I really want to know who you all think is actually a contender not a pretender. I know that the Sonics are basically made up of three-point shooters, but they also can run the floor pretty well. On the other hand, the Suns have an outside and an inside. So please posts your thoughts.
Well, currently, they have the best record in the NBA and are 1-0 on us, so the answer to that question now is pretty straight forward. However, come playoff time, I believe we have the style of game and the depth to be more successful than Phoenix, it's just a matter of whether we can put it all together at the right time.
Phoenix seems more suited for the regular season and the playoffs. Mainly because they at least have a very good power forward inside. Seattle as good as they are playing now are really best suited for the regular season. You need a good big man to go far in the playoffs and Seattle are full of jump shooters. It also helps the fact the Suns have the best point guard in the league and the best small forward in the league on their side.
The thing is, so much of the playoffs is being able to adjust your style of game, and you need to have some depth. At the moment the Suns are just using five guys to outrun everyone; are they still going to be beating teams like that come April and May? Can they adjust to a team like the Spurs or Timberwolves who know how to slow a game down come playoff time?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Supersonic:</div><div class="quote_post">The thing is, so much of the playoffs is being able to adjust your style of game, and you need to have some depth. At the moment the Suns are just using five guys to outrun everyone; are they still going to be beating teams like that come April and May? Can they adjust to a team like the Spurs or Timberwolves who know how to slow a game down come playoff time?</div> Adjusting is imortant come playoff time and you need to know what tempo to control when you are facing certain teams but the Suns are actually a good defensive team (FG% wise) and they have some good halfcourt players. It's not like they are what the Nets were in terms of great fastbreaking team but poor halfcourt team. They have guys who can make plays in the halfcourt set. I actually think depth is more important during the regular season than the playoffs, teams rarely use much of their bench come playoff time. Memphis tried doing that last year and failed. Pistons really only used 3 guys off the bench when facing the east, Hunter and James as energy guys who could defend the 1 and Williamson who would be put as the 3 with limited minutes. Phoenix are such a young team they should have no real problem lasting. However Steve Nash may have a problem with lasting a full season without breaking down but luckily for them, they have a very good young back-up guard in Barabosa. So I expect when the season is winding down people should expect to see more of Barbosa and less minutes for Nash so he lasts for the post season. Will see what happens, I don't see the Suns beating the Spurs or Wolves in a best of 7 series but they can beat anyone else in that western conference. Which is far more than anyone expected heading into this season.
My point with depth is you need your players fresh for the post season. They have five guys playing huge minutes now, what's going to happen come May? As for Barbosa, I'm a big fan, but they can't just throw a sophomore in later in the season and expect him to produce. They need to lessen Nash's minutes in January, which I think they'll do. We'll see, though.
yalll know Suns would beat sonics one reason: AMARE vs. SONICS BIG MAN they cant stop amare but everything else would be close
I think that the Suns will falter down the stretch b/c they can't defend. As good as Steve Nash is offensively, his defense consists of primarily trying to draw offensive fouls. Amare Stoudamire is a highlight defender but isn't sound fundamentally. Shawn Marion can not watch the better power forwards in this league (which is what will have to do since he starts at power forward). Joe Johnson and Quentin Richardson aren't shut down defenders either. I think that the Sonics have become one of the better defensive teams in the league this year. They aren't trying to win shoot outs. The Suns may end up having a better record than the Supes but I'm not convinced that the Suns would be successful in the playoffs against a team w/ size. (Spurs, Wolves, and even the Kings).
Ridnour will have to really mature in the 2nd half of the season for the Sonics to make some noise in the playoffs. His playmaking is good and defensively he's doing alright but his shot is way too inconsistent and right now he's in a pretty bad slump. Teams are cheating off him and, if not the wide open 3, at least he has to hit the open 15 footer and make some shots off the pick and roll. If he can't Rashard and Allen will have trouble and if that happens I see a quick exit for the Supes. Plus although I like AD as a backup point I can't see him being the main floor general in a 7 game series if Ridnour struggles. Maybe Flip can find a role here. At least this year our halfcourt D is a lot better and if Fortson's in the game our offensive rebounding should keep the game competitive, as opposed to years past where if we weren't hitting the 3 ball the game would get ugly real quick. re: the Suns I think the main thing is how well their young guys hold up under playoff pressure. Obviously they're better when they're running but I think they have enough guys who can get to the rim off the dribble like Q (plus he can post up), JJ and even Marion plus running Nash off pick and roll with Amare and offensively they'll be OK in the playoffs. Haven't seen 'em play enough to evaluate their D and rebounding, though.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting NBAFan4Life:</div><div class="quote_post">yalll know Suns would beat sonics one reason: AMARE vs. SONICS BIG MAN they cant stop amare but everything else would be close</div> Missed their match-up last week then champ? Amare wasn't the difference, that's for sure. In fact, the "Sonics can't guard big men" is getting a bit old this season. They've beaten Sacramento, Minnesota, San Antonio twice and Denver this season, and Duncan in the second meeting is the only big man to have a big performance. And there aren't many teams who will stop Duncan twice in succession.
