Marion will be guarding Dirk

[jbeecham]

This in from Suns.com:

D’Antoni Trying to Figure Role for Outlaw

David Vest
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 15, 2004

Bo Outlaw's first week back with the Suns has been quiet, as coach Mike D'Antoni and his staff try to devise a way to incorporate the 12-year veteran into the rotation of forwards.

Outlaw, 33, has played just 10 minutes in two games since re-signing with the team last Monday and hasn't scored. He did not get off the bench during Saturday's two-point loss to the Sacramento Kings.

"We're still trying to figure it out and see where he can help us," D'Antoni said after Sunday's practice. "We know what he can do. We have a lot of big guys right now and a lot of guys that can all do other things."

D'Antoni said Outlaw will likely get more playing time as the season progresses.

"He's got to get comfortable with the system because he's only good if he's playing full out," D'Antoni said. "You can't do that if you're thinking about what to do.

"You just have to play on instinct, and that will come. That's why we haven't really used him a lot."

The Suns dealt Outlaw to the Memphis Grizzlies on Sept. 30, 2003, after two seasons, as part of a five-player trade. The Grizzlies released him this month.

Outlaw, the last player off the practice court Sunday, shrugged off his ho-hum first week.

"I'm just going with what the coach says and trying to work hard and help out in practice and be supportive of my teammates," Outlaw said "That's what it's about. It's not about what I can do as an individual, it's about what we can do as a team."

Nash-less Mavs

D'Antoni smiled when asked if it was a pleasant change preparing for Tuesday's game against the Dallas Mavericks without having to worry about defending point guard Steve Nash.

"It's really nice, but they do have other answers now," D'Antoni said. "(Dirk) Nowitzki's a big part of it. Shawn Marion will have his hands full."

Marion impressed D'Antoni with his performance against Sacramento fresh off a bronchial ailment.

"I didn't think he had his pop," D'Antoni said, "and then I look down and he's got 14 points and 15 rebounds.

"For a guy that was sick and missed two practices, that's pretty good."

Voskuhl still ill

Center Jake Voskuhl, who didn't dress for Saturday's game because of flulike symptoms, didn't practice Sunday for the same reason. His status for Tuesday's game is unclear.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I think we're going to get killed tonight. Note to D'Antoni - SHAWN MARION IS NOT A FREAKING POWER FORWARD!

Good lord - I'm already starting to have a little disdain for our new moustached friend. Seriously - who the hell has just a moustache anymore?

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

If D'Antoni keeps insisting on Marion guarding 4's and Amare guarding 5's, this team is going to be very worn out by the end of the season.

 

[Cheesebeef]

If D'Antoni keeps insisting on Marion guarding 4's and Amare guarding 5's, this team is going to be very worn out by the end of the season.

Amare's also gonna be pissed and rightly so.

 

[Sundance]

We can only pray that Dirk's shooting is ice cold, and all 5 of our guys are hot offensively throught the entire game, becuase that's what it's going to take.

I wonder how Steve's going to respond...

 

[myrondizzo]

Seriously - who the hell has just a moustache anymore?

Child molesters and P.E. coaches (kinda the same thing).

 

[jbeecham]

Dirk can get his shot off over Marion all night long (as he can over most people). The Suns are going to have to hope they can slow or shut down the rest of the team to have a chance against the Mavs tomorrow. I really don't like Amare guarding Dampier either......I'd much rather see Hunter on him.

I agree we're going to need offensive production from all 5 big players and some from our bench. Hopefully CJ, Barbosa, Hunter & Lampe will contribute, assuming D'Antoni plays them.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Time for the Suns to start playing like an NBA team. They need to realize that this is a young team whose best interest is to look longer term than just this year. Start Hunter every game. He will undoubtedly make mistakes, but come playoff time, having him developed will make the Suns a much better team. Q is a bench player, and needs to understand that is his role this year. If we let go of JJ, as anticipated, he will get to start. Until then, he needs to make a concerted effort to be the sixth man of the year, and help this team develop into a real team.

 

[elindholm]

Amare's also gonna be pissed and rightly so.

If Stoudemire gives up on the Suns because they insist on playing small ball, the franchise will have gotten what it deserves. It's like the front office is incapable of looking more than a few months into the future -- they just throw themselves into whatever seems right at the moment, consequences be damned.

