SB Nation - Phoenix Suns

The 9.756097561% Report

Mike Lisboa — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:55:20 -0000

(Photo by Max Simbron)

With the season now just under 10% of the way complete (stupid 82 getting in the way of my round numbers!), I figured it's as good a time as any for a little progress report. In a nutshell, I think it's pretty safe to say, "Progress has been made."

Coach Gentry has set the 25 game mark as a his point for when he'll know what he's really got with this squad and I think that's a pretty level-headed decision on his part. However, I'll be checking in every 8 games with and odd fraction in the title to let you know what I think of the team.

Now, please raise your hand if you thought the Suns were going to be 7-1 at this point in the season? You may notice my hand is down along with everyone praying to a portrait of Cotton Fitzsimmons above their mantle. This team exceeding expectations so far. But let's not get too crazy. Here's some fun fact bullet points to get you pumped/un-pumped as you see fit.

The Suns are 5-1 on the road so far! That's great! I thought this was totally awesome until I realized they haven't done that since... last season. Yup, last season's epic fail started off with the Suns winning 5 of their first 6 on the road before going 13-22 the rest of the way.
That said, I wrote back when the schedule came out that if the Suns were at or above .500 after Thursday night's game with the Lakers they should get a parade and an automatic playoff berth. Well, mission accomplished, regardless of how they do in that back-to-back.
At no point this season has any observer thought to themselves, "You know, the Suns could sure use Shaquille O'Neal right about now."
Brother, can you spare a dime? Steve Nash has a mind-boggling 103 assists over 8 games. 2 20-assist games will do that for ya. He also has a league-leading 37 turnovers, but that assist-to-turnover ratio ain't too shabby.
Between assists and scoring himself, Steve Nash has accounted for at least 352 of the Suns' 887 points. That's almost 40% of their offense. And that's assuming all those assists went for 2 instead of 3. Amazing.
The Suns are one Steve Nash injury away from the longest season in NBA history.
It's always somebody: In his first 3 games, Jason Richardson went 6-16 from 3-point range while Channing Frye when 16-20. In the last 3 games, Channing Frye has gone 7-21 from 3-point range while J-Rich has shot 16-22. Darwin likes offensive diversity.
Brother, can you spare some charity? Steve Nash cannot. He's carrying the Suns with his .926 free throw shooting percentage. Despite that, the Suns are shooting less than 70% on gimmes. And winning.
He still spooks under pressure defense, but Goran Dragic has been giving the Suns a not-embarrassing 14 minutes per game. I'd like to see him initiating more of the offense (use them hops, young man!), but I'll take it. How you feeling about your bet, Dog of Watt?
Speaking of Goran, how about that bench? With at least 4 players cracking the 14-minute mark, that's a lot of rest for our starters.
Except Amar'e. 36.9 minutes a game. Pretty good for a guy who wasn't allowed to move athletically until pretty much training camp.
Also, about Amar'e. I don't think we've even begun to see him yet this season. That 25 game mark Alvin was talking about? As smart as he's been playing, he could be downright scary by then.
Jared Dudley. Jared Freaking Dudley. If Barbosa provides a spark off the bench then Dudley provides the fire. He's like Dan Majerle before Dan Majerle discovered the 3-ball.
Which reminds me: Hustle Dan and 3-Ball Dan were never on the court at the same time. Let's hope the same doesn't hold true for 3-Ball Jared and Hustle Jared.
Again with the 25 game thing. That 25th game? San Antonio. In Phoenix. On 2 days rest. No excuses.
It totally sucks to be Robin Lopez right now. The team is deep and rolling without him. How exactly does Gentry work him into the line-up?
8 games in and the Suns and their opponents are both averaging exactly 41.8 rebounds a game. Whodathunk?
The Suns have yet to play a top 10 team from the Western Conference. There's a lot left to prove.
Best. Record. In. The. NBA. Enjoy it while you can.

So overall the Suns are doing what they're supposed to be doing: beating the teams they should beat and one or two that pose a bigger challenge. With their next two games on national television, they have an opportunity to make a big statement or alternately, get exposed as paper tigers. Here's to hoping they have a couple of big roars in them.

Looking at Steve Nash (oh, and Chris Paul Obviously)

atthehive — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:48:09 -0000

With New Orleans taking on a red hot Phoenix tomorrow, I guess this is timely.

One of the early trends of the season has been the revival of Steve Nash. The Suns completed one of the more impressive Eastern swings recently, with wins over Philadelphia, Miami, and Boston easily offsetting a loss at Orlando. And Nash, for sure, has been very solid. A lot more solid than some may have expected. Consider, for example, some of his trends the last three years:

Season	PER	TS%	eFG%	AST%	ORtg
2007	23.8	65.4	61.3	50.1	124
2008	21.1	64.1	59.7	47.3	121
2009	19.5	61.5	56.6	42.4	119
2010	22.8	65.8	61.1	56.5	123

Considering the trends from 2007-2009 (universally downwards in PER, TS%, eFG%, AST%, and ORtg), Nash has had a very impressive start to 2010. Couple that with team wins, a statistic that people very often use to overrate individual players, and Nash's value seems to inherently increase. But is Nash's pace- which, by the way, is just a shade shy of his "MVP" years, a.k.a. Chris Paul's rookie and sophomore years- sustainable?

My initial inclination is no. The primary driver of Nash's overall efficiency is his assist rate right now. He leads the league, right ahead of Paul, in assists per possession. A huge reason for this is that his team is shooting outlandishly from the field right now. Jason Richardson, a career 37% three point shooter, is shooting 58% on nearly 40 attempts. Grant Hill and Goran Dragic have put down 50% of their attempts. Channing Frye, who had made 20 threes in 4 years prior to this, has made 22 in 8 games. And even Jared Dudley has nearly attempted 30 threes. The Suns are shooting over 47% as a team from three. As a team, their eFG% of 57% is far and away the best in the league, and is totally unsustainable. Last year's leaders- also the Suns, unsurprisingly- shot 54.5 eFG%, a significantly lower figure. Last year's three point leaders- the Kings, surprisingly- were far and away the NBA's best at 40.6%.

