SB Nation - Robin Lopez

Game Preview: Suns vs Spurs

PanamaSun — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:01:26 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

Alvin Gentry will go against one of the best coaches in the league and a colleague he's known for 30 plus years.

The Phoenix Suns will play hosts of the San Antonio Spurs tonight as they seek to remain perfect at home. Playing the Spurs is always fun and painful at the same time. Whenever I see their uniforms I can't help but to remember all the times they have broken my heart.

I've been bitter for days because of them. I've punched the wall, yelled at my friends, fought with my significant other, fought with my Mother In Law for fighting with my significant other, screwed up reports at work, I've forgotten important appointments and I've even kicked my dog... and I love my dog.

Interesting enough, I don't have any bad feelings towards them. I've tried to hate them, I've tried to channel my anger and convince myself that they are the bad guys. Nothing. All I feel is respect and admiration. They are disciplined and deadly accurate when running plays on both ends of the floor and all you can do is just shake your head and wish your team would execute in crunch time just like they do.

But this year the Spurs are struggling. They have been playing better as of late but their season has not started the way everyone predicted. Their off season moves looked very good on paper but they have had a hard time adjusting to Pop's system.

I wanted to ask a few questions to the enemy so I contacted Austechspur, fellow blogger from our brother SBN Blog Pounding the Rock, and he was kind enough to answer my inquiries.

His responses after the jump!

P-Sun: The Spurs are 12-9 as of today. You guys are used to a slow start and then picking it up in the middle of the season. Do you feel confident it will happen this year or do you have reasons to be concerned?

AustechSpur: I feel that we have a very good team and that we will get better, but I would be lying if I didn't say I was a little concerned as well. We all thought we would be better at the start of the season and then turn into a juggernaut, which is what you have to be in order to have a chance to win it this year. We have a rather pedestrian 12-9 record with a pretty easy schedule. I think we will pick it up during the season, but we have LOT of picking up to do to get to the top.

P-Sun: It's early in the season but do you feel the off seasonn moves (Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess, Keith Bogans) have improved your team?

AustechSpur: It's really hard to say. We are different this year and we are different in two ways. We are different in that we have new faces for a change. It's been several years since we have had to new players in the top of the rotation. We are different in that the team is a little more athletic with less defined roles. I'm not really sure how the three new guys fit into the offense and I'm not sure they know how they fit into the offense. Athletically, we should be much better than the last few years. But, until that translates into guys knowing where they need to be and shutting down opponents and making shots, I'm reserving judgment.

P-Sun: DeJuan Blair is playing really well for you guys. How important is this kid to the Spurs franchise and what are the areas you feel he needs to improve?

AustechSpur: DeJuan Blair is an absolute beast. He brought tremendous skills with him and he's getting better very quickly. He's learning to use his giant body on defense. I have no doubt that he will be a very good player. If he can learn to hit the mid-range jumper, he will be a border line all-star in the league for the next 10 years. If you watch one thing with him, check out his feel for the game around the rim. He has TREMENDOUS touch.

P-Sun: Have you had the chance to watch the Suns play this season? What are your thoughts about our team?

AustechSpur: No, I haven't seen them at all.

P-Sun: It seems that no one can stop Steve Nash this season. Now that Bruce Bowen is no longer a Spur, what do you think Pop will do to try to slow him down? Who's the "stopper" on the team now?

AustechSpur: Do you remember this joke? Q: Who is the only person that could keep Michael Jordan under 20 points per game? A: Dean Smith. Replace Jordan with Nash and Smith with Porter. Steve Nash is just fantastic in space. It's his game. We don't' really have a replacement for Bowen who is the one-stop shop for all defense from Steve Nash to Dirk Nowitzki. I expect Steve will see a whole lot of George Hill. George has the perfect attributes to deal with Steve. He's quick enough to stay with him and he has ridiculously long arms to harass passes. That's all you can do with Steve anyway.

P-Sun: What is it about the Spurs system that it takes so long for new players to learn it?

AustechSpur: I'll refer you to this article by DK Wilson for FoxSports.com http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/10471634/Spurs-not-yet-jelled,-but-could-still-turn-into-force and this quote from Antonio McDyess "Everything here is so exact; every play there's so much detail." Apparently, the Spurs are VERY particular about every little detail and where you should be. I think this causes players to think instead of play for a while. I get the sense that Pop rarely says, "Just go out and play your game."

Let's take a look at the key match-ups for tonight's game

Guards

Everyone that plays the Suns try to do different things to slow Nash down. They try guarding him with a small but pesky player, they try switching to a big man, they try double teaming him. Nothing works. Truth is that Steve Nash is playing amazing basketball and I don't even remember if he has had a bad game all season. Pop is smart and he might try different things to keep Nash under control. Like Austechspur said, we might see a George Hill on him. He might bother Steve with his quickness and length. Good luck George, you are going to need it.

On the other hand we have Tony Parker. In the last two games he has had assists in the double digits but has also been a turnover prone. The Suns need to keep him under control and limit his baskets in the paint. We can afford him scoring but the Suns can't let him get his teammates involved. Depending on how he's playing, I expect to see different defenders on him.

