[Editor's Note: I tried to catch the first part of this game, but once again could not get the broadband connection to League Pass to function. Not sure if the problem is on my end or theirs, but regardless, if Steve Nash can score 34 points while shooting 7-of-10 three pointers with 11 assists and five rebounds, yet the Suns still manage to lose the game, I'm guessing I didn't miss much. Thanks, SwingMan for sitting through it and giving us the rundown.]
Slow, soft and old. That's how the Suns looked tonight, limping to a 105-96 loss at the hands of an Atlanta Hawks team that seemed to be all arms and legs.
(If you're looking for an extended recap, well, I'm sorry to disappoint - I hate spending time on subjects that look and smell like a mountain of elephant dung).
Our Suns were no match for Atlanta's energy, athleticism and hustle - Amare or no, we were losing this game.
Did I say that Nash wasn't pressing? Obviously scratch that - 4 first half turnovers and a COSTLY, key late turnover helped flush this one away. BUT, we need to answer the question: why was Nash pressing in the first damn place????? His teammates, who, outside of Matrix maybe, looked like they'd bathed in frozen molasses and donned uniforms drenched in half-dried tar.
Raja slipped right back into funk mode, Hill couldn't penetrate worth dick and Boris morphed right back into Doris. Nothing new with Banks - he can be thoroughly depended on to disappoint. Marks? Maybe he spent his season's allotment of hustle in Charlotte last night? Skinner started to show some life, but thanks to D'Antoni's stubborn (putting it as nicely as I can for a family site) adherence to a certain rotation never even thought to put him into the game to knock some of those flying Atlanta bodies around until the 4th quarter - never mind that the Hawks, while shooting nearly 10% better than the Suns from the field from the half, had 10, TEN offensive rebounds to our 4.
Once again - slow, old and soft is exactly how the Suns played this evening. When you're smaller than virtually every opponent, you've gotta out-quick `em and out-hustle `em. Why on God's green earth can't this team do that consistently?
Think I've been a bit hard on the Suns, who are playing a back-to-back? Figure this: Atlanta traveled last night as well - and had a longer trip into town. No excuses for such a pitiful effort. O-boards, O-boards, O-boards.....
Will the Suns find a fountain of youth spiked with Red Bull before Friday, or will they once again be sipping pina coladas with the Geritol set?
Stay tuned for the 2nd Black Friday of this young 3-2 season. I pity the other beat writers who have to mull through this mess of a game. Oh yeah, our 1st round pick just got worse to boot - how's that for a topper?
