Sonics@Suns

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by George O'Brien
Marion was out of position, but Lewis clearly pushed off. But you are right, this is not the time of the game to depend on the refs to bail you out.



At some point, this is about coaching. The stats suggest that Marion is able to get his own shot when he decides to be agressive inspite of not being "smooth". He is able to play better, but his decision making leaves something to be desired.

I'm not sure what D'Antoni is doing about getting Marion and the rest of the Suns to play smarter. I'm afraid that Marion did not get much coaching from FJ on that and he is not as developed mentally as his number of years would suggest.

The sad part about it is that it takes a long time to develop good instincts. Players do not have enough time to think about what they are going to, they have to respond instantly. Right now Marion's instincts are questionable, but he can improve and hopefully will.

I think that's a pretty solid and realistic take on the matter without having to resort to dumb trades.

Shawn Marion will be a Phoenix Sun for a long time, and you have to think that he is still adjusting this season--I think I read somewhere that we have had the most changes of any team in personnel (players and coaches) all season. I think we're definitely the only team that has traded away its #1 player.

But the fact that he missed that last shot and was a little lax on defense on the last play is no reason to start wanting to trade him for a 2nd round pick.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Interesting side note in the paper yesterday.

Marion was discussing Amare being back. When asked if he was beaten up by playing the 4 so much Marion's response was (not verbatum but basically):

"Well...I am 6'7. Of course I am getting hammered. The trip east was the worst. But I will do whatever the coach wants."

Shawn Marion plays the most minutes in the NBA. He has been playing against larger players for almost the entire season.

Unfortunately our coaches continue to believe this is good for his development. I don't think it is any coincidence that his shot is flat at the end of games.

This is the first season that his statistics have taken a dip. There are innumerable reasons that could be the cause...

I think we will have a better idea of Marion's true ability next season when things have stabilized a bit more.

 

[Chaplin]

I think what Marion really needs is someone to be higher on the go-to guy chart than he is. Last night, I think there really was no choice on that 3--JJ was getting smothered, and would you rather CJ or Marion take that shot? I'd rather Marion take it.

JJ appears to be becoming that go-to guy, but I think the jury is still out because even though he ends up with over 20 points in a game, he gets most of them in the second half. What's with only scoring 6 points in the first half? That is a lack of consistency that worries me a little bit.

Here's a question: Was Jason Kidd a higher option on our team than Shawn was at the end of games? He definitely was more of a leader than Shawn will ever be--is it possible that since Shawn's whole career he's had a bigger personality running the team, he's kinda lost right now since we don't have one anymore?

 

[George O'Brien]

Originally posted by Chris_Sanders
Interesting side note in the paper yesterday.

Marion was discussing Amare being back. When asked if he was beaten up by playing the 4 so much Marion's response was (not verbatum but basically):

"Well...I am 6'7. Of course I am getting hammered. The trip east was the worst. But I will do whatever the coach wants."

Shawn Marion plays the most minutes in the NBA. He has been playing against larger players for almost the entire season.

Unfortunately our coaches continue to believe this is good for his development. I don't think it is any coincidence that his shot is flat at the end of games.

This is the first season that his statistics have taken a dip. There are innumerable reasons that could be the cause...

I think we will have a better idea of Marion's true ability next season when things have stabilized a bit more.

I mostly agree. I do think the Suns are going to have to re-think their offensive sets to make better use of their personnel. With all the switching of personnel, it is hard for the players to develop the chemistry that gets guys the ball where they need it.

One side point, I think that the outside shooting of the PG is going to be a crucial part of the Suns offense and will affect Marion. Currently Barbosa is only able to hit three's if he is wide open and Eisley is very inconsistent. If Vujanic is as good a shooter as people say, he could change the way teams defense the Suns including Marion.

I would rather see Marion as someone who is expected to score 14-15 ppg rather than 20. He should get his points mostly off the fast break, driving the lane, and offensive rebounds. His outside shot should be used only once or twice a game and then only from the corner.

This only works if the Suns have PG who can shoot and thus take the pressure off JJ.

 

[Joe Mama]

I think the reason Shawn Marion is getting so many minutes, playing out of position, etc., is injuries. The Phoenix Suns were counting on Zarko Cabarkapa to play most of the backup minutes at small forward and some power forward. He's been injured or relatively ineffective because of injuries for most of the season. D'Antoni defended his small lineups this morning in the paper. However I don't doubt for a second that he would prefer to go with a front-line Shawn Marion, Zarko, and Amare as a skill ball lineup instead of a small ball lineup.

I don't understand the complaint about Shawn Marion not finding the hot player. After the first half of the first quarter he was one of those hot players. It was Amare Stoudemire and did a poor job of finding his spots and passing to the other players. Shawn Marion blew it when Rashard Lewis scored on a layup at the end of the game. Other than that I don't really have any complaints about his game last night.

Joe Mama

 

[jbeecham]

The Suns beat themselves by shooting 3-9 from the free throw line. It would've been nice for them to get more than 9 ft's, but if they had made 75% of them they would've won.

 

[Chaz]

Originally posted by Chaplin

JJ appears to be becoming that go-to guy, but I think the jury is still out because even though he ends up with over 20 points in a game, he gets most of them in the second half. What's with only scoring 6 points in the first half? That is a lack of consistency that worries me a little bit.

The word is out and JJ is getting the focus of the opponents defense. JJ was not forcing the issue early in the game getting others involved. He looked for his shot more in the second half when the Suns needed his points.

I think he is doing fine. He gets extra attention and double teams the whole game and still scores over 20. I am very impressed.


The problem I had with Marion is he turned his head and let Lewis go straight to the rim to score the winning shot.
Besides the fact he handles the ball a little to much and shoots too many threes I have no problem with his game.

 

[Joe Mama]

Originally posted by SirChaz
The word is out and JJ is getting the focus of the opponents defense. JJ was not forcing the issue early in the game getting others involved. He looked for his shot more in the second half when the Suns needed his points.

I think he is doing fine. He gets extra attention and double teams the whole game and still scores over 20. I am very impressed.


The problem I had with Marion is he turned his head and let Lewis go straight to the rim to score the winning shot.
Besides the fact he handles the ball a little to much and shoots too many threes I have no problem with his game.

I have no idea what Shawn Marion was trying to do on that play, but it wasn't that he turned his head. He said after the game that he thought there was a switch on. I just watched the play again, and it looked like he was trying to front Rashard Lewis from the high side. It just didn't make much sense.

Joe Mama

 

[Chaz]

Originally posted by Joe Mama
I have no idea what Shawn Marion was trying to do on that play, but it wasn't that he turned his head. He said after the game that he thought there was a switch on. I just watched the play again, and it looked like he was trying to front Rashard Lewis from the high side. It just didn't make much sense.

Joe Mama

I will go back and look again. My memory is that he was watching the ball or came out to play a pass at the three point line.