Jazz hold shorthanded Suns to just 86 points in Utah
(AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac) I thought it would have been interesting watching the Suns play without Hill and Nash (and Marion, actually) for a game or two to see the way they were capable of adapting to the new situation.
It was somewhat interesting, but most of all was just painful as Utah beat Phoenix 108-86 and held the Suns under 90 points for the first time this season.
Could it that be the way the Suns will look like three years from now? Scary, don’t you think?
The point is that this Suns team can’t play without Nash - it’s just the way they have been built - and generally speaking it’s very difficult to win in the NBA without three of your best players.
With 3/5 of the starting five out, Diaw, Barbosa and Banks started in place of Marion, Hill and Nash. Leandro scored 25 points (on a poor 7-of-18 shooting, inlcuding 3-10 from 3-point range) and Stoudemire had 21 points and 14 rebounds.
The limited roster gave D’Antoni a chance to give some minutes to Banks (38 minutes, 9 points, 3 assists), Marks (5 points, 6 rebounds in 14 minutes), Piatkowski (the usual 3-pointer in 18 minutes) and DJ Strawberry (8 points in 12 minutes). I like the energy DJ can bring on the court even if he entered the game late when the outcome was already decided anyway.
The Suns tried to play and to put some energy on the floor, but in the end, the shorthanded Suns, also missing Shawn Marion (bruised elbow), coming off an OT game the night before couldn’t really challenge the always solid Utah Jazz.
Turkish center Okur scored 22 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, inlcuding 5 on offense. Deron Williams, the second best point guard in the NBA, scored 17 points while dishing 11 assists many of them to his pick and roll pal Carlos Boozer (18 points).
Despite a (longer than expected) series of bad games, the Jazz are one of the elite teas in this League, not to mention last year’s Conference runner-up. Utah opened a double digit lead in the third quarted and held off any chance for a Suns comeback.
The Suns (25-11) will now have a chance to rest a little before facing the Bucks (15-20) at home on Saturday night (7 PM).
Both Nash and Marion could be able to play.
Yours truly, Steve Fan
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Posted by Steve Fan
Blogger and Steve Nash enthusiast. Don't get in his way, he'll MVP your ass.
http://sonsofstevenash.blogspot.com
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they needed nash, marion, and hill…. If the Suns play the Jazz in the playoffs and they are both at full strength, I don’t think the Suns will beat them
Not so sure about the outcome of a Suns-Jazz series but it could be interesting. The Jazz play (in my opinion) the best half court game in the League and have one of the great point guard in the game.
Without three key guys like Nash, Hill and Marion the Suns just can’t beat a good basketball team.
The bottom line for this team and it always has gone this way, is that they don’t regularly win without Nash. The offense runs through him. But I agree with SteveFan’s assessment that at least this will give some PT to our bench players and hey if they win a few in the process that is fine by me.
Hello. I strongly feel at this point that Raja Bell is breaking down physically. He’s played horribly in some games this season. I hope D.J. Strawberry gets a chance to substantively fill in for him and eventually replace him, because that’s exactly what I thought he sounded like when Suns drafted him: a young Raja Bell.
That’s an interesting theory, At first, when the Suns drafted DJ I believed they were looking to back up Nash (since the Banks’ experiment was not working) but I agree with the fact that DJ (good outside shooter, good defender) could be a perfect replacement for Raja.
Could be…I still think Raja has something left in the tank.
And Alando Tucker? He is more of a mystery. He\’ll play even less than Strawberry this season, but I understand he\’s some kind of athletic small forward who rebounds well, so if he pans out, he sounds like a future replacement for Shawn Marion. Whose rebounding has dropped off lately.
I wouldn\’t *really* trade Marion right now because the rebounding is so weak, but I am one of the nerds who can\’t leave the ESPN Trade Machine alone. Shawn Marion and Boris Diaw to the Pacers for Jermaine O\’Neal and Marquis Daniels, if the Pacers would bite.
Drafting Tucker is an even greater mistery. Alando is smaller and lighter than Marion and has a hard time playing close to the basket BUT/AND he’s not a good outside shooter. I can’t see a place for him in the Suns rotation anytime soon.
Not sure the Pacers will listen, nor if it could make economic sense (salaries and so on). O’Neil would be a great addition
Really? Then I guess I got fooled. Someone told me Tucker had a good low-post game. You make him sound like someone who might as well have been waived already.
Not so sure about his low post game in the NBA, maybe in college. He’s a good player, and could be a solid NBA player, I don’t think he’s the right player for the Suns, at least not now.