SB Nation User Blog: Wil Cantrell

Frye/Granger Suspended 1 Game, J-Rich Fined 25K

Wil Cantrell — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:44:59 -0000

Frye/Granger Suspended 1 Game, J-Rich Fined 25K

Hollinger Power Rankings

Wil Cantrell — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:43:43 -0000

Hollinger Power Rankings

The Suns Are Now up to 5 in the Hollinger Rankings. Do you Buy Into Power Rankings?

Who Is Your Favorite Sun?

Wil Cantrell — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:22:08 -0000

I love this kid's upside and attitude. And speed. (Photo by Max "I Got Jacked by Ak and Lived to Tell the tale" Simbron)

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The NBA's most watchable team has had a lot of heroes this season. Role players like Lightning Lou and Dudz bring it every night. Amare has been bringing his gorilla game for the majority of the season. Steve "Nashty" Nash has been his typical self. J-Rich has had some strong games and seems to be the key to the PHAT W's, and Fropez and the Slovenian Sniper have been huge surprises. Grant Hill has shredded his birth certificate while Channing Frye is doing his best to rid himself of his "soft" reputation.

Leandrinho has been injured for much of the season but we cannot forget his Avatar purpleness (was that purple? I'm color blind) And let us not forget Jarron Collins' amazing physique (sarc).

And don't we love the quickly balding T-Griff (even if he refuses to shave his head)?

So let's hear it-who's your favorite Sun of the 2009-10 season, and why?

Suns Thrash Clippers 127-101

Wil Cantrell — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 04:31:02 -0000

More photos » Noah Graham - NBAE/Getty Images

Another night, another poster... (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)

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That is what I call a good ol' fashioned ass whoopin'. In the end, Chris Kaman didn't matter, Eric Gordon didn't matter. Barron Davis certainly didn't matter. All that mattered was STAT bringing the Gorilla Game while the rest of the Suns followed suit as Phoenix trounced the Clippers, 127-101, ending LA's modest 4 game winning streak.

The Suns and Clippers played a close, back and forth game through two quarters tonight. But a 39-18 3rd quarter led by Amare Stoudemire's 15 points set the Suns off and running to a 26 point laugher in LA tonight.

The Suns opened the quarter with a 15-2 run and ended it with a 20-4 run, as they scored at will from both inside and outside.

Stoudemire led the charge with 30 points, 14 rebounds, and 3 blocks, and a balanced attack dismantled a Clippers squad set to play spoiler in the West as the battle for playoff positioning continues:

Grant Hill 16 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds
Jason Richardson 22 points, 5 rebounds
Channing Frye 23 points, 3 steals, 7-10 from 3 pt range.
Jared Dudley-17 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals

The Suns dominated virtually every facet of the game tonight. Check these numbers out:

Rebounds: Suns 50, Clippers 30 (offensive 13-8)

Assists: Suns 36, Clippers 26

FG%: Suns 55.6, clippers 45.9

3-Pointers: Suns 12-23, (52%), Clippers 10-28, (35.7%)

New Clippers coach Kim Hughes said: "I am not sure if some of our players felt sorry for themselves or were just frustrated. They stopped competing." I tend to agree with him. Both Kaman and Gordon were off to huge games but disappeared in the second half. Perhaps Hughes' frustration convinced him to leave out Gordon and Kaman against the Suns scrubs in garbage time.

With this victory, the Suns now find themselves a game and a half ahead of OKC (who just got pummeled by 29 points at the hands of the Nuggets), and a half game behind the Jazz for the 4th seed. It's convenient Jerry Sloan and Co are in town tonight. Goran Dragic is listed as "doubtful" for the game after suffering a sprained ankle. In the waning moments of the game.

Bullet Worthy:

Did you see T-Griff throw down the reverse dunk?
How about Earl Clark dropping a J and hitting a couple free throws
Amare: Come on guys, we should give this guy the max. Right?
The Suns swept the season series against the Clippers, and in doing so, ended LA's 4 game home winning streak.
Tonight the Suns tied their season high for scoring and tied for their second largest blowout of the season.
Eric Gordon appeared to be headed toward a monster game with 3 3-pointers in the opening quarter. Gordon added one more 3 and 3 more misses from beyond the arc to finish 8-13 from the field and 21 points in 35 minutes.
Of the Phoenix starters, only Grant Hill played more than 29 minutes (34) as the Suns were able to rest Nash (27 minutes), Amare Stoudemire and Jason Richardson (29 minutes).
Every Suns player registered a positive in the +/- category except for Earl Clark (-3). But who really cares about any of that?
Louis Amundson came off the bench to grab 4 points and 11 rebounds.
The Suns bench outscored the Clips 52-20. The Suns bench out rebounded the Clips 20-9

Quotable:

Amare Stoudemire

"The whole purpose of coming out strong in the third quarter was to really jump on them and try to create the lead and for starters to rest up."