The Suns will cool down, and it will affect Nash's assist numbers. So his overall efficiencies will go down. However, there may be a good case that he will sustain his own shooting figures. Last year's lower numbers (Nash's "lows" obviously being highs for anyone else) may very well have been anomalous.

Of course, I need to talk about Chris Paul at this juncture.

These numbers have earned Nash early MVP and All-Star starter buzz and Paul... nothing:

Player	PER	TS%	eFG%	Reb%	AST%	TOV%	USG	ORtg
Nash	22.8	65.8	61.1	4.8	56.5	25.0	23.4	123
Paul	36.0	74.0	69.3	6.2	54.5	11.3	26.8	145

Are Paul's shooting rates as unsustainable as Nash's assist rates? Oh, absolutely, probably more so. But over the first two weeks of the season, they're not even playing the same game! By Win Shares, Paul has been twice as valuable as Nash!

Lately, I've been hearing a lot of commentators say "you know, I'd just put Chris Paul a hair above Deron Williams. Just the slightest of tiny edges on Steve Nash." We've finally seemed to reached the point where Paul is acknowledged to be better than his competition by most people, but most are reluctant to state it firmly. Tomorrow, we'll see the announcers talk about how this is a matchup of the league's two best point guards. That's probably true... but it's also a matchup of the league's second best lead guard and league's best player.

IC Cold Links: Pacers Need Time To Heal

Tom Lewis — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:24:12 -0000

Here we are waiting through yet another off day as the Pacers prepare to host the Golden State Warriors tomorrow night.

After winning their second game in a row last Friday, the schedule seemed unkind with four full days off between games. When a team is hot, you want to get back out on the court and keep the positive flow in motion. The Pacers are one of only two teams (Milwaukee) to have played only five games so far. A few teams have played six games but most teams already have seven or eight games in the won/loss column.

Forget the short-term momentum, though, the Pacers desperately need this slow early schedule. Just look at the injury list. Every extra minute off is an extra minute to heal and the Pacers have plenty of players on the mend. Tyler Hansbrough finally returned to play limited minutes and should be good to go this week. Troy Murphy was ruled out of tomorrow night's game last week but is considered day-to-day along with Brandon Rush.

Speaking of heels (synonymous segue), Danny Granger is apparently still enduring the effects of a right heel bone bruise. Granger took advantage of the time off to hit his Twitter account yesterday with the following complaint.

Im fully convinced that every pro athlete is injured in some kind of way lol... Feels like somebody beat my heel with a hammer!!!

T.J. Ford felt compelled to reply and brought a little levity to the situation, skipping straight over any sympathy to go for a quick dig at his teammate.

@dgranger33 u don't wanna see DG feet.. Looks like Cole on " Martin " Not a good look..lol

Life is so much better after a win, isn't it? After the jump, more links of interest including more on T.J. Ford, a few power rankings and Commissioner Stern on Mel Simon and the Pacers staying put.

Pacers' Ford snaps out of slump quickly
Mike Wells reports on T.J. Ford jump-starting his season in New York last week.
JMV spoke with Commissioner Stern (audio link) last Friday and the two hit on Mel Simon, the collective bargaining agreement, the Pacers staying in Indy and a few more issues of the day until Stern finally cried uncle and bailed.
Three Seconds I: On Indiana Pacers
John Oehser offers up three thoughts on the Pacers to ponder this week.
Around the NBA: Indiana’s Granger looking to lead
Chris Dempsey reports on Danny Granger trying to develop his leadership ability to go along with his All-Star playing ability.
Nelson: Warriors still open to trading Stephen Jackson
Stephen Jackson and his agent, Mark Stevens are making it tough on Golden State to try to deal him for any value. But on the court, Jack helped the Warriors to a big win last night over Minnesota. The Dubs will be in town tomorrow night.
NBA.com: LeBron keeps teams on edge as he ponders future
David Aldridge takes a nice trip around the NBA in his latest column. Nothing of note on the Pacers but a great read for any NBA fan.
NBA.com: Suns Rise to the Top With Big Road Wins
John Schuhmann's latest NBA team rankings are out and the Pacers' recent wins and defensive effort earned them a six spot jump all the way up to...21. Oh, well.
Power Poll: The Baseline ranks the League
Sean Deveney slots the Pacers 23rd in his latest rankings.
NBA Basketball Power Rankings - ESPN
Marc Stein slots that Pacers at 24, up one measly spot after winning a couple of games.

Dudley Sparks the Dogs For Comeback Win Against 76ers, 119-115

Wil Cantrell — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:48:57 -0000

More photos » by Matt Slocum - AP

WOOF Y'ALL!!! (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Browse more photos »

This game could have easily been tossed out the window. A back to back getaway game on an East Coast road trip, against a young, upstart 76er team. Damn the schedule makers-these things kill an older team like the Phoenix Suns. But Jared Dudley is not old. So we need not worry about that. And Steve Nash, well, he's happy, so his age doesn't really matter.

Dudley sparked the Suns down the stretch, shooting 6-7, (4-5 from three point range) and did his usual junkyard routine, scrapping for rebounds and loose balls. On a night when the Suns were clearly not at the top of their game, a spark was certainly needed. Tonight it was Jared Dudley whose play at both ends of the court gave the suns that extra needed boost to pull this one out.

Oh, did I mention Steve Nash scored 21 points and handed out 20 assists? Yeah, that doesn't hurt. Nor does Jason Richardson pouring in 29 points and picking up 8 rebounds. It is becoming apparent to this writer that the Phoenix Suns do not know how to lose.

