azdad1978
Championship!!!!
By Craig Morgan, Tribune
Leandro Barbosa’s brother was always tough on him — pushing him to greater heights. So when Suns coach Mike D’Antoni gave the second-year Brazilian point guard a tongue lashing up in Portland last week, Barbosa took it as a good sign. "I appreciate if he yells at me," he said. "If he yells at me it’s because he wants me to get better."
After some lackluster recent efforts, Barbosa took a step in that direction in Phoenix’s 121-100 win over the Orlando Magic on Monday at America West Arena.
Barbosa scored a seasonhigh 19 points off the bench, giving the Suns a huge lift when Steve Nash got into foul trouble. He had four assists in 21 minutes. Just as important, he had no turnovers in providing the type of play the Suns sorely will need from their backups if they are to maintain this break-neck pace over an 82-game schedule.
"L.B. was great," said Nash (10 assists), who picked up his fourth foul with 7:20 remaining in the third quarter. "The thing is, he’s more than capable of playing that way. If we can get his confidence where it was tonight and he plays on a regular basis, it will really make us a better team.
"I think you saw that tonight. I wasn’t very good and we got a 20-point win over a really good team."
The win gave Phoenix the best start (18-3) in franchise history, eclipsing the 1980-81 team that began 17-3.
The Suns, who have won five straight, shot better than 50 percent (51.1) for the ninth time this season, the secondbest mark in the NBA behind Miami’s 10. They also outdid the run-happy Magic with a 28-15 advantage on the fast break, helping the Suns leapfrog Orlando for the league lead in fast-break points.
"They played last night so we knew that was to our advantage," D’Antoni said. "We wanted to keep the pace up. We thought their jump shots would fall a little short toward the end of the game, which they did."
Still Orlando made it tough on the Suns. The Magic used a zone defense to hold Amare Stoudemire (21 points, nine rebounds) largely in check. Grant Hill had 15 of his 23 points in the first half to keep the Magic within striking distance.
But the Suns did a better job of finding open men — and knocking down shots in the second half.
Quentin Richardson had 14 of his game-high 26 points, including four 3-pointers, after the break, helping the Suns turn a 70-69 lead into a rout. Orlando just couldn’t keep up, shooting 38.3 percent in the game.
"Their record is not a fluke," Magic coach Johnny Davis said of the Suns. "They’re that good. There’s no hiding on defense against them. They could put five guys on the floor who can score 30 points in a night."
The question for many is, can the Suns keep it up throughout the season and playoffs? Orlando guard Steve Francis thinks not.
"It won’t work in the playoffs," Francis said. "I don’t think any team has run to the championship."
SUN OF THE WEEK
The NBA hasn’t officially changed the title of Western Conference Player of the Week to Suns player of the week. It just feels that way.
For the second time in the last four weeks, Suns forward Amare Stoudemire earned the honor after averaging a league-high 30.7 points, 12 rebounds and 3.3 assists on 32-of-50 shooting (.640) from the field in wins over Golden State, the Lakers and Charlotte.
This is the third time a Sun has captured the award — forward Shawn Marion earned the honor for the week of Nov. 22-28 — in six weeks of NBA play.
Steve Nash also won NBA Western Conference Player of the Month for November.
Q’s WORLD
Ever wonder what occupies the Suns before a game when they aren’t on the floor practicing? Quentin Richardson spent the minutes before Monday’s game munching on Cheetos and learning his teammates’ middle names from the Suns’ newly printed yearbook. Among the middle names of interest to Q were Stoudemire’s, "Carsares," which Richardson said he couldn’t pronounce, and Casey "Gardner" Jacobsen, which drew a quizzical look from Q.
Quentin L. Richardson would not reveal what the "L" stands for, nor did he offer any comment on Maciej Boleslaw Lampe.
BONUS SHOTS
Joe Johnson had a quietly effective night, scoring 18 points and dishing out seven assists. . . . Fresh off the injured list, Japanese guard Yuta Tabuse entered the game (his third overall) with 2:18 remaining. . . . Marion tied a career high with six blocks. . . . The entire Suns squad will present toys and autographs to kids at The Phoenix Children’s Hospital today. The team also will hand out vouchers for free Christmas trees to families of hospitalized children.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=33111
Leandro Barbosa’s brother was always tough on him — pushing him to greater heights. So when Suns coach Mike D’Antoni gave the second-year Brazilian point guard a tongue lashing up in Portland last week, Barbosa took it as a good sign. "I appreciate if he yells at me," he said. "If he yells at me it’s because he wants me to get better."
