Got a second quarter spanking. Our work on the boards is just dreadful, with Amare having a big 0 count in rebounds at the half. We are down 49-46 and are getting slaughtered on the boards 42-21 with Minny getting 14 offensive boards
Nash comes up big in the clutch, we get some stops and actually start rebounding, and we come home with a nice win over a team that has been playing pretty well of late
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting phunky420:</div><div class="quote_post">Great win for the Suns and showed once again that Nash is a worthly candidate for MVP.</div> Making a statement of late. A triple double against Philly, and carried us today in the fourth. He can only be improving his chances
Great win,and big game for Nash!!!!Now the Suns got 11 games left,all vs.West teams...2 games against LA in between.Need to win al of them and break the franchise reg.season winning record!!!!
Nash pretty much slammed our fingers in the door. We were sticking with you guys up until he got in a groove. I must say there were some questionable fouls, both ways mind you, I thought the officials could have done a better job at the end of the game. What doesn't bother me about this loss is it hasn't had an affect on our current hot streak. We have won seven out of eight now, after we beat Sacramento last night. I think the Suns should be worried if they draw us in the first round
The Suns keep winning games against hot teams, yet don't recieve the credit they deserve going into the playoffs. Many still predict a lower seed upset against the Suns, but they've beaten a hot Wolves team, and have given the Nuggets their only two losses in the past 14 games or so. I personally think the Suns will sweep the first two rounds until meeting San Antonio in the Conf. Finals. FYI, if the Suns win their last 4 road games, they finish the season tied with the 95-96 Bulls for the best road record in NBA history. Quite a feat. You have to wonder if they could've beaten the overall record had they played better at home.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Downtown:</div><div class="quote_post">The Suns keep winning games against hot teams, yet don't recieve the credit they deserve going into the playoffs. Many still predict a lower seed upset against the Suns, but they've beaten a hot Wolves team, and have given the Nuggets their only two losses in the past 14 games or so. I personally think the Suns will sweep the first two rounds until meeting San Antonio in the Conf. Finals. FYI, if the Suns win their last 4 road games, they finish the season tied with the 95-96 Bulls for the best road record in NBA history. Quite a feat. You have to wonder if they could've beaten the overall record had they played better at home.</div> Iam going to tell you why they dont recieve the credit they should its several reasons for me...1) No, team shoots the ball as well during the post season as they do during the regular season, shooting takes a huge decline and then teams have to get into the survive and advance mode, meaning they have to do other things to win ball games. The games become a little more grimy & defense alot of the times takes more president then offense, so once the shots arent falling for Phoenix and the games become a little more intense and rugged, what are the little things that Phoenix can do to pull out those games. They arent a great defensive team. And despite having such great athletes they struggle on the boards often against the West. 2nd factor has to be experince, other then Steve Nash who on this team has ever made a legitimate drive in the playoffs, Jim Jackson and Walter McCarty have experince on other teams but the Suns just dont have that type of experience as a unit. Your key player Joe Johnson, Amare Stoudamire, Q-Rich etc.... have no legitimate playoff experience to speak of....that is a major factor. Lack of depth especially at the big man positions...playoffs are way more pshyical then the regular season, meaning the refs are also going to look to keep the games under control at times and their wistles may began to get a little iffy, meaning Amare or Shawn Marion could began to pick up some cheap fouls here & there and if that does happen, where do the Suns go...to Steven Hunter please in a crucial point of a playoff spot and you have to have Hunter matchup against Garnett or Gasol or Martin, which evers team gets the 8th seed cause Stoudamire or Marion is in foul trouble then the Suns are put at a major disadvantage. Fact is that every possible matchup for the Suns in the first round Denver, Minny, Memphis all have much greater depth then the Suns, it will play some sort of factor. And that will be a major reason why the Suns wont sweep in the 1st round. In order for the Suns to beat those teams consistently, the Suns starters are going to have to out play other teams starters by a mile, so bench points dont become a factor, but it will be almost impossible for that to happen for 4 consecutive games. And the third factor, is make or break for the Suns in my opinion. And its the fact that Steve Nash is notoriously known for having strong regular seasons and then fading in the playoffs, sometimes his body is worn down etc. Even the year the Mavs made it to the West finals Nash faded, Van Exel just picked up for him, well the Suns dont have that type of reserve off the bench who can come in and take over for Nash if he starts to fade, that is way to much to put on Barbosa's plate. Nash fading, its no way the Suns can make up what he brings to the table. These are just a few reasons why Iam not sold on the Suns in the playoffs, they may prove me & many others wrong tho.......
I see your points, but I guess as a diehard Suns fan since the Barkley-era throught the good and the bad, I have a little more faith. The Suns have already time and time again done things the critics and analysts said they wouldn't do. When they started strong, they said it's just a fluke and they'd fade as the season wore on. Well, it's a few weeks from the end of the season, and they have the best record in the league. Sure, they haven't been the most efficient team in a lot of their wins, but they're wins either way. They said that the health of their start would be a negative factor for this teams success. Although it was in a short stretch very early in the season when Nash was out, they've won most of their games without at least one of their stars whether it was Amare, Nash, or Q. The only star they haven't won without is the only person I feel is indispensible for his contributions across the stat line, Marion, and I don't think he'll get injured anytime soon. Him and Joe Johnson are this team's ironmen. The arguments that they can't win with they're fast pace game remind me of what they said about Magic's Showtime Lakers who won the title. Sure they had some of the greatest players to ever play, but they did it. If youth is another factor that should limit the Suns, I don't think it is. I think it'll counter your argument that they will fade in the playoffs like other teams do. They have more energy to make it through the long haul. Last year the Lakers fell when Malone got injured, and his body couldn't recover fast enough. Payton seemed to have run out of gas too, and it hurt the team. They didn't score against that great Detroit defense because they weren't a good scoring "team". The Pistons focused on Kobe and Shaq and the rest of the team couldn't pick it up. The Suns are deeper than others think. All five of their starters are potential 30+ point scorers. Jim Jackson can give them 15+ a night, and so can Barbosa if he's focused. McCarty has lit it up from 3 in a few minutes a few times this season, so you never know with him. Hunter's offensive game has really picked up steam lately, and he has a lot of pride, and a lot of desire to play well and earn his minutes. When he's careful about fouls, he can cause a lot of problems for legitimate Cs, not to mention block just about any shot in his vicinity. Whoa, that's a lot I just wrote, but it's how I feel...
