Spurs exploit Suns awful D

When your toughest defensive player is a 36-year-old on a reconstructed ankle, you have a roster of bums offensive players. Watching the Suns refuse to play help defense on countless Tony Parker forays into the lane- just made it a matter of time. A matter of time until the Spurs made a run and Suns folded.

Terry Porter, hacking Bruce Bowen makes no sense- especially in a TIE GAME. Sure he's shooting 28 percent. He shot more free throws in this game than he had all season. Way to kill any momentum you had. Here's a thought. When the Spurs hack Shaq, they kill your offensive rhythm and then attack your weak defense. When you hack Bowen, he hits and the Spurs (a defensive team) can set their defense without a transition. Not a good strategy.

This was painful to watch because just like in the past, it was just waiting for the Spurs to snatch the game away. The Suns are to Duncan's Spurs what the Cavs were to Jordan's Bulls: foils.

Mark Price :: Steve Nash
Craig Ehlo :: Raja Bell
Larry Nance :: Amare Stoudmire
Chris Dudley's free throws :: Shaq's free throws
Unproven Steve Kerr :: Unproven Steve Kerr

The Suns can't finish 7 or 8 and expect to beat LA or the Spurs in the first round. If this team is truly built for the playoffs (doubtful at this point), they need to start jockeying for position now. If they can't beat teams that are tougher and proven, they need to beat down the bad teams. There is no boon in missing the playoffs. The 9th team in the West has no chance in the lottery and won't pick any higher than 14 because the Eastern also-rans are much worse. This team won't have the ability to blow it up or rebuild until 2010. So the time is now. These players have to put forth their best effort to look like they care to win a title when they lack the ingredients to actually achieve it. For a list of what those ingredients are, start listing the strengths of the San Antonio Spurs.

Suns Hawks game notes

1ST HALF
Amare is somewhere else. 5 turnovers. Why doesn't Porter sit him?

Mike Bibby's headband is so big. It looks like he has a head injury and he's wearing a bandage.

Joe Johnson starting to heat up. Grant Hill isn't guarding him despite forcing him into 4-21 when these teams played a couple weeks ago.

Flip Murray getting it going against the Suns again.

When Josh Smith posts Amare he spins middle into a left-handed shot. EVERY TIME. What does Stoudemire do to defend it? Nothing. He isn't aware a lefty is going to his strong hand.

Hawks are piling up the fouls trying to guard Shaq.

Suns shoot 63 percent in the first half but are trailing by two- 14 turnovers.

2ND HALF
Stoudemire appears to have woken up and the offense is focused on getting him going.

Josh Smith continue to beat Amare to rebounds.

Some tough foul calls on Grant Hill have him with four after picking up a call on a defensive rotation. How is it a 36-year-old is the toughest defender on the team?

Blown call on an obvious trip. Terry Porter complains and gets a technical foul. I love when refs compound their mistakes by T-ing up a someone who holds them accountable.

WIth Nash out, the offense just becomes one on one.

LB has it going tonight. Maybe Matt Barnes complaining about their minutes worked.

Josh Smith uses his right hand in the post and misses. Let's see if Amare picks up on it.

Soloman Jones is apparently Dwyane Wade. He gets generous calls against two veteran players. Grant Hill picks up his fifth on a clear charge. Shaq picks up his fourth on a Jones diving flop.

Josh Smith on the block again, spins into the right-hand layup and tries switching to the left at the last minute and misses. Reluctant to credit Amare defense but Smith really needs to develop a right hand

Amare acting tough toward Zaza Pechulia after a normal foul. Quit crying you big baby.

LB huge three.

Mike (who was 1-10) hits a huge three.

Amare has JJ on him and settles for a jumper. Miss.

Terrible help defense on pick n roll. Soloman Jones left wide open for dunk.

LB turnover, Hawks miss two layups.

Shaq has little guy on him and goes right to the rim. Misses shot that hangs on the rim for a week. Hits two free throws

Nash with a travel. 19 turnovers.

Amare with rebound after it hits the floor. Amare passes to LB for another huge three.

Nash bad pass. 20 turnovers.

Amare misses open jumper than could have given Suns a six point lead. LB steal. Shaq holds ball too long for 24 second violation. Does anyone want to win this game?

Shaq loose ball foul, tosses Marvin Williams and a waiter into the front row.

Hawks haven't scored in 5 minutes. LB fouls to prevent layup, Soloman Jones calmly drops two free throws. Suns up 2.

