Lv06|PHX|"From The Ashes" - Week 2 Results

go Scottie!
One thing bad about 2K9 is you can't edit the coaching staff like you can in Live...otherwise i would've made Rodman my Assistant Coach a long time ago
A, A+, and A your players are gonna become superstars in no time

A, A+, and A your players are gonna become superstars in no time

Yep, really quickly... I said MJ, it was Pippen, I wasn't very far from the answer

If Scottie was that great of a coach in real life, I'm sure he would've been hired by now haha.

Pippen's the perfect mentor for Brewer. Brewer has a long armed and athletic body like Pippen's and if he can teach Brewer how to hit a jumper then the sky's the limit for him.

If Scottie was that great of a coach in real life, I'm sure he would've been hired by now haha.

maybe you're right, but then again maybe he is and he should be, but since he hasn't been, his heretofore uber real life coaching abilities remain untapped lol

seriously though, i guess i rated him more on (imho) his knowledge of the game as a player in the given categories and what i think his impact/influence would be for a team were he able to communicate this knowledge effectively; i agree an open-minded Brewer under his tutelage would do wonders but i guess operative-words are "open-minded"

thx for the comments guys

Pippen, hell yeah. Make him work with Brewer like Its_asdf said. When Brewer was drafted, I hoped he'd prove everyone wrong.

Alright gents, start your engines! here are the games scheduled for the opening week of the season; please check out the new "Mad Dog Mayhem" Contest Rules and post your picks - results coming soon!


OPENING WEEK SCHEDULE: PHOENIX SUNS

Week 1

(Green - home; Blue - away)

and for the graphically impaired:
Oct 28: CHA @ PHX
Oct 30: ATL @ PHX

Amar'e Stoudemire, Steve Nash and 6.

I got it right?

perfect man
hmm... at this rate of entries, you're a lock for next season's roster or being a 'top ten' draft pick! lol

I'll go with Amare, Nash and 8.

ahh i remember the Jumbo contest

my picks will be J-Rich, Amare Stoudemire, and 7 fouls for the dog

On Coaching

So far the adjustment from retired player to assistant coach has been a relatively smooth transition. My job will keep me heavily involved with player training regimens, leaving most game-night coaching decisions to Suns' Head Coach, Alvin Gentry. One good thing I've noticed about Alvin is that, even though he's head coach and has the final say of things, he seems to be very receptive and willing to listen to his staff before coming to any conclusions.

Dan Majerle has also helped a lot with my transition, being a former player himself and now a Suns' assistant coach as well. His primary focus is on the offense and shooting aspect of the game in particular. It's our aim to see that the recent personnel changes cultivate a new up-tempo philosophy and get this team back to the style of play that made them a consistent playoff team not long ago.

On Training

After some discussion and evaluation of our roster and the pieces that compose it, Majerle and I agreed to keep our first few week's training focus on Leandro Barbosa and newcomer, Corey Brewer.



Barbosa's top-end speed up and down the court is unmatched; he's also a decent passer and has a silky shooting touch that should only improve under Majerle's guidance. In Brewer, I see a lot of potential; many have even compared him to a younger 'me' during my early days in Chicago. I remember how it was being that same skinny kid trying to find my place and prove myself; but I had the benefit of training and playing with the game's ultimate mentor. I'm hoping now to help pass on some of that knowledge.

On the Season Opener

Our first game of the season was at home vs the Charlotte Bobcats and really showed me a lot about the character of this team. The seasoned veterans really stepped up and set a great example for the young guns about maintaining focus for a full 48, sheer determination and the will to win.

Surprisingly Grant Hill burdened the scoring load pouring in a team-high 30 points, despite being the self-proclaimed 'senior citizen' of the team at age 37. Hill played like a man half his age and almost made me consider un-retiring.


Luc Mbah a Moute watches Grant Hill complete an impossible reverse layup.

Other key contributors were Barbosa and Brewer who combined for 24 points off the bench (to Majerle's and my personal satisfaction.) We must be doing something right with them, at least in these initial stages.

But Steve Nash was the hero of opening day, clinching the win for us in the closing seconds despite struggling to find his touch most the night due to Charlotte's tight defense.



With the game tied 122-122 and 15.5 seconds remaining of the clock, Steve came over to me and said, "Don't worry" then managed to nail a clutch contested trey with seconds remaining and we held on for the win. I thanked him afterwards for the great win and start to my professional coaching career.


Nash comes through with the game on the line.

On Facing Adversity

Against the Atlanta Hawks it was a different story and we came up on the short end unfortunately. Al Horford turned out to be a nightmare matchup for us, even with Amare Stoudemire having an otherwise solid game. Just too quick even for Amare to cover, Horford poured on 30 points and gathered 15 boards while Amare totaled 24 and 8 respectively.


Horford had his way on both ends of the court.