Manu Ginobili is still dangerous. He has had very good games this season and when he plays up to his talent the Spurs are almost unbeatable. He has been slowed down by injuries and this has taken a toll on his defense. Once a feared and hated defender, Ginobili has noticeably lost a step. The Suns should take advantage of this and drive to the hole on him.

Forwards

Amar'e has been playing really well. He continues to be very efficient from the field but everyone has noticed that he's not as explosive as he once was. That's what recovering from an eye surgery will do to you. I expect him to continue making those jump shots to keep the Spurs defense guessing. This is a big game for him.

Timmy Duncan has been playing out of his mind. Just like with Nash, everyone doubted he would have an excellent season. He's knees are holding up quite well but that doesn't mean that Spurs fans don't cringe whenever he goes down on the hardwood. Channing Frye will get a chance to defend him and if he get's in foul trouble Robin Lopez will have his hands full with him.

Richard Jefferson is averaging 13.7 point per game. He has struggled offensively and I expect Hill to be on his grill. We need to keep him under control. We already have our hands full with Duncan and Parker.

Predictions

The fact that the Suns are at home, where they have played really well, gives them an advantage over a Spurs team who's still working on their on-court chemistry. The Suns are always fired up to play against them and they'll come out firing. They just need to be consistent throughout 48 minutes of basketball and not throw away any early leads. I feel confident that the Suns will win this one.

Game Links:

Spurs vs Suns coverage
Spurs vs Suns preview
azcentral.com blogs - Coro's Suns dish - PaulCoro - The Imperial March
The magic number is 100 for most teams. For Phoenix, it's fittingly higher at 104. When the Suns score less than that this season, they are 2-8. When they score at least that, they are 14-0.
Will Hill and Billups Receive Hall Passes? -- NBA FanHouse
Hill looked to have a sure-fire Hall pass when he came out of Duke in 1994 and starred for six seasons for Detroit. But Hill, after signing with Orlando in 2000, had numerous ankle problems that nearly wrecked his career. Between 2000-04, he played in just 47 of 264 possible games.
Game Preview #22: San Antonio Spurs @ Phoenix Suns - Pounding The Rock
Preview for Spurs-Suns, complete with Nash-photoshopping link.

[Note by Phoenix Stan, 12/15/09 3:31 PM MST ]

Video's via Suns.com from today

Game in Exclusive Pictures: Suns Defeat Magic (The Real Super Hero Arrives)

Phoenix Stan — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:08:40 -0000

The Suns defeated the Magic on Friday night. Here's the Game in Pictures:

The many faces of Stan Van Gundy

The game began well for the Magic when Dwight Howard punched through a wide open dunk. He would go on to have NO other field goal attempts in the entire game.

Old friends Steve Nash and Vince Carter took a moment to catch up.

Suns second year reserve Center Robin Lopez came in the game and recorded a record 47 fouls in 3 minutes and 15 seconds of play.

In an interesting move, Matt Barnes attempted to draw a foul on Steve Nash by using Nash's arm to slap Dwight Howard.

This private moment between Jared Dudley and veteran official Joey Crawford was overheard verbatim.

To close out the first half, Matt Barnes hit an incredible (lucky) fadeway three at the buzzer.

Suns Center Robin Lopez attempted to argue one of his 47 fouls but was not successful.

Magic backup Center Marcin Gortat played well in his 6:46 of action.

But for some reason his coach doesn't have confidence in his play.

As the game got close in the fourth quarter, the real super hero arrived.

The play resulted in a foul on the Magic prompting this exchange of word between Nash and Van Gundy.

Closing out the game with an impressive offensive rebound and put-back slam, Amare Stoudemire screams in delight.

Game Gallery

NBA: Orlando Magic at Phoenix Suns 121109 - Images by Max Simbron

Suns beat Magic, remain perfect at home

PanamaSun — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 10:24:35 -0000

More photos »

Amar'e's reaction after dunking the winning basket. (Photo by Max Simbron)

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US Airways Center it's starting to become a dangerous place for opposing teams. The Phoenix Suns are the only team in the NBA yet to lose at home. They have won 17 straight games in the desert, dating to last season.

Some of us could say that tonight's game was fun, exciting and entertaining. Others could describe it as frustrating, nerve-wracking and bittersweet. What I'm certain about is that all of us went through a rollercoaster of emotions and that this game had so many WTF moments that you couldn't count them even if you tried really hard.

At the end of the day a win is a win and the Suns nailed some big shots down the stretch and got an offensive rebound that proved to be the defining play of the game. But let's not get ahead of ourselves and let's take a look at what happened before it came down to that exciting play.

1^st Half

The Suns were hot in the first quarter. They were hitting shots, moving the ball well and Steve Nash was finding wide open teammates with a variety of passes that made me jump from my seat on several occasions. They looked sharp and with a lot of energy. On the other hand, the Magic seemed tired and a step slower than the Suns. They were careless with the ball, having six turnovers and only scoring 9 points with three minutes to play in the quarter. Eventually their offense picked up and they managed to end the 17-0 run by the Suns with a run of their own. At the end of the quarter the score was Suns 33 and the Magic 22. Although they cut the lead to eleven, I had the feeling that Phoenix was in the driver's seat and that they would put the game away at any moment. Boy was I wrong.