The Suns are built to for the regular season as of now. All of their starters are playing more than 35 minutes per game...It's only a matter of time until players like Nash and Q start to wear down. Hopefully they don't, but besides players like Barbosa, Jacobsen(Offensive), Outlaw(Banger) and Hunter (Defensive), they don't have much depth.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Banks:</div><div class="quote_post">The Suns are built to for the regular season as of now. All of their starters are playing more than 35 minutes per game...It's only a matter of time until players like Nash and Q start to wear down. Hopefully they don't, but besides players like Barbosa, Jacobsen(Offensive), Outlaw(Banger) and Hunter (Defensive), they don't have much depth.</div> Good point. I'm a Suns fan and if one of our players gets hurt in our lineup we're done. I can't think about if Amare gets hurt that the Suns go into the post season with Steven Hunter as their best low-post threat. Especially if he is going against guys like Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett. Thats what I think will hurt the Suns in the long run, against teams with a solid big man. The fact that we do not have a backup big man, no one to turn to if Amare gets into foul trouble or gets hurt will hurt us. The Sonics do have that, which makes them a better team in the post-season. I'll ammit that they have more depth then the Suns, (a lot of teams in the NBA do) with Fortson, Collison, and Radmanovic as big men coming off the bench. But when it comes to head-to-head matchups in the playoffs or regular season I am giving my edge to the Suns. Who is going to stop Amare is the big question for you guys. Sure you got depth but nobody is at the level that Amare is at. I can also make a point that the Suns have nobody that can stop Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis also, JJ is our only decent defender that can cover those guys, with Q covering the other. It should be a fun series to watch if these two teams are matched up in the playoffs, I'll predict right now that it will go 6 maybe 7 games.
The thing is with the Suns, they can't rebound. It's basically rebound by comittee. Since they don't know what defense is, and they can score as much points as they want with their high up tempo style, their are alot more rebounding oppurtunities for themselves and their opponents. Their only good rebounder is Shawn Marion, and Amare is an ok rebounder, but he's not grabbing the boards he should, especially at his stature with his strength and atheleticsm. Q can get you some boards, but he's probably the player on the Suns that knows the least about playing D. The Sonics on the other hand, don't have a standout guy, but they have a couple that can get it done like Fortson (who's still a beast), Reggie Evans and Shard if needed. The Suns Grab 43.7 RPG per game (due to the high tempo), but give up 46.5 RPG. The Sonics (39.3 RPG) grab 4.4 RPG Less than the Suns, but their oppenent also grab 2.8 less rebounds than themselves. Which shows that the Sonics can box out. They're also the better defensive team out of the two, so I can see the Sonics having a slight edge. However if Suns don't get warn out as much as I anticpate, then they might be able to pull off some wins/series in the Playoffs.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> They're also the better defensive team out of the two, so I can see the Sonics having a slight edge. However if Suns don't get warn out as much as I anticpate, then they might be able to pull off some wins/series in the Playoffs. </div> Phoenix: Offense #1 Defense <font color="Red">#5</font> Reb Diff -2.76 Point Diff +11.56 FG 48% Opp FG <font color="Red">43%</font> Seattle: Offense #6 Defense <font color="Red">#30</font> Reb Diff +2.87 Point Diff +6.00 FG 45% Opp FG <font color="Red">45%</font> Say Seattle is superior because Suns give up 3rpg and Sonics get 3 more per game. Argue that Suns won't go deep in the playoffs because of X Y Z. But stop with this "Seattle plays better defense" garbage. The numbers don't lie. Defensive Standings Offensive Standings
