Newsgroups: rec.sport.basketball.pro
Subject: Suns Report: Phoenix bombs Bullets, Ainge breaks a team record
From: f67700241@violet.ccit.arizona.edu (Greg Franklin)
Date: 15 Dec 92 23:03:17 MST
Distribution: world,local
Organization: University of Arizona
Nntp-Posting-User: f67700241

12/15/92
Washington Bullets (7-13) at Phoenix Suns (14-4)
FINAL: Suns 125, Bullets 110

SETTING:

America West Arena hosted the first meeting of the season between the 
Suns and the Bullets.  It was the getaway game for Washington on their 
road trip (they had lost 3 in a row), but the first game at home for 
Phoenix since Friday the 4th.  I was anxious to see how the Bullets, who 
had struck me as godawful for the past 5 years, were doing with rookie 
Tom Gugliotta in their lineup.  Perhaps they wouldn't suck so bad this 
year.

In pregame news, Charles Barkley was named Player of the Week by the 
NBA, and he was fined $5,000 at the same time, for "derogatory comments 
about the officiating" in the New Jersey game a week ago.

Oliver Miller joined KJ on the injured list today.  According to 
Westphal, Oliver is suffering from foot ailments (stress fracture?) that 
date back to his college days, apparently.  It's not that painful, but 
Westphal wanted to be very cautious and not aggravate it further.  He'll 
be out for 2 weeks.  Perhaps this is a result of his weight....  For the 
time being Westphal's center depth chart will be West, Chambers, 
Kempton, Mustaf.

The NBA finally gave Richard Dumas clearance to play, but the Suns did 
not put him on the roster just yet.

In a pregame interview, Bullets coach Wes Unseld was high on Brent 
Price, who is playing the backup guard role.  He mentioned Gugliotta and 
Doug Overton as pleasant surprises, but really didn't have anything much 
else to say.

STARTERS:

Was: Gugliotta, Harvey Grant, Ellison, Michael Adams, Rex Chapman
Phx: Barkley, Ceballos, West, Knight, Majerle

For the Suns, CC was starting his 3rd consecutive game.  Apparently 
Mustaf wasn't doing well enough to hold the starting job.  Ceballos shot 
extremely well in his Miami start.

FIRST OFF THE BENCH:

Was: Larry Stewart, Charles Jones
Phx: F. Johnson, Ainge, Chambers

QUARTER-BY-QUARTER:

1st Quarter: 28-25 Suns.  This was one strange quarter.  Washington's 
starters hit 5 of their first 6 field goals to grab an early lead.  
Gugs, Grant, Ellison: all awesome players.  Negele Knight left with 2 
quick fouls.  Michael Adams, whom most Suns fans remember from his 
Denver days as a mad bomber, was once again hyper-aggressive, rushing 
the ball up and down the court and going for steals.  The Bullets 
outplayed the Suns in the first 6 minutes; but Phoenix stormed back to 
take their first lead at 21-20 with about 3 minutes to play.  Ainge, 
Johnson, and Majerle played together as a 3-guard rotation for the last 
part of the quarter, and they sparked Barkley and West forward.  Knight 
and Ceballos, the one-time 2nd-rounders, were the first to be pulled in 
Westphal's scheme of things.  Majerle hit 2 killer threes to help bury 
the Bullets.  He and Barkley scored 10 each; Harvey Grant scored 11 for 
Washington.

2nd Quarter: 59-49 Suns.  Doug Overton, LaBradford Smith, and Don 
MacLean, former UA nemesis, all checked in this quarter.  This was a bad 
idea for Unseld, for Phoenix scored 8 straight points.  Washington also 
committed all sorts of dumb fouls before Gugs and Ellison re-entered the 
game to stanch the blood.  It worked a little, as Smith got a couple of 
3-point plays to get the Bullets back into the game.  Ainge and Majerle 
played a great backcourt to keep the Suns ahead.  Barkley, for his part, 
shot well from inside and outside.  FOUL TROUBLE: Knight.

Halftime Impressions: Phoenix basically out-talented the Bullets so far, 
building a 10-pt lead without a lot of excitement or pizazz.  Odds were 
Phoenix would win, as the Bullets had little come-from-behind firepower 
(Gugs and Adams) to scare Phoenix.  Barkley scorched Washington for 23 
points and 9 rebounds.  Grant got 19 points.

3rd Quarter: 89-78 Suns.  Both teams began the quarter with all their 
starters.  Again the Suns shot well to start the quarter.  Barkley, 
while being fouled, made an incredible shot; the ball bounced off the 
front of the rim and juuust crawled in.  (Too bad he didn't convert on 
the three-point play; he ain't the greatest foul shooter.)  Barkley hit 
a three-point FG too; more on this strange phenomenon later.  To get 
back into the game, Unseld tried a back-court trap, but it didn't work 
and he soon junked it.  Ceballos blew past the Bullets defense for a 
nice lay-in.  It was all-around ugly, if you happened to be a Bullets 
fan.  Near the end, though, Overton and Gugs combined to bring the 
Bullets within striking distance.  FOUL TROUBLE: Knight.

4th Quarter: The Bullets did NOT fold in this quarter, coming out 
strong.  Gugliotta seemed to be everywhere: his shooting and offensive 
movement was just super.  A Gugs 3-ptr brought Washington within 7, so 
Westphal put Majerle and Barkley in to try and put him away.  Ainge hit 
his 3rd 3-pointer of the night to tie the Suns all-time record for 
supershots made in a game (9).  He broke the record by shooting #10 with 
about 4 minutes left in the game.  This keyed a 10-0 run that iced it.  
The final score was 125-110.

