OK, now everyone is happy with the Suns again...

[Yuma]

I admit I like seeing the Suns AVERAGE 141 points under new coach Alvin Gentry. Still I have those gnawing doubts...

1) Was it the Suns, or how decimated the Clippers were?

2) Porter was trying to get the team more efficient in the half court offense, because the playoffs are all about the half court offense, and now we have abandoned it for run and gun that hasn't won for us in the playoffs, yet. Doesn't that worry anyone besides me?

3) We still aren't any better defensively, which usually separates the winning NBA Champion from the rest of the field. That does worry me.

4) We played the Clippers twice before the deadline and we looked invincible. Does that worry anyone that our problems may still be there when we play other teams and we missed making a move that may have helped us in the playoffs this year?

I guess, unless we can roll over the Lakers, or San Antonio, or Celtics, I just have that gnawing feeling of are we that good? I know I didn't like Prorter's coaching because we have so many talented guys and it seemed we SHOULD be playing better than we did. I also see that Porter was trying to make us into a playoff strong team. I like the Gentry move, I just wonder if it really did solve all our ills.

 

[jagu]

The Suns are built to run. They'll beat good teams on certain days and also lose to them when they can't shoot. I don't think a championship is in our future however.

 

[atikiN]

No we won't be beating good teams by 40 points. But at least we won't be struggling to beat bad teams anymore either. The Suns didn't have an easy game in the first half of the season no matter how crappy their opponents might have been.

 

[mojorizen7]

It solved the issues of boring offense and unhappy players ,which is a good thing and needed to happen.
If this team makes the playoffs, i'll be very curious to see how Gentry handles the very real issues that fun n gun offense faces when subjected to a different style of officiating,pace,scrutiny,defense and overall intensity.
My hope is that Gentry has learned 1st hand that in a 7 game series you can't just roll the ball out there and tell your guys to make more shots than the other team & bring energy.

 

[Chaplin]

I am so glad that Boston is right around the corner. These 3 cupcake games are nice, but it's refreshing to know that a true test is in a few days. REALLY looking forward to Sunday.

 

[Yuma]

I am so glad that Boston is right around the corner. These 3 cupcake games are nice, but it's refreshing to know that a true test is in a few days. REALLY looking forward to Sunday.

That's good to know. I heard our schedule was easy from here on out. I want to actually see how they do versus quality opponents.

PS: My son's rec league team is the Celtics. They play the Suns on Saturday!

 

[sunsallday]

The Suns aren't as bad in the half court as they were before. In my opinion, the hiring and firing of Porter was a blessing in disguise. At least we have half court sets. This team is built for running, and we have a lot of offensive players to put it into overdrive. However, when they game slows down, we can feed the ball to Shaq as he is a great half court player. Shaq will prove his worth in(if we make it) the playoffs.

 

[Covert Rain]

The Suns aren't as bad in the half court as they were before. In my opinion, the hiring and firing of Porter was a blessing in disguise. At least we have half court sets. This team is built for running, and we have a lot of offensive players to put it into overdrive. However, when they game slows down, we can feed the ball to Shaq as he is a great half court player. Shaq will prove his worth in(if we make it) the playoffs.

Great great point. I agree. What is getting lost in all of this, is this team can play half court sets. Before the Porter hiring and before this year, people constantly made 2 points:

1. This team could not play a bit of half court
2. This team needed to play more halfcourt in the playoffs because they relied on the pick and roll way too much. When it went south..the Suns had nothing. The game turns into halfcourt alot more during the playoffs.

It's all great that we went back to Run and Gun but this team definitely will benefit from playing half court so much. Not to mention that Gentry was still calling half court plays often during the course of the last 2 games. So, it's not completely gone which is good IMO. Just the focus has changed.

 

[ShuHanGuanYu]

2) Porter was trying to get the team more efficient in the half court offense, because the playoffs are all about the half court offense, and now we have abandoned it for run and gun that hasn't won for us in the playoffs, yet. Doesn't that worry anyone besides me?

It worries me more when we don't make the playoffs. Porter's better "half-court efficiency" does no good when we land in the lottery.

 

[jagu]

I am so glad that Boston is right around the corner. These 3 cupcake games are nice, but it's refreshing to know that a true test is in a few days. REALLY looking forward to Sunday.

Yea but losing to them in a close game won't make us feel any better. We need to beat them for a good motivational booster. Lets run them to the ground!!

