Suns vs. Lakers 12/8

[cly2tw]

The main difference with the Cavs' game we lost was that DA let Nash rest an extended period at the start of the fourth. I think he had a couple of jumpers close to the end of the 3rd with no legs. DA rested him depite having the Lakers run up their lead to 13. It paid off. Nash was a lot fresher for the end phase. What a big 3 he nailed to make it one pt game!

 

[Chaplin]

The main difference with the Cavs' game we lost was that DA let Nash rest an extended period at the start of the fourth. I think he had a couple of jumpers close to the end of the 3rd with no legs. DA rested him depite having the Lakers run up their lead to 13. It paid off. Nash was a lot fresher for the end phase. What a big 3 he nailed to make it one pt game!

Disagree there. Steve Nash wasn't guarding Lebron James in the Cleveland game. The #1 reason we lost that game is because we couldn't defend Lebron in the 4th quarter. In fact, any other reason for the loss would be really far down the list (including defending Ilgauskus on his 3-pointer--he never would have had the opportunity to hit that shot if we had stopped Lebron, at least a little bit).

 

[D-Dogg]

I don't watch every Lakers game, but I stand by my assessment that Bryant's behavior was extremely abnormal.

Not for this season....

 

[newfan101]

The main difference with the Cavs' game we lost was that DA let Nash rest an extended period at the start of the fourth. I think he had a couple of jumpers close to the end of the 3rd with no legs. DA rested him depite having the Lakers run up their lead to 13. It paid off. Nash was a lot fresher for the end phase. What a big 3 he nailed to make it one pt game!

I totally agree. Except in the Cavs game, Barbosa was hurt, so the options were more limited. But a fresh Nash at the end of the game definitely was a difference maker.

 

[PhxGametime]

All 3 losses have been to teams with superstar players (LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, and Mike Bibby) UofA fan .

All 3 can score and pass - IMO Suns have defenders and have won 16 games, so I'm sure strategy is working on the majority of games but when a star player has a dominating game (that team could win - James).

Johnson, Marion, Richardson, and Hunter are solid defenders and when need be Stoudemire and Nash can step up, Barbosa is inconsistent but should become a good defender. That's pretty much the top 7 players on team and with 2 deep at each position - 1 more athletic defender, that can score and team could really be great (Suns may be great now but 1 injury and team slides 1 or 2 games).

Jackson Vroman in time will become a decent 4 that can rebound, defend, pass, and run court but is more of a role player, Maciej Lampe can become a high-post Center that can shoot all night and move his feet - these IMO are the 9 players I'd like to keep (although every player has a role on team) but 1 player away from being the elite team...

 

[cepstrum]

Disagree there. Steve Nash wasn't guarding Lebron James in the Cleveland game. The #1 reason we lost that game is because we couldn't defend Lebron in the 4th quarter. In fact, any other reason for the loss would be really far down the list (including defending Ilgauskus on his 3-pointer--he never would have had the opportunity to hit that shot if we had stopped Lebron, at least a little bit).

How bout amare fouling out

 

[George O'Brien]

One key to making runs is being able to stop the other team from scoring. Obviously having Amare foul out against the Cavs seriously reduced their offensive options, which in turn helped the Cavs sustain their run.

One of the reasons I was not horribly worried in the Warriors game was that the Warriors never really stopped the Suns, the Suns failures to score were generally self inflicted. Once they stopped throwing the ball away and taking bad shots, the Suns started scoring and the Warriors wilted.

In most games, the Suns can rely on Nash and Amare when they absolutely positively need a basket to break a run. Once opponents wear themselves out making a run, they sometimes leave themselves open for the Suns counter run which is often even more devistating.