Alvin Gentry

"When we shoot the ball well, we're pretty good,"

Next up, Utah Jazz, Thursday, March 4. 8:30 PM MST

Suns vs Clippers coverage

Suns vs Clippers recap

Suns vs Clippers preview

Suns vs Clippers boxscore

Clips Nation

Game Thread: Suns @ Clippers

Wil Cantrell — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:03:25 -0000

Final - 3.3.2010	1	2	3	4	Total
Phoenix Suns	30	27	39	31	127
Los Angeles Clippers	26	32	18	25	101

Complete Coverage >

Game Preview: Suns @ Clippers

Wil Cantrell — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:44:45 -0000

Repet Performance? (Photo by Max Simbron)

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Tonight your Phoenix Suns take on the seemingly revitalized and freshly victorious Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center.

The Clippers are coming off of an impressive victory over the Utah Jazz, 108-104. The Clippers never trailed in the game, extended their lead to 17 points before squandering it. But Eric Gordon dropped in 13 in the final quarter to help stave off the Jazz.

We no doubt remember Robin Lopez's big night a few days ago against the Clips. Do you think Chris Kaman does?

The Suns have pwned the Clips (did I do that right?) of late, winning the past 7 meetings. Yet that streak means very little tonight. The Clippers are playing with nothing to lose, and coming off a huge win over the Jazz. Don't believe me? Listen to Amare:

"You can never underestimate anyone. If you overestimate then you underestimate yourself."

Y'all just got some serious knowledge dropped on ya. And Knowledge is Knowing, don't forget.

The Clippers:

All jokes aside, this is a difficult assignment tonight. I don't think AG takes his former employer lightly nor do I think AG will let his squad pretend that this game will be a cake walk.

Chris Kaman will most likely come out angry and aggressive, challenging Robin from the get go to prove that it's his house and his lane. Eric Gordon went for 25 last time out against the Suns, including 4-8 from behind the arc. But Gordon has struggled to carry over a strong game to the next. He's had one back to back 20+ scoring efforts this season, albeit against Minnesota and Washington.Craig Smith will sit this game out with a bicep injury, which leaves Travis Outlaw as his replacement.

As for the rest of the Clippers, Baron had 13 and 5 last week against the Suns off of 5-13 shooting. Steve Blake didn't score, but passed off 9 assists and generally plays well against the Suns in his reserve roll, averaging 9 ppg, 5 apg, while averaging 47% from beyond the arc.

The Suns

The last match up was all about Lopez. But he had a supporting cast including Grant Hill-18 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, Amare Stoudemire-20 points, Steve Nash-11 assists, Jason Richardson-14 points, 6 rebounds. The Suns bench stepped up in clutch time, totaling 35 points, 10 assists (Dragon), and 10 rebounds.

For the Suns to pick up a W tonight, they'll most likely have to focus on the following:

Slow down Gordon. He can dominate in short bursts. J Rich has his work cut out for him.
Continue to bother Kaman and Gooden. Lopez got under their skin last time. I would expect the calls to go the other way tonight as I would expect Kaman to be super motivated, out to prove he's the man and Lopez just a kid.
Keep Gooden off the glass. Easier said than done. But Amare's 3 boards compared to Gooden's 9 last week (4 offensive) simply won't suffice. Amare needs to estimate himself and the Clippers correctly. If he overestimates the Clips, is that good? Better than underestimating them. And as for how he should estimate himself...Well maybe stop estimating altogether and play the game.
More D. Last time out the defense was simply "not so good," as Gentry put it. The Suns allowed the Clips to shoot 48% from the field, but 12-25 (48%) from three point land which reeks of either poor rotations, stepping under the screen, slow close outs, or just laziness-you tell me. Although the Suns out-rebounded the Clippers 40-34 a few nights ago, the Clippers led in offensive rebounding, 10-8.

