<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">WASHINGTON - It avenged a loss. It was another road win. It was a game that ended with an 8-0 Suns run. But it was no feel-good win for Shawn Marion, who was as much of a standout as anyone in the fourth-quarter of a 104-99 comeback win at Washington. The record says 17-10 and the standings say first place in the Pacific Division without two of their top players, Amar? Stoudemire and Leandro Barbosa, but Marion is not satisfied. He said the Suns' game pace has been too slow, and he is clearly frustrated with not getting more shots. "We be walking the ball down the court," Marion said. "We don't play like we usually play. This ain't us, honestly. Even when we were winning, we weren't pushing the ball like we're capable of. We say we want to run, but we don't do it. We're getting stops, so I don't see why we don't run. Nobody wants to push the ball." Marion was adamant that his fellow captain, Steve Nash, is doing his job of trying to speed up the Suns offense, but he said nobody is along for the ride. Nash didn't disagree. "You have to look at the personnel and realize maybe it's not a great fit," Nash said. "If it is going to be a fit, it takes time. Guys have been playing a certain style for a long time. To come to our team and expect them to run their butts off every single play is breaking a lot of habits." Marion said he and Nash get tired at times from pushing it, but that he could be scoring "a lot more easy if I had a few more opportunities." He is averaging 16.1 shots per game after averaging 15.9 last season. He said it is "ridiculous" to run as many half-court sets as the Suns do, but acknowledged that it is not the same team "and we don't have runners like that." "Everybody has to step up and want to push the damn ball," Marion said. "It (upsets) me the (expletive) off because we can get a lot of layups out there, but they're making the game so (expletive) hard. It's too easy out there. They make the game so (expletive) hard. All we've got to do is push the damn ball and we can get layups and easy threes like last year. Nobody wants to run, though. "I could be under the (expletive) basket by myself and don't nobody pass or want to push the ball. Steve's the only one pushing it. He can't do it by himself."</div> Source
This news is kind of surprizing to me. Their team seems pretty solid already, I wonder what the team would look like if they do what Marion thinks they are capable of. A 55+ win team?
Of course 55+. Last year they won 62. This year they're better, so if they preform to their full potential which Marion thinks they are not, then they could've been a 62+ team, though without Amare, i think they are still capable of 50+ at least. Marion and Nash are basically the only ones still on the team that saw so much success with their running style. Though they still run more than most teams, they do play much more half court than last year. Marion is just saying that they were very successful last year the more they ran, so he wants to see this better shooting team run as much as last year's team did.
Marjele made a good point last night, about this very topic. He was saying that in the playoffs you can't always run as much and our experience now with the offensive halfcourt sets will only help us and we'll still be able to run when we get the opportunity. I definitely feel more confident with this team going into the playoffs than last years. We have more weapons, more depth, better defense and more flexibility.
I get giddy with each day that passes at the idea that 2 of the team's best players are soon coming back. I can't wait to see Barbosa and Stoudemire back on the court and making the team even more dangerous. The Suns have won all year basically on the strength of their outside shooting which is IMO the most clutch in the league. But when slasher LB and post monster STAT come back, I easily see the Suns pulling out a double-digit win streak before the end of the season.
