PHOENIX — In this video blog, Michael Schwartz from ValleyoftheSuns and KTAR’s Adam Green discuss the importance of the Phoenix Suns’ come-from-behind 123-118 double overtime...

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Heart, grit, determination, heart grit, determination.

After a dismal first quarter in which the Grizzlies went up 15 points, the Phoenix Suns recovered and showed the kind of constant poise that was lacking in the first 4 games of the season.  The Suns regrouped and outscored Memphis in the next 3 quarters. Still, it took an amazing Grant Hill to Jason Richardson lob at the end of regulation to force the game into overtime. In the first overtime, the Suns outrebounded the Grizzlies 6-2 and forced a second overtime. By then the Grizz were gassed. The Suns outlasted Memphis in the 2nd OT to close out the game.

Jason Richardson was a beast with 38 points off of 14-29 shooting (6-8 from downtown) Hedo Turkoglu showed signs of the player we all hoped he would be with 18 and 5 (5-10 from beyond the arc), while Goran Dragic and Hakim Warrick led the bench with 13 and 15 points respectively. 

The Suns outrebounded a very physical Memphis squad 55-48, with strong efforts on the glass from Channing Frye (11), Hakim Warrick (7), Jared Dudley and Josh Childress (5 a piece).

What can you say about this game? Was it a potential momentum builder? YES. Was it a much needed W? YES. Would a loss have sent the Suns into a downward spiral of misery and melancholy? Who cares? We don't have to worry about it. This was the prototypical team game with virtually every Sun contributing in key moments. I do emphasize virtually as not everyone who played kicked in, but this win could be a building block, giving this squad a much needed boost of confidence. In the game thread I mentioned that the Suns could tire the Grizz out, and they did. By the end of the contest, it was clear Memphis was beyond gassed. Meanwhile the Suns depth showed it's first significant signs of being a huge advantage.

By no means are the Suns home free, the box score shows plenty of evidence of a need for improvement. 28 turnovers will not hack it in the Wild West. 42% shooting will rarely result in a victory. 72% from the line is very meh. The Suns certainly capitalized off of the Grizz 12 missed free throws and 26 turnovers of their own.

But enough of my drivel, enjoy this one Suns fans, this was a win for the ages. 

More recap to come.

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Post game audio:

• Turkoglu postgame 110510
• Nash postgame 110510
• Gentry postgame 110510
• Frye postgame 110510
• JRich postgame 1 110510
• JRich postgame 2 110510

Phoenix Suns Out Score Memphis Grizzlies 123-118 In Double Overtime Thriller - SB Nation Arizona
A game that started with the Phoenix Suns playing their worst quarter of basketball of the young season ended with a dramatic three with 1.1 seconds left followed by a lob with just .4 on the clock to tie the game. Two overtime periods later and the Suns were able to outlast the Memphis Grizzles who simply ran out of steam at the end. 

 

[Note by Seth Pollack, 11/05/10 11:31 PM MST ]

Gonna drop my game notes in here. Hope Mr. Cantrelli doesn't mind...

Game Notes Suns vs Grizzlies

1^st Qtr

 

• I am guessing some old farts complained about all the hip-hop / pop music because there's a lot less of it this season
• FYI: There's a lady whose job it is at each game to watch the players to make sure they are in proper uniform. During the National Anthem she's looking at them with binoculars and now she's making notes about someone who must have been bad. She also has this device which I think is to measure sound levels inside the arena. Basically, she's the hall monitor of the NBA
• Robin picks up a foul on the first possession against Gasol. Ugh.
• Steve off the ball hits a weak side three set up by a Hedo drive and kick to JRich who drove and kicked to Nash
• Watching Hedo try and battle Zach is making me pre-sad
• And that's Robin's second foul. He clobbered Gasol on an offensive rebound. I hope Siler tied his shorts.
• 2:30 in and the Grizzlies already have 23 offensive rebounds +/- 17 or (give or take 3)
• JRich on fire early. Suns making an effort to find him and not run the offense through Steve as much
• Don't like the start for the Suns so far. Jason's shooting but energy level seems down. There's not mine. Mine is always down
• Hedo drive and kick lead to open Nash corner three that he missed. In case you aren't paying attention to the trend, Hedo is doing more with the ball and Nash less
• I had some ridiculous dental work done right before the game. Numb is starting to wear off. There's a decent chance I won't make it through this game
• Suns getting out-worked so far, 25-15 Grizz 3:58
• Good thing Zach looks rusty but he still takes up a lot of space and boards. I would say someone needs to knock him on his ass but none of the Suns are big enough unless Siler comes in
• Suns just blew a 3 on 1 fast break. That kind of night
• Frye picked up his 3^rd foul. In comes Siler
• Grizzlies pressuring the ball and playing in the passing lanes. Suns need to counter with more iso drives to break down the defense and loosen up the pressure
• 35-20 after 1 qtr. It looks worse than it looks.
• OMG dancing old ladies in tights. That's what this game needs more of. Fat-ass Grannies in tight pants shaking ass

