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New Suns Must Find Place
By Craig Morgan, Tribune
East Valley Tribune
Jan. 7, 2004
CHICAGO - Suns coach Mike D'Antoni must fantasize about training camps and stable rosters. In two seasons as an NBA head coach, he has yet to taste either.
“It's been crazy," D'Antoni said of the Suns’ turbulent season that has already produced five trades involving 17 players. “For whatever reason, the mixture wasn't quite what we expected.”
With Stephon Marbury and Penny Hardaway gone and Antonio McDyess and Howard Eisley on the way, that mixture has changed again. Now it's up to D'Antoni to put the newest pieces together in a workable formula.
“I think we can be competitive,” D'Antoni said. “Do we make the playoffs or dig out of the hole? I don't know. But we need to set a basis for how we're going to play. We need to have an identity.”
Forward Tom Gugliotta said that has been one of the club's biggest problems this season.
“We're certainly not a halfcourt team,” he said. “We struggle more without (injured forward) Amare (Stoudemire), but even with him we're not a great halfcourt team."
On the other hand . . .
“We do have some athletic guys, but we really weren't committed to running and you've got to be committed to a style of ball,” Gugliotta said. “When people scout us they don't say, ‘man you've got to get back.’
“We can run at times where we make two passes and dunk. But then you might not see that for another three to four games. That doesn't put fear in anybody.”
For more coverage of Phoenix sports,
be sure to visit eastvalleytribune.com
D'Antoni won't commit to a specific style until he sees all the pieces on the same floor. But he does envision McDyess and Stoudemire in the same lineup at times. “Antonio played (center) for me in Denver a lot,” D'Antoni said. “You can't do it always, but he's as strong as Jake Voskuhl. I think they can complement each other for periods.”
D'Antoni also wants the old Shawn Marion back.
“We're going to try to get him out on the wings, where he's a slasher like he used to be,” he said.
Aside from that, D'Antoni expects Eisley to start at the point guard while the club brings Leandro Barbosa along at a safe pace, with quality minutes off the bench.
“The biggest thing on our plate right now is to develop talent and establish how we want to play,” D'Antoni said. “Are we probably going to take a little step backward at the beginning? Yeah, probably. But with the cap room now that we have, with the draft picks that we're going to have, with the core of young players that will get a lot of playing time and that we're excited about, we think, in the long run, this is the way to get to a higher level of play.
By Craig Morgan, Tribune
East Valley Tribune
Jan. 7, 2004
CHICAGO - Suns coach Mike D'Antoni must fantasize about training camps and stable rosters. In two seasons as an NBA head coach, he has yet to taste either.
“It's been crazy," D'Antoni said of the Suns’ turbulent season that has already produced five trades involving 17 players. “For whatever reason, the mixture wasn't quite what we expected.”
With Stephon Marbury and Penny Hardaway gone and Antonio McDyess and Howard Eisley on the way, that mixture has changed again. Now it's up to D'Antoni to put the newest pieces together in a workable formula.
“I think we can be competitive,” D'Antoni said. “Do we make the playoffs or dig out of the hole? I don't know. But we need to set a basis for how we're going to play. We need to have an identity.”
Forward Tom Gugliotta said that has been one of the club's biggest problems this season.
“We're certainly not a halfcourt team,” he said. “We struggle more without (injured forward) Amare (Stoudemire), but even with him we're not a great halfcourt team."
On the other hand . . .
“We do have some athletic guys, but we really weren't committed to running and you've got to be committed to a style of ball,” Gugliotta said. “When people scout us they don't say, ‘man you've got to get back.’
“We can run at times where we make two passes and dunk. But then you might not see that for another three to four games. That doesn't put fear in anybody.”
For more coverage of Phoenix sports,
be sure to visit eastvalleytribune.com
D'Antoni won't commit to a specific style until he sees all the pieces on the same floor. But he does envision McDyess and Stoudemire in the same lineup at times. “Antonio played (center) for me in Denver a lot,” D'Antoni said. “You can't do it always, but he's as strong as Jake Voskuhl. I think they can complement each other for periods.”
D'Antoni also wants the old Shawn Marion back.
“We're going to try to get him out on the wings, where he's a slasher like he used to be,” he said.
Aside from that, D'Antoni expects Eisley to start at the point guard while the club brings Leandro Barbosa along at a safe pace, with quality minutes off the bench.
“The biggest thing on our plate right now is to develop talent and establish how we want to play,” D'Antoni said. “Are we probably going to take a little step backward at the beginning? Yeah, probably. But with the cap room now that we have, with the draft picks that we're going to have, with the core of young players that will get a lot of playing time and that we're excited about, we think, in the long run, this is the way to get to a higher level of play.
