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Nash will play.
Damnit.
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns...9suns0309.html
Injuries force Suns to be creative
Doug Haller
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 9, 2006 12:00 AM
Steve Nash has a sprained ankle that could keep him in street clothes tonight. Tim Thomas and Shawn Marion are sick.
The Suns scrimmaged 5-on-5 Wednesday, but three players - Amaré Stoudemire, Brian Grant and Nikoloz Tskitishvili - were doing so for the first time in weeks, if not months.
In addition, James Jones was still recovering from a right foot injury. advertisement
In times like these, with the defending champion Spurs in town, Grant thinks it's wise to think of Coach Mike D'Antoni as a wizard, mixing his potions, trying to find a solution.
"A lot of teams got one shelf of potions, and that's all they can use," he said. "But here, (D'Antoni's) got three or four shelves of potions that he can always mix and match. Right now, the shelves are a little bare because of injuries, but still, even with what he has left, there's enough there to make some powerful magic."
So the Suns move on, trying to add to an 11-game winning streak, the longest active string in the NBA and tied for the second longest in franchise history.
Nash hasn't ruled out playing tonight. He sat out Wednesday's practice, allowing the right ankle he sprained against the Hornets time to heal. His availability probably won't be determined until just before tip-off.
D'Antoni hopes Marion and Thomas are better. Marion started feeling lousy earlier this week; Thomas seemed to catch the flu bug Tuesday. Both arrived for practice Wednesday but were sent home.
That left interesting lineups for the scrimmage, the first full-court efforts for Grant and Stoudemire, both recovering from serious knee injuries.
Stoudemire teamed with Eddie House, Andre Barrett, Tskitishvili and Grant. He guarded Boris Diaw on defense, moving horizontally with ease. On offense, he scored on a put-back and short hook, both earning applause from Assistant General Manager David Griffin.
"The only thing was when I started to make a strong move, I felt a little stiffness, and when I came down and landed, (I felt) a little stiffness," Stoudemire said.
Bigger tests are coming.
"(Wednesday) wasn't really a full day of busting out, so it wasn't too bad, Stoudemire said. "But I'm pretty sure once we really get the 5-on-5 going and really get up and down, it's going to get a little tough for me."
Grant expects the same, but his return may be just a week or two away. Wearing white socks stretched to his knees and an orange head band - "I had my Eddie House look going on," he said - Grant was active but rusty.
"What bothered me was just the hand-eye coordination," he said. "I could shoot, I could run, I could even go get rebounds. But if I was cutting and I had to make a quick decision to catch or pass the ball, I was slow."
The Suns have an eight-game cushion in the Pacific Division with 23 to play. D'Antoni doesn't intend to rest anyone for the playoffs anytime soon. If they're able, they compete.
"(Feeling) comfortable is when mathematically (no one) can catch us," he said. "There's no formula. You just go by your gut. You try to rest them up as much as you can without disrupting what you have."
In other words: "Business as usual," he said.
Nash will play.
Damnit.
Marion and Tim Thomas are also sick.
The article says they were both sent home yesterday.
Nash was at the World Baseball Classic watching that disappointing USA/Canada game. So his ankle must be feeling better.
hahahahaha!!! They all have Spur-itis!!!
Now who is the chickens?! hahaha Ohhh I love every second of this!! I'll be at the game!!
By my count, the Suns currently have 6 healthy players for tonight's game:
Boris Diaw (F-C)
Raja Bell (SG-SF)
Eddie House (PG)
Pat Burke (C)
Leandro Barbosa (PG-SG)
Andre Barrett (PG - though Andre has only played 2 minutes all season in a Suns uniform)
Steve Nash, Shawn Marion, and Tim Thomas are all questionable. There is no way in the Suns are going to be able to pull this one off. Spurs win easily, unless Diaw drops a 25-10-10 and Barbosa nets 35. Not likely, though.
Holt needs to get out his shicken suit, man. Suns are wimping out!
I'd be sick to, if i had to face the spurs after a loss
True, the Spurs have only lost back to back games twice this year.
NEVER underestimate the Spur's ability to play down to an opponent.
BS Every guy on the active roster will be available and play.
Damnit Nash better play.
Thanks for that, Nostradamus. I don't have a clue if Marion, Nash, and Tim Thomas are all playing tonight, and neither do you. Nash's ankle is still healing, while Marion and Tim Thomas both came down with the flu. My guess is that Nash will play, Marion will likely play if he's feeling up to it, and Tim Thomas will sit out because he just came down with the flu a day or two ago.
Way to have confidence in your team.
I will be suprised if Marion doesn't play. That guy is a freak.
I wouldn't mind if Nash sat out a couple of games but I would guess he is closer to probable than questionable.
As for Thomas who knows, his conditioning wasn't very good to begin with.
It looks like the back-up PG spot is the one they can actually fill. I don't see a PF back-up. Using that superlative analysis I see Nash sitting and Marion playing. Madam Cleo lives.
Anything can happen tonight. Let's just hope it's a good game and that manu will go for 50
You can rest assured that I have the utmost confidence in this team, but if the Suns are limited to just those 6 players, they'd have to pull off a miracle to win.Way to have confidence in your team.
I will be suprised if Marion doesn't play. That guy is a freak.
I wouldn't mind if Nash sat out a couple of games but I would guess he is closer to probable than questionable.
As for Thomas who knows, his conditioning wasn't very good to begin with.
If Nash and/or Marion plays, then that's a different story.
Sounds like a chance in to me.
they are tryin to play mind games like pop did to them last season, what are they hopin for? they waitin for holt or drob to come out and call them chicken for not play nash? yeh right spurs have to much pride and we got nothin to prove to these clowns.
Ya Nash hurt his anke on purpose , and we injected TT and marion with the flue. You sir are a Moron!
owned.
Looks like a good night to have Diaw on your fantasy team.
Diaw was a diamond in the rough. What a pickup that guy was, and what luck the Suns had getting him as an afterthought in the JJ deal.
Any night is a good night to have Diaw. He is one of my fav players. I had the same feeling when I first saw Diaw as I had when I first saw Manu. I thought, this kid is gonna be good
no kidding..the guy has been awesome for me...I picked him up about the third week of the season out of the boneyard and he has been huge...the best part is that if yahoo does the "right" thing they will give him credit for playing center the last month and he will be the only player in the league eligible at 4 positions...SG, SF, PF, & C.
if you filter Diaw at "last month average" Yahoo has him ranked at #23 in the NBA for fantasy players...
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