Salmons ( A ) -- continued his career pattern of having his best games vs. Phoenix, one of those career all opponent team guys, and why I think maybe Phoenix wanted him in the offseason -- if he played the Suns every night he's an All Star. Defended Nash for much of the game, and early on especially was doing a nice job of bothering him. Of course Nash still merely managed to notch 16pts 12ast, and by the end John started looking pretty exhausted trying to keep up with him. But along the way it was no surprise that John and Kevin -- the two guys built most like Suns players (long, skinny) carried the team offesnively as well. As usual John's 20 were quieter and spotted here and there rather than dominant, but he was steady all night on both ends. Maybe rolled an ankle in the early 3rd, but came back from it and seemed to be fine down the stretch.
Artest ( B- ) -- some big defensive moments in the first half, and showed good shot selection for most of the game. But got oddly quiet down the stretch of this one, and really had little impact after maybe the middle of the third.
Miller ( D+ ) -- actually got off to a quick start on the glass, but was still subbed early and did not return until after half, And when he did, again displayed that he simply cannot find any confidence on his shot, nor any consistent comfort zone in Muss's offense. There have been so few signs I think its fair to ask at this point if Brad will ever again for us be the same sort of major minute night in and night out impact center he was during the Adelman years.
Martin ( A- ) -- last time we saw Martin scoring big in an uptempo game it was Golden State, and I mentioned at the time that he was scoring, but not really having any impact on the game. This time he made up for his recent subpar effort against the Suns, and poured in 14 first quarter points, and they WERE having an effect. And showed that he can still knock down those open threes if the other team gives them to him. Made a mistake to end the first half when with time running down in the half the Suns got out on the break and Kevin was back, but rather than playing defense he put his arms down to his sides trying to draw a charge, Barbossa went right around him, and to compound matters unable to do anything else with his arms down, he just chucked Barbossa with his sholder to give him the 3pt play. Was slowing down in the third, but still our best scorer and player most suited to this matchup when disaster struck. Well...maybe mini-disaster. Kevin rolled his ankle on a strange play when there was no contact and he'd already come down form his alst leap. Just went to shift his feet to run back up court and gave it a quick roll. Could almost be a sprained foot as much as an ankle. In any case, did not look that serious, but those things can sometimes be more serious than they look. The good sign was he walked form the court under his own power. The bad that he didn't return. Either way, not what we needed, and while the Suns had already clawed back and taken the lead at that point, made upsetting them that much more difficult the rest of the way.
Bibby ( D ) -- okay first half, for this seaosn at least at 3-9 for 8 pts. But not a diusruptive 3-9 as were were beating the Suns at their own game. But in the second half kept on chucking, not hitting, and was making some bad turnovers on passes leading to Suns fast breaks. Missed way too many shots in the 4th, but tried to come back and flip the switch down the stretch with back to back hits. But missed a three to break that little streak and there would be no repeat of the Utah performance. Missed the hero three with 50 seconds to go, where if he hits it we're within 2 and with a chance to steal another one, but he misses, and we were finsihed. Took it so early in the clock, and contested too. 2nd night in a row where a questionable three was the key to the final minute for us, but this one did not go.
Reef ( B+ ) -- another good game for Reef, and this one should surprise nobody but Muss. And maybe not even him as he apparently learned form his mistakes of last game vs. the Suns and gave Shareef a lot of minutes tongiht. In any case, in the last few years Reef has shown the ability to consistently score inside agains the Suns undersized frontline and shaky team defense, and he put that on display again tonight. Also came up with an unusually high rebound total for him in route to a 12pt 9reb game.
Thomas ( B+ ) -- came in and showed his potential value in an uptempo game by dominating the glass in his minutes. Along with Reef could almost have been A-s I think, but John and Kevin were a half step above either guy. In any case took advanateg of a game made for small quick frontcourts for his best game in a while.
Cisco ( C- ) -- not terribly effective in either half, good hustle at times, but more mental mistakes -- leaving Barbossa open for threes? In any case Ciscio, despite looking like he should be built for them, seems oddly inconsistent in wide open uptempo games, almost like things are moving too fast and he can't find a comfort zone. And so again tonight with 19min 0pts 1reb 1ast on 0-4 shooting.
Price ( C- ) -- short first half minutes, and is seeming to fall into a trap right now of playing TOO fast and forcing rather than thinking. Missed an open corner three that was set up perfectly, and made a dumb decision in the 4th when we had a 5 on 4 with Barbossa lying underneath the other hoop, and instead of passing it off for what should have beena sure open shot for somebody wiht ball movement, he forced a drive into the teeth of the defense for a turnover. Wasn't in much longer after that, and I think maybe needs to calm down a little.
Douby ( INC ) -- one brief mysterious cameo to finish the first quarter. No idea why he was in. And then never returned. Muss is a strange one sometimes.
