I'd like to introduce a new feature tonight from a loyal reader. Mike is a season ticket holder who volunteered his services to us. When he gets home from the games, Mike is going to write up his impressions of the crowd, the game and most importantly the stuff that happens in the arena that we, watching at home, are not privy to. Below, you'll find the first installment of what I hope is a long-running column here on Depressed Fan. Welcome aboard, Mike.
PREGAME SHOOTAROUND:
- Shaq & Sammy joined for a warm embrace at halfcourt. The two spoke
like they were old friends for a few moments. After Shaq walked away
Barbosa approached Dalembert and they also seemed to share some sort
of kinship. I have absolutely no idea how Sammy knows these guys.
Matt Barnes & Amundson exchanged brief pleasantries with a few former
teammates, but other no one else seemed to be buddies.
- Shaq takes warm-up foul shots from the dotted arc in the lane a
couple feet underneath the actual foul line. I've never seen anyone
do this before, and it looked even funnier than it sounds (We'll get
to his in-game foul shots in a moment).
- With all the trade rumors swirling around Stoudemire, I paid him
extra attention during warm-ups. I noticed veterans like Nash & Hill
made their rounds, chatting it up with several teammates during the
shootaround. Shaq is Shaq. He talks to everybody. This includes
dudes wearing red feathered hats with accompanying bling who probably
rented their outfits over the weekend when they heard Shaq would be
spending Monday night in Philly. Then, there's Stoudemire, who spends
the majority of warm-ups by himself stationed about 2 feet inside the
3pt line closest to the Suns' bench shooting jumpers. You can't help
but notice every single player on Phoenix is wearing the full orange
warm-up suit, except for Stoudemire. He wears a grey t-shirt over
long sleeved under armour. I could be oversensitive to all the
negative press he's been receiving lately, but the guy does not look
happy. On a team with such rich personalities, his brooding scowl
stands in stark contrast. To me, he just doesn't look like a guy who
is too happy to be on that team.
- One more thing I noticed before the game began. Little white girls
love Steve Nash. At least in Philly. The only orange jerseys I see
in the stadium are Nash's #13 worn by teenage girls. It was kind of
weird.
ONTO THE GAME:
- Thad gets off to a great start. He looks energized and aggressive.
Great to see. Iguodala's shot doesn't look like it's falling early
on. We'll see if that changes.
- In case anyone was wondering, Shaq is a lot bigger than Sammy. I'm
immediately reminded of the '01 Finals when Shaq would pound the ball
into Mutombo's helpless frame. There's just nothing you can do except
foul the guy. Which brings us to....
- Shaq's foul shots are so much fun to witness live. It's only the
1st Quarter, but the entire crowd builds to a swell as the ball rests
on his fingertips right before he shoots. Of course everyone loves it
when he misses.
- Im really sick of Lou's jump shots at the end of quarters. I'm sure
I'm not alone here.
- We have a first for the Kiss Cam this season: 2 chicks!! The crowd
was very pleased. They remained pleased when the Kiss Cam fixated on
Robin Lopez and Goran Dragic. Lopez finally looked up to the
Jumbotron, laughed, and then moved down 1 seat away from Dragic. (In
case you were wondering, during Saturday night's game, the Kiss Cam
spotted Dwayne Wade sitting next to Shawn Marion. Wade, always the
good sport, put his arm around Marion's neck and kiss him on the back
of the head. Marion looked up, like "What the..?" as Wade pointed
him in the direction of their image on the Jumbotron. Laughs all
around.
- Dalembert checked in for Evans after a foul on Shaq in the 2nd
Quarter, and Evans did not seem like he wanted to come out at all. He
stood at the foul line until Sammy patted him on the back, then walked
slowly back to the bench. Evans seems like the last guy who would
show up a coach, and I don't necessarily think that's what happened.
It was just one of those odd moments during a game I thought was
interesting.
- It was a dunk party during the first half. Multiple alley-oops,
capped off with Miller finding Speights for what was one of the most
exciting plays at the Wachovia Center all year. As I sit here typing
this now, I still don't know how Speights elevated to catch that pass
and throw it down with 1 hand. Phoenix looked slow all game, and
Philly looked like they just wanted it more.
