SB Nation Arizona - Phoenix Suns Impressive In 114-106 Loss to Lakershttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46593/arizona-fave.png2010-10-29T23:47:35-07:00http://arizona.sbnation.com/rss/stream/15460992010-10-29T23:47:35-07:002010-10-29T23:47:35-07:00Both Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers Encouraged By Early Season Game
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/P6ofBQ524D9vVwaMjMr-870A4J4=/0x26:400x293/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47828097/large_arizona.sbnation.com.minimal.0.png" />
</figure>
<p>Phoenix Suns head coach Alvin Gentry said he was "proud" of his team despite losing their home opener 114-106 to the Los Angeles Lakers. Lakers head coach (and Zen master) Phil Jackson wasn't thrilled that his team took 27 three point shots but overall was "pleased with the way the team performed."</p>
<p>This is what happens early in the season. One team, the two-time defending NBA Champions without their starting center, is happy to get a road win over a division opponent. Meanwhile, a former contender whose window has universally been proclaimed closed and welded shut is looking for positive signs and things to build from.</p>
<p>"I did say to the guys, we're not going to play the Lakers every night, either. If we play with that kind of effort and if we execute like that and we rebound just a little bit better, we've got a chance to be pretty good," Gentry said.</p>
<p>The rebounding actually wasn't all that bad tonight either. The Lakers only had three more total rebounds and get this, the Suns out-scored L.A. 14-10 in second chance points. </p>
<p>The rebounding effort tonight was lead by big Robin Lopez who finished with 14 boards to go along with his 18 points. It was without question the best game of the young season for the third-year center. Lopez talked about the different role he has to play on the glass this season with Amare Stoudemire now taking advantage of some other big man's work in New York.</p>
<p>"I have to be that guy to hit the best rebounder on the (other) team," Lopez said.</p>
<p>"Last year, I hit him, stay on him and make sure he doesn't get the board. This year I kind of have to change up. I have to hit him and then pursue the ball as well."</p>
<p>The statistics don't show it, but the Suns played solid defense against the Lakers. The numbers that best reflect that are the 50-42 points in the paint advantage for the Suns and the 27 three point attempts that Jackson wasn't happy with. L.A. connected on 44.4 percent of those three's which is a big reason they were able to stave off several Suns attempts to close the lead. Kobe Bryant, lead the Lakers with 25 points but he needed 19 field goal attempts to get there and only had five freebies from the line.</p>
<p>"We played with great effort on (Kobe) , we did a good job," Gentry said about his team's defense on one of the best players in the world.</p>
<p>"We kept him off the line for the most part and I think that becomes important. You can see with this team right here that we did a great job on (Kobe) and then Pau (Gasol) has a great game. We do a good job on Pau and he throws it out and guys make shots."</p>
<p>Grant Hill was again responsible for guarding Kobe and just like in last year's playoff series, he repeatedly stopped Bryant's attempts to penetrate and contested the resulting fade away jump shots. Kobe still hit several of those because he's still Kobe.</p>
<p>The brightest, and most consistent player for the Suns off the bench so far this season is Goran Dragic. In only about 16 minutes of action, Dragic is averaging 10.6 points per game and 3.6 assists and is shooting 52.2 percent so far this season. Goran is both pushing the ball and attacking the rim in transition as well as finding teammates in pick and roll action.</p>
