Game Day: SUNS vs. Warriors.

[INFORMER]

BTW - Dragic has wildly exceeded my expectations in the first two games. He's looked much better than expected. Perhaps some of the difference is the floor spacing we're seeing, which allows him to operate in an environment more like the open court.

Sure hope the trend continues.

That was a very refreshing post, Ww.

I gotta say that so far this team has over exceeded my expectations.

After two wins versus the Clips and Warriors???

SwingManRe: Game Day: SUNS vs. Warriors.
Who's to say that what we're seeing ISN'T part of the plan?

The bench is developing under a group of capable veterans - hell, even Amare's showing improvement in his (understandably) out of shape self - and there's actually a semblance of defense kicking around. Just because it isn't happening overnight doesn't mean that things are at a standstill - or moving backwards.

It's this kind of instant gratification and self-entitlement bullshit that's part of what's fucking up society - nobody wants to work for or towards anything anymore.

[Mori_Chu]

F YEAH! SUNS WIN!!! Loving it. They really took it to the Warriors and pulled the game out of reach down the stretch. Nash was amazing; loved the 20 assists. Frye was on fire. Barbosa played very well. Dudley was his usual all-effort self. I really like what Amundson has been giving us, too. I had low expectations for him because I thought he'd get lost in the big man rotation, but he's been very solid. He has crazy hops; those goaltends he goes up for are kind of insane sometimes.

Didn't like all the missed free throws. It pained me; if the game had been close, we would have looked back to that stat with regret.

I was impressed by Dragic. He's starting to look adequate out there. He looks for his teammates and he is doing a better job managing the ball, the clock, and just having a better sense of the game. He is still good for a couple of dumb mistakes per game like a palming violation or a silly turnover. But his progress is encouraging.

I like Earl Clark a lot. He doesn't get a ton of points, but I feel like he never hurts us when he is out there. I feel the same way about Dudley. When those guys come in, I don't worry that they'll ruin our offensive flow or play matador defense or do other things to screw us up. That's what you want from bench guys: confidence that they can play a few minutes without jeopardizing anything the starters have built. Clark is very solid on D and his long arms get into passing lanes.

Nah da_suns_fan and Wormwood have already made their appearance in this thread, we're par for course so far. Suns won though, so they don't have much to say..chirp chirp...By the way, Frye's looking nice, what 6-7 from behind the arc? 15 points a game look reasonable for him, eh Mori?

Frye is better than I expected. I'm very happy if I turn out to be wrong about him. I still want to see how he plays against an opponent with better defense. I have a feeling he may be like Eddie House: Useful against non-playoff teams, but near worthless against teams like the Spurs, Celtics, Lakers, and so on.

One thing I really don't like about Frye is his defense. He fouls way too much, especially in transition. He's awful when a smaller player is penetrating and coming at him. Guaranteed foul, and often the and-one as well because he doesn't even foul them hard.


I know the popular thought after these first 2 games may be that we don't need Jason Richardson. It's true that Barbs has been a capable starter. But we are playing our guards a few too many minutes right now. And in the Clipper game, the starters were just flat and had no offense. I would have liked to see J-Rich out there with his shooting and athleticism. From all accounts he's in great conditioning and is ready to contribute. Let's see what he can give us tomorrow (Sun).

BTW, wow, Golden State is such a mess. I wish we could steal a few of their guys, because they have a bunch of great players but a terrible team. I'd love to have some combination of Morrow, Azubuike, Biedrins, and/or Curry. I would still trade Amare for Biedrins and any one of the others.

[INFORMER]

I know the popular thought after these first 2 games may be that we don't need Jason Richardson. It's true that Barbs has been a capable starter. But we are playing our guards a few too many minutes right now. And in the Clipper game, the starters were just flat and had no offense. I would have liked to see J-Rich out there with his shooting and athleticism. From all accounts he's in great conditioning and is ready to contribute.

Agreed.

Frye is better than I expected.

I said Frye would thrive here offensively, but I had no idea he would be such a threat from long range.

[Andy_S]

Who's to say that what we're seeing ISN'T part of the plan?

The bench is developing under a group of capable veterans - hell, even Amare's showing improvement in his (understandably) out of shape self - and there's actually a semblance of defense kicking around. Just because it isn't happening overnight doesn't mean that things are at a standstill - or moving backwards.

It's this kind of instant gratification and self-entitlement bullshit that's part of what's fucking up society - nobody wants to work for or towards anything anymore.

You're a piece of work. I wanted us to rebuild. How is that related to instant gratification in any way? Self-entitlement? Give me a break.

Maybe you weren't responding to my post, since you're so far off base. If that's the case, the recant my derision.

[SwingMan]

The last sentence/paragraph was a general comment, Andy - not directed at you personally. Apologies if that wasn't clear enough.

[Superbone]

BTW - Dragic has wildly exceeded my expectations in the first two games. He's looked much better than expected. Perhaps some of the difference is the floor spacing we're seeing, which allows him to operate in an environment more like the open court.

Sure hope the trend continues.

Glad to hear some positives out of you Worm. I agree. He's looked very solid in the first two games of the season. Encouraging.

[sunsdotcom]

i agree with rosen.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/1...es,-so-do-Suns

GRANT HILL: Early on, when the game was competitive, Hill was sent into the low post on several possessions. Mostly using some variation of a turnaround jumper, Hill either scored or was fouled. It looks like he'll be the go-to scorer whenever Phoenix absolutely needs a bucket in the clutch.

[sunsdotcom]

on lou amundson:

LOUIS AMUNDSON: His job is to rebound, defend, block shots and energize the team. And he does everything with a workmanlike diligence that's easily as effective as the over-hyped antics of Chris Andersen. Indeed, his man-to-man defense is much better than the Birdman's rather flighty efforts in this department.

[Indy]

Posted too soon... should have read the rest first.

[tails]

Our defense on the high pick-n-roll was horrible in the first half. We were switching everything and the rotation after that was just not there.

After the break the rotation improved and it makes Nash less of a liability on defense. As Rosen observed, "the Warriors surrendered midway through the third quarter".

[Wormwood]

Rosen really didn't like Dragic... not sure if I agree with all of his assessment, but if he thinks Dragic is bad now, he obviously wasn't watching him last year. Dragic has looked better in the first two games this year than he did basically all of last year.

GORAN DRAGIC: Given sufficient time and space, Dragic demonstrates a nice stroke. But he unleashed an airball when his shot was pressured. He's an alert and willing passer, yet his crossover dribble is shaky. Worst of all, there's an inherent stiffness in the way he moves that makes Dragic's defense unsatisfactory. He just might be among the worst backup point guards in the league.

[Walt_Uoob]

Good to see we met our Rosen quota so early on. Now we don't have to mention him or read his crap for the rest of the year, right?

[Andy_S]

The last sentence/paragraph was a general comment, Andy - not directed at you personally. Apologies if that wasn't clear enough.

No worries -- thanks for clarifying. I figured there had to be some miscommunication there.

[SwingMan]

Right on.

Reading back over it, I can see how easily it could've been misconstrued - in short, my bad.

[Billyjoejimbob]

I have a bad feeling about this game. They let the Clippers shoot 60%. GS is a better offensive team than the Clippers. We'll see I guess.

Unwarranted.

Nice win. I was impressed with our defense tonight. It seemed like the Warriors really struggled to score for long stretches.

Go Suns!

I'm glad I was wrong. They played a good game. Hopefully they will continue to improve throughout the season and gain the same continuity on defense that they have on offense.