Phoenix Suns vs Utah Jazz [Game 62]

[JustMoe]

@



When: Friday, March 7th, 2008
Where: US Airways Center - Phoenix, Arizona
When exactly: 9pm, Eastern Time (3am CET)
TV: still not in HD...if you want to support the JM-HDTV project, donate to blahblahblihbluhblah


AFTER ANOTHER AMAZING PERFORMANCE AGAINST THE NUGGETS THESE ARE OUR BELOVED SUNS STARTERS - AND NO, I'M STILL NOT DRUNK/HIGH/ETC:

C:

Shaq obviously enjoys making fun of midgets - awesome trade, Kerr

PF:

Amare obviously broke into 50's house - WTF is wrong with this team?!

SF:

Yeah, not bad - no surprise Mrs. Hill is still starting ahead of Doris

SG:

Damnit, Raja, don't you read my posts?! I said PASS the popcorn, dude!!!

PG:

Well now, that's a pretty big trophy for such a little boy - give it to daddy, Steve, will you? DO it...NOOOW!!!

I know what you're thinking now, looking at that pic, and I'll admit it - I can't come up with anything that tops the already legendary "Park Bench-gag"...but since I'm still not willing to post actual pics of our Bench I'll just post some stupid random stuff instead, like this little fella called "Wusel":

Awww, look, isn't it cute?! I don't have a damn clue what exactly it's supposed to be, but still...awwwwwwwww



Lindsay Lohan's former party buddies are going to start the following 5 stallions:

C:

Memory Okur can't be underestimated - he's got one hell of a shot for a big man

PF:

Remember the LiLo-gag I just made? Guess the reference to Carlos here

SF:

I know Andrei got injured, but I still rather post a pic of his wife than start searching for any of CJ Miles

SG:

Look what I found while looking for pics of Ronnie Brewer...the Masha-effect should be gone for most of you guys now, right?! Oh, and for those other guys - these are the Brewer twins, have fun!

PG:

Deron Williams...as a ninja...made on a Etch-a-sketch...by some dude who calls himself the Etch-A-Sketchist (very subtle!)...that's kind of stu...UH, he's got a blog: http://www.etchasketchist.blogspot.com

The...uhm...bench?!:

"Joseph Smith was called a prophet
Dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb
He started the Mormon religion
Dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb"

^ ok, OK! Relax, you (2 and 1/2) angry mormons visiting this thread - it's a QUOTE!!! Sue Parker and Stone if you want to

Oh, right...and GOOO SUNS!!!

[HootieRules]

One clappy-smiley face guy for every one of our turnovers we will give up against Utah

[JustMoe]

Being optimistic again, hm?

[Moochthemonkey]

Completely inappropriate.

[187_Inc]

I say the Suns win by 15. Why you ask? I'm not in touch with reality right now, that's why.

[JustMoe]

Can't see us beating the Jazz at the moment, they're just too good, while we are way too inconsistent. This is getting pretty unpleasing, considering how close we are to the 9th spot in the West

[djuandemarco]

I don't know. As far as I remember UTAH hasn't been a good road team. I think we're gonna win this one, we must. I'm more concerned about SA 'cause we suck playing at Sunday noon

[Arles]

Since most people have probably moved from the Denver game, I'll repeat some of my comments here. If we were showing any progress on turnovers or the perimeter/transition defense, I'd feel some hope. If Mike D was adjusting the rotation to get our decent perimeter defenders more time (DJ, Johnson), I'd feel some hope. If he was showing any kind of accountability for transition defense, I'd feel some hope.

But, right now, I'm about as close to hopeless as I've been in 3-4 seasons. Without any changes in rotation/focus from Mike D, I would say a win is about 24% likely. I'm still going to watch in the event that things get better, but I keep coming back to Ben Franklin's definition of insanity for this team:

Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results

[Nash to Amare]

It's time for ol Coach D'Antoni to get tossed from a game and try to spark some sort of fire in these guys

[The Hypnotoad]

I swear, Kerr is still working for the spurs!

[Melon Yellow]

We win by 5. And nice job on the game thread. Very funny!

[BringinDaRuckus]

Right now Moe's game threads are the only thing keeping me entertained and sane.

Bravo on yet another game thread Moe. Love your sense of humor on things.



Oh my guess is 21 Turnovers for the Suns. Over/Under anyone?

[187_Inc]

Since most people have probably moved from the Denver game, I'll repeat some of my comments here. If we were showing any progress on turnovers or the perimeter/transition defense, I'd feel some hope. If Mike D was adjusting the rotation to get our decent perimeter defenders more time (DJ, Johnson), I'd feel some hope. If he was showing any kind of accountability for transition defense, I'd feel some hope.

But, right now, I'm about as close to hopeless as I've been in 3-4 seasons. Without any changes in rotation/focus from Mike D, I would say a win is about 24% likely. I'm still going to watch in the event that things get better, but I keep coming back to Ben Franklin's definition of insanity for this team:

Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results

ding ding ding. I've been pissed at D'Antoni for a while now because he won't play DJ and LJ. You know they are going to go 110% because they never get playing time and need to make the most of it. It's obvious our exterior D is crap right now, but D'Antoni isn't changing anything and expecting a miracle to happen. I have plenty of hope, but at the same time I don't unless D'Antoni decides to try and FIX our problems. It's so frustrating to watch this team play right now.

