From: mark@tc.fluke.COM (Mark D. Nagel)
Subject: Re: Suns Report: Phoenix sears Supersonics, ends the 82-0 dream
Organization: John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc., Everett, WA
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 22:53:37 GMT

In <1992Nov17.001349.1@violet.ccit.arizona.edu> f67700241@violet.ccit.arizona.edu (Greg Franklin) writes:

>SETTING:

>The Suns came back home to America West Arena to face the undefeated 
>Seattle Supersonics.  This was a battle of bad uniforms, according to 
>the net.  Hey, I happen to like the Sonics' uniforms!  I also think the 
>Suns should have kept their classic unis.

I haven't ever heard anyone complain about the Sonic's uniforms. As for
Phoenix's, I find it quite the coincidence that the Suns' uniforms took
a turn for the worse on the arrival of Barkley -- does he have a clause
somewhere in his contract that says a flunky fashion relative/friend does
the unifrom designs ( :-) )?

>STARTERS (correct me if I mess up):

>Sea: McKey, Kemp, Benjamin, Payton, Pierce
>Phx: Ceballos, Barkley, West, Knight, Majerle

Correction - Cage started for Banjamin. Benoit didn't play due to a slight
knee injury.

>1st Quarter: 40-30 Suns.  Again (this time because of academics) I had 
>to miss the first quarter.  I gather that the Suns starters overwhelmed 
>the Sonics defense with good shooting and lots of fouls drawn (~16 FTs 
>in the quarter).  So much for the Sonics' vaunted depth.  Majerle keyed 
>the quarter for the Suns with two three-point goals.

Suns won the first quarter due to inside play. Seattle wasn't able to clog
the middle up, as Benoit was injured. Kemp got into early foul trouble (due
to the Malone syndrome -- you know, the drive the shoulder down into someone
and then hook them with your elbow and spin around them). Vaunted depth
doesn't have anything to do with foul trouble. Perhaps you mean haunted
refs?

>AFTERMATH:

>Barkley got 28 points, 12 boards, and held Seattle's future superstar 
>Shawn Kemp in check; this was the key matchup of the game, and Sir 
>Charles won it.  Thunder Dan Majerle got ~24 points with defense, 

I rather doubt that Barkley stopped Kemp all by himself. You might give
credit to that other element -- team defense. One on one Kemp would
clean Barkley.

>shooting, steals, and all that good stuff,  Chambers even collected 16 
>points, many of them from inside and from the line (where he still can 
>score).  Frank Johnson deserved kudos for his quality guard play in 
>crunch time.

Seems like the only itme Chambers plays well anymore is against Seattle.
Conversely, Eddie Johnson never seems to play well against Phoenix.

>The game had a sloppy feel to it.  Too many fouls, too many turnovers, 
>and, for the Sonics in the 4th quarter at least, miserable shooting.  
>Several illegal defense calls made the game even more interminable.  The 
>Suns shot a little better at the line than Seattle did; in this kind of 
>game, that's meaningful.  This was the sort of game where the "clutch 
>performance" came at the beginning, not the end: after Quarter #1 the 
>Sonics were always moving uphill, and the Suns were able to hold them 
>off and maintain the lead wire to wire.

Seattle actually out-stat'd the Suns, with the exception being the
freethrow shooting. The Sonics actually had a chance toward the end
of the game but had way too many unforced turnovers. I'd have to say
that this was a very poorly played game by Seattle, and given this,
they still managed to hang in there. Of course, it would be better to
see these teams go at it when both teams are healthy.

>As I said before, Portland is the only team I fear in the West.  The 

Good, don't play them :-) I only fear them because they bring bus-loads
of fanatical fans up to watch the games in the Kingdome :-)

>I still burn with hatred at Seattle's ripping off the last two games of 
>the Western Conference finals against Phoenix in 1979, and going on to 
>beat the Bullets for the world championship.  Someday I will deal with 
>it.  Knowing that Seattle hasn't won anything since 1979 helps me a bit.

Holding an old grudge eh? And, the last time Phoenix won ANYTHING?
-- 
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