Thread Tools

Display Modes

**Dissonance19** · 10-07-2007, 08:53 AM

Quote:

TUCSON - The Suns always love to find a willing running partner to help push the pace. They were matched with the perfect one Saturday night - themselves.

It was not a night to convince the masses about Phoenix's defensive prowess, save three Boris Diaw steals or Sean Marks' block on Rawle Marshall. But the Suns showed the progress of a week of training camp with a blended offense during Saturday's intrasquad scrimmage at McKale Center.

A team with a starting five of Steve Nash (15 points, nine assists), Diaw (21 points, 10 rebounds, five assists), Raja Bell (14 points), Marks (11 points, 11 rebounds) and Marcus Banks (17 points) won 97-91 in a 40-minute contest against a team that started Shawn Marion (30 points, 10 rebounds) Grant Hill (21 points, six rebounds, six assists), Brian Skinner (11 rebounds), Leandro Barbosa (13 points, seven rebounds, six assists) and D.J. Strawberry (eight points, six assists).

"It was a slugfest," Coach Mike D'Antoni joked. "That was the problem. You get excited about the offense, but you've got to remember you're also playing defense."

While Amaré Stoudemire spent the game doing suns.com Webcast analysis and knee rehabilitation work, his first-team center replacement this week was thriving. The coaches hoped a bad situation with Stoudemire's surgery would be good for Diaw to jump-start him like it did in Tucson two years ago.

Diaw dispersed the ball well as usual but led his team in scoring with 9-of-14 shooting, including three jumpers, a reverse dunk, a putback and a twisting layup as he was fouled.

It did not hurt Diaw's chances to be paired with Nash, who still was not his sharpest with 4-of-11 shooting (oddly, 1 of 7 inside the three-point arc) but easily was the crowd favorite and finished strong. A long Suns scrimmage Thursday finished with a tired, haggard look, but Saturday's was the team's best full outing.

"It was close; that's why it stayed sharp," said Marion, who had seven dunks and four layups for 14-of-18 shooting.

Marion, greeted with nothing but warmth by fans, paid Hill back for taking him to dinner this week by finishing off Hill's passes in the two-man game.

"The things (Hill) does on the floor makes everything so much easier," Marion said.

Hill also showed off his mid-range shooting forte by hitting 10 of 18 shots and backed up his declaration of good health by playing more than anyone but Barbosa. Hill, who has taken 40 three-pointers in the past seven seasons, made 1 of 2 three-point tries Saturday.

"That's what he is going to do," D'Antoni said of his shooting. "He'll shoot threes every once in a while, but most of his game is going to be off the dribble, making plays and playing smart defense. We've just got to keep him at this level."

About 7,000 fans attended. Suns General Manager Steve Kerr declared Tucson the team's long-term camp home and the Gorilla wore a Wildcats uniform. Hundreds of fans lined up two hours before tip.

"We pulled up in our cars today, and it was like people were waiting for the Beatles," Hill said. "I thought there would be a couple hundred people here. It definitely got loud and packed. It was good and refreshing. There are a lot of passionate fans here."

First-round draft pick Alando Tucker, quiet all week, stepped up with 11 points off the bench on 5-of-7 shooting.

**Seuss** · 10-07-2007, 12:30 PM

I heard Diaw played like a beast, that's what I wanted to hear.

He and Barbosa off the bench could be a great spark this year.

**IceMan23and3** · 10-07-2007, 12:48 PM

While these numbers look good, I don't think anyone played defense. I hope we don't end up scoring 120ppg and giving up 125ppg.

Thread Tools Display Modes

Thread Tools

Display Modes