The Suns had a difficult time at the defensive end tonight, losing the battle of the boards Andre Iguodola and Marese Speights led the way with 9 and 8, respectively. Jrue Holliday, and Speights impressed. Holliday proved a nightmare for Goran Dragic, while Speights played his former tutor Stoudemire tough.

The Suns found themselves behind, as the 76ers stretched their lead in the second quarter to double digits. But 9 third quarter points by Nash and a resurgent Amare Stoudemire helped bring the Suns within 2 points 86-84. The 76ers fought back though and held an eight point lead in the 4th. That was when Jared Dudley went to work, nailing two three pointers to pull the Suns back within 2.

The Suns stretch lineup consisted of Barbosa, Dudley, Nash, Stoudemire and Richardson. It's nice to know the when Grant Hill leaves the game Jared Dudley replaces him without any drop off
Dudley was clearly a hug factor in this game but managed to post a +/- of -3. HMM. I've never liked the statistic. This is a perfect example why, it certainly doesn't tell the whole story.
Steve Nash lifted the Suns with 9 points in the third quarter. He and the resurgent Amare Stoudemire helped the Suns reduce the 76er lead to 86-84.
With the Sixers up 102-94 and the Suns badly needing a lift, Dudley hit two three pointers to bring the Suns back within two.
The Suns continued their torrid 3-point shooting, going 15-30 tonight. Jason Richardson went 6-8 and is in the top three in the league in 3 point makes. On the negative side, for the third game in a row the Suns still found free throws to be confounding as they struggled through three quarters to break the 60% mark.
Amare Stoudemire was slowed for much of the game but pulled it together in the second half ending the night with a respectable 17 points and 6 rebounds in 40 minutes played.
Steve Nash had 20 assists in 36 minutes of play. Think about that. He is simply amazing. Between his diet and simply feeling happy, this guy is playing like a 27 year old.
Everyone see the Nash to Richardson alley-oop, with Richardson throwing down the reverse dunk??? That was as the kids say, totally sick.
The awesome thing about this Suns team is that every night it seems like someone different comes in to provide a needed spark. Nash has been more than consistent, running the offense (at one point the Suns went 1-11 with Nash out of the game), but one man cannot usually win a game.
Even though Grant Hill has struggled with back to back games this year, he was still only two rebounds away from a double double tonight. Goes to show you the basketball IQ of this guy. Even if he's not feeling it, he can still contribute and impact the game in a positive way.
Next up for the Suns is a day off followed by back to back contests with the Hornets at home and the Lakers on the road.

"Each person has done something to help this team win. We don't rely on just one person. Everybody has to do their part, and that's what makes it fun."

-Channing Frye

Game Recap
Liberty Ballers
Boxscore
SUNS: Postgame Quotes: Suns 119, Sixers 115
“It was a great trip for us and it’s a great start to the season. We weren’t really sure what to expect from this team out of the gates. We were disappointed last year obviously and we want to avenge that. We want to a build a really nice chemistry and a great working environment and play together and play hard at the very least. If that’s good enough to get us into the playoffs, great.”- Steve Nash
Notes: Suns' Kerr sees team bonding
Frye is going through a process that all new Suns shooters have battled - turning down shots the coaches want him to take. Is Frye OK with firing away after misses? "Heck, no," Frye said. "They have to yell at me about it. I was 2 for 6 (to start Sunday's game), and I felt like the whole Earth was crashing down. They were like, 'Channing, keep shooting.' "I'm still working through it. I think ahead of myself. When I drove and nobody collapsed, I was like, 'Dang, now I have to shoot it,' instead of being aggressive. That's something I'll get progressively better at."

Post Game Interviews FROM Jared Dudley!

Phoenix Stan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:43:18 -0000

It just keeps getting better and better...

Post game interviews from within the Phoenix Suns bus brought to you exclusively from JMZ - The Jared Mile Zone

Preview: Suns @ 76ers (Better keep an eye on Speights)

Phoenix Stan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:09:22 -0000

More photos » by Ned Dishman - NBAE/Getty Images

Steve Nash is awesome. That is all.

Browse more photos »

Marreese Speights has played 4 games against the Phoenix Suns in his short NBA career. In two of those games he averaged 28 points. In the other two he averaged 7. The two good games happened to be the first time Phoenix saw the young power forward last season and this preseason. The two bad games were the second time the Suns saw Speights last season and this preseason.

The Suns defense might want to pay a little more attention to this big and talented forward when he's in the game. He can shoot the ball a little bit and he's fairly mobile as well despite looking huge when I saw him in October.

Beyond Marreese, the two 76ers that can ruin the Suns shot at a 4-1 road trip are Lou Williams and Andre Iguodala.

			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
2009 - Andre Iguodala	6	38.5	7.2	14.7	48.9	1.0	3.0	33.3	4.0	5.8	68.6	0.2	5.8	6.0	5.3	2.8	2.5	0.2	1.7	19.3

			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
2009 - Louis Williams	6	34.5	5.5	11.2	49.3	0.8	3.0	27.8	3.5	4.2	84.0	0.7	4.0	4.7	5.2	1.3	1.5	0.0	1.8	15.3

Williams is a small but speedy point guard in the mold of an Aaron Brooks. He can get pretty much anywhere on the court and has a knack for scoring the ball. He's not turning the ball over but in large part that's probably because he's not looking to pass it much which is probably why the 76ers are only 17th in the league in offensive efficiency despite their talent.

Dre' is going to present a much different match-up problem for Jason Richardson than the minuscule Randy Foye and the aging and undersized Ray Allen. JRich did a respectable job on Dwayne Wade and he's going to have his hands full once again tonight. I don't think we will be seeing a lot of Jason in the post against Iggy.

What we probably will see is a lot of that zone defense that frustrated the Heat. The 76ers only shoot about 29% from behind the line and they love to get to the rim with their attacking wings and speedy point.

