Suns Basketball » chauncey billups

Nuggets vs. Suns: Phoenix Comes From 15 Down to Spoil Carmelo’s Career Night

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 03:02:08 +0000

PHOENIX -- The Nuggets had the luxury of three days' rest, while the Suns were playing on the second night of a back-to-back, coming off of a victory over the Lakers in Los Angeles on Sunday. Yet Phoenix was the energized team in the fourth quarter, and used a 14-1 run to come from behind to beat Denver by a final of 100-94.

Carmelo Anthony pulled down a career-high 22 rebounds in the losing effort, one where his team managed just a single assist over the entire second half. George Karl largely blamed this particular statistic for his team's collapse.

"How about one (assist) in the second half," Karl said. "Why don't you put that on the board? That should be the headline. Pass the damn ball, trust the pass, and play together."

1st Quarter: Denver 22, Phoenix 20

Sunday night against the Lakers, Phoenix hit 22 three-pointers, one shy of the NBA record. They tried to continue the hot shooting from downtown early in this one, but with decidedly different results: the Suns finished the first quarter 0 for 6 from three-point land, and just 7 for 26 from the field overall, for a dismal shooting percentage of just 26.7 percent.

On the Nuggets' side, things weren't much better. Denver made three more buckets than the Suns did, but the team was also 0-fer from three, missing all four attempts.

Carmelo Anthony looked a little out of it from the start, committing four turnovers and going just 1-for-5 from the field. He wasn't taking it too seriously, however, flipping the ball to a courtside fan after fumbling a rebound out of bounds. Anthony was effective on the glass, though, and pulled down six first-quarter rebounds.

Al Harrington led the Nuggets with seven points off the bench, getting the call just four minutes in after Nene went to the bench after picking up two early fouls.

Channing Frye, getting the start for the injured Robin Lopez, was largely ineffective, and managed just two points and a single rebound in 10 minutes, while going 0 for 3 from three-point range.

Denver Nuggets 94, Phoenix Suns 100: Recap | Box Score

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Whether He Likes it or Not, Countdown to 1,000 Wins Begins for George Karl

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 03:02:05 +0000

by Chris Tomasson

Filed under: Nuggets, Suns

DENVER -- Has the countdown started for George Karl to reach 1,000 NBA coaching wins?

After Karl claimed No. 996 with Denver's 138-133 win Sunday night over Phoenix at the Pepsi Center, he was asked that very question.

"I'm going home,'' said Karl, ending his press conference.

Karl is playing it down, but in December he will become just the seventh coach in league history to reach the four-digit milestone. The Nuggets are getting him closer thanks to a four-game winning streak that has raised their record to 10-6.

The latest win was like a lot he's had in his career. With forward Carmelo Anthony done for the night due to illness after playing just the first three minutes and with forward Kenyon Martin still out following offseason knee surgery, Karl resorted back to his CBA days when he often played with a depleted roster.

Karl tricked up his lineup, often going very small. And his team somehow scored 138 points with Anthony, who came in as the NBA's fifth-leading scorer, sitting on the bench in agony for most of the first half before finally going home to bed at halftime.

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FanHouse’s Official NBA Awards Ballots

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 21:37:04 +0000

by FanHouse Newswire

Filed under: Bobcats, Bucks, Cavaliers, Celtics, Hawks, Heat, Jazz, Kings, Lakers, Magic, Mavericks, Nuggets, Raptors, Rockets, Spurs, Suns, Warriors, NBA Awards, Thunder

The FanHouse votes are in.

FanHouse had two voters for official NBA awards in senior NBA writers Tim Povtak and Chris Tomasson. Here's how their ballots looked:

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Suns’ Zone Defense Shuts Down Nuggets

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:21:23 +0000

by Brett Pollakoff

Filed under: Nuggets, Suns

PHOENIX -- If the Nuggets came into Monday night's game against the Suns without a lot of energy, you could hardly have blamed them. Coming off of what was essentially a playoff game with the Lakers the day before in Los Angeles, and playing its fourth game in five nights, the team easily could have folded early to a Phoenix squad that has been hot lately, and plays extremely well on its home floor.

But that wasn't the case early on. Denver was the aggressor at the start, and with just over a minute and a half gone in the second quarter, had jumped out to a 13-point lead behind 13 points from Chauncey Billups, and 10 from Carmelo Anthony.

And then, the zone happened. And that, as they say, was that.

Anthony was subbed out of the game, the Suns went to the admittedly-gimmicky zone defense, and immediately went on a 16-0 run, part of a 33-7 stretch that ended the second quarter, and effectively put the game in the win column for Phoenix by halftime.

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Veteran Players Believe NBA Lockout More Likely Than Not

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 00:11:11 +0000

by Chris Tomasson

Filed under: Bulls, Heat, Nuggets, Suns

Chicago center Brad Miller has found at least one positive if an NBA lockout results in the 2011-12 season not starting on time.

Miller, you see, is an avid outdoorsman.

"I might start planning some hunting trips just in case,'' he said. "Great hunting season, October and November. White tail. Elk. Deer. Everything.''

Miller, then a rookie, is one of 41 active players remaining from the NBA's last lockout of 1998-99. It wiped out the first three months of the season, and the league played a condensed 50-game schedule.

"Geez, we're fossils,'' said Phoenix guard Steve Nash, a third-year man in 1998-99, said of that figure, which is down a year ago from 55 remaining players.

With the NBA in jeopardy of facing another lockout after next season, FanHouse talked to six players who remain from the last one. In addition to Miller, Nash, Phoenix forward Grant Hill and Denver guard Chauncey Billups believe there most likely will be a lockout in 2011.

Miami forward Jermaine O'Neal is confident one can be avoided. Chicago guard Lindsey Hunter, who won't have to worry too much about it once he plans to retire after this season, is undecided.

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Three-Point Shootout Contestants Literally Looking Up to Frye

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 23:15:56 +0000

by Chris Tomasson

Filed under: Suns, NBA All-Star Game

Channing Frye will be shooting for big men everywhere in the NBA's All-Star three-point contest.

Then again, it depends who you ask.

Phoenix's 6-foot-11 Frye will be just the second center to take part in the 24 contests. The only other one was Sam Perkins in 1997.

Other competitors named Friday for the Feb. 13 contest in Dallas are defending champion Daequan Cook of Miami, All-Stars Paul Pierce of Boston and Chauncey Billups of Denver, Golden State's Stephen Curry and New York's Danilo Gallinari, a forward who is the second-tallest in the event at 6-10.

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Will Hill and Billups Receive Hall Passes?

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:50:49 +0000

by Chris Tomasson

Filed under: Nuggets, Pistons, Suns

DENVER -- Even though he is a small forward, Phoenix's Grant Hill found himself guarding Denver point guard Chauncey Billups late in Saturday's game at the Pepsi Center. The score was close so there was little time for banter.

But perhaps some day late in the next decade Hill and Billups will run into each other at Kinko's while touching up their resumes for the Hall of Fame. There might be plenty of time to talk about how they're both non-traditional candidates for the Hall.

Hill looked to have a sure-fire Hall pass when he came out of Duke in 1994 and starred for six seasons for Detroit. But Hill, after signing with Orlando in 2000, had numerous ankle problems that nearly wrecked his career. Between 2000-04, he played in just 47 of 264 possible games.

But Hill rebounded to be named to a seventh All-Star Game with the Magic in 2004-05. Since then, while no longer a star, he's been a very functional player.

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