Look at that ball control, 34-8 assist/TO ratio. Nice to see they're moving the ball extremely well. Not only that, but scoring is coming from some surprising spots. James Jones, Eddie House, and Jim Jackson had 18 apiece. If the rest of the squad can keep this kind of game afloat, the early season might be a lot less painful than we think. The gist of the preseason so far has been...how do we score with Amare? And it sure looks like as long as Nash is intact, this team will get its points. The passing is tremendous, and while they may be letting up a lot of points, they're doing a great job of winning them back with good movement. If they keep running and keeping out of halfcourt games, they have as good a chance as any of coming out on top at the all-star break.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TRU_PHX:</div><div class="quote_post">They are looking really good! Can't wait til the regular season starts.</div> They really are looking pretty good, it's not like they've adopted a whole new game plan with Amare gone, and the old one seems to be working pretty well. Now obviously there isn't any substitute for a guy like Stoudemire, but Brian Grant looks pretty young out there, and has been allowing for some good play. Other than that, James Jones looks phenomenal too. Keep this up, and these guys are going to be right back where they started last year once Amare returns.
I think the pre-season has been going great and I think we can continue with some confidence into the regular season and win a fair amount of games without the worry of not making the playoffs like some naysayers suggested might happen w/out stoudamire. However, now my concern is that we might have some initial problems rolling amare back into the flow of the team 3-4 months from now. And of course there is the chance, that I barely even want to think about, that amare won't come back at his optimum level. It's still way too early to tell of course, but the team chemistry issue I mentioned above is something to consider. Especially since we have so many new-to-our-roster players that haven't actually played with Amare. Everything else aside, it should prove to be an interesting season.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting unbeliever:</div><div class="quote_post">I think the pre-season has been going great and I think we can continue with some confidence into the regular season and win a fair amount of games without the worry of not making the playoffs like some naysayers suggested might happen w/out stoudamire. However, now my concern is that we might have some initial problems rolling amare back into the flow of the team 3-4 months from now. And of course there is the chance, that I barely even want to think about, that amare won't come back at his optimum level. It's still way too early to tell of course, but the team chemistry issue I mentioned above is something to consider. Especially since we have so many new-to-our-roster players that haven't actually played with Amare. Everything else aside, it should prove to be an interesting season.</div> I think things will be confusing for some of the role players who haven't been in that situation before, but I also think Amare is the focal point of this team, and D'Antoni won't forget that. We can expect to see Stoudemire playing at a lower level, yes, but we will also see players that have already had to adapt to two different systems, so reverting back to that first one won't be too challenging based on what they've already accomplished. Still though, transition is tough in any team environment, and with a relatively inexperienced roster, it makes for more question marks. But if anyone knows how to handle players personalities, it's D'Antoni, he has shown he can be quite good at it. P.S. Interesting is a good word for it, it's pretty well up in the air.
Its the preseason. The Spurs are like 1-7. Do you think they'll play that way in the regular season/playoffs? Of course not,its the preseason.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting GiantMidget:</div><div class="quote_post">Its the preseason. The Spurs are like 1-7. Do you think they'll play that way in the regular season/playoffs? Of course not,its the preseason.</div> Well, so far, no one's made any claims to the Suns' dominance, I think what we said is that it will be an interesting season. I'm looking forward to it because of their explosive offense. I could really care less about the preseason, but it's a fine indicator of what the team has in mind.
Some people have underrated the Suns, b/c of the Amare injury. (like Suns out of the playoffs). I think the Suns as long as Nash stays healthy will be a playoff seed, they have the offensive fire power to win a good portion of games.
One interesting comparison is this year's Suns to last years Sonics. Bombing the 3, big bodies banging in the interior without providing a whole lot of offense, good transition game to say the least. I think preseason is best for seeing what we can get out of our bench whenever we really need them. Diaw and Burke are getting minutes and are producing well in rebounds, assists, and defense. The Kings game was good in showing that our bench can wallop others'. I'm really looking forward to the GSW game (started 5 minutes ago but I'm tivoing it) as a better indicator of how good we are as the Warriors will be our main competition for the PAcific crown. We're playing more energetic defense, passing the ball extremely well. rebounding by boxing out, and shooting the three with better accuracy. Our transition game is still clunky but it'll smooth out soon enough. KT and James will continue to get better as starters as they get used to the Phoenix system, I'm very optimistic myself. GiantMidget don't be a troll in this forum, if you have criticisms to make at least substantiate them.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting panfolk:</div><div class="quote_post">One interesting comparison is this year's Suns to last years Sonics. Bombing the 3, big bodies banging in the interior without providing a whole lot of offense, good transition game to say the least. I think preseason is best for seeing what we can get out of our bench whenever we really need them. Diaw and Burke are getting minutes and are producing well in rebounds, assists, and defense. The Kings game was good in showing that our bench can wallop others'. I'm really looking forward to the GSW game (started 5 minutes ago but I'm tivoing it) as a better indicator of how good we are as the Warriors will be our main competition for the PAcific crown. We're playing more energetic defense, passing the ball extremely well. rebounding by boxing out, and shooting the three with better accuracy. Our transition game is still clunky but it'll smooth out soon enough. KT and James will continue to get better as starters as they get used to the Phoenix system, I'm very optimistic myself. GiantMidget don't be a troll in this forum, if you have criticisms to make at least substantiate them.</div> I think the finest indicator so far is the confidence their three point shooters are playing with. For a team this inexperienced to be bombing away as frequently and as accurately as they are, that's a great sign. It really is a huge show of fearlessness on their part. If guys who are quite honestly trying to make a team are willing to just let fly when they're supposed to, that's a really good sign, that says to me that D'Antoni has his players doing what he wants them to do, and he has them listening to the veterans on the team. All in all, I've been very pleased with the interior play, despite my expectations. Lots of good boardwork, and some exceptional defense from guys you don't expect (Burke, James). And, as usual, Nash runs a good break, but Barbosa doesn't yet, so that needs some work. Then again, flying elbows tend to lay you a little low on the fast break. (Just kiddin' everybody.)
