Game Notes: Suns @ Raptors, Dec. 5, 2007

Quick thoughts the day after seeing Steve Nash play NBA ball in person for the first time as the Suns whupped the Raptors 136-123:

• Nash honestly doesn’t give two shits whether he scores or assists or not, so long as the offence is clicking. Nash clocked 18 dimes in 33 minutes, and easily could have had five more had teammates hit open shots. He also could have rested for the entire fourth quarter, but for a hint of a Raptor comeback.
• Speaking of open shots, it’s been a damn long time since I’ve seen so many players so wide open from downtown. I had to use shorthand while keeping game notes at the ACC because the pace of this one was so frenetic, and there are chunks of notes that read “Hill – WO – 4 3, LB – WO – 4 3, LB – WO 4 3, NO D!” That translates, in proper English to three wide-open three pointers on consecutive Suns possessions, as well as a little note to remind me — as though Sam Mitchell wasn’t going to remind everyone after the game — that the Raptors’ defence was atrocious.
• Speaking of Leandro Barbosa and his 35-point evening, it’s fair to say that he’s as quick, if not quicker, than TJ Ford, who is widely considered one of the NBA’s fastest players. In fact, starting in the third quarter Mitchell began playing Ford and Jose Calderon together for long stretches (something he only did last year in the very last few minutes, to ensure the Raps had two ball-handlers for an inbounds pass), simply so that TJ could try to use his quicks to keep up with LB. The problem with this is that TJ, much like his teammates, wasn’t so into the defence on this night.
• The Pizza Slice Promo has got to go. There was a period of three minutes or so in the early stages of the fourth quarter (my notes have it beginning with about 11:00 – 8:30 remaining, when the Raptors were down about 20 points and were making a mini-run. The crowd was simply going crazy, booing every call that went against the home team (and loudly), screaming their lungs out for every Raps bucket and generally creating some genuine pandemonium in the ACC. The Raps cut it to 13 before an LB layup and a Raptor turnover essentially swung the momentum back to Phoenix, but the crowd was still into it … then I looked at the scoreboard. Those three minutes of wild enthusiasm? Yep, they coincided with the Raps going from being down 106-87 to trailing 117-101. In other words, the game was pretty much done before they started cheering. It wasn’t a plucky and inspiring comeback they wanted, it was a cheese and pepperoni slice. Ridiculous.
• It was interesting to see Jamario Moon matched up against a much more polished version of himself in Phoenix’s Shawn Marion. Matrix has the same uber-athletic hops and wild athleticism that has Toronto fans falling in love with Jamario, and he also knows when to employ it and when to play within himself. It was a tough matchup for the rook, as he couldn’t just leap over everyone to tip those rebounds out to his teammates. Marion was also hell for him on the defensive end when he wasn’t on the bench with foul trouble, as Moon is used to cheating on his man a bit to come over for those crowd-pleasing blocks. Matrix got a few open looks out of it, but missed a bunch of them. Still, eight points, 10 boards and two blocks ain’t bad for Moony.
• At least the fourth-quarter mini-run brought Canada’s favourite son back out for a curtain call. When the Raps cut it to 13, and were pushing the tempo, Mike D’Antoni had to put Nash back into the game, allowing the crowd a chance to voice their displeasure about his no-more-national-team-basketball decision. Just kidding. They cheered him at the intro, they cheered when he subbed in or out, and if they could have been in the locker room after the game, they would have cheered when he came out of the showers. More power to him, I guess. I’ve made my feelings on that issue known.
• Shawn Marion is very soft-spoken in the locker room. Amare Stoudemire is not. Amare is also a freak of nature when viewed up close and in person. Also, he has so many tattoos I was not sure where to look first. It’s quite a sight.
• The good news is that, after surveying the locker rooms of various basketball teams, I have finally found a player who comes close to matching my chiseled physique. The bad news is that it’s Eric Piatkowski.
• As a final note, unless I have time to add some more later, Joey Graham was awful in this one. He started both at tip-off and after halftime. He did very little with his minutes and, after fouling Amare for a three-point play, getting fouled himself at the other end, fumbling away a loose ball recovery and then taking an unnecessary, hurried shot … he found himself yanked after just two minutes of the second half. Bad Joey. Very Bad. Get well soon, Andrea and Chris. We can’t beat the good teams without at least one of you.