Stoudemire doesn't have the right to complain about what position he's theoretically playing, since positions tend to blend together in this day and age anyway. But he certainly does have the right to complain about being stuck on a team that will never give itself a chance to develop into a playoff power.

If the Suns won't (or can't) trade Marion for a center, at least they could try to trade him for a PF. I wasn't at all disappointed when McDyess escaped (again), but had I known that a two-PF lineup was the best the Suns could hope for, I would have been a little warmer to the prospect of him staying.

Are there any disgruntled PFs on the market? It would have to be one who is at least McDyess's size in order to make any sense.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Amare's also gonna be pissed and rightly so.

If Stoudemire gives up on the Suns because they insist on playing small ball, the franchise will have gotten what it deserves. It's like the front office is incapable of looking more than a few months into the future -- they just throw themselves into whatever seems right at the moment, consequences be damned.

Stoudemire doesn't have the right to complain about what position he's theoretically playing, since positions tend to blend together in this day and age anyway. But he certainly does have the right to complain about being stuck on a team that will never give itself a chance to develop into a playoff power.

If the Suns won't (or can't) trade Marion for a center, at least they could try to trade him for a PF. I wasn't at all disappointed when McDyess escaped (again), but had I known that a two-PF lineup was the best the Suns could hope for, I would have been a little warmer to the prospect of him staying.

Are there any disgruntled PFs on the market? It would have to be one who is at least McDyess's size in order to make any sense.

totally agree with all of this.

 

[Chaz]

The biggest problem with McDyess leaving is now, without Amare on the floor, the Suns have nobody to post up in his place.

I guess they could post up Q but so far that has not been very effective sice he is playing out of position at the 3 instead of against shooting guards. I would almost like to see JJ at the 3 instead of Q.


Marion on Dirk is a potential nightmare but because Dirk plays outside I am not as worried about that as I am with Amare matching up with Dampier. They should start Hunter or Lampe on Dampier if for no other reasn to save Amare for the end of the game from both a foul and fatigue stand point.

Start Hunter and bring Q off the bench. PLEASE!

 

[SweetD]

Suns did try to use Hunter in the low block when Amare was out last game. I don't like with Mike D is doing and every Suns coach ever by trying to play small. That may work with some teams but when you have a good team at the 5 and 4 it creats a miss match for the Suns. The bench was our strong point going into the season now we bring in Hunter and Casey for the most minutes instead of Q???

 

[fordronken]

Can't we start Outlaw and just have him shadow Dirk the entire game? Would anyone other than the Suns organization be against this?

 

[elindholm]

Can't we start Outlaw and just have him shadow Dirk the entire game?

Probably not the entire game, but a decent part of it.

Would anyone other than the Suns organization be against this?

If the alternative is to have Nowitzki "guarded" by Marion, I imagine the Mavericks would be against it.

It's not like I think Outlaw is a super defender, but he would at least have a fighting chance.

 

[fordronken]

Can't we start Outlaw and just have him shadow Dirk the entire game?

Probably not the entire game, but a decent part of it.

Would anyone other than the Suns organization be against this?

If the alternative is to have Nowitzki "guarded" by Marion, I imagine the Mavericks would be against it.

It's not like I think Outlaw is a super defender, but he would at least have a fighting chance.

He's probably the best match up against Nowitzki. He's tall and athletic enough. I don't really want Stoudemire guarding him too much either(foul trouble). Hunter is probably too slow. That probably means just Outlaw and Vroman.

 

[slinslin]

Marion has always guarded Dirk in the past.

Do you want Amare following Dirk around on the perimeter? I don't.

Marion has had some good games against Dirk in the past.

 

[Joe Mama]

Marion has always guarded Dirk in the past.

Do you want Amare following Dirk around on the perimeter? I don't.

Marion has had some good games against Dirk in the past.

Shawn Marion has guarded Dirk Nowitzki in the past. That doesn't mean it's a great idea. I don't feel like looking up the statistics right now, mostly because I don't have to because I watched the games. This is what happens. Either Dirk score is a bundle of easy baskets by posting up Shawn Marion, or the rest of his teammates kill them because the Suns have to double and triple team him to help Marion.