On the defensive end the Liberty Baller Boys are struggling behind the struggles of second year ~~stud~~ struggler Thad Young.

Here's what the home town blog had to say about Young's play so far this season:

I don't know what Thad's deal is, but there isn't a single thing he's doing well right now. He's shooting 41% from the floor and 9% from three. He's not getting to the foul line. He's playing (or not playing) any sort of defense. He can't dribble. He can't pass. Whether we've grossly overrated him, he's off to a slow start, or he doesn't fit EJ's system remains to be seen, but something has to be done if the Sixers are going to be competitive against teams not named the Nets and Knicks.

With Young not playing well and Elton Brand still trying to find his way off a milk carton and back into the elite NBA forwards discussion the Suns should be able to get this win tonight and return home as the heroes who earned the #1 spot in the NBA.com power rankings.

Should win.

Lets not forget this is the last game of a long East Coast road trip, the second of a back-to-back and the 5th game in 7 nights.

I expect Nash to be tired and Hill is supposedly nursing a wrist sore after a fall in Orlando which explains his abysmal shooting over the past three games (9 for 27, 33%).

To get this win tonight is going to take a combination of Amare continuing his great play (he's averaging 20 points on 57% shooting and 11 rebounds on this road trip); Frye staying hot from long range and the bench doing the bench thing especially defensively against Speights!

Daily Links:

Suns vs 76ers coverage
Suns vs 76ers preview
Liberty Ballers
Suns Rise to the Top With Big Road Wins
Now that teams are six or seven games into their season, we can start to get a grasp of their identities. And this season, more than in recent years, we seem to have more teams with very distinct ways of playing.
azcentral.com - members
It is the end of the road (for now) when the Suns play at Philadelphia tonight. Regardless of outcome, this has been a successful road trip at 3-1 so far. But with a win tonight, the Suns would be alone at the top of the Western Conference with only 74 games left to hold on to the spot.
Nurse’s Notes: Draft Summary- Energy Hoopla – Iowa Energy Basketball Social Site
The D-League Draft is now in the books. Here is a look at what you can expect from the EIGHT Energy draftees.
Wizards attempted to acquire Suns' Stoudemire - washingtonpost.com
The proposed deal involved swapping the fifth pick and No. 14 pick, with Antawn Jamison and other conciliatory pieces also mentioned in the discussions. The deal reportedly collapsed when the Suns wanted Caron Butler included.(old news but still...)
Suns listen to Gentry's stern message
Suns coach Alvin Gentry ripped his team and brought clarity to their rebounding woes.

How about them Cards!

Arizona Cardinals Continue Road Dominance as they Beat the Bears 41-21 - Revenge Of The Birds
They are who we thought they were and we let them of the hook, oh sorry wrong game let me fix that. They are who we thought they were and we didn't let them off the hook...

Daily Links 11/9

FLCeltsFan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:38:16 -0000

Herald Celtics team unimpressed by 7-1 start
Ben Wallace powers Pistons over 76ers
Globe Thunder too tough for Magic
Some deep thoughts on shot
SouthCoast Today Free Throws: Celtics tired, but at the top eight games in

CelticsBlog    Bill Walker Will Return Soon
Shelden Williams: Solid Paint Work
Telegram   Phoenix proving to be better off without Shaq
Celtics 17   Celtics-Nets: Where The Ugly Meets the Beast Happens
Red's Army    The Bigger Fool: Allen Iverson or Grizzlies Owner?
Your Morning Dump... where the Celtics are unimpressed with themselves
Celtics Hub Leftover Thoughts from Dirty Jersey
A Note on Iverson and a Sunday Notebook
Point: A Solid Season for Shelden
CT News     Pacific Divison Previews 2009-10
Lex Nihil Novi   C's Down Bullets, Post 4th Straight Win (1983)
Cornbread Helps C's to 4-1 Start (1983)
The Berlin Wall 20 Years On
CelticsLife    CDR H1N1
NBA News: Bench? We Talking About The Bench?
Gino's Jungle   Rondo Has Too Many Homeruns
Celtics Stuff Live   Celtics Stuff Live 11/8
Last Call Green Eighteen
Green Street    Celtics to play with the animals
Blaze of Love   Celtics Dancers - Making Kilts Even Naughtier
HoopsAddict   Exclusive Interview with Jermaine O’Neal
Double Dribble    Draft Do-overs
Inside Hoops    NBA RUMORS: MONDAY, NOV. 9
Nets Daily    Rivers, Jordan Think Frank Deserves a Break
Nets Give Celtics a Scare, but Fall Short Once Again
Dimemag    Superman meets Lex Luger
NY Post   LeBron will have better options than Knicks
Wages of Wins Journal    More on the Best Starting Line-Ups
Fan Huddle    A Boston Celtic Story: The Measure of the Green
Eight Games in 12 Days, A Coach, and his Team’s Quest for Growth
Wicked Local    Courtside View: Celtics have time to get acquainted
Paul Pierce.net Truth, Celtics Off to Great Start
Cleveland.com   The secret to coaching NBA superstars? They've got to put winning (and team) first
Examiner    Nets' effort not in question after loss [Audio included]
PBN   Ten years later, top of 1999 draft looks very strong
ESPN   Answers few and far between on Allen Iverson's future in Memphis
NESN    'Mean' Kendrick Perkins Fires Up Suns' Amare Stoudemire

Briefing: At Least the Defense is Better

JakeTheSnake — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:00:37 -0000

More photos » by Ned Dishman - NBAE/Getty Images

Steve Nash points out how many shots DeShawn Stevenson made in 24 minutes of action.

Browse more photos »

Game Hub | Boxscore | Game Flow

Lost in all the hubbub about the team's offensive woes is the fact that this team has turned a corner defensively. Currently, the team is 18th in defensive efficiency. They're not the kind of defensive numbers that you can win a championship with, but they're a marked improvement over the last few years, where the team has finished 29th (2009), 24th (2008), 28th (2007), 22nd (2006), 19th (2005), and 20th (2004).

