Hornacek: Suns are "too soft"

[Catlover]

Agree with all of that except the bold piece. The Suns are a good team. And, they are truly a decent center away from being a very good team.
Are they tough enough? Heck no... And that is a problem. Are they configured precisely how they should be? Probably not... Frye continues to show he is not a starter. But, you don't put up a season like they've had by being "not a very good team".

Agreed. Most teams when they lose one of their top players struggle. We're like most teams. Without Bledsoe we're very average. It's too bad the West has so many above average teams.

 

[AfroSuns]

The agelong defense argument! IMO it is an organizational culture. This team is not going to be a good defensive team as currently constituted. It is extremely hard to build a running team and expect them to be a grind it out team as well. Our strength...our bane
The Sun's defense was better at the beginning of the season, but that kind of effort is not sustainable over an 82 game season.

 

[sunsfan88]

This team needs to grow a backbone.

 

[Errntknght]

I think what this team is lacking is experience. Dragic and Bledsoe are the only two guys on the team that have experience of what the final stretch of the season is like for a team in playoff contention. They came out of the gate playing hard and they beat teams that underestimated them. They were also playing 'loose' because there were such low expectations. Now other teams are gearing up to play them and are stepping up their games because of the time of year, as well. Expectations have risen because of their early success.

Its like the whole team, most of it anyway, is hitting the rookie wall - i.e. finding out what the league is all about. For rookies its mainly the sheer amount of time you have to play compared to anything you are used to - almost nine months of wall-to-wall basketball against players who are as good, fast, strong as you are and are used to it. For our guys its more that the intensity keeps rising as the season goes on and your reward for succeeding is to get into the playoffs where the rate at which the intensity and pressure increase leaps upward. (It looks like they wont get to experience this last part this year.)

Its a process they have to go through and a time where the coaches can see how different players respond to the challenge. Its not entirely surprising they are starting to crumble but hopefully we'll see them begin to recover - at least some of them. I hope Hornacek makes sure that Len and Goodwin get a good taste of it.

 

[TucsonDevil]

It seems this team, over the past couple of weeks, went from underdogs to entitled in their own minds.

As I watched the game last night, I was shocked at the energy shown by the Cavs on rebounds and loose balls - while the Suns just watched them do it. It seemed to me the Suns were looking for one another to make plays, but weren't looking at themselves to do it. I saw flashes from Miles fighting, but Green, Morris (both), Frye, Ish, and Goran all seemed to be waiting for the ball rather than going for it at full speed.

This team has to find Nasty again. It makes me think some have begun to tune out Coach Horny already - which is crazy. I wonder if the game would have gone differently with PJ on the floor/bench.

One more thing... midway through the second Quarter while Bledsoe was on the court - his man had the ball at the 3-pt line... Eric was in his jock as a defender - separated by no more than a foot of air. The Cavalier player got rid of the ball and over to Green's man to the right side. Gerald Green gave him 6-7 feet and was back peddling even before the guy made his driving move. This single play in 8 seconds told me all I needed to know about my desire to keep Green. I'm in favor of signing him long-term, but not at a high price. Ron Woofley often asks "Is Gerald Green a rising star or a shooting star?" I have my answer.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I know this well probably end the conversation but I think Bledsoe's ceiling puts him in the argument for 3rd behind Durant and Lebron but above Aldridge, Love, George and Harden. I think Davis, Westbrook and Howard are also in that argument although Davis is the only one of that group with the potential to displace Durant. If Bledsoe was just an offensive weapon I'd still put his ceiling near that of Harden's. His defense though is what makes him special.

whoa.

 

[Catlover]

whoa.

"Whoa" is better than I expected. I anticipated I'd hear crickets chirping and nothing else.

I did say "ceiling". He's not there yet. He needs to be more consistent from deep and he needs to improve his mid-range jumper. I've seen enough improvement from him that I have reasonable hope that he will do both. He'll never be the perfect point guard but I don't see that as a problem, pair him with another combo guard and you're all set.

