This was always going to be a tough game and without Frye the Suns did well to make a contest of it. The killer was the second quarter and first half of the 3rd. The Lakers just had their way with a stagnant Phoenix offense on one end and a generous zone defense on the other.
The Lakers are vulnerable, but they’re know it, and are intent on re-establishing themselves. Meanwhile the Suns are coming off five days’ rest, but still two rotation players short thanks to Frye’s suspension and Barbosa “not being ready.” Um…your team is fighting for playoff positioning and they don’t have Frye’s scoring off the bench against a division rival. Maybe you should…I don’t know…push through it?
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Kobe was dazed and confused when the Lakers last played in Phoenix on December 28th.
The other day the Nuggets’ director of quantitative analysis, Dean Oliver, told me that he’d found teams with “quants” integrated into their decision process had won about 60% of their games . David Biderman of the Wall Street Journal has checked on all 30 teams .
The Suns, led by Steve Nash, have been one of the NBA’s most electricfying teams.
Phoenix is a nice place to visit, and Amare Stoudemire keeps the Suns as a viable threat. Mike Bresnahan covers the Lakers for The Times and ties up loose ends on the day of his self-designated “game of the week.” The Lakers play Friday night at Phoenix.
Steve Nash and Goran Dragic said they’re ready to go Friday against the Lakers. Leandro Barbosa said he isn’t
That is the Gorilla wrapped in Christmas lights. It was nothing to do with this story. (Photo by Max Simbron) View full size photo » Coach Gentry closed the normal team huddle at the end of practice with a quote from the poem Invictus: It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul
With five days of downtime coming to a close for the Phoenix Suns, the team has been gearing up to tackle the 17 remaining games of the regular season starting with a tip-off against the visiting Lakers tomorrow night.
