not too much detailSuns' line-up:Starters:Steve NashRaja BellBoris DiawShawn MarionKurt ThomasKey rotation guys:Eddie HouseLeandro BarbosaPat BurkeScouting Report:-They like to run, and if they get going, they're literally unstoppable. They are a little short-handed w/ the bigs, but we are even moreso. They have SOO many shooters that we need to watch out for. Raja Bell, Eddie House, Steve Nash, Leandro Barbosa, Shawn Marion, Jim Jackson, Tskita (James Jones is out w/ a sprained wrist).How to play them:-Well, there's not really a plan we can execute successfully with these guys (atleast defensively), but you just can't get to far behind. I say we should attack Steve Nash on defense and hopefully get some easy looks and/or get him in foul trouble. We'll have to get a hand in their shooters and rebound well, and that is MUCH harder than it sounds. If Delonte can just harass Steve like he did Bibby in Sacto, i think we have a shot, but Delonte's D is the key. We'll have to compete with their three-point shooters, which will be near impossible, especially if Wally is out.key Match-up:Gomes/Scabs vs. Matrix. They'll have to keep Marion off the boards, although it's a possibility Marion might be guarding Paul. If Gomes can come away with a double-double, that should be a BIG plus for Boston.Final Prediction:BOS-110 PHX-113
Good luck to you guys. I'm interested in watching the Celtics. I missed the last game because I was out playing basketball.
man, the celtics are playing selfish ball right now. They're taking horrible shots, 3s w/ men in their faces! They need to move the ball. If they could pass the freaking ball around, i think it would be pretty close. I can think of about 5 or 6 times when Delonte was open on the wing, but Paul took the shot anyways.It's nice to see Gerald out there. He's playing alright, but i wish he'd stop hesitating so much. He needs to explode to the basket. It would raise his confidence in himself, and maybe (hopefully) it would raise Doc's. Man, Orien Greene needs to get the hell out of this funk he's in. He can't handle the freaking ball, and he's not being as aggressive right now.We've done a decent job on defending the 3, but God DAMN we have got to stop their penetration. Shawn Marion's freaking gone off! And i can't even count how many times Paul has been burned. The defense is horrible, even for our standards.Raef's doing a pretty good job. 3 blocks and 7 boards. It's nice to see him be more physical, and not so one-dimensional.The Cs have to crash the offensive boards more. They had no offensive rebounds until the closing minutes. The rebounding is dead even right now (5 offensive, 23 total), but i feel we should be doing better.EDIT: Also, we're shooting 4-10 from the FT line. :no3: Now that's just plain ridiculous. Do we even practice free throws?
Nice halfcourt shot by Delonte West!Damn, Marion is having a career game. He is just dominating, both on offense and defense. I wonder what's got into him!
103-94 Suns is the final tonight. Wow, Shawn Marion had a career game. He just dominated. He had a career-high 44 points with 15 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 blocks! Wow! Boris Diaw also had a good game with 21-9-6-and 3 blocks. This actually wasn't one of the Suns better games. Nash, Barbosa, House and others didn't do so well but we got the W, our 5th in a row and 7th out of the last 8. Great defense too tonight.
yeah, Marion definitely killed us.. and so did Pierce. He was settling tonight (although i don't blame him. I didn't realize how good the Suns really were defensively). I hope this game gets G Money some more time. He played great, and what i really liked is how he crashed the boards.
tough game, Marion played incredible....good stuff from the Celtics though. With our team as young as it is I don't even really care if we win or lose, obviously I want to win, but we all know we ain't winnin a title anytime soon, so I just like to watch how the young guys do. Gerald got a lot of PT, good to see him play solid minutes.Gomes 11 pts, 10 rebGerald 13 pts, 9 rebDelonte 30 pts, 5 ast
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (nba dogmatist @ Feb 22 2006, 09:41 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I didn't realize how good the Suns really were defensively).</div>Then I hope you help me out with some debates now that you know. Teams get more scoring chances because of our run and gun style but our FG% against is very good. We have a lot more good defenders this year.
^exactly. More posessions=more opportunities to score. They really are very aggressive (i wasn't really surprised w/ Diaw, Marion, or Bell's Defense), but the help defense was superb. They double at the perfect times, and they effectively closed off the passing lanes for our cutters. Very nice execution by PHX.