AFTERMATH:

A solid win for the Suns.  Phoenix didn't have a gigantic hot streak: 
Washington was playing too well to let the game get out of hand.  We've 
seen what Barkley does for a team, but particularly amazing tonight was 
the 3-point shooting (10-13): 4-6 from Ainge, 3-3 from Barkley, and 3-4 
from Majerle.  At last, a threat from outside!

With Knight's poor play, Ainge is basically getting starter's minutes.  
I can't tell yet how good his defense is (although he can make a steal 
here and there), but his shooting touch tonight was as good as it's ever 
been.  Westphal keeps putting him in the middle of the 1st quarter and 
the 4th, and Ainge keeps doing well in that role.  He ended up with 23 
points, 15 in the 4th quarter.  It was his 2nd straight 23-pt game.

Barkley was co-player of the game with ainge.  In the Barkley-Gugs 
matchup, Sir Charles abused the rookie and his backups.  The stats tell 
the story.

As for the Bullets, well, it just wasn't their night.  Harvey Grant 
scored 22, but was invisible: sorta like what his brother would be if 
Pippen and Jordan were MIA.  This was the first time I have ever 
witnessed Rex Chapman in action; he stank.  Smith was the only decent 
bench player.   Gugliotta is for real (27 pts), but MacLean (18 pts 
mostly in garbage time) isn't.  This team needs more talent.  They're 
basically where the Clippers are at now, and that's a favorable 
comparison, considering how many name players are on the Clippers, and 
how few are on the Bullets.

OTHER STRANGE OCCURRENCES AND FACTOIDS:

Brent and Mark Price once lived in the Phoenix area for a short while, 
when their dad was an assistant coach for the Suns.

The Suns have won 13 of 15 games in which Negele Knight has started.  If 
you've seen the boxscores, you know it ain't due to him.  As we all 
know, correlation does not imply causation.  No way KJ should be traded 
for Sean Elliott.  I love Sean, but this is too much to pay for him.

If you're in Phoenix this Monday, the Suns will have an America West 
Arena practice open to the public.  Admission is a can of food (to 
benefit a local food bank).  I might go there; God knows I can't afford 
tickets to see a real game.

i tuned in to "bonus coverage" of the Warriors-Clippers game from a San 
Francisco station.  I caught Tim Hardaway as he became the second 
earliest man (in his career) to reach 5000 pts and 2500 assists.  The 
earliest was Oscar Robertson.

QUESTIONS I WANT ANSWERS TO:

Washington, despite its poor record, is 5th in the NBA in steals, and 
4th in assists.  A Michael-Adams type team, in other words.  Now, it 
doesn't seem like the star guards for champion teams (Jordan, Paxson, 
DJ, Thomas, Dumars) are particularly high in either category.  I wonder 
if the really great teams would gain anything by having Michael Adams in 
their starting lineup.  How valuable is he to a championship-quality 
team?  Or does he look great just because he's on bad teams?

Doesn't Charles Jones beat Sedale Threatt for lowest draft pick still 
playing in the NBA?  He was an 8th round draft pick 9 years ago, and 
bounced around for a while before settling down in Washington.  Of 
course, no GM with a brain in his head should keep CJ around anyway: 
he's horrid, even for a "banger" type.

What is LaBradford Smith's reputation?  He apparently went to Louisville 
and is playing guard, but what else should we know about him?

Whatever defensive scheme Westphal is teaching his players, it sure is 
leading to a lot of illegal defense warnings (and technical fouls).  
Does anyone know what the refs are looking for when they call this 
particular violation?

SUNS SCOREBOARD:

7-4 in November

          Tuesday, 12/ 1 Charlotte    at PHOENIX      (6:30 pm)  W  90-109
           Friday, 12/ 4 LA Lakers    at PHOENIX      (6:30 pm)  W  93-103
           Sunday, 12/ 6 PHOENIX      at Milwaukee    (5:30 pm)  W 122-112
          Tuesday, 12/ 8 PHOENIX      at New Jersey   (4:30 pm)  W 105-100
        Wednesday, 12/ 9 PHOENIX      at Charlotte    (4:30 pm)  W 110-101
           Friday, 12/11 PHOENIX      at Orlando      (4:30 pm)  W 108-107
         Saturday, 12/12 PHOENIX      at Miami        (4:30 pm)  W 122-118
          Tuesday, 12/15 Washington   at PHOENIX      (6:30 pm)  W 110-125
           Friday, 12/18 PHOENIX      at LA Lakers    (7:30 pm)
 (TNT)    Tuesday, 12/22 Golden State at PHOENIX      (5:00 pm)
        Wednesday, 12/23 PHOENIX      at Denver       (6:00 pm)
         Saturday, 12/26 Seattle      at PHOENIX      (6:30 pm)
           Sunday, 12/27 Denver       at PHOENIX      (6:00 pm)
        Wednesday, 12/30 Houston      at PHOENIX      (6:30 pm)

The Suns might lose the Lakers game, but every game afterwards looks 
easy.  The "character-building" losing streak that will inevitably come 
looks like it will be put on hold till January.

This is my last Suns post for a while.  Barkley bashers, may dreams of 
Sir Charles dance in your heads!  Don't forget to catch the TNT game 
next Tuesday!  Happy holidays!
-- 
Greg "Mockingbird" Franklin  "People that are really very weird can get into
f67700241@ccit.arizona.edu   sensitive positions and have a tremendous impact
Keep circulating the tapes.      on history." -- Dan Quayle, on Malcolm X

"Father yes son, I want to kill you.  Mother, I want to----WUAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"
	-- Jim Morrison, waxing poetic on family values
"The President scores much better than Bill Clinton."
	-- Dan, comparing Bush's record of marital infidelity to Clinton's
Newsgroups: rec.sport.basketball.pro