season fade fast. The Suns front office will soon be forced to make a lot of hard decisions about the future of this roster because the current mix isn't getting it done.
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Good review Ray..
Does have anybody any sense of whether (if and when) Gentry’s job is on the line…? Fans in Phoenix don’t particulary care for too many mediocre seasons in a row…
I personally felt he has done an okay job, but whatever defensive scheme Elston Turner is whispering in his ear simply ain’t working. Maybe Gentry needs to clean house and start afresh with a new idea of how to get this team to start playing to it’s potential. Granted they are not a Championship caliber team, (and we really need a talent infusion) but they are better than a 4-8 record especailly considering those breutal home losses to lottery teams.
We’ve got a few strenghtd on the team (Nash, Gortat, Morris) just got to find a way to make the best use of what we have.
STAT may be gone but the Suns will rise....! BTW, If positivity is a crime, I plead guilty by reason of T-Bird...!
wow. It's amazing to see where have gone in just a week.
From being a team where “anything can happen! We should beat the Lakers!” to practically calling this season a lost one and hoping for the best in the off-season. It’s interesting because in a typical season, a dramatic mood swing like that would just be a fan’s overreaction to a small sample of games, whereas now, as you mention, we’re almost a quarter of the way through the season and that concern starts to actually take on legitimacy.
Everything changes when your season is as compressed and shortened as this one is. Every game is magnified in importance.
Crashing the [message] boards from the swamps of Louisiana, and blogging Phoenix Suns!
What? We are "a quarter of the way through the season"? Whoa. Time flies...
In fact, I won’t mind watching the Suns sitting at the bottom of the western conference this short season for next year. It seems endurable.
Phoenix Suns and Steve Nash. That is all.
by PhoenixSons on Jan 16, 2012 11:48 AM MST up reply actions
That is what happens when you start on Christmas Day
And play 66 games in a very short amount of time.
"If Gortat pulls off a real Dream Shake in-game this year I will shave my head.
Mark my words." Piotr Szczesniak 12/12/11 2:12 PM
Cardinals, Suns, D-backs for life!
im giving Hill a en excuse me on this week because of injury and oldness.
I’m voting Channing Frye for goat.
Blogging Suns Basketball. Twitter: @willcantrellphx
by Wil Cantrell on Jan 16, 2012 11:54 AM MST up reply actions
and Lopez
Phoenix Suns and Steve Nash. That is all.
by PhoenixSons on Jan 16, 2012 11:57 AM MST up reply actions
But Frye had four good games until his stinker last night.
18, 17, 12 and 15 points on 24-37 shooting before last night’s 0-7 crapfest. So, really only one bad game out of five.
Blogging Suns basketball for Bright Side of the Sun from California wine country.
Twitter: @EastBayRaymundo
by East Bay Ray on Jan 16, 2012 12:00 PM MST up reply actions
Frye isn’t the goat of this week, but he’s the goat of the season so far. His offense has been putrid and he’s probably the worst defender on the team, even worse than Nash. I see Nash putting forth a lot more effort and making people shoot tough shots. Frye most of the time gives weak-ass close outs and poor effort. He’s our worst player this year on both ends, especially for his contract and how he performed last year. Bigtime regression.
by BringBackBarkley17 on Jan 16, 2012 12:09 PM MST up reply actions 1 recs
+1
"I don't lift weights because they are heavy, and I don't run because it makes me tired." - Charles Barkley
I just don't agree.
He wasn’t hitting his shot in the first 6 games, but has had 4 good games and one bad one. Before he was hitting shots, he was rebounding really well. And I think he has improved his D. He used to be a complete matador. Now that happens only 1 out of every 5 plays.
I think the goat is:
1) lack of a go-to scorer more than anything.
2) lousy bench play. Where did Lopez go? and, if we had a go-to scorer, Dudz and/or Frye would be bench players helping out there.
3) coaching and personel changes. Turner, Brown, Price/Telfair, and now Redd all coming together in a month is a lot, but this is not as big as #1 or #2 above.
4) lack of identity and coaching at the end of games.
Grant Hill for prez.
by sun-arc on Jan 16, 2012 1:00 PM MST via mobile up reply actions
I'm as big of a Frye supporter as there is on this blog,
but BBB is right. His defense has been terrible. His man has been getting wide open look after wide open look for much of the season. It’s really disappointing considering his growth last year.
