It was supposed to be a great ball game.

ABC had the Phoenix Suns vs. the Detroit Pistons at 2:30 pm Eastern time for all of us Piston fans.

A blockbuster battle of the team of no stars vs. the Shaq Suns.

Just how would Steve Nash direct Shaq in the half court?

Your intrepid author mistimed his afternoon nap and woke up in the 3rd quarter. My Pistons had a 30 point lead.

30 points? Ok, you knew there would be problems getting Shaq into the Phoenix run and gun system, but 30 points?

It was a contrast of styles with Phoenix running around outside picks, one man after another, to get lanes to the basket for Stoudemire or mid range jumpers, while receiving Steve Nash passes, while Detroit set up one on one mismatches of Tayshaun Prince or Rasheed Wallace or ran Rip Hamilton through inside screens or used McDyess on high pick and rolls.

Billups played smart, with 14 points and 11 assists, steering the offense to the post as much as he could to combat the Suns’ potent fast-break offense. It worked, too — the Suns had only 10 fast-break points.

“I didn’t come down a lot on the break and shoot my three that I love to shoot,” Billups said. “That gets them into their fast break. I just wanted to control, control, control and get some guys down there with me.”

He looked in particular for Rasheed Wallace, who abused Phoenix forward Amare Stoudemire with his turnaround jumper in the post to score a team-high 22 points. He also had eight rebounds.
source

The announcers did their best to keep it entertaining. Know what they talked about?

Rasheed Wallace. Nothing but Rasheed for the remainder of the game. You would have thought Rasheed was the best player on the planet.

At one point, ABC even replayed several of Rasheed’s moves scoring bucket after bucket on turn around post moves.

Now as a Piston fan, it can be told that the Pistons are not very good without Rasheed. When Rasheed turns it on, he is unstoppable.

When Rasheed goes down in the paint on defense, you will not score. He stops all the top players and is a key to the Pistons great defense.

Often with Rasheed it is keeping him motivated. You see there are nights when Rasheed just gets bored or cranky and then you see little production and maybe a technical.

That is the Rasheed that most fans think of when thinking of Rasheed.

The real Rasheed is one of the best big men in the league.

Did you know Rasheed keeps a library of books on the team plane and reads about everything from current world leaders to Genghis Khan? No, you didn’t.

Did you know that Rasheed has taken all of the talented rookies on the team under his care and tutelage? No, you didn’t. Coach Flip Saunders calls him Mother Goose.

As they say in the Shrek movie, Rasheed has layers. He is an Onion boy.

Did you know he is also not publicized for giving to a lot of local charities?

Today Rasheed was motivated and dominated the Suns!

NBA Basketball Fan Question Can Rasheed rule in the playoffs?

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Grant Hill slashing to victory

If ever there was a nicer guy in the NBA than Grant Hill, then that player would be a Saint.

Grant left the Pistons and they still wanted him back.

We are now very close to Grant Hill’s debut as a Sun.

Phoenix did not hesitate to pick him up, because Grant is more than nice, he is capable of still putting up big numbers.

When Grant played for the Detroit Pistons, back when he was healthy, they had him at a new position called point forward. In other words, he would not bring the ball up, but the point guard would immediately pass to Grant Hill popping out from the baseline on every play.

Grant then took over as the playmaker for that possession. Point Forward.

Grant Hill did not have a very good shot at that time and eventually had to hire a shot coach will helped him to a great degree. So, Hill was mainly a slasher and rebounder in those days.

The Pistons were an anemic team back then and Grant was not accustomed to being the sole leader. He needed a partner at that time, especially one that could knock down the crucial bucket.

The rules at that time made it difficult for a slasher with no jumper to score the big bucket. The referees tended to favor the defender, unlike now where some players have actually learned how to lean into their defender and earn a trip to the foul line.

After his Piston time came the Orlando years of having little talent around him and constant foot injuries. Hill enjoyed a huge salary at the time, but would have given it all up to win.

The Suns dial the phone

Phoenix came calling this year and what they offered was the chance to win it all. Come play with us and be involved and win it all. The contract was for a meager 1.83 million.

Phoenix has come so close year after year with always some freakish event holding them back.

If Amare Stoudemire could have stayed on the bench when San Antonio’s Robert Horry slammed Steve Nash into the scorer’s table in last season’s conference semifinals, the Phoenix Suns might be the reigning NBA champions….

If Nash hadn’t had to leave the court with a cut gushing blood from his nose last season in Game 1 of that series, maybe the Suns would have won. If Joe Johnson didn’t smash his face in the 2005 conference finals, if Raja Bell hadn’t missed two games of the 2006 conference finals. source

It is not to dwell on what might have happened if the circumstances had been slightly different, but it is more to show just how close the Suns are to finally winning it all with this nucleus of Nash, Marion, and Stoudemire.

Grant Hill longs for the winning feeling he once enjoyed at Duke.

Someday, the laws of nature insist Nash will show signs of age. These runs at the title won’t go on forever. Just ask Hill, who played on a constant contender at Duke but hasn’t come close in his injury-plagued pro career.

“I played 13 seasons in the NBA and we never expected to win a championship on those teams,” he said. “So I know these opportunities don’t come around often.

You could say Grant Hill longs for Phoenix as much as Phoenix longs for Grant Hill.

Grant has a chance to not only win with the Suns, but perhaps be that difference between winning it all and having to say what if.

And it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy!

strong>NBA Basketball Fan Question Will Phoenix win it all?

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Post from: NBA Obsessed