Perhaps an increased focus on defense explains why the Wizards have struggled more on the offensive end this season. If so, I don't really mind. Offense is about flow and tempo, something the Wizards will get better at as they learn to trust the system and each other more. Defense, on the other hand, is all about bringing the same product on the court every single night. While they may not have the bedrock-solid defense of the Celtics, the approach is paying dividends. As long as it keeps up, I don't mind some offensive hiccups as the everyone grows into their role.

Suns 102, Wizards 90 - Mike Jones, Outlet

The Wizards took solace in the fact that they put on a better performance than they did in Indiana, and that defensively they limited a Phoenix team that was averaging 111 points a game to 102 points on 47.7 percent shooting. But they still can't get into a flow offensively. Their ball movement was prettty weak. And asside from Andray Blatche's 20 points, their bench was anemic. DeShawn Stevenson scored four points, and the only other backup used (Dominic McGuire) went scoreless.

Washington Wizards fall to Steve Nash and Phoenix Suns, 102-90 - Michael Lee, Washington Post

On Sunday, Butler and Arenas combined to shoot 14 of 42 (33 percent) and scored 39 points, but the ball rarely moved more than twice on offense, with players taking the first shot or going one-on-one. "We're not good, because we're not there, as far as moving the ball," Saunders said. "The ball comes, we don't make that extra pass. We're taking too many contested shots. If we were a hockey team, we'd have no hockey assists, you know, the pass that leads to the pass that leads to the score."

Suns Shake Off Slow Start, Down Washington Arenas's, 102-90 - Wil Cantrel, Bright Side Of The Sun

The early start was a concern for the Suns as was a letdown from the huge win in Boston. There was much to be concerned about as the Suns turned in 16 first half turnovers leading to 19 Wizard points. Still, it was virtually a 5 on 1 game with Agent Zero providing the only consistent offensive threat for the Wizards. Without the miscues, this game could have been iced early as the Suns led in virtually every category of the game.

Wizards 'out of gas,' lose fourth straight - Mike Jones, Washington Times

"I was just getting into the rhythm of the game," Arenas said. "I didn't play so well in the second half. ... I ran out of gas in the third quarter." Indeed he did. After opening the game with a 12-point, three-assist, zero-turnover first quarter, Arenas went 3-for-13 the rest of the way and finished with 20 points. Meanwhile, fellow team captain Caron Butler had nearly as bad a game, going 7-for-20 from the field for 19 points. "I had six layups that I missed. I mean, c'mon," Butler said, shaking his head after the loss. "In-and-out shots. [Phoenix] wasn't doing anything different. Shots [we] normally make. I know [Arenas] feels the same way. In-and-out shots. Shots that we make nine times out of 10. It's just one of those afternoons."

Game Notes: Phoenix vs. Washington - Rashad Mobley, Hoops Addict

Over the past several months I have heard several players, coaches and members of the media, praise the actions of the Phoenix Suns training staff. From Shaquille O’Neal, to Grant Hill, to Steve Nash, to Steve Kerr to ESPN’s Bill Simmons, everyone has nothing but glowing statements about the Suns’ trainers, and today I saw first hand how they operate. I was waiting to interview some of the Suns’ players for almost 20 minutes prior to the game, because all of the players in there were participating in some type of stretching exercise. Amare Stoudemire and Grant Hill were stretching their ankles with resistance bands. Leandro Barbosa and Jared Dudley were sitting on giant exercise balls. Steve Nash and Jason Richardson were also using equipment to stretch as well. To give you some perspective, the usual pre-game locker room atmosphere consists of players listening to music and joking around. For Phoenix, every player was either on the court shooting around or in the locker room stretching. No exceptions.

Suns 102, Wizards 90: Symptom or concern - Craig Stouffer, Washington Examiner

Concern -- Washington can’t seem find any offensive rhythm without Antawn Jamison and Mike Miller. Despite getting by in wins at Dallas and vs. New Jersey, being without Jamison has proven more difficult with each passing game because of his consistent production. He may not be the guy that wins games for the Wizards late in the fourth quarter, but he’s definitely the guy that makes and keeps them competitive in the other three. Losing Miller has been a blow to the team IQ. That’s two glue guys down. Overall, it leads to players now blaming their unfamiliarity with one another: “I can’t put my finger on it,” said Caron Butler when asked why the Wizards are ending up with more turnovers than assists. “But obviously we just gotta remain positive and continue to execute. Obviously you see different guys being inserted in the lineup, and we have to get a feel for one another. A lot of things are happening on the fly with the lineup change and different guys being out there playing with one another. So we just gotta get accustomed and just continue to play good basketball and play with high energy.”

Suns 102, Wizards 90 - Michael Lee, Wizards Insider

Suns Coach Alvin Gentry said the Wizards are struggling because "they're missing their best player. With Jamison, they're a different team." Jamison might not be the best player, but it is becoming obvious that he is someone that the team really needs on the floor. Not just because he can get 20 points and 10 rebounds without holding the ball for long stretches, but also because of his leadership. He also provides the bridge for Butler and Arenas, who are not in sync offensively. His return won't fix all of the offensive woes, though. Stevenson said he hopes that Jamison will be back on Saturday against Detroit, but that would also require the team to make another adjustment after playing with four different starting lineups the first seven games. The Wizards often look like they were thrown together for a pickup game, when they've been around each other for almost six weeks.

Not taking a pass at working together - Tom Knott, Washington Times

Blatche delivered another solid performance before becoming fatigued late in the game. He dismissed the notion that the Wizards are in desperate trouble, reminiscent of the disaster last season. "This is nothing like last year," he said. "We just have to keep pushing, keep fighting. We're going to get there. There's no doubt in my mind. And once Mike and Antawn get back..." Until then, the Wizards might want to spend part of their next practice being reintroduced to each other.

