basketball092

Rising Suns in LA E-mail
Written by Don   
Friday, 13 November 2009 00:01
Phoenix have been on a tear.  There isn't a single team in the NBA that are in better form now (tho' a few might argue to be equally good).  They come into town on the back of a 20 point thrashing of Nawleans, and should be more than eager to take on the Lake-show in LA.  So, what do they bring?  Let's ask Bloguin's Suns Stuff'd chief - Jamie Gilkey.  I asked him the following questions:
- How do you rate your chances of beating LA in LA?
- Is PHX the real deal, or is this just an anomaly?
- Steve Nash's been incredible, but the player I'm impressed with is Amare. He's playing defense. Who do you focus on for being the reasons for the Suns' great start?
- Final outcome of this game?

His response follows...

Behind Enemy Lines
Jamie Gilkey, Suns Stuff't
Are the Suns real you ask?!?
Real - who us? YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING!!!
The Suns are: 1) The highest scoring team in the NBA, 2) Have knocked down one hundred 3-pointers faster than any team in league history, 3) Are blended better than a classy chocolate malt and, 4) Can knock down buildings with their bare hands.
Sure - Phoenix is facing an uphill slog against the hated - you heard right - Lakers. But we already nailed the Celtics last week and Kobe'sCrew won't be far behind.
We might not getcha' this time but the Suns' 3-point blizzard is destined to bump-off LA by the season's end.

fish-n-ron
Andrew Bynum's expected to make a welcome return to the line-up on Thursday, but Pau Gasol is still out, the hamstring injury being a little worse than initially expected.  Phil Jackson stated that Gasol's return has been pushed back to "maybe around Christmas".
"His has been one of those things wasn't a big concern to us, but has turned into a month-long injury." (ESPN)

The return of Bynum tho' gives LA a big who can crash with the best of them.  And he'll need to - Amare Stoudemire's been on fire.  More worrisome for LA is how to stop, or at least limit, Steve Nash.  I wonder if Fisher'll be allowed to do the bump 'n' grind he employed on Aaron Brooks.  As Jamie stated above: the Suns have been living off 3 point land, and I think the Lakers have to focus on taking that away.  Bynum's presence should be a deterrent in the paint, but they have to watch the D out deep.
Ron Artest will be looking to put some of his own physical brand of D out there, and offensively he should benefit from having the focus removed from him a bit with Bynum back in the line-up.

For the Suns tho', they have to be wondering themselves about something: how to stop Kobe Bryant.  It's amazing, guy wins a title - and rather than sit back and admire that, he goes out and adds even more to his bag of tricks.  Age 31, and he's a more complete offensive weapon than ever before. No-one else in the NBA has been playing better than Kobe Bean Bryant.

All in all, I think the Lakers have enough to get by the Suns.  Game two of a back-to-back, Bynum back, and no-one to defend Kobe should seal the deal.  LA by single digits (how's 8 points?).
 

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