Gentry decided to go with his bench to start the second quarter. Jared Dudley made a three pointer and Amar'e, who remained on the floor, got a nice feed from Dragic aka Frosty. This great play prompted Van Gundy to call a timeout as the Suns were pulling away and extending their lead to 19.

The Magic would not back down and they showed everyone why they are the best road team in the NBA, shooting accurately from the perimeter and fighting their way back in the game. At this point, Howard had been a non factor. The Suns were double teaming him as soon as he put the ball on the floor. The plan was working until Howard started to find open teammates who did what they do best...hit outside shots.

At the half, the Suns had shot 52% from the field while the Magic managed to stay close despite shooting 43%. Orlando had 13 turnovers and the Suns 6.

2^nd Half

If I was Alvin Gentry I would be really disappointed with the effort shown in the third quarter. The Magic got the lead down to eight points thanks to a great shooting performance by Mickael Pietrus. He was absolutely phenomenal, scoring 15 points in the quarter.

Suddenly we had a ball game. The Magic erased what was once a 19 point lead and got it down to three. All of this happened with Vince Carter on the bench. Carter, who seldom hurts himself while playing the game of basketball, went to the bench due to a sore knee early in the Q. The Magic closed out the third trailing just 85-81.

4^th Quarter Madness

Basketball is a crazy game. When you are in practice (Yeah, I'm talking about practice) you run drills, shoot the ball a hundred times, box out etc. You do all these things thinking that at some point of the season, these little things will help you win close games. But the truth is that sometimes you just need a little luck.

With the Suns ahead by one point, The Magic stole the ball from Amar'e. Anthony Johnson was leading the fast break and he dribbled the ball off of Pietrus' foot giving the ball back to the Suns. Steve Nash found an open Jared Dudley who shot the three ball but was closed out by Dwight Howard. With him nowhere near the paint, Amar'e was able to get the rebound off the missed shot by Jared. Offensive rebound leads to a dunk. Dunk lead to Amar'e's scream. Scream leads to the Win.

Interesting facts

Despite the comments that I saw on the game thread, Robin Lopez had a very bad game. He had only 2 points and 5 fouls in just under 5 minutes of playing time. It's very frustrating to see him play.
Jared Dudley had a monster game. He hit big boy shots in the 4^th quarter and scored 19 points to match his career high.
The Magic shot 38 free throws. Dwight Howard alone shot 17 while being held to only one field goal attempt.
Rashard Lewis didn't refuse to play in this game.

Final Thoughts

This was a game that the Suns desperately needed. They were rested and playing at home. The Magic were playing the second game of a back to back. True, wasting a 19 point lead is nothing to be happy about but remember that Orlando is a hell of a team and they showed it tonight.

Protect your home court. I bet that's on every championship team's check list. The Suns are certainly doing their best to comply with that statement.

Robin's Door: Lopez Shows A Tiny Bit Too Much Passion (Shatters Glass Door)

Phoenix Stan — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 20:46:14 -0000

Robin Lopez might want to save some of his "crazy" passion for his on the court play. Lopez stormed off the court after Suns practice and shattered a glass door while leaving the practice court. (Photo by Max Simbron)

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We interrupt Steve Nash Internet Day to share this fun little story from Suns practice.

As I was standing with the collected media (all four of us) talking to Coach Gentry after Suns practice today our friend and local 7ft hot head stormed off the court after a game of 3 on 3 with the other bench players, walked up the stairs and flung open the glass door shown below.

Said door proceeded to yield to Robin's fury and shattered its glass all over the landing and the court below.

Needless to say, Coach Gentry was not a happy camper. While I suppose that technically what he said next can be considered "on the record", I will take the easy road and not repeat his words. Let's just say we can expect Robin to a) pay for the door b) not suit up tomorrow c) get quite an earful and d) be referred to Anger Management Classes.

Actually, I am not so sure about the last one but it might not be a bad idea.

Here's the audio. That sound you hear is Robin's reputation splintering into thousands of tiny pieces. Stay frosty.

Picture of Robin's Door follows:

Here's a closer picture from Sports 620 KTAR's Craig Grialou

[Note by Phoenix Stan, 12/09/09 2:06 PM MST ]

and here's Coro's take

azcentral.com blogs - Coro's Suns dish - PaulCoro - Lopez's temper strikes again
Coro's Suns dish: Suns center Robin Lopez's fiery practice demeanor was hot again today. After his team lost a three-on-three game, Lopez slammed open the practice court's door so hard that the glass shattered upon hitting the wall behind the door.

No Surprises Here, Suns Drubbed by Lakers 108-88

Wil Cantrell — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:30:33 -0000

More photos » by Gus Ruelas - AP

Mr. Gentry was not in the holiday spirit Sunday night.(AP Photo/Gus Ruelas)

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Tonight was deemed "Mission Impossible Part 2" by a respected Suns journalist. The local commentators were hoping for a rain out (hur, hur). While there was no rain or Tom Cruise sightings at the game, winning was to be a monumental task. The "tired" Suns on the second night of a back to back didn't play a perfect game, and even if they did, they probably still would have lost to the defending champions.