NUMBERS

			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
Chris Kaman	54	35.7	8.0	16.3	49.2	0.0	0.1	0.0	3.4	4.6	74.9	2.5	6.8	9.3	1.8	3.1	0.5	1.2	2.8	19.5
Eric Gordon	48	35.7	5.9	12.7	46.2	1.9	5.2	37.1	3.7	4.9	75.0	0.4	2.3	2.6	2.8	2.3	1.1	0.2	1.6	17.4
Baron Davis	58	33.9	5.4	13.7	39.5	1.1	4.0	28.2	3.5	4.2	82.8	0.7	2.9	3.6	7.9	2.9	1.8	0.6	2.9	15.4
Rasual Butler	60	31.8	4.1	9.9	41.8	1.7	4.8	35.1	1.6	1.9	86.7	0.4	2.4	2.8	1.3	0.8	0.4	0.7	1.5	11.6
Travis Outlaw	16	20.4	3.5	8.8	40.0	1.3	3.2	39.2	1.8	1.9	90.3	1.1	2.3	3.4	0.7	0.8	0.6	0.6	1.3	10.0
Drew Gooden	51	23.4	3.6	7.6	47.2	0.0	0.1	16.7	2.4	2.9	83.6	2.8	4.4	7.2	0.6	1.4	0.6	1.0	3.0	9.6
Craig Smith	57	16.1	3.1	5.2	58.6	0.0	0.1	33.3	1.8	2.8	63.7	1.3	2.4	3.7	1.1	1.2	0.4	0.3	2.4	7.9
Steve Blake	58	26.9	2.6	6.6	39.8	1.4	3.8	37.1	0.5	0.7	76.3	0.3	2.0	2.3	4.4	1.3	0.7	0.1	1.6	7.2
Bobby Brown	34	12.6	2.2	5.7	38.9	0.6	2.3	27.8	0.2	0.2	100.0	0.2	0.6	0.9	2.1	1.1	0.4	0.0	1.0	5.3
Ricky Davis	36	13.8	1.7	4.0	43.4	0.4	1.2	38.1	0.5	0.9	58.1	0.3	1.3	1.6	1.1	0.8	0.3	0.1	1.1	4.4
DeAndre Jordan	48	13.7	1.7	2.7	61.8	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.7	1.9	35.6	1.4	2.5	3.9	0.2	1.0	0.2	0.8	2.1	4.0
Mardy Collins	34	9.6	0.9	2.6	36.0	0.1	0.5	23.5	0.3	0.4	76.9	0.3	0.8	1.1	0.9	0.8	0.6	0.0	1.1	2.3
Brian Skinner	14	8.3	0.7	1.7	41.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.4	0.6	75.0	0.6	1.3	1.9	0.0	0.4	0.1	0.3	1.4	1.9
Steve Novak	38	5.9	0.6	1.6	36.7	0.2	1.0	24.3	0.2	0.2	75.0	0.0	0.5	0.5	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.3	1.6

Suns Vs. Clippers This Year

10/28 in @LA - Phoenix 109 - Clippers 107: Recap
12/25 @PHX - Phoenix 124 - Clippers 93: Recap
2/26th @Phoenix - Phoenix 125 - Clippers 112: Recap

Misc

The Clippers have won 4 straight games at home
The Clippers have only 3 victories in games in which they give up over 100 points. the Clips are 3-26 this season when an opponent scores over 100 points
Baron Davis ranks 8th in the NBA with Pts/Ass double doubles (14)
Drew Gooden is averaging 17 and 10, while shooting 51% in 4 games as a Clipper starter
The Suns are 15-17 on the road this year, averaging 107 ppg, while allowing 108 ppg
In the past 9 games (7-2), The Suns are holding teams to 97.4 points and 44.3 percent shooting
The Suns currently occupy the 5th seed in the west, a half game ahead of Oklahoma City, and a game behind the Utah Jazz. The Clippers are 8.5 games back from number 8 seed Portland

Steve Nash:

"We just beat the Clippers. It's hard to beat a team continually so this will be a real test. They'll come to play and be angry."

