Suns Won there last preseason game against the Golden Sate Warriors. 97-92 Go Suns!! Are we ready for the regular season? They are looking very good. They will silence the doubters soon.
That was a pretty ugly game. Way to pull it out though. We went through like a 10 min stretch without scoring a field goal. Fisher has got to go. Yall killed us on the boards...
Diaw was a real contributor with a helluva stat line. Anyone know why Brian Grant didn't play? Although it was an ugly game I still prefer it to a blowout. IT's awesome how well our bench plays. I wish they gave Burke more minutes though.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting panfolk:</div><div class="quote_post">Diaw was a real contributor with a helluva stat line. Anyone know why Brian Grant didn't play? Although it was an ugly game I still prefer it to a blowout. IT's awesome how well our bench plays. I wish they gave Burke more minutes though.</div> Well, the transition defense was garbage, so that definitely needs to change, although their ball control is usually very good, so it's not a huge issue. Diaw was getting to the basket well, and Nash very good offensively, as usual. Best part I could see was the defensive containment. If you're able to seal off the basket capably from guys like Richardson, Dunleavy, Diddy, and Murphy for as long as they did, you probably are better, in actuality, than this team looks. All in all, things look very positive, and I would have to say that D'Antoni has done a wonderful job with this team, and that he has built very well on last year's theme. Most of the role players appear ready to step up in bigger ones, and the stars (Marion was huge down low last night) look more prepared to handle a large market share of publicity in Phoenix (at least more prepared than last year), which will be an issue come playoff time.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Are we ready for the regular season? They are looking very good. They will silence the doubters soon.</div> Remeber this is preseason. The Spurs finished 2-7 so that just goes to show you how serious teams are about the preseason. The only team that should look to have good preseason is teams that are awfully bad like Bobcats, Hawks and so on. Teams that have guys fighting for roster spots and drafted 1st round rookie to try and get their feet wet. As for the game, may God be with the Suns for the season. The Suns are in trouble if you ask me. Did you see how many 3pt attempts they took? It's ridiculous. They're only source of offense is the 3pt line and teams will watch on to that. All the opposition has to do really is play the 3-2 Zone and just stop Nash from penetrating a little. He is going to get his, but just slowing him down just a tad will help out a lot. That said they also have nothing in the paint defensively or offensively. They have no real finishers that will command for the ball and slash his way into the paint and finish. Marion is the closest thing to that but he is not that type of player that will demand the ball. Also like the play-by-play commentators mentioned in last night game, the FT's will be a problem as well, a big problem. But back to their offense which is their biggest strength. The Suns might even struggle with that too. They are lucky they played the Warriors which are one of the worst rebounding teams in the league; if it wasn?t for that the score could have reversed with the advantage going to the Warriors. Again, back to the offense the fact that they have no post present and guys willing to take midrange shots instead of treys will hurt the team. If they had a post presence they could give him the ball and he could past it out, draw a double etc. What I?m saying is that with a post man(Amare) they could draw up their offense in a variety of ways and then they could shoot they're treys because the defense will be guessing on every position. But if you have Nash simply penetrating and kicking out all the time teams will catch on to that with ease. James Jones is a great shooter, but when guys start playing him real tight he will have trouble. Nash & Marion I believe will get the job done, but it?s all going to fall on the others guys. Defensively they get better, but only on the perimeter. The Suns are going to get destroyed in the paint. Expect guys like Swift, Gasol or even Dampier to potentially have great games against the Suns. James Jones is a solid defender with his quickness and length. Kurt Thomas could guard those athletic PF?s around the perimeter. Bell is also another perimeter defender. But what exactly do they have in the paint? Nothing. Marion is decent but how long will he hold up guarding guys in the paint because he admittedly said that playing all that PF worn him out. This team needs Amare bad. Lastly, you have the MVP Steve Nash. The guy people keep saying even without Amare ?They still have the reigning MVP in Steve Nash?. However you must remember that Nash is at his best when he has guys feeding off of him. Which is one of the reasons a lot of people questioned him for the MVP. He is not the typical MVP player. That being the case he won't be at his best. Don't get me wrong and think I'm saying he is surrounded by a bunch of nobodies because that is most def. not the case. He has quality guys around him, but as far as that stacking up with the Nuggets, Rockets, Kings, Spurs, Mavericks and even the Grizzlies it's not too good for the Suns. All those teams in my eyes have the advantage over the Suns with Amare gone. Nash is going to have to carry the load and go overtime with the minutes. I see the Suns flirting around the 7th and 8th seed fighting it out with the likes of the Warriors, Lakers and Jazz.
