Game 26: Phoenix(17-8) @ Portland(15-11)

[garrick]

Fast guards that can penetrate have been killing us for a number of years now so it's not surprising to hear that Bayless had a really good game tonight.
That is our achilles heel.

[Classick]

Ugh.

Just, ugh.

[PDXKnight]

We've lost too many games already this season to be taken seriously.

Meh, 17-9 is a good start. You guys shouldn't hang your heads too much. PHX has played a lot of road games thus far and they get the help of a 10 out of 12 game home stand coming up. Besides, PHX is outperforming most expectations thus far.

[DBrimstone]

It's depressing to think that going into the 4th quarter I thought, "So this is where they screw up it. After such a good game an they're about to blow it" and then they did. I feel like it's gonna be another 7-8 years before we're even mentioned as serious contenders again. We played well for what we had out there but we still need a lock down defender at the 2 guard, and a big tough guy down low. I dunno. I'm losing hope in us ever winning a championship. It's gonna be a whole new team that gets a chance at it. I don't think anyone that we currently have will be around when the time comes again. Last time around, we had KJ, Majerle, and Barkley. 11 years later, our time comes again. Aaaaand now it's gone. When's next time gonna be?

[Mujahydeen]

Bad, bad, bad loss.

It's a FOURTH GAME IN A ROW (Magic, Nuggets, Spurs, Blazers) when we give up double digit lead in 3rd or 4th quarter.

We gave up 13 point lead to Magic, 17 point lead to Nuggets, 20 point lead to Spurs and 13 point lead to Blazer. It's ridiculous.

On the bright side, Amare looks much better lately.

[Calvin Klein]

wasn't it 19 to the magic and 15 to the blazers?

[justinb80]

Do other teams regularly give up big leads, or is it just a Suns thing? I don't notice it being a problem with a ton of other teams, except maybe the Magic who have a website dedicated to them called Third Quarter Collapse. The Suns have been this way for years now. Even when they were dominant a couple of years ago, they still couldn't hold a big lead.

I hate this maddening inconsistency.

[DBrimstone]

Do other teams regularly give up big leads, or is it just a Suns thing? I don't notice it being a problem with a ton of other teams, except maybe the Magic who have a website dedicated to them called Third Quarter Collapse. The Suns have been this way for years now. Even when they were dominant a couple of years ago, they still couldn't hold a big lead.

I hate this maddening inconsistency.

It's the lack of defense. We can't slow anybody down when we have to. Dudley's just not fast enough to defend well, Grant's not fast enough anymore, and nobody else is really too good at defense in the first place except Lou. I actually watched Lou defend Roy a couple times where Roy missed when Lou was on him. Besides that though, if teams are making shots, we can't stop them. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We really need a THE guy too. Nash is great at putting the team on his back but he's not in the same league as Dirk, Lebron, Carmelo, D-Wade, or Roy at finishing games on both ends. Kobe's in that last but I omitted him because I hate him... I'm bipolar on the suns right now. One side wants to modify what we've got and make it work. The other side says what's there to make work? No way this team's winning a championship. It's time to just start over

[jakjup216]

Gentry with the worst inbound play of all time. Nash had to work like a maniac for the ball. Frye getting the ball from Amare was worthless and cost us a couple seconds to at least get off a better shot. Bayless looked like D-Wade when oviously he is a bench warming scrub. Won't have another game like this the rest of his life.

Umm.. i agree ya'll shoulda won but umm.. he is WAAAY better than your back up Pg and Sg

[Sun Scorched]

I was at a loud & crowded Karoake bar last night whilst trying to watch the game... some tool with a red tie and a sweater-vest was murdering some rap song... and I noticed something... something to take out of this, now expected, "end of the world" mentality we get ourselves into.

Dragic looked good.

Take away the layup for a moment. He looked good.

I couldn't hear the TV over the douchebag trying way too hard to get laid, so I had to pay attention to the physicality sans audio... and I was impressed. Dragic has the physical tools necessary to become a legitimate starting option and though we lost, I absolutely LOVE Gentry for the Nash/Dragic backcourt that we are seeing more regularly.

