*-<official Phoenix Suns Thread>-*

[Azreous 0]

Two games into the season, with a decent win against the Clippers and a horrendous loss against the Lakers. The Big Three (Nash/Marion/Amare) looked solid last night, and three players on the bench tossed in double figures.We won't talk much about the first game, since it's clear the Suns are still trying to find their rhythm. Suffice to say that 19-point lead in the first quarter should have been the beginning of the end, not the end of the Suns scoring. 41 in the 1st, 66 in the next three quarters combined.

[princeof56k 0]

I agree about the first 2 games. I like how they are bringing Amare along slowly. It's the right move long term (and I'm not just talking about this season).

[Azreous 0]

I agree about the first 2 games. I like how they are bringing Amare along slowly. It's the right move long term (and I'm not just talking about this season).

Exactly. This season is probably their best chance to win the title, considering they'll probably lose Marion after the season is over. But everyone else (Nash, Diaw, Barbosa, Bell, Banks, Stoudemire) is locked up for more years to come, except for Kurt Thomas. If Stoudemire can return to what he was in 2004, even if it doesn't happen until next season, they'll still be championship contenders for the next few seasons.It's a shame Amare and the training staff didn't realize that last season.

[princeof56k 0]

Exactly. This season is probably their best chance to win the title, considering they'll probably lose Marion after the season is over. But everyone else (Nash, Diaw, Barbosa, Bell, Banks, Stoudemire) is locked up for more years to come, except for Kurt Thomas. If Stoudemire can return to what he was in 2004, even if it doesn't happen until next season, they'll still be championship contenders for the next few seasons.It's a shame Amare and the training staff didn't realize that last season.

That was the main reason I was hard on the Suns last year when Amare tried to come back. Thats in the past, and now it appears the Suns are doing the right thing.

[NoSup4U 0]

We look like crap this year so far imo :(Hopefully our running game gets in gear before Christmas, and we start kicking butt again. I really miss Tim Thomas. Grr...Mark

[Azreous 0]

I don't particularly miss Thomas. More than anything, I miss our outside shooting. It's been waaaay below average in the first four games.Still, you could kinda see this coming from their long trip overseas and otherwise lackadaisical preseason. It'll probably take another 4-6 games to get back in the flow they had last season, and Amare is certainly part of that.

[Azreous 0]

And now, time to double post sorta.Disappointing game against the Spurs last night, with another case of having a lead and being completely unable to hold on to it. Nine points in the fourth quarter and you can't put the Spurs, who shot abysmally on anything outside of two feet, out of reach? Not good.And despite blowing that lead, Raja Bell had two free throws to put the Suns up by one with 1.5 seconds left...and missed one of them.Certainly no excuses for Phoenix right now, but that ridiculous call against Stoudemire with around 4 minutes left was terrible. Ball completely misses the rim, Stoudemire has clear possession of the rebound, and it's not a shot clock violation? And then he fouls out because of it? Pathetic.

[princeof56k 0]

Mini-Rant here thats somewhat related to tonights Mavs-Suns game. I dont know how tonights game will play out, but this "exclusive TNT Thursday" crap has got to stop! Whats the use of having an exclusive game when both teams just played the previous night? For those of you who dont know, teams perform poorly on the 2nd half of a back-to-back. And when both teams are just played the previous night, we are usually in for some bad basketball. Basically, the league has chosen to showcase bad basketball for the entire USA. Way to go. Now maybe tonights game will be different, but if you see mistakes all over the place, you'll know why.And another thing, the reason teams play so many back-to-back games is because of the exculsive TNT games on Thursdays. Since only 2 or 3 games can take place on that night, they have to make up the other games through out the season. If it wasnt for the TNT night, they would still have back-to-back games, just not as many. Hey I love TNTs coverage, but lets have some other games on Thursday. People will still tune in (the half time show is worth it alone).