Go Suns, Packers, Jays, and Huskers!
Read my thoughts on Creighton University athletics at Creightonian.com
I also edit things at Ridiculous Upside. Check it out.
I keep saying it but...
It’s the scheme. I’m going to work out how to take videos from League Pass and post a few clips, because the scheme is killing Gortat and Frye and making them look awful. It is also causing our rebounding woes as well, as it is a quasi-zone, that makes boxing out difficult.
coaching
When the problem is different each game blame goes to the coach. Fundamentals seem to be missing. The memtality ‘Nash will find me for a three’ needs to stop. Team basketball, not, chuck a shot as soon as it hits your hands. If they lost a game where they just are lacking in talent, so be it. That doesn’t seem to be the case.
Coaching is definitely inadequate
but the talent on the floor is middle of the pack at best, and that’s the front office’s fault.
sententia Platonis semper in ore illius fuit, florere civitates si aut philosophi imperarent aut imperantes philosopharentur
by NASCARbernet on Jan 16, 2012 12:21 PM MST up reply actions
yes, middle, but not bottom
as our play and record show.
Grant Hill for prez.
by sun-arc on Jan 16, 2012 12:56 PM MST via mobile up reply actions
One what I saw during these games.
Suns didn’t or maybe don’t have few (1 or 2) schema of play with should be played when they are close to opponent. Sorry one exist. 3-point shots not prepared.
They're there. Are you looking at narrow view? If so, change to wide view.
Blogging Suns basketball for Bright Side of the Sun from California wine country.
Twitter: @EastBayRaymundo
by East Bay Ray on Jan 16, 2012 1:51 PM MST up reply actions
Thanks, Brian.
trog, you can also click on the “view original table” under the chart.
It’s tricky to format things to look right in both narrow and wide views.
Blogging Suns basketball for Bright Side of the Sun from California wine country.
Twitter: @EastBayRaymundo
by East Bay Ray on Jan 16, 2012 3:49 PM MST up reply actions
Troglodyte (noun)
1. a prehistoric cave dweller.
2. a person of degraded, primitive, or brutal character.
3. a person living in seclusion.
4. a person unacquainted with affairs of the world.
5. an animal living underground.
“Changing views – so easy a troglodyte can do it.”
It was only called the mildly irritated house on McDowell until I showed up.
by Jim Coughenour on Jan 16, 2012 3:53 PM MST up reply actions
Well, this is a switch
Usually your posts send me to merriam-webster.com, Jim. I’m not used to you supplying the definition.
Blogging Suns basketball for Bright Side of the Sun from California wine country.
Twitter: @EastBayRaymundo
by East Bay Ray on Jan 16, 2012 3:58 PM MST up reply actions 2 recs
I thought that the GEICO reference
would work better if everybody caught it.
The way I see it, if things keep trending the way they are now in about 2-3 weeks this will be considered compelling basketball conversation…. :(
It was only called the mildly irritated house on McDowell until I showed up.
by Jim Coughenour on Jan 16, 2012 4:00 PM MST up reply actions
Well, I got my start as a staffer here by covering the lockout
So I’m obviously undeterred by things that suck.
Blogging Suns basketball for Bright Side of the Sun from California wine country.
Twitter: @EastBayRaymundo
by East Bay Ray on Jan 16, 2012 4:02 PM MST up reply actions
Good post.
I can’t find much to disagree with what you’ve delineated above.
I agree about the pecking order for teams in the West, too.
But I’m having a hard time processing that Phoenix can’t compete with Utah… Something’s telling me the Suns should be able to.
It was only called the mildly irritated house on McDowell until I showed up.
by Jim Coughenour on Jan 16, 2012 4:03 PM MST up reply actions
You've seen the movie "Airplane"?
To paraphrase, “looks like we picked the wrong week to start writing week in review pieces!”
Blogging Suns basketball for Bright Side of the Sun from California wine country.
Twitter: @EastBayRaymundo
by East Bay Ray on Jan 16, 2012 4:07 PM MST up reply actions 1 recs
Only way to get through a Suns game any more.
Blogging Suns basketball for Bright Side of the Sun from California wine country.
Twitter: @EastBayRaymundo
by East Bay Ray on Jan 16, 2012 4:11 PM MST up reply actions
So THATS your secret
I will have to give it a shot come this next game.
