But I think that stat is the most telling reason why you can both like Jennings while not giving up in DeRozan after 9 games. Can you even imagine a scenario where DeRozan would be able to take 34 shots?

This season, maybe. But when the Suns were really on form a few years ago, people don’t realize they were one body-check (or better officiated) game from really having a strangle hold on the Western Conference. The Spurs won with a combination of skill, grit, dirty play and luck. Not to mention some big-time plays the year after like Duncan hitting a 3-pointer.

The Suns in their prime were a playoff team. Unfortunately, I think that this incarnation is not deep enough, or tough enough since the loss of Diaw and Bell, who played some very above-average man defence.

I can guarantee that if Bowen were on any of the ‘lesser’ teams in the West, he would have fouled out of every game, because he would not have been given so much latitude to grab, grind and bump Nash every opportunity.

Although I think it would be a good strategy to put Wright on Nash, I am concerned that the refs will give him a hard time, and limit his ability to throw Nash off his game.

Without Turk in the lineup, I think we will see a lot of Wright and Belinelli. I wouldn’t be surprised, however, if it was Wright’s job to guard Nash throughout the night, and switch Jose onto Hill. It worked for the Spurs in the playoffs, but Wright is not nearly as pesky as Bowen.

Against the Suns, they seem more like the type of opponent who will score 125 against the Raps!
So the Raps had better score more!

I’m not holding anything against the Raps, their offense has been phenomenal and exceeded everybody’s expectations.

It isn’t. Only using field goal percentage would result in a failure to take into account how often free throws are being shot and how often 3 pointers are being allowed. Points per 100 possessions is by far the best overall stat to measure team offense and defense.

After that you can get into more specific information, like opponent 3 point percentage, field goal percentage, number of opponent free throws, turnovers created, and so on and so forth. But that information doesn’t tell you overall who the best and worst teams are.

What if a team doesn’t want to play at a particular pace? Why are we holding that against them?

It has nothing to do with holding anything against anybody, it’s simply about accurately processing information. Adjusting for pace results in a clearer picture of how many points each team produces. The Raptors are the top offensive team in the NBA. Let’s give them a little credit.

Frye’s shooting the last three games have been atrocious. Mind you these games were played over 4 days (7games in 10), so he might have lost his legs during this stretch. Nevertheless, Bargs will be playing D outside the key tonight (so don’t bitch if he doesn’t grab 6-7 rebounds)as Frye hangs around the 3 point-line on offense.

JRich could be the “X” factor tonight. However, his career FG% from the 3 is very poor. I would take my chances with J Rich throwing up 3’s rather than let Amare and Nash destroy us all night on the pick n’ roll

Same with packing the paint… there are alot of extremely good 3pt shooters on that team… Grant Hill is still a great shooter as with J-Rich and Frye. Amare might not hit the 3 but he can knock down those open shots.

Personally, I say get a hand up in everyone’s face as often as possible and make sure we get every defensive rebound out there. Its a rare team that can defend Phoenix well.

The pace extrapolation never quite made sense to me, 48 minutes is a unit unto itself, it shouldn’t need an arbitrary adjustment to make things “even”. What if a team doesn’t want to play at a particular pace? Why are we holding that against them?

Having said, that, I understand the stat and do think it’s got merit.

By all means necessary, STOP DRIBBLE PENETRATION!

How will this will be achieved?

Pack the paint and use our fouls to slow down the fluidity of the Phoenix offense. We should force Grant Hill to take jump shots by playing off of him and allow Frye the open Three. (I would argue that his early success from the 3 point line is an aberration) Moreover, we might want to try putting Wright on Nash. This would be a good opportunity to try Hedo at the point forward at some point during the game (only if Hedo is healthy ofcourse). A lineup of Wright vs. Nash, Derozan/Jack vs. JRich, Hedo vs Hill, Bosh vs. Amare, and Bargs on Frye might be successful against this suns lineup.

Before everyone gets upset. I am not suggesting that we bench Calderon. I am merely suggesting that we try this lineup if Jose continues to get burned by Nash or (hopefully) gets into foul trouble.

Against an offensive team such as the suns, we need to make life difficult for them on offense through hard fouls, playing dirty, and teams toughness.

Always remember if you aren’t cheating than you’re not trying!!