Game Recap: Pirates Storms Back Against Mountaineers

 

Last season, the Whitworth Pirates would have been led onto the court by All-American Kayla Johnson but this was now a new-look team; a team that would be seeking its new identity. The Whitworth Pirates would be facing a big test in their regular season opener against the undefeated Eastern Oregon Mountaineers. The Mountaineers held a 4-0 record entering the game and was looking to improve to 5-0 against the Pirates who have yet to play a regular-season game.

In the opening minutes, the Mountaineers’ cohesion and chemistry began to show. The Mountaineers raced out to a 15-5 lead and led the Pirates 31-15 with just 1:36 left to go in the first half. The Pirates primary woes in the first half were a result of their offense. The Pirates shot just a shade above 28% from the field in the first half and attempted just four shots from the foul-line.

“We actually defended okay the first half and our effort was there so the biggest adjustments were on the offensive end.” Whitworth coach Helen Higgs said. Heading into halftime the Pirates managed to close the gap but the Mountaineers led the game 31-21.

“Our team stuck together. At halftime we stayed positive and then we came out and played how we knew we could.” Whitworth forward Faith Emerson said. “It was our first game against a tough team and we supported each other all the way until the end.”

The Pirates’ sense of togetherness that Emerson spoke of manifested itself in the second half. The Pirates began the second half somewhat slowly as they were still behind the Mountaineers 37-25 with 16:08 left in the game. Then the Pirates started to heat up.

The Pirates went on a 10-0 run led by forward Jessica Kramer and guard K.C. McConnell as both scored all 10 points igniting the Pirates comeback as they trailed just 37-35 with 13:37 left in the game.

                The Mountaineers would retaliate by scoring the next four points to push the lead back to six, but from that point on it was all Whitworth Pirates. Having scored just 35 points in the first 26:23 of the game, the Pirates would explode for 32 points in the final 11:54 minutes of the game. The Pirates’ offensive explosion was led by McConnell who scored 11 points of the Pirates final 32 points.

“[We] talked about where the gaps were to attack on the dribble and not just settle for long jumpers.” Higgs said. “We had great half-court defense and found the right times and places to double in and create some extra turnovers.”

            Of course, Whitworth’s offense was its ultimate driving force toward the 67-55 comeback win against the Mountaineers however their second-half defense was a huge factor as well. The Pirates forced 15 second half turnovers which resulted in easy opportunities on offense.

                “In the second half we started to dictate the tempo of the game then our shots started falling, our defense picked up and that’s how we pulled out a tough win.” Emerson said.

                The Pirates improve to 1-0 on the season by passing a tough test in their opener against the Eastern Oregon Mountaineers who now fall to 4-1. The two teams will face-off again at the Lady 'Yote Classic in Caldwell, Idaho on November 28th. 

To all followers of my blog!!

To my dear readers & followers:

Sorry for the lack of posts recently but I've been offered a position at SunNgun.com which is a site that covers the Phoenix Suns. I want to thank you all for taking your time to read and follow my blog I deeply appreciate it! I started this blog with dreams of being sportswriter and thanks to all you guys, I've come a step closer. So if any of you guys are interested in my writing please check out SunNgun.com for my writing as well as others who also write and cover the Suns. Once again I want to thank you all who took your time out to check out my blog, deeply, deeply appreciate it.

Spotlight: Markieff Morris

How about a round of applause for Markieff Morris? Morris scored 24 points, grabbed 17 boards, and had 6 blocks in a loss to the Cavaliers during the summer league game today. Morris has shown in the first two games that he’s improved from last year, his rebounding improved, his jumper improved, and he’s a lot more aggressive which was something that wasn’t always there his rookie year.  

Morris has shown in the first two games that he will make a bigger impact this year than he did last, however with the addition of Scola and the presence of Channing Frye it’s still a question mark regarding how many minutes a night Morris gets.

Although Morris through his first two games has posted impressive numbers, he’s been a little less than effiecent; he shot a combined 16-42(38%) in the first two games. That’s actually better than the number shows because Morris got a couple of lucky ones. Morris has to make better decisions with the basketball, as I mentioned in my previous post Morris has to learn to be patient and not make badly timed moves which leads to a block, a miss or a turnover.

Morris also seems to love his jump shot a little too much, he took of a couple of Carmelo Anthony type isolation one dribble pull up twenty footers; tough to imagine those well right? Morris is clearly a good jump shooter but he has to learn how to establish in the post, because that’s where he’s going to make his living. Morris has good touch around the basket it’s a shame to see him taking jumpers all the time.

Ultimately Morris has shown that he’s ready to make big contributions next year, too bad Steve Nash because Morris can certainly get easier looks off those perfect pick and roll passes. Nonetheless I think Dragic and Marshall will feed him and the rest of the crew just fine, Morris still has a little over 3 months to refine his game and bulk up for a full 82 game schedule. 

What the addition of Luis Scola means for Phoenix.

