Game 28: Phoenix Suns vs San Antonio Spurs (12/25/2008)

[TASTIC]

^Amen to that. And if you're close to the airport, we'll REALLY make it worthwhile


Looks so much more ghey when written down

[BurningHeart]

I really wish I could, guys. There's no room in my house even for my family as is! Are you guys coming to a Lakers/Suns game?

[nevetsov]

Nah, just the 6 games on the east coast and Spurs, Bulls and Kings in PHX.

Arrive in LA the morning of Tues the 3rd Feb and depart the night of Wed the 4th - so not really that much time to explore, maybe you could give us some pointers? Good tours/ day trips etc?

Cheers!

[ljp24]

Why did J-Rich leave the 3pt shot open when that was the ONLY way the Suns could lose? Why not let Parker hit a contested floater and maybe go into OT.

[Frank Lee]

I am sure when reviewing the game film....JRich will acknowlege his mistake. He was clearly in a defensive no man's land, acting as a spectator. The question is, what was said in the Phnx huddle prior to that play ? It was no secret to anyone that SanAnt would drive Parker, if he had no shot, he would kick it out for corner three . Even I, with my limited basketball sense called that play. (uncanny nostradamal abilities may be ? Not this time... More like Capt Obvious.)

I still do not think Porter has a grasp of on the spot strategy. MKot has him and the situation pegged. It is a complete no brainer to put our very best defensive unit on the floor when all we need is one stop to win.... Nash does not belong there (Chrice all-mighty)..although he had little to do with that play as he was on someone else....... But IS Porter even thinking like that ? He did atleast call a last second switch with Nash and Hill.

This loss may appear to rest upon JRich, but, Porter has to be more instructive and adaptive in these situations for it not to occur again. ....

GD, we put up with an inexperienced Owner, 2 inexperienced GMs, and now an inexperienced Coach, during what looked like our very best opportunity to win a championship. This is our last shot for sometime, as we have neglected our future while squandering our present.

[lilfishi22]

I am sure when reviewing the game film....JRich will acknowlege his mistake. He was clearly in a defensive no man's land, acting as a spectator. The question is, what was said in the Phnx huddle prior to that play ? It was no secret to anyone that SanAnt would drive Parker, if he had no shot, he would kick it out for corner three . Even I, with my limited basketball sense called that play. (uncanny nostradamal abilities may be ? Not this time... More like Capt Obvious.)

I still do not think Porter has a grasp of on the spot strategy. MKot has him and the situation pegged. It is a complete no brainer to put our very best defensive unit on the floor when all we need is one stop to win.... Nash does not belong there (Chrice all-mighty)..although he had little to do with that play as he was on someone else....... But IS Porter even thinking like that ? He did atleast call a last second switch with Nash and Hill.

This loss may appear to rest upon JRich, but, Porter has to be more instructive and adaptive in these situations for it not to occur again. ....

I would like to say, "J-Rich is still learning our defensive/offensive schemes," but this was just common basketball sense. These are plays that could've been drawn up for a high schooler, but we still managed to leave a guy like Mason that wide opened. This is just the difference between an offensive and a defensive minded person, the former would hope the shooter misses, the latter would rush up the shooter.

This loss is on J-Rich and Porter. I have a feeling it was just a simple miscommunication between Rich and Porter. Porter assumes Rich would stick on Mason and Rich assumes nothings was said so just play his usual "defense." If this is what it came down to, then clearly this is Porter's fault we lost.

This is our last shot for sometime, as we have neglected our future while squandering our present.

I hate you for saying it, but it's all true.

[ray ray]

This lost hurts more than any other lost. This was clearly J-Richardsons fault. I however I love the way Grant Hill is playing but I would not count on him to much. Matt Barnes had some good looks from beyound the mark, but clearly his shots where not going in. Amare made some good moves but Timmy is did his job. There is a reason why he is one of the top players in the NBA.

I know that as a Suns fan you don't want to hear this but I starting to see the Suns improving. I know that Porter is making some rookie mistakes and that it looks like pleak becouse of our record but if you truly look at it, we are only 3 games from 2nd place and we haven't hit our stride yet. I know that as a Fan we would like instant results but it's taking time to gel together. Our schedule has the weaker team coming our way. We are going to start to see our wins pile up.

The Suns are not to behind the Lakers and the secound tier teams. We should of won this game but we didn't. There was a couple of break downs which Porter is going to learn from. We have Oklahoma Cty, Memphis, LA Clipps and the Indiana before we meet a playoffs team again. Eventhought the killed us in Dallas the Mavs are not better than us, this was the day that Raja asked to be traded and going back to this game , you can tell that Raja head was not with the Suns anymore.

I'm very optimistic and if we would of won, everyone would of been saying that we turned the corner. It was one missed assignment by J-Rich. He will learn from that.

GO SUNS!!

[pidi]

gotta agree that the suns are improving. a year ago when we didn´t hit our shots or couldn´t connect on the three than we would have lost this game with 20. shaq is still a monster and this was a mistake from one player. this happens. it sucks like nothin else but it happens.

but this team needs a player that can hit clutch shots, make clutch stops. we don´t have that clutch guy who can take over a game and make the right decisions. steve showed flashes of that, amare did it, ghill is sometimes one of these guys, but we need a player who is born for such situations.

man, we need to get this team on a winning streak, like 10-2 or something like it...