Suns vs Clippers coverage

Clips Nation

Coro's Blog: Eyes on the 4th; Holding off the 6th

LA Times: Clippers Looking for Stretch Fun

Early Game Preview/Thread: Suns Vs. Spurs

Wil Cantrell — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 02:59:29 -0000

Final - 2.28.2010	1	2	3	4	Total
Phoenix Suns	25	27	24	34	110
San Antonio Spurs	21	28	28	36	113

Complete Coverage >

Due to time constraints, I've shortened the game preview, and combined it with the game thread. No one here needs to be reminded how big a Suns/Spurs game is, especially in the midst of the playoff push.

Well, Well, Well. Looks like the Spurs are having a tough time. 7th seed in the West, 4.5 games behind Dallas in the Southwest. Have the mighty really fallen?

The Spurs are coming off of a 109-104 defeat in Houston. Prior to that, the Spurs downed Oklahoma City, lost in Detroit and Philadelphia. The Spurs have gone 5-5 this month, which doesn't really reek of the usual San Antonio stretch time return-to-form.

Spurs Numbers:

PPG: 100.5 pg-15th NBA

OPP PPG: 96.5-9th NBA

PPG DIFF: +4.01-8th NBA

RPG: 42.4-11th NBA

OPP RPG: 39.6-6th NBA

REB DIFF: +2.75-3rd NBA

For a glimpse at the state of the Spurs, check out Pounding The Rock and some of the recent fanposts. Sheesh. Makes things around here look friendly and subdued.

Suns Vs. Clippers in Pictures: Another Posterization, and Exclusive JMZ Interview

Wil Cantrell — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 15:55:14 -0000

All photos courtesy of Max Simbron

This was just the beginning of a rough night for Chris Kaman.

Fear the Fro, Drew. Fear it.

Eat it, Kaman!

Yeah Baron, he's taller than you.

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Aw....Cute......And who says the Pac-10 can't get along?

And now....The official JMZ interview with Robin Lopez, conducted by Jared Dudley:

Dudley: "We're live here at JMZ behind the scenes in the locker room with player of the game Robin Lopez. Robin what's goin' on,

Lopez: "not much how doin JMZ?"

Dudley: "We chillin over here. Big game for you tonight career high points 30. What were you seeing out there from the defense tonight?"

Lopez: "Well, the defense was focused on JRICh stat, obviously we got talent in the starting lineup. so it kind of leaves me open to do things offensively like in the first quarter. Opportunity kept coming my way. Playing with Steve gets you opportunities. I was able to get the ball down there and get some easy dunks."

Dudley: "When did you know it was going to be a special night? Obviously you were feelin it you were getting dunks, when did you feel it, know it was gonna be a special night?

Lopez: "Goran came over to me he said you gotta you beat my career high. He scored 32 in you Utah so I was aiming for that."

Dudley: "Now did you understand Goran with the language barrier?"

Lopez: "Actually I was able to. Goran and I have a special relationship. Others may have some difficulty but..."

Dudley: "You got a flagrant foul, Drew Gooden flagrant fouled you. Were you reminiscing to the time in practice you kicked down the door, were you getting angry, yes or no?"

Lopez: "Um no comment, no comment (laughter). I was able to cool down, we called time out."

Dudley: "Alright, you're here with Jared Dudley, JSPN."

Lopez's Huge Night Keys Suns Victory Over Clippers, 125-112

Wil Cantrell — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 02:14:18 -0000

This kid can play (Photo by Max Simbron)

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Tonight, Robin Lopez scored a career high 30 points while grabbing 12 rebounds. The team he plays for, your Phoenix Suns, won the basketball contest by 13 points, beating the Clippers of Los Angeles 125-112.

Note the effect created by the order of my words, because I am attempting to make a point. The Suns didn't really play that great tonight, but Robin obviously did. It was a dominating performance from the youngste on both ends of the floor, one that frustrated Chris Kaman enough to cause him temporary insanity and Drew Gooden enough to go flagrant in the fourth quarter.

The Suns enjoyed an 8 point lead at the end of one after both Lopez and STAT started quickly (10 and 9 points respectively). But the second unit gave that lead away as the Clippers reeled off 6 quick points. Craig Smith scored 8 of the Clips first 10 points as LA tied the score up at 40 with 8 minutes remaining. The starters returned to the game and Robin Lopez dropped 9 points in the quarter as the Suns regained the lead 63-59 at the close of the first half.

