The New Sudoku Players' Forum

[Hud]

The Suns do play an interesting brand of basketball. The Clippers don't mind playing at the same speed, so the games should be high scoring ones.
Barbosa has been here for several years, and is just coming into his own. I have no idea where that phrase originated. Nash was to be his mentor since Nash is getting older and they planned to replace him with Barbosa. I worry about Nash since he has some nagging injuries that haven't affected his play very much if at all. The Suns want to resign Thomas, but also leave some money on the table for Diaw and Barbosa. It seems at least that basketball attempts to follow the salary cap. In baseball, the NY Yankees make a mockery of the cap as do the Red Sox, but to a lesser extent.

I was kidding about religion, and overstepped a little with politics.

Nice to see 2 of the miners were rescued safely in Tasmania (?). Toward the end, the news picked up on it here. When they walked out of the mine, the reporters couldn't tell who had been rescued vs who were the rescuers.

[udosuk]

The Clippers don't mind playing at the same speed, so the games should be high scoring ones.

Certainly from game 2 on the Clippers will try to play as slow as dead water... Mike Dunleavy is not a dumb man... I'll be surprised if the Clippers would like to score more than 90 points from now on...

BTW just discovered that Canada wasn't qualified to play in Japan for the world champs... So we won't see Steve Nash there... What a pity...

Nice to see 2 of the miners were rescued safely in Tasmania (?). Toward the end, the news picked up on it here. When they walked out of the mine, the reporters couldn't tell who had been rescued vs who were the rescuers.

Yep, it's been the headline in this country for the last week or so... Nice to have a good ending to all this. Albeit it's sad that a famous local TV reporter died of heart attack covering the news...

Back to NBA, I'm feeling for Kobe... I know he mightn't be good as long as personality or morality is concerned (particularly if you're from Phoenix or Denver)... But no doubt he's a great basketball player... And now everybody is onto him for his showing (or rather non-showing) in game 7... Just a week ago everybody was hailing him like a god with his heroics in game 4... And if he made that last shot in regulation in game 6 I bet it's all different now... Basketball, it's a real cruel sport...

[Hud]

I think when Kobe gets a better supporting cast, he'll go farther in the playoffs. It's really hard to figure the Clippers out. There was an article here before the series started that stated that they wanted to keep the games under 90. During the season not many teams held the Suns below 100, but time will tell. When the Suns got Jason Kidd some years back, his reputation for finding the open man and unselfish play were the main reason they traded for him (Nash and Finley were among those traded for him as I recall). The problem was they couldn't find players who could get down the court with him. There was an article in today's paper about the Suns conditioning coach. He explained that even though 4 Suns players played 38 minutes or more, they were pretty fresh at the end of the game.

I watched part of the Mavs/Spurs game last night and it sure looks like the Mavs are the better team. I suppose that's why Avery Johnson was named coach of the year. The Sun's DiAntoni did another great job with essentially a retooled team and was rewarded with greater power and probably more money. He's now coach and GM. I don't understand why the Suns picked up a big Euro guy (Tsish----) early in the season. I suppose you need some players just to be able to practice 5 on 5.

I've been trying to remember the name of a big guy the Suns once had who was from Australia? It had to be 10 or 15 years back. I believe he also played for the Bulls.

Sorry to ramble so much and that I'm not certain about some of the things I wrote. It is fun to talk about the games though.

[udosuk]

I don't understand why the Suns picked up a big Euro guy (Tsish----) early in the season. I suppose you need some players just to be able to practice 5 on 5.

The bloke is Nikoloz Tskitishvili, a 7-foot guy from Georgia. He might be too slow in the Suns' system, but without Amare the Suns are hopelessly out-sized and would be vulnerable against teams with great inside players. Look at what Elton Brand did to them in game 1. I think you guys need Kurt to get healthy soon or you'll get a handful from Duncan or Dirk later on...

I've been trying to remember the name of a big guy the Suns once had who was from Australia? It had to be 10 or 15 years back. I believe he also played for the Bulls.

I think you're talking about Chris Anstey who's Australian captain now. He's not a bulky huge guy like Luc Longley (who played with Jordan in their dynasty) but is a very atheletic and fast 7-footer, though a bit too thin and not powerful enough against guys like Shaq. He might fit in the Suns' system right now (and they need a 7-footer really bad), but is probably too old to have another go... (He did lead his team Melbourne to win the National championship earlier this year...)

Over the years Australia has exported some good 7-footers to the NBA and they've mostly played with the Bulls during some stretch. Might be a development agreement or the Bulls management has a preference for Aussie Beef . Currently the "Aussie Bull" is Luke Schenscher though he's mostly a role player from the bench and is still very young...

[Hud]

udosuk, you must have had your crystal ball out when you wrote this one.