[BigDaddyPR]

Never forget how amare choked on his last 3 attempts! Hes a choker in the late 4th quarter... this game reminded me so much of game 1 of the playoffs.... damn.. still hurting...

Nice Xmas present......

[BurningHeart]

He didn't choke. Jeez. The guy put it up and it just went in and out, what can you do?

and Nevets....it pretty much depends on what you guys are interested in doing. There's tons of nightlife in Hollywood, there are some cool places to walk around, there are some nice restaurants, I don't know. I hate LA with a passion so I probably wouldn't even be the best guy to talk to, lol.

[rsavaj]

He didn't choke. Jeez. The guy put it up and it just went in and out, what can you do?

and Nevets....it pretty much depends on what you guys are interested in doing. There's tons of nightlife in Hollywood, there are some cool places to walk around, there are some nice restaurants, I don't know. I hate LA with a passion so I probably wouldn't even be the best guy to talk to, lol.

It was a good idea to go at Duncan the first time, and maybe even the second time, but after those didn't go in and Duncan forced him left(his weak side) every time, we really should have looked for a better option, b/c contrary to popular opinion, Amare isn't the god-like ISO player that many make him out to be. I don't pin the loss on him, I pin it on Porter.

[BurningHeart]

He didn't choke. Jeez. The guy put it up and it just went in and out, what can you do?

and Nevets....it pretty much depends on what you guys are interested in doing. There's tons of nightlife in Hollywood, there are some cool places to walk around, there are some nice restaurants, I don't know. I hate LA with a passion so I probably wouldn't even be the best guy to talk to, lol.

I don't pin the loss on him, I pin it on Porter.

Definitely. I wasn't able to watch my game with full attention because of people over and opening presents and all that, but from what I saw, it seemed like they were just plays where he put the ball up and they just so happened to rim out. In those cases, you can't do much.

[Chubby Chaser]

This must of been a tough loss to you guys... The Spurs are a major thorn in your sides it looks ilke...

[nevetsov]

Definitely. I wasn't able to watch my game with full attention because of people over and opening presents and all that, but from what I saw, it seemed like they were just plays where he put the ball up and they just so happened to rim out. In those cases, you can't do much.

I tend to disagree, on all three occasions he had the ball and it really seemed he reverted back to the "old" Amare where he didn't really know what to do, so he put his head down and just went at it ala Barbosa. He didn't take what the defense gave him and he ended up putting up forced shots.

This last minute brain meltdown was galvanised in the following (4th) possession that resulted in Nash having to call the time out; if you watch that play, just before Nash gets double teamed, Amare is WIDE OPEN at the free throw line and has a wide open lane to the basket, but just stands still. No movement, complete stagnation like a deer in the headlights. All he had to do was move (like he would USUALLY do in that situation) and its conceivable that Nash would have found him as he usually does.

I agree that all players miss shots from time to time, but it's the accumulation of ALL the poor offensive moments (not just the shots) that equate to the stigma of him "choking". It's the going away from what is proven to have worked in the past - what I mean is, if he had rolled to the basket and missed the shot, then sure, that would be unlucky. But the fact that he didn't do what he usually does, that is, put himself in the position to have the highest percentage shot, is what is disappointing in my mind.

[garrick]

Just wondering, is anyone happy with the way we use JRich? Don't get me wrong, this is not a shot at JRich, it's more on Porter. I kinda expected we would go to JRich more today to put pressure on the SA backcourt. Well, didn’t happen. I guess I shouldn't expect a game plane from Mr. Porter... Is Kerr watching the game? Did Kerr really trade for him just to catch and shoot the ball? That can't be true. Porter has to know his players. Is it again going to take him 20 games to know JRich can score the ball with plays run through him some?

We need to run some offense for him, work him off the ball, and let him create off the dribble. Let Nash and JRIch play some two-men game with switches and pick and roll. Damn, how about a alley-oop play for both of them? Haven't seen one from them yet.

There was one play where Steve had the ball stationary at the top of the arc vs Denver and J Rich cut to the opposite side of the paint and was in great position for either a lob or post play but Steve didn't see him, if that was Kidd he would have gotten a pass off in no time.

I miss the plays where Dice would spin off his man and jump to the rim and Kidd would set him up for a lob dunk, sadly these kinds of plays are not Nashs' forte and he is more suited for a run and gun offense and not a half court setting.

[Never Fear 33 Is Here]

This is what you get when you have a team where you have maybe one player with a defensive mentality. J-Rich is clearly not that person but I don't blame him since he was brought in to give us a spark on the offense. But he should never have left Mason that wide opened

Seriously man, this sort of mentality is just wrong. It was 100% on JRich's shoulders. Simple basketball 101, don't leave a 3-point shooter open on the last play of a game. Sure enough we shouldn't have been in that situation in the first place, but the fact of the matter is, is that we were.

Help out all you want if you are JRich, but DON'T jump so that you can't get back to your man. Hedge, move, heck even go help, but DON'T jump. That was the problem here, JRich jumped and it seemed that Mason got his shot off before JRich had even landed. There was no need to jump, just use the illusion that you were going to block the shot that may have been enough and heck, if it wasn't then we were going to OT and try to win it. I would have preferred to lose in OT, than to lose like we did.

I cannot fathom the thought process of a NBA baller. Here in Australia, we are drilled on defense, especially when we get anywhere near a higher level of Basketball, (which is 100 miles off of NBA level) but yet we still do it in fear of losing any PT. WTF is it so different for NBA players, their D at times seems so much like a minor.