Live-blog of Suns – Rockets

18.57

Conroy is a very good defender. He moves his feet very well and is able to stay in front of his man without fouling.

18.54

To revisit the earlier Ariza play, he was in the corner with a defender in his face and plenty of time remaining on the clock. He decided to shoot the contested jumper after facing up his man.

18.53

Phoenix closes out quarter with 9-2 run after Aaron Brooks exits the game.

18.52

Ariza just took what was probably his worst shot of the game, and that is saying a lot.

18.51

Just as I say that, the Suns are on a 7-0 run with Brooks on the bench

18.50

Brooks comes out with 2:20 left in the 3rd because of the 4 fouls. I’m not sure I agree with this decision because even though you need to protect him from that 5th foul, I worry the Suns will run away again. I would rather risk the 5th.

18.48

Brooks and Amare both with 4 fouls, 1 point game, towards the end of the 3rd. The Rockets still have their entire starting lineup on the floor interestingly. Chuck Hayes has done a very good job shutting down Stoudemire this quarter, similar to his performance against Aldridge in the 3rd the other night.

18.46

Frantic pace right now to close out the 3rd.

18.46

The Rockets take the lead with 3:07 left in the 3rd or Scola tipin.

18.44

Aaron Brooks picks up his 4th, 3:50 left in the 3rd – bad news with no Lowry

18.42

4:10 left in the 3rd and Aaron Brooks has suddenly caught fire leading the Rockets on a 14-2 run.

18.42

Nash with an amazing move to push the lead back up to 4: goes behind his back and then fades away

18.41

I’m trying to figure out why the NBA thought this commercial where they take normal dialogue and put it into some sort of soundtrack was a good idea…

18.40

I’m trying to figure out why the NBA thought this commercial where they take normal dialogue and put it into some sort of soundtrack was a good idea…

18.36

Who is the best face-up power forward you have ever seen? My finalists are probably Stoudemire and Barkley. Charles obviously had the much better post-up game though.

18.32

Wow. The Suns just double-teamed Hayes in the post and he spun away and reversed it in off the glass.

18.31

Hayes with some amazing defense on Stoudemire on last possession, 10 minute mark of 3rd. Bodied him up and kept him from driving.

18.28

60-48, halftime

18.04

54-38 with 3 minutes left in the 2nd. There’s no way we come back from this. Bill just said “Rockets are sleepwalking.” Did it occur to you guys possibly that the team is missing its 2nd best player and facing a very good Suns team?

18.03

Grant Hill has 17 in the first half so far, we have 3 minutes remaining.

18.02

Grant Hill is ridiculous. He just hit a double pump jumpshot. Actually, I forgot that that was one of the things about Hill from the 90’s – he always looked like he was double pumping on his jumpers.

18.01

Joey Dorsey enters the game – 4:15 in the 2nd. Take note: This is huge. Daryl Morey’s only career blemish has just entered the game.

18.00

To answer my previous question about Yao and if anyone was more mechanical – Steve Nash is at the free throw line right now.

17.59

Clyde just said he didn’t sense any sense of hunger from the Rockets during this homestand. I just don’t get that – when people say things like that. Maybe a team just isn’t playing good? Why does it always have to be attributed to a lack of effort?

17.58

One interesting thing I just noticed is the contrast in these two teams’ offenses. The Rockets utilize the entire court, spreading it around, looking for the open spaces. But for the Suns, it seems like everything comes from the very middle of the court, like right in that free throw area. They want to drive around on the perimeter and then dump it back into that area. Maybe I’m just imagining it. It works real well for them because Stoudemire is the best driving power forward in basketball, maybe basketball history. So it makes sense to build an offense that results in the ball arriving in the free throw area to end plays.

17.53

BTW, I’m really impressed by this Earl Clark kid so far. He just cut off Landry right now on his move, but is showing some very impressive skills on the other end, despite not scoring much. Great size also.

17.52

Yao Ming made 92 of 100 free throws today, his first time back. Is there a more mechanical guy in the league than Yao?

17.51

A few moments ago, Carl faced up on Lopez and drove baseline and had the shot bothered by Robin. I guess I was wrong earlier about that matchup. The beauty of live-blog on display: putting me in my place.

17.48

8:46 in the 2nd, Budinger passes it off to Landry on the fast-break for the slam. Budinger is a very good decisionmaker on the break. If you watch clips of him from the McDonald’s game, you can see really just how skilled a passer he is.

17.45

Conroy looks extremely, extremely slow off the dribble – like he’s stuck in quicksand. My first impression.

17.44

Early 2nd quarter, Lopez guarding Landry – there’s no way this ends up well for the Suns.

17.40

Rockets down 28-21 after the 1st. I don’t like the way this one is going so far but I say that every game.

17.39

Will Conroy in the game now for the first time to close out the 1st. He dribbles it up top, holds on to it, and then passes it to Chase on the wing for the 3. Yeah – Conroy is a good decision maker.