The bloke is Nikoloz Tskitishvili, a 7-foot guy from Georgia. He might be too slow in the Suns' system, but without Amare the Suns are hopelessly out-sized and would be vulnerable against teams with great inside players. Look at what Elton Brand did to them in game 1. I think you guys need Kurt to get healthy soon or you'll get a handful from Duncan or Dirk later on...

The Suns will either have to try to have an inside presence or shoot 60% from the field. Kurt Thomas was originally picked up with an eye toward the playoffs, but it wasn't meant to be. The series ain't over yet, but I have a bad feeling about it.

Luc Longley was the guy whose name escaped me. I'll have to check his bio to see if he played for the Suns, but I believe he did.

The Suns got Robert Horry and Sam Cassell from Houston in the Charles Barkley trade. Neither got along with the coach at the time, I think it may have been Ainge or Scott Skiles (probably Ainge) but not sure.

I wonder what the Suns will try to do to counter the rebounding disparity on Friday?

[udosuk]

You're right, Luc did played with the Suns for a couple years, never realised it... See this article... When they got him he's already past his prime, so no wonder not many remembered... I am particularly interested in the 4-way deal in 2000 that involved the Suns, Knicks, Sonics & Lakers:

The Suns acquired Chris Dudley as part of the deal together with a first-round draft pick from New York and an undisclosed amount of cash, while New York received Longley, Glen Rice, Travis Knight, Vladimir Stepania, Lazaro Borrell, Vernon Maxwell, two first-round draft picks (from the Los Angeles Lakers and the Seattle SuperSonics) and two second-round draft picks from Seattle. Seattle received Patrick Ewing and the Lakers received Horace Grant, Greg Foster, Chuck Person and Emanual Davis.

Looks like the Suns practically sold him up for some money... But don't know what they did with the Knick's first round pick... Did they used it to get Amare later on? If so it was a heck of a great deal for them... And it was also the deal that the Knicks sent Ewing away... Many believes it's the deal that start the downfall of the Knicks (sort of like the Red Sox sending Babe Ruth to the Yankees... albeit you could argue that Ewing was very old already... But it's a Karma thing I guess...)

Also, came across this page and discovered that Steve Nash was from the 1996 draft, considered by many as the most talented draft in the history... Players included:

• Allen Iverson
• Marcus Camby
• Shareef Abdur-Rahim
• Stephon Marbury
• Ray Allen
• Antoine Walker
• Kerry Kittles
• Erick Dampier
• Kobe Bryant (13th)
• Predrag Stojakovic
• Steve Nash (15th)
• Jermaine O'Neal
• Zydrunas Ilgauskas
• Derek Fisher

Also, the biggest surprisingly undrafted player - Ben Wallace

I wonder what the Suns will try to do to counter the rebounding disparity on Friday?

For a smaller team to win, often it takes double amount of energy, intensity and aggression... And the whole team has to get psyched up (just like it did for the last 3 games against Lakers)... Another totally unfair ejection/suspension might work wonders...

[Hud]

I haven't been able to find out where the draft pick for Amare Stoudemire came from. He was a bit of a gamble coming right out of high school and having a mom who was in and out of jail. When he came to Phoenix, the team ried to mentor him on lifestyle issues, and it seemed to work out fine. I noticed that Tsk-- was in the same draft and was drafted around 5th.

I can't figure out the Suns at all. Last night's game was more like a playoff game, but I didn't (couldn't) watch it. I suppose that's the way they should play a team with a size advantage, but I just don't know. Home court is no advantage in this series, and it hasn't been for the Suns for most of the year. At one time they were a better road team than a home team.

[udosuk]

Hud, feeling relief now?

The Suns shot .372 FG, .259 3P, out-rebounded 46-47 (a great effort)... Steve Nash got only 12 points... Still managed to win... 2 critical factors:
(1) great free throw shooting & (2) super defensive effort...

I guess you wouldn't have watched it on TV... Too exciting for your heart... Especially if you saw Radmanovic made 4 3-pointers on a row followed with another lay-up to outscore the Suns 14-2 early in the 4th quarter...

[Hud]

After playing golf in the 100 degree afternoon heat, I couldn't have stood seeing Radmanovic's heriocs. I guess the free throws and a little bit of luck did the job. The newspaper said that that's the first game all season that the Suns won on their final shot after losing all eight of the season's previous games decided by three points or fewer.

I still feel the Suns have a tough battle getting past the Clips, but I don't like their chances against the Mavs (or Spurs).

It's almost tipoff time for the 3d Pistons/Cavs game. Just to make it interesting, I'd like to see the Cavs win one. The McDyess Saga is an interesting story. Years ago the Suns traded half a team to get him and he bolted back to Denver the next year for less money than Phoenix offered. I never thought he'd be forgiven in Phoenix, but he ended up playing here again and showed enough to impress the Pistons

[udosuk]

I'm never impressed by McDyess's game, but he's one of the lucky men who has won an Olympic Gold Medal... (which is a feat many superstars have not yet done and might never do, e.g. Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Steve Nash...)