Guys, THAT"S HUGE. We can bitch and moan about the W/L column... but we are quick to glaze over the fact that our young guys are getting legitimate playing time and are improving. Is Dragic the second coming? No, but he could tell you that. What he can be is a playmaking PG who can and is willing to physically defend and attack the rim. His ability to penetrate can be top-notch, the signs are there, and this would be an amazing tool to have in a young "drive-and-dish" PG.

Don't get me started on Dudley. I love that guy.

[Sun Scorched]

Gentry with the worst inbound play of all time. Nash had to work like a maniac for the ball. Frye getting the ball from Amare was worthless and cost us a couple seconds to at least get off a better shot. Bayless looked like D-Wade when oviously he is a bench warming scrub. Won't have another game like this the rest of his life.

Umm.. i agree ya'll shoulda won but umm.. he is WAAAY better than your back up Pg and Sg

Intersting... I would put Dragic up against him. I think the exaggerated WAAAY is a bit much.

And no, he's not better than Barbosa. Not even close, not yet.

[grumpysaddle]

you know... i was thinking about this when i woke up. the suns, at the beginning of the season weren't a very good first half team, but they were a really great second half team. hence, them coming back in a bunch of games. they got criticized for their slow starts, now they are coming out strong in the first half, and giving up big leads in the second half. maybe they are blowing their proverbial wad early on and don't have the motor to keep it going at the end of games? i'd rather have them finish strong and be able to win than have them give up huge leads at the end of games and lose in heartbreaking fashion.

also, i'm going withhold judgments until the team is at full health. i kind of didn't think about how two of the suns top scoring options were completely missing in portland, and pretty much completely missing the previous game. Barbs will be huge to get back. he literally is the bench's scoring. without him in there is really no one to consistently go to to get the ball in the basket. well... dragic can hopefully work himself into that roll, but last night he was a starter. with j-rich out, and LB, i'm sure the rotation kind of took it's toll on the suns guards. also... i'm sure louuuuu wasn't at 100% and with the games he missed with the flu, he's proven a big part of the bench's success.

[lou_skywalker]

they better learn how to close out games on a nice fashion.... not having LB and JRich is no excuse....u were able to build up a 11 point lead in the fourth and you are expected to maintain it.

[grumpysaddle]

it kind of is a bit of an excuse, though. they are two of the main scoring options. everyone else played a lot of minutes. having two guys out that don't have much of a positive impact on scoring is far less detrimental than two of your leading scorers.

[BurningHeart]

I'm sorry. I'm sick of moral victories. I'm sick of hanging in there and taking something positive out of it. I want to win. We can, we're up that much, we need to win. No excuses.

The Suns have been blowing leads WELL before the D'Antoni style came into play. It's just how the team is. I think its part of the laid back culture of the city and sports scene in Phoenix. They don't have killer instinct, they hardly ever have. What it's going to take to change this, who knows?

[justinb80]

I think the reasons Suns teams have always blown leads is, as you said, they have no killer instinct. And the reason they don't, in my opinion, is because since Jerry Colangelo was in charge, he made sure only "character" guys were on the team, and shipped people out if they didn't act accordingly. "Nice guys" don't have killer instincts. The Celtics have killer instincts, but it's a team full of annoying, cocky a-holes. Definitely a give-and-take.

[Classick]

Jerryd Bayless is better than our starting SG, and PG/SG back ups. Hopefully now Portland will start trusting him and actually give me legit PT. He will dominate. Something that Dragic, JRich, and Brickbosa can't do.

This team needs a legitimate iso-threat. Nash can't be throwing the team on his back everytime everyone else disappears. Amare should be our go to guy.

Another thing this team needs to do is start developing Amundson's offense. He had one point in 11 minutes. Sure, he's a hustle player- but hustle players needs to score too. Our bench had 13 points. Less than half of what Jerryd Bayless had. That's really unacceptable.

[JohnVancouver]

Unforgivable to allow this team back in - another game that should have been a win ends upa loss. Arses need kicking


on the plus side Amar'e played solidly and paid attention to defense and boards
The Dragic/Nash starting unit is really nice to see. I think this could be a good backcourt for us.
Frye started to grow some nuts as well.

other than that, a real disappointment