Ignore Amare, is this team better than last?

[CardNots]

With all the Amare thoughts going on, I was really wondering is this Suns team minus Amare better than last year's team?

Last year's team made it to the conf finals, so did the off season's losses and gains make us better or worse?

 

[boisesuns]

Better.

We have a backup for nash and KT comming back. How could we be worse?

 

[Chaplin]

Better. Like Boise said, we have Banks and KT coming back, and we are deeper than we've been for several years.

 

[Skumbag]

so sign Diaw and lets get the show on the road (with or without Amare)

 

[Cheesebeef]

well, I don't know how to compare it to last year's team that made it to the Conference Finals so I'll compare it to last year's team that played 60 games with KT - and it's a little better - more depth, but also Nash and KT are also a year older. Good enough for 3rd in the West but I still think SA and Dallas are the favorite without Amare being a solid contributor.

 

[CardNots]

well, I don't know how to compare it to last year's team that made it to the Conference Finals so I'll compare it to last year's team that played 60 games with KT - and it's a little better - more depth, but also Nash and KT are also a year older. Good enough for 3rd in the West but I still think SA and Dallas are the favorite without Amare being a solid contributor.

I was thinking the same. I worry about Sac and LA Clips. The Lakers should be better as well.

I'm thinking our depth is better, KT knows more what to expect. J. Jones will mature hopefully. New additions to the bench look promising. It could come down to two factors. Who we face in the playoffs and will Amare return.

 

[scoutmasterdave]

Essentially, the question is:

KT + Banks + JuJones (>, <, =) TT + House

I choose >.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Much greater.

While cheese mentioned that KT and Nash are a year older, you also have to point out that Barbosa and Diaw are a year older. Both players grew a lot last season, but definitely not to a peaking level.

Jumaine Jones and Tim Thomas are basically the same player for what the Suns used/will use them for. The only question is how clutch is Jumaine compared to Tim.

 

[Chaplin]

Not that it matters (it's probably just PR), but Aaron Nelson said in a blog that Steve Nash is in the best shape he's ever been in right now.

 

[Errntknght]

IMO, its too early to tell. It was a wise move to get someone to back up Nash and Banks appears to be a good choice but D'Antoni is extremely finicky about back up PGs and doesn't really mind running players into the ground. Its virtually impossible that Banks will be able to run the offense similar to Nash's style and who knows how much that will bug Mike. If he shoots well from outside I can imagine Mike being tolerant but if he doesn't, I have my doubts.

Then there is Raja - from one thread we had it appears his rehab was much bumpier than he expected. Its probably going to work out fine but its a nagging worry at this point.

Barbosa - I don't see how both he and Banks can each get 25 minutes without Raja playing SF at least 10-12 mpg, like he did last year. Are those 6 million bucks a year going to weigh on Barbs mind if his PT drops? I think teams are going to pick on him on the defensive end and pay more attention to him on the offensive end. He's going to have to be deadly with his mid-range shooting just to keep from losing ground.

KT - will he be up to the grind, assuming he doesn't have chronic foot problems.

Diaw was one of the good chemistry guys last year but salary negotions don't appear to be going well - certainly some grounds for concern now.

Last of all, we could be better in the regular season but worse in the playoffs since TT didn't contribute much until the post-reg season last year.

 

[elindholm]

Last year's team was only .500 once Kurt Thomas went down, and that includes the playoffs, when they were 10-10. So yeah, we'd better hope that this year's team without Stoudemire is a whole lot better than that.

 

[Amare32]

Question is can this years team win it all even without amare with the additions of banks and jones, plus a heathly KT

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Question is can this years team win it all even without amare with the additions of banks and jones, plus a heathly KT

They could, but it is far from likely. They are probably the 4th or 5th favorite going into the season.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Essentially, the question is:

KT + Banks + JuJones (>, <, =) TT + House

I choose >.

On paper we're better, but never know how things are going to gel until you get on the court.

Here is what we do know. This year

Someone will rise: my vote, Leandro Barbosa. I think he is going to get more minutes, especially early because of nagging injuries for Raja.