The Clippers won back a game today. The series is all levelled now and well in the balance... Expecting another game 7... Geez they're doing a great job on defending Nash...

Also, the Heat are suddenly hot now... I hate Shaq's guts but have to admit Dwayne Wade is a true MVP calibre player. He's undoubtedly their no.1 star now and showing great fighting spirit as well as terrific skills, which is a quality I always treasure a lot...

[Hud]

I was hoping the Suns would play yesterday's game close, so I guess I can't complain. The local paper's getting on Nash a little, and implying that he may be dinged. I expect him to bounce back to his old self next game. If not, I hope he stops shooting threes and sticks to playmaking which is obviously his forte.

Wade is playing great for the Heat. I'm glad to see that the refs no longer give Shaq the benefit of every call like they used to. He can dominate without simply pushing guys out of the way, and there's no way he needs to use elbows.

Not to sound defeatist, but wherever the Suns end up, I would have thought it an accomplishment at the start of the season if I knew Amare wouldn't play (not to mention Kurt Thomas). I haven't heard how his (Thomas's) rehab is going. He was to possibly return for game 6. It would be good to see him in purely defensive situations at first.

Nice to see the Cavs take one from the Pistons. I never heard McDyess's name called during the time I watched that game. I also get tired of Rasheed Wallace's constant whining to the refs. He's a pretty good player, but I wonder if he's not a distraction to his teammates?

I wonder if Dirk Nowitski's Ankle is going to allow him to play much in tonight's game? I think sometimes ankles hurt much worse the day after an injury, but I suppose he's had them before.

[udosuk]

The Mavs are leading 3-1 now... Now I see why Avery won the Coach award... The move to start Devin Harris was a genius stroke... And of course Dirk showed no signs of the ankle injury... But Michael Finley almost won it for Spurs in the 4th quarter, which was a brave effort considering he's booed fiercely every time he's on court...

And the Cavs drew 2-2 now... After game 2 I read some analyst wrote that Pistons are vulnerable because they rely too much on defence and jump shots but don't have a superstar with the ability to drive the ball to the hoop or draw fouls like Lebron/Kobe/Iverson/Wade/Nowitzki... Because in crunch time hands will get tight and it's harder to make shots...

It reminds me of a situation in another sport... About 7-8 years back when Martina Hingis was absolutely dominating women's tennis and then other players started to realise she was only playing consistent defensive tennis (the "smart" tennis) but didn't have a killer weapon that could overwhelm the opponent... And soon after she no longer could win any grand slam... She's still my favourite player but it's a shame in sports so often you have to be really aggressive and nasty to excel... Consistency and grace would only get you so far...

[udosuk]

Suns won in 2OT... Who said these guys couldn't win close & OT games? Once again Marion had a monster (36 pts+20 rbs)... But he missed 2 FTs at the end of regulation with scores tied, lucky for him Raja Bell makes 2 3s in 1st OT... One of them with 1 second left that tied the game... And the Suns played most impressively when they totally out rebounded the Clips in 2nd OT...

Actually Dunleavy made a total dumber at the end of 1st OT... Leading by 3, he rested all his starters and get 5 youngsters to defend the Suns' 3... A simple foul would have won them the game, but they allow Raja Bell to shoot that 3...

Also, I saw Billy Crystal smiling when the Clips almost won it... So as Jack Nicholson (guess why? )...

[Hud]

I think the Suns are draining all the starch out of me in these first 2 series. I haven't heard anyone in the media here mention that the Clips should have fouled at the end of OT 1, but that would have been smart. They couldn't foul Bell since he would have had 3 FTs. I wonder if he could have made 3 straight? Dunleavy took some heat for keeping Cassell on the bench at the end of game 3 in LA. When I went to bed it was just the end of regulation but I dreamed the Suns won by one in OT. I guess I can't get it all right.

The Heat goes on; I suppose the Pistons will bounce back in Mo Town but who knows? A guy I know mentioned that the Pistons are basically a great defensive team that shoots mostly jump shots. That could be true in which case the Cavs have a chance against them.

If the Suns move on, I hope they get some time off to lick their wounds. That would mean the Spurs need to win one or two games pronto.

[udosuk]

The Pistons are eating a big big humble pie right now... Their weakness is so obvious to everybody now - in the clutch, they just can't knock down a basket or draw a foul (except for Ben Wallace which is a hopeless shooter)... 2 years ago when they faced the Lakers, they were the underdog, the Cinderellas so many people felt excited for them... But this time around, they became the "upperwolf", the villains and the majority of people simply wouldn't cheer for villains... However, at this moment the overwhelming favourite in the East is the Heat... Can't see either of these 2 trouble the Heat, given how great Wade and his supporting cast is going...

And you got your wish Hud, the Spurs got one back, only barely... Man this 2nd round is every bit as exciting as the 1st, if not more...