There was certainly some good that came out of this game, and there of course, was some bad.

The Suns at least competed tonight. The first quarter witnessed an active Suns team, combatting a nearly flawless Lakers attack. Amare Stoudemire showed up, feeling his outside game and battling inside for rebounds. But five turnovers leading to a 9-2 Lakers run in the first 7 minutes left the Suns in an early hole.

The Lakers D held, as it did for the rest of the game, limiting any Suns inside penetration. Pau Gasol switched off on Steve Nash, thus alleviating any pick 'n roll success.

Still the Suns were making shots, ad held close. A Jared Dudley three brought the Suns back to a 2 point deficit, the Lakers still held a 29-26 first quarter lead.

The Suns battled in the second quarter as well, going on a nice little 6-0 run. Yet the Suns struggled on D, allowing Laker penetration and two wide open threes. Robin Lopez left his man too early, allowing the first, while Steve Nash went underneath a screen allowing the second. The Suns were still playing respectable and even managed a free throw, their first with 3.49 to play in the second. But this was as good as it was to get for Phoenix on this night as they ended the first half down 54-44.

The Suns were outscored by 11 in the third quarter and all was, well, finished at that point. The lakers continued to attack and get what they wanted on the offensive end while the Suns went cold from outside, and continued to have trouble getting in the lane.

The Suns second unit closed the lead to 13 midway through the 4th quarter, but back to back three pointers by Shannon Brown ended the Suns small run.

The Rest of the Good (which wasn't a whole lot)

The Suns shot 57% 1st quarter, Nash had 7 Assists (who cares, I know)
Goran Dragic had a nice little pick off of Shannon Brown, took the ball the length of the court for a layup. (It was nearly dropped. You gotta DUNK, Goran).
Robin Lopez didn't look dreadful and confused, in fact he looked serviceable. Heis aggressive at the rim and has a nice little 5-6 foot jumper. I'm hoping he can get in shape and put in 10-15 minutes eventually this season. he could be valuable against the more sizeable teams.
The Suns second unit played pretty well. Lopez, Dragic, and Dudley all played solid. Earl Clark had a nice 15 footer off the dribble.

The Rest: A Very Small Ode to the Lakers:

OK the Suns are tired and this was a back to back game on the road. We didn't expect much. But this Laker team flat plays defense. The cut off the lanes and the Suns simply couldn't penetrate to the hoop. The Lakers also rebounded and played good perimeter defense. The Suns couldn't shoot from the field, they couldn't make a three. Further, the Lakers executed their offense flawlessly. Ron Artest made threes, Kobe Bryant simply toyed with Suns defenders. Bynum was all over the glass, and Gasol confounded Amare Stoudemire. So...what in God's name were the Suns supposed to do tonight? They played the reigning champion and got trounced. I don't like it, you don't like, but that's the way the mop flops.

End of story.

Pertinent Numbers:

Suns shot 4-13 from three point land. The Lakers were 10-21.
The Suns shot 11 free throws, making 10. The Lakers shot 22-26.
The Suns had 14 turnovers, the Lakers 11.
The Suns had 37 rebounds, the Lakers 42.
The Suns had 36 points in the paint, the Lakers had 40 (maybe I missed them, but I do not recall the Suns scoring that much in the paint).
OH, AND THE LAKERS HAVE PLAYED 16 OF THEIR FIRST 19 GAMES AT HOME. (yep, I'm just a smidge bitter).

FINAL - 12.6.2009	1	2	3	4	TOTAL
Phoenix Suns	26	18	22	22	88
Los Angeles Lakers	29	25	33	21	108

Next up, @Dallas, 6.30 PM on Tuesday, 12/8

Suns vs Lakers coverage

Full Boxscore

Silver Screen and Roll

Preview: Kings at Suns

Ziller — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 21:30:14 -0000

More photos » by John Froschauer - AP

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THE OPPONENT

The Suns are 14-5. The only good thing about that, for Kings fans, is that the Suns were at one point 14-3, which means the Suns have lost two straight. One loss came at the hands of ... New York (guh), an embarrassing blow-out defeat in which Danilo Gallinari lashed out at the creation of MTV's new hit Jersey Shore. The other loss came at Cleveland, which is a bit more understandable. Actually, it's completely understandable. Cleveland is pretty incredible.

Steve Nash refuses to obey human physiology, and Alvin Gentry's gambit (that getting back up to speed would improve the offense more than starting Channing Frye would hurt the defense) has worked. (That will now be dubbed the Gentry Gambit, by the way. It differs from the Bonner Gambit in that the latter states that if you have a good enough defense from positions 1-4, you can play a tall shooting guard at center.)