2^nd Qtr

• This quarter started where the last one ended. Suck.
• Dragic with the best Suns move of the night knifing through three defenders and finishing around Gasol and scored another two forcing Memphis to take a time out to protect their 12 point lead
• Conley earning that big contract
• This second unit is making progress. Definitely playing better (and harder) than starters
• Lead down to 9. Robin back in.
• Horrible call on Robin. He got all ball there. That's his 3^rd. Siler coming back in but Robin threw the ball away first. Grizzlies back up 14. 48-34
• Starters back in. Hedo three
• Nash pumped faked Gasol up in the air and instead of jumping and drawing the foul he tried to bounce pass in traffic and turned it over
• Grizzlies might regret not breaking this game open when they had the chance. Their lack of depth could (could) come back and haunt them late if the Suns game keep it close going into the half. Next 2:43 is the ball game.
• Mayo playing point, Nash trying to guard him but Nash gets knocked down then pops up for the steal
• Wow, that was great defense by Hedo. First he stuffed Gasol and then turned and stopped a Gay layup attempt
• Nash looks like he's aged a lot over the summer. I am really starting to worry about him and his ability to play the entire season if he looks like this now

3^rd Qtr

• Another good tip by Hedo to prevent Zach from getting the ORed
• Grant's 0-7. Missing wide open shots too
• The Suns are wisely attacking Randolph on the perimeter. He's even less mobile than normal
• Hedo three cuts it to a 3-point game. 59-56 Suns. Much better on both ends
• Another bad pass from Nash. He looks wrong
• Good job, Hedo. Attack Zach. He can't stay close to you
• Lopez can't score over Conley. Frye gets up to come in.
• Suns bench in with JRich. This is probably been the Suns best unit
• Great ball pressure steal from Dudley. Picked Gay clean
• That's another end of quarter stop. Remember when team's ALWAYS scored on the Suns in those situations?
• 76-70 Grizzlies

4^th Qtr

• Nice job again by the bench unit. Frye playing touch inside. Goran attacking with ferocity
• Strong attack from Dragic but called for the O-foul. Good call but strong move
• More great pressure D from Goran and Dudley. Those guys are studs
• Suns take the lead thanks to Goran's strong play but a couple of missed three throws and a missed three gives lead back to Grizz
• Nash and JRich back in with 5:27 to go. 85-82
• J-Chill having a strong game as well. Really looking forward to that finger healing up
• Suns score twice on offensive rebounds and get s top in between. Nice
• Ouch. Another big three from a Suns fourth quarter opponent.
• Gentry going w/ Frye, Hedo and Warrick along with Nash and JRich. That's new
• Hedo misses a wide open three, JRich gets the rebound, Hedo hits. Suns up 91-90
• Gay 3...another nail bitter
• JRich 3!! 94-92, Suns. 1:25
• Suns up 17-14 in OReb. Wow!!
• If the Suns don't win this game... that would be a real heartbreaker
• Gay ties it with a little pull up J in the lane.
• JRich misses on the other end after an ugly possession, Hedo grabs the rebound, gets fouled, but no call and losses the ball
• That was not a pretty end of game possession there. That's very much a work in progress. No go-to plays
• Conley tear drop in the lane. Grizz up 96-94
• 18.7 seconds, Suns ball. Down by two. Nash has shot for crap. Does Hedo get the ball? Everyone here on press row thinks he will. A game-winning three by Hedo would be huge.
• Ugh....that was an ugly final possession play. Frye ends up with a long contested three
• JRich for three cuts it to one with only 1.1 left. Not enough
• Holy cow!!! Suns tie it with a JRich lob with .4 on the clock!!  Over time!!!!

OT

• Suns win tip, JRich lays it in. Big Mo all Suns way now
• Trading baskets. 103-103
• 108-107. Both sides missed open corner three's. Gasol out of the game. I think he's spent.
• Hedo does a great job following Conley off a screen and tying him up on a slip. Jump ball. Suns win the tip.
• Time out, Phx. Grizz up 108-107. Hedo's not had a shot in forever. No one here knows why. 35 sec
• Much better, Nash drives and kicks to JRich. Grizz close hard, JRich pumps dribbles and shoots. Nails
• Suns up 109-108. 25 sec
• Conley drives, Nash fouls. Conley goes 1-2 on his throws. Tie game at 109 6.6
• Nash ignores an open Hedo and takes a three which misses. Got to get a better shot than that, something going to the hoop

