Details: When: Sunday, March 6th Where: Key Arena, Seattle Time (Seattle): 6:00 P.M. TV: Fox Sports, League Pass Projected Starters: <font color="DarkOliveGreen">Seattle (41-16) </font> Luke Ridnour Ray Allen Rashard Lewis Reggie Evans Jerome James <font color="Purple"> Phoenix (45-14) </font> Steve Nash* Joe Johnson Quentin Richardson* Shawn Marion Amare Stoudemire Injury Troubles: <font color="DarkOliveGreen">Seattle</font> Mateen Cleaves: Sprained thumb, ruled out. Damien Wilkins: Knee tendinitis, ruled out. Ronald Murray: Sinus infection, questionable. <font color="Purple"> Phoenix</font> Steve Nash: Sore left hamstring, probable. Quentin Richardson: Hyperextended left knee, probable. Brief Notes: * The Supes are fresh off rockin' and rollin' in the Motor City, while the Suns are shining after an easy win against Portland. They look to be well rested even on this second consecutive game night, as Stoudemire, Nash, and Marion all sat out the final quarter yesterday. Both Q and Stevie are banged up, but they'll be sure to play at least close to full strength in a big game like this. The winner may be the one who comes out most prepared to stick to their game plan and not get lost in the ramifications of losing to a rival. * The matchups are always intriguing when these two teams meet. Ridnour hasn't caught up to Nash yet, but if he can get another win, the numbers won't matter. Ray is matched up with Supersonic's new homey, Joe Johnson, whose ON/OFF switch will hopefully be down for the day. Rashard needs to take advantage of the size difference when he's being defended by Richardson and post up as much as possible. He seems to back off that strategy as the season goes on, unfortunately. At power forward, it's up to Reginald Evans to keep up with the amazing Shawn Marion. Good luck is all I can say. Finally, Jerome "Savion" James (so nickamed because of his flashy footwork) has been lighting it up by his standards the past few games. If he can take Amare out of the fold at all, he'll give the Sonics a great chance to come away with a victory. * Useful/less stat of the day: The Sonics are 10-3 this season against the NBA's best teams (San Antonio [2-1], Phoenix [1-1], Miami [2-0], Dallas [1-1], Detroit [1-0], and Sacramento [3-0]). * Word of the Day: Callipygous; n: Beautifully proportioned buttocks. "Robert Swift attractives a wide range of ladies, but prefers ones of a callipygous nature." Random Family Guy Quote "Lois: Oh, I haven't been on a college campus in years. Everything seems so different. Stewie: Really? Perhaps if you laid on your back with your ankles behind your ears that would ring a few bells. " All predictions, analysis and discussion relating directly to the game, both before, during and after, to be posted in this thread.
I'm lucky enough to have row 15 center court ticks to this game IMO it boils down to Radmanovic and Lewis having big games. I don't know how much we'll play Fortson since the Suns might be a bit too quick for him to really be effective, but here's to hoping he gets into Amare's head a little bit.
We are on a roll right now, but tonight is going to be tough. Evans and James are going to have a tough time keeping up with Amare and Marion. I think we are going to see alot of small ball tonight out of the Sonics. We are going to need big performances out Ray and Shard to win this one. Our bench is also going to have to step up in order for us to pull this one out. It will be tough but I think we are going come out with a win.
Nash, as always, remains the key. If we can limit his ability to get others involved we should be victorious. Johnson and Richardson are both complimentary players. They really benefit from Nash getting them open looks at the hoop. Shawn Marion and Stoudamire also benefit greatly from Nash but they are also capable of beating you on their own. Marion is an animal in transition and on the offensive glass, and Stoudamire can be a man amongst boys in the paint and in transition. The key stat tonight will be Nash's assists. If we can hold him under 10 assists and limit their transition opportunities we should run away w/ this game. We must punish the Suns for trying to go small. There isn't a better small ball team in the league and these are the teams that give the Supes the most trouble. Feed Sweet Lew, James, Collison, and Ray the ball on the blocks and make their smalls have to play post defense. We will get better looks on the outside if we go inside first and we will get more opportunities for offensive rebounding if we make them have to rotate out of their double teams.
Both games with Phoenix this season have been pretty fun to watch, I expect this one will be no different. Hopefully Ray Allen bounces back from his putrid shooting performance against Detroit, as well as his sub-par game against Phoenix last time (sans the stretch in the 4th quarter) Rashard and Vlade both seem to be up and down due to nagging injuries, and we'll see if JJ can continue his strong play in the middle. He was key in holding Stoudemire somewhat in check last game in Phoenix. Seems like every game is a big game now - I suppose that comes from having to prove you're not a fluke each and every night.
I didn't realize that my assistance would have you crying yourself to sleep at night. I'll be sure to let you leave the Detroit Pistons commentary up there next time for your Phoenix Suns preview.
This game definitely had a playoff feel to it. Phoenix's transition game may be the best that I've ever seen. That includes the Showtime Lakers. They get up and down the court at all five positions and considering that they only go about eight deep (Walter McCarty doesn't play significant minutes) it's amazing that they are able to sustain that type of energy throughout an entire ball game. Phoenix is also good enough in the half court to beat teams. There is a reason why they are 46-16. We didn't take advantage of our mismatches. This is not a good game to play Reggie Evans big minutes. You can hide a smaller guy by placing him on Evans b/c everyone knows that he can only beat you w/ offensive rebounding. Quentin Richardson can't guard Collison in the post or keep Fortson from dominating the paint, but he can guard Evans in the half court. B/c of that matchup we ended up having Marion on Lewis, Johnson on Allen, Nash on Ridnour, and Stoudamire on James. I don't think that we can exploit any of those matchups to the point where we are consistently getting easy baskets. Shooting outside shots plays right into the Phoenix game plan. Long shots equals long rebounds and long rebounds equals transition buckets. We did very well when we posted Jerome James. We would have been better served to have posted Ray Allen some, especially when he was guarded by Barbosa. Instead we kept jacking three after three and ended up shooting 3-27 from beyond the arc. This is what happens when we have perimeter players playing that can't get to the basket without a screen. I'm not trying to act like I'm panicking b/c this is only the second time we've lost since the All-Star break but like I said in an earlier post we have to find a way to get more baskets in the paint. It can be a post up, a dribble drive, or an offensive rebound but we have to be able to get consistent high percentage shots near the rim. Jerome and Nick can get you buckets in the paint. Flip can get to the hoop to create for himself and his teammates. Danny and Nick can get junk baskets around the rim from dump offs or put backs. It can't just be Ray, Shard, Radmanovic, Daniels and Ridnour jacking up perimeter shots. We have to get more gritty baskets and our perimeter players have to be more gritty defensively.
Luke played a terrible game. Despite our 3-pt shooting woes, the game was well within reach. Luke was hesitant every time he had the ball. He kept passing up wide open jumpers (and on at least two occasions ended up having his pass stolen). Did a very poor job getting around screens, and never really got into the flow of the game. Nate would have been better served keeping him benched after his dismal first quarter (or even half) That said, Jerome James is actually doing a decent job lately. Radmanovic is struggling, and here's to hoping that Rashard will keep attacking the basket like he did tonight.
