Recap: Warriors 101 Suns 105- No Excuses

by Atma Brother ONE on Dec 16, 2006 6:54 PM PST in Recaps Comment 5 comments

Coming off a very emotional win against the Houston Rockets, the Warriors unfortunately reverted back to the same ol' Dubs last night. It was the usual script:

Warriors come out flat.
Warriors get down by 25 points.
Warriors make a nice little run and are up by 10.
Warriors make a bunch of mistakes in the closing minutes.
Warriors lose a close one... again.

Final Box Score

Look on the bright side- Raja Bell didn't clothesline any Warriors last night!
(AP Photo/Paul Connors)

Keeping It Positive
Okay, it was another textbook loss for the Warriors, but let's take a second and focus on the positives:

Shawn Marion and Monta Ellis couldn't believe it... FOYLE TO THE RIM!
(Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images)

One more time... FOYLE TO THE RIM!
(Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images)

Um, so yeah. Not quite what you'd expect.

Great Front Court vs No Front Court
Let's not front. The Suns' front court thoroughly dominated the Warriors.

Shawn Marion: 14 points, 10 boards, 2 steals, and 3 blocks

Amare Stoudemire: 25 points, 10 boards, 1 steal, and 2 blocks

Boris Diaw: 21 points, 14 boards, 10 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block

Ouch.

LL Cool P, but the box score loves Diaw almost as much as Miss SunsGossip.
(AP Photo/Paul Connors)

As for the Dubs, well let's just say aside from Mickael Pietrus (18 points, 8 boards, 1 pick, and 1 swat) it wasn't pretty. Matt Barnes, Andris Biedrins, and Mike Dunleavy combined to score 17 points. The Warriors "big men" didn't exactly play shut down defense either.

I didn't even realize Dun was out there last night.
(AP Photo/Paul Connors)

No excuses
Sure, Jason Richardson and Troy Murphy were out. Sure, the Warriors were on the second of a back to back. Sure, the refs were calling some of the worst offensive fouls on the Warriors I've ever seen in my life.

But no excuses.

If the Warriors are going to get to the playoffs this season, they're going to need to win games like this on the road, especially against Pacific Division opponents. The Warriors have a shameful 1-7 record on the road right now. It's going to be a serious test of what this team is made of with the next 5 games on the road. There are two very winnable games against the Toronto Craptors and the Boston "overrated youth" Celtics, but the Nets, Magic, and Heat ain't no joke.

As for the Suns...
They're baaaaaack. 13 in a row. I have to had it to them. Last year I thought it was somewhat of a fluke that they made it to the Western Conference finals as they didn't have to face the Mavs or Spurs in the semifinals despite having a poorer record than both. This year with Amare on board the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Snores should be scared... very, very scared. I could see this squad winning it all this season. If only they tried on defense (ahem, Steve Nash), they'd have it locked it up.

Andris Biedrins bows down to Amare as he continues to dunk on fools.
(Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images)

After 13 straight wins Suns' coach Mike D'Antoni can hardly contain himself!
(Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images)

Warrior Wonder
We've seen better games from Boom Dizzle this season, but I have to hand it to him for being a team leader last night. His body language when the Warriors were down early showed confidence and that "let's hang in there- we can do this guys!" attitude. Props on the nice effort and leadership.

Shout out to astute Warriors fan Jason Gurney of Lowpost.net fame for having Miss SunsGossip, representing the SunsGossip crew, and I over for the game. Props to Jason for putting up with Miss SunsGossip's and my back and forth trash talk all night long... FOYLE TO THE RIM!

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Comments

At least they made it close

My pleasure--it was a fun, but it would have been a lot cooler if the W's had pulled it out.

I don't know whether it's a good sign or a bad sign that Foyle is now playing his best ball of the season.

by jgurney on Dec 16, 2006 8:34 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

In my opinion

the back to back came into play in the fourth where the Warriors intense zone defense began to fall apart and they started to hoist perimeter jumpers instead of driving.

That picture of Mike D'Antoni - LOL - briefly makes me forget the pain of this loss.

by racsan on Dec 16, 2006 8:52 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

If they hadn't spotted the suns so many points

it wouldn't have taken so much effort in the 4th. This team seems to either play really good or really bad, they need to develop a sustainable middle ground thru-out whole games.

by Skeptic con Urquell on Dec 16, 2006 9:40 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

No kidding

It was nice to be able to come back from exactly 0 POINTS through the first 6 minutes or so to their 20 or whatever it was, but why did it have to come to that anyway?

A nice effort on a back to back to make it a game, but the Suns at home were too much this time.

I sorta predicted a Diaw triple double before the game. Too bad that prediction was true and I didn't predict something better like Warriors win. (Got the score nearly exact for the Houston game)

As for Foyle playing the best basketball of the season, these last two games are the only one's he's gotten enough minutes to be productive. A consumate pro so to speak, to not play for weeks then suit up to do his job as asked of him by Nellie.

by back2back51s on Dec 16, 2006 10:27 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

That D'Antoni Pic

Simply creeps me out waaaaayyy too much.

Everybody make sure to write in Adonal Foyle (I've had ballots rejected that said FOYAL. Sorry 51.) on your All-Atar ballot! What I tell ya guys! I know how to pick 'em!