To Nitro:I'm not gunna add fuel to the fire, but I will add a little extra to what you said earlier.You said that today's talent pool is larger today. That maybe true, although it remains to be seen, my point is, in the 80's, all the talent was much more concentrated. There were fewer teams and the draft went 3 rounds deep. Hence, more for each team to pick than today. That meant, every team in the 80's got more from the draft than teams do today. Expansion has really F*cked things up.One more thing, all the great things you say the Suns have that will cause the Lakers trouble won't really mean much. I've said this before, and I'll say it now: the Suns absolutely cannot stop those Laker teams. While at the same time, Showtime will come up with ways to stop the Suns. That's about the size of it. The Suns may keep up with Showtime for a half or so, but, once the Lakers turn on the D, it's over. Showtime could score 150 points on anybody, anytime, anyplace. That's just how it is.
I agree with Magic. If you have Worthy,Kareem, and Magic its unstoppable the suns will not be close nash is not as good as magic. Worthy is BETTER than Marion, Scott si better than Bell. you cant stop that Kareem will domintat the suns
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PiN0Y Ba11a @ Sep 15 2006, 02:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I agree with Magic. If you have Worthy,Kareem, and Magic its unstoppable the suns will not be close nash is not as good as magic. Worthy is BETTER than Marion, Scott si better than Bell. you cant stop that Kareem will domintat the suns</div>Yeah Nitro, look at it that way. Although AMare will cause problems, they won't stop their legendary roster.Magic can be considered the GOAT, although I would put michael ahead of him. Compared to Steve Nash? You can't even put them in the same place. Magic is much better.Kareem is unstoppable, he mever left his prime his whole career. (Maybe the last few years but can you blame him?)James Worthy was the 3rd option. Repeat that to yourself!Need I explain more?
Nitro, who does nash Guard?Magic? Worthy? Scott? He'd get burned so badly by each of them. Magic would post him up, Worthy would also and scott would be shooting 20 footers on his head. Nash would have to go to the bench. Lakers would run a half court offense to get rid of Nash then begin their open floor game. With nash out the whole offense collapses.The suns don't have mismatches like that. Scott would do a way better then Nash would against the Magic or whoever. Marion is assisted on 65% of his shots. If nash is being posted up he's obviously going to be in foul trouble. Marion's production lowers because they have nobody who can run the offense.The lakers have 2 things that the suns lack. Defensive plays and clutch plays. How many times did we see the suns meltdown during the regular season. The lakers started their fast break offense through defense, stopping the offense. The suns at times actually would like players to score so they can run against you. That is why I think it'd be a sweep, the lakers have a huge mistmach and have intangibles that the suns lack. Kareem can even run the fast break because I've seen him do it.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Melo061 @ Sep 15 2006, 07:57 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>The lakers started their fast break offense through defense, stopping the offense. The suns at times actually would like players to score so they can run against you. </div>2 excellent points, especially the latter one........... Some people don't notice that though, how bad is your defense if you let the other team to shoot just to get the ball back.
The Suns don't like other teams scoring. Yes, maybe shooting longer jumpshots so they get the rebound, but they don't want anyone to score. There's just more opportunities for the other team to do so with the fast paced and us only having 1 real big man on the team...The team was also good at stealing the ball which is another way they started the fast break.