[kers2 0]

Mini-Rant here thats somewhat related to tonights Mavs-Suns game. I dont know how tonights game will play out, but this "exclusive TNT Thursday" crap has got to stop! Whats the use of having an exclusive game when both teams just played the previous night? For those of you who dont know, teams perform poorly on the 2nd half of a back-to-back. And when both teams are just played the previous night, we are usually in for some bad basketball. Basically, the league has chosen to showcase bad basketball for the entire USA. Way to go. Now maybe tonights game will be different, but if you see mistakes all over the place, you'll know why.And another thing, the reason teams play so many back-to-back games is because of the exculsive TNT games on Thursdays. Since only 2 or 3 games can take place on that night, they have to make up the other games through out the season. If it wasnt for the TNT night, they would still have back-to-back games, just not as many. Hey I love TNTs coverage, but lets have some other games on Thursday. People will still tune in (the half time show is worth it alone).

Well its a good thing this is an exciting game with both teams on a back to back

[princeof56k 0]

Well its a good thing this is an exciting game with both teams on a back to back

I forgot that the 2 teams playing werent exactly known for defense :)Anyways, they ended up suprising me and it was a good game after all. I still dont like all the back-to-backs though. TNT lucked out this time.BTW, the Suns shouldn't worry too much about the defeat. The Mavs were desperate for a win (another thing I forgot before the game started).

[Azreous 0]

I don't necessarily agree with all of that, but there have been way too many awkward home-and-away back-to-backs so far this season. The Suns' schedule started like this:@ LA LakersH LA ClippersDay off.H Utah@ LA ClippersThree days off.@ San AntonioH DallasDay off.H MemphisFive (!) days off.H Philadelphia@ UtahSo the Suns played four games in five nights to start the season, against a murderer's row of teams, with four of these H/A on consecutive nights. The first two games are particularly puzzling: Lakers in Staples Center, then the Clippers at home? And then the Clippers in Staples Center three nights later?I'm not exactly sure what the schedule makers were smoking this year, but it must've been good.Anyway, on other fronts, three wins in a row, although none of them were as easy as they could have been. Suns have to find a way to close out games they have big leads in. But these three wins have come without leading scorer Leandro Barbosa in the lineup for two of them, so there's good reason to hope the stagnant offense will get a much-needed boost once he gets back from his ankle injury.

[princeof56k 0]

I wouldnt be too worried about the Suns failure to close out games when they have a big lead. Both Thomas and Amare are coming back from injury. Rose and Banks are new to the team. And Diaw came in out of shape. Thats a significant part of the rotation. They'll get it together as the season goes on. If it gets to midseason and its still going on, then I'd start worrying.

[Azreous 0]

And nothing helps sort out a team's woes like getting to play Portland. Should be an easy one tonight.

[AceJackOffS 0]

suns finally looked like the team they used to be. Good win over portland, hopefully it will give tehm some confidence and momentum into teh next couple of weeks

[Azreous 0]

Seven straight, nine out of 10. Last night against the Kings, you could take your pick of the most ridiculous part:1) Steve Nash dropping 20 dimes, nine in the first quarter alone, with just three turnovers, or2) Pat Burke hitting three 3's in the last two minutes. This is a 7-foot white guy who doesn't get any minutes at all. He also hit that three from the scorer's table in game 7 against the Lakers last year, which was hilarious.So we'll see how long the streak can last. A five-game road trip is up next, with a few more of those inane back-to-backs scattered in. But Diaw and Stoudemire are finally used to playing with each other, which is a scary prospect for the rest of the Bestern Conference.

[Azreous 0]

So, how about that game?

[Graydon 0]

Sick Sick game last night!!!!! Over 300 total points!!! I just Diaw would shoot the ball and take it to the hole more but you can't really argue with 8 straight. Nash is just............Nash.

[Azreous 0]

Sick Sick game last night!!!!! Over 300 total points!!! I just Diaw would shoot the ball and take it to the hole more but you can't really argue with 8 straight. Nash is just............Nash.

You could see signs of this in last year's playoffs, when Diaw was still somewhat aggressive. Especially in the Dallas series, Boris started flipping up layups and off-balance runners instead of going to the hole strong and laying it off the glass or dunking it over smaller defenders. This year, it's like he's allergic to the paint. I appreciate his all-around talent and am overall in favor of him being a pass-first player, but at some point he has to abuse the mismatches that are almost always around when he's on the court and start scoring. Thanks to his erratic (albeit improving) jump shot, the best place to do that is inside.I'm keeping an eye on ESPN Classic's schedule to see if they show that game again, because that was absolutely sick.

