Overall, I'm not disappointed by this game.  Which was the second half of a back-to-back loss on the road against a pretty good team that has a tradition of getting very tough after the all-star break.

Importantly, SHAQ has been good the past few games,  from what I see on the court and in the box score.

However, I note three problems for the SUNS.  Two which should be fixable by the postseason, but one that isn't.  Unfortunately, that one problem is almost assuredly what hold the SUNS back from the hope of title contention.  

[1] TOs -  these are okay in my view and will be solved as people get used to each other.  I prefer the experimentation and aggression right now.  It's a pity that the tight playoff race doesn't give us much wiggle room, but I like that too.  Gives our players some extra motivation to work hard... :)

[2] Playing in slo mo relative to other teams.   This took a hit with us losing the matrix.  We traded a rabbit for a turtle, but this only exposes the slow play of other guys on our team.  They need to pick it up, if they can.  

I'm particularly bugged by what appears to be lethargic play by Amare.  I don't care what his (padded) STATs are, he could and should play faster and with his hands up.  If not, he needs more rest on the bench and better conditioning. I'm going to start calling him PAD-STAT pretty soon.  Just wait for the PAD acronym...

[3] Losing ground with Nash on the bench - this has been a timeless problem and we look no closer to solving it than we were four years ago.  This is why we lost.  We lost today because of the first half stretch with Nash out.  It's hard to recover when you spot a good team 10 points in their arena.

If there has been any Suns Kool-aid or overarching holy grail for suns fans in the past 4 years, it has been the hopes and dreams that player X will be the backup solution for Steve Nash.  Wake me up when we get to El Dorado...