            The Suns’ won the amnesty auction yesterday for Houston Rockets’ big Luis Scola. Scola was drafted by the Spurs in 2002 and joined the Rockets to start to the 2007-2008 season and has been an effective player ever since, Scola had somewhat of a weak season last year as his point and rebounding totals have dropped. With Scola on the Suns’ roster the Suns’ now have 4 power forwards under contract for at least the next two seasons, Channing Frye, Hakim Warrick, Markieff Morris and now Luis Scola.

            Luis Scola although had a down year last season still posted some good numbers 15 PPG 6.4 RPG 2.1 APG. It’s safe to say out of the four power forwards now on the Suns’ roster, Scola for now is best of the four. Since the Suns’ are officially in a rebuilding mode, second year Markieff Morris is going to get his minutes; so does that mean someone is on the move?

            That’s a tough question because both Warrick and Frye has at least two years left on their contracts and are due a lot of money, Frye has two years 12.4M left with a 3^rd year player option worth 6.8M while Warrick has two years 9.5M left.

            Hakim Warrick is most likely the odd man out because his contract is a lot more reasonable than that of Frye’s and also Frye is most versatile in that he can stretch the floor, plays above average defense, and also can play both the 4 and 5 positions; but I’m sure if other teams called for Frye the Suns would listen.

            The claiming of Scola makes a lot of sense for the Suns because Scola is a solid starting caliber player who can be a leader in the locker room, Scola is fundamentally sound as an offensive player who can mentor second year player Markieff Morris. It’d be interesting to see what happens the rest of this off-season as the Suns’ have a lot of decisions to make and this is without a doubt the biggest off-season for the Suns’ in a long long time.

4 on 4: Suns' First Summer League Game

The Suns’ played their first summer league game in Las Vegas this afternoon and ran through the Knicks’ summer league squad 99-74. There were 4 obvious standouts during the course of the game, Markieff Morris, Diante Garret, DeShawn Sims and Marcus Landry. Here’s a 4 on 4 for each of their performances:

Markieff Morris

Positives- Morris was a force in the first half of the game as he led all scorers with 19 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and also picked up a block as well as a steal. Above all else he was highly efficient.

Negatives- Morris seemed a step slow all game on the defensive end, he committed 4 fouls in 4 minutes and played more defense with his hands than his feet. There’s a problem when a lottery pick has trouble defending Chris Copeland, who’s Chris Copeland you ask? Exactly. Morris although had an overall good game, had trouble establishing position in the post and the worst part is he had trouble establishing post position against Chris Copeland…..Morris also kind of disappeared in the second half as he only scored 2 points in the second half.

Diante Garret

Positives- Diante Garret started the game in place of Kendall Marshall this game, and he did a great job running the show. He keep the offense in a good flow and dished out 10 assists while only having 2 turnovers. He also added 8 points and had 3 picks. He showed great composure out on the floor and seemed comfortable being the floor general; his effort and energy on defense was also very impressive kind of reminded me of Sebastian Telfair.

Negatives- Diante Garret had in my opinion the strongest game out of all the Suns’ players today so it’s hard to say some negative about his performance, however he missed both his 3 point attempts so I guess you can say he could improve his shooting.

DeShawn Sims

Positives- DeShawn Sims played a very solid all-around game, scored 16 points on 7-12 shooting and also grabbed 3 rebounds. Sims made some strong plays in the post during the game, plays I wanted to see out of Morris but at least I saw from someone! Sims much like Garret played with a lot of composure, effort and energy. Not to mention zero turnovers.

Negatives- Well there not much negative reviews about Sims neither but it would have been nice to see some higher level energy and play on the defensive end.

Marcus Landry

Positives- Marcus Landry displayed some impressive shooting on the offensive end as he scored 12 points on 5-9 shooting and made 2-5 three pointers. Much like his brother Carl Landry, Marcus also scrapped inside and took in two offensive rebounds. Also like Sims, no turnovers.

Negatives- Marcus Landry reminds me of Landry Fields, not bad at anything but also not great at anything. He also needs to work on his foot speed because at times he seems a step too slow on the defensive end.

            Overall the Suns’ summer league team demonstrated composure, something that’s not necessarily a given in the summer league. The Suns’ shot well from the field(53% Overall) and also 47% from deep. I was disappointed that Dan Majerle decided not to play Kendall Marshall but I was very impressed by the play of Garret who may give Sebastian Telfair for that 3^rd string point guard spot. 

Disgraceful acts towards Steve Nash

Recently I’ve come across some disturbing videos on Youtube of so called “Suns Fans” burning Steve Nash Jerseys and it upset me greatly because I’m thinking to myself, are these just awful people? Are they real Suns fans? How can these people treat such a class act with such a disgraceful and despicable act?

 Quite frankly this article will be rant as well as carefully and well thought out description of why these people and others who feel about Steve Nash they do should be ASHAMED of themselves.

Many are calling guys such as Ray Allen and Steve Nash traitors because they switched over from their team to rivals this off-season, but there’s one difference; The Suns didn’t want Nash back because the contract Nash desired was more than what the Suns were willing to offer, but Boston did want Allen back and they also offered him a relatively reasonable deal. Steve Nash worked with less than mediocre talent since the departure of A’mare Stoudemire, but the pitiful way the front office has treated Nash from day one has been a lot more than what Nash should’ve been willing to put up with.