 

[Suns_fan69]

Lots of great conversation in here, without degenerating into name calling. Huzzah!

My 2 cents re:

Assists - The other place we generate a lot of offense from is post ups from Markieff. Most of the time this does not result in an assist. It's either an iso score of some sort (turnaround fade or drive to the hoop) as he still isn't quite good enough to draw a double.

Defense - I'd love for the team to find another high motor defensive guy, especially a big. I was hoping Plumlee could turn into one but he isn't. I know everyone is looking for Joakim Noah but I'd settle for an Anderson Varejao or hell, Louis Amundson. I hate it when guys give up on plays defensively and we have a few of those types.

Top 5 center - Didn't Hibbert look pretty clueless his first couple years? This is an honest question. I didn't pay much attention to him but I vaguely remember people being frustrated by his lack of development.

 

[sunsfan88]

I think the Suns should considering calling a players only meeting. It's not necessary but I think it could be beneficial especially for the young guys.

 

[BC867]

I think the Suns should considering calling a players only meeting. It's not necessary but I think it could be beneficial especially for the young guys.

'Good idea. That would be Tucker to call the meeting.

Maybe he could even have his laser eye guy, Dr. Schwartz, check their eyesight. Swish into the wastepaper basket. "Make that 20."

 

[sunsfan88]

'Good idea. That would be Tucker to call the meeting.

Maybe he could even have his laser eye guy, Dr. Schwartz, check their eyesight. Swish into the wastepaper basket. "Make that 20."

Yea that's the most chessiest commercial after the casino Arizona win your way commercials.

 

[Mainstreet]

I think the Suns should considering calling a players only meeting. It's not necessary but I think it could be beneficial especially for the young guys.

I think team meetings are generally like the kiss of death. I'd rather Hornacek shake things up to get the team's attention, like starting the second unit and just let the starters watch for awhile.

 

[BC867]

I think team meetings are generally like the kiss of death. I'd rather Hornacek shake things up to get the team's attention, like starting the second unit and just let the starters watch for awhile.

But you know that's not going to happen. A players' meeting could happen.

 

[Mainstreet]

But you know that's not going to happen. A players' meeting could happen.

Maybe not, but Bledsoe started tonight to get the Suns off to a better start and improve the defense.

 

[BC867]

If Jeff has announced that his team is playing "too soft", why isn't he backing it up by keeping Frye and Kieff out of the Center position and giving more time to Len and Randolph?

Jeff is too smart to think that he can turn things around by telling the Press that they are playing too soft. Those who are playing soft are . . . soft! They are doing what they do.

Especially with Frye dividing his time between the two power positions.

 

[95pro]

I think frye and plumlee have hit the wall. One guy has never played this much at this level and the other had a bad ticker for a while. Coach needs to adjust to that. But at the same time we aren't getting those extra possessions or hustle plays that we did early in the season. Not sure if that's us losing focus on D or teams are scouting us better now.

 

[Catlover]

I think frye and plumlee have hit the wall. One guy has never played this much at this level and the other had a bad ticker for a while. Coach needs to adjust to that. But at the same time we aren't getting those extra possessions or hustle plays that we did early in the season. Not sure if that's us losing focus on D or teams are scouting us better now.

I agree with most of this but I thought we did get a lot of those hustle plays last night. We guarded the three very well last night but missed a whole lot of wide open threes ourselves (21 misses IIRC) to keep the score close. Tucker and Bledsoe created havoc and despite our horrible shooting night we held them to 80 points. I know they're not a good team but any road win is nice. A road win when your shots aren't falling is especially nice.

 

[BC867]

I agree with most of this but I thought we did get a lot of those hustle plays last night.

One game does not a season make. Whether we win or lose a lot of games for the rest of the season, have the Suns (coaching staff and players) mastered the fundamentals this far into the season?