Member of the "Let’s Make FanShots Relevant!" Club
our cousin!
along with pan paniscus(bonobo)
Steve Nash, the league's MVP, is a longhaired Canadian who spoke out against the war in Iraq and reads The Communist Manifesto. Quentin Richardson declared after a game-winning shot that it "was like Hamlet. It was a suspense thriller, and I killed them at the end." Amare Stoudemire, when asked to comment on a 22-point third quarter against the Kings, said, "I've got a tendency to jump over some guys' heads and throw it down."
he'd never be able to defend a wing.
Grant Hill for prez.
by sun-arc on Jan 16, 2012 1:19 PM MST via mobile up reply actions
You know- looking at other west teams
the Suns seem to have less top-tier talent than any of them with the exception of NOH & HOU, and possibly GSW, MIN, & SAC (depending on what you call “top-tier”.)
Here I had thought we HAD to be better than all those teams above plus UTA & PTL. That would have put us at #8 in the west. But, this just isn’t the case. Unless our team gels in a really big way (which could legitimately still happen) we’ll only be better than GSW, SAC & NOH.
With all this talk about coaching… how is it that HOU is better than us?? Gotta be coaching, right? Even with Adelman and Turner gone. And, though I loathe Avery Johnson, I could see the possibility of him getting the GSW gelling with less talent than us.
So that would mean we’d be 3rd from the bottom in the west, with 3-4 teams above us with less talent (NOH, HOU, GSW, & possibly MIN). Would that not indicate a coaching problem? Or is it aging and that our team is still built around Nash’s (somewhat sagging) abilities?
What is the cure? (And, please, don’t say more cowbell!)
Grant Hill for prez.
by sun-arc on Jan 16, 2012 1:19 PM MST via mobile reply actions
Avery Johnson coaches in New Jersey
Not in GS. You are thinking of Mark Jackson I believe.
"If Gortat pulls off a real Dream Shake in-game this year I will shave my head.
Mark my words." Piotr Szczesniak 12/12/11 2:12 PM
Cardinals, Suns, D-backs for life!
yeah, that's right.
duh. And it is Jackson that I loathe. I merely dislike Johnson. Thanks.
Grant Hill for prez.
by sun-arc on Jan 16, 2012 2:37 PM MST via mobile up reply actions
Top 5 pick, here we come!
"I don't lift weights because they are heavy, and I don't run because it makes me tired." - Charles Barkley
With our luck we'd still get the last pick from the lottery.
I rock so get used to it.
by Colton Dodson on Jan 16, 2012 3:36 PM MST up reply actions
It was sad to see Gentry imploring the team to run and shoot "like we used to do it"
When the only guy left who actually used to do it is Nash, and maybe Hill, who one could argue was in on the tail end of our former SSOL greatness.
Years of shedding top scorers in the name of “defensive emphasis” has brought us to this sorry situation. We’ve improved our defense marginally at the cost of dismantling the best offense in the league, maybe the best ever.
The only surprise to me is that anyone’s surprised.
I'm Michael Beasley's imaginary friend.
by suns68 on Jan 16, 2012 2:00 PM MST via mobile reply actions 2 recs
Jason Terry experiement
reminds me of that horrible experiement, players not coached to their strengths. Then when Gentry took over the Suns took off. Only now they are trying to play that style but more defence, only no one can play that style or defence, ay yay yay, i get it now
Terry Porter?
Steve Nash, the league's MVP, is a longhaired Canadian who spoke out against the war in Iraq and reads The Communist Manifesto. Quentin Richardson declared after a game-winning shot that it "was like Hamlet. It was a suspense thriller, and I killed them at the end." Amare Stoudemire, when asked to comment on a 22-point third quarter against the Kings, said, "I've got a tendency to jump over some guys' heads and throw it down."
Did you mean to reply to Jim's "troglodyte" definition above?
Blogging Suns basketball for Bright Side of the Sun from California wine country.
Twitter: @EastBayRaymundo
by East Bay Ray on Jan 16, 2012 3:55 PM MST up reply actions
The one thing I ask is that we beat the Celtics.
There is a guy in my class that likes the Celtics. So every time the SUns lose he says “Suns suck”. And I want to punch him in the face. But if the Suns the beat the Celtics I can say " since the Suns beat the Celtics and the suns suck, doesn’t that mean the celtics suck too?" Yeah it’ll be awesome.
I rock so get used to it.
But the Suns do suck
and we still love them.