During the Suns’ golden years from 2004-2008 the Suns’ were serious title contenders every year and after the unfortunate injury of Joe Johnson during the playoffs in 2005 the Suns’ lost Joe Johnson in free agency but they had the opportunity to Johnson’s role with the number 7^th pick in the 2005 draft which the greatest owner in the world Robert Sarver SOLD, and that pick ladies and gentlemen was used to draft Luol Deng. Then in the 2006-2007 season when the Suns’ were basically screwed out of a title after the whole Tim Donaghy non-sense in game 3 and the controversial suspension of A’mare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw in game 5 which came after a final second hip check on Steve Nash by big ole big shot Bob Mr. Robert Horry in game 4. Had the Suns’ gotten past the Spurs, they would’ve ended up facing the Jazz and Cavaliers who at the time clearly wasn’t on the elite level the Suns’ and Spurs were(Spurs beat the Jazz 4-1 and swept the Cavs in the finals). The Suns' were by far their toughest match-up that year. 

Then came the 2007-2008 season when the Suns’ traded Shawn Marion an all-star who was in his prime for nothing more but an old and tired Shaq. Shawn Marion’s locker room issues were well known but he was still the perfect transition partner with Steve Nash and at the time better than Shaq anyhow. Then came the 2008-2009 season when the Suns’ let coach Mike D’Antoni walk, traded Nash’s best friend Raja Bell as well as forward Boris Diaw for Jason Richardson and Jared Dudley. Nash let the public know of his displeasure about the trade but yet never ultimately made it a big deal.

Then finally came the tipping point for the Suns’ going from elite to mediocre, when Stoudemire bolted for New York after a Cinderella run to the western conference finals and were a miraculous buzzer beating put back from the guy formerly known as Ron Artest from being up 3-2 in the series against the Lakers heading back to Phoenix, which I thought was a over the back foul by the way because he basically trucked Jason Richardson out of the way(see for yourself http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USZfRKJoXEs)

The Suns’ went on to attempt to replace Stoudemire with the likes of Hedo Turkologu, Hakim Warrick, and Josh Childress; we all know how well that went………..Yet through all of that, the Suns’ went from a team that were serious title contenders that revolutionized the NBA with their fast paced, exciting basketball to a team of role players and Steve Nash.

Through all of those awful events that transpired, Steve Nash never complained and never put the organization through the hell that superstars such as Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard put their teams through. He easily could’ve demanded a trade but did he? No. Did Steve Nash try to maximaze what little talent he had surrounding him the past 2 years? Yes. Did Steve Nash give his 110% to the Suns’ fans night in and night out? Yes. Should awful fans such as the ignorant individuals in this video(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHUcSzPj8EQ)  regret and feel awful about their actions? ABSOLUTELY!

This guy wanted to go to L.A because he wanted a shot at the ring he never got, he wanted to be close to his 3 children, and above all else the Suns’ got back 4 draft picks in return as oppose to nothing had he signed with Toronto or Dallas. These people certainly don’t deserve to call themselves Suns’ fans because their action of burning Nash’s jersey was a disgusting and disgraceful act, and they should know better than to treat probably the greatest Suns’ player of all time with such disrespect. How can you blame a guy for putting himself first for once after putting an organization first for eight years despite their constant mistreatment of him? 

Free Agent: Terrence Williams

The Suns’ need for a talented wing has been dealt with this offseason with Michael Beasley, but there’s a under the radar free agent that many Suns’ fans don’t know of and that player is Terrence Williams. 

Terrence Williams was a lottery pick in 2009 but he has never lived up to his expectations or potential. However his performance in Sacramento this past season proved to everyone that he does have a place in the NBA, which wasn’t always set in stone through his first two years. So for those of you who don’t know who Terrence Williams is http://espn.go.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/4019/terrence-williams .

Williams is an athletic wing who can play both wing positions, he’s a solid play maker however he does struggle with his jumper as well as his decision making. I was actually fortunate enough to watch Williams play when he was with the Nets and I remember going over to my friend and saying “Who is this guy? He knows how to play”. His versatile ability is displayed in that during his rookie season with the Nets he recorded 8 double doubles and 1 triple double. It was also the only season where he got to play consistent minutes.

Williams has a smooth all-around game and he’d be a great fit with the Suns. He’d be able to push the ball in transition, take some of the play making pressure off the point guards, and he can also make some highlight reels with his athleticism. Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMtfiwjt3DU&feature=fvwrel

Williams is seeking his place in the NBA still and if the Suns’ do in fact give him a chance he has the chance to be a great role player or even maybe becoming a solid starter in the NBA one day. I think Williams’ stubborn and impulsive personality has limited him from being an all-star but he can still be a good NBA player under the right coaching and being on the right team. Ironically in a game against the Suns' this season he scored 16 points(7-10 FG), grabbed 6 rebounds, had 5 dimes and 2 blocks in 31 minutes of play.