Just How Good Is This Team?

[George O'Brien]

The Suns have four more games left in 2004. Three of them are games the Suns have a very good chance of winning: Memphis on Thur at home, Toronto on Sun at home, and a game in New Orleans a week from Wed. While any of these games can be lost if the Suns lose focus, the only serious challenge is likely to be the game in San Antonio on Tuesday.

Even if the Suns were to lose in San Antonio, they have a decent chance of finish the year with a record of 25-4. Projected out, this would be a 70 win season.

Are the Suns really that good? Common sense says they can't be, but they have been defying common sense all season. Common sense says you can't have five dominant scorers in the lineup at the same time, yet with Nash at PG it looks like a great plan. Common sense says the youngest team in the league can't handle the pressure of close games where every mistake is magnified. Yet the Suns are coming through in close games over and over again. Common sense says you can't win without strong scoring off the bench, but the Suns have been able to get close to 20 point per starter in tough games.

Everyone keeps expecting the Suns to come back to earth - everyone except them. Maybe they can't play at a 70 win rate, but don't tell them.

 

[reader]

I don't think we will really know how good the team is until the All Star break.

There is definitly a feeling about this team. Do you not get excited when you read the Sportsline power rankings and see this quote, "The Phoenix Suns are developing an aura saved for the truly special teams"? Yup, the Suns are special and they just seem to find a way to win. Or how about this as a quote, "The beauty of a court quarterback like Steve Nash is keeping a team on its heels, even in crunch time." There is more to that quote, but the idea is there, this team can think, run and finish games. Not too shabby for the youngest team in the league.

Yes, there will be bad games, but I think this winning mentality goes back to training camp. D'Antoni wanted to establish the culture of a winning team. Even though they were just preseason games, he established a positive attitude towards all games, regardless of who the opposition is or what the circumstances are. They are now reaping the benefits of this attitude and with this as a base for the year, they should be able to overcome adversity with a positive outlook.

Think back to what the stated goal for the team was, make the playoffs. Looks good so far, but now, in addition to a 22-3 record, they have an, "aura". Common sense says, this is not only a good team, this is a team that is capable of anything .

 

[goldseraph]

I think they are VERY good... Nash was just what the doctor ordered, as well as another year of experience, and D'Antoni having a full off season to prepare the team. That said, they've had the easiest schedule in the league, and a lot of teams only really gear up in the 2nd half of the year. I predict the Suns to finish in the top 4 in the west however, which will be a great accomplishment itself.

 

[George O'Brien]

Welcome aboard.

The Suns best bet is to win the Pacific Division. It will be a challenge to stay ahead of the Kings, but it is not unreasonable. This would make them no worse than 3rd seed.

 

[F-Dog]

The Suns are good, but they're not championship good IMO. They don't have the depth or veteran savvy of a team like the Spurs or Wolves.


It will be interesting to see how the Suns do when they start playing more Western Conference games. There's a lot left to learn about this team IMO.