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
Amare Stoudemire	19	33.8	7.2	12.5	57.1	0.0	0.1	0.0	4.8	6.4	75.4	2.1	5.0	7.1	1.1	2.9	0.6	1.2	3.5	19.2
Jason Richardson	17	31.4	6.2	12.4	50.5	2.5	5.6	44.2	1.8	2.5	72.1	0.9	4.1	5.0	1.7	0.9	0.8	0.4	2.1	16.8
Steve Nash	19	32.3	6.1	11.7	52.3	1.6	3.6	44.1	2.7	2.8	94.4	0.5	2.3	2.8	11.5	3.8	0.4	0.2	1.2	16.5
Channing Frye	19	30.1	4.6	9.9	46.8	2.7	5.7	46.8	0.9	1.2	78.3	0.8	4.9	5.8	1.4	0.8	0.8	0.8	3.4	12.9
Grant Hill	19	30.2	4.6	9.6	47.5	0.4	1.0	42.1	2.4	3.0	78.9	1.4	5.3	6.7	2.1	1.3	0.6	0.3	1.6	11.9
Leandro Barbosa	14	21.4	4.6	9.4	48.5	1.2	3.0	40.5	1.2	1.7	70.8	0.3	1.6	1.9	2.0	1.1	0.6	0.1	2.0	11.6
Jared Dudley	19	22.1	2.8	6.3	44.5	1.5	3.3	46.0	1.5	2.2	70.7	1.5	2.3	3.8	1.2	0.8	1.0	0.2	1.9	8.6
Goran Dragic	19	15.9	2.5	5.6	43.9	0.7	2.1	35.9	1.1	1.9	56.8	0.6	1.7	2.3	2.9	1.6	0.5	0.2	1.7	6.8
Louis Amundson	18	15.2	1.9	3.6	53.8	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.9	1.6	58.6	1.8	2.7	4.4	0.4	0.9	0.1	0.9	1.9	4.8
Alando Tucker	7	6.1	1.3	3.0	42.9	0.1	0.6	25.0	1.9	2.4	76.5	0.6	0.3	0.9	0.4	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.1	4.6
Robin Lopez	4	9.8	1.8	2.8	63.6	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.8	1.0	75.0	1.5	1.8	3.3	0.0	2.0	0.3	0.8	2.0	4.3
Earl Clark	15	10.3	1.7	3.7	45.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.5	50.0	0.6	1.1	1.7	0.5	0.7	0.3	0.4	0.5	3.6
Taylor Griffin	1	8.0	1.0	2.0	50.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	2.0
Jarron Collins	11	7.3	0.5	0.7	62.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.8	22.2	0.5	1.5	2.0	0.1	0.3	0.0	0.3	1.2	1.1

The Suns are a bad rebounding team (13th on offense, 30th on defense) so feast away, Mssrs. Jason Thompson and Jon Brockman! The real battles are at ... well, hold on.

THE KEY BATTLE

I think that, assuming at some point Paul Westphal wants to bring Beno Udrih back into the starting unit as he did to open the second half of the Pacers game, this is not the right game to do it. We know factually that Beno can't guard Nash. We assume Tyreke Evans will also have problems, but the chance Evans can slow Nash a bit (plus make him work hard on the other end) plus the idea that Donte Greene will cause more problems on defense for Jason Richardson than Evans would, and ... I think you go Evans/Greene again. The issue would be whether Westphal wants to keep up with Phoenix (score every time they do) or to slow them down enough to keep pace (spend energy defending, hope you make enough shots). Ideally, both. But this is a real world, you know? As such,

Guards vs. Guards.

INTERESTING SIDESHOW

I have no idea whether any current Phoenix residents actually lived there during Westphal's tenure. But if so, this is like ... Dick Motta returning, right? How would I react if Dick Motta got hired by the Grizzlies and came to ARCO? Hmm. I hope I don't spend the first quarter ignoring the game while pondering this.

BOLD PROCLAMATION

Florida's white helmet-white uni motif is worse than the Kings' short-lived gold lamé kits.

NUMERIC PREDICTION

Suns by 5.

DETAILS

This will be a 6PM Pacific tip. Game thread at 6, post-game thread at 8:45. Recap under the sea.

Game Preview - Phoenix Suns vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

Mike Lisboa — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 20:11:43 -0000

Amar'e Stoudemire must start AND FINISH with his gorilla game for the Suns to have a chance in Cleveland tonight. (Photo by Max Simbron)

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Hopefully the Suns can make like Alando Tucker and wash the icky residue of last night's loss to the Knicks off their hands before mixing it up with the Cavaliers in Cleveland tonight.

The Suns head into Cleveland 2-1 with a chance at salvaging a winning record on this eastern road swing before coming home to face the Kings on Saturday. Last night the Suns came out flat on both ends of the court and despite rallying to get within 6, never recovered offensively or defensively.

So, which Suns team will show up tonight? The 14-3 power rankings darlings or that group of zombies that took the court in New York last night.

The Cavaliers come into tonight's game riding a 4 game winning streak, including a 16-point thumping of the Mavericks on Saturday. That's right: Saturday. In addition to being at home, Lebron and company have 3 days of rest. For their part, after taking most of yesterday's game off, the Suns should be plenty rested as well *rimshot*.

