New Power Rankings Out

[PHX 32]

Nba.com posted the pre season power rankings today and I'm a little disappointed. Everything I have heard from almost every single nba analyst and every article I have read has the Suns at number 1 and dominant title favorites, yet we are 4th on the power rankings? We were 4th on the power rankings a lot last year and that was WITHOUT Amare. Seems a bit odd to me, any thoughts?

http://www.nba.com/features/power_rankings.html

 

[Tank]

People have seen Amare play and know he's not 100%

 

[Nash]

Save for the addition of Amare whose durability is questionable, the Suns don't have any solid additions to merit a strong argument for a top 3 spot. We have added Banks now at PG but still have a gaping weakness at the post with the loss of our addition late last season-TT, who in a small way helped with his size.

We replaced Skita, Dijon and House with a bunch of marginal players in Pike, Marks. All this said, I feel its hard to argue that the Suns are a hugely improved team to merit a top position. Heat are defending champions, Dallas got to the finals and improved its roster further, the Spurs are perennial contenders - thereby leaving no place at the top for the Suns.

 

[Chaplin]

Save for the addition of Amare whose durability is questionable, the Suns don't have any solid additions to merit a strong argument for a top 3 spot. We have added Banks now at PG but still have a gaping weakness at the post with the loss of our addition late last season-TT, who in a small way helped with his size.

We replaced Skita, Dijon and House with a bunch of marginal players in Pike, Marks. All this said, I feel its hard to argue that the Suns are a hugely improved team to merit a top position. Heat are defending champions, Dallas got to the finals and improved its roster further, the Spurs are perennial contenders - thereby leaving no place at the top for the Suns.

Are you seriously forgetting Kurt Thomas? Or do you think that Skita, Dijon and Eddie House are better?

 

[green machine]

That, and it's power rankings, they really don't mean much.

 

[devilalum]

People have seen Amare play and know he's not 100%

And we all know he doesn't have to be until April. That gives him 9 months to get healthy or at least figure out his new role.

 

[George O'Brien]

Power rankings are always a joke, but preseason ones are just about as useless as any you can describe.

 

[Nash]

Are you seriously forgetting Kurt Thomas? Or do you think that Skita, Dijon and Eddie House are better?

I was talking about our roster as compared to what it was at the start of last season. That's why I did not include Kurt. Amare and Banks are the only strong additions when we look at the roster as a whole.

We had Kurt for most of last season and does not count as an addition to the team. He could break his wheels at anytime just like last season.

 

[George O'Brien]

I was talking about our roster as compared to what it was at the start of last season. That's why I did not include Kurt. Amare and Banks are the only strong additions when we look at the roster as a whole.

We had Kurt for most of last season and does not count as an addition to the team. He could break his wheels at anytime just like last season.

The Suns are vastly different from the team that started last season because of the development of Diaw and Barbosa as well as the return of Stoudemire. Also, it took KT a while to become adjusted to the Suns style.

 

[Chaplin]

I was talking about our roster as compared to what it was at the start of last season. That's why I did not include Kurt. Amare and Banks are the only strong additions when we look at the roster as a whole.

Compared to what? If you truly are looking at the roster at the beginning of the year, you are right, Amare and Banks are the only strong additions to a team that already included Steve Nash, Shawn Marion, Boris Diaw, Raja Bell, Leandro Barbosa, Kurt Thomas and James Jones. We lost Skita, House and Dijon Thompson. I'd say this roster:

Steve Nash
Marcus Banks
Raja Bell
Leandro Barbosa
Eric Piatkowski
James Jones
Shawn Marion
Boris Diaw
Amare Stoudemire
Kurt Thomas
Pat Burke

...is pretty damn good. Putting aside the contract issue with Boris, I'd say that is damn near a championship squad. Every one of those guys could get playing time in a regular season game (except maybe Burke). Look at last year's team that was in the WCF:

Steve Nash
Leandro Barbosa
Eddie House
Raja Bell
James Jones
Dijon Thompson
Nikiloz Tskitischvilli
Shawn Marion
Boris Diaw
Tim Thomas
Kurt Thomas (available, but didn't play)
Pat Burke

Burke, Skita and Dijon got ZERO time all season. That first roster, the one we currently have going into this coming season, is MUCH better. Give Boris and LB another year of experience and the solid addition of Marcus Banks, having a 75% Amare would be gravy. We have pretty much lost nothing except Tim Thomas, but we needed a guy with Banks skills more than a guy with Thomas' skills.

