7 seconds or less....... That is their philosophy right????? Shaq can't get up out of his chair that fast anymore not to mention across halfcourt chasing after the Suns.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (DooBee @ Feb 6 2008, 11:19 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>As much as I dislike the Suns, I think this is a good trade for them. This is a gamble they are taking; huge upside and huge downside and no way to know which one is actually going to happen. The Suns know they are not going anywhere this year with their current roster, and the clock is ticking on their team. So what the hack?€? roll the dice! This trade makes me worried as a Laker fan since right now I am confident we can beat the Suns, after the trade?€? it remains to be seen.</div> I wouldn't say they were going nowhere this year. The could have beat the Spurs last season and SA isn't even as good anymore. The Lakers are great but not a LOCK to win the title. The Suns were not in a bad position, they just screwed themselves any chance of winning after this season. They don't even have time to mesh with an almost 36 year old Shaq.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (DooBee @ Feb 6 2008, 11:19 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>This trade makes me worried as a Laker fan since right now I am confident we can beat the Suns, after the trade… it remains to be seen.</div> I agree. After my friends and I stopped laughing and joking about it, reality sunk in and we actually started worrying. Our strategy is no longer as simple as "pass the ball to Drew." With the addition of Shaq, they can essentially play us man-to-man. Let's further break this down. We have one game left against Phoenix on the 20th. Drew will not be in the lineup and with Shaq's hip the way it is, I wouldn't be surprised if he's not ready either. Therefore if we see them in the playoffs, we will have had no prior experience against their retooled lineup. Granted that goes both ways, but I feel like we may not have that mental edge of slaughtering them in our first two meetings. One benefit I do foresee though, the Suns will probably relinquish their hold of the Pacific division since Shaq can't stay healthy during the regular season. Kerr is clearly willing to sacrifice games in the regular season if they can get further in the playoffs. While I still think we have the edge due to our stars being younger, I wouldn't take the Suns as lightly anymore.
I AM PISSED!!! I have always loved the Suns and last year was a total fluke. We could've beaten the damn Spurs, but they're the biggest cheaters I know and get away with it - which is crap!! So we're a GREAT team and I KNOW we could win a damn championship, but now all that is gone. I freaking HATE HATE HATE Shaq! He's a cheater also...he NEVER gets calls when he pushes people out of his way and pretty much knocks them out when he tries to lift his huge ass body to make a basket. Eww...I can't BELIEVE we're going to have to watch Marion dunk over us now. God - WORST thing the Suns could do!!!!!!!!
This is by far the most out of the blue trade. At the seasons start, if someone mentioned Shaq to the Suns, they would have been called crazy.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Ludichris @ Feb 6 2008, 02:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (DooBee @ Feb 6 2008, 11:19 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>This trade makes me worried as a Laker fan since right now I am confident we can beat the Suns, after the trade… it remains to be seen.</div> I agree. After my friends and I stopped laughing and joking about it, reality sunk in and we actually started worrying. Our strategy is no longer as simple as "pass the ball to Drew." With the addition of Shaq, they can essentially play us man-to-man. Let's further break this down. We have one game left against Phoenix on the 20th. Drew will not be in the lineup and with Shaq's hip the way it is, I wouldn't be surprised if he's not ready either. Therefore if we see them in the playoffs, we will have had no prior experience against their retooled lineup. Granted that goes both ways, but I feel like we may not have that mental edge of slaughtering them in our first two meetings. One benefit I do foresee though, the Suns will probably relinquish their hold of the Pacific division since Shaq can't stay healthy during the regular season. Kerr is clearly willing to sacrifice games in the regular season if they can get further in the playoffs. While I still think we have the edge due to our stars being younger, I wouldn't take the Suns as lightly anymore. </div> Shaq's always been one of the worst players trying to defend the pick and roll. He refuses to rotate out of the paint and it leads to wide open shots. Lakers will milk that play all game long. There is going to be a major adjustment for Phoenix after this trade. Like the previous poster stated, Phoenix was just a suspension away from knocking out the Spurs last year. I'm sure they would have beat Cleveland in the Finals fairly easy too.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Ludichris @ Feb 6 2008, 02:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (DooBee @ Feb 6 2008, 11:19 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>This trade makes me worried as a Laker fan since right now I am confident we can beat the Suns, after the trade… it remains to be seen.</div> I agree. After my friends and I stopped laughing and joking about it, reality sunk in and we actually started worrying. Our strategy is no longer as simple as "pass the ball to Drew." With the addition of Shaq, they can essentially play us man-to-man. Let's further break this down. We have one game left against Phoenix on the 20th. Drew will not be in the lineup and with Shaq's hip the way it is, I wouldn't be surprised if he's not ready either. Therefore if we see them in the playoffs, we will have had no prior experience against their retooled lineup. Granted that goes both ways, but I feel like we may not have that mental edge of slaughtering them in our first two meetings. One benefit I do foresee though, the Suns will probably relinquish their hold of the Pacific division since Shaq can't stay healthy during the regular season. Kerr is clearly willing to sacrifice games in the regular season if they can get further in the playoffs. While I still think we have the edge due to our stars being younger, I wouldn't take the Suns as lightly anymore. </div> The Suns screwed themselves royally with this trade. The only player who produced at all against the Lakers was Marion, and now he's gone. Shaq/Amare<<<<<<Gasol/Bynum. Bynum is better than both Shaq and Amare, and Gasol is a much smarter player than Amare and a better player than the aging Shaq. Don't get me wrong, Shaq is one of my all time favs, but in his current state he is a franchise destroyer. Nash is probably ripping his hair out because of this trade. As for Marion, once his contract is up, I don't see him as a member of the Heat for too long. He adamantly stated he doesn't want to be on a rebuilding team, and he won't thrive in the Heat style of play.