Match-ups

Guards

At the point, we have Steve Nash going up against Mo Williams. On paper, this would seem to be a clear advantage for the Suns, but last season Mo torched the Suns for 30 points in their meeting in Phoenix and 44 in Cleveland (Nash missed this game with an injury). Off the bench, it's Daniel Gibson vs. Goran Dragic. While Boobie is capable of getting hot, in 8 games this year, he's only averaging 6.8 point per game. If Dragic can bounce back from a terrible performance in New York, they should basically cancel each other out.

I thought it was the 30-somethings that were supposed to struggle with back-to-backs? Jason Richardson has been a key ingredient to the Suns potent offense this year, averaging 17.4 points per game, good for 2nd on the team behind Amare Stoudemire. However on the 2nd night of back-to-backs, all of J-Rich's offensive numbers have taken a hit: -7.7% on FG%, -4.9% on 3PT%, -32.1% on FT% (yipes!), and -6.1 PPG. There's no reason he shouldn't reverse that trend against Anthony Parker (and you thought the Suns had cornered the market on lesser siblings! He has to play in the shadow of his sister Candace.) and he'll have to if the Suns want to win this one.

Off the bench at the 2, it will be interesting to see who the Suns go with in Barbosa's absence. After pouring it in (14 points on 4-7 shooting), Alando Tucker may have earned some increased minutes. Equally mysterious is who the Cavs will bring off their bench behind Parker. After seeing limited use thus far this season due to personal and health reasons, Delonte West played a season-high 29 minutes against the Mavs, scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 boards.

Forwards

Grant Hill will have his hands full with LeBron James. If he and Jared Dudley can combine to keep LBJ around his averages, the Suns will probably consider that a success. I don't think anyone has any illusions of stopping him.

Off the bench, Jamario Moon is something of a Matrix-Lite, so he and Jared Dudley will engage in some kind of sideshow hustle competition.

At power forward, the Suns have what should be their clearest advantage, offensively at least. Amare Stoudemire needs to bring his vaunted Gorilla Game to exploit Cleveland's tandem of Anderson Varejao and J.J. Hickson. If he can stay out of foul trouble, look for Amare to log heavy minutes and heap piles of offensive abuse on the Cavs while not having to worry too much about being challenged on the other end. Except for rebounds.

Center

Here's where line-up and strategy will come into some serious play. It's entirely possible the Cavs elect to send Varejao and Hickson out on Frye at the perimeter, keeping Shaquille O'Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas in the lane to defend Amare on the pick and roll. If that's the case, look for Amare to log heavy minutes and heap piles of offensive abuse on the Cavs. (See what I did there?)

Defensively, Channing Frye doesn't have the bulk to keep up with Shaq in the post and the Cavs will probably go to this mis-match early and often, much like the Lakers did with Andrew Bynum earlier in the season against the Suns.

Robin Lopez will probably get some early minutes on the defensive end to see if he can help stop the bleeding in the paint against the much larger Shaq. Robin vs. Shaq has the potential to be explosive as Robin looks to heap some punishment on the The Big Mentor who rode his Fuzzy-head pretty hard last season.

Of course, that's just wishful thinking. Shaq will destroy Robin given the chance.

Predictions

Offensively, the Suns will look to spread the floor against the Cavs using their dead-eye shooting (which hopefully they bring with them tonight) to exploit the lack of speed of the Cavs big men. If his shot his falling, Channing Frye could have a career night. Similarly, if the Cavaliers lumbering bigs stay at home on Stoudemire, he and Nash should have a field day running the pick and roll till the cows come home.

Defensively, the Suns will have to find a way to limit Cleveland's opportunities in the paint AND contain the speedy Williams AND contain LeBron James. If the Lopez and Frye struggle with Shaq, look for Jarron Collins to come in and provide 6 additional fouls against O'Neal. I'm pretty sure Robin will use his up fairly quickly.

In a perfect world, the Suns draw the Cavaliers into an up-tempo shoot-out, regain their accuracy and out-run the Cavs. For their part, Cleveland and their 8th ranked defense (100.6 points per 100 possessions) will look to keep things slow as molasses (7th slowest pace in the NBA), bogging the Suns down in a half-court game. Look for them to pound it inside and run plenty of isolations for LeBron James. Like, 70 of them.

While I think the Suns will come out more focused than they did last night in New York, I don't see them winning this game. They'll keep it close in the first half, but their porous defense will be their undoing as the game wears on.

Final score 105-93, Cavs.

Suns vs Cavaliers coverage

Suns vs Cavaliers preview

Fear The Sword

The unofficially official Phoenix Suns comic strip

watdogg10 — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:00:19 -0000

We're back! Welcome to the seventeenth edition of Box n' 1 - a comic strip featuring the Phoenix Suns. Sorry for the little hiatus but we're back now...as always, don't forget to rec it if you like it and/or leave feedback even if you don't.

Game Preview: Suns vs. Raptors

Mike Lisboa — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 10:28:28 -0000

"Don't worry, man. It's my town!" (Photo by Max Simbron)

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Fact: Due to my ignorance of tip-off times in the NBA, and specifically Canada, I didn't realize the game time was 11A in Phoenix and 10A here in Los Angeles. I apologize for the tardiness on a game preview.

Fact: Due to said ignorance, I had already committed to receiving several free drinks from a friend as compensation for some services rendered this holiday weekend.

