There's a great excerpt running on SI.com from the book ":07 SECONDS OR LESS" by Jack McCallum, in which he writes about the Phoenix Suns' 2005-2006 season in depth. The peice that's running on SI covers Marion's apparently fragile psyche/ego. I won't post the whole article, but I'm going to post some parts of the excerpt that I thought were extremely interesting. I love any "behind the scenes" type stuff, and this read was particularly interesting. I'll also explain the context behind each quote I post. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">This is when we're at our best," says D'Antoni as the video runs, "when we're changing ends on the fly. They have no answer for it. Kwame is awful. Odom's a very average defender. Vujacic [backup point guard Sasha Vujacic] can't guard anybody. And Bryant in the open floor takes chances that aren't good. Let's go get 'em." </div> D'Antoni runs a video of the Suns playing thier running game at thier best before every game to fire up the players. This is what he says to the Suns before Game 3 of the Lakers-Suns series last year (Lakers won the game to lead 2-1). <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> It is the nightmare scenario presented by Iavaroni. Bryant scored only seven points, but every other starter was in double figures. Kobe played the role of Prospero, directing everything, seeing all, being all, and acting quite superior about it all. D'Antoni decides on a psychological ploy, telling the media that Bell has done a great job subduing Kobe. Perhaps that will rile up the Laker and precipitate a shooting spree that will freeze out his teammates. </div> I found that quite interesting. Of course, the Lakers won Game 4 as well (off the game winner by Kobe), and he had balanced numbers, so D'Antoni's reverse psychology didn't really work but that's quite an interesting tactic he used. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">But he is not the face of the Suns. Nash and D'Antoni are the dual faces, and, whenever Marion's face appears, Stoudemire's is likely to, also. That drives him crazy. He appreciates Nash and gets along with him, but he doesn't feel the same about Stoudemire. </div> This part of the article covers Marion's insecurity that breeds from the fact that he isn't recognized as the face of the franchise like Nash and Amare are. Marion is actually rightfully feeling underappreciated, but it was really strange to read about it, because I didn't expect it him to be so insecure. This next part basically sums everything up about how Marion feels and is really interesting: <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">During the season, Marion was angry that his likeness didn't appear among the huge bobblehead dolls in the Suns' team store in the arena -- the featured ones, of course, were of Nash and Stoudemire. During a couple of regular-season games, a drum line of young men performed during timeouts, all wearing replica jerseys of either Nash or Stoudemire. No Marion. He noticed. It sounds trivial to be complaining about that kind of stuff, particularly when you're compensated as a maximum player, but Marion had a point. There is Stoudemire, not even active, clowning around on the bench, and there is Marion trying to defend Odom, and yet Stoudemire gets all the love from the drum line. For all the bravado and posturing in the NBA, it is a breeding ground for insecurity. </div> Edit: Forgot to link it. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writ...rion/index.html Thoughts?
Yeah, that D'Antoni's strategy was really interesting. But in fact, it was kinda right decision in that situation. The last article about Marion being underrated. Now we all know the facts off it, too. Marion just isn't so flashy like Amare. Amare has style, highligths etc. Nash is just a back 2 back MVP. ;D
