SUNS SEASON OPENER---Phoenix at San Antonio - October 29, 2008,

[Covert Rain]

I don't mind Parker and Duncan going for 30+ each. Other than those two- Mason scored 12, Bonner and Finley added 8 each. They made Duncan and Parker make tough shots and limited everybody else. There were very few 2nd chance opportunities for the Spurs. Very good defensive game tonight.

They didn't have an overall good defensive game but they got stops when it counted. In years past, we could not stop late game surges or last minute shots. This team lacked confidence and usually fell to the "here we go again syndrom". If this game is any indication, maybe we are finally going to get past that.

 

[Skkorpion]

Watched the last 4:50. Nice win. Amare was a beast when it mattered. Loved the set-play isolation of Amare along the baseline after a time-out.

The fast scrambling back on defense in the last 3 minutes was good too, causing Parker and Duncan to take the 3s that clunked, rather than guys like Finley, who make those regularly.

Didn't see the rest of the game. A road win in SA is always a good thing.

 

[DeAnna]

Overall, the defense did not impress me much. Letting the offensively-challenged Spurs score 98 pts is not that great, but a win is a win!

I feel badly for Raja - only scored 4 pts and looked disjointed on offense.

I did like the iso play with Amare towards the end; a nice change from the constant P&R in the past.

 

[jagu]

Hell yes we won! Hi guys that game was good, we still cant stop TP but hey at least we won! Our defense didn't look that bad, it will take a few games. It's still early but this team can make some noise IMO.

 

[jagu]

Overall, the defense did not impress me much. Letting the offensively-challenged Spurs score 98 pts is not that great, but a win is a win!

I feel badly for Raja - only scored 4 pts and looked disjointed on offense.

I did like the iso play with Amare towards the end; a nice change from the constant P&R in the past.

No need to feel bad for Raja, we have a lot of weapons which we should go to rather than chuck up 3's with Raja. Establishing the inside game early in the season is big.

 

[Hat]

LOL the "saint" is back.

Good win Suns! I'm liking the new defense.

 

[arwillan]

great game for shaq and amare. defense looked fundamentally much better even though it didn't show up as much on the scoreboard. our perimeter d was pretty good. parker is always going to get his on us, but we did a good job making he and duncan try and beat us by themselves. we finally got those key stops at the end that we couldn't ever get before. we made the spurs do just what we hoped they would at the end; chuck up 3's with parker and duncan. tomorrow will be a better challenge. last time i looked, new orleans was getting all they could handle from the W's

 

[TJ]

Shaq may not be Mr. Aristotle, the Big Diesel, or Shaq Fu anymore, but he is still very efficient and is a force to be reckoned with on the court.

 

[ArizonaSportsFan]

Good game, other than Barnes chucking up WAY too many shots for his role in the offense.

Of course the first unit had such a great +/-. The second unit had no offense to speak of. Dragic runs point one play, then Barbs, then Hill, then Barnes, then Diaw. Good night, the second unit really panicked tonight on offense. But they weren't too bad on defense. And many of those points came when Parker was squared up against Dragic. Not a fair fight there.

Better to start 1-0 than 0-1. Let's get NO tomorrow.

 

[arwillan]

new orleans needed a last minute warriors turnover to pull the game out. harrington also missed an open 3 that would have tied it. i think we may actually be able to beat them tomorrow, especially since we're at home and they'll be on the road for the second time

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

That game felt like we were down by a dozen the entire time, but we uncannily had control the majority of the game.

Good to know we can win even when it isnt going smoothly.

 

[95pro]

Good opening night win. Don't know what you can really read into it with 2 San Antonio starters out. However, a win is a win.



Things I liked:

• Leandro turning it on.
• Nash being Nash
• Rebounding as a team
• Assists as a team
• Lopez had a good stretch
• Good defensive stop at the end
• Bench 42 points - We have been waiting for a bench like that

Things I didn't like:

• Overall defense (50% is not good)
• They need to get Nash invovled shooting more when team goes into shooting funk
• Allowing Tony Parker in the paint way too much (but the guy does it to everyone)
• Dragic played scared out there

Again, good opening night win. I actually think tomorrow night will be a better litmus. So happy the season is here.

i did get to watc the game, working up to 12am, m-thr.

anyway. scary and good to hear how LB is doing. usually he puts up points but also has a quick stretch where's he running without his head. thats expected.

i was also scared to hear how Dragis will do. i noticed in the 1st pre-season game, he was nervous as hell and seemed intimidated. thats what i expected from him for his 1st official nba game.

what surprises me:
assists as a team
bench scoring(we have a bench now!)
overall defense

all in all, it sounds like everything is okay. the bench just needs to get some poise, ie dragic and LB. the more they play together, the more things become fluid. seems like a good start.

where can i watch a replay of the game. sorry no tivo, lol.

 

[Irish]

I taped the game and haven't seen it yet. I'm not surprised the second team struggled against the Spurs in San Antonio. Dragic goes from the Adriadic League to playing against Parker who felt he had something to prove. Talk about getting dumped into the deep end.

Some stats were actually pretting importortant that have been overlooked.

