I Don't Care ....

[Chaz]

regardless if he jammed his wrist or not - it didn't effect him right after he suffered the first injury - when it was realy bad - he was lights out up until we started playing the Spurs, so if it didn't ultimately affect him before - and he was bitching about not getting the ball and what not during THIS series - it makes for a pretty piss poor excuse.

As far as Amare - that's great to hear. Within 2 years - he will be the hands down MVP - the most unstoppable offesnive force since Shaq(but being able to shoot the ball) and probably a NBA 2nd or 3rd teamer on Defense.

First of all it was late in game 6. When he went to dunk and Finley fouled him. He came back to the bench holding his wrist. He went back in the game but I am not sure if he scored again. After that it was reported that he injured it.
Believe me or don't, I don't care.

The very next game not 48 hours later was Game 1 against the Spurs.

Who said he was bitching about touches? That was the impression but what question was asked? What was the comment and it's context?

Look I am not going to defend Marion's performance because he didn't do much offensively. He didn't do much offensively against the Spurs all year. He got some nice rebounds and finished some opportunity plays. He is not a one on one player and his shooting was poor this series. He missed a lot of shots he would normally make. Do you think we could have beat Dallas without him?I am not sure what you expect or why you are tough on Marion. Are you pissed about his contract or something?

 

[Joe Mama]

First of all I can tell you all how excited I am to hear that Amare is going to make defense a priority this summer. I really think that has a lot to do with the negative attention his defense, or lack thereof, has gotten in the national media during the playoffs. Whatever... if he improves his defense he will be incredible. I don't think we should expect Tim Duncan like defense because he just doesn't have the length, but he could definitely improve.

Shawn Marion did not have a good series, but there's no way I blame him for the loss. I think the ideas about trading him are crazy. He was arguably the team's most important player during the regular season and in the conference semi finals against Dallas.

Joe Mama

 

[CardNots]

Suns,
It was just too fun Thanks for the ride. I've finally got off the ride and my stomach is starting to settle.

Spurs,
You are a great team, I envy your fans. Looking at the front page of the AZPug showing Duncan hugging Amare, it was priceless.

 

[JPlay]

I love this current Suns team. Young athletic with a lot of promise. As they grow they'll become even better passers and defenders. I never expected them to be this good, but I knew they were going to make the playoffs. I though the might be special when I saw the numbers they were putting up in the pre-season. They set the league on fire and become the toast of the NBA. Amare has become a star and Nash won the freakin MVP!! Even JJ has increased his stock 10 fold with his performance against SA. Hopefully they can keep this core together and get an enforcer in the draft. If not that, then a perimeter defender or back up point guard who plays defense and is a pass first guy. Can't wait until next year. I hope Q and Marion learned from this playoff experience...you got to step your game up. When does the summer league start.

 

[Dr. Jones]

I'm only mad and frustrated about a couple of things...

Shawn Marion and Quentin Richardson.

I would be able to accept it more if these guys were able to contribute just a bit freeking more. I'm dumbfounded about their ineptness in this series.

If Amare catches one person smiling in the lockeroom, he's probably going to slap them across the head.

Anyways, SA is one helluva team.

I will give you Q, he didn't show up at all in the playoffs. But Shawn is one of the main reasons we were here.

In Fact, we would have played a game 7 against Dallas if it weren't for Shawn. His shooting was off for most of this series but his defense and rebounding never changed. He led the Suns in Rebounding in all three series and his performance in game 6 against Dallas was amazing.

Q was a complete flop on all levels though. He provided nothing last night, and very little for all three series.

 

[devilalum]

I'm only mad and frustrated about a couple of things...

Shawn Marion and Quentin Richardson.

I would be able to accept it more if these guys were able to contribute just a bit freeking more. I'm dumbfounded about their ineptness in this series.

If Amare catches one person smiling in the lockeroom, he's probably going to slap them across the head.

Anyways, SA is one helluva team.

Would the outcome have been different with Iggy instead of Q?

 

[Joe Mama]

Would the outcome have been different with Iggy instead of Q?

Long term I think the Phoenix Suns will regret trading that draft pick to save enough under the cap to sign Q. This year I think it worked out well for them. Hindsight is 20/20 though.

 

[scotsman13]

First of all I can tell you all how excited I am to hear that Amare is going to make defense a priority this summer. I really think that has a lot to do with the negative attention his defense, or lack thereof, has gotten in the national media during the playoffs. Whatever... if he improves his defense he will be incredible. I don't think we should expect Tim Duncan like defense because he just doesn't have the length, but he could definitely improve.

Shawn Marion did not have a good series, but there's no way I blame him for the loss. I think the ideas about trading him are crazy. He was arguably the team's most important player during the regular season and in the conference semi finals against Dallas.

Joe Mama

joe given time i think we can tim duncan type defense out of amare. while he is an inch or two shorter then duncan he has greater speed, leaping ability and desire to win right up there with duncan. the area that amare is lacking in that duncan really blows him away with is basketball IQ or understanding of the game, where to be on the court how to cut off the angels etc. this is something that amare will learn in time.


as far as marion, i think it comes do to bowen defending him. bowen is one of the best defenders in the nba and for marion he has his number.

 

[Chaplin]

Would the outcome have been different with Iggy instead of Q?

Would the outcome be different if we had Jason Kidd instead?

I'm not sure why everyone keeps bringing up ancient history all the time when the future is so bright.

 

[AZZenny]

One thing I really appreciate about Amare is that he knows his basketball IQ isn't where it could be. He says so himself, and THAT is what will let him become truly great. (I've watched a lot of '5 tool' kids in baseball who lack tool #6, baseball IQ, have early meteoric rise based on pure physical talent - but they rarely become stars and usually sputter out quickly because they don't know how to think about the game, and it never becomes intuitive.) To realize it in those terms shows a level of intelligence AND humility (yes!) that bodes very well. Makes him teachable, curious, motivated.