^ Not sure, but I don't think anyone wants anyone else to score.But I agree with all your other points.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ELiiiTE @ Sep 16 2006, 10:24 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>^ Not sure, but I don't think anyone wants anyone else to score.But I agree with all your other points.</div>Well that's what Melo said. I agree nobody wants anyone else to score.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Michael Bryant @ Sep 15 2006, 02:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>To Nitro:I'm not gunna add fuel to the fire, but I will add a little extra to what you said earlier.You said that today's talent pool is larger today. That maybe true, although it remains to be seen, my point is, in the 80's, all the talent was much more concentrated. There were fewer teams and the draft went 3 rounds deep. Hence, more for each team to pick than today. That meant, every team in the 80's got more from the draft than teams do today. Expansion has really F*cked things up.One more thing, all the great things you say the Suns have that will cause the Lakers trouble won't really mean much. I've said this before, and I'll say it now: the Suns absolutely cannot stop those Laker teams. While at the same time, Showtime will come up with ways to stop the Suns. That's about the size of it. The Suns may keep up with Showtime for a half or so, but, once the Lakers turn on the D, it's over. Showtime could score 150 points on anybody, anytime, anyplace. That's just how it is.</div>I guess I'll start with this quote:GREAT point, as it is true that teams got more bang for their buck in the draft, but you have to look at before the NBA. In the '70's/early '80's (when most of the players from those teams were adolscents). There weren't even half as many leagues, players played multiple sports all the way up until college....there just wasn't as much insane focus on basketball from the very beginning as there is now. You honestly think MJ would have made the UNC team if he didn't even make his HS's varsity team as a junior? Hell no, if you want to be on a top 25 college team you will be heavily recruited, make countless all star games, be invited to top notch camps, and the whole 9. Players are bulking up very early nowadays, players are maturing earlier, basketball is becoming much popular, coaches from the lowest levels are much better.....there is just a much larger talent pool than there used to be, even though teams don't get as much bang for their buck in terms of getting the highest % of highly recruited players.Trust me, I know Suns couldn't stop the Lakers, but I don't think the Lakers could ahve stopped the Suns either. They would have too many mismatches, their frontcourt would be way too athletic, they would have a hard time adjusting to a team that jacks up the most 3's in the NBA at the best %, and would have trouble with the new rules (especially the hand check rules, there is a great article on this in the new issue of Lindy's).Melo:<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Nitro, who does nash Guard?Magic? Worthy? Scott? He'd get burned so badly by each of them. Magic would post him up, Worthy would also and scott would be shooting 20 footers on his head. Nash would have to go to the bench. Lakers would run a half court offense to get rid of Nash then begin their open floor game. With nash out the whole offense collapses.The suns don't have mismatches like that. Scott would do a way better then Nash would against the Magic or whoever. Marion is assisted on 65% of his shots. If nash is being posted up he's obviously going to be in foul trouble. Marion's production lowers because they have nobody who can run the offense.The lakers have 2 things that the suns lack. Defensive plays and clutch plays. How many times did we see the suns meltdown during the regular season. The lakers started their fast break offense through defense, stopping the offense. The suns at times actually would like players to score so they can run against you.</div>I agree, Nash is a horrible defender, but that can be seen when he plays nearly every PG in the league, yet they still had 54 wins. 2 years ago they had 62 wins. What he does offensively balances it out. And for the record, Barbosa does the PG role really well as well.Marion has been getting 20 and 10/very close to 20 and 10 his whole career. He doesn't need Nash to score. And seriously, who is going to guard Amare? That is a huge mismatch, especially on the fastbreak where the Lakers in the '80's NEVER faced a player of his size who could run the break like him. Without hand checking rules, I don't see anyone stopping Marion on the drive, especially not Copper who is less athletic, 2 inches shorter and 60lbs lighter. And you don't think players like Tim THomas who stretch out the D a ton won't benefit the Suns like it does against every other team they have faced? Because of this, Nash, Amare and Marion become near unstoppable together, especially if Lakers tried to outrun them.Clutch play? Did you see Steve Nash vs the Mavs, game 1? Or what he did to them the year before? Or Amare's game saving blocks on Brad Miller and TD in WCF to prevent sweep? They are clutch enough. As for defense, I agree they are better defensively, but the Suns shoot at a very high % from inside and outside, and are more athletic from top to bottom. They have tons of mismatches at all times, and if the Lakers would try and outrun them, I feel that it could end up badly for the Lakers.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Melo061 @ Sep 15 2006, 06:57 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Nitro, who does nash Guard?Magic? Worthy? Scott? He'd get burned so badly by each of them. Magic would post him up, Worthy would also and scott would be shooting 20 footers on his head. Nash would have to go to the bench. Lakers would run a half court offense to get rid of Nash then begin their open floor game. With nash out the whole offense collapses.</div>On top of that, Nash can't play D, so the Lakers would definitely dominate.
