Suns Lose in a Blowout

by Dan on Mar 30, 2007 8:33 AM MDT in Suns News Comment 11 comments

Sure, the score was 124-119 but it really wasn't that close. In fact, the Suns were down 20 in the first quarter, closed to within 7 in the 2nd and in the 3rd quarter they were down by 20 again. Was it just poor play by the Suns or excellent play by the Warriors? (Golden State of Mind got a little excited and is trying to increase the score...they're reporting 125-119. Come on guys! We need a break! Your team killed the Suns...do you have to increase the score on us too??) While I would like to say both, I really don't think it was excellent play by the Warriors. It was just a lack of intensity and attention from the Suns. Jason Richardson was shooting 10% in the past few games. Last night's game? He shot 14-23. 8-13 from the three-point line. At one point he made 7 shots in a row. Why weren't the Suns guarding him? When the Suns were allowing Mike Bibby shoot from the three-point line and he beat them by himself, I argued that it was the Suns' game plan to let him shoot and if he beat the Suns, it was because they decided to stop everyone else and let him do it single-handedly. But after watching last night's game, I think TexSUN was right. Teams are watching the tape of the Kings beating the Suns and are learning how to play them on the three-point line. It is now 2 teams out of three that have had someone shoot well from the three point line. Don't expect Denver and Dallas to try something different when they see that beating the Suns from the three-point line is working.

If I had to pick one redeeming quality from this loss, I could choose from the following:

The 2nd-string players played well in the 4th quarter. It was great that Mike D'Antoni kept them in the game when they got it within reach. Why reward the players who got behind by 20 points by putting them in at the end of the game?
With Golden State winning, they are only a game behind the Clippers for the 8th spot in the West. I would love to see a matchup of the Mavericks and Warriors. The Warriors have beat the Mavericks twice in the regular season. Obviously the playoffs are different and the Mavericks would have a great chance of winning the series but it would be a fun matchup to watch.

The Suns face Denver tonight in what could be a matchup for the first round of the playoffs. Will the Suns actually show up tonight? Or will they continue to fall to teams they should beat and continue to let the Spurs catch up to them for the 2nd seed in the playoffs? More on the game later today.

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Momentum

The Suns need the momentum to have a shot at the championship. Unless they turn it around this weekend against Denver and Dallas they will be in trouble. There is a good chance that they will drop to #3 seed and they will have to play LAL in the 1st round. If they make it through the 1st round, their likely opponent will SA, without the homefield advantage.

The Suns usually like being pushed to the limit, so they may respond to this situation better than having a #2 seed locked up. It was not locked up at all, but the perception was that they would be the #2 at the end of the regular season.

IMO tonight's game is critical to the Suns' season. They can turn things around or keep sliding. I hope they will show the kind of intensity they experienced from the Kings and the Warriors.

I am going to the game tonight. I hope it will be a great game for the Suns, with a 'W'.

by Vash01 on Mar 30, 2007 11:03 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

The Suns bench rocked!

Still not going to be any diaries from me for a while (next week at the earliest), but I decided to drop in for a quick comment since Dan mentioned me in his recap.

I didn't watch all of the game last night. I've worked at least 12 hours every day this week, and decided if the Suns themselves weren't taking it seriously (especially on defense), then it wasn't worth the further sleep deprivation that would be caused by staying up to watch a game that started at nearly 10:00pm my time. Nevertheless, I am happy to find that the group that was on the floor when I left was allowed to finish out the game, and apparently they did so in stellar fashion. Marcus Banks had just entered when I called it a night. I think Diaw, Jones, Barbosa, and Kurt Thomas were on the floor with him, but I can't remember for sure. Anyway, whichever group it was, could it be that maybe a REALLY NICE silver lining came out of this game? It looks like the Suns may actually have a bonifide second unit in this group (and/or the group that got them back in the game in the second quarter--similar except I don't think Banks was involved). It's really too bad this didn't come together earlier in the year, though. I'm starting to think the Suns may be as much mentally--and even physically--exhausted as they are bored. They are now only 2 back of SA, with a tiebreaker-deciding game against them on April 5. There is no "nothing to play for" excuse anymore.

Regarding Nash on defense, I probably did get a little carried away in my criticism of his efforts against Mike Bibby. First off, the game plan was probably as much at fault (or more) than Nash himself. Second, since Nash covers up for a LOT of apparent offensive deficiencies of his teammates (how else do you explain them looking like a lottery team when he doesn't play?), then I guess it's not too much to ask for them to cover for him a little on defense. So I apologize again to anyone I offended by my comments. Still, it definitely looked like GSW employed a "pick on Nash" strategy last night that worked to a tee. The Suns need to figure out how to adjust to that and quickly. I don't think "sit Nash and play Banks" is a good long-term strategy in the playoffs. :)

by TexSUN on Mar 30, 2007 11:05 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

This is going to sound strange

but in the second and third quarter, I actually found myself staring in awe and actually rooting for the Warriors. I figured that if the game didn't mean much to our starters, it shouldn't mean much to me either. The GSW put on an absolute scoring clinic which was very entertaining to watch. Dare I say, they looked just like the Suns did during their long streaks earlier in the year.

I was ecstatic that Coach D left the bench in the remainder of the game. If only a couple more bounces had gone the Suns' way, we could have snuck up and taken that game. Though in vain, it really was quite the comeback.

by AZSEAfan on Mar 30, 2007 1:13 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

LOL

I almost wrote something very similar, but I figured I had made enough "controversial" statements on this board lately, so I didn't. But yes, there was a point where I, too, decided that the Warriors clearly deserved to win this game, and were downright fun to watch as well, for this one night at least (despite the fact I really can't stand Stephen Jackson and am not a big fan of Baron Davis either). But I felt bad about it this morning when I found out that the Suns second unit nearly pulled off an amazing comeback, and read some of their post-game comments, e.g., Marcus Banks wishing they had had just two more minutes to play, etc. Clearly THEY deserved to win too (Suns bench, not the starters).

by TexSUN on Mar 30, 2007 2:09 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yup

I don't always get the watch the games because of either my wife or my 6 week old son but last night's 2nd quarter and beyond just happened to coincide with my boy's feeding time. I'm still not a big fan of Banks' shot selection but for some reason, that second team really seemed to click and the PG has alot to do with that.

You guys notice that Diaw was playing with a seldom-seen fire with the second group? If only the dude would shoot when he's 3 feet from the rim instead of always passing it out to the arc.

by AZSEAfan on Mar 30, 2007 4:09 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Diaw

I couldn't agree more. Diaw could be the best player on the team if he could just figure out how to co-exist alongside Amare, and make getting/staying in shape during the off-season a priority. I used to refer to him as my "future favorite player", even after he made that disgusting comment in Jack McCallum's book that was insulting to all women and Americans alike. But after this season, Amare and LB are looking more like FFP candidates than Diaw. That said, he played great last night, what I saw of it anyway. More, please.

by TexSUN on Mar 30, 2007 4:56 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

I never thought I'd say this but

I think that Barbosa is becoming my favorite player. I wasn't a big fan when we first got him but the dude just has an engine that will not quit...on either end. You guys see that nasty block he had? That was pretty sick.

by AZSEAfan on Mar 30, 2007 6:27 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well...

I don't think LB is quite ready to unseat Nash as the top PG in the Suns lineup, nor for the top spot on my favorite player list. But he's looking good to take over after Nash retires, especially if he gets a wee bit better at distributing. I absolutely love his attitude. Not an ounce of ego anywhere. The guy just plays.

by TexSUN on Mar 30, 2007 6:40 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs