@ <font color="Purple">Phoenix Suns (2-0)</font> @ <font color="Navy">New Jersey Nets (1-1) </font> Time: November.6,2004;8:00pm Arena: <font color="Navy">Continential Airlines Arena</font> TV: Yes Network Preview: During the offseason, when people were talking about true Western Conference contenders, the Phoenix Suns name never came up. But they had an extremely strong offseason with the major additions of Point Guard Steve Nash. And former Clippers swingman Quentin Richardson. And now after a strong preseason, top off by a excellent start to the regular season, the high octane Suns are turning a few heads around the league. The Suns had an impressive 108-98 win in Philly last night led by their offensive powers Amare Stoudmire 29pts, Shawn Marion 24pts, Joe Johnson 22pts. And Q-Rich with 15pts off the bench. The Suns look to continue to impress as they vist the Swamp to take on the Nets. The Nets got their 1st win of the season friday night as they went in to chicago and won 111-106. After blowing a 27pt 2nd half lead, the Nets came back to beat the upstart Bulls in double overtime led by the Clutch play of Richard Jefferson, 26pts, 21rebs, & 9ast. And veteran experience of Alonzo Mourning, who had his best game since returning from a kidney transplant, chipping in with 17pts off the bench. The Nets look to slow down the Suns high powered offense. And pick up their 1st home win of the season. <u>The Starting 5</u> Backcourt: PG: Steve Nash(Suns)/ Jacque Vaughn (Nets) SG: Jackson Vroman(Suns)/ Ron Mercer(Nets) Battle On the Perimeter The Nets <font color="Blue">Jacque Vaughn</font> earned the starting point guard job,in the absence of Kidd, for one reason, Defense. Well that Defense will be tested tonight. The Suns offense goes as goes the Point Guard <font color="Purple">Steve Nash</font>takes them. Steve Nash sets the table for Phoenix's scores by pushing the ball up at a rate that can only be outmatch by Jason Kidd. And getting into the lanes to setup his Suns teammates. Vaughn must make sure he is all the way back, & putting pressure on Nash. And Vaughn must not be saging in his D on the perimeter either, While Nash doesnt often look for his shot as a 1st option, he is still one of the best shooters in the league from the pg position. Jacque Vaughn's defense will be tested in all phases. And he must still find away to contribute on the offense end, as he must run New Jersey's sets smoothy as well. New Jersey's <font color="Navy">Ron Mercer</font> has yet, to carry his wieght in 04-05. After a strong training camp and preseason, Mercer has produce two subpar performances to start the season vs Miami and Chicago. Mercer has a matchup he should be able to take advantage of early. The Suns' <font color="Purple">John Vroman </font> seems to be the player that gets the start. But Quentin Richardson usually plays the bulk of the minutes at 2-guard for Phoenix. Mercer must get off to a good start before the scoring Machine Richardson, gets into the game. Or the two guard matchup could turn one sided in the favor of the Suns. Backcourt Edge: Suns, with Mercer not giving the Nets much scoring. A backcourt of Steve Nash starting. And Richardson playing starter like minutes is probably to much for the likes of Vaughn and Mercer. ------------------- FrontCourt Forwards SF: Joe Johnson(Suns)/Richard Jefferson(Nets) PF: Shawn Marion(Suns)/ Eric Williams (Nets) A bunch of Small Forwards There are no power forwards in this front court matchup, just a bunch of wing players. <font color="Navy">Eric Williams</font> might actually be happy going up against <font color="Purple">Shawn Marion, </font> that is actually before Marion gets going on the offensive end. After struggling just get his shot off in the post area against Miami and Chicago, Eric Williams finally has a matchup, where he may be able to get a few good looks at the basket. The problem is Marion is still one of the best defensive forwards in the league no matter what position he is playing. And offensively Marion is not shy to putting points on the board. You can count Marion in for anywhere from 15-20pts almost every night, using an array of explosive moves to the hoop. And a solid perimeter game. So a matchup against Marion, could be a dream as well as a nightmare for Eric Williams. <font color="Navy">Richard Jefferson</font> enters the game coming off a Kevin Garnett like night. The Nets standout Small Forward recorded 26 points, 21 rebounds, & 9 assist in 57 minutes. The problem is he played 57 minutes in the Nets win, now he has to come out tonight & try to contain a explosive scorer in <font color="Purple">Joe Johnson </font>. Joe Johnson has started 04-05, picking up right where he left off during the 2nd half of the 03-04 season. Joe Johnson has averaged 19+ in his 1st two games of the season. So Richard Jefferson's defense & energy will be tested. Jefferson must try to slow down Johnson, while carrying the Nets offensively, just for New Jersey to have a chance at being competive. Forward Edge: Suns, but if Eric Williams can have a productive night on both ends of the court Jersey mabe able to steal the battle of the fowards. -------------------- Center: Amare Stoudemire (suns)/ Jason Collins(nets) Battle In the Middle Offensively, last game out vs the Bulls, <font color="Navy">Jason Collins </font> had an excellent showing. The improvements & agressiveness in his offensive game is extremely noticable. But Defensively its the same old JC, he cant deal with psyhical big bodies, who know how to use their size. Buckets are easy to get against Collins in the low post. And if you dont score you will definately draw a foul. <font color="Purple">Amare Stoudemire </font> should be able to take full advantage. Stoudmire has seems to added some skills to go a long with his athletism and size, which will make him even harder for Collins to deal with. For the Nets, the best bet would be hoping that Alonzo Mourining & Aaron Williams can both garner some strong minutes trying to deal with Amare. Center Edge: Suns ------------------------ <div align="center"><u>Players To Watch</u> </div> When You are talking about the Phoenix Suns you could go with a muiltple of strong players to watch, whether its Steve Nash leading them as the floor Genernal or all their wing players. But I think in tonights matchup vs New Jersey, Amare Stoudemire has a favorable matchup for himself, Collins cant stay out of foul trouble, Alonzo Mourning played 27 minutes last night, so you dont really know how much Coach Frank will use him. And the rest of the Nets frontcourt is etremely small. That all adds up to damage being done by Amare on the inside. The Nets unlike Phoenix, dont have alot of options, they pretty much go as Richard Jefferson goes. For the Nets to stay competive Jefferson must Score 20pts, while continously setting up others around him as well as trying to defend Phoenix's explosive perimeter scorers. This is the type of game were Jefferson realizes the hard ships of trying to carry your team. Back to Back, & having to go against Marion, Q-Rich and Joe Johnson, with little offensive help on the perimeter. ---------------------- <u>Key Bench Players</u> <font color="Purple">Quentin Richardson</font> comes off the bench as a 6th man for Phoenix, but plays starter like minutes. He brings in instant offensive punch. And also uses his leaping ablity to do work on the backboards. I didnt put pictures of the Nets entire bench but I should have because the Nets entire bench will play a key role in the Nets being competive. The Nets just dont have enuff in their starting lineup to beat a team the level of Phoenix, so the bench must play a huge role. Guys like <font color="Navy">Alonzo Mourning </font> and <font color="Navy">Aaron Williams</font>, must give solid minutes trying to contain Amare Stoudmire. While producing some inside points of their own. <font color="Navy">Rodney Buford </font> must help produce some perimeter points to lighten Jefferson's load. Travis Best and Zoran Planinic must come off the bench and do a good job controlling tempo from the backcourt, everyone on the Nets bench must contribute. ------------- Key Thing To Watch For Both Teams: Energy Level: The Phoenix Suns are a erengy team, they like to get up & down the court. If their energy isnt at its peak they wont perform well. Facing a team like the Nets, who many feel you should beat, could leave you open to an energy let down on back to back nights. The Nets are a energy team as well. But a different type. They dont have the scorers or offensive fire power of a Suns team, so they have to use all their energy being scrappy, they have to make every single hustle play inorder to win games. So after using so much energy to fight off the Bulls in Double OT, last night they may not have the energy to make all the hustle plays to, to get back in trasition Defense. ---------------------------- <div align="center"><font color="Navy"><u>Keys To the Game For New Jersey</u> </font> </div> <font color="Navy">Controlling Tempo </font> The Nets must control tempo inorder to stay competive, they cant get into an up & down scoring game with the Suns. The way the Nets must control tempo is by on the offensive end smart shot selection and limiting the turnovers. Long contested shot and the type of turnovers the Nets had in their last game, do nothing more then gives Pheonix a runnig start in the open court. Tranistion Denfese will also be key for New Jersey. <font color="Navy">Defense Period.</font> The Nets Defense will be tested in all phases, their trainstion Defense, their Half-court defense both in the post & on the perimeter. The Nets must step up and answer the changelle, the only way the Nets are going to win is by getting stops aginst this high power offense the Sun bring to the table. If the Nets let them run up & down the court without New Jersey having an impact defensively this one will be over quickly. <font color="Navy"> Balance.</font> on the offensive end its going to take balance inorder to beat the Suns. Guys who have yet to carry their load and responsiblites on offense, must now show up, players like Ron Mercer & Eric Williams. The Nets will need double digits from those 2, inoder to keep it close And the Nets will need the output from the bench as well. ------------------ <div align="center"><u><font color="Purple">Keys to The Game For Phoenix</font></u></div> <font color="Purple">Run,Run, Run</font>. If the Suns force tempo they are going to run New Jersey out of the building. The thing about playing Phoenix's style is it takes alot of erengy like I said early, if they dont havet energy to run consistenlty then they will allow Jersey to hang around. <font color="Purple">Consistency/Shot Selection from the perimeter </font>If their is one negative I see with this PHX team it would have to be shot selection, guys like Shawn Marion, & Q-Rich have a tendency to throw a high # of low percentage shots. The Suns can make this game much easier for themselves by running thing thru Stoudmire in the post and letting him open things up for Marion, Richardson, Joe johnson. Poor shot selection will lead to phoenix being inconsistent from the perimeter. <font color="Purple">Defense </font> The Defense End will be key for Phoenix, just like it is for New Jersey. While New Jesey doesnt have the scorers they still produce easy points based on their scrappiness. And can produce fastbreak points of their own. So it makes no sense for Phoenix to get alot of easy points, just to give them back on Jeresy's side. So the Suns most show up on both ends of the court. <u> Closing Statements </u> This is a difficult one for Jersey. Phoenix seem to be clicking on all aspects of thier game. But I think that if the back to back can help slow down their offsense. And the Nets play with alot of energy & effort then they may can hang around and steal the game at home. But this game must be won on Defense as far as Jersey is concerned. Enjoy the game.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Bobcats:</div><div class="quote_post">Huh?? Jackson Vroman ain't no SG.</div> I only based it on what they had on CBS.Sportline.com, last night vs Philly was the 1st time I seen PHX play all year. And I didnt see who started the game, so I went with what they had on CBS. Sportsline.com and it was him & Nash starting together in the backcourt.
The Nets have have a big challenge tonight. Phoenix's lineup is just better than the Nets. The Nets won't be able to stop their frontline especially. With Marion, Stoudemire and not to mention Johnson, I see no possible way the Nets can win. No one will be able to hold Stoudemire in the post. Mourning might due to his strength and experience but no question he will have a hard time doing so. Pheonix has a great fastbreak players that the Nets just can't stop. I am predicting a 78-108 Pheonix victory.
The effort was terrible last night, in the 1st quarter at least we tried defensively, but after that we didnt even try to put any resistance into Phoenix's high power offense. I think that Coach Frank has got some decisions to make, Eric Williams is to small at the power forward position. He is no use to the team at the 4 because you take away his ablity as a great defensive player because he is giving up so much size. And offensively, you take aw3ay on of the positives in his offensive game, his ablity to play with his back to the basket in the post against the small players at his normal wing position. So the experiment of Eric Williams at the starting 4 has been a failure and its time to change, move Williams back to the position where he can most be effective. And move on to the 2-guard spot, it just isnt giving us anything Mercer and Buford both had strong preseasons but it hasnt carried over to the regular season. RJ needs someone on the perimeter to help give him consistent points to lighten the load. I would take a gamble switch things up for a few games let Rodney Buford get the start and Mercer come offf the bench and see what we can generate or if we can generate anything. And I would make a change at the point guard this isnt a downgrade of Jacque Vaughn because I think he has done an excellent job, but I just think we need a different style at the PG. We need someone who can get the ball up the floor a little quicker before teams set up thier halfcourt D. And when he are in the half-court I think we need someone who can break his man down off the dribble. And get to the hoop. So I would give Travis Best a start at the PG, let Vaughn be that claiming influnence off the bench for the 2nd unit.
I thought Vroman was a center? It was probably him at center and Johnson at SG, maybe you saw wrong on CBS? Anyways, the Suns are currently unbeaten and it doesn't seem likely they'll lose to the Nets. Look for Stoudamire and Nash to have huge games. Phoenix over New Jersey, 98-87.