<p>Dragic's play allows Gentry to rest Steve Nash more and not bring him back until half-way through the fourth period. Nash was only needed for 29 minutes in tonight's game and despite his 8 points and 9 assists and typically brilliant floor leadership, you would be hard pressed to find anyone calling for Nash to play more and Dragic less. In fact, if the current trend continues the opposite might happen.</p>
<p> "I feel great. I feel like last season, my is confidence it up. I still have to practice to improve some things, but I'm feeling free on the court and I can do whatever I want so I am really happy that I am here with the Phoenix Suns and that I can play with this team," Dragic said. Unlike last year, Goran can no longer throw on a baseball hat and go unrecognized around Phoenix. </p>
<p>Grant Hill, who took advantage of mismatches against smaller players when the Lakers tried to put their better defenders on Nash, finished with a team-high 21 points on the night. He is also happy with where the Suns are, especially coming off such a disappointing preseason loss to the Denver Nuggets.</p>
<p>"I'm just encouraged by this week," Hill said. "We did it for 42 minutes in Portland and we did a great job last night (in Utah) and we came out and competed tonight."</p>
https://arizona.sbnation.com/phoenix-suns/2010/10/29/1783170/both-phoenix-suns-and-los-angeles-lakers-encouraged-by-early-seasonSeth Pollack2010-10-29T22:07:56-07:002010-10-29T22:07:56-07:00Phoenix Suns Put Up Good Fight But Drop Home Opener To Los Angles Lakers, 114-106
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/P6ofBQ524D9vVwaMjMr-870A4J4=/0x26:400x293/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47828097/large_arizona.sbnation.com.minimal.0.png" />
</figure>
<p>The Phoenix Sun had a tough task playing the Los Angeles Lakers for their home opener and the result was as expected. But the home town boys gave the fans a solid game through a combination of gritty effort and skilled play. The Suns had no answer for Pau Gasol (not many teams do) and couldn't keep Lamar Odom off the glass but offensively Phoenix continues to make quick progress. There are no moral victories in sports but if there were, this would be one.</p>
<p>Defensively, the Lakers took advantage of Turkoglu defending Odom and the Suns rarely double-teamed Pau Gasol who is one of the league's most efficient scorers. Odom finished with 18 points and 17 rebound and Gasol 21 points and 8 rebounds. The Suns had Grant Hill assigned to Kobe Bryant most of the game and just like in the playoffs last year, Grant played solid defense and Kobe still hit shots. He finished with 25 points on 9-for-19 shooting. The Lakers shot 48.4 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Suns 46-43.</p>
<p>With the ball, the Phoenix Suns showed a more varied attack with Steve Nash finding Robin Lopez more frequently on pick and rolls and penetration dump-offs. The spacing initially was off but they kept working at it and improved within the game. The Suns were able to take advantage any time Lakers guard Derek Fisher moved off Nash and tried to "hide" on Grant Hill or Jason Richardson. The Suns attacked that mismatch relentlessly and punished Fisher in the post. </p>
<p>The star of the game for the Suns was Slovenian back up point guard Goran Dragic. Dragic single-handedly keep the Suns in the game in the second quarter with an array of drives and pull-up shots. He finsihed the game with an impressive 15 points and 4 assists in only 18 minutes of play. The Suns are going have to find more minutes for their most consistent and effective bench player. </p>
<p>Robin Lopez, who struggled in his previous two games of the season, played extremely well and finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Hedo Turkoglu played better than his 9 point, 6 rebound, 3 assist stat line might show and Grant Hill was a stud as always leading the Suns scoring with 21 points. </p>
https://arizona.sbnation.com/phoenix-suns/2010/10/29/1783115/phoenix-suns-put-up-good-fight-but-drop-home-opener-to-los-anglesSeth Pollack2010-10-29T11:43:57-07:002010-10-29T11:43:57-07:00LA Lakers Come To Phoenix For Date With Suns, 7:30 P.M.