"I don't lift weights because they are heavy, and I don't run because it makes me tired." - Charles Barkley
Can't stand people that do that
"If Gortat pulls off a real Dream Shake in-game this year I will shave my head.
Mark my words." Piotr Szczesniak 12/12/11 2:12 PM
Cardinals, Suns, D-backs for life!
well.......
………I think this past week showed how the Suns need better 4th quarter play, especially scoring. Someone needs to make those clutch shots. The Redd experiment is not going to help until he gets in better shape. Warrick’s minutes have been cut the most since the experiment, and he’s been a pretty good scorer off the bench so far when given the chance. I wish Duds could jump and not be out-rebounded when he’s in the paint. Shannon Brown needs to show us some dunks, and less jump shots. I still have plenty of hope that things can turn around. It just needs to happen sooner than later.
54 games remaining
We can finish 58-8 baby, CMONNNNN
You can follow me on twitter.
sports_dude33
Looking ahead for Grant Hill's 1000th game.
by sports_dude33 on Jan 16, 2012 4:19 PM MST reply actions 1 recs
Just gotta enter our cheat codes
What is it again? Up Up Down Down….
Member of the "Let’s Make FanShots Relevant!" Club
We need a "turbo" button for our controllers as well..
STAT may be gone but the Suns will rise....! BTW, If positivity is a crime, I plead guilty by reason of T-Bird...!
FIRE GENTRY
TRADE NASH
GET RID OF SOMEBODY
SELL THE TEAM TO SOME RICH GUY/GAL from CHINA or MIDDLE EAST
I think we need to do something to rock the boat…there is no hope but down with the current group of people.
You had me until the Vancouver part.
STAT may be gone but the Suns will rise....! BTW, If positivity is a crime, I plead guilty by reason of T-Bird...!
How about Omaha then?
Go Suns, Packers, Jays, and Huskers!
Read my thoughts on Creighton University athletics at Creightonian.com
I also edit things at Ridiculous Upside. Check it out.
Nah...You're unemployment rate is too low for me...
STAT may be gone but the Suns will rise....! BTW, If positivity is a crime, I plead guilty by reason of T-Bird...!
I am “unemployment rate is too low for me?” When did I become that?
Go Suns, Packers, Jays, and Huskers!
Read my thoughts on Creighton University athletics at Creightonian.com
I also edit things at Ridiculous Upside. Check it out.
probably a few years ago...
When the rest of the nations’ job market tanked but Nebraska’s held steady….
As a premier hater, I am held to high standards..
STAT may be gone but the Suns will rise....! BTW, If positivity is a crime, I plead guilty by reason of T-Bird...!
I believe we can beat Knicks and Mavs
We are more motivated playing against this two teams
NYK coz of D’antoni
Mavs coz they are the champs..
We want playoffs not playnopes. Phoenix Suns for life.
You would think we'd be motivated as well.
To not lose to the second worst team in the NBA at home…
STAT may be gone but the Suns will rise....! BTW, If positivity is a crime, I plead guilty by reason of T-Bird...!
Good reasoning.
"I don't lift weights because they are heavy, and I don't run because it makes me tired." - Charles Barkley
I don't think Hill has looked old
Hill has looked incapable of making a jump shot, but not old. His defence on Kobe was amazing, and he probably leads the team in fastbreak points.
Hill just can not hit a jumper. And unlike Brown (see below), it isn’t shot selection, it is just not going down for Hill (insert “that’s what she said” joke here). If Hill mises jumpers, it kills the offence, especially down the stretch. Combine that with Dudley and Frye shooting poorly and there is the issue.
Really, dud of the week for mine is Brown. How can he be 4th in FGA a game at 9.2, and second (behind Telfair) in FGA per minute, while shooting just .364? It is beyond me why Gentry lets him. That Brown takes so many shots per minute and shoots so poorly is a BIG cause of this team’s woes. Sadly, Brown does good things as well, so he is unlikely to be benched – but he really should be, and if I was the coaching staff, I’d institute a rule that every possession that isn’t a fastbreak that Brown doesn’t pass the ball, he gets instantly benched.
I think we need to ONLY play Brown with Nash – not start, just only play them together. Brown can come on for Hill or Dudley, whoever looks more tired. Nash is the only player Brown defers to, and Brown gives Nash a player who can cover more active PGs. Let Brown pick up PGs full court and just be a pest, and only take wide open jumpers / hit him back cuts and alley oops.