1. Rebounding: The Suns had a 39-38 advantage on the boards.

2. Assists: The Suns had 24 assists compared to the Spurs' 18. A lot of guys had a hand in it, reflecting the ball movement style of the team.

3. Turnovers: The Spurs had only 7 turnovers to the Suns 10, but this is a huge improvement over the butter fingers play of pre-season. Dragic had only 1 turnover which is very good. The low turnovers by the Spurs may reflect less gamling by the Suns.

4. Blocks: The Suns had 5 blocks to the Spurs 3. In the playoffs the Spurs had 6 blocks a game to the Suns 5.2.

From a defensive standpoint, the Suns guarded the three reasonably well, giving up only 5 of 15. Mason was very hot (3 of 4 for three) and Bonner hit 2 of 5. Every other Spur was blanked.

The Spurs got 65% of their points from Parker and Duncan; but the rest of the Spurs had only one guy in double figures (Mason at 12). (The Suns had 5 guys in double figures.)

Shaq went 5 of 8 from the line and Pop stopped intentionally fouling him after he went 2 for 2 late in the first half.

The end of the Nash to Amare pick and roll is greatly exaggerated. When they needed it, Amare scored on 4 of 5 possessions late in the game.

Obviously the game doesn't mean much (they beat the Spurs three of four times during last year's regular season.) But winning in San Antonio is always sweet and some of the guys needed to get the first game out of their system.

 

[bigfoot]

I'm glad Suns won their first of the season and everything seems ok. A group of friends played a mean joke on me and made me believe Amare was helped off the court in the 3Q after landing on Diaw's foot! The ride home was terrible and you can just imagine my relief after checking the internet. Needless to say, this so-called group of friends will not be hearing from me for a while.

 

[dodie53]

you from UP bigfoot?

 

[mojorizen7]

Tomorrow's going to be a killer game. I only hope the fans don't sit around like wet noodles at UAC. They're going to need them.

I'm going to the Hornets game so i'll be sure to keep the noodles on their feet & vocal.

 

[AfroSuns]

I am so glad we spoil the Spurs season-opening game record which was until now 12-0, something popovitch is trying to protect hence the desperate hack-a-shaq in a first game of the season, he can also chew on the fact that he got beat by a young coach making his debut on a new team.
On the other hand it is a refreshing change from the opener with Lakers last year with the suns getting schooled in their own building.

Well done SUNS!!!

 

[slinslin]

Duncan could score 50 and I wouldn't care, here is the real key stat.

Shaq 13 rebounds
Amare 8 rebounds
Barnes 7 rebounds

Duncan 6 rebounds

That and the fact that they couldn't shut us down because we could actually score without running like maniacs.

 

[az1965]

Good game, great win...

Dragic not impressive. Liked Robin. Shaq looked better than last year with full training camp. Raja and Barnes did not have good games offensively.

 

[Weenus O'Baggins]

With Ginobili being out, we should beat the Spurs and beat them handily.

I am very suprised to see people saying we played good defense when Amare got torched by Duncan in the post and we allowed the Spurs to shoot 50% overall. I guess people will see what they want to see.

Barbosa led us in shot attempts again. Barnes was awful. Dragic horrid.

We were lucky to escape with a win against an undermanned team.

 

[Weenus O'Baggins]

I thought Lopez looked pretty good, even if his stats don't indicate it. He was very active. I also liked the minute distribution and the use of 10 guys. Barnes and Barbosa can't continue to chuck up bad shots on a team that will have less offensive opportunities.

 

[Irish]

I am very suprised to see people saying we played good defense when Amare got torched by Duncan in the post and we allowed the Spurs to shoot 50% overall. I guess people will see what they want to see.

I guess it is like spring of 2005 when Amare and Nash went wild, but the Suns lost. MAYBE with Johnson the Suns would have won, but I didn't notice the Spurs giving their rings back.

Like in the 2004-05 series, the strategy was to take away the rest of the team rather than try to STOP the Suns stars. It worked for the Spurs then and for the Suns last night.

 

[Superbone]

get barbosa out ,please!

You Barbosa bashers are pitiful. He kept us in the game with his great shooting.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

You Barbosa bashers are pitiful. He kept us in the game with his great shooting.

i'll give credit where credit is due. and yes, barbs was a key ingredient last night. i think his number of shots was a combo of two items:

1. barbs' mentality is jack it up. his only coach in the nba has been dantoni. old habits die hard. he took one truly awful shot that just made me shake my head.

2. spurs defense is designed to guide the suns to this end. who do the spurs want shooting the most? amare who destroys them? nash who is a great and consistent shooter? or how about the little guy who shriveled up in the playoffs against them . . . barbosa? i think they encouraged him to jack it up and it blew up in their faces when he actually showed.

overall i think barbs hoops IQ needs to take a step forward this season. maybe under a more disciplined coach it'll happen. but we saw last night that his speed and shooting still make a difference. but he is maddening.

 

[Irish]

Being out the first two weeks of camp is like an injury, only he didn't even get the video work. If he finds his touch, his shooting will make a huge difference.

BTW, Tucker is on the inactive list due to his muscle