Someone will fall: I expect that one will be James Jones. Kind of odd man out with Jumaine Jones signing on I think.

Someone will be injured: sorry, I wont speculate here.

 

[George O'Brien]

"On paper" (or perhaps on screen...) this is clearly a better team than last year prior to losing KT due to depth and several guys with more familiarity with the D'Antoni system.

However, for this team to fullfill their promise, they need to step up their defense, rebounding, and moving without the ball. Seflishness would be a disaster.

 

[Chaplin]

Personally, I love him, but I think the guy who might regress a little bit (not much, but a little) is Boris Diaw. I know everyone on this board loves him, as do I, but I don't see him having as big an impact this season--unless Amare doesn't come back well enough.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Question is can this years team win it all even without amare with the additions of banks and jones, plus a heathly KT

i'd say it was a long shot.

 

[George O'Brien]

Personally, I love him, but I think the guy who might regress a little bit (not much, but a little) is Boris Diaw. I know everyone on this board loves him, as do I, but I don't see him having as big an impact this season--unless Amare doesn't come back well enough.

To have a similar impact, Boris will have to up his game another level. I wouldn't bet against it, but I'm not convinced it's a sure thing. What Boris needs to do is:

1. Become a vastly better rebounder. His numbers are barely average for an SF, but as a center/PF he should be about 2 rpg higher, or roughly .25 rpm

2. Develop a quicker release on his shot. He developed a nice mid range shot, but had to be completely wide open. That will become a problem once teams decide to defend against him.

3. Become more decisive when attacking the basket. He had too many shots blocked or rim out because he tried to finese the ball in rather than jam it.

4. Become better at defending bigs. If Marion can do it, then Boris can do it, but he didn't really handle bigs well in the playoffs.

 

[Scot1]

If there are no long-term injuries to key players (Nash, Marion, KT, and I'd hope Banks), then I think we are a good bet, maybe odds-on, to do it. Leaving out Amare eats up some bad karma, in my book, so this is not too unrealistic. And after the first 15 games and KT got acclimated, we were best in the NBA--pretty good defense to go along with usual offense. Compared to then, we have more depth, explosiveness, defense.

For me, the key issue is whether Antoni can wean himself from overplaying players. Even accepting his claim that players must play 25 minutes a night to be effective, we could go 10 deep with each playing 24 minutes. That would be dumb, but we could pretty practically go 9 deep, and easily 8 if we allowed for some 10-minute subs. That allows for 30 for Nash, 35 for Marion.

 

[Errntknght]

Scot1, "For me, the key issue is whether Antoni can wean himself from overplaying players. Even accepting his claim that players must play 25 minutes a night to be effective..."

D'Antoni's 25 minute theory is all wet - players can be effective with considerably less playing time than that if they have a consistent slot in the rotation. Some of them don't even need that but most are helped greatly by knowing when and how long they will be on the floor, particularly young players. It allows them to get mentally into the flow as their time approaches and allows them to pace themselves appropriately once they get on the floor.

Mike's underlying problem, which is common among coaches, is that he sees each game as a separate entiity which must be won at all costs and loses sight of the fact that the goal is to get the overall team in the best state going down the stretch and into the playoffs. In fact, its often worse than that - he juggles the lineup to exploit or avoid certain matchups, rotation be damned. He's not as bad as Ainge was when it comes to micro-managing and maybe this year he'll take a little longer view since he has experienced the playoffs.

I'm glad to hear him talking about running more this year - I assume he understands the implication that has for resting players when they need it and the reverse side of the coin, using the bench more.

 

[Bada0Bing]

I think we’re slightly better, but that doesn’t make me very comfortable. We got a lucky draw in the playoffs and we were one rebound away from losing in the 1st round. We really need Amare.

 

[George O'Brien]

It's hard to say if the Suns were really all that lucky. If they had played Dallas earlier, when Bell was healthy, they had a real chance because the Mavs have a problem matching up with the Suns. On the other hand, the Suns have always had problems with the Spurs, so it all depends.