Suns 103, Kings 89: Steve Nash Slices Through

One thing we do know is that JT will bust his ass 100% of the time on the floor. Garcia’s another guy who plays his ass off. Combined minutes for these two? 18.

They would not play him if they were already hammering out a deal, right?

and since the Kings decidd to play Phoenix’s game rather than pounding their players down low . . . . it makea peeeeeerfect sense.

Not at all, TZ. I saw this coming, and proposed a 10 game benching of JT twice yesterday to facilitate cohesion. Fans should not confused by this. JT is playing only 15 minutes a game, shooting 37%. I don’t have recite more numbers. The team sputters whenever he is on the floor. The only thing he has done better than DJ this year is rebound. And we have rebounds, theoretically, covered with DMC and Sammy D.

I just hope PW has the gumption to stick with this rotation. DJ is a better scoring spark and post defender, he runs the floor, and doesn’t foul as much. The fact that a guy hustles and has contagious work ethic is not enough to be included in an NBA rotation. To quote the legendary Bill Walton “Do not confuse effort with effectiveness.”

Regarding a trade, we can only hope. There can’t be many suitors. Pookey is holding out for T. Prince, which I find amusing. While Prince is a really good player, that deal will never happen (see salary and Pistons GM). My dream trade is JT (+ pick) for Jonny Flynn:

Geoff: “Ricky Rubio is a Hall of Famer in my judgement.”
Kahn: “Yes, I know.”
Geoff: “Jonny Flynn seems like a redundancy.”
Kahn: “Yes I know.”
Geoff: Jason Thompson could be a star in your triangle offense.
Kahn: “Yes I know.”
Geoff: I’ll have my team draw up the papers and for Flynn JT swap and fax to you in the morning.
Kahn: Fax machines are confusing. Swap meets are fun. I like paper. Wait, what are we talking about?

There hasn’t been much difference between Jackson and JT’ s performance. Except JT has a few more rebounds and fouls, and Jackson has a higher shooting percentage, more points and plays withing himself.

On the other hand, Wright hasn’t made a basket in 4 games, and Head has only been able to score around the basket.

That’s why I can’t really be too hard on the team for this game, since I saw some good things in this game.

A lot of stupid GMs then.

Phoenix (D’Antoni version) would end their offensive possession in that time frame. It seems that the current Kings team does not initiate their motion until there are 7 seconds left (dribble, dribble look, wait, start the play).

was not that bad.

On June 2, after 5 years in the NBA, Rodriguez signed a 3-year contract with Real Madrid.

He’s their starting PG.

If you watch the 1st possession of the 4th quarter, the Suns stepped up their defense and doubled Tyreke in the backcourt and he almost didn’t get over the timeline. And, he barely got it over on the next possession also. The point was that they doubled Tyreke whenever he had the ball in the 4th and he seldom gave up the ball right away. He’s not selfish, he just has a primary scorers mentality. Which is really really great late in the possession after you’ve tried to run your normal sets. We don’t need it in the beginning of the set because he uses up too much time, and we don’t have time to really probe the defense before someone has to throw up a poor shot.

On the other hand, Beno gives up the ball before he crosses the 3pt arc, on a majority of the times he brings up the ball. And, he usually gives it up to a big at the top of the key or beyond the arc. There is no attacking the defense or probing in Beno’s game. He’s a one trick pony ( stop and pop ) who’s a defensive liability.

Sergio was a spark, because he was an outstanding dribbler and could dribble in, around and back out of the paint, looking to make the pass. He forced the defense to move, and created open shots for others. He wasn’t a great 3pt shooter, and he wasn’t a shutdown defender but he’s only 24 this year, and had the potential to be better.

But, he’s gone now, and I still think the Kings will need someone with his skill soon. Pooh was one of my standouts in summer league, but only as a backup. His size will always keep him from being a starter. We need another Jason Williams more than we need another SF.

Detroit has won 3 of their last 4 games, and their defense is much better than Pho or Mem.

And, NY & NJ, have records as good as ours.

For example, your bringing of your above-mentioned coaches to the discussion. Good list, and agreed that most of these coaches would do a better job than Westphal. I don’t see a coach that turns this team into a playoff contender, so I personally don’t see the need to spend millions of dollars for a few more wins.

I’ve said all along that Westphal is a transitional coach. I just think the thread post that I responded to lacked depth and substance, and I responded to it. My apologies if that insulted your sensibilities.

I respect the opinion, though I strongly disagree with it. The last two months of Theus’ tenure saw blowout after blowout after blowout, and that team did not have considerably less talent than last year’s team, which played much more competitively.

You can certainly believe that Theus would have this team playing at a much higher level if you like. Heck, you might even be right. But I don’t agree.

…but the end result was the same- jacking up a long jump shot with no time left on the shot clock. Yuck.

For years, we seemed to be a team that has flirted with 8 second violations more than any other team I watch. This goes back to the Bibby days – he would drive me crazy by crossing the timeline as the 24 second clock ticked down to 16 seconds. Now Evans seems to have contracted the same disease. I thought that having a young team would lead to more up-tempo and transition basketball, but it has not worked out that way.

This kind of reminds me of the 49ers right after Singletary took over. He ran and ran and ran the ball, because it was the best way that he knew to keep his thin defense off the field. Could the Kings be slowing the tempo in an attempt to be faced with fewer defensive possessions? Whatever the answer is, it’s not a lot of fun to watch.