2OT

• In case you care, yes, my mouth and jaw are killing me. Glad I stayed but some nice Vicodin awaits at home
• Not sure why Gentry doesn't put Dragic and some other fresh legs back in
• JRich for 3
• Suns up 5. Biggest lead of the game
• Nash doing everything. Hit one and misses one. The miss leads to a Conley run out and foul. Missed both!
• Suns up 114-110. 2:44. Nash again.
• 116-110 Suns. 2:22. Gasol fouled out
• Rudy Gay with a huge three...or maybe a two. Reviewing now. It's a two. 116-112. 2:00. Suns ball
• Bad possession ends with JRich bad three late in the clock. Nash fouls on the rebound. Arthur 1-2 from the line. 116-113, 1:28. Traded one point for 30 seconds.
• Would be a nice time to get a bucket
• JRich missed J. Gay misses a 3 on the other end. Mayo gets two shots a three's but just too tired
• 116-113, 21 seconds. Jump ball. Suns control it, Grizz have to foul.
• That should do it but really, can we say that? No
• See. Gay hits a three. Nash misses a FT.
• 119-116 with 11.2 to go. Remember when the Suns were down 4 with 1.1 to go?

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Who Smells a Rally?????????

Tonight your Phoenix Suns seek out their first home victory of the season against the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizz are fresh off of a 115-109 defeat at the hands of the Golden State Warriors in which Monta Ellis dropped 17 in the final quarter en route to 39 to propel the Bay City Rollers to victory.

Tonight the Grizz will be without coach Lionel Hollins and possibly Z-Bo, who will be a game time decision. Meanwhile Rudy Gay is struggling through an oblique strain which has given him "difficulty breathing," as well as the ability to score 35 points against Golden State.

On paper, it would be easy to say that tonight's match up should be one in which the Suns should win.  Of course we remember how the Grizz destroyed the Suns on a couple of occasions last season. At this point, every game is going to be difficult for Phoenix, and no opponent can be taken lightly.

Thus far in the season, the Grizz and Suns are close in terms of both points scored and allowed. Obviously numbers don't mean a whole lot at this point and the keys to any game for the Suns are fairly redundant. Nonetheless, as a discussion starter, I'm going to drop some master of the obvious skillz:

• It would be a nice game for Lopez, Turk, and Frye to get going offensively.
  
• It would be a nice game for Dragon, Dudley and Chill to get some quality minutes.
• It would be a nice game for Nash to get a feel for his teammates, for Lopez to learn the roll part of Pick 'N...and for the WarMachine to continue his confident, torrid play.

Yes it would be nice for things to come together tonight, however the Grizz are capable of playing quality basketball as evidenced by a 91-90 victory in big D that saw the Grizz hold Dallas to 15 4th quarter points. But the Suns clearly have the superior second unit. If there is a clear advantage anywhere in the Suns favor, it's the members of the pine.

I have a good feeling about this. If the Suns bring some D and keep Gay and Mayo from going crazy, while bodying Gasol and Z-Bo (if he plays), and making some of the shots they missed a couple nights ago, the Suns should be able to bleed the Grizz bench en route to victory.

Keep your internet channel on BSOTS for PHX Seth updates, interviews, and thoughts from the game. In the meantime, check the game day links:

 

 

Assorted Thoughts on Mike Conley (www.Straitouttavancouver.com)

Does this extension make Mike Conley overpaid? Yes. But so is just about every small-market player. If Conley had gotten away, who could the Grizz have easily replaced him with this offseason? Jamal Crawford and T.J. Ford are the only starting caliber options hitting free agency this year. Trading looks bleak too, the Grizz's only real excess talent with trade value is Xavier Henry.

Paul Coro's Should-Win Notes:

The Grizzlies' defense might be the right remedy for the Suns to find their pick-and-roll rhythm. Memphis has not been a good pick-and-roll defensive team and has given up dribble penetration and high percentage of 3-pointers thus far. This Grizzlies' road trip has started with them surrendering 124 points to the Lakers and 115 points to the Warriors. Memphis is also the only team in the NBA that ranks lower in defensive rebounding percentage than the Suns.

Seth's SB Preview:

If Randolph doesn't play or only plays limited minutes, the Grizzlies' already short bench gets even smaller. Darrell Arthur has started all five games for the Grizzlies and is averaging a solid 14 points and five rebounds in 30 minutes of action. The only other bench player getting consistent time is 6-6 forward Sam Young, who is averaging 6.4 points per game in 17 minutes this season, but Young had some of his best games last year against the Suns.

DJ's Thoughts on Mike Conley (Straightouttavancouver.com)

Does this extension make Mike Conley overpaid? Yes. But so is just about every small-market player. If Conley had gotten away, who could the Grizz have easily replaced him with this offseason? Jamal Crawford and T.J. Ford are the only starting caliber options hitting free agency this year. Trading looks bleak too, the Grizz's only real excess talent with trade value is Xavier Henry.

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