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Tonight, the Phoenix Suns play game 2 of a 5 game East Coast road trip against the lowly Cleveland Cavaliers. And when I say lowly, I mean 8-32 lowly. I mean dead last in the East. I mean 13 game losing streak, lost to the Lakers by 55 and wait...This is the same Cavaliers squad that stretched the Suns for 40+ minutes several days ago. The same Manny Harris who hit for 27, the same J.J. Hickson who dominated the boards for 17 to accompany his 23 points.
See what I've done? I've turned this into a revenge match.
Indeed. The Phoenix Suns have won 3 straight games, have an excellent chance to finish this road trip 5-0 and return to the promised land of over .500 basketball. But as my esteemed colleague Mr. Laugan pointed out, the Suns inconsistency this season has been one of the few things we fans can count on. Much of that can be attributed to the disruption in personnel and injuries, the other piece of that has to do with intensity. So yeah, grudge match tonight. Torture the Cavs, destroy their will and that of the 150 or so fans that will attend this one in the CLE. 48 minutes of Suns basketball.
But what the crap is Suns basketball this season? We and our beloved have all been trying to figure it out. I think we may have discovered what this squad needs to do in order to win:
Robin Lopez dunks on Wilson Chandler 1-17-11 (via getbangedon)
And then some:
and a little:
Vince Carter's baseline dunk vs. Knicks (January 17, 2011) (via NewNBAVideoGames2nd)
ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK.
FOR 48 MINUTES
D IT UP
STOMP SOME THROATS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE COURT
The Cavaliers are an injury depleted squad. Mo Williams is out. Anthony Parker, Christian Eyenga, Daniel Gibson, Anderson Varejao-all out for this one. Destruction is the only answer. A big win should be expected, is a necessity for the confidence of the squad and more importantly, will assist in sending the Suns up the WC rankings.
Questions to Ponder:
- Has Vince Carter found his health and passion to score and win like his predecessor Jason Richardson did?
- Has Robin Lopez found his groove after some debilitating injuries? When will he consistently dominate the boards like a big 7 footer with an attitude should?
- Will the three-headed Center approach (Gortat/Lopez/Frye) continue to provide sufficient rebounding and interior defense?
- Will Marcin Gortat consistently start take the ball to the rim as we've seen glimpses of? Or do we change his nickname from HAMMER to soft, fuzzy lil' teddy bear?
- Will Steve Nash start taking more field goal attempts? And perhaps, less importantly, can he string together 48 straight successful FT's again this season?
- Will HAK continue to bring energy every night and be that guy you want in the game come crunch time?
- Can the Suns gain the chemistry, confidence, and ability to start pounding the dregs of the league? Are they no longer one of the dregs? Have they turned the corner?
It is no time to rest on our purple laurels. The Knicks win was big, but it ain't the end all be all. There is no more time to wait for answers. It's time to perform. And for us BSOTers...Let's get on the thread tonight and make it a partay, use our keyboards to influence a nice pounding of the Cavs. (And yeah Euts even though I said partay, you can still enjoy the game with a fresh squeezed glass of orange juice).
Game Day Links:
Phoenix Suns Must Crush The Cleveland Cavaliers, Ticket Sales Demand It (SB/Seth)
Phoenix Suns Using 3-headed Center: Paul Coro, AZ Republic
Phoenix Suns guard Vince Carter producing as comfort increases: Paul Coro, AZ Republic
Suns vs Cavaliers coverage