Wizards struggle from the field in loss to Suns - George Panagakos, Wizards Examiner

The Wizards, down 89-75 with 8:11 left in the fourth, substituted Dominic McGuire into the game for Caron Butler. Washington went on an 8-0 surge to cut the deficit down to 6, then stumbled as Brendan Haywood stepped to the free throw line and missed a set of two shots which could have made it 89-85, Suns, with about five and a half minutes to go. Following the botched free throws, Phoenix center Channing Frye replied with a statement three, one of Frye's 4-for-8 from downtown in the game. Frye's three was the dagger. With just over five minutes left in regulation, down 92-83, the Wizards looked defeated and depleted. Coach Saunders decided to only play 8 guys in rotation today, and the players felt the strain. "(We) ran out of gas," Arenas stated, after the game. Saunders also spoke about Andray Blatche, who clocked 33 minutes. "Andray can't play the major minutes," Flip said, "Usually when guys get tired you don't want to have a chance at guys getting hurt."

Instant Analysis: Suns-Wizards - Brian Jackson, CSN Washington

To sum things up Nash out assisted the entire Wizards lineup 17-15. As a team the Suns doubled up on the Wizards in the assist department 30-15. Arenas outscored Nash 20-11 but it took him 22 shots to get there. On several occasions Arenas drove into the lane but couldn’t finish. On the other hand Nash’s penetration led to wide-open three point attempts for the Suns. Phoenix enjoyed a 12-4 advantage in 3-point makes. To be fair one can’t accurately judge Arenas’ play making ability until he gets all his weapons back in the lineup.

Wizards-Suns Recap - John Mitchell, NBA.com

But the Suns, the top offensive team in the league, made 57.9 percent of their shots in the second quarter to lead 56-51 at halftime. The Suns led by 10 points late in the third quarter, and took their largest lead of the game at 89-75 in the fourth quarter on Channing Frye's 3-point shot with 8:58 remaining in the game. Washington trimmed the lead to 89-83 on an Andray Blatche (20 points) layup with 6:11 to play but would get no closer the rest of the way. The Wizards didn't help their cause in the fourth quarter when they were just 5-of-19 from the field. They were proud, however, that defensively they held the Suns from hitting their league-leading average in points (111.0). "If you look, this is a team that averages [111] points," Wizards center Brendan Haywood said. "We held them to 102. I was happy with where we were. Defensively, I thought, down the stretch we had a couple of mishaps on rotations that led to easy shots. We gave up a bunch of offensive rebounds too."

Suns' offense stays hot on road - Paul Coro, Arizona Republic

The Suns were not fast or sharp offensively early for the 11 a.m. start (Arizona time). Washington started small guards, prompting the Suns to post up Jason Richardson often. It was successful, but it also led to the Suns turning stagnant. "We try to make very simple plays, and then we'll take what the defense gives us from there," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. "We started to try to be too creative."

Wizards attempted to acquire Suns' Stoudemire - Michael Lee, Washington Post

Best of Twitterville

Twitter / Truth_About_It
Looks like Dominic "The Taser" McGuire is just what the Wizards needed to stop Jason Richardson.

Twitter / The BF gang
Gilbert Arenas looks unbelievably depressed out there.

Twitter / Mike Jones
Verizon Center and it's 14,143 fans are dead with Wiz down 69-75 with 8:57 left in fourth. Flip calls timeout.

Twitter / Michael Lee
Why are the Wizards getting smoked in their own house? Arenas and Butler are a combined 13-40. Ugh. It's 99-86 Suns.

Twitter / wizznutzz
the way Buck & Philosophy call homer game re: fouls, we always expect to look up from Mothering Hut work & see decapitated Wizard

Twitter / Kendra Goodwin
So I was "Kids Day" at the Wizards/Suns game. I know I said a lot of bad words today so #SorryParents

Twitter / chad dukes
Rough year to talk DC sports for a living.

Twitter / Dale Banks
The Wizards and Skins doing poorly might be a sign that I might not need to focus so much on watching sports. I need to stay active myself

Lack of ball movement continues to plague the Wizards

Mike Prada — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:58:52 -0000

More photos » by Nick Wass - AP

Browse more photos »

WASHINGTON --Stop me if this sounds familiar.

With just under five minutes left in the third quarter, the Wizards found themselves trailing the Suns by just six points. The lead had swelled to double digits, but a nice Wizards stretch had cut the lead down. Steve Nash missed a three-pointer, and Caron Butler snared the rebound. Advancing the ball in transition, Butler made his way to the right side of the court, but Phoenix had three guys back. Time to pull it out and run offense, right? Instead, Butler sized up his defender, gave a couple cross-over dribbles, and launched a heavily-contested 20-foot jumper.

Predictably, it fell short, and Phoenix eventually got the rebound and pushed the lead back up to 8 on the next possession.

A similar sequence replayed itself several times this afternoon, but with names such as Gilbert Arenas, Randy Foye, Andray Blatche, Brendan Haywood and others instead of Butler. The end result was a 102-90 loss in which the Wizards' offense too often featured overdribbling and one-on-one play.

"We're not there as far as moving the ball," Saunders said. "We're just not there. The ball comes and we don't make that one extra pass."

Overall, the Wizards played a better game than they did against Indiana on Friday. They played harder on defense and had brief moments where the offense flowed much better. But for the second straight game, the Wizards had more turnovers (17) than assists (15), and took most of their shots off the dribble.

"If we're a hockey team, we'd have no hockey assists," Saunders said.

Wizards slow to pick up Saunders' philosophy

Historically, the Wizards have never been a club that posted high assist totals (since 2004/05, the Wizards have averaged just 19.5 assists per game). Remarkably, even with a lack of assists, the Wizards' offense was one of the best in the league because the Wizards didn't commit too many turnovers and they employed a system that opened the floor for the top players to score off the dribble.