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/P6ofBQ524D9vVwaMjMr-870A4J4=/0x26:400x293/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47828097/large_arizona.sbnation.com.minimal.0.png" />
</figure>
<p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.silverscreenandroll.com/">Los Angeles Lakers</a> are going to be a formidable team this season and have already <a href="http://losangeles.sbnation.com/los-angeles-lakers/2010/10/24/1771185/lakers-host-rockets-on-ring-night-tuesday-at-staples-center" target="_blank">proven that by beating</a> the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.thedreamshake.com/">Houston Rockets</a> in come-from-behind fashion without the services of <span>Andrew Bynum</span> and with a slightly hobbled <span>Kobe Bryant</span>. They won that game in large part due to their improved bench, which was weakness of the Lakers last season.</p>
<p><span>Steve Blake</span> was big in that game and he's always been a guy that's given the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/">Phoenix Suns</a> fits. <span>Pau Gasol</span>, another guy the Suns have no answer for, put up the insane box score line of 29 points and 11 rebounds against the Rockets front line.</p>
<p>In other words, sit back and open a cold beer and prepare to have your expectations lowered because the chances of the Suns Beating LA -- despite the 10,000 times you are going hear or read "Beat LA" -- are slim to highly unlikely. But as they (we) like to say, "nothing's impossible," which is "why they play the game." Didn't you know was sports cliche day?</p>
<p>The Suns are coming off an impressive win over the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.slcdunk.com/">Utah Jazz</a> in Salt Lake City last night. They put together the kind of game they are going to need to get wins this season, which includes scrappy, active defense; superb bench play; and great outside shooting. Phoenix got standout performances from <span>Grant Hill</span> (12 rebounds); <span>Goran Dragic</span>, who was fantastic despite a sore knee (11 points, six assists in only 15 minutes); and, of course, <span>Hakim Warrick</span> who showed progress in being the roll man the Suns pick and roll needs (18 points, 11 rebounds).</p>
<p>On the downside, the Suns only got to the line 16 times and <span>Robin Lopez</span> in two games has a combined nine points and 11 rebounds. He fouled out of the Jazz game in only 20 minutes. Perhaps Robin is feeling the pressure of being "The Man" and understanding that the Suns are going to need big things from him this season, or maybe he just had a couple of bad games.</p>
<p>The Suns were able to survive without Robin on the floor much against a smaller Utah front line, but against the Lakers, he's going to have to play huge if the Suns have any chance of keeping this game close. That match-up between Lopez and Gasol will be the most important on the floor despite all the attention that will be paid to the Goran Dragic vs. <span>Sasha Vujacic</span> side show (should <span>Phil Jackson</span> even play Mr. Sharapova). </p>
<p>Even with the properly lowered expectations that come with playing the rested defending NBA Champions on the second of a back-to-back, this is still the Suns home opener and there's no reason not to have fun with it; just don't hang your head if the home team leaves the court without the win. This one falls on the hands of the NBA schedule makers who, for some reason, thought it would be funny to put the Suns and Lakers on national TV without the benefit of an even playing field in terms of rest. </p>
<p><b>Phoenix Suns from around the web:</b></p>
<p> </p>
<ul>
<li>
<span style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 12px;"><a href="http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2010/10/29/1781280/the-phoenix-suns-rock-and-roll-all-over-the-jazz-110-94" target="_blank">The Phoenix Suns Rock and Roll all over the Jazz 110-94 - Bright Side Of The Sun</a> </span><span style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 12px;">I shed a small tear as I saw Warrick and Nash put on a developmental show. It was like something was starting to click in Warricks internal clock - he stopped listening to his logical instincts and started trusting Nash and his amazing balls. More and more throughout the game Nash wanted to run the PnR with Warrick and each time his confidence would improve and he'd dive harder to the basket - drawing fouls and finesse finishing around the rim.</span>
</li>
<li><span style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 12px;"><a href="http://arizona.sbnation.com/phoenix-suns/2010/10/29/1781781/phoenix-suns-utah-jazz-steve-nash-jared-dudley-jmz" target="_blank">Jared Dudley Reports From Utah; Yes, Those Are Some Very Skinny Jeans - Desert Dirt - SB Nation Arizona</a> Jared Dudley continues to give glimpses into the Suns locker room, which consists of a slight Hakim Warrick with the "Holy-crap-I-can't-believe-I-play-with-Steve-Nash look" still shining in his eyes, a taciturn Grant Hill and a hipster Steve Nash.</span></li>
