Phoenix Suns take down the Denver Nuggets
October 26, 2007 by Mike Olbinski
Amare Stoudemire opened the game with a solid post move and then a jumper.
And man, his jump shot is beautiful now. He caught the ball in transition on the left side of the floor, about four feet inside the three-point line, and nailed a great, fluid shot.
Despite a sluggish start, the Phoenix Suns eventually beat the visiting Denver Nuggets, by a score of 116-113, although the final quarter was mainly scrubs, so the outcome is meaningless, as it usually is in preseason.
I’ve been a slight bit disappointed this preseason. Both games I’ve seen, the loss to the Hornets and now the defeat of the Nuggets, began with the team coming out lackluster.
This much is certain: The Suns are a great team and can blow anyone out of the water on any given night, but they have to play hard and fast 100% of the time. Any slacking off, or laziness, results in finding themselves in a hole.
The third quarter last night was great, the Suns came back and took over the game. You just wonder why they didn’t do that in the first half. Is it just preseason and who cares? I think so, which is why I’m not really worried, I just like to see them play well.
The Suns are so entertaining, that when things aren’t clicking, it sucks.
But I truly love this group right now. Grant Hill led an amazing fast break in the second quarter, by chucking the ball down to Alando Tucker who went in for the score. Having Hill’s leadership and court-vision out there when Steve Nash is sitting will prove invaluable.
He also flew down the court to receive a pass from Nash on a great fast-break.
I was impressed with Tucker’s play in the second half. The guy knew how to get to the basket and posted up a few times.
Raja Bell was off from long range, but he tends to do that on occasion, so I’m not concerned.
One bright spot was Boris Diaw. He was active and all over the place. He got involved with a pick and roll with Nash, and when Steve got him the ball wide open on the baseline, Diaw slammed it home with authority.
You can tell how he’s feeling by whether he lays it up or dunks it viciously. This is a good sign.
The Suns have one preseason game left and then begin the regular season next Thursday on TNT.
Posted in grant hill, boris diaw, alando tucker, amare stoudemire, steve nash, basketball, nba, phoenix suns
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I was impressed by Tucker. You could tell that he hasn’t been getting many minutes because when he first got into the game he was trying to force too many things, which is typical when a player is trying to earn a spot on the rotation. But as things wore on Tucker looked more comfortable and has a really unique game. It seems like he could be a good inside scorer for the Suns. One of the announcers said something about how Tucker was a good inside player in college, but Dantoni wants him to play outside. If that is the case then Dantoni is an idiot. Tucker obviously is better suited to play inside so why try to force him to do something he can’t. That’s just setting him up to fail. We shall see….
Seems like the Suns are ready. Bring on the regular season.