I disagree with you on a lot what's going on in Phoenix. The Suns offense does lack a lot of diversity, but that goes along with sticking to what works for you. The long ball has worked for them in recent memory and the front office went after shooters for a reason. Q was just getting costly, so he's out of town. And Joe Johnson was certainly one of the best perimeter defenders around, and that is where his presence will be missed most, but there's more to this team than you're saying. First off, to say that Kurt Thomas can't guard a power forward in the post is simply ridiculous. This man didn't make a career out of finesse. He's been one of the better defensive fours in the league for years. Brian Grant has made a name for himself with solid post play too, and James Jones just looks flat out good right now. I don't buy the defensive post lapse defense, not one bit. As for other teams locking down on the perimeter shooting, first of all, it's easier said than done. Teams may catch on, but defending it with the ball rotation they boast is difficult, extremely difficult. What makes it more difficult for defenses is that the majority of their players know how to get to the rim very capably. If anything I see their offense as being more active than last year, and probably more productive. Obviously some teams will be better suited to stopping the drive and dish, but some will be just as clueless. And, as for that 3-2 zone talk, there are almost no defenses in the league prepared to play a zone for 48 minutes, and even fewer who have the knowledge or talent to close off a point guard like Steve Nash. He's made a career of being prepared for supposedly excellent defenses.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I disagree with you on a lot what's going on in Phoenix. The Suns offense does lack a lot of diversity, but that goes along with sticking to what works for you. The long ball has worked for them in recent memory and the front office went after shooters for a reason. Q was just getting costly, so he's out of town. And Joe Johnson was certainly one of the best perimeter defenders around, and that is where his presence will be missed most, but there's more to this team than you're saying.</div> Like I said, it's okay if they live off of the 3pt because that's what they are best at. My main problem with that is they don't have any signifcant things they can do to set up those 3pt shooters. Again, all we are going to see is driving and kicking by Nash and while it's easier said that done to contain it, the average defensive teams will be able to somewhat slow them down and make a game out of it. Now I'm not saying that's literally ALL Nash is going to do, but for the most part I'm sure that majority of they plays will resemble each other and it will involve Nash penetration some how, or a high screen roll with Marion since Marion will now be one of the focal points. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">First off, to say that Kurt Thomas can't guard a power forward in the post is simply ridiculous. This man didn't make a career out of finesse. He's been one of the better defensive fours in the league for years. Brian Grant has made a name for himself with solid post play too, and James Jones just looks flat out good right now. I don't buy the defensive post lapse defense, not one bit.</div> You're right. But re-read what I said. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> Defensively they get better, but only on the perimeter. The Suns are going to get destroyed in the paint. Expect guys like Swift, Gasol or even Dampier to potentially have great games against the Suns. James Jones is a solid defender with his quickness and length. Kurt Thomas could guard those athletic PF?s around the perimeter. Bell is also another perimeter defender. But what exactly do they have in the paint? Nothing. Marion is decent but how long will he hold up guarding guys in the paint because he admittedly said that playing all that PF worn him out. This team needs Amare bad.</div> See that? What I'm saying is as far as it goes in the paint and overall interior defense the Suns are in a world of trouble. Also remember Thomas has aged now don?t get me wrong he still plays that defense but some of that that interior defense he's showcased with the Knicks was against the East so called big guys which are relatively smaller than the Garnetts, Yao's, Duncan, Dampier, Brand, Gasol etc. Trust me on this, he will find it very difficult to play good defense against Gasol or Martin for example than Krstic or Okafor. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">As for other teams locking down on the perimeter shooting, first of all, it's easier said than done. Teams may catch on, but defending it with the ball rotation they boast is difficult, extremely difficult. What makes it more difficult for defenses is that the majority of their players know how to get to the rim very capably. If anything I see their offense as being more active than last year, and probably more productive. Obviously some teams will be better suited to stopping the drive and dish, but some will be just as clueless. And, as for that 3-2 zone talk, there are almost no defenses in the league prepared to play a zone for 48 minutes, and even fewer who have the knowledge or talent to close off a point guard like Steve Nash. He's made a career of being prepared for supposedly excellent defenses.</div> I could agree with that. But the fact that they loss tons of diversity in the offense and has even weaker interior defense will cost them a lot. They certainly have things going in their favor, but those two things I mentioned above will hurt them more than you think. Let me ask you one question though. What seed do you think the Suns will be flirting around without Amare?
I believe the suns are in a much better position than what Avery has portrayed. Last night was not an offensive jem for the suns whatsoever. They failed to reach to centruy mark for the third time this preseason, the previous two games were the suns only loses. However, in this game the bench and role players began to gel with the system. The suns won this game with defense and clutch performances from role players, who were playing against Warrior starters. The Warriors were the same team that showed up in the first preseason game, they just ran into a little D. It has been stated multiple times that the suns 3pt shooting will make and break this team, last night they were 11-34 from behind the line. That's a lot of threes, and a lot of misses. This can be explained because the suns were getting offensive rebounds which equals more attempts. If the suns attempt 34 threes every game, which they won't, they have a great chance to make at least 11. This is not good shooting, but couple it with other aspects, rebounding, fastbreaks it equals a win. This game was huge for the suns confidence. The Warriors played their game, shooting 31-66 (.470) in the first three quarters. The fourth quarter they shot 5-18 (.278). The mark of a great team is to be able to close out games in the fourth quarter using Defense or great Offense. We know the suns can close out a team with blistering offense, however last night was a taste of how to do it with defense. Fastbreaks, 3pt. Shooting, The two man game, An MVP penetrating and dishing point guard, An improved defense, and in Febuary a fresh Amare who will peak as soon as playoffs hit= Championship Obvously my opinions are somewhat biased, but IMO the suns are fine right now.
