JSM’s Nightly Matchups

Chucky Atkins vs. Steve Nash: A matchup that also concerns me. What doesn’t concern me is Chucky getting points, Nash has never been able to defend, but Chucky is far from a defensive player himself. Nash will get his points, because he is one of the quickest, flashiest, most creative point guards in the league. He is a walking fast break opportunity, and when you have a starting five that likes to get out and run like the Suns, that can be frightening to opponents. We are going to need at least 15 points from Chucky and at least something resembling aggression on defense. If Nash has to worry about Chucky scoring, he will get tired a lot quicker; if Chucky is stagnant, this matchup is a lost cause. With Barbosa questionable for tonight’s game and Tabuse injured, they are going to have to rely on Nash for almost the entire game. If Chucky can break up some of his passes, or if we can prevent him from getting it to Amare, we might be able to do something, but if we don’t stop the Nash and Amare duo, it’s going to be a long night. Nash has been getting tons of assists, he is averaging 11, mostly because of Amare. We can’t let this happen tonight. We need to force Nash to turn the ball over (he’s 6th in turnovers per game), something he is prone to do, if nagged by defense.

Kobe Bryant vs. Quentin Richardson: The NBA’s leading scorer against the struggling former Clipper. Kobe’s stats have been surreal this season. Leading the NBA in points per game, second in field goal attempts, first in free throws, and third in minutes played…all this from a player with a bad foot. What more can you ask for from one man? The only thing that Q has been able to do is rebound, but as far as scoring, well…it hasn’t exactly been what the Suns had hoped for. His shot isn’t dropping and he isn’t getting to the line, not good him or the Suns, also he is barely passing the ball. Q hasn’t exactly been a defensive clamp either, I think he is really going to struggle against the best two guard in the NBA tonight. Kobe is going to have to have another huge game tonight, but even more scoring. I would expect Kobe to go right at Q-Rich early, try to get some easy points from the line, and go from there. The more Kobe can get Amare and Marion to collapse on him in the middle, the better. The other Lakers have to be hitting their shots like they did against the Clippers, if they don’t, we don’t have a chance tonight. Kobe is going to get the ball whenever he wants it, he is going to command respect from the other players, he isn’t going to be left open, he isn’t going to be singly covered if he gets going, and the other Lakers have to step up and make their baskets, especially if they have an open look. We also have to beware of Casey off the bench, because he is a great shooter off the bench for them. We leave him open, we will be paying severely for it.

Caron Butler vs. Joe Johnson: So, far Joe has had a solid year, his numbers are down, but that is expected when you add Q and Nash to your team. JJ is SG/SF with loads of talent, so much so that the Suns ended up moving him into the starting lineup, after initially planning on having him come off the bench. He can score the ball very well, he can rebound, and this season he has been an improved passer. His shooting hasn’t been quite up to his par, but his 3 point shooting has been outstanding. He has been outplaying Caron across the stat line, part of this has to do with the fact that he is on the bulky side for a G/F, being 13 pounds heavier than Caron. This is something else that can cause some problems for us, he is more likely to be able to move Caron around more, than the other way around. Also, he can box out for the rebound easier, which is not something we want, since he is a solid rebounder. If we want to win the game, we will have to win the battle of the boards, meaning we can’t let JJ and Marion own the glass. With Caron’s recent struggles on D against Simmons, I hope he snaps out of his defensive funk before tonight’s game, because if we thought what Bobby did was something, JJ is going to shock us all. Lampe and Luke will both see limited minutes for their teams, but with Lampe’s size, that could cause some problems for Walton. I am hoping for a Luke performance similar to the one he just had against the Clippers, where he had a great overall game, but I guess we will have to see how he does and how much time he gets. Limited minutes=limited production.

Lamar Odom vs. Shawn Marion: Two very similar players, who were both Olympians, going head to head. Both can play multiple positions very well, both have very long wingspans, both are quite athletic, but Marion seems to have done a better job of adjusting to playing the PF spot in the West better than Lamar has, so far. The Matrix has also been a rebounding machine for the Suns, on both ends, something Lamar hasn’t been able to do as frequently. The only thing that Odom has noticeably been able to do much better than Shawn, is get to the line. I think Lamar has learned from Kobe about how to score, even when his shot isn’t going down. This should be a pretty good matchup. Marion is slightly quicker and a little bit better on both ends of the court. We need for Odom to use his height against Shawn, and try to outrebound him, even though that’s easier said that done, due to Shawn’s leaping ability. We are going to need Odom to be very active on the glass, or we will never see a second chance point and they will see 35 points off of them, between Amare and Marion. The pre-season matchup of these two was pretty even, although Odom got into some foul trouble. One thing we must be aware of is Marion’s court awareness, he reads the passing lanes extremely well, which is why he is 5th in steals per game. We are still a new team, still make new team mistakes, and lack chemistry, this has been the cause of our turnovers and Marion is going to take full advantage of this. We only need to make crisp, direct passes. We will probably see some of Cook and possibly Slava against Outlaw, and not Marion, because they would get burned by Marion, but can do a decent job against the aging vet, Bo.

Chris Mihm vs. Amare Stoudemire: It’s hard to put a finger on what concerns me the most about tonight’s game. It would either be Amare or Amare. The third year player has had a phenomenal start to the season, so far, averaging over 27 points and almost 9 rebounds a game. In a total of two days last week, he scored 72 points, scoring a season high against the Mavs, then tying a career height, the very next night against the Hornets. On top of that, he has moved to the center position and at West, being a 6-10 center isn’t easy, being a 6-10 center that is dominating like he is, is unheard of. I honestly don’t think that Mihm has a chance to stop Amare. Amare is too athletic, powerful, and just too good. If he has been putting up 30+ points against Magloire (an all star center) and Dampier, then I would rather just not see what he is going to do to Mihm. Not only has he been limiting his opponents, he has also been getting them into foul trouble, because he attacks the basket non stop and has been getting to the foul line with incredible frequency for a big man. The Suns are the only team in our division that concern me and #32 is the reason why. We don’t have answers for him. I think that Mihm will have a lackadaisical game and not be able to help us out much, because he is going to be in foul trouble. Mihm will likely be dunked on, rebounded over, blocked, and posterized on. Then the pressure is put on Grant, who can help prevent Amare from keeping us from getting any rebounds, but he isn’t as quick, athletic, or as mobile as Mihm is. Grant also has a tendency to foul, and even he will get outpowered by Amare. Unless Slava has improved and become a NBA superstar, without our knowing it, tonight’s matchup against the Man Child looks bleak. I think we will be extremely lucky, if we keep him from getting a career high in points and rebounds. One of the only ways to slow down Amare is not let Nash get him the ball, Nash gets partial credit for Amare’s stupendous season, because he has gotten him the ball at the right times, in just the right place. We force Nash to turn it over and not allow him to feed the beast, we have a slim chance of getting a W. Off the bench, the Suns have Hunter and Voskuhl, both decent backups, but nothing outstanding. We are going to need Mihm to play against these two, because of their athleticism and quickness.

Discuss tonight’s game in the CL.com GameDay Forums