Trail Blazers At Suns Game Thread

[95pro]

yes errors by nash.
bad pass into 3 defenders inside the paint.

then calling a timeout with less than 18sec left in the shotclock. only gave us less than 2sec to get it across. sounds easy, but with poor play-design and execution it almost hurt us big time.

 

[cly2tw]

Nash's forced pass resulting in a turnover and fastbreak at the end made me blow my lid. The last thing we needed there was to give them a fastbreak. Take a shot clock violation if you have to. This is the one aspect of basketball I don't think Nash understands. His balls are just too big for his (or our) own good sometimes. The 8 second violation at the end also made me blow my lid. You rarely see one in a game, let alone two???? The second coming after a timeout????? Mental midgetry at it's most boneheadedness. With that said, very, very big win. This was a must win game in my estimation. Huge to actually pull this thing out.

I was about to praise Nash for keeping it safe without the usual dribble penetrations to keep us in the lead, then he couldn't resist the inner drive to kill the prey with a beautiful but ultimately risky blow. It almost backfired. Hope he learns from that.

I'd congratulate Gentry by his improved defensive game plan --- using the zone only when it's the most critical so that Por didn't have enough time to adjust properly. We could have used it earlier to stop the bleeding that came from Miller's onslaught on Nash, but we let them feel the illusion of being in control. Shocked with something they didn't see the whole game long and Miller's advantage gone, they just didn't have any reliabe alternatives to beat us, aside from the usual heroics of Roy whiich was not enough this time!

Good game.

 

[Chaplin]

Something that will get lost in all the talk about Amare and Nash is Channing Frye, who probably had his best defensive performance as a Sun. And considering the played for the Knicks and could barely play with the Blazers, this game could have been the best defensive game of his career.

 

[jagu]

Channing Frye may never play that great of defense again in his life but he was amazing. He was actually a man tonight working hard, playing aggressive. My players of the game are Dudley and Hill who did a great job on Roy. The Suns need to go to the zone more and let the perimeter shooters on the Blazers shoot. However they have to do a better job to get in a position to rebound. I think the Suns were off all night (Blazers did a good job with D but the Suns did miss some easy shots as well) and finally woke up in the fourth.

 

[dodie53]

very nice win.
had the chance to watch the 2nd half while eating lunch.
it's really a wise decision to feed the beast often.

 

[The Commish]

This game had a playoff atmosphere. Glad to see them finding ways to win in gritty, low-scoring games.

 

[jagu]

Gentry has really surprised me. He is a far better coach than D'antoni and his emphasis on defense finally has Amare playing hard on that end.

 

[devilalum]

Gentry has really surprised me. He is a far better coach than D'antoni and his emphasis on defense finally has Amare playing hard on that end.

I think its Amare's interest in money that has him playing hard at both ends.

 

[elindholm]

I think its Amare's interest in money that has him playing hard at both ends.

Whatever. At least he can do it, which is more than many of us (including me) thought was possible.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I think its Amare's interest in money that has him playing hard at both ends.

I don't. I think it's his improved vision (whether from better goggles or an improved comfort zone) and a return to NBA shape in addition to having a big guy play alongside of him that's made the difference. For the vision and conditioning, look at the lift in his legs and his ability to collect rebounds and handle slightly errant passes - areas that were sorely lacking in Nov/Dec IMO.

I think it was Amare's interest in money that helped him keep his mouth shut during the trading period. It's possible that his attention to detail on defense is financially motivated but I really believe a lot of that is growth also. Remember, most of his pro career has been for a coach that derided defense and I doubt any of his 6,000 high school coaches taught him much either.

I think if we re-sign him to a max/near max deal we're looking at roughly the player we can expect to see (injuries notwithstanding). Even if money has influenced him I can't see his ego putting up with the disdain he'd face if his improved play went away post-contract.

Steve

 

[nashman]

He has done what he needed to do to put a huge amount of pressure on Kerr/Sarver to resign him. Now if they don't they look cheap and dumb, if they really wanted to part with Stat they should have traded him or maybe they were hoping he would just be average and it would be less fan hate if we let him walk. Now they are between a rock and a hard place, they almost have to resign him at this point.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

I don't. I think it's his improved vision (whether from better goggles or an improved comfort zone) and a return to NBA shape in addition to having a big guy play alongside of him that's made the difference. For the vision and conditioning, look at the lift in his legs and his ability to collect rebounds and handle slightly errant passes - areas that were sorely lacking in Nov/Dec IMO.

I think it was Amare's interest in money that helped him keep his mouth shut during the trading period. It's possible that his attention to detail on defense is financially motivated but I really believe a lot of that is growth also. Remember, most of his pro career has been for a coach that derided defense and I doubt any of his 6,000 high school coaches taught him much either.

