So why aren't we looking at big men?

[Chaplin]

amen. I'd rather Kurt Thomas did not play heavy minutes during the regular season because I want him healthy for the playoffs. The same goes for Steve Nash.

I've never understood why people think you have to have a 5 that can run. I'd much prefer a 5 who can defend and rebound the ball. After all, it's a lot easier to run on teams after a defensive stop, especially when you actually secure the rebound.

Joe Mama

Correction, I want a 5 that can get defensive rebounds and be very good at outlet passing. That was one of Oliver Miller's strengths.

 

[fordronken]

Does anyone remember the article that Steve Kerr wrote when the Suns signed Sean Marks? Kerr said that he was a bargain player who he thought would be able to make the rotation and contribute. I'm wondering now if he's trying to push D'Antoni to use him this year. It certainly seems as though Kerr likes him a lot from their time together in San Antonio.

 

[OldDirtMcGirt]

I've got no problem with fast break basketball. It works well. However you got to have versatility. Look at San Antonio. They can go small when Duncan isn't on the floor with three point shooting and still do well, because they have the personell to be versatile. If we commit ourselves to small ball, there's no way we're going to win because we have a coach who refuses to make adjustments.

 

[Hugh D'Man]

......
I've never understood why people think you have to have a 5 that can run. I'd much prefer a 5 who can defend and rebound the ball. After all, it's a lot easier to run on teams after a defensive stop, especially when you actually secure the rebound.

Joe Mama

Mark Jackson anyone ?


PS....Scratch that ... I just read up on what a few Hornetters said about him....

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

It's all about small ball. The record indicates that small ball works against nearly every team in the NBA. The Suns won 61 games in the far better conference this year even though KT lost almost a month of work (from Jan 15 to Feb 14).

The key is how the Suns use Marion. Marion at PF creates mismatches on offense because bigs cannot keep him from running backdoor plays nor keep up with him on the break. On defense, Marion is very good at playing denial and creating steals. He can play them very tight because there is little risk of the big man getting around him. The only threat is to be backed down, but quick double teams can disrupt that.

The downside of small ball is that it forces Amare to play post defense where he is vulnerable to getting into foul trouble. This a bigger problem against some opponents than others.

Part of what D'Antoni likes about small ball is that it is a "high energy" style. With the right personnle, it means pressing opponents, forcing turnovers and quick, contested shots. Against opponents who play a lot of "one on one" it is highly disruptive and forces them to play faster.

It works very well most of the time. Opponents either cut down their easy shot opportunities by slowing everything down or they get caught into a running game few can hope to win. Once teams get behind, they risk getting run off the court.

In 2004-05, the Suns won 63 games with Stephen "Hands of Stone" Hunter as the only big man off the bench. The Suns management recognized they needed to upgrade and went out to get KT. But they did not abandon the belief that speed ball works.

IMHO, the only team that requires a big lineup to stop is the Spurs. The Suns need to work on being able to use KT and Amare at the same time enough to prepare for the Spurs. But I don't expect them to go to a conventional style for most opponents.

In contrast, a lot of players/teams get season, sometimes career records off of games vs us.


You bring up a lot of good points though. Especially the value of marion as an undersized PF

 

[cly2tw]

I've got no problem with fast break basketball. It works well. However you got to have versatility. Look at San Antonio. They can go small when Duncan isn't on the floor with three point shooting and still do well, because they have the personell to be versatile. If we commit ourselves to small ball, there's no way we're going to win because we have a coach who refuses to make adjustments.

Actually, though not perfect, we had enough personell to be versatile too. We couldn't play like that because we never practise anything else but fast ball. It's where the dilemma comes from.

If you want to win only in track meet fashion, you can't afford to slow down with the opponents to practise half court games you will need so dearly in the playoffs. In the playoffs, trackmeet won't take place if the other teams are smart enough, they you are forced to play things you never really practise in the regular season.

In the end, you just get by on the pure individual talent you amassed on the team, and lose to a real TEAM that is able to be more than simple sum of its individual talent. That's where DA was lamenting about with his claim that he felt we had more talent than Spurs. But he is just too dumb to recognize that the root of the defeat despite being more talented is right within his coaching style.

 

[azirish]

In contrast, a lot of players/teams get season, sometimes career records off of games vs us.

You bring up a lot of good points though. Especially the value of marion as an undersized PF

The Suns style leads to a lot of points going both directions. The Suns gave up an average of 102.9 ppg compared to the Spurs 90.09 ppg and the the Mavs 92.79. But the Spurs point differential was only 1.1 ppg better than the Suns who were 0.1 ppg better than the Mavs.

My feeling is that the Suns would be better off starting KT, but D'Antoni prefers to put pressure on the opponents from the tip. He's had a lot of success with his approach, so it is hard to say for sure he's wrong.

 

[cly2tw]

My feeling is that the Suns would be better off starting KT, but D'Antoni prefers to put pressure on the opponents from the tip. He's had a lot of success with his approach, so it is hard to say for sure he's wrong.

Which is directly responsible for the failure in playoffs via the way I discussed two posts before.

As we proved to be the best team at half-court game that failed against the Spurs, without ever practising it in the regular season, it's safe to say we'd win a lot games in the regular season even if playing half court exclusively! It's not unlikely that we'd have the about the same playoff seed this way.

 

[azirish]

Which is directly responsible for the failure in playoffs via the way I discussed two posts before.

As we proved to be the best team at half-court game that failed against the Spurs, without ever practising it in the regular season, it's safe to say we'd win a lot games in the regular season even if playing half court exclusively! It's not unlikely that we'd have the about the same playoff seed this way.

I would like to see the Suns play Amare and KT together more during the season, but it may not matter too much as long as KT is ready for the Spurs.

 

[cly2tw]

I would like to see the Suns play Amare and KT together more during the season, but it may not matter too much as long as KT is ready for the Spurs.

Not quite true. The TEAM should be ready! If they they don't practise and prepare for the situation that Nash, the sytem, got shut down, they won't play well in all the future Spurs series to come. In this sense, I'd be fine with KT not playing much in regular season as long as we work on games with Nash playing off the ball.