Fact: This preview has been written under the influence of said drinks, so take whatever follows with a grain of salt (and a shot of tequila and the subsequent sucking of a lime).

The last time the Phoenix Suns played the Toronto Raptors, it was but for the grace of an off-target Hedo Turkoglu jumper that the Suns walked away with a victory. I would not be surprised if the Suns were similarly tested against their Canadian foes this time around. Toronto has one of the most potent offenses in the NBA and is coming off a particularly humiliating loss to the Boston Celtics. I expect they'll come out feeling like they have something to prove to their fans. Unless the Suns bring a suddenly improved defense to the table, this will largely be contest of finely tuned offensive machines.

Overview

The Suns are looking to continue their 3 game winning streak while the Raptors are hoping to end their losing skid at 2. This is a winnable game for the Suns and they are going to need all the momentum they can muster heading into the buzzsaw that is their December schedule.
Despite the Suns' defensive weaknesses, Toronto's ability to stop opposing offenses is even worse. The Raptors are at the bottom of the league in defensive efficiency allowing 113.6 points per 100 possessions. That does not bode well for them going up against the Suns' top-ranked offense.
Nevertheless, after getting punked by the Celtics (including a literally emasculating dunk by Paul Pierce over Chris Bosh), the Raptors will be looking to show some pride for the Toronto faithful. They could come out on a mission.
More fuel for the Toronto fire: Prior to losing to the Celtics, the Raptors were dropped by whopping 35 points by the Charlotte Bobcats. They will definitely be looking to make a stand here at home.
History is on our side. The Suns have won 12 in a row versus the Raptors and have the advantage of having Captain Canada himself leading the charge for lucky number 13.

Players

Guards

While Jose Calderon has had his moments, Steve Nash should have his way with the young point guard. Eventually Demar Derozan (who is as smooth as they come offensively) will have a nice NBA career, but the young fella is no match for a Jason Richardson who has simply been on fire of late. Off the bench, Goran Dragic and Leandro Barbosa should be able to go blow for blow with Jarrett Jack and Marco Belinelli.

Forwards/Centers

It's a brave new world for the Suns. With Robin Lopez back in the mix, the Suns have the ability to occasionally "go big" with a legitimate 7 footer. While Andrea Bargnani and Chris Bosh are both offensive threats, neither one does a lot of damage in the post, so I suspect the Suns will stick with a more mobile (and better conditioned at this point) front court of Amare Stoudemire, Channing Frye, and Lou Amundson. Oh and then there's that Turkoglu guy. Hedo is a stone cold killer and Grant Hill and Jared Dudley will have their hands full trying to contain him.

Conclusion

On paper, this is the Suns' game to lose. They are better both offensively and defensively than the Dinos. While it's no walk in the park, it's definitely a very winnable game. But, hell hath no fury like a Canadian scorned (see Steve Nash, post-Dallas) and I expect the Raptors to give the Suns all they can handle. Look for another close Suns win in an entertaining shoot-out.

Don't forget to check out our friends at Raptors HQ for the opposition's take on this match-up.

Post-preview fact: I wrote this entire post with a kitten perched on my chest. Ergo, this post is filled with love.

See you bright and early, Suns fans!

The 19.512195122 Report

Mike Lisboa — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 03:06:45 -0000

Get out your flags, people, it time for the wacky percentage report! (Photo by Max Simbron)

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Hey, we're 16 games into the season, which means it's time for our not quite 20% check-in. Again, I'm reserving a lot of make or break judgment until we're at Gentry's suggested 25-game mark for evaulating the team (Hint: we might make kind of a big deal about that around here.). For now though, here's the good, the bad and the ugly of your Phoenix Suns. (NOTE: All stats pulled from ESPN.com and HoopsData.com.)

I'm starting with the ugliest point so we can move on to happier things: the Suns' defense is terrible. Some numbers: 21st in defensive efficiency, 26th in points per game, 22nd in opponents' eFG% (a stat that combines and weights 2 and 3 point shot percentage), and 20th in opponents' turnovers. Contrary to popular belief, this Suns squad is not playing anything remotely approaching good defense.
So how on earth are they blowing teams out of the water? By playing ridiculously good offense. They are quite simply out-shooting their opponents. Some more numbers: 1st in offensive efficiency, 1st in points per game,and 1st in eFG%. In other words, the Suns' offense has been so good it hasn't mattered how bad their defense has been.
Redefining defense? In light of this, it may be possible to say the Suns have played defense "good enough" to keep getting wins. However, at some point, the Suns will get slowed down (see the Lakers and Magic games) and they will have to play some tight defense. They haven't shown they can do that yet.
The Suns' are about to get thrown in the deep end of the pool. After playing the 25th 5th easiest schedule (.450 winning percentage of teams faced) in the NBA, December brings the Suns the following games consecutively: @ Cavaliers, vs. Kings, @ Lakers, @ Mavericks, vs. Magic, @ Nuggets, vs. Spurs, @ Blazers. That's a collective .678 winning percentage.
Also in December and not listed above are additional engagements with the Cavs, the Lakers and the Celtics. Strap on your seatbelts, Suns fans, the weather isn't the only thing that's going to get rough this winter.
One more degree of scheduling difficulty: @Cleveland, @Lakers, @Nuggets... all on the 2nd night of back-to-backs involving travel.
That said, remember: 25th 5th easiest schedule in the NBA so far. So, no complaining about a scheduling bias, please.
Some good news: The Suns are sitting at 13-3 despite playing the most away games (tied with the Nets and Raptors) and 2nd fewest home games (tied with the Warriors and Bulls Wizards and Nets) in the Association. That's impressive despite their relatively weak competition so far.

