Great effort and great comeback to get back in the game after falling behind in the second quarter, but we could not keep up with the Suns hot shooting or the legs of the Phoenix Suns players. I thought the Wolves had a good game, but this Suns team just couldn't miss all night long. Steve Nash had a brilliant game as he always has. Not only did he had a great shooting night, but he found the open guy a lot too many times this evening. Missed free throws killed us. That was the little thing that hurt the Timberwolves. The frustrating part of all this is as good as the Timberwolves are playing, they never gained a game and now they are 3 out of the last playoff spot with Denver and Memphis winning tonight. Timberwolves got no one but themselves for being in this position. This loss was a bad one and now it will likely come down to Sunday's game. If the Timberwolves lose Sunday afternoon, they could be in a big trouble.
Kevin Mchale made a mistake not continuing to run the offense thru Cassell in the post in that 4th quarter, Nash cant guard him down there. They got two wide open looks one when Cassell hit Nash with the spin move and the other was when Q-Rich came over to double and Cassell swung the ball out which led to an open look for Fred Hoiberg, Granted the Wolves didnt make the shot either time, well Casell got to the line. But I think that matchup was a extremely favorable one for the Wolves to create their offense threw going down the stretch. But Mchale wanted to go exclusively to the pick & roll, which led to alot of long shots, which the twolves couldnt make all night. If there is one aspect that defined why the Wolves lost it had to be how well the Suns shot the ball from three and how bad the Wolves shot the ball from three, major difference in the ball game. Neither team shot the ball well from the free throw line but I think it was double-ly costly for the Wolves, cause the way they could have made up some of the difference in 3pt shooting would have been at the free throw line. Nash definately dictated tempo, it started early with Troy Hudson going under the screen every time on Pick & rolls and letting Nash get his shooting rythm. And then in the 4th it was pretty much Nash out playing Sam after Sam look like he was ready to go on his 4th quarter excellence. Nash did an excellent job making Sam have to fight to chase him around screens. And then that took away from Cassell's offense imo. Anyway the Wolves had their opportunities, I think a key spert cam actually at the end of the 2nd quarter when the Wolves had completety taken over the momentum in the game until that last minute. The Wolves had the ball up by 8 with a chance to go up double digits. But a long missed shot by Griffen led to a fastbreak dunk. And then Amare got the and 1 dunk on a porr foul by Griffen, so the Wolves went from up by 8 with a chance at going up by 10 to only taking a 3 point lead into the half. And Phoenix had taken back a small bit of momentum. And then they carried it over and expanded on it in the 3rd quarter. And the Wolves ended up going down by double digits again. I dont think you can keep fighting back from double deficits against the Suns, they just shoot the ball way to well from distance even when you play good defense and that really snaps your sprit during runs you try to go on as a team.
I may have been the only one who felt this way....but I was thinking that, if they were going to lose A game, I wouldn't mind it being this one. I thought this in the third. I may be optimistic (about the playoffs more than just the end of the season), but I saw it as another way to let the Suns get the #1 seed so we can beat them in the first situation. By my estimation, that is probably going to be the only way to make it. If the Spurs are without Duncan though, we have a good chance against them because Bowen would guard Cassell (mismatch in the post) so Hassell would guard Ginobli or Parker. Whatever the case, Wally will have to come through cause' the other stars have their hands filled.
I was doing a lot of thinking on the Suns this afternoon at work. Man that team is so fun to watch. I want to see them go all the way. That team has so many good athletes who can run and play the game. They are so fun to watch. I am hoping for a Phoenix/Miami Final. Can you imagine that Final? Talk about two teams who can run up and down and talk about high scoring. The score would be 120 as your median. If I see a SA/Detroit or SA/Miami, that series could be a bore especially SA/Detroit where your score median would be a 75 and that's if you are lucky. Plus Amare Stoudamire said it best about how basketball Finals should feature two cities that are warm and nice. You can bet lot of writers are pining to cover that Final. Do the Suns have a shot to go to the Finals? I don't know. They gotta play better defense and can they handle the Spurs style of play where they can make it real dirty and all. At this point, I have to say No. I hope I am wrong. I love watching that team play basketball. It's the way it should be played. I can't help but gush about their success. That was the first thing I was thinking about last night as I went to bed. The front office has done a very good job drafting the right players, making smart trades, and signing the right FAs like Steve Nash and Quentin Richardson. If McHale or the new GM wants to rebuild the Timberwolves, they should look at the Suns model of success and how they did it. Suns took some lumps of losing and they did their HW. Now you can see the fruit of their labor. Timberwolves really need to hit a HR with their draft pick this season if they ever want to model the Suns success.
Nash shot us down tonight. We have a good effort, but we just couldn't pull it out. What hurts about this game is Memphis won.
