Amare & Marion: do playing styles mesh?

[Dave64]

I love both players. Amare is obviously the cornerstone and the face of the organization, hopefully for many years to come. I also like Marion. A jack of all trades. Not many SF's get you 9-10 boards a game. Streaky shooter. My question is: do their playing styles complement each other, or will Marion's style hinder Amare's strengths, which is inside scoring. Personally, I think Amare's game is more set up for a SF who is primarily a scorer/shooter. Thoughts?

PS: I love Marion's game, but I am just leery about how the styles match up!

 

[pokerface]

Amare likes to play inside...Marion likes to play outside.

Not the other way around!

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

They are a perfect tandem. Even better if Marion played the way he should.


Marion should run the baseline, and get some floaters or dunks. Amare is anchored in the post. They are one of the most athletic duo's ever.

If Marion can regain his shot from 2 years ago, they fit even better.

 

[Yuma]

Since MORE of the offense will be run through Amare, and Marion doesn't need plays called for him since he's a garbage man, the two fit perfectly. You want a guy swooping in on Amare's misses. It's not like both guys are post up players!

 

[Goldfield]

I have to agree, simillar to the Pistons we have alot of talented guys that ALL can contribute well.

Amare may be our only "superstar", but I rather have a balanced team that can strike from anywhere.

Amare
Marion
JJ
Nash

Those 4 guys are exactly that.

 

[Errntknght]

Marion's game is not a perfect compliment to Amare's. If we go with a high post center then Marion's game is an awful fit for the whole team because he's playing like a passive SG out on the wing. In the playoffs the Kings sweet high post game foundered because they had geared themselves to Peja's stellar long range shooting, which fell apart under pressure. What make a high post game go is action on the baseline - guys moving and setting picks for each other.

What you want is Shawn rubbing his man off on Amare and setting picks for him - if they can force a defensive switch we get two mismatches to exploit and if no switch then one of them will be open a good fraction of the time. Shawn could rotate outside some of the time and let JJ do the baseline manuevers with Amare.

The strategy of just flipping the ball into a static Amare and letting him go one on one, two or three sucks - we've already seen teams stack their defenses against that which results in wholesale turnovers. Having crack shots on the perimeter for Amare to toss the ball out to is better than not having them, of course, but it's an inferior plan to working for close in shots. Especially come the playoffs when crack shots start crumbling under the pressure and better defenses.

 

[scotsman13]

errknight, with amare game as it is at the end of the season and that team you are looking at him turning the ball over a bunch but you were also looking at him going to the line 10+ time a game. in a while with the team as it is now, teams wont be able to double or triple him without level some very open 3 point shooters open also you will see his ball handling getting better. i think with a sun of work and a good training camp you will see him doing even better and his assist raise and turn over drop.

also a lot of his turn over came from having the point guard start off on the pick before it had been set. i dont think we will see a lot of this with nash.

 

[George O'Brien]

errknight, with amare game as it is at the end of the season and that team you are looking at him turning the ball over a bunch but you were also looking at him going to the line 10+ time a game. in a while with the team as it is now, teams wont be able to double or triple him without level some very open 3 point shooters open also you will see his ball handling getting better. i think with a sun of work and a good training camp you will see him doing even better and his assist raise and turn over drop.

also a lot of his turn over came from having the point guard start off on the pick before it had been set. i dont think we will see a lot of this with nash.

Stephon was absolutely terrible at letting guys set their pick.

Back to the original point, I think Shawn is going to have a huge year this season if everyone stays healthy. Shawn is the best finisher on the break the Suns have and will thrive having Nash getting him the ball. On the half court offense, the Suns are likely to look more like the Mavs than the Kings, except for having a low post attack. This is not just due to having Nash, it may better fit the Suns personnel.

In any case, the Suns should rely more on slashing and not be so dependent on the pick and roll. Marion and Johnson should be effective moving without the ball if someone actually passes it to them.