I think if we re-sign him to a max/near max deal we're looking at roughly the player we can expect to see (injuries notwithstanding). Even if money has influenced him I can't see his ego putting up with the disdain he'd face if his improved play went away post-contract.

Steve

Excellent stuff, I agree with most of it. His numbers almost always have gone up post all star break as well. I'm just terrified that 2 weeks after signing a huge extension he'll need to have his knee re-done.

 

[Chaplin]

I think its Amare's interest in money that has him playing hard at both ends.

It's not like this is the first time he's ever had to play for a contract.


And remember, this isn't Boris Diaw we're talking about. The only real worry with Amare as far as a big contract goes is health. Properly motivated, I think Amare can be this current player for a long time. The issue then is when he's going to need knee surgery again.

 

[devilalum]

It's not like this is the first time he's ever had to play for a contract.


And remember, this isn't Boris Diaw we're talking about. The only real worry with Amare as far as a big contract goes is health. Properly motivated, I think Amare can be this current player for a long time. The issue then is when he's going to need knee surgery again.

Didn't he sign his last contract right after the out of this universe series he had against the Spurs? I made the comment more tongue in cheek than anything else. What is he supposed to do, play bad because his contract is almost up? At the very least it is fortuitous that he is playing the best basketball of his life just before his contract is up. Its getting harder every game to imagine him NOT getting a max deal from someone.

 

[Bufalay]

Didn't he sign his last contract right after the out of this universe series he had against the Spurs? I made the comment more tongue in cheek than anything else. What is he supposed to do, play bad because his contract is almost up? At the very least it is fortuitous that he is playing the best basketball of his life just before his contract is up. Its getting harder every game to imagine him NOT getting a max deal from someone.

Look at his stats after the Shaq trade. He was doing the same thing that he's doing now. If he was playing for a new contract 3 years before his expired, then who cares what his motivation is?

 

[82CardsGrad]

Whatever. At least he can do it, which is more than many of us (including me) thought was possible.

Ditto... I'll own up and say that I never thought I would see this type of sustained excellence from Amare... ever.
He's been simply amazing. Who knows, maybe it is money motivated. And maybe too it's a sign of maturity.

If you're the Suns, Amare has certainly created a very tough spot for you hasn't he... I mean, if he were to have remained the same 'ol Amare, this would be a no brainer... Offer him a deal well below MAX and see what happens. But now, can we really afford to lose this Amare? How many of these Amare's are floating around the league or are down in the college ranks??

He is still young. And IMO - which again, I can't believe I'm saying this - I think the Suns simply MUST find a way to keep him here for the next 5-7 years...

 

[cly2tw]

I don't. I think it's his improved vision (whether from better goggles or an improved comfort zone) and a return to NBA shape in addition to having a big guy play alongside of him that's made the difference. For the vision and conditioning, look at the lift in his legs and his ability to collect rebounds and handle slightly errant passes - areas that were sorely lacking in Nov/Dec IMO.

I think it was Amare's interest in money that helped him keep his mouth shut during the trading period. It's possible that his attention to detail on defense is financially motivated but I really believe a lot of that is growth also. Remember, most of his pro career has been for a coach that derided defense and I doubt any of his 6,000 high school coaches taught him much either.

I think if we re-sign him to a max/near max deal we're looking at roughly the player we can expect to see (injuries notwithstanding). Even if money has influenced him I can't see his ego putting up with the disdain he'd face if his improved play went away post-contract.

Steve

Amare has been consistent over his career in his behavior: He steps up his game when it counts most for the team, as long as his health permits. He had been bad at defensive fundamentals and unable to change it, for well known reasons. He could try harder but forcing on what you are not good at makes you even more injury prone, thus it's reasonable to reserve it for playoffs. It makes him appear to be shirking in regular season.

Somehow over this season, I said "blessing in disguise" due to his surgery-induced layoffs, he finally started to bend his knees a little more while moving on the court. With finally his conditioning back, this simple change in moving mechanics actually makes it a lot easier to keep his focus on defense, as well as giving him better chances at beating his man in one-on-one offensive sets. And this without huge concern for further injury!

Anyways, Amare is sometimes ridiculous even childish at craving for attention and recognition by others. But this trait is actually also guarantee that he genuinely want to win, to his best ability. If he appeared to be short of his promised improvement or so, it's because of inability not wills. As that Jazz tune says, "Blame it on his youth, Don't blame it on his heart"

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Its getting harder every game to imagine him NOT getting a max deal from someone.

Yep. No chance that 1 team doesn't make the splash. If he goes somewhere and stays relatively healthy, Sarver will be run out of town on a rail.