Predictions for the rest of the year

[F-Dog]

I think that Chiriaev won't go anywhere near #12. He'll either wind up in the top 5 or slide down to the end of the first round (or beyond).

NBADraft.net is 'splitting the baby' by ranking him at #14.



The Suns would probably get the same player at #20 they would have taken at #12, if their history serves as a predictor. And, he'll be a pretty good player...not worth tanking this season for, though...

 

[scudney]

Originally posted by JCSunsfan
Well, if 12 is where you think we are drafting, how about this for our sg of the future. Say goodbye to small ball.

http://nbadraft.net/profiles/ivanchiriaev.asp

Does this guy really play H.S. ball in oakville ontario? if so, why is a guy from russia wanna play in canada... I can't see this guy getting any kind of competition what so ever. Oakville is just outside of toronto, and compared to large cities, its pretty damn small. Plus, its Canada, not exactly loaded with bball talent

 

[Errntknght]

I think the team is making some good progress - for the first time this year we played a good game against a team that plays defense. And a complete game, at that - no discarding the game plan when it was tight in the fourth quarter. It's only one game but we had a couple of other games where we played three quarters well and carrying it thru the 4th Q came quicker than I hoped for.

The coach is saying the right things - emphasize straight up defense and focussing the offense on executing a smaller number of sets well. To tell the truth I didn't even realize the Suns had lots of offensive sets... I guess badly run sets all look about the same.

The team has a lot of upside but it is going to take first rate coaching to take advantage of all our talent. We've got Marbs, JJ and Amare who's strengths are going one-on-one but that alone isn't going to let us compete with the top teams. Blending that into team play so we get more high percentage shots & FTs than our opponents isn't that easy - I don't consider kickouts for a jumpshot as getting high percentage shots, merely an improvement over contested jump shots.

So far we've learned that D' doesn't do the dumba$$ things FJ did, and my prediction for the year is that we'll learn a lot about how well he can tap the potential of the team. If he makes some strides, then we can be excited about next year when he'll have an opportunity to implement a lot more of his ideas. What I'm really going to be looking for this year is progress on a month to month basis - something that we never saw with FJ. The one surge we saw was when he dumped the motion offense. (My prediction last year was the team would get 31 wins if Frankie stayed with the MO... so call me a cockeyed optimist.)

 

[George O'Brien]

Motion Offense?

I know that that the triangle is considered a motion offense, but it is not the only form of motion offense. The problem with the triangle and other option offenses is that it takes players an extremely long time to learn what they are supposed to do. In most cases, the result is that the players become confused and tenative.

The Suns have a lot of young players and play a lot of different player combinations. In that context, they need more structure and that seems to be what Mike D'A is doing.

 

[slinslin]

I heard some bad things about Chiriaev on Toronto Raptor message boards where some guys said they played against him with their highschool.

Andre Iguodala I think would be a nice shooting guard for the Suns although his shooting isn't there yet.
But he is just a badass athlete, he broke his tooth on the rim. He is very energetic.

Channing Frye would be pretty good backup for Amare. His touch and shot blocking are pretty impressive this season.

Hassan Adams is a bit undersized but you can't ignore the energy , athelticsim and shooting that he brings this season.

Except for Iguodala none of them seems to be lottery pick material and when you look at nbadraft.net the whole 2004 draft looks like at least 50% of the prospects are european kids who might have some talent but aren't exactly getting anyone out of their seats.

 

[Errntknght]

George O' wrote, "Motion Offense?
I know that that the triangle is considered a motion offense, but it is not the only form of motion offense."

FJ implemented what is called the "Pinch post motion offense" last year during training camp. At least he said he did. The signature 'pinch post' maneuver never showed up on the floor that I saw. The significant thing, which everyone noticed, was that we didn't use the high-screen pick-and-roll for Marbury to penetrate off of. After a meeting with Stephon and some other players FJ said he was dropping the motion offense in favor of letting the guys free-lance more. Thereafter, the pick and roll was back though, in general, the team still didn't use many classic set plays. From the look of things Frank was making up plays on the sidelines as the game progressed and sending them in to the guys by diagramming them in the air with his hands. I doubt if it was a triangle offense since Frank only has two hands...