Playing Brown with Nash is a good idea
I think Gentry is still giving Brown the green light because, honestly, we need him to shoot is way out of the slump, if thats even possible. We wont know what the guy can do if we don’t let him shoot or start putting restrictions on him. I would like to see him stop taking bad contested 40 foot shots though…
I also am ready to say it’s time to give Morris a start. Maybe this will light a fire under Frye.
Member of the "Let’s Make FanShots Relevant!" Club
I'm all for shooting out of a slump
But that means taking GOOD shots – not Brown’s idea of a good shot. Dudley needed to shoot more, because he passed up wide open shots, but Brown just takes WOEFUL shots. Who the F gets a 22 footer BLOCKED? Why even take it if a block is possible? Amazing!
I agree...
Thats why I said
I would like to see him stop taking bad contested 40 foot shots though…
I think Dudley needs to get back to the basics and stop trying to do so much. I like him as a catch and shoot shooter who is spotted up at the three.
Member of the "Let’s Make FanShots Relevant!" Club
Last game, Brown missed wide open set shots
and then nailed a turnaround spread-eagle 20-footer, and a 22-foot teardrop (which I didn’t even know was possible, btw) against double coverage while falling sideways.
I think he may need to take worse shots. He seems to hit them at a higher %!
Voted most likely to say "I told you so"
lol
Go Suns, Packers, Jays, and Huskers!
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I don't think his defense was amazing.
I can’t say his defense was amazing when Kobe scored 48. That just doesn’t scream “amazing”.
I don’t think Kobe ever scored 40+ on Bell in the playoffs. Usually, Kobe got his averages when guarded by Bell. He did score 40+ on us in the playoffs, but that was because Raja had been suspended for you know what:) Now that was amazing.
Don't trade Dudley!
He didn't score 48 on Hill
I didn’t do this, so we’ll have to take Brian13’s word for it and here are the Kobe vs Grant numbers in the Laker game:
32:53 Min with Grant
29 pts, 3 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 2 to, 2 pf
11-23 FG, 0-2 3P, 48.8 FG%
14 shots outside of 15ft (60.8% of his shots)
7-7 FT (2 FT off defensive 3 sec technicals)
6:13 Min without Grant
19 pts, 2 reb, 0 ast, 1 stl, 0 to, 0 pf
7-8 FG, 0-1 3P, 87.5 FG%
3 shots outside of 15ft (37.5% of his shots)
5-6 FT
Hill defended Kobe well – especially as he had two dunks late on Hill (one Hill’s fault, one a team F up), and Hill made Kobe take 60.8% of his shots outside 15 feet. That, IMHO, is really good D, EVEN IF your opponent makes the shot. A defender can;t be held responsible for the result as much as the opportunity, at least IMHO.
Besides which, total points is a function of the number of shots taken. I’d agree if you said “XYZ didn’t shoot .666 because the defence was great”, but total points tells a different story.
Usually the Lakers look worst when Kobe takes so many shots. Kobe’s usage rate this year is 37.0 – the highest of his career, and he isn’t shooting so brilliantly that it makes sense (he is middle of the pack for Kobe in terms of TS% – http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/bryanko01.html) and the Lakers need to get Gasol and Bynum more involved if they hope to be a contender this year.
But again, I think Hill did a really good job against Kobe – passing both the subjective eye test and the objective stats test. I really do. The shots Hill made Kobe take by and large weren’t great, and Kobe didn’t shoot an incredible percentage against him – it is just that everyone else sucked against Kobe, and why we should ALWAYS put Hill on Kobe, and why Hill’s health matters so much (and please BAMF, make a MF jumper once in a while!)
Alright, I take it back
He did a good job, but I’m still not sure if it was enough to be amazing.
Don't trade Dudley!
The results weren't amazing
To be sure, but the skill was. It is so hard to defend in the NBA, and if Kobe had gone for 29 pts, 3 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 2 to, 2 pf on 11-23 in 32:53, would that be a game to rave about? And 60% of shots being long jumpers? I’m saying amazing – if only because Hill is older than me!
Yup
It was pretty clear that Kobe was having one of those nights. And the fact that Hill forced him to take a majority of his shots outside of 15 ft and hold him to only 48.8% from the field (again, only amazing when you think of the type of night Kobe was having) shows that as long as he stays healthy, he’s still a legit defender.