The tough thing about the Hawks is that they are a team with young, long, athletic players and move the ball extremely well with Bibby and JJ in the backcourt; we just could never get a handle on this team no matter what plays Alvin, I or Majerle tried to conjure up. Ultimately they beat us at our own game - outscoring us on younger, fresher legs.


Alvin Gentry desperately tried to stop the bleeding, but comes up empty.

In any event, there's no time to brood on the loss; we'll have a chance to redeem ourselves quickly as we're playing the Hawks again in two days, but this time in Atlanta. It's safe to say they have the younger, more athletic team and I can't really see playing the same way and expecting a different outcome. So, I'm going to discuss and suggest some possible starting lineup shifts and bench rotations with Alvin and Majerle to see if we can't create some mismatch of our own. We'll see how it goes...


WEEK 1 RESULTS

Game 1: CHA @ PHO

Box Scores
Player of the Game
PHX High Scorer
PHX FG% High

Game 2: ATL @ PHO

Box Scores
Player of the Game
PHX High Scorer
PHX FG% High

"MAD DOG MAYHEM" TOTAL: 1

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WEEK 2 GAMES SCHEDULED (Green - Home; Blue - Away)

Nov 1: PHX @ ATL
Nov 4: LAC @ PHX
Nov 5: PHX @ DET
Nov 7: PHX @ MIN

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Ratrac, TH50, Valor - thx for kickin' off the contest! Newcomers/challengers always welcome; four games on the agenda this time so get those picks in early for Week 2! Contest Point totals plus the Leader Board coming soon...

Jason Richardson and Grant Hill, 8

wow, are you sure Grant Hill is 37 sure doesnt look like it
love the 'Pip report' style of recapping your games and everything else, real neat idea here, 1-1 is a decent start, considering the talent you lost (traded away in the form of Shaq!! >< )

Contest Entry: J-Rich, Amare, and the lucky number 13!

Jason Richardson,Steve Nash 3

Great buzzer-beater by Nash. Also tough loss against the Hawks; Horford was unstoppable. J-Rich, Amare, and 7 for the contest.

Interesting recap style. If I remember correctly it seems a bit different from your other dynasty and it's always a good thing to play with the formatting and things like that to keep your own interest in the game from waning. Hopefully you can get some pay back against the Hawks next week on their home court.

I'll give it a go :

Nash, Amare, 6.

Very interesting presentation, play me next week.

Very interesting presentation, play me next week.

ME ME ME! freakin' rookies these days... always demanding playing time! j/k (FYI Martti, sorry but i'm not controlling substitutions; that's up to Live 06's rotation/sub pattern; but don't worry, eventually you'll get some burn);

If I remember correctly it seems a bit different from your other dynasty

yah, it's definitely different but something i wanted to try even back during my Rockets dynasty; already i'm enjoying this format more and feel like it's a better pace for me


thx for the comments and entries guys; Week 2 is nearly complete and should be up by mid week at the latest so get your picks in if you haven't already

i like your Pippen addiotion to the coaching staff, and i would like to participate in the contest too. So here it goes :

Steve Nash, J-Rich, 12

We finished our first fully-scheduled week that began with a rematch against the Hawks in Atlanta and capped off on the road vs the T'Wolves, featuring the team's first encounter with veteran bigman, Shaquille O'Neal since the trade to Minnesota. We ended 1-3 for the week and are already noticing some strengths, but some glaring weaknesses are beginning to make themselves known as well.

On Being Overmatched

Despite our best efforts the away-game rematch vs the Hawks yielded the same result - another loss. There were a few positives to take away from the game, such as doing a much better job against Al Horford who absolutely killed us in our first encounter, plus having 6 of our guys score in double figures and scoring over 120 points as a team.


STAT serves up a little payback on Horford.

But, unfortunately, when your opponent has 7 players tally in double figs and drops 130+ on you, that quickly puts a damper on things.


Smith easily blocks Hill on his way to earning 'Player of the Game' honors.

On Finding a Groove

Midweek we returned home to face the revamped Clippers who added top free-agent, David Lee, to their roster during the off-season. I was curious to see how Amare would respond to this bigman-packed team including Kaman, Randolf, Diogu and now Lee plus 7' 6" rookie center Dean Kartpovtsev; thankfully Stoudemire seemed to relish the challenge and had a dominating performance with 28 points, 9 boards, 2 blocks including 10-12 from the free throw stripe. When Amare can get rolling like he did vs the Clips, the team feeds off his energy and becomes very difficult to beat.


Richardson led Phoenix offensively with 33 points, including this wicked reverse dunk.

On Questionable Officiating and Home Court Advantage

I really, really should never complain about officiating, given the amount of preferential treatment Michael and I received during our run with the Bulls, especially our championship years as top dogs of the NBA.

But when you're two rebuilding teams as Phoenix and Detroit are now, in a dog fight, early-season match with nothing to gain but team bonding and edging a small step closer toward a playoff spot, then officiating and home court advantage shouldn't interfere. I mean Detroit's 47 free-throw attempts to our 33, and 20 personal fouls to our 32 is flat out ridiculous. 'nuff said.


