Newcomers Dee Brown and Jared Dudley impress in Suns win

Life is good again! The Suns pushed back a late surge by the Thunder to win 110-102 bumping their record to 17-12. But the win wasn’t due to our usual stars…

The Stars

Our usual stars (Nash, Amare, Shaq) didn’t win the game for the Suns like they usually do.  Shaq had a terrific game but Nash and Amare were virtually (or literally) non-existent.

• Steve Nash left the game with back spasms after only playing 9 minutes.
• Amare Stoudemire fouled out with 14 points due to some of the worst calls I’ve seen on Amare all year.
• Shaq was a beast missing only twice from the field notching 28 points and 12 rebounds, missing only 4 foul shots.

Shaq had the best game statistically by far, however, it was our bench that sealed the deal.

Bench Play

The Suns played 11 total players tonight.  Rather, all of the active players for the Suns got minutes (Dragic and Tucker did not make the road trip).  I was thoroughly impressed with the effort our bench gave.

• Matt Barnes: What can I say about him that I haven’t already.  19 points, 6 rebounds, and a +- of +16.
• Leandro Barbosa:  10 points, 5 assists, and 6 steals along with a team-high +- of +17.
• Robin Lopez/Lou Amundson:  Not necessarily big numbers stat wise, but overall productive minutes.

Newcomers Impress

These guys impressed me the most and proved they deserve minutes.

Dee Brown:

• Effectively ran the offense in Nash’s absence.  More importantly, I felt comfortable with him handling the ball.
• He had zero turnovers.
• He commanded the offense and felt comfortable directing people.
• He had a +- of -2 but that was due to his 3 personal fouls.
• His defense shut down Earl Watson and Russell Westbrook in the 2nd half.  Watson made the Suns look foolish with some of his passes in the 2nd half.  When Brown came in, his defense on Westbrook and Watson created turnovers and fast breaks.  That kind of play in a back-up point guard is invaluable.

Jared Dudley

• Although he had more of a quiet performance, Dudley was active on the defensive end.
• In only 9 minutes of play, he had 5 rebounds - more than Grant Hill, Jason Richardson, and Amare Stoudemire combined.  Two of which, were big offensive rebounds in the last 7 minutes.
• He only had 2 fouls
• A respectable +- of +7, 4th best on the team
• Hustled on the defensive end.  After a missed shot instead of getting mad at himself and pouting, he raced back to the other end of the floor and cut off Jeff Green cutting to the basket creating a turnover.

Yes, I realize this was against a 3 win team.  Cut me some slack, the Suns just lost on Christmas to a last second shot against the Spurs, essentially, ruining my entire 2008.  Okay, maybe it wasn’t that bad, but I probably ruined a couple family members Christmases.  Thus, I am happy in any possible way the Suns can win.

Our next opponents are Memphis, Indiana, and the Clippers.  If we could get even a small win streak going that would be huge for our confidence…and my happiness.

Go Suns!

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