BAMF goes HAM.
Great work on that BTW
And the analysis is great – the 60% outside 15 feet stuff is the real gold. You just can’t ask for much more than that when defending a guy like Kobe. Defenders can only really make / encourage guys to take bad shots, and then hope like hell they miss them.
Late to the party, so I'll just say listen to those two Beav.
It was just one of those nights. I only remember a few times (like the dunk MM mentioned) where he blew it. The rest fo the night he was forcing him into really tough shots… that went in.
Go Suns, Packers, Jays, and Huskers!
Read my thoughts on Creighton University athletics at Creightonian.com
I also edit things at Ridiculous Upside. Check it out.
Pretty discouraging week, I agree
IMO we should be doing better than we have done lately. Grant’s turrible shooting is a bit of a mystery. He seems to be moving OK, which would normally mean that he’s not bothered that much by injury and age related problems. I just think there’s more pressure on him in light of our diminished collective talent. Frye and Dudz can’t shoot straight. Brown is hugely undisciplined. As someone said, Redd’s not reddy. Morris is a rookie. Apart from Gortat, who else is Steve going to pass to in crunch time? Grant has traditionally been money on the break and from mid range. He’s also playing relatively big and very intense minutes, on most nights defending the opponent’s best offensive player. Unfortunately we can’t afford to sit him so he can recover fully in light of the compressed schedule.
Teeny bit of bright side? I’m kinda starting to like Price. The guy sure brings the effort every night.
How many people caught the reference in the headline
Who doesn’t enjoy a clip from a 1972 episode of Soul Train?
Blogging Suns basketball for Bright Side of the Sun from California wine country.
Twitter: @EastBayRaymundo
I'm just a rascal around here
My music/pop culture interest only goes as far back as the 80’s.
Don't trade Dudley!
Just to clarify, I'm not old enough to remember 1972
But this band and song are classics. “War” was nominated for the Rock n’ Roll HOF.
Blogging Suns basketball for Bright Side of the Sun from California wine country.
Twitter: @EastBayRaymundo
by East Bay Ray on Jan 16, 2012 8:27 PM MST up reply actions
There is no way on earth you have never heard this song...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro4yhp9L6Ok
Member of the "Let’s Make FanShots Relevant!" Club
I was about to ask....
is that you with the ’fro dancing in the foreground?
Crashing the [message] boards from the swamps of Louisiana, and blogging Phoenix Suns!
Is that the one Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker sing
in Rush Hour?
Voted most likely to say "I told you so"
I mostly just listen to Katy Perry songs
while I work out.
It was only called the mildly irritated house on McDowell until I showed up.
by Jim Coughenour on Jan 17, 2012 11:18 AM MST up reply actions
‘Cause Jim you’re a firework
Come on, show ‘em what you’re worth
Make ’em go “Oh, oh, oh”
As you shoot across the sky-y-y
Blogging Suns basketball for Bright Side of the Sun from California wine country.
Twitter: @EastBayRaymundo
by East Bay Ray on Jan 17, 2012 12:16 PM MST up reply actions
I love soul train!
Crashing the [message] boards from the swamps of Louisiana, and blogging Phoenix Suns!
SUNS
If you ask me the Suns seem to have changed the offense around. They are not running, not even on missed shots. Nash pushes the ball a little to about half court but the rest of the team is walking(especially Morris). It’s boring to watch. Gentry is still playing with rotations. In my opinion he needs to set his starting rotation and then just play with second string rotation. I would rather see the Suns is a shoot out vs trying to play defense. Sometimes an aggressive offense is a good defense.
I like Gentry but I think he’s more suited for a team that is a contendor and just needs to manage all the talent. I don’t think he is the coach you want when you are rebuilding. But I guess he deserves a shot because he has earned it.
I knew things were bad for the Suns
But, an appearance by the Four Horsemen? It’s true. We’re doooooooooooomed!
Blogging Suns basketball for Bright Side of the Sun from California wine country.
Twitter: @EastBayRaymundo
by East Bay Ray on Jan 17, 2012 1:57 PM MST up reply actions 1 recs
The irony was not loss on me,
but I was afraid to say anything.
Go Suns, Packers, Jays, and Huskers!
Read my thoughts on Creighton University athletics at Creightonian.com
I also edit things at Ridiculous Upside. Check it out.
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