The Great Facilitator: Steve Nash not only leads the NBA in assists per game, he is currently averaging a career high (11.8 apg). At age 35.

The old guys are getting some rest: thus far, Grant Hill's minutes per game are his lowest ever with the exception of his injury-shortened 02-03 and 05-06 campaigns in Orlando. Steve Nash? You have to go back a decade to his 2nd season in Dallas (1999-2000) to find the last time his mpg were this low...

...so it should come as no surprise that Goran Dragic, Lou Amundson and Jared Dudley are averaging career highs in minutes per game.

Speaking of Dragic, the kid continues to play solid minutes for the Suns. I still don't see him as a starter, but he's earning his stripes as a back-up, showing more and more moxie and not letting opposing teams rattle him. I'd like to see his assist numbers closer to 4 per game. We know he can get his shot off at this point. Now can Alvin hand him the keys to the car?
Despite his auspicious offensive performance against Minnesota (6-6 FG, 14 pts.), I don't think we're going to see a drastic increase in "quality" minutes for Earl Clark. Despite his considerable on-ball skills, he tends to get lost on defensive rotations and switches.
Robin Lopez sure made a heck of an impact in his first game of the season, didn't he? I like the improved offensive game, but he's still kind of a spaz on defense. It's nice that he's making shots, but he needs to work on not biting on ball fakes and picking up unnecessary fouls (4 in 15 minutes of action).
More on Robin: At least Friday night's performance was a far cry from the last time I saw him in game action: getting positively outworked and outplayed by Hasheem Thabeet in Summer League.
More on the offensive prowess of the Suns: 6 players from the Suns are averaging double figures and Jared Dudley is threatening to be a 7th with 9.3 points per game. Of those 6, 5 have gone for at least 20 in at least one game and a couple have gone for 30. That, ladies and gentlemen, is called forcing opponents to pick their poison.
The Suns now officially join Boston as having a "Big 3" at the offensive end of things. Jason Richardson has turned out to be the perfect complement to, if not initiator of, the Suns offense. The Suns are 7-0 in games in which he goes for 20 or more points. Please remember that when cooking up trade scenarios involving his "fat" contract.
More on Jason Richardson: After a rough 2008-2009 campaign on defense, J-Rich seems to have stepped up his game. He might be the Suns most reliable starting on-ball defender and hasn't been burned too many times on his help defense either. 16 games in to a season marked by consistent leadership from the bench (and on the court for that matter), it's a lot easier to why the Suns traded for him last year.
Grant Hill is old. This is hardly news, but I think there's a reason we're seeing lots of Jared Dudley at the ends of games and it's not just because of JD's effort and hustle. Kudos to Alvin Gentry and the Suns' staff for finding a rotation that maximizes what's left of Hill's considerable talent while minimizing his exposure to the grind of NBA action so far this year.
Suns up by 30 for most of the second half in Minnesota and Tucker doesn't see a minute? O! Alando, we hardly knew ye! Tucker was inactive for the game, due to RoLo's return.

Back to the schedule. Here's what I wrote waaaaay back in August when the schedule came out:

December 6, @ Lakers; December 8, @ Dallas; Dec. 11, vs. Orlando (ESPN); Dec. 12, @ Denver; Dec. 15, vs. San Antonio; Dec. 17, @ Portland (TNT) - Another unkind stretch of schedule. Again the Suns face the 2 NBA Finalists in less than a week. Oh and the other teams in this stretch aren't exactly slouches either. It also marks the first time the Purple Gang will match up against the Matrix Reloaded version of the Dallas Mavericks and the ridiculously stacked nouveau Spurs. Which one of these games do you realistically see the Suns winning? Maybe Portland. If they can keep Brandon Roy to under 45 points that is.

I'd like to revise that statement to hope for something around or better than the .500 mark for this stretch. The Suns have to be in order to maintain any credibility or hopes of a top 4 playoff seed.
Career year: Channing Frye is averaging career highs in 3-point %, minutes per game, points per game, steals per game and blocks per game. He is .2 rebounds per game shy of a career high in that department as well.
Leandro Barbosa is not averaging career lows in all those departments; it only feels like it. OK, LB doesn't deserve that, but is it just me or are his contributions feeling kind of... invisible? To be clear: I understand he's at or near his career averages in most categories. It just seems like those numbers are having less of an impact, probably due to the fact that the Suns have 3 other players they can bring off the bench for the first time in the Leandro Era.
And, in closing: Best. Record. In. The. NBA. Enjoy it while you can.

Have at it in the comments, y'all.