- The 2nd half was actually pretty boring. The Suns were only down 11
at halftime, but they seemed resigned to take the L on the back end of
their 2nd game in as many nights. They came out of halftime with no
energy, and the game was pretty much over halfway thru the 3rd.
- It was clear to everyone in attendance that Speights had outplayed
his counterpart in Stoudemire. Stoudemire's lack of effort on defense
was really glaring, first when he was guarding Thad, and then
Speights. I know that was a matchup that everyone wanted to see, and
Speights really couldn't have played better.
- Lou went to the line in the 4th to shoot a technical foul shot. As
the ball rattled around the rim, he immediately put his hands on hips
and scoffed as if to say, "You gotta be kidding me. Can I get
anything tonight?" Then the ball rolled in, and he kind of laughed.
A few moments later he hit a 3, and raised his arms in the air, again
as if to say, "FINALLY." We're all frustrated with Lou, so it's good
to see he shares our disappointment. He knows he's not playing well.
I'm hoping it's just a matter of time before more of those jumpers
start falling.
Thanks, Mike. And if anyone has a suggestion or a question for a guy who's there every night, leave it in the comments.
Nice addition! Good stuff, Mike, and thanks for the change of pace. We hermits don't catch nearly any of that stuff on account of Comcast's obsession with the Steve Mix Nostril Cam. Maybe you can tell us what some of these newfangled tattoos are, because it really just looks like someone drizzled chocolate syrup all over Matt Barnes' neck.
And you know it's time to think about rebuilding when Louis Amundson is logging regular minutes...yikes.
Great blog. I am a season ticket holder and agree 100% with the above. I want to stress the 2nd half was extremely a let down after an exciting 1st half. Very odd half. I also think Royal is doing a great job on defense when he comes in for Miller.
Royal has really exceeded expectations, and he also has the added benefit of being completely incapable of hitting twos, but money from three. I mean, the guy can't hit a friggin layup to save his life, and he pretty much knows it. I love watching him.
He's been playing the three for some stretches as well, guarding the other team's best wing scorer. The guy has earned every penny, glad they have him signed through next season.
You know, Evans and Ivey have about the same complete lack of touch in the lane.
I wonder if that means that Evans is also a secret three point threat? His FT shooting might suggest otherwise, but we all remember that sweet turnaround jumper against Sheed in the playoffs...
I went to the game today as well. The Reggie thing was pretty odd. I think that he was deserving of a delay of game honestly. He was on the court barely past half court when the free throw was shot and was still on the court by the time some players had passed midcourt afterwards. Was really odd.
Speights' (never) boxing out was really tough to stomach. And his inability to focus was bothersome as well.
Lou dogged it multiple times it seemed, especially on that Ivey block. He gave his man like a full 2 second head start before he tried to run with him. Ivey's no lay ups mentality was refreshing to see.
That was a sick block by Ivey on the break.
Was anyone else impressed by Dalembert's strength? I mean, Shaq pushed him around, but not nearly to the extent that I expected, and Sammy really crowded him underneath, he had to short-arm couple shots up right underneath the hoop.
I think Sammy did a great job battling. Shaq looked tired to me. I didn't expect to see him starting personally. He normally takes the 2nd game of a back-to-back off I thought.
yea at the beginning of the game i was taken aback by how much bigger shaq looked, but sam actually did a great job muscling him underneath. i can't praise sammy enough for how well he's played since dileo took over.
Funny as sam did well against shaq but jamal magloire moved him around whenever he felt like it
like the attention to detail. more personal blog-style. big ups!!
this game was horribly uncompetitive on Phoenix's part.
great job, well done Mike, thanks Brian
keep these posts coming, being so far from Philly I particularly appreciate this kind of addition
thumbs up
thanks for the kind words everyone. this was fun. i look forward to doing these as long as people are reading.
This was really great to read, Mike. Thanks so much for the man on the scene report.... and keep 'em comin'!
I'd love to help as well when Sixers visit Rose Garden on Mar 23rd. That 's the only one game near WA this year.(I live in Seattle.)
cool feature
whoa whoa whoa. Im Mike. This is a cool feature though