Amare looks lost...

[sly fly]

(However, I don't think it's his fault.)

In my mind, his progress has come to a screeching halt. He's being asked to do things that he's simply not ready to do. And, this team is paying for it.

Sure, he's beginning to hit the 15 footer. But, the rest of his game looks extremely rough around the edges.

Every time he touches the ball, the tunnel vision kicks in. Passing is usually the last resort. His assist totals will attest to that (not that he's gonna average 10 apg.)

So, what's happening? No one on this team is taking the pressure of off him. Everyone else is playing so shi**y, that he's being forced into duty. A double dose of Jermaine O'Neal and KG has surely taught this kid a lesson.

I really hope his game doesn't stagnate. I was more hopeful last year. Sure, he's going to get his 22 and 10 probably next year. But, I was hoping for something even more dominant.

As of now... I'm not as enthusiastic about him helping PHX bring home a title in the next few years.

Solution: Get this guy some help. Bring in a Lorenzen Wright or a (dare I say it) Rasheed Wallace, Kenyon Martin, Kurt Thomas, Tyson Chandler, or Kwame Brown. Amare needs to be pushed at his position.

Bring Charles Barkley in to work on his post game. Like Barkley said, Iavoroni was a stiff. I'm sure Charles would love to be involved.

 

[Chaplin]

We may have to wait, but could we do a Rasheed Wallace/Wes Person for Shawn Marion? I know a lot of people don't like Sheed, but this year he has been pretty quiet, and although I hate the idea of having a malcontent, you just never know.

What I do know is that this team needs something, and I'm not sure Shawn can provide that. I love the guy, but in order to gain something, you have to give up something, and if Penny or JJ can't be moved, then my vote is for Shawn Marion.

 

[sly fly]

Man, I can't believe we're actually throwing out the TRADE MARION talk.

But, he deserves it. His game stinks right now. I'm at a loss as to why?

Has he lost a step? Hit the wall? "Cashed" it in?

I honestly don't think he could create his own shot against 99% of the samll forwards in this league.

It may be time to start thinking of getting out of his ~$85,000,000 contract.

 

[Goldfield]

I like Marion, but I could swallow a Marion for Ray Allen trade.


God knows we could use a pure shooter on this team...


And I have seen enough out of Zarko to know he can create pleanty of missmatches with his size and talents...

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

I dont think it can work Chap. Sheed makes like 17 million a year, and I thought Wes was at least above 5 million. Both of their contracts are up at the end of the season, that is some major savings for the Blazers however.

 

[hcsilla]

Originally posted by BEERZ
I like Marion, but I could swallow a Marion for Ray Allen trade.


God knows we could use a pure shooter on this team...

So could SEA as well.
That's why they wouldn't do this trade. Plus they have Lewis at SF.Plus Marion is a BYC player.

 

[hcsilla]

BTW, almost every SINGLE NBA team could use a pure shooter.
The sharpshooter is a hot commodity.

 

[KANIDJA]

Trade Marion. He is stinkin it up big time. And with that shot that start at his legs he will never be able to score whenever they body him up. On top of it all he runs away from contact. Trade him for a first rounder. Who would not want Carmelo or Wade instead of Shawn Marion. Get a high pick and get rid of Marion.

Amare, in my opinion is doing good. He is still learning and that is why he is constatny makeing mistakes. But once his outside shot is fully developed and he develops some kind of a hook shot he will be ready to go. That said I hope they get rid of FJ. The only play this guy runs for them is freaking pick n roll. My God. Can' stand it anymore. Damn. Bring George Karl or somone with credibility so at least Suns are not outcoached every game.

 

[elindholm]

I hesitate to point this out, but the Suns have forfeited their chance to move away from Marion. Once they signed him to that enormous extension, they were making an irrevocable long-term commitment. Whether he was ever "worth" that contract is debatable, but you can be certain that no team will take him now that he's playing poorly. If you were another team, would you want him for $80 million over the next six seasons?

I didn't think so.

 

[King A]

I don't like the idea of trading for Sheed.
He'll be 30 next year and that is too old.
Remember what happened to the last nearly 30-year-olds we signed.

And only BTW he wouldn't fit in with is "rambo"-image. They re-signed Shawn partly this high because he was a VERY nice guy and blablabla.

But Ray Allen would be nice (ahh remember the wolves-bucks deal at draft night '96).
If we just could only talk Penny to not exercise his option...

 

[slinslin]

As long as we don't trade Amare but get some equal value that would be fine with me.

In my opinion Amare does NOT get the ball as much as he should and that hurts him. Otherwise he would get more attention and more respect from the refs already.

Joe Johnson usually plays very well when he gets a good amount of shots and is involved in the offense as a main part.
I think that if we just took Marion off of our roster than Joe Johnson and Cabarkapa and some other guys would be able to raise their productivity.

It seems to me that we don't have enough role players that are willing to play that role and can do it.

 

[BleedRed]

Damn "trade Marion"!!!! The dudes struggling this year, but I'm not ready to let him go. He's not even healthy right now. One thing I'd like to see change about his game is his shooting. I mean Marion is a slasher, he should be taking the ball to the basket like 90% of the time. Another player who fits into this mold is J.J. Not to say he doesn't have a sweet looking shot. But it doesn't go in too much (especially in the 4th quarter). Last night was the first time in a long time that I saw J.J. take the ball to the rack a couple of times, and he got a bucket and some free throws out of his effort.
As for Amare, he looks like a different player lately. Now some of it might be his compotition ( Garnett and O'neal), but he just looks like someones taken all the passion out of him (Frank). I mean anyone who pays any attention to the games sees how Frank treats Amare. Like he's 5. Another thing I've noticed is Amare standing around alot. Especially after some one takes a shot on our offensive end. He's not crashing the offensive glass, and that's killing us as a team. Even on the defensive boards he just not going after missed shots like he usually does. I put the blame squarley on Frank Johnsons shoulders. And him being fired is well past due. His negativity is beginning to destroy our team chemistry. Get his azz out of here. Go SUNS!!!!

