From: f67700241@violet.ccit.arizona.edu (Greg Franklin)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.basketball.pro
Subject: Suns Report: Phoenix beat Clippers in season opener
Date: 8 Nov 92 06:15:08 GMT
Distribution: world,local
Organization: University of Arizona
Nntp-Posting-User: f67700241

11/7/92
LA Clippers (0-1) at Phoenix Suns (0-0)
FINAL: Suns 111, Clippers 105

SETTING:

This was the first ever regular season game at Phoenix's new America 
West Arena, and so they had to delay the game with some pre-game 
ceremonies.  Jerry Colangelo honored 4 famous Suns of the past: Connie 
Hawkins (only Sun in the NBA Hall Of Fame), Dick Van Arsdale, Alvan 
Adams, and current coach Paul Westphal.  19,000+ attended, a sellout.  
The Suns unoriginally lifted the Bulls' introduction style (even the 
Alan Parsons music) for announcing their starting lineup.

STARTERS:
LA: Manning, Norman, Roberts, M. Jackson, Harper
Phx: Ceballos, Barkley, West, Knight, Majerle

FIRST OFF THE BENCH (mid-1st quarter):
LA: Grant, Fatso Williams, Kiki Vandeweghe
Phx: Miller, Ainge, Chambers

This player usage surprised me.  Ceballos and Majerle were given 
starting spots, and Chambers didn't go in till late in the 1st quarter.  
I'm all for this move.

QUARTER-BY-QUARTER

Quarter 1: 24-24.  Each team streaked and spurted.  Oliver Miller's 
early entry and defensive responsibilities against Roberts and Elmore 
Spencer were the highlights.  Westphal stopped an early Clippers run 
(ahead 15-6 at one point) before it got out of hand.

Quarter 2: 55-50 Suns.  Barkley got many good offensive putbacks, and 
went to the free throw line often (11 times in the half).  16 pts in the 
quarter, 24 in all, nearly all from inside.  12 boards.  He's worth his 
salary.  Roberts scored a lot of pts inside early, as he took advantage 
of Miller, but gradually disappeared.  Kiki scored 10 to lead the Clips.  
FOUL TROUBLE: Manning.

Halftime impressions: Charles was in charge.  Clippers seemed 
susceptible to turnovers and fouling.  Suns outside shooting was 
abysmal; Knight, Ainge, and Chambers must do better than they did so 
far.  Westphal apparently likes Miller a lot, and gave him PT to prove 
it.

Quarter 3: 78-78.  A struggle.  Chambers got most of the shooting 
opportunities this quarter for the Suns.  Outside shooting woes 
continued for Phoenix.  Free throw shooting became a problem for LA.  
Mark Jackson had some nice drives to the hoop.  Norman was caught 
(apparently) violently elbowing Ainge in the chops.  It appeared Danny 
incited this with a little jersey-pulling: gotta love him when he's on 
your team.  FOUL TROUBLE: Manning.

Quarter 4: Majerle and Ainge's outside shooting came through.  Phoenix 
ran a "three-guard" lineup, with West/Miller, Barkley, Ainge, Majerle, 
and Knight.  Ainge began the quarter with a three, but LA came back to 
swipe a 4-point lead with tough defensive play.  Ainge struck back with 
another three; and the Suns quickly caught up.  LA played hard and 
eventually built a 100-95 lead late, but a Miller tip-in and Majerle 
three tied Phx up again.  Thunder Dan's subsequent free throws put Phx 
ahead 102-100 with 1:56 left in the game.  Dan followed up with a gutsy 
three-pointer, and the Clips were pretty much knocked out after that.  
111-105 was the final.

AFTERMATH:

Barkley collected 37 points and 21 rebounds.  Phoenix's overall shooting 
percentage was 38%; Knight's was the worst.  (KJ's outside shot is 
underrated, compared to his highly-praised point guard skills.)  The 
game was tight throughout; no team got as much a 10-point lead.  
Manning, Norman, and Mark Jackson played consistently well, but every 
other Clipper seemed to be sputtering.  Not a classic game, but Phoenix 
had the horses at the end.  Paul Westphal starts his coaching career out 
at 1-0: good for him.

QUESTIONS I WANT ANSWERS TO:

LA's Jarrin [sp] Jackson (6-6 rookie, Georgetown): Is he any good?

Phx's new uniforms: How would you describe them?

Now that both KJ and Mustaf are on the injured list, and Nealy is gone, 
are the Suns maintaining just an 11-man active roster?  They could do 
worse than swipe up Winston Garland before somebody else does.

OTHER STRANGE OCCURRENCES:

Vandeweghe grabbed a rebound.
Chambers hit a three-point shot.  One, to be exact.
The Gorilla appeared for yet another season.
Charles spit on absolutely no one.
The Huskies offense looked absolutely pathetic.

SUNS SCORECARD:

         Saturday, 11/ 7 LA Clippers  at PHOENIX      (6:30 pm)  W 111-105
          Tuesday, 11/10 PHOENIX      at Portland     (7:30 pm)
         Thursday, 11/12 PHOENIX      at Utah         (6:00 pm)
         Saturday, 11/14 PHOENIX      at Minnesota    (5:00 pm)
           Monday, 11/16 Seattle      at PHOENIX      (6:30 pm)
        Wednesday, 11/18 Sacramento   at PHOENIX      (6:30 pm)
         Saturday, 11/21 PHOENIX      at LA Clippers  (7:30 pm)
           Sunday, 11/22 Chicago      at PHOENIX      (6:00 pm)
        Wednesday, 11/25 Portland     at PHOENIX      (6:30 pm)
           Friday, 11/27 Golden State at PHOENIX      (6:30 pm)
         Saturday, 11/28 PHOENIX      at Golden State (7:30 pm)

--
Greg "Mockingbird" Franklin      Interviewer: "Sir, how do you spell relief?"
f67700241@ccit.arizona.edu               Dan: "R-O-L-A-I-D-S-E."

"[George Bush is] the most ruthless white man in the history of the planet."
	-- Richard Ben Cramer, author of _What It Takes_
"The President scores much better than Bill Clinton."
	-- Dan, comparing Bush's record of marital infidelity to Clinton's