We had Kurt for most of last season and does not count as an addition to the team. He could break his wheels at anytime just like last season.

The question is, which Suns team do you remember from last year? Do you remember the one that started the season that was on pace to win 60 games until KT went down? Or the one that went .500 the rest of the season, and yet made it to the Western Conference Finals? I don't see how adding even a semi-healthy and Marcus Banks to a team that only lost Tim Thomas as an "only" addition. Thomas will be missed, but our championship hopes also didn't leave with him either. TT would have been gravy, but I'd rather have the Kurt Thomas team any day--that was a team built for the NBA Finals, and it was without our best player.

ANYONE can break his wheels at anytime. It has been discussed ad nauseum that the injury to Kurt was not a recurrent one, and he is not injury prone. Marion could get scared of going to the basket again. Nash's back could flare up. Not to mention Amare's knees and Raja's hamstring. If you are basing Kurt's play on the chances he will get injured again, why not hold the same standard to the rest of the team?

 

[3rdside]

"I don't see how adding even a semi-healthy and Marcus Banks to a team that only lost Tim Thomas as an "only" addition."

???

 

[CaptainInsano]

"I don't see how adding even a semi-healthy and Marcus Banks to a team that only lost Tim Thomas as an "only" addition."

???

semi healthy amare

 

[Joe Mama]

Am I the only one here worried that at least at the beginning of the season the team is going to be worse with Amare Stoudemire on the floor? Actually, I suspect they will be significantly worse. On offense it might be a wash compared to a lineup with whoever would replace him, but defensively I think he is a really going to struggle.

I hope I'm wrong.

Also, Nash, I cannot believe you would even mention Skita and Dijon Thompson as some sort of loss. They contributed absolutely, positively zero last year to this team. I expect significantly more than Eddie House's 2005-06 contribution from Marcus Banks. if you are comparing to where they were ranked last season you've also got to figure that nobody expected much of anything from Boris Diaw at this time last year.

I think it's more likely that the NBA.com writers are expecting more from a the more too ranked ahead of us.

Joe

 

[Joe Mama]

People have seen Amare play and know he's not 100%

yeah, their single line for the Phoenix Suns is "look out league. Amare is back." I don't think that's it. I have no problem with them ranking the Phoenix Suns behind Miami, Dallas, and San Antonio. I do think they are a better team than Miami if everybody is healthy though.

Joe

 

[devilalum]

Am I the only one here worried that at least at the beginning of the season the team is going to be worse with Amare Stoudemire on the floor? Actually, I suspect they will be significantly worse. On offense it might be a wash compared to a lineup with whoever would replace him, but defensively I think he is a really going to struggle.

Joe

I was thinking that he might just in up in perpetual foul trouble. I can't see D'Antoni just leaving him in if his guy blows by him 3 or 4 times in a row.

 

[Muggum]

If we had the old Amare, we'd be #1 with a bullet. Without a 90 % Amare, we still won't win it all, although we'll certainly flirt with the finals. ALMOST always, the team with the best player wins a series. We're not going to win a championship unless we can honestly say that Dwayne Wade and LeBron James are no better than Amare. We could have said that two years ago. We can't say it now. Yet.

 

[Nash]

Also, Nash, I cannot believe you would even mention Skita and Dijon Thompson as some sort of loss. They contributed absolutely, positively zero last year to this team. I expect significantly more than Eddie House's 2005-06 contribution from Marcus Banks. if you are comparing to where they were ranked last season you've also got to figure that nobody expected much of anything from Boris Diaw at this time last year.

I think it's more likely that the NBA.com writers are expecting more from a the more too ranked ahead of us.