Frankly I would like to see Amare Stoudemire guard Dirk Nowitzki. I'll bet that Dirk would have a bad game. Amare Stoudemire's defense has looked much, much better this season to me. Frankly I would say he's been one of our best defenders. Sure, he still occasionally gets lost in his help defense but not nearly as often. The handful of times he guarded Chris Webber around the basket Webber got nothing. Of course we would just have to hope that somebody has told Amare how to defend the high post two-man game better than he did against Sacramento.

BTW the game is tomorrow night.

Joe Mama

 

[JS22]

I told everyone that I'd kill myself if Marion started at PF against dirk.

....It's been fun guys!

 

[SirStefan32]

Start Hunter and bring Q off the bench. PLEASE!

You would think that after they got killed by oposing PF's two times, they would have learned their lesson. Unfortunately, I don't think they did, and I don't think they will.

 

[SirStefan32]

Shawn Marion has guarded Dirk Nowitzki in the past. That doesn't mean it's a great idea. I don't feel like looking up the statistics right now, mostly because I don't have to because I watched the games. This is what happens. Either Dirk score is a bundle of easy baskets by posting up Shawn Marion, or the rest of his teammates kill them because the Suns have to double and triple team him to help Marion.

Frankly I would like to see Amare Stoudemire guard Dirk Nowitzki. I'll bet that Dirk would have a bad game. Amare Stoudemire's defense has looked much, much better this season to me. Frankly I would say he's been one of our best defenders. Sure, he still occasionally gets lost in his help defense but not nearly as often. The handful of times he guarded Chris Webber around the basket Webber got nothing. Of course we would just have to hope that somebody has told Amare how to defend the high post two-man game better than he did against Sacramento.

BTW the game is tomorrow night.

Joe Mama

Joe,

Dirk is a very tough guy to guard for any team. He is tall enough and strong enough to shoot over or post up smaller players, but he is to quick for big guys to guard. Perhaps, nobody on the Suns team can guard Dirk.

Having said that, the very last person I want to see try to guard Dirk is Amare. Amare would foul out in ten minutes trying to chase Dirk around the perimetar.

Stefan

 

[elindholm]

It must be admitted that Outlaw is a poor rebounder, so the solution of starting him instead of Richardson probably wouldn't help a lot.

But the point about short-term thinking stands. Everyone knows the Suns can't win this way. Well, okay, everyone except for the coaching staff knows it. Even if the Suns beat Dallas 125-118, that won't be a positive indicator of anything relevant.

The Suns need to figure out who among their "project" big men can get the job done. Start Vroman, Lampe, Voskuhl, or give them each two minutes, I don't care. But starting figuring out now who is going to be able to do it, so that it won't be pure guesswork if the Suns are fortunate enough to be playing meaningful games in April.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

The Suns need to figure out who among their "project" big men can get the job done. Start Vroman, Lampe, Voskuhl, or give them each two minutes, I don't care. But starting figuring out now who is going to be able to do it, so that it won't be pure guesswork if the Suns are fortunate enough to be playing meaningful games in April.

Uh, it seems like the prospect with the highest ceiling by far is Hunter. He has the size and interior presence that the rest of them lack. I would love to see Hunter start for a month, and see how he progresses.

 

[cly2tw]

The Suns need to figure out who among their "project" big men can get the job done. Start Vroman, Lampe, Voskuhl, or give them each two minutes, I don't care. But starting figuring out now who is going to be able to do it, so that it won't be pure guesswork if the Suns are fortunate enough to be playing meaningful games in April.

I echo this sentiment completely. Let the project bigmen try their chances out. Let Amare learn to properly defend as a PF in a set situation, instead of getting lost on constant double teaming and other small gimmicks. I don't care how many games they'd lose before they learned the ropes and can start winning. Amare has to learn it and we have to play normal ball the majority of times to have any real chance in the post season at all.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

He's probably the best match up against Nowitzki. He's tall and athletic enough. I don't really want Stoudemire guarding him too much either(foul trouble). Hunter is probably too slow. That probably means just Outlaw and Vroman.

i wouldn't mind throwing waves of bo and the sausage king at dirk. double rambis him. just get all over his ****. that's what this team needs. i hate to say it, but we need a dennis rodman type.

 

[elindholm]

Uh, it seems like the prospect with the highest ceiling by far is Hunter.

Oops, right. I thought I was forgetting someone.