Saunders, however, brought with him an offensive philosophy that preaches ball movement and quick passing in lieu of mad dashes to the rim. In Saunders' first year in Detroit, for example, the Pistons averaged 24 assists per game, up from 21.8 per contest in Larry Brown's last season.

But while the Pistons picked up Saunders' philosophy quickly, the Wizards still play like a team confused about what style they want to play. Arenas, for example, claimed before the season that he would not shoot nearly as many three-pointers and jumpers in transition, but so many of the Wizards' possessions today ended with Arenas launching a three or a long two-point jumper while being heavily contested. Butler, meanwhile, continues to try to break down his defender slowly instead of making decisive plays. The rest of the players aren't get open, and even when they do, they're often ignored while Arenas and Butler do their thing.

"I feel, and everyone else feels, that we got to pass the ball," DeShawn Stevenson said. "If we don't pass the ball, we aren't going to win. As good as Gilbert is and Caron is, if we give them the ball every play, we're not going to win."

"Team basketball is what wins in the NBA and that's what coach Saunders has been used to," Brendan Haywood said. "We have to get back to trying to mimic that atmosphere."

For their part, when asked about the low number of assists as compared to the high number of turnovers, Arenas and Butler both expressed concern, even though both continue to struggle with maintaining that balance on the court.

"It is concerning," Arenas said, as emphatically as any statement he made during his post-game media session. "That's been going on the last three games."

"When guys are more a part of the offense, the energy changes, so we definitely have to move the ball from side to side," Butler said.

There's no better way to illustrate the effect poor ball movement had on the Wizards' offense today than to see the number 39.1 on the stat sheet in the field-goal percentage column. Sometimes, you can overcome having fewer assists if it means you are getting by your defender off the dribble and shooting open shots, but that was not the Wizards today. When the passing lanes weren't there, the answer was to take contested jumpers, as Saunders noted in the post-game press conference.

"If you're taking contested shots, it probably means you're putting the ball on the floor and you're trying to take a shot on your own instead of creating a shot for somebody else," he said.

Sounds good in theory, but what about in practice?

As Stevenson implied repeatedly in his post-game media session, the importance of moving the ball has been driven into the players' minds ever since training camp. As the losses have piled up this season, the message has gotten louder. So why do the Wizards still fail to move the ball when the going gets tough?

Stevenson said part of the problem is that the Wizards' plays aren't working. Stevenson said Saunders designs set plays in order to accommodate ball movement or quick passing, but once the plays break down, which has happened too often to start the season, the Wizards give the ball to Arenas or Butler, hoping they will make a play for themselves.

"We run a play, and somebody forgets the play, or the play doesn't work," Stevenson said. "Then, at the end of the day, it's 'Throw it to Gilbert' or 'Throw it to Caron.'"

Several possessions bear this out, in particular, the possession after the Butler one described at the top of this post. The Wizards came out of a TV timeout hoping to get Arenas the ball coming off a curl, where he'd either shoot an open shot or pass to the big man setting the screen. However, Arenas couldn't get free, because the screen was weak and because Arenas couldn't shake Steve Nash. With the play broken down, Randy Foye tried to make a play on his own, but all that resulted was a fadeaway 19-foot jump shot that had no chance.

Like Stevenson, Haywood acknowledged that other teams make runs and dial up the intensity on defense for stretches so that the Wizards don't execute the initial play correctly. However, he said this is precisely the time the Wizards need to share the ball the most rather than simply trying to create shots on their own.

"It can't be [a situation where] their team makes a run and we just say 'Ok, it's [isolation] time.' That's where you have to execute the most," he said. "That's when you have to swing the ball around, set good screens, roll, have everybody on the floor touch the ball. Then, you end up with a wide open shot."

This all sounds great in theory, but why do so many possession during runs by the opposing team end in isolations?

"Sometimes, when you're really, really talented, and you have a team that has a bunch of guys who can score the ball, things get bogged down," Haywood said. "They feel like 'Okay, get out the way, I'm going to do this myself.'"

Butler agreed with Haywood's sentiment.

"Sometimes, when you fall behind, and you got players like myself and Gilbert on the court, we kind of take it upon ourselves to do something," Butler said. "But we got to continue to believe in our teammates, move the ball, gets it from side to side and trust that they'll make plays."

It's that trust that has proven to be elusive for the Wizards thus far. Not having Antawn Jamison and Mike Miller in the lineup hasn't helped -- everyone from Saunders to Arenas to Stevenson acknowledged that. But even if those guys were in there, the difficulty developing on-court trust doesn't surprise Foye, one of the team's new additions.

"If you're playing with a certain player for three, four years, you learn them," Foye said. "But if a guy just comes on, it takes a while. You're going to play well for two or three games and you're not going to play well the next three because teams are switching the way they're guarding us. We just have to get familiar with each other."

Clearly, that hasn't happened yet.

The alternate explanation (sort of)

So what does Arenas think is the problem here? As usual, he has a slightly different read on the situation. He acknowledges that the lack of assists is a problem and admitted that he played poorly in the second half today. He also cited the injuries to Jamison and Miller, saying that both help open up the floor because they can catch-and-shoot skillfully.

But for Arenas, the problem is that the rest of the team isn't being aggressive enough trying to make plays. Rather than suggesting that the Wizards need to improve their shot selection, Arenas said he thinks the team needs to shoot quicker. He cited the Suns as a team that consistently gets open shots because they confidently shoot right away when they are open.

"I say [the problem] is when we have shots open, we're not taking them," Arenas said, pausing for several seconds prior to answering the question. "We're trying to do the extra dribble or the extra get closer to the rim, or pass the ball, when we could just take the first shot."