[princeof56k 0]

That was an amazing game on both sides. Kidd and Nash both had incredible games, but there can only be one winner of course.

[Azreous 0]

Nine straight with a win last night over the Celtics, despite 20+ turnovers and getting killed on the offensive glass. You could definitely see fatigue from the epic game the night before, with the exception of Shawn Marion, who as always had another solid game across the board.Two games down on the five-game road trip, but the hardest tests will be the last two: Orlando and Miami.The Nets game doesn't seem to be appearing on ESPN Classic any time soon (although they're showing the highest scoring game in history [Denver-Detroit] Wednesday), but for those in Arizona, FSNAZ is showing it Sunday night.

[princeof56k 0]

At the risk of getting flamed by Suns and Nash fans, I'm starting to wonder if the red hot Suns are NOT as good as everyone thinks. I started looking at their record and stats, and a couple things bothered me.First, their record against the other 7 Western Conference playoff teams is 3-6. They've lost to Mavs twice, Jazz twice, Spurs, and Lakers. The 3 wins came against the Rockets twice (once without Yao and T-Mac) and the T-Wolves (without KG). They havent played the Nuggets.Second, theyre getting beat on the boards. They're on the negative side of the differential. Thats usually a bad sign for a playoff team. The reason being that whoever controls the boards usually controls the pace. The Mavs, Jazz, and Spurs all happen to be great rebounding teams. You can just see those teams slowing the game down to a pace the Suns dont like.Looking at those 2 things, the Suns remind me a lot of the Mavs from 4 or 5 years ago, and those teams always seemed to exit earlier than they should. IMO, the current Suns offense is better than the old Mavs, but the current competition the Suns might face during the playoffs is better as well.As the Suns schedule gets tougher, I think we will find out more about how good they really are. But from what I see right now, a second round exit for them is definitely possible.

[flyingdonkey 0]

At the risk of getting flamed by Suns and Nash fans, I'm starting to wonder if the red hot Suns are NOT as good as everyone thinks. I started looking at their record and stats, and a couple things bothered me.First, their record against the other 7 Western Conference playoff teams is 3-6. They've lost to Mavs twice, Jazz twice, Spurs, and Lakers. The 3 wins came against the Rockets twice (once without Yao and T-Mac) and the T-Wolves (without KG). They havent played the Nuggets.Second, theyre getting beat on the boards. They're on the negative side of the differential. Thats usually a bad sign for a playoff team. The reason being that whoever controls the boards usually controls the pace. The Mavs, Jazz, and Spurs all happen to be great rebounding teams. You can just see those teams slowing the game down to a pace the Suns dont like.Looking at those 2 things, the Suns remind me a lot of the Mavs from 4 or 5 years ago, and those teams always seemed to exit earlier than they should. IMO, the current Suns offense is better than the old Mavs, but the current competition the Suns might face during the playoffs is better as well.As the Suns schedule gets tougher, I think we will find out more about how good they really are. But from what I see right now, a second round exit for them is definitely possible.

I agree, come playoffs the tempo slows and defense becomes a major factor. I think the only team in the NBA that could beat them is the Mavericks... they have depth, big men who can board and guys who can play defense.

[princeof56k 0]

Did anyone watch the Suns/Sixers game? What happened? I know Marion and Diaw were out, but still, its the Sixers.When Nash went out they dropped one to the Hawks. Everyone assumed this showed how the Suns cant survive without Nash. The Sixers actually have worse record than the Hawks right now. So what does this game mean?

[Jadaki 0]

Did anyone watch the Suns/Sixers game? What happened? I know Marion and Diaw were out, but still, its the Sixers.When Nash went out they dropped one to the Hawks. Everyone assumed this showed how the Suns cant survive without Nash. The Sixers actually have worse record than the Hawks right now. So what does this game mean?

I saw a little of it, Nash and Amare were playing good, but no one else really was. One of those games where the Sixers were catching all the breaks.

[fleung22 1]

I saw a little of it, Nash and Amare were playing good, but no one else really was. One of those games where the Sixers were catching all the breaks.

How the Suns could lose to the 76ers at this time of year is a mystery to me.