17.34

Landry and Stoudemire are both in the game but are not guarding each other, clearly by design by their coaches – pretty interesting decision.

17.33

Oh no!! David Andersen is guarding Amare Stoudemire! That should not be happening.

17.29

Budinger is so smooth, 3 minute mark of the 1st, hits a mid range jumper off a screen

17.27

It was a coincidence – Chase came in for Shane, not Trevor. I was hoping, I don’t know why I was this optimistic, that Rick decided to yank Trevor for his inexplicable decisionmaking, but twas not to be. I’m dumbfounded.

17.26

Rockets down 21-8 with 4 minutes left in the 1st – I can’t see us coming back from this without Lowry to right the ship.

17.26

Those of you reading this Monday morning, 5 minute mark of the first, Trevor Ariza dribbled left, got trapped, picked up his dribble, turned to his right, had two defenders on him and decided it would be a good idea to fade-away for the jumper. You had to be there to believe it.

17.25

Just as I say that, Chase Budinger gets up off the bench – coincidence? I hope not.

17.24

Wow, Trevor Ariza is just terrible – terrible.

17.22

Was just now thinking, “would be cool if there was a way for those of you following along to chime in.” Then it hit me that the concept of a chatroom had already been invented quite some time ago….

17.20

Rockets down 14-6, I don’t like how this one is going so far, then again, that has been the trend of late in first quarters…

17.17

Grant Hill is more offensively skilled than four of our starters (sans Brooks) put together…

17.14

“He would be a great acquisition for any team.” – Clyde on Amare Stoudemire.

17.13

Shane with the cross-over…

17.11

“Every year, he’s getting better and better.” Steve Smith on Carl Landry.

The ironic thing here is that, while this isn’t how he meant it, he’s actually completely right. Usually, when a young player’s production increases from year-to-year, its simply due to an increased role on the team or increased strength/adjustment to the NBA game. But in Carl’s case, he’s actually developed a full-blown offensive arsenal right in front of our eyes during his time here. I haven’t seen a young player make that kind of progression while I’ve been watching the Rockets.

17.08

Carl Landry second in the league in 4th quarter scoring.

17.05

Landry vs. Stoudemire is a much more compelling matchup than Nash vs. Brooks, IMHO.

17.02

Looking back, it’s kind of interesting to see how Aaron Brooks and Carl Landry emerged as this team’s two biggest stars because most 25 year olds leading their teams were lottery picks who got thrown into the fire immediately. But for Aaron and Carl, at first, we just saw them during their rookie years in very short spurts, almost situationally. It’s almost like they were hot-shot minor league arms who were called up and used at first just to get that big out in the 7th. Thinking back to how Landry and Brooks were used at first, Carl in his first few games just stayed under the hoop and dunked everything in sight while Aaron was just handed the ball and allowed to simply use his speed to score. It was just capitalizing on raw talent. Hitters haven’t seen this guy yet. Just bring him up and tell him to use that 95mph fastball and blow them away. Don’t worry about mixing it up – we’ll work on that later, kid. Carl and Aaron delivered and became full-time setup men as they were handed regular roles on the team. Now they’ve finally cracked the starting rotation and we’re seeing if the league has caught up to them. Will need to develop that 3rd pitch to sustain this.

16.55

Wow, Aaron Brooks is really popular around the league…

16.48

Was just now imagining the thrill of live-blogging a playoff game. On that note, what teams are the most conducive to live-blogging? It would have to be Fratello’s Cavs in the mid-90’s that averaged something like 85ppg – you could easily get like 3 or 4 posts in for each possession. On the other hand, try live-blogging the 2004 Suns. Probably not possible without some serious keyboarding credentials.

16.44

Aaron Brooks just said Kevin Johnson was his favorite player growing up. Ironic, because KJ was hands down my favorite player in the 90’s. This is the guy, more than anyone in that era, whose legacy was affected by injuries. At his best, KJ was better, more talented, than Stockton. Bill Walton made it a point to let us know almost every Suns game that “Kevin Johnson is the only guy I have seen be able to take on Magic Johnson head on in Magic’s prime.”

16.41

Hearing the pre-game discussion about this one on NBAtv, I’m not sure people, even Rockets fans, realize how much Kyle Lowry means to this team. He’s a part of all of their most efficient 5-man units. This is a huge loss for the team. Not only is he their backup point guard, but he’s also probably their best shooting guard. Aaron Brooks has been phenomenal for the team – no disrespect to him. It’s just tragic that Kyle Lowry doesn’t get the credit he deserves for this team’s success thus far.

16.37

“When you make the NBA, you play for all 30 teams.” – Eddie Johnson on how Amare Stoudemire should handle the trade rumors

15.36

“You notice that the Rockets offense lately has been dominated by Landry and Budinger?” – Clyde

Well, considering we only have like, 4 guys on the team that can score, not much of a surprise…