In the third it was more Lopez and less Chris Kaman as the Clippers center picked up a technical foul 20 seconds into the third quarter. His second technical came seconds after during a dead ball and the Clippers best chance at winning the game disappeared. Amare Stoudemire scored 9 points, Steve Nash tallied 5 assists and the Suns held the Clippers to 38% shooting as they outscored the Clippers 33-27 and extended their lead to 10 points.

In the fourth, the Suns pulled away off of Channing Frye's 13 points (3 3-pointers), while Grant Hill and Jared Dudley also added 3's and Goran Dragon Dragic posted 8 assists.

Bullet Worthy

The Clippers were led by Eric Gordon's 25 points. Travis Outlaw added 18 and Craig Smith 16. Drew Gooden added 15 and 9 for the Clippers
Grant Hill put up 18 points and grabbed 6 rebounds, Amare Stoudemire went for 20 (not mentioning 3 rebounds), Jared Dudley added 12 while Goran Dragic answered everyone's call for assists with 10 in 20 minutes.
The Suns have won five straight for the second time in their past 13 games, dating back to January 28.
The Suns are 6-1 since the All-Star break, tied with Dallas and Chicago for best record in the NBA since the break
The Suns have won 14 straight home games versus a Pacific Division foe. They are 7-0 this year versus the Pacific at home. One more victory would enable the Suns to go undefeated at home vs. the Pac for the first time since 1988-89.
The Suns have won 9 straight games in which they have led by double digits.

Some Commentary

The Suns didn't play a whole lot of defense tonight. There were some exceptions in the first quarter where Amare was pretty active, getting his hands on some entry passes and shots, and Robin held Kaman in check. But the Suns were shooting good enough to take a more substantial lead through the first three quarters. Unfortunately they couldn't get many stops until the 4th. Rotations were often late (or nonexistent), and the Suns defense on the Clippers guards was spotty. The Clippers scored more fast break points in the first quarter tonight than they had in two whole previous games.

Offensively, the Suns got production from nearly everyone. Lopez was dominant and Frye and Dudley were excellent in the fourth quarter. Amare was a kind of ghost in that he was there and pretty active, but by the end of the game, he was an after thought compared to Lopez. He made some good shots from outside, but the Clippers bigs made him work pretty hard for what he got in the paint. Steve Nash is still ailing. He went 1-7. That doesn't happen much for him. We've seen him enough over the years to know that when his back is bothering him, he can usually still pass out assists, but his shot is not there. Sometimes he won't oven shoot if he's hurting bad enough....

There were some sick plays tonight:

Nash to Stat alleyoop (haven't seen that in awhile)
Nash behind the back to J Rich for the dunk
Amare facial on Kaman
Amare fake, sending his defender off to the right as he spinned and dropped a 17 footer.

Even the Clips got into the act. Travis Outlaw had a nice behind the head dunk. (Was it Outlaw?)

Quotable

Robin Lopez

"I just try to be very efficient out there. Whenever my teammates ran an option, I've just got to put the ball in the basket and shoot with that kind of efficiency; it just tells me I'm doing my job out there."

Alvin Gentry

"Our defense was not so good. They did a lot of penetration and we didn't do a very good job of keeping them out of the paint tonight...Obviously Robin played really well for us and did a really good job of getting out to the paint and coming up with rebounds and finishing plays. He's getting a lot better at being able to catch it and finish plays."

Grant Hill on Lopez

"We have a lot of weapons but he's actually making plays. He's impressed me, not just tonight but the last 10 games, he gets a lot of offensive rebounds and put backs and really does a great job on the screen and roll, he rolls hard when Steve delivers, and just finishing at the rim. His shot is really developing."

Jared Dudley on what else? His second dunk of the season

"I was at least 35 inches off the ground. I wanted to make sure to slow down so it wouldn't be declared a technical foul. I was thinkin' of throwin it off the glass, but I just said, 'I'm gonna relax, I'm gonna take the two hand."

Next up, @Spurs, Sunday 11 AM MST.

Clippers vs Suns coverage

Clippers vs Suns boxscore

Clips Nation

Game Thread: Suns Vs. Clippers

Wil Cantrell — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 00:41:39 -0000

Final - 2.26.2010	1	2	3	4	Total
Los Angeles Clippers	28	31	27	26	112
Phoenix Suns	36	27	33	29	125

Complete Coverage >