<li>
<span style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 12px;"><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2010/10/29/1781083/nba-scores-john-wall-sun-bench" target="_blank">NBA Scores And More: John Wall Struggles; The Suns Bench Shines - SBNation.com</a> </span><span style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 12px;">But the real story was the defense. The Jazz allowed 115.8 points per 100 possessions, cheating too much off Phoenix's shooters. Sometimes, you have to live with <span>Steve Nash</span> beating you as a scorer, and the Jazz weren't willing to accept that. They also struggled with guarding <span>Hedo Turkoglu</span> in pick and rolls, something the Suns figured teams would when they traded for him.</span>
</li>
<li>
<span style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 12px;"><a style="color: #c8181d !important; text-decoration: none !important; background-color: transparent;" href="http://www.slcdunk.com/" target="_blank">SLC Dunk - For Utah Jazz Fans</a> </span><span style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 12px;">Plus side... there weren't as many FTs this time around. That said, the Jazz were cold from downtown (3-13) while the Suns were feeling it (10-26). Fesenko only played 6 minutes, Evans didn't play (for some unknown reason), and the team looked pretty bad. That said... the booing was probably a bit much. Even though the team looked lethargic (at best), its only 2 games, and half of the team wasn't here last year. (To play devil's advocate... they could still look like they at least cared a little bit).</span>
</li>
<li>
<span style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 12px;"><a href="http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2010/10/five-things-to-watch-in-lakers-suns-matchup.html" target="_blank">Five things to watch in Lakers-Suns matchup | Lakers Blog | Los Angeles Times</a> </span><span style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 12px;">Though Sasha Vujacic didn't see the floor in the season opener, Jackson is considering matching him up with Goran Dragic because of their contentious history, but it remains uncertain considering Vujacic's the last man on the back-court depth chart</span>
</li>
<li>
<span style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 12px;"><a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.azcentral.com%2Fsports%2Fsuns%2Farticles%2F2010%2F10%2F28%2F20101028phoenix-suns-run-gun-stifle-utah-jazz.html&referrer=sbnation.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Farizona.sbnation.com%2F2010%2F10%2F29%2F2323357%2Fla-lakers-come-to-phoenix-for-date-with-suns-7-30-p-m" target="_blank" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener">Phoenix Suns run and gun, stifle Utah Jazz for first win</a> </span><span style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 12px;">Part of what sold the Suns on giving Warrick a four-year, $18 million contract was how he played against them. Warrick's strong dives to the hoop on pick-and-rolls helped him deliver an 18-point, 11-rebound game, his first double-double since he did it against the Suns in January.</span>
</li>
<li>
<span style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 12px;"><a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.azcentral.com%2Fsports%2Fsuns%2Farticles%2F2010%2F10%2F28%2F20101028phoenix-suns-like-their-big-men.html&referrer=sbnation.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Farizona.sbnation.com%2F2010%2F10%2F29%2F2323357%2Fla-lakers-come-to-phoenix-for-date-with-suns-7-30-p-m" target="_blank" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener">Phoenix Suns like their big men as is for now</a> </span><span style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 12px;">"I love playing with Hakim," Frye said. "You can still see he's trying to think about what he's supposed to do and not as aggressive rolling to the hoop. Once he gets that down, it's really going to open up our shots.</span>
</li>
<li>
<span style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 12px;"><a href="http://valleyofthesuns.com/2010/10/29/phoenix-suns-110-utah-jazz-94-suns-bounce-back/" target="_blank">Phoenix Suns 110, Utah Jazz 94: Suns win first game of season | Valley of the Suns</a> </span><span style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 12px;">Six Suns scored in double figures and all 10 players who entered the game played at least 15 minutes. The balanced effort was a welcomed sight after not seeing much continuity throughout the pre-season and first regular season game.</span>
</li>
</ul>
https://arizona.sbnation.com/2010/10/29/2323357/la-lakers-come-to-phoenix-for-date-with-suns-7-30-p-mSeth Pollack