Looking back at the Sonics game
January 4th, 2008, 10:35 am · Post a Comment · posted by jerrybrown
Late games and early deadlines make for plenty of leftovers… enjoy.
Steve Nash repeated for TNT what he’s said many times during this 23-9 start for
Phoenix. When the Suns play with energy and resolve, they are a handful for any team, anywhere they play. But when the energy is gone and the Suns try to get away on talent alone, any team in the league is capable of running up a 20-point lead on them — which the Sonics proved in just 12 minutes Thursday.
Never has a first-quarter stat sheet told a story better. The Suns were outrebouned 22-10, gave up eight offensive rebounds and allowed 12 second-chance points. On the other end, Phoenix shot 4-for-20 from the field, failed to convert a handful of chippies under the basket, had no ball movement (zero assists) and went through nine players looking for any semblence of a spark. Coach Mike D’Antoni quipped that the Suns used their 40th anniversary night to play a first quarter that set the franchise back two decades. Nash didn’t go for the punch line. ”We didn’t come out and play hard and we weren’t really tuned in. We’ve talked about that a lot and that was a classic example,” Nash said. “We embarrassed ourselves sufficiently into playing well and harder and being more competitive. We made up for it for the next 2 1/2 quarters (before slipping again in the fourth), but we just weren’t playing hard enough (to start out).”
Seattle coach P.J. Carlesimo was keeping his fingers crossed on the other end of the bench, but knew the Suns couldn’t play three more quarters like they had the first. “They’re a heck of a team in their own building and they’re not going to keep missing shots,” he said. “We also fouled them too much.” That might be becoming a strategy for the opposition soon. The Suns went to the line 35 times Thursday — almost double Seattle’s total of 18 — but missed 11 of them. And in the fourth quarter, where games are often decided at the line, a
Phoenix team that shot 81 percent from the line in 2006-07 is now under 60 percent in the final 12 minutes this year.
The good news for the Suns? First, they broke out of things with a strong, 30-point second quarter, held the Sonics to 6-for-25 shooting, kept getting to the line and made up all but two points of their daunting deficit by halftime. And Amare Stoudemire continues to make the most of a soft spot in the schedule by averaging 31 points and 13 rebounds during
Phoenix’s four-game winning streak.
“Personally, I just want to get better and grow as a player. I want to get to my full potential,” Stoudemire said after the game. “Due to the injuries and minor setbacks, at the start of the season I started off a little slow. I missed preseason and wasn’t quite as healthy as I wanted to be for the first 15 or 20 games. But now I’m starting to feel better, my legs are back, my conditioning level is where it should be and I should go higher from there.”