 

[AceP]

OK, it is likely for us to make the playoff with restored running offense. Good to hear that. But that is all. With a lot of luck, could they make it to second round? Another season has been badly wasted.

 

[pokerface]

3) We still aren't any better defensively, which usually separates the winning NBA Champion from the rest of the field. That does worry me.

I'm developing a theory on that. I think "run n' gun" actually gives the Suns a tad better defense beause they'e playing with more energy and confidence...they're more interested in the overall game as a result.

 

[dodie53]

i just hope the Suns doesn't suffer any injuries during the playoffs.

last season,
Hill went down.

he could have help in the offense by posting Bowen and on defense by trying to contain Parker.

F*****G injuries!!

 

[AceP]

We have been healthy this year and lost to the Spurs twice. NO, this team is hopeless against them, nor against the Lakers. Period.

 

[Covert Rain]

I'm developing a theory on that. I think "run n' gun" actually gives the Suns a tad better defense beause they'e playing with more energy and confidence...they're more interested in the overall game as a result.

The Clippers almost shot 48%. That's not exactly good defense.

 

[CHAPTER 7]

I admit I like seeing the Suns AVERAGE 141 points under new coach Alvin Gentry. Still I have those gnawing doubts...

2) Porter was trying to get the team more efficient in the half court offense, because the playoffs are all about the half court offense, and now we have abandoned it for run and gun that hasn't won for us in the playoffs, yet. Doesn't that worry anyone besides me


If we kept Porter or Porter's style, we might not even be in playoffs to worry about this...

 

[Mainstreet]

I'm developing a theory on that. I think "run n' gun" actually gives the Suns a tad better defense beause they'e playing with more energy and confidence...they're more interested in the overall game as a result.

We have to quit agreeing. I believe the Suns offensive energy carries over to the defense.

 

[Covert Rain]

We have to quit agreeing. I believe the Suns offensive energy carries over to the defense.

Please explain how allowing the opposing team to shoot 48% is good defense? Don't confuse good defense with outscoring another team. We usually hold teams to 45%. The Kings the worst defensive team in the NBA and they hold teams to 48.3%. That should give you idea how good our defense was.

More steals doesn't equal better defense alone. If we start getting more steals per game but allowing a worse FG%, that is going backwards IMO not improving. We need to get more steals and hold teams to our average. That would be good defense.

 

[Chaplin]

The Clippers almost shot 48%. That's not exactly good defense.

I wonder what the difference in shot attempts was in those 2 games vs. other games the Clippers have played. I guess it doesn't matter: 48% shooting on 65 shots is the same as 48% shooting on 100 shots.

 

[Errntknght]

Hmmm... in the NBA holding opponents to 32 FGs, or 48% on 65 shots is great defense. Suns do that regularly and they waltz to the title.

 

[elindholm]

The numbers for both Clippers games are skewed by all the garbage time. I don't think we have much of a read yet on the Suns' defense under Gentry.

 

[Covert Rain]

The numbers for both Clippers games are skewed by all the garbage time. I don't think we have much of a read yet on the Suns' defense under Gentry.

Exactly. There were shooting over 50% before that. I don't care how many shot attempts you take. 50% is 50% with your starters out there.

 

[Bufalay]

Exactly. There were shooting over 50% before that. I don't care how many shot attempts you take. 50% is 50% with your starters out there.

What if the Suns held the Clippers to two shot attempts for the entire game and the Clippers made both of those shots. The Clippers shot 100%, but lost the game 140 to 6 (they were 3's). The Suns gave up 100% Shooting and 100% on 3's. Their defense was bad. Stop trying to outscore teams. Outscoring teams doesn't work in the playoffs!

 

[Covert Rain]

What if the Suns held the Clippers to two shot attempts for the entire game and the Clippers made both of those shots. The Clippers shot 100%, but lost the game 140 to 6 (they were 3's). The Suns gave up 100% Shooting and 100% on 3's. Their defense was bad. Stop trying to outscore teams. Outscoring teams doesn't work in the playoffs!

Zactly.

 

[Yuma]

I'd like to see them have double digit average outscoring their opponents from now on. It does no good to score 120, but let your opponents average 118, and have a .500 record. We need to average 110, but hold opponents on average to 95 points. Then you know you are playing well on both sides of the ball, imho.

Average 110? The 140 point average we ahev going, better hold up tomorrow versus the Celts! LOL! Yeah right!