Well, That Was Ugly

SUNS 98, LAKERS 119



This is not the start of the season you are looking for. This is just a bad dream that you will wake from just in time to watch the Devils stop Joe Germaine, David Boston, et. al. from winning the Rose Bowl. Paul Coro's column is fairly depressed about the effort and intensity, and rightly so.

Of all of the teams to lose to by 21, the Lakers are fairly far down my list of teams whom I would expect the Suns to lay an egg to. This is one of the few rivalries that the Suns have, but there was no emotion from this team.

The up-tempo style requires constant intensity, chemistry, and an unselfish attitude. The passion was absent, perhaps left on the plane after a 3:30 AM arrival from Seattle after Thursday's come-from-behind win. Chemistry is a difficult thing to quantify. One of the few things about chemistry is that it takes a while to build, especially with so many new faces (Grant Hill, Alondo Tucker, DJ Strawberry, Brina Skinner) and the absence of a few others (Kurt Thomas, Pat Burke). As Bickley pints out, the Suns have begun each of the past four seasons with a different starting five.

The key to the chemistry is getting Hill into the flow, especially getting him to slash more and not take so many three pointers. He only took TWELVE three pointers all of last season, surpassing that mark after only two games with the team. It is clearly not his specialty, keep him from doing it. The unselfish attitude of sharing the ball to find the open man looks to be there, but since the first two are not, the team struggles.

Barbosa and Raja are playing hurt. They should sit now and heal to prevent a nagging injury throughout the season. Raja's tweaked knee is the reason he is an abysmal 3 for 17 to start the season. Barbosa played well with bruised ribs, albeit in garbage time down by 30+.

In the end, I continue to tell myself and others the fact that IT IS THE FIRST WEEK OF THE SEASON. The chemistry will come. This team always struggles out of the gate due to the free-flowing nature of the system that relies on players knowing each other well.

Something needs to change for Sunday, when the LeBrons come to town. An interesting back-to-back next week with Charlotte and Atlanta that sould help us get things straingtened out.