Muss ( ) -- came out inspired in the first half, and as much as that might jsut be still flying high off the Utah steal, the coach always gets at least a little credit for hacing the team ready to go. And we were. Of course Muss once again revealed that he is absolutely terrified of the Suns by screwing around with the starting lineup again when facing them. Thankfully this time it was a little better plan than his infamouos Ronnie Price/Bibby gaffe of a few weeks ago, and the insertion of John Salmons alongside Ron at PF worked well in the early going.
Artest ( B- ) -- some big defensive moments in the first half, and showed good shot selection for most of the game. But got oddly quiet down the stretch of this one, and really had little impact after maybe the middle of the third.
Miller ( D+ ) -- actually got off to a quick start on the glass, but was still subbed early and did not return until after half, And when he did, again displayed that he simply cannot find any confidence on his shot, nor any consistent comfort zone in Muss's offense. There have been so few signs I think its fair to ask at this point if Brad will ever again for us be the same sort of major minute night in and night out impact center he was during the Adelman years.
Martin ( A- ) -- last time we saw Martin scoring big in an uptempo game it was Golden State, and I mentioned at the time that he was scoring, but not really having any impact on the game. This time he made up for his recent subpar effort against the Suns, and poured in 14 first quarter points, and they WERE having an effect. And showed that he can still knock down those open threes if the other team gives them to him. Made a mistake to end the first half when with time running down in the half the Suns got out on the break and Kevin was back, but rather than playing defense he put his arms down to his sides trying to draw a charge, Barbossa went right around him, and to compound matters unable to do anything else with his arms down, he just chucked Barbossa with his sholder to give him the 3pt play. Was slowing down in the third, but still our best scorer and player most suited to this matchup when disaster struck. Well...maybe mini-disaster. Kevin rolled his ankle on a strange play when there was no contact and he'd already come down form his alst leap. Just went to shift his feet to run back up court and gave it a quick roll. Could almost be a sprained foot as much as an ankle. In any case, did not look that serious, but those things can sometimes be more serious than they look. The good sign was he walked form the court under his own power. The bad that he didn't return. Either way, not what we needed, and while the Suns had already clawed back and taken the lead at that point, made upsetting them that much more difficult the rest of the way.
Bibby ( D ) -- okay first half, for this seaosn at least at 3-9 for 8 pts. But not a diusruptive 3-9 as were were beating the Suns at their own game. But in the second half kept on chucking, not hitting, and was making some bad turnovers on passes leading to Suns fast breaks. Missed way too many shots in the 4th, but tried to come back and flip the switch down the stretch with back to back hits. But missed a three to break that little streak and there would be no repeat of the Utah performance. Missed the hero three with 50 seconds to go, where if he hits it we're within 2 and with a chance to steal another one, but he misses, and we were finsihed. Took it so early in the clock, and contested too. 2nd night in a row where a questionable three was the key to the final minute for us, but this one did not go.
Reef ( B+ ) -- another good game for Reef, and this one should surprise nobody but Muss. And maybe not even him as he apparently learned form his mistakes of last game vs. the Suns and gave Shareef a lot of minutes tongiht. In any case, in the last few years Reef has shown the ability to consistently score inside agains the Suns undersized frontline and shaky team defense, and he put that on display again tonight. Also came up with an unusually high rebound total for him in route to a 12pt 9reb game.
Thomas ( B+ ) -- came in and showed his potential value in an uptempo game by dominating the glass in his minutes. Along with Reef could almost have been A-s I think, but John and Kevin were a half step above either guy. In any case took advanateg of a game made for small quick frontcourts for his best game in a while.
Cisco ( C- ) -- not terribly effective in either half, good hustle at times, but more mental mistakes -- leaving Barbossa open for threes? In any case Ciscio, despite looking like he should be built for them, seems oddly inconsistent in wide open uptempo games, almost like things are moving too fast and he can't find a comfort zone. And so again tonight with 19min 0pts 1reb 1ast on 0-4 shooting.
Price ( C- ) -- short first half minutes, and is seeming to fall into a trap right now of playing TOO fast and forcing rather than thinking. Missed an open corner three that was set up perfectly, and made a dumb decision in the 4th when we had a 5 on 4 with Barbossa lying underneath the other hoop, and instead of passing it off for what should have beena sure open shot for somebody wiht ball movement, he forced a drive into the teeth of the defense for a turnover. Wasn't in much longer after that, and I think maybe needs to calm down a little.
Douby ( INC ) -- one brief mysterious cameo to finish the first quarter. No idea why he was in. And then never returned. Muss is a strange one sometimes.
Muss ( ) -- came out inspired in the first half, and as much as that might jsut be still flying high off the Utah steal, the coach always gets at least a little credit for hacing the team ready to go. And we were. Of course Muss once again revealed that he is absolutely terrified of the Suns by screwing around with the starting lineup again when facing them. Thankfully this time it was a little better plan than his infamouos Ronnie Price/Bibby gaffe of a few weeks ago, and the insertion of John Salmons alongside Ron at PF worked well in the early going.
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