Arenas agreed with Saunders' assertion that the Wizards are taking too many shots off the dribble, but he also seemed a bit envious when he compared Washington's situation to Phoenix's. Arenas mentioned how he heard Nash yelling at Grant Hill for pump-faking and stepping in for a two-point shot rather than catching-and-shooting. The obvious implication from Arenas was that he feels his teammates are being too indecisive. With his teammates being indecisive, Arenas ends up being the one having to take initiative, and that so far has meant calling his own number.

"Once we swing it to the weakside, we got to drive the ball and shoot our open shots," Arenas said. "When your four man [Oberto] has five assists, it kind of tells you something that he's making plays. We have to get that from the rest of the guys."

Arenas said that if the rest of the Wizards make quick, decisive decisions, the assists will come. In that case, he was asked specifically about his own assists, but he might as well have been talking about the entire teams'.

Newsflash: It's still early

Lest this all seems doom and gloom, there's still a fair bit of hope coming from the players and the coach. We are just seven games into the season, and the Wizards have lost two very important pieces to injury that should return soon. There was buzz around the locker room today that Jamison might be ready to play next Saturday against Detroit, and his ability to function without the ball in his hands will dramatically help the offense.

"They're missing their best player," Suns coach Alvin Gentry told Michael Lee. "With Jamison, they're a different team."

Butler also seemed very relaxed, joking about the new rims and how they affected his finishing ability around the rim (he estimated that he missed six layups tonight). When asked about the offensive flow, he said that it would come, so long as they continue to move the ball. Arenas, too, was optimistic, saying that "we still have offensive players" and that he was encouraged by the defensive improvement the team is showing.

But in case the players felt a switch was suddenly going to flip (no pun intended) and they would just get it, Saunders was there to remind them that it's not so simple.

"There's no magic wand with anything in sports," Saunders said. "It's one of those things you have to grind, you have to pound away."

For the Wizards' sake, that grinding can't take too much more time. We're only seven games into the season, but already, other Eastern Conference teams like Atlanta and Miami have started stronger than the Wizards. The longer it takes for the Wizards to pick up Flip Saunders' ball-movement-heavy system, the more ground they will have to make up to avoid being a bottom-rung playoff team. And being a bottom-rung playoff team couldn't have been what Ernie Grunfeld and company had in mind this season.

Just How Good Are The 6-1 Suns?

Phoenix Stan — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:33:26 -0000

The Phoenix Suns are 6 and 1 to start the season and playing great team basketball. Can it continue? (Photo by Max Simbron)

View full size photo »

Nobody thought the Phoenix Suns would start the season 6 and 1 and tie the 2000/01 team for a franchise best start through seven games. Nobody.

With Amare working his way back into shape and a tough early season road schedule this team was expected to struggle to find it's footing and hopefully come on later in the season when things rounded into form and the schedule lightened up.

Given the great start is it too soon to rethink the preseason prognostications that almost universally predicted this team would win around 46 games and be happy to make it to the playoffs as a 7 or 8 seed?

Yes. It is too soon but that's not to take credit away from what the Suns have accomplished so far in the early days of the season.

The Suns join only the Celtics, Heat, Lakers and Magic at the top of the league standings with one loss each and of course, Phoenix handed the only losses to the Heat and Celtics and suffered their only defeat from the Magic. Pretty good company to kick things off and clearly not a fluke that the first three wins over the Clippers, Warriors and Timberwolves might have indicated.

Offensively, Phoenix is right back at the top of the association with the best field goal percentage (50%) and one of the most balanced attacks anywhere. In seven games, five different players have lead the team in scoring (Barbosa, Frye, Stoudemire and twice each for Nash and Richardson).

Shaq is no longer clogging up the lane and the Suns back to their running ways although with a Pace factor of 100 possessions per game they aren't anywhere close to reckless abandon.

The team is shooting over 45% from three and while that number will likely come down that isn't a given since most of those shots are coming from excellent shooters getting wide open looks. Inside we've seen the return of Amare's power game and the emergence of Jason's back to the basket post moves.

The Suns are still deadly in transition and are executing the half court offense as well as they did last year and better then in the glory years of 2004-2007.

The only highly correctable flaw is the miserable 70% shooting from the free throw line.

Even more surprising is the defense and rebounding.

The Suns are out-rebounding opponents 301-295 without the presence of The Big Glass Cleaner and are holding teams to a respectable 18 points in the fourth quarter of the last three road wins.

The bench play has been fantastic even with Barbosa missing three games and the Suns no longer have to fear giving up big leads when Nash goes for a rest. Since Alvin Gentry has taken over as head coach the Suns reserves are averaging 33.5 points per game which is higher than at any point in the past five years.

Goran Dragic is looking like a stable backup point guard with a 2.33 assist to turnover ratio which is comparable to Steve Nash (2.44) and Jared Dudley and Louis Amundson are bringing the energy, hustle and toughness that you want from your reserves.

The Suns are getting stops, staying even on the glass, scoring efficiently, attacking from anywhere on the court and playing with depth. This record is legit. All that combined with a feisty team that has an underdog's edge and a toughness that's been missing in Phoenix for many years and you've got a Suns team that is a threat to continue winning at a very respectable pace.

Poll

SB Nation - Phoenix Suns

The 9.756097561% Report

Looking at Steve Nash (oh, and Chris Paul Obviously)

IC Cold Links: Pacers Need Time To Heal

Dudley Sparks the Dogs For Comeback Win Against 76ers, 119-115

Post Game Interviews FROM Jared Dudley!

Preview: Suns @ 76ers (Better keep an eye on Speights)

Daily Links 11/9

Briefing: At Least the Defense is Better

Best of Twitterville

Lack of ball movement continues to plague the Wizards

Wizards slow to pick up Saunders' philosophy

The alternate explanation (sort of)

Newsflash: It's still early

Just How Good Are The 6-1 Suns?

Does the Suns 6-1 start change your thinking about what this team can accomplish?