Joe

timeout! timeout!
my bad! My bad that I did not word my post right, my bad that I wasn't thinking clearly as well. You guys are right - I forgot to factor in the vast improvement in Diaw and Barbosa's games.

I was looking at it purely from that writer's point of view, who was arguing solely based on tangible changes to the team. That's why I left out 3D's and Barb's growth.

When I mentioned Skita and Dij , I wasn't talking of them as 'losses' to the team. I was merely saying that their replacements(Pike, Marks) were unremarkable. Sure, they are guys who can play a few mins..just that they are not big improvements.
yep, Banks is a huge huge improvement over House.

Overall, we do have a better team but I still feel we should get a physical big man to hedge against KT and Amare both of whom are rickety.

One more thing, huge frikking brainfart moment when I made my initial post. I've tried to rephrase what I was trying to say last night. If I still sound ..give me a day or two...I will return with a semblance of sanity

 

[CaptainInsano]

Am I the only one here worried that at least at the beginning of the season the team is going to be worse with Amare Stoudemire on the floor? Actually, I suspect they will be significantly worse. On offense it might be a wash compared to a lineup with whoever would replace him, but defensively I think he is a really going to struggle.

I hope I'm wrong.

You have to remember that the defensive problems of amare were around when this team was horrible on defense and outscored opponents without worrying much about the defensive end of things. That all changed last year when Kurt and Raja joined the squad, so I think with them around things should be fine, I don't really know how the defense could get worse out on the floor and maybe Amare will learn a thing or two.

If Kurt goes to work on the inside and Amare just works on getting a block or two that is actually an improvement as long as you can keep marion, raja, and kurt or boris out there. Boris did a great job on the big guys like yao too when Kurt came out so you have them switch. Now imagine if those few times when Yao gets an offensive rebound and tries to put it back up it just gets swatted away by amare.

Of course, this is if amare has enough jump and quickness to swat away a ball after his surgery. I would say by the middle of the season he probably will.

 

[George O'Brien]

We're hoping Amare will be ready by Nov. However, the real key is whether he'll be ready by next April.

IMHO, this team is still the best team in the Pacific even without Amare - but it would be close. Without Amare, the Suns averaged 108 ppg last season and shot 47.9% from the field and 39.9% for three. TT was part of that, but played only 26 games.

If Amare is slow in coming back, the Suns would still have the same roster that led the league in scoring prior to TT joining the team. Substituting TT for KT meant the Suns were better shooters and a lot worse rebounding and on defense. Reversing that makes the Suns a better contender if less exciting. The drop from losing TT might not be so bad if Jones regains his stroke. He's not as good as TT, but when healthy he's a pretty good three point shooter.

From a rotation standpoint, the other subsitution is Banks for House. Banks is a lot more valuable.

The real problems come up in the playoffs. At that point, the Suns need Amare at or near 100%.

 

[Hoopy Dunkalot]

Nba.com posted the pre season power rankings today and I'm a little disappointed. Everything I have heard from almost every single nba analyst and every article I have read has the Suns at number 1 and dominant title favorites, yet we are 4th on the power rankings? We were 4th on the power rankings a lot last year and that was WITHOUT Amare. Seems a bit odd to me, any thoughts?

http://www.nba.com/features/power_rankings.html

Gee...everything I've heard had the Mavs at the top of the West. Are you confused about something?

 

[arthurracoon]

We're hoping Amare will be ready by Nov. However, the real key is whether he'll be ready by next April.

 

[PHX 32]

Interesting point there Hoopy, but I'll just have to disregard it, taking into account that you are probably still bitter about your team blowing a 2-0 series lead.

 

[Muggum]

The Mavs are weak. They don't scare me. Not with a healthy Suns team. The Mavs were at absolute full strength in the playoffs and struggled mightily to get by us without Amare *and* Bell. Then they folded like tortillas against the Heat. Trust me, they're never winning it all, nor will they get by any Suns team with Amare at 85 percent or better.

 

[George O'Brien]

I'm not sure I'd go that far, but I think the Mavs are vulnerable. They are still mostly a collection of one on one type players on offense, lack a consistent low post threat, and lack a "small ball" option when the Suns get running.

 

[nothin' but net]

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