Last night the Phoenix Suns lost to the Golden State Warriors 104-101 in a preseason game that was held outdoors in Indian Wells, CA. As with most preseason games, the outcome means little. And while any NBA game played outdoors means even less than one played indoors, I do think the Suns played pretty well last night.
I have a few thoughts that I'd like to bullet point, and I'm sure there is more to discuss:
- I liked Frye's game tonight. He looked pretty comfortable on both ends of the floor.
- Nash was sick, so his line doesn't concern me.
- Stoudemire is not sick, but he is clearly not in tip top Sun Tzu shape.
- Some good efforts on defense from Amare Stoudemire, Frye, and Jason Richardson.
- Clark is a rookie, and played like one.
- I didn't see much that makes me worry about this team. The starting 5 will be as good as we expect them to be. They are seasoned professionals who know how to play the game and execute the offense in this system. Tonight it was the second unit that looked shaky.
- Oh and, um what's the point of this game? That is playing outside, in California, in October? I'm not sure I get it other than obviously, for profit.
[Note by Phoenix Stan, 10/11/09 7:53 AM MST ]
A few notes from Phoenixstan (a hot and dry place...)
- As Wilie C pointed out, Amare is looking very rusty. He was unable to face up and get anything going against Randolph while on the other he got beat several times. Randolph is a very solid talent but there's no way that should be happening to Amare. Chalk it up to preseason and lack of playing time for Sun Wzho (but it's worth watching for the next few weeks)
- Grant Hill had 6 rebounds in 24 minutes. Channing Frye had 8 rebounds in 23 minutes. Amare Stoudemire had 5 rebounds in 29 minutes
- Nash couldn't buy a bucket and nothing could matter less
- Hill seemed pretty darn aggressive on both ends of the floor for about 12 minutes
- Can Frye really shoot that well all season? He was 7-13 for 19 points. If so, too paraphrase Michael Schwartz' tweet - you better just give him Most Improved Player right now
- The Suns ran an interesting three man pick and roll with Amare setting the high screen for Nash and then Nash coming off and hitting Hill in the mid-post who then finds Amare rolling down the lane. It looked good once but the spacing might not work well enough since Hill's man can quickly help on Amare
- Amundson does in fact only play at one speed. Balls out. 4 blocks, 7 rebounds and he was everywhere. He also shot 0% from the FT line but he did hit a 17ft jumper which was....interesting
- I don't like Clark taking all those jumpers. He was 4-16 and was far too aggressive once the game turned into playground ball which was from the 2nd quarter on
- I didn't like it at all in fact. I want to see his instincts geared more towards being a team player and not looking so hard for his own shot. Especially his jump shot. A couple of times he put his head down and attacked the rim and that was cool. The turn around jump shot? Lets save that for next season, Earl
- Gentry used the phrase "work in progress" when talking about the Suns defense