<font color="Orange">Phoenix Suns</font> (12-22) @ <font color="Red">Chicago Bulls</font> (10-23) Monday, 8:30 P.M. Eastern The United Center, Chicago, Illinois Season Series: The Suns lead the season series 1-0. They won the first meeting by a score of 95-82 at America West Arena. Starting Lineups: <font color="Orange">Suns</font> C- Jahidi White PF- Donnel Harvey SF- Shawn Marion SG- Joe Johnson PG- Stephon Marbury <font color="Red">Bulls</font> C- Antonio Davis PF- Jerome Williams SF- Kendall Gill SG- Jamal Crawford PG- Kirk Hinrich Players to Watch: <font color="Orange">Suns:</font> Stephon Marbury is again the player to watch for the Suns. He is going up against a rookie PG who currently is playing the best ball of his young career. It's up to Marbury to slow the rookie down and take him to school to show him what the NBA is about. Look for Marbury to attack Hinrich on a consistent basis and get some baskets inside (as usual) because the Bulls' frontcourt isn't exactly intimidating. <font color="Red">Bulls:</font> Eddy Curry may not start but he is still one of the most dangerous offensive weapons the Bulls have. I'd be willing to bet that he won't have much trouble scoring on whatever defender the Suns put on him, especially when they go small. His defense usually might be a problem for the Bulls, but no Suns player is really that much to worry about in terms of producing on the offensive end. Best Matchup: The matchup to keep your eye on is probably the Marbury and Hinrich pairing. In their last meeting neither of them did particularly well, so look for one or both of them to step it up this game. Marbury has been having some trouble on defense in terms of the opposing point guard getting open looks from three point range. That can be something that ultimately kills the Suns and would send them on an even bigger downward spiral in this, the third game of a five game road trip. Keys to the Game: <font color="Orange">Suns:</font> One thing the Suns should try is to, well, run. Use the young frontcourt players to go out in the open court and score on the slower, older frontcourt guys for the Bulls. Also, one thing that is a key to every game for the Suns, REBOUND. Rebounding has been horrible for the Suns the whole season. A player for the Suns can have a rebound right in their mitts, but they don't mind just letting someone take the ball back from them. Especially on the offensive end is where the Suns will have to limit whatever impact the Bulls will have on the boards. <font color="Red">Bulls:</font> Crawford and Hinrich are the dynamic duo for the Bulls in the backcourt, and they need to pull their superhero act against the Suns. Crawford will have to challenge JJ early and often to send a message to JJ that he won't let him rest on defense. The Bulls also need to defense the pick and roll well because Voskuhl and Marbury run it almost to perfection when they are both on the court. The defensive rotations will be critical for the Bulls if they wish to have a chance to win the game. Outcome: Well the Suns sure do know who to keep their fans confused. After a good win they follow it up with two horrible losses. Every time the Suns win they have their fans thinking that the team has finally woken up and will get on a role. The Suns will do exactly that against the Bulls by playing impressively after the two aforementioned horrible defeats. Suns by 8.
Yeah it was Barbosa and he has been playing very well. There's a nice little duel going on between Hinrich and Barbosa right now. JJ and Marion have been helping out with very complete games, though I think Marion should be scoring more than 11 points at this juncture in the game...
Well, sorry that there weren't any updates or anything tonight but I got home late and caught the game late. Barbosa had a huge game in his first huge minute game of the season. 27 points, 4 assists, and only 1 turnover. JJ had his usual complete game, with more points than ususal. Total he had 18, 8, and 5. Marion only had 13, two points up from last night's game, but still too low. He had 7 boards and 5 assists to go with that.
Hinrich is something special, amazing play. sunsfan, what do you expect from Barbosa? He was free in my fantasy league and I picked him up.
Then need to figure out how to CLOSE games... how many games this season were lost in the 4th quarter? They had a real chance to steal this game from Chicago!! Barbosa did have an outstanding game (27 points) but that was against Hinrich (which by the way, his post-game interview was just bad, doesn't Kansas have public speaking classes? Barbosa speaks better English!) and Crawford, not really what I'd concider Gary Payton and Jason Kidd... Barbosa won't have these nights every game, in-fact he should struggle against players like Marbury, Kidd, Payton, and Iverson... if they make him play defense (Hinrich shot 3s all night) he'll wear down. But good game for him. What is going on with Marion? 4th game below 20 points, yet his minutes are still above 40 (can a guy get some rest?). When Stoudamire comes back that should take some pressure off Marion and he won't have to be the team's rebounder and shot blocker.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting King James:</div><div class="quote_post">Hinrich is something special, amazing play. sunsfan, what do you expect from Barbosa? He was free in my fantasy league and I picked him up.</div> Scor summed it up pretty well. There's no way he'll get nights like these consistently or anything and will likely struggle against the better PG's of league. I think he'll be somewhat solid though. Good enough for arounds mid to low teens in scoring with a couple assists and steals. I feel ya on the close games account, Scor. Even before Amare and Zarko went down the Suns just haven't had the clutch performances they had last year. Marion has just been plaing out confusing me this season. It looks like he's ready to take the scoring load, but then comes out with these nights. I'm sure he's wanting some rest right now too, but with Zarko out there's really no good enough backup for Marion so Marion needs to stay in to keep the games relatively within reach (as if the Suns think they'll win the game anyway ).
