Posts Tagged ‘jazz’

Jazz 94, Suns 110

Saturday, October 30th, 2010

Fri 29/10/10. The Phoenix Suns never trailed in defeating the Utah Jazz 110-94, bringing their season record to 1-1 in 2010/11. Hakim Warrick was allowed to fill the hole left by Amare Stoudemire and posterised two Jazz players with a sledgehammer dunk in the third quarter. He led a strong effort by the bench, which topped 50 points in scoring, to comfortably withstand the poor-shooting Jazz.

Having been deep into the playoffs with the Suns last season, I’m ready to see the new additions (Warrick, Childress and Turkoglu) slot in. The team has been dubbed ‘Small Forwards Anonymous’ for their lack of size, but we’ll see whether these small forwards remain anonymous throughout the season. Dragic looks just as sharp as he did last season, even without the speedy Barbosa to run the court with him.

I don’t think that there will be too many comfortable wins for the Suns this season, and especially not next time that they play the Jazz. But we’ll next see Phoenix on One HD up against the Golden State Warriors. Will we see 250+ points in that game?

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Posted in Suns Fan | 2 Comments »

Suns 108, Jazz 116

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

The Utah Jazz rallied on the road to storm past the Phoenix Suns in the 4th quarter for a 116-108 win. The Suns, playing their fourth game in five nights, could not shut down Utah from beyond the arch who went 12-24. Mehmet Okur landed the final 3-pt blow as the shot clock expired and with the Jazz leading by one, putting them ahead for good.

The Suns’ 10 point lead unraveled spectacularly. Williams hit back to back threes after sitting most of the 2nd quarter with foul trouble. Phoenix tried to match Utah but ill-advised shots from Frye and Richardson gifted the Jazz with the stretch momentum. Then suddenly the game was over and Phoenix had lost.

Phoenix plays the next six games at home and must win five of them to keep themselves away from the dreaded 8th seed and a first round matchup against the Lakers. Hopefully Dragic will return to ease the load on Hill and Nash – the two veterans cannot run this team in tandem.

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Heat 114, Lakers 111

The Miami Heat held off the LA Lakers in a thrilling overtime game in Miami. With over thirty lead changes – the most in the NBA so far this season – it was Dwyane Wade who had the final say after Kobe Bryant dominated the end of regulation and the start of the extra period.

The question that I asked watching this one was, “What is Jermaine O’Neal’s future in the NBA?” His contribution was far from steady as he:

  • Stepped out to set a screen on a critical possession but instead drew an offensive foul.
  • Caught a lob from Wade near the bucket on a critical possession and finished softly for two.
  • Goal-tended a fast-break layup on a critical possession.
  • Drew a charge on Kobe on a critical possession that ended up grounding the Lakers for good.

O’Neal is off contract with the Heat and has a number of factors to consider. He can still compete at a high level, but not on every possession. Can a team afford this inconsistency from its starting center? Will Miami sign some big name free agents and force O’Neal to look for a job elsewhere? And if so, with lots of teams with cap room, will he end up with a bigger contract than necessary because someone can spend?

What future do you see for Jermaine O’Neal?

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Posted in Season 09-10 | No Comments »

Celtics 83, Bulls 96

Monday, January 18th, 2010

The Chicago Bulls led from start to finish for a much-needed road win over the Boston Celtics, 96-83. Luol Deng finished with 25 points on 8-13 shooting, making up for only nine foul-plagued minutes of ineffectiveness from Derrick Rose in the first half.

Watching Joakim Noah (15 pts, 11 rbds, 4 blks) sends my mind back to the 2007 draft, and one of the big ‘what ifs’ for Mike D’Antoni’s Phoenix Suns. The lottery had already dealt Phoenix its biggest blow, when the Atlanta Hawks (the fourth worst record) drew the third pick and kept their top-three protected pick instead of conveying it to the Suns. However, the Suns still had interest in trading up from #24 and #29 to get among the top prospects.

Phoenix reportedly had a deal in place to acquire the 8th pick from Charlotte in exchange for Kurt Thomas (among other assets) in order to select Joakim Noah. Instead, the Golden State Warriors arrived late with an offer including Jason Richardson, and selected Brandon Wright with the pick. Noah, touted as a #1 pick in the 2006 draft, fell to Chicago at #9 in the 2007 draft. Phoenix selected then sold (a typical Robert Sarver draft night) Rudy Fernandez at #24, but kept Alando Tucker at #29, a player who never cracked the rotation and who was traded for financial reasons in 09-10.

Soon after the draft, the Suns ended up trading Thomas to Seattle, a team committed to rebuilding following the departure of Rashard Lewis to Orlando and the trade of Ray Allen to the Celtics. The salary dump backfired on the Suns when Seattle traded Thomas later in the season to the Spurs, who acquired Thomas to counter the Suns’ acquisition of Shaquille O’Neal. Thomas often guarded O’Neal as the Spurs dispatched the Suns in the first round of the 2008 playoffs.

Now, seeing Noah collect boards at a top-of-the-league rate (12.2 rpg), run the floor and finish the pick and roll (0.495 FG%) and make free throws (0.761 FT%), I wonder just how dynamic a Suns team with Noah at center could have been.

Someone (perhaps me one day) ought to compile a ‘what ifs’ for D’Antoni’s Suns to see where this one would rank.

Jazz 97, Cavs 96

Sundiata Gaines upstages Lebron James’ 4th quarter heroics by hitting his first 3-pointer in the NBA to win the game at the buzzer.

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Posted in Season 09-10 | No Comments »

Cavs 85, Bulls 86

Sunday, November 8th, 2009

The Chicago Bulls, in the first game of One HD’s NBA double header, defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 86-85. The Bulls used a balanced attack to hand the Cavs another loss at Quicken Loans Arena, and further showed that the home court advantage enjoyed by Cleveland last season has diminished this season.

Luol Deng had great outside touch, Brad Miller was reliable in the pick and roll, Kirk Hinrich was pretty around the basket and Derrick Rose continues to regain form. However, it was the play of rookie Taj Gibson that caught my eye. Starting in the place of Tyrus Thomas, Gibson brought energy and touch in the paint. He even tried to dunk on Shaquille O’Neal, but Shaq was bailed out on a no-call ‘clean’ block that sent Gibson to the floor.

There are only 450 guys who get a shot at playing in the NBA each season, and we’ve heard about Griffin, Evans and other high draft picks. But it is terrific to see a young guy taking his opportunity with both hands. Taj Gibson must be enjoying life as a Chicago Bull.

Jazz 113, Spurs 99

The Utah Jazz, behind Carlos Boozer’s first strong game of the season, handed the rested San Antonio Spurs a 113-99 loss in the second game of One HD’s NBA double-header. The win improved the Jazz’ record to 2-3 and was an important step toward rebuilding Boozer’s relationship with the Utah fans. An up-and-down offseason of comments and controversies surrounding Boozer’s contract and future with the organisation will be more easily forgiven every night that Boozer puts up 25-15.

Yet another unheralded rookie shared the spotlight with Carlos Boozer. Wes Matthews, undrafted out of Marquette, looked in great early season touch with quick drives and a nice shooting touch. Like Taj Gibson, Matthews is benefiting from low expectations, low-key defence and young energy. When opposing teams start taking these rookies a little more seriously, their real NBA potential will be tested.

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Posted in Season 09-10 | No Comments »