Nash to Stoudemire, layup and 1. 26.6 left. Not sure if someone said something to him at halftime but he has been a different player.

As awful as the Suns perimeter can be, it's been good tonight. Mike Bibby 2-13, Joe Johnson 5-20.

Suns won this one on defense. This game was hard fought and Stoudemire and LB hit big shots in the fourth. Still a chance to salvage this road trip with a win in Washington tomorrow.

Lottery Bound?

It makes me sad to say this: the Suns have become unwatchable. It really seems like players are lost or they quit. The lack of intensity is so obvious that other teams' announcers are troubleshooting the Suns.

Amare ends up starting the All Star Game and celebrates by getting torched by Boris Diaw, his former overpaid backup.

As the losses mount (3 straight, 5 out of 6), it's becoming clearer this group is awful defensively. Offensively they're totally dependent on Shaq and while Nash has been a trooper sacrificing shots- the loss of his offense is killing the team.

Terry Porter needs to reach into the coaching bags of tricks and find something to stop this free fall. Do something to save this team!

Is Amare a franchise player?

The stinker against the Celtics is festering on my DVR and I really can't bring my self to watch it. The box score said reactions said enough. Sure, it was the team's fourth game in five nights and the previous three were tightly contested battles. Sure it's tough to beat the champs on their home floor. But this team has four former All Stars who've been 1st team All NBA, 2 former MVPS, a 2 time Slam Dunk champ, a Sixth Man of the Year, young role players and veterans who'll scrap and hustle. The pedigree isn't helping on the court though.

While there are several teams who'd love to have the Suns' record, they are laboring to get wins and their playoff position is precarious. I doubt many coaches would want to trade places with Terry Porter. He's the coaching equivalent of Pete Myers bringing his style and game to good team only to be filling some giant shoes after the franchise's best run of success. While I am not one to long for the D'Antoni days, I recognize that Porter is trying to win with D'Antoni's players, Steve Kerr's compromised vision and Robert Sarver's budget. That's a tough task but the team's bad defense and inconsistency is showing there is still some resistance to Porter's methods.

The biggest disappointment at the moment is Amare Stoudemire. While the Shaq trade seemed to bring out the best in him last year, that player seems to be gone. He has taken cues from Shaq in the big talk but unlike the 4-time champ- he is not backing it up. Just a couple months ago, people were speculating about Amare's 2010 possibilities, now I'm sure there's a contingent of fans who'd be content to see him walk or traded.

Watching Amare is slowly convincing me that he isn't a player to build around. Granted it took me a couple years to be sold on Amare anyway but all the reservations are coming back. He's a bad help defender, he doesn't close out on jump shooters, he's a poor defensive rebounder, he doesn't ever seem to bend over for loose balls and his aggressiveness seems to be on the wane. I know you've seen it too. Not just the tendency to settle for a bunch of jumpers, it's the body language when someone else has it going. He shrinks from the action. In games where he picks up early fouls, he completely disappears. What type of franchise player plays like that?

I think the answer is pretty clear. The Suns don't have a franchise player. If it were up for discussion, it's Nash or Shaq. That's not a promising prospect given that both players are capable but on the decline. This team is loaded with talent but the lack of sacrifice, especially on defense is appalling. The only starter willing to sacrifice offense to try and shutdown his man and make the little plays is Grant Hill. If Amare is having a tough night, he pouts and shrinks. I've watched too many big men over the years fix themselves on another aspect of the game when their shot goes missing. Amare doesn't do that and seems unwilling to hustle more when things are going badly. He has no problem throwing tantrums and getting technical fouls though.

I think a wake up call is coming Thursday night when the All Star starters are announced and Amare misses out. Billboards in China are one thing, playing on the big stage in China is another. This is a year dominated by guys who were on the Olympic team. While I thought it made sense that he skipped Beijing given the wear and tear on his surgically repaired knees the last few years, perhaps letting down Jerry Colangelo was a mistake. All the current MVP candidates were Olympians and each seems to have added intensity or improved an aspect of his game. I think that can be attributed to working with the best every day in practice. When I see Kobe playing with pain, Lebron dominating on defense, Chris Paul carrying his team with injured starters, Dwight Howard putting up 20/20 games and Dwyane Wade just willing a bad team into the playoff chase- I don't see Amare in the same class of player.

Amare has improved aspects of his game. His passing is better for instance but that's still on offense. On the defensive end, Amare said he wants to be like Ron Artest. He's only succeeding in that he comes off as a head case to fans and a complementary player full of potential to help win big or cripple a team with his drama.