 

[Joe Mama]

I don't think they need to get the ball to Amare Stoudemire any more than they already do. I just think they need to get it to him when he is in better scoring position. The same goes for Shawn Marion and Marbury. Everybody just looks lost in this offense... or lack thereof.

I'm tired of Joe Johnson and Marbury running the pick and roll with Amare Stoudemire and never giving the ball to him when he is rolling open to the basket. Amare, JJ, and Marion need to take some lessons from Marbury on creating instead of trying to avoid it when they are going to the basket.

Joe Mama

 

[Yuma]

What the @#$@! I saw the headline to this post and almost Krapped my pants!!!

1. Amare has more offensive moves in the low post than he had last year.

2. His dribbling is much improved from last year. Witness him bringing the ball upcourt much more and on some fast breaks!! How many power forwards in the NBA can dribble more than five to ten feet at a time?

3. He has hit more mid-range jumpers so far this seeason than probably ALL of last season!!

4. This kid has swatted away a ton of shots so far this year. That includes several one handed dunks, and one two handed dunk!! I haven't seen a guy block dunks like that since Wilt Chamberlain!! If his body matures like Wilt's, watch out!!

This kid can't even buy a drink legally, and yet his game is improving over last year! I see signs of optimism. Ivaroni is obviously doing a great job with Amare so far!! I have watched all but one Suns game this year and the one thing that has stood out is Amare is improving over last year!! He isn't an MVP candidate by far. But he is a better player this year than he was at the end of last season! So much for the Sophomore jinx at this point!

 

[Yuma]

What the @#$@! I saw the headline to this post and almost Krapped my pants!!!

1. Amare has more offensive moves in the low post than he had last year.

2. His dribbling is much improved from last year. Witness him bringing the ball upcourt much more and on some fast breaks!! How many power forwards in the NBA can dribble more than five to ten feet at a time?

3. He has hit more mid-range jumpers so far this season than probably ALL of last season!!

4. This kid has swatted away a ton of shots so far this year. That includes several one handed dunks, and one two handed dunk!! I haven't seen a guy block dunks like that since Wilt Chamberlain!! If his body matures like Wilt's, watch out!!

This kid can't even buy a drink legally, and yet his game is improving over last year! I see signs of optimism. Ivaroni is obviously doing a great job with Amare so far!! I have watched all but one Suns game this year and the one thing that has stood out is Amare is improving over last year!! He isn't an MVP candidate by far, but he is a better player this year than he was at the end of last season! So much for the Sophomore jinx at this point!

 

[Errntknght]

Amare did look lost at times last year but I'm pretty much with Yuma about this year. Heck, he's even running the floor more. What we don't see an improvement in is his passing... primarily because the team has no sets in which he is expected to pass. Of course, it's too early to run the offense through him but we should be taking steps in that direction. It will help his scoring since the opponents won't be as ceratin what's afoot when the ball goes in to him.

Another thing we should do is have some plays where Amare gets the ball coming off a cross screen so the defense isn't as set or he might have gotten a defender switch. If they double him off the screen the guy who set it will be unguarded - and we'll have the ball in position to make the pass.

 

[PhiLLmattiC]

i think amare is still too raw to be any team's second option. They should go back to trying to get marion going. Even though I don't think he should be any teams second option either, he will have to be on this team. It doesn't seem like they're really looking for him this year. Either that or he's just passing up shots. I don't think amare really looks to pass in general. He just puts his head down and goes to the rim with whatever move he planned on doing the next time he got the ball. He really needs to work on that part of his game. Ivaroni should shot him some Karl Malone passing highlights next.

 

[jbeecham]

Amare is much improved this year. The Suns have done a horrible job of getting him the ball and getting it to him in good position. There have been so many times he catches the ball 18-20ft from the basket and he tries to beat his man off the dribble and ends up getting an offensive foul from the guy guarding him or the guy that comes to double team. They need to run some screens for Amare (especially Scott Williams & Jahidi White) down in the low post to get Amare some space to either shoot the 10-12 ft shot or have some room to lift off for a dunk. The play that I'm thinking of mostly is the one where Marion goes down the baseline then curls around the screen (or double screen) and into the lane about 8-10ft from the hoop..........if they run this with Amare then he could have much easier shots and probably some more poster dunks.

 

[Chaz]

One thing i noticed is they don't re-post much. Amare will post, draw atttention and pass it out. Then they need to look to get it back to him. I have only seen them do this a couple of times this year. Most of the time Amare doesn't see the ball again that possession.

Overall the offensive sets are pretty bad. They run some good plays from time to time but mostly they just run screen after screen, most of them with horrible spacing.

Amare has improved quite a bit but he still looks lost from time to time.

 

[jbeecham]

Amare probably is lost most of the time because I believe what Jake Tskalidis said that the players generally don't have set plays and just wait for Marbury to penetrate and dish. Amare (and our whole team) would do much better with a structured offense like Utah has been running.

 

[JCSunsfan]

We might as well hang the "trade Marion" talk. I believe he is a BYC player this year, which means he is virtually untradeable.

Once his extension money kicks in, then you can talk about trading him.

To tell you the truth, I expected this. He came into camp 15 pounds heavier. Even if it is muscle (upper body) it affects quickness, and quick leaping ability.

I've seen this happen again and again.