After some lackluster recent efforts, Barbosa took a step in that direction in Phoenix’s 121-100 win over the Orlando Magic on Monday at America West Arena.
Barbosa scored a seasonhigh 19 points off the bench, giving the Suns a huge lift when Steve Nash got into foul trouble. He had four assists in 21 minutes. Just as important, he had no turnovers in providing the type of play the Suns sorely will need from their backups if they are to maintain this break-neck pace over an 82-game schedule.
"L.B. was great," said Nash (10 assists), who picked up his fourth foul with 7:20 remaining in the third quarter. "The thing is, he’s more than capable of playing that way. If we can get his confidence where it was tonight and he plays on a regular basis, it will really make us a better team.
"I think you saw that tonight. I wasn’t very good and we got a 20-point win over a really good team."
The win gave Phoenix the best start (18-3) in franchise history, eclipsing the 1980-81 team that began 17-3.
The Suns, who have won five straight, shot better than 50 percent (51.1) for the ninth time this season, the secondbest mark in the NBA behind Miami’s 10. They also outdid the run-happy Magic with a 28-15 advantage on the fast break, helping the Suns leapfrog Orlando for the league lead in fast-break points.
"They played last night so we knew that was to our advantage," D’Antoni said. "We wanted to keep the pace up. We thought their jump shots would fall a little short toward the end of the game, which they did."
Still Orlando made it tough on the Suns. The Magic used a zone defense to hold Amare Stoudemire (21 points, nine rebounds) largely in check. Grant Hill had 15 of his 23 points in the first half to keep the Magic within striking distance.
But the Suns did a better job of finding open men — and knocking down shots in the second half.
Quentin Richardson had 14 of his game-high 26 points, including four 3-pointers, after the break, helping the Suns turn a 70-69 lead into a rout. Orlando just couldn’t keep up, shooting 38.3 percent in the game.
"Their record is not a fluke," Magic coach Johnny Davis said of the Suns. "They’re that good. There’s no hiding on defense against them. They could put five guys on the floor who can score 30 points in a night."
The question for many is, can the Suns keep it up throughout the season and playoffs? Orlando guard Steve Francis thinks not.
"It won’t work in the playoffs," Francis said. "I don’t think any team has run to the championship."
SUN OF THE WEEK
The NBA hasn’t officially changed the title of Western Conference Player of the Week to Suns player of the week. It just feels that way.
For the second time in the last four weeks, Suns forward Amare Stoudemire earned the honor after averaging a league-high 30.7 points, 12 rebounds and 3.3 assists on 32-of-50 shooting (.640) from the field in wins over Golden State, the Lakers and Charlotte.
This is the third time a Sun has captured the award — forward Shawn Marion earned the honor for the week of Nov. 22-28 — in six weeks of NBA play.
Steve Nash also won NBA Western Conference Player of the Month for November.
Q’s WORLD
Ever wonder what occupies the Suns before a game when they aren’t on the floor practicing? Quentin Richardson spent the minutes before Monday’s game munching on Cheetos and learning his teammates’ middle names from the Suns’ newly printed yearbook. Among the middle names of interest to Q were Stoudemire’s, "Carsares," which Richardson said he couldn’t pronounce, and Casey "Gardner" Jacobsen, which drew a quizzical look from Q.
Quentin L. Richardson would not reveal what the "L" stands for, nor did he offer any comment on Maciej Boleslaw Lampe.
BONUS SHOTS
Joe Johnson had a quietly effective night, scoring 18 points and dishing out seven assists. . . . Fresh off the injured list, Japanese guard Yuta Tabuse entered the game (his third overall) with 2:18 remaining. . . . Marion tied a career high with six blocks. . . . The entire Suns squad will present toys and autographs to kids at The Phoenix Children’s Hospital today. The team also will hand out vouchers for free Christmas trees to families of hospitalized children.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=33111
