Anyone else have the feeling...

[nowagimp]

One of my biggest concerns is how we've been playing down to the competition. We've been losing to some teams we shouldn't. I really like the Suns chances, and hopefully come playoff time it won't matter becuase you should play down in the playoffs.

Our biggest obstical is the team chemestry and adjusting to Amare. With the way this offense works, I think the suns can adjust, but other teams will have the benefit of playing the whole season with their teams, as opposed to us with Amare coming back.

Remember how much the team has changed since Amare last played on it. It will take time, but Amare will be the difference.

I am not worried about team chemistry at all. Amare has played in the system, the current players are more unselfish than last years players, and Steve Nash CREATES the best chemistry in the NBA. I think the suns with a healthy Amare can beat anybody in a 7 game series, but I do think the pistons are the biggest threat. However, I dont think that the home court advantage is a real big issue. The key to a pistons series will be the officiating: Will the moving double screens be called on the Wallaces? If not, no one can guard RIP or Chauncy through those screens. Will the pistons post players get away with grabbing and holding Amare? Will Diaw get called for alot of tickytack fouls? Will they call hand checking on the perimeter against piston defenders of Nash, Barbs? If the refs call a physical "let em play" series, I think it will be a tall order for the suns.

 

[elindholm]

Will the pistons post players get away with grabbing and holding Amare? Will Diaw get called for alot of tickytack fouls? Will they call hand checking on the perimeter against piston defenders of Nash, Barbs? If the refs call a physical "let em play" series, I think it will be a tall order for the suns.

I think we already know the answers to these questions. "Let 'em play" and "veteran's calls" rule the playoffs, and the deeper you go, the worse it gets. So yes, Stoudemire will get held, the guards will get mugged, Diaw will be in foul trouble, and the Suns' defenders will get hung up on moving screens.

Just like European basketball is different from the NBA, so is the NBA regular season different from the playoffs. The Suns won't know if they can play "Finals style" until they get there, but it's a safe bet that it will be a different kind of basketball than they played at any point earlier in the season.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

I am not worried about team chemistry at all. Amare has played in the system, the current players are more unselfish than last years players, and Steve Nash CREATES the best chemistry in the NBA. I think the suns with a healthy Amare can beat anybody in a 7 game series, but I do think the pistons are the biggest threat. However, I dont think that the home court advantage is a real big issue. The key to a pistons series will be the officiating: Will the moving double screens be called on the Wallaces? If not, no one can guard RIP or Chauncy through those screens. Will the pistons post players get away with grabbing and holding Amare? Will Diaw get called for alot of tickytack fouls? Will they call hand checking on the perimeter against piston defenders of Nash, Barbs? If the refs call a physical "let em play" series, I think it will be a tall order for the suns.

I agree chemistry is another thing fans and sports writers really care about but in reality microinequities exisit and create tension in every locker room. Amare's talent far out weighs any "chemistry" adjustments he may cause. Most of the people he will directly impact time wise are not the type of players (At least overtly) that would seem to make a big issue out of it in side the locker room.

If your concern is on the court, I don't see any of you trade jockeys worrying too much about chemistry when suggesting we get X player who likely has never player with 80% of the current roster why would it be any different for a guy who has player with half the team before and been traveling with the team for months?

 

[George O'Brien]

When the current Suns are "on", they are extremely difficult to stop. When they are "off", they miss long shots which creates fast break opportunities and open outsde shots for their opponents.

Oddly enough, the Suns have had trouble with teams playing small, which was never the case last season.

Why do the Suns struggle with weaker teams? Because most of them are taking the game like it was the playoffs and the Suns aren't. No team can play at a high level of intensity for 82 games. What is missing is the ability to beat bad teams when the Suns are not at their best.

This is where Amare becomes such a big deal. Amare cannot dominate every night, but he certainly can dominate bad teams. As for teams causing problems for the Suns by playing small, I think that experiment will last about a minute - after two or three thunder jams as Amare takes them apart.