November 2, Suns vs. Lakers
Talk about a classic train wreck. Normally, I would have turned that game off before half time, switching back every 15 minutes or so to check up on the progress of the game. I don't like watching ugly basketball, and that was worse than the Pistons/Heat affair that preceded it.
Still, I couldn't get myself to turn away. I don't know what it was exactly, but I just found too much humor in seeing the Lakers hit every kind of shot imaginable in that game. At one point in the fourth quarter, Sasha Vujacic hit a three from the top of the arc, and I started laughing out loud. I guess that makes it a true laugher.
But it was only the second game of the season, so what can I really criticize? I'm sure there's plenty, but I won't bother. Besides, Dan Bickley summed it up quite nicely in his blog. I can only add this: The Suns are a true run-and-gun team. We take their conditioning for granted because they play so well starting in late November, and we tend to forget those first few weeks of the season, when they huffing and puffing their way up and down the court. It's a risk they take by embracing that particular style of play with a short rotation.
As usual, give it time. Amare will heal, Leandro will find his outside touch (and free throw touch, for that matter), and Raja will shoot his way out of his usual beginning-of-the-season cold spell. Well, he will so long as he gets a chance to rest his ankle. Tendinitis is tricky, and only time and rest can fix it. The team will catch their wind. I stand by my preseason assessment, and I won't be surprised or upset if the Suns start the season around .500 after the first couple of weeks. Remember, they're playing seven games in ten days to start things off. A few speed bumps and conditioning issues are to be expected.
November 4, Suns vs. Cavs
Yes, the first half sucked. Big deal. I'll admit that I wasn't too thrilled during the game, falling back on the new "Treehouse of Horrors XVIII" as a sanity saver. (I missed most of it, due to the honoring of Jerry Colangelo at half time and the second half resurgence, but what I saw looked much better than last season's crapfest. I especially dug the take on "Mr. & Mrs. Smith. What it had to do with Halloween, I do not know.)
All digressions aside, that second half could not have been more picture perfect. The Suns outscored the Caves 65-47 in the half, doubling up the the James gang 58-29 over the last 18:21 of the game. What may be lost in the outcome is that it came with the regular six playing almost every minute of that time. Whatever gets the win, I suppose, but we can hardly blame D'Antoni for it, considering the 38 point on 37.5% shooting in the first half.
I think, though, that Banks and Skinner took the fall for Boris Diaw's passive (to be inhumanly kind) play in the first half. Every time Nash got him the ball in scoring position, Diaw thought the best move was to kick it out? Did he forget who he was playing with? Sure, he finished the night with a great line (two steals and two blocks to go with his 50% shooting), but all that passing amounted to a whole THREE assists.
Fortunately, someone had words with him at half time. The Suns would never admit as much publicly, but I'm more than certain that he got his ass chewed out for that first half performance by none other than Steve Nash. "When I give you the ball, you SHOOT!" The result was the aggressive 3D that won our hearts two seasons ago when he won the league's Most Improved Player award. Still, it shouldn't be that way. He shouldn't have to be reminded that he is not the primary play maker, that he is not a point guard, and that his job is to complement the other players on the floor, not to lead and feed them.
That second half team defense was tremendous. Consider that LeBron James shot two free throws the entire game - both coming in the fourth quarter. Guess what folks, that was Grant Hill's assignment. I guess we can forgive his 4-12 shooting, since anyone's offense is going to suffer when he draws the toughest defensive assignment (see Marion's 7-17 guarding the much bigger Drew Gooden, and the 7'3" behemoth Cavs fans call "The Big Z"). Also consider the 22 turnovers the Suns forced, though LeBron James might disagree, saying, "We had a few careless mistakes ... We had some unforced ones that were uncharacteristic of us."
Note to the kid - "some" out of 22 doesn't account for ten Suns steals and two shot clock violations, as well as any charges taken by the Suns. Sorry, "King," but you need to give the Suns defense a bit more credit than that. Citing the half time ceremony doesn't cut it, either.
It was definitely long and something that we weren't used to, and we didn't know either. We came out to warm up, and we had to wait another 20 minutes, so it was definitely tough on us. But it's not an excuse. They did a great job in the third quarter of picking up the intensity.
Correct. Not an excuse, as the Suns had to wait, as well. You could say that it was partly responsible for the Suns third quarter intensity, though. Really, do you think they wanted to lose in front of the man who bore the franchise and essentially built downtown Phoenix?
Again, I digress. I've made my feelings on the matter known, already, yet I can't help but drive the point home every time the Suns meet the Cavaliers. Now if only someone would tell Gary Bender.
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