[Duiz]

btw... I am a mormon and I thought that episode of south park was funny. Wrong, but still funny plot.

Anyways, Phoenix.. chillax, you are not playing at NuclearWaste Arena where we are 26-3... Our team is terrible on the road, and we had 20 turnovers against New Orleans and 24 turnovers against the T-Wolves on the road last week.

The Jazz are eager and pesky about sparking a strong start and finishing ANY TEAM on the road for the sake of their existence. You guyses got the old Big Cactus and the old Steve"I can play with Barcelona FC and you can't" Nash. Also Andrei Kirilenko who is known to have 7+ block parties against Denver, GSW, and PHX is injured thanks to Steve's former BFF Dirk, so you won't have to worry about offense. As much as a I adore CJ Miles, Hill should be able to get him in foul trouble at will.

I expect this to be much closer than you, or my fellow fans think.

[BurningHeart]

We are going to get our asses beat.

[Arles]

The best thing for our offense is not improving on our 40% rate from 3s the past 5-6 games, it's getting some transition offense going. And, the best way to do that is play tough D and get steals/missed shots.

The fundamental flaw with Mike D (and some on this forum) is the idea that we need to keep getting better shooters out there to score more. Our shooting has been pretty good the past few games:

(53%FG, 48% 3s)
(42%FG, 39% 3s)
(49%FG, 39% 3s)
(48%FG, 50% 3s)
(58%FG, 38% 3s)

There's no way we should be 2-3 based on our shooting in those 5 games. What's killed us is turnovers and defense. So, again, we need to start playing better defenders more for three reasons:

1. They tend to be less risky on offense. I think with guys like DJ, Linton Johnson and Grant Hill out there, you will see fewer high risk passes. And, even if they shoot lower on jumpers, it's better to go 3-7 on FGs with 0 turnovers than 3-5 on FGs with 3 turnovers.
2. They will create turnovers/tough shots on defense that lead to fast break points.
3. They will play with energy in the middle quarters when we need it.

It gets maddening to watch this team. It's like a guy in the ER with his right leg broken in 3 places, but the doctor keeps focusing on the hangnail on his right hand. Too many turnovers? We need to play more shooters. Poor defense? We need to play more shooters. Lack of Energy? We need to play more shooters.

[JustMoe]

We win by 5. And nice job on the game thread. Very funny!

Right now Moe's game threads are the only thing keeping me entertained and sane.

Bravo on yet another game thread Moe. Love your sense of humor on things.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the nice comments...they keep me from shortening the threads in order to make creating them less time-consuming for me, but still...

btw... I am a mormon and I thought that episode of south park was funny. Wrong, but still funny plot.

Relieved to read that I didn't expect anyone to get offended by me quoting it, though you never know - looking at some reactions to certain South Park episodes.


I'm really looking forward to this game. The last time the Suns and Jazz played each other I wasn't able to watch, and I really like Utah's team, especially Deron and Carlos, awesome players. This should be fun to watch, at least if it doesn't turn into another game the Suns totally screw up

[b-ball forever]

Boozer's gonna be in post up heaven seeing how amazingly sucky the Amare/Shaq combo was on the defensive end.
Is having at least 1 of Shaq or STAT put a hand into the opponments' bigman's face when he shoots supposed to be 2 much of a defensive effort

I'm not gonna even talk bout our perimeter D since anybody with half a brain knew that losin Marion means we get raped on the wings, but our post defense isn't lookin any better at all like it was supposed to...

On D we're by far the worse team in the NBA at the mo, it's at the point where there's prolly more chances that 1 of the Jazzy's get a career night then us get the W

Suns better get their crap 2gether quick unless they're into disapearing from AZ at the end of the season

Uh, go suns

[thamadkant]

My prediction.

Deron Williams stat line:

35 minutes
26 points
16 assists
3 rebounds
3 steals
1 TO

7/11 FG
2/2 3PT
6/7 FT


Steve Nash
38 minutes
19 points
11 assists
3 rebounds
0 steals
8 Turn overs
6/14 FG
1/4 3PT
4/4 FT


Jazz 117
Suns 103


TOs and Suns still relying too much on fast ball movement with slower players is a TO waiting to happen these days.

But I'd be glad to be proven wrong.

And BTW, I think Shaq has done what he needs to do, prevent Suns getting out rebounded.... BUT, the perimeter offense and defense +/- has been skewed substantially towards the "-" bit.

[b-ball forever]

And BTW, I think Shaq has done what he needs to do, prevent Suns getting out rebounded....

We're doing beta on the boards, but we're doin as bad as ever on post-defense, looks like Shaq picked up Amare's habit of defending w/ his hands down

BUT, the perimeter offense and defense +/- has been skewed substantially towards the "-" bit.

Duh, we lost Marion, what did u expect 2 happen?