A Hedo update from Phoenix

Figured you’d like a little bit of an update from here in Phoenix before the Suns shootaround is done and I go find a place to do today’s installment of GruntTV.

Looks like Hedo Turkoglu’s going to get tonight off to rest his sore hip.

While Jay Triano told us before Raptors shootaround that it might be a game-time decision, he followed it up with this:

“I’m not real optimistic right now.”

If Turkoglu can’t go, and I’d put it at 10-90 that he plays, the start goes to Antoine Wright and the trickle-down effect might mean more minutes for Marco Belinelli and, perhaps, some time for Sonny Weems.

Lots of talk at shootaround about how good the Suns are going right now – they’re 8-2 going into tonight – and not surprisingly, a lot of the credit’s going to Steve Nash.

What’s he do? This is what Jay said:

“A lot of guys we will force one way because they can’t make a cross-court pass with their left hand, he can do that. He can pick you apart with either hand.

“Everybody he’s played with has been a good three-point shooter because they get the ball half a second quicker and if guys in the NBA get the ball half a second quicker, they’re going to shoot it well.

"He’s gotten everybody he’s played with paid because they’ve had the best year of their careers and they haven’t continued to play that well when they’ve gone elsewhere.”

All right, that’s the up-to-the-minute stuff; now it’s time to wait out the Suns and then get on with the regular portion of the day

Comments

[Larry Kistner]

Hi Doug,

NBA TV ticker is reporting this morning that Houston has waived Pops Mensu-Bonsa. Is this serendipity with the Raps now having a free roster spot? Or orchestrated?

It will be interesting to see what happens next. Why did Houston waive him?

Thanks,

Blogger's note: Same reason the Raptors waived Douby, no sense paying a guy who wasn't playing, saves some tax money

[Tony]

Hi Doug, you alluded to timeouts in an earlier response. Wondering how many timeous each team gets in a half and if timeouts not used in the first half are added to the total you have left for the second half. Can you use all the timeouts your alotted in a game in the first half or are they separated into separate halves. Thx

Blogger's note: Six per game that can be carried over; one 20-second timeout per half that can't be

[LC009]

It will be interesting to see how the Raps start the game without Hedo. I have a feeling that with Wrigth's defence and with Jose not having to share the play-making duties, they start off better than in previous games.

Hedo's absence could also complicate our situation at the 2 spot; we have a plethora of guys that can step up on any given night, but if Marco's shooting is off, and if Derozan is neither rebounding nor defending well, it will be a long night for the Raptors.

That being said, if Wright plays around 30 solid minutes tonight, and two out of three of [Marco, DD, Weems] play solid for their minutes, we could be in for a solid, exciting night.

Here is hoping for the latter.