Having fun with the Suns
Jan 16, 2014, 3:38 PM | Updated: Jul 26, 2024, 12:41 pm
The Phoenix Suns are worth it again.
It was great to get to a Suns game. So many nights during football season I’m catching up on college or NFL games I missed over the weekend. It never really slows down because now I’m watching every Suns, Coyotes, Sun Devils and UA game. If you mix in a headlining NBA game and major Top 25 college hoops, I’m a pretty boring guy who doesn’t leave the house much.
Wednesday night, though, there wasn’t a pressing game that needed to be watched except for the Suns. I decided to go to the game because I wanted to get a closer look at how Phoenix would respond to such a tough road trip that concluded with very poor results.
Some quick observations:
• I love watching Hornacek coach. Body language, quick decisions but still knowing the situation that no matter what happens, it’s still about the future. Gerald Green went 11-for-17 and exploited some terrible matchups that Mike D’Antoni (somehow) believed would work. When Green was about to go nuts and pick up a technical due to a terrible missed call, Hornacek stormed the court. Immediately drawing the official’s attention away from Green, Hornacek picked up a technical. Sure, there was an element of emotion taking hold of the coach, but there was also intelligence because his reaction came after he saw the way Green responded to the no-call.
• The Suns are still a great ticket. I realize it’s more of a crowd against the Lakers, but there was good energy in the building Wednesday. The last few years have been so frustrating it’s easy to take the Suns for granted. Every time I leave a Suns game, I wish I had time to go to more games.
• Markieff Morris was benched for lack of energy against Detroit. He only factored into the New York decision by getting ejected early with two dumb technical fouls. Morris came off the bench and provided an immediate energy boost on both ends against L.A. It wasn’t just that Morris scored, it was the way he scored. He attacked and didn’t settle. The Lakers front court couldn’t handle a focused Morris.
• Yes, the Lakers are a bad team. The win was impressive because of how bad the Suns shot the ball. Phoenix missed a ton of open looks. That’s going to happen. It shouldn’t affect the team on the defensive end and it shouldn’t affect team energy. Against the Lakers, it didn’t. This wasn’t impressive because of the competition; it was impressive because things didn’t go the Suns’ way due to officiating and shooting, but the Suns won anyway.