Stuckey grounds J-Rich's acrobatic airshow with the hard, no-foul-call hit.

On Pissing Off A Future-Hall-Of-Famer

Rumor among the players was that before Shaq was traded to Minnesota, a final heated confrontation took place between he and GM Steve Kerr in which Steve referred to O'Neal as a, "lazy, broke-down, has been." Now, I've known Steve a long time and it's hard for me to believe he'd say anything so crass and insensitive; it's just not his personality. But I can't say for certain the event didn't occur since even the team's veteran players dismiss my inquiries with a shoulder shrug, neither confirming nor denying it. I have noticed a subtle but progressive change in Steve's demeanor ever since the honeymoon phase of his GM-ship had worn off and he started receiving harsh critcism from fans and sports analysts; I suspect he may be hitting the sauce pretty frequently but not sure it's my place to confront him about it.

Nonetheless, O'Neal played with a chip on his shoulder and wrecked us in vintage "Diesel" style, obviously fuming either about the rumored confrontation with Kerr, a general feeling of being disrespected in the trade, or both.


Shaq belted Amare's shot attempts away on more than one occasion.

He may be nearing the end of his career but when it comes down to it, Shaq's still a dominant, experienced veteran and he knew every weakness this team had to exploit; O'Neal's picks, screens and offensive rebounds were hugely instrumental in getting Kevin Love a 26 point, 8 rebound night and the Timberwolves the home win.


Unstoppable, Shaq performs a post-dunk jig at the Suns' expense and to Kevin Love's amusement.

On Brown's Early Stuggles

Of all the new players, back-up point guard, Bobby Brown, is having the toughest transition but it seems to be nobody's fault than his own. In six games, Brown has been shooting a horrendous 31% from the field, 11% from three-point range. This might be tolerable if his assists were up; but averaging only 2.0 APG simply won't cut it. He's also the weakest link defensively and this especially irks me. Brown's already been late to a few practices or shows up exhausted and word is he's worn out from partying too much. His priority seems to be chasing skirts all over Arizona; that's his prerogative, but unacceptable for any organization I have a say in. It's too bad because he's actually a good kid; but I'll start thinking of some options and alternatives to explore and suggest them to Gentry and Majerle next time we meet. We need to address this problem sooner rather than later if we don't see much improvement.



On Momentum

We're in a precarious position right now at 2-4 with two consecutive losses and failing to win a single game on the road so far this season. It's still early, but we don't want to get into any negative slides if avoidable. Thankfully things are light this week - just a single game against the Blazers in Portland on Wednesday. Like the Hawks, the Blazers are a young, up-and-coming team and will be tough to slow down. Hopefully the lighter schedule will give us a chance to regroup and figure some things out defensively.

WEEK 3 GAMES SCHEDULED (Green - Home; Blue - Away)




WEEK 2 RESULTS

GAME 1: PHO (1-1) @ ATL (1-1)

Box Scores
Player of the Game
PHX High Scorer
PHX FG% High

GAME 2 LAC (1-3) @ PHO (1-2)

Box Scores
Player of the Game
PHX High Scorer
PHX FG%

GAME 3 PHO (2-2) @ DET (2-1)

Box Scores
Player of the Game
PHX High Scorer
PHX FG% High

GAME 4: PHO (2-3) @ MIN (1-3)

Box Scores
Player of the Game
PHX High Scorer
PHX FG% High

"MAD DOG MAYHEM" TOTAL: 10


WEEKLY TRAINING NOTES:



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Thx for following guys! the "Mayhem" contest is off to a furious start (that reminds me, I'll tag a link to the Contest Leader Board from my sig asap); While I'm pretty careful, I am human so double-check your totals to be sure; let me know if I calculated wrong or you've a question. Also, Bobby Brown STINKS! Suggestions on a new backup PG welcome; Lastly, good luck next week to current players and newcomers - with only one game on schedule, that's a 1-in-7 chance at 25 easy points!

J-Rich, Amare, 3.

Louis Williams and Sebastian Telfair come to mind as possible back-up PG-s. They both should fit your up-tempo playing style.

Telfair would be a nice addition. Amare, J-Rich and 2 for the game against the Blazers.

Tough week to swallow, but like Pip said, you guys are rebuilding and expectations shouldn't be too high on the club.

Have you tried experimenting with Barbosa at the point? He's definite got the speed and quickness to play the game and even though his passing is poor the actual passing rating usually doesn't bother me too much when I'm playing the actual games themselves. If you really want to shake things up via trade I would suggest going after someone like Jeryd Bayless for offensive firepower or Acie Law if you want a more traditional point guard. Those two are guards that I would really enjoy watching break out with some solid minutes off the bench.

Seeing Shaq in a T-Wolves uniform looks kinda odd..

Stoudemire, Nash, 2

Amare,J-Rich 5