Phoenix Suns lose to the New Orleans Hornets

October 13, 2007 by Mike Olbinski

After the big start to the preseason with all the praises for Grant Hill, Shawn Marion, Shawn Marks and D.J. Strawberry, I was so pumped that I jumped at the chance to watch Saturday’s game live.

On a side note, the Official Phoenix Suns Ticket Exchange is a sweet place to find tickets to games. Not sure how it looks during the season, but you could have attended tonight’s game for about $4 a ticket upstairs.

Back to the Suns versus New Orleans Hornets. All my excitement for the game kind of faded out within about one quarter as the team came out as sluggish as I’ve seen.

Grant Hill couldn’t hit a shot, players weren’t moving quickly to get open, the passes weren’t sharp and I missed Amare Stoudemire giving Phoenix an inside presence.

I will cut the team some slack, because it’s preseason and it really doesn’t matter. In fact, I’d rather not see them playing too hard anyways, because the last thing you need is an injury during exhibition season.

Still, I was hoping for a bit more. Hill was my main focus in going to this game as I truly think his story is fascinating. Most people counted him out of basketball forever when he couldn’t get healthy at Orlando. His ankles would never get better and most forgot him.

To see him playing in a Suns uniform is such a treat. He’s a classy, classy athlete, someone who fits the kind of player the Suns organization strives to obtain.

But tonight, his shot wouldn’t fall (despite an early three pointer) and he seemed a step slow. A few times he tried to penetrate, lost control of the ball and turned it over.

Shawn Marion was nuts though, scoring 18 points and grabbing 20 rebounds in only three quarters. Yikes. He looks good. Very good.

Without Amare, the interior defense against Tyson Chandler was awful. Boris Diaw picked up two early fouls, which was good because he was doing jack squat on Chandler. Shawn Marks entered the game and while he hit his few three shots from the outside, his defense was nothing to write home about.

The Suns found themselves down 20 points in the second quarter, after allowing 38 points in the first. They stepped it up and cut that lead to three points by halftime. But the Hornets went back up in the third and dropped in 34 more points.

Marcus Banks looked good, hitting a few threes and playing some decent defense. I thought he missed a big chance on a four-on-one break by hanging on the ball too long, so he’s still learning. He should have thrown the ball downcourt quicker.

D.J. Strawberry didn’t do much until the final period when he scored on a drive and then hit a three. The crowd really loves the young guys and they went wild over that. Plus it cut the Hornets’ lead to a point.

The best part of the night was the video showing the new Al McCoy Media Center and then putting the camera on him live at the game. The fans gave him a standing ovation, causing him to blow a few kisses at the crowd and bow a couple of times.

Al McCoy…will always be awesome.

If this game were to be taken seriously, I’d have some major worries. Our defense was disgusting and our energy coming out of the gates was horrible. Hill looked slow and the offense moved like one of those old Hunt’s ketchup commercials (or Heinz or whatever it was).

Thank goodness it’s only preseason.

Posted in dj strawberry, grant hill, marcus banks, shawn marion, amare stoudemire, basketball, nba, phoenix suns