Nice way to counter attack Kerr. Lakers get better by getting Gasol, how do you respond? You make your team worst, by getting a a player on the downside of his career. Kerr for GM of the year!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (o.iatlhawksfan @ Feb 6 2008, 03:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Nice way to counter attack Kerr. Lakers get better by getting Gasol, how do you respond? You make your team worst, by getting a a player on the downside of his career. Kerr for GM of the year!</div> haha, I liked Kerr, but after this move, idk. Definately this trade was made to match up with us...this signals that the Suns will HAVE to slow down their tempo to compensate for Shaq's speed. However the Suns will now have two options to run their offense, slow when Shaq is in and fast when he's out...might be a nightmare to match up with
On the radio they were saying Shawn Marion and Amare were at a point they weren't talking to one another anymore. The Suns have been trying to shop Marion around and after watching Bynum emerge and the Gasol deal go down, they decided to take a big risk and try to win it all now. There's a good chance this could be D'Antoni's last year coaching the team unless Phoenix wins a title. Sarver and Kerr had a heated argument with D'Antoni a few weeks ago and they said usually when a coach isn't on the same page as the owner and GM they don't last long. Matt Money also made a great point about Shaq. He said this is a no win situation for Shaq regardless. Shaq in Phoenix is going to show Shaq is clearly done if they don't win it all and if he plays really well then it just validates Shaq is a punk bitch for tanking on Riley and not committing to the Heat.
I think the only reason the Suns did this is because they felt pressured into a deal for a big after the Lakers landed Gasol. Quite frankly, if the Suns stood pat and met the Lakers at any point in the playoffs, they'd have been dismantled. They already had issues stopping the Lakers post game with Kwame and Odom, now having it be Odom, Gasol, and Bynum, they'd have even more issues. The Lakers would have rolled up points in the paint and getting a rebound would have been almost out of the picture for the Suns. So, with that aspect, this trade does make sense. Shaq does give them that inside presence that they lacked. He gives them a big guy in the middle who can clog the lane on defense as well as prevent the bigs from hitting the boards as much. So, at the very least, the Suns improve their rebounding ability with this trade I think, because as good as Marion is, against bigger teams out West, they get hammered because they're so undersized. Now, with that said, I still think this trade makes them worse. Quite frankly, the Suns are not a team that needs to lean towards defense. They play run and gun offense for a reason and don't really focus on defense, and that's why their roster worked. They're simply a pick and roll team that doesn't really rely on a true big. By adding Shaq, while it might help defense and rebounding, it hurts their offensive philosophy. He's not going to be able to keep up with the pace of the game. Plus, even if he is, he's still much more effective as a half court player. If anything, I think Kerr is trying to change the mold of this team. I think he's realizing that running a run and gun offense is not going to win an NBA championship. I think he realizes that in order to win in the NBA, you do need a defensive presence and can't rely soley on the offense. That said though, I still don't think this trade was the way to go. Shaq is clearly on the downside of his career and I don't think he's going to even equal the production Marion was giving them. I think they could have gotten a much better deal for Marion, but again, I do think they felt the need to attempt to equal what the Lakers did, so they might have rushed in to this.