 

[coloradosun]

I'm not sure why everyone keeps bringing up ancient history all the time when the future is so bright.

Because we all know that there are going to additional moves to get us in a position to surpass SA. Nash's impact will decline in coming years and Amare's will rise but will it equal out. Nash made Amare, Marion and Joe better, can their improvement keep Nash at an MVP level. We saw how vulnerable the Suns are without someone to create. The future is only as bright as Nash's health, there is no doubt he is one of a kind.

We are not deep enough to compete with SA, signing Barry and drafting Iggy would have offset the signing of Q and trading for Jim Jackson. We would have been a deeper team with Barry, Iggy and Jacobsen. Getting this close only fuels the fire for the front office to make more moves.

 

[elindholm]

We are not deep enough to compete with SA, signing Barry and drafting Iggy would have offset the signing of Q and trading for Jim Jackson.

Now wait a minute. I think it's fine -- pointless, but fine -- to second guess the pick-for-Richardson trade (since that's basically what it was), but where do you get the idea that the Suns had any chance of signing Barry? He's at the stage of his career that he wants to play for a contender, and no one thought the Suns were going to be contenders last summer.

 

[JPlay]

We are not deep enough to compete with SA, signing Barry and drafting Iggy would have offset the signing of Q and trading for Jim Jackson.

Now wait a minute. I think it's fine -- pointless, but fine -- to second guess the pick-for-Richardson trade (since that's basically what it was), but where do you get the idea that the Suns had any chance of signing Barry? He's at the stage of his career that he wants to play for a contender, and no one thought the Suns were going to be contenders last summer.

Q is still really young too. He was playing out of position at the 3 most of the year. He folded against the Spurs, but the refused to help on Nash and Qs stopped shooting after he missed a couple. He did have a great year though.

Don't forget he was the 3 point champ and lead the league in 3s. Barry is an awful defender and probably one of the most overated players in the league. Look at what Seattle did as soon as he was gone.

 

[frdbtr]

I'm teling you - it's gonna be next year. This series was a total wake-up call for him. He wants to be the best and he has the ability to do so - I believe he will be the best big man the NBA has ever seen.

Now if you believe Andrew Boguts dad, (he said to a SLC news reporter that he had a revelation from God that Andrew bogut was going to be the best basketball player that the world has ever seen ) then Andrew Bogut will be the best.

 

[Chaplin]

Because we all know that there are going to additional moves to get us in a position to surpass SA. Nash's impact will decline in coming years and Amare's will rise but will it equal out. Nash made Amare, Marion and Joe better, can their improvement keep Nash at an MVP level. We saw how vulnerable the Suns are without someone to create. The future is only as bright as Nash's health, there is no doubt he is one of a kind.

We are not deep enough to compete with SA, signing Barry and drafting Iggy would have offset the signing of Q and trading for Jim Jackson. We would have been a deeper team with Barry, Iggy and Jacobsen. Getting this close only fuels the fire for the front office to make more moves.

You still didn't answer the question. What good does playing "what if" do when discussing where this team goes in the future? Do you have a time machine you're perfecting, and you're looking for validation into what you plan to do when you finally put it to use?

 

[elindholm]

If you do get that time machine working, make sure you don't let anyone take it back to the 2002 draft.

 

[sunsfn]

When the draft happened and the suns then signed Q, I was against it at the time and still am. Q is better than I thought he was, but we do not/did not need a 6' 4" small forward!

The deal on Barry coming to the suns was never going to happen.

Last year, late in the season, Barry went to Popovich at the end of a game between the sonics and the spurs, and said get me out of here, please!

 

[George O'Brien]

Anyone can be brilliant about what should have been done three years, two years, and a year ago. Most of us are pretty dumb when it comes to next year.

Here are a few thoughts:

1. The Suns don't really use Q to his best advantage, which is attacking the basket and posting up opposing guards. For Q to really bloom, he will have to develop his defensive skills, ball handling, and add a mid range game. I love his attitude and toughness so he could become a lot better than what we've seen so far.

2. Marion is great in the open court and on the offensive glass. He is not great creating his own shot. I would like to see the Suns develop more of a motion offense that creates back screens and back door plays for him. As it is, he ends up just standing around waiting for the defender to leave him, which doesn't happen since the Spurs try to single cover Amare. Marion didn't regress, he was simply a victim of the Suns offense.

3. The Suns cannot run their offense when their opponent is allowed to grab and hold guys off the ball. Unfortunately, the Suns offense does not run enough double screens to open up their shooters when their opponent uses grabbing to play denial. This is one of the reasons the undermanned Sonics were so much more effective than the Suns at scoring on the Spurs.

4. Even if Amare improves dramatically on defense, he will never be like KG and Duncan who can block shots while standing still. What he can do is cut off the lanes and block out on the boards. Hopefully this summer will be spent learning fundimenals. (It would be nice if the Suns picked up a strong low post player for him to practice against).

5. Marion does a great job for his size, but has no chance against really strong players. The Suns play better defense when Hunter is in the lineup, but he is still not physical enough and is not good enough on offense to be more than a 12 minute a game guy. A heavier, stronger Hunter would be a huge help, but he has a long way to go.

6. The Suns need to learn how to keep teams from poking the ball alway when attacking the basket. Some of it is fouling, but some of it is that the Suns don't have enough practice getting away with carrying the ball when attacking the basket.


I wish the Suns would sign a defense coach who can teach the tricks that teams like the Spurs get away with. Some of it is good technique and some of it just learning how to cheat and get way with it. If nothing else, the Suns need to learn how to play when the refs won't call fouls. They don't know how to do that.