Yes, they're soft.
Oh, that wasn't the question?
I was just checking out the box score for the game against Houston, and noticed 2 things.
1st: Only 8 guys were listed...do they only have 8 active? I mean, I know they've always played a pretty tight rotation regardless, but to only have 8 seems crazy low.
2nd: I also noticed that the minutes were pretty even across the board. I don't watch them often, but in the past, I seem to recall heavy minutes for 5 guys, and only a few minutes for others. Is D'Antoni trying something different this year?
Yes, they're soft.
Oh, that wasn't the question?
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=271128021
Suns played 8 guys, aka "tight playoff rotation" in November, with another 4 guys as DNP/CD = 12 suited up.
OK...when I looked earlier, the DNP guys were not listed. That's why I wondered. Thanks.
We've used Marks, Pike, and Banks occasionally off the bench this year, and I expect to see more of Banks and for Skinner to get more playing time. Also, Raja and Diaw played uncharacteristically low minute totals this game.
Yeah. I thought it was interesting that the minutes were pretty evenly distributed. I would think that's a good thing...I can't believe some of those guys are still standing by the end of the season with the minutes that get piled on them.
Would have loved to been able to see this game.
What were the matchups like?
like yao schooling everyone
this is the suns problem. they got weaker in their weakest area. how are they going to defend dominant big men? if they face the spurs or the rockets in the playoffs, expect a lot of points from duncan and yao. i'm sure the suns don't care about that. but they should care about amare not getting much pt because of foul trouble. he hasn't improved on defense at all. phoenix is in a lot of trouble.
Yao had a slight edge over Amare in today's matchup
by the way....
THE FRANCHISE IS BACK~!![]()
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Yao has a history of playing pretty badly against us, I believe. He's done well in the two games against us this season, though.
sounds good to me
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Yao was crappy against us the first game. 17 points and way under 50% shooting if I recall correctly.
Tmac did not play, so Yao was getting doubled, even when he didn't have the ball...
Amazing how much easier the game is for Yao with Tmac in there.........If I recall correctly![]()
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It was hilarious listening to Suns fans booing the Rockets for playing defense in the 4th quarter![]()
Indeed. Last night, D'Antoni absolutely refused to use his bench at all despite an awful showing from Diaw & a struggling Barbosa. It's totally inexplicable that he didn't turn to someone else from his bench to provide a spark. I think I saw that the bench only generated like 8 points, and half of that was the total contribution of Diaw & Skinner. Absolutely pathetic.
In my opinion, this game has got to be the worst coached game of D'Antoni's career, and that's saying something. He does seem to be trying something different this year (to his credit), but last night was a very poor example of what he hopes to achieve by it.
For example, Steve Nash is actually averaging his fewest MPG since his re-arrival in Phoenix, and he seemed to be going to his bench quite a bit more often in the first 11 games for significant minutes. Last night was just stupid, however, no matter how even the minutes seemed to be spread. That was just bad coaching and poor execution by the players. Really the worst game by far the Suns have played against the Rockets in years.
Amare is really just working his way back into the line-up after missing all of the pre-season & a few early games, so everyone should probably cut him a little slack for a bit. And he has nearly doubled his blocks per game this year, so that's a little bit of defensive improvement, I guess. But at what price? He is indeed playing like an idiot so far. I've never understood the way the refs call his game so tight, and he does really get screwed in the pooper quite a bit on the fouls; but he's been around for a few years now, and he should have learned to adjust his game to suit the refs by now, I think. I don't know what to think about Amare so far. Maybe let's revisit this conversation after about 30 games or so.
I could be wrong, but I think off the top of my head that Yao actually had something like 24 points & 10+ boards against the Suns earlier this month.
I don't begrudge Rockets fans their moment to gloat, but let's keep it real: the Suns shot 41% for the game and were still down by just a single possession in the final minute. I like the Suns chances if they meet in the playoffs.
7-8 man player rotations, and playin ghill 30+mpg hahahahahahhahaha
Suns are dangerous, but they need to play D. They are absolutely horrible with nash on the pine, so that should be a concern.
I am not gloating, but we have 2 cons. wins against the suns going to the end of last season in which Tmac and Yao both play.
D'Antoni probably only played eight players. The others are active, and could play, but D'Antoni refuses to develop a bench.
Last season, I believe, five players averaged 30 minutes or more per game, another played 25 minutes or more per game, and two others were around 15 minutes or more.2nd: I also noticed that the minutes were pretty even across the board. I don't watch them often, but in the past, I seem to recall heavy minutes for 5 guys, and only a few minutes for others. Is D'Antoni trying something different this year?
So far thus season, Marion, Hill, Barbosa, Nash and Amare are all over 30 minutes, Bell and Diaw over 25 minutes and Skinner around 15 minutes.
I wouldn't say he's really learned anything from the past, nor is he really trying anything different.
It's still seven-man heavy with an eighth player floating around 10-to-20 minutes depending.
Last edited by Roxsfan; 12-01-2007 at 01:18 AM.
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