Suns got some verstile players...

[Andrew]

Suns got some versatile players...

I didn't notice how many players could play 2 different positions...

I always thought Bell was only a guard, he was playing small forward out there. I knew Amare played center, but he was at the 4 when Skinner was in there...

Sorry, I am new to the team and this was kinda a shock to me...

It feels good to have a 4 be able to make 3s with Diaw...

 

[Hat]

Amare is a true 4. That's why many of us are giddy to see him go back to that.

Bell can get away with SF because of his defense. Diaw doesn't take many 3's, he's only like 30%.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

It feels good to have a 4 be able to make 3s with Diaw...

Not to mention our center is 1/1 from long range this game as well.

 

[dodie53]

Diaw should practice his jumpshot more often,
so he can play the SF with Shaq and Amare as the C and PF respectively

 

[LV-Suns]

diaw plays all 5 positions

 

[Bufalay]

diaw plays all 5 positions

He's not much of a shooting guard.

 

[LV-Suns]

He's not much of a shooting guard.

true

 

[arwillan]

I didn't notice how many players could play 2 different positions...

I always thought Bell was only a guard, he was playing small forward out there. I knew Amare played center, but he was at the 4 when Skinner was in there...

Sorry, I am new to the team and this was kinda a shock to me...

It feels good to have a 4 be able to make 3s with Diaw...

Bell at sf doesn't happen all that often. some teams he can get away doing that, and other nights he can't. for example, he would never play the 3 against odom (Lakers) but he would against the wizards (caron butler usually). Amare is naturally a 4, but he plays center here (for now) as a part of small ball. But yes, we are versatile. Everyone besides nash and shaq can play 2 positions....but then again nash is so good at pg we can count it as 2...shooting nash and passing nash .

 

[Sunshooter]

Barbosa is a "Tony Parker" type of player. He's fast, aggressive but the coach just made him as a 3pt shooter. That's totally a waste!

And I hope D'Antoni find a backup for Nash ASAP, Barbosa is not the best answer.

Diaw is just a part-time PF, he's ok in offense, but weak in D.

 

[ArizonaSportsFan]

Barbosa is a "Tony Parker" type of player. He's fast, aggressive but the coach just made him as a 3pt shooter. That's totally a waste!

And I hope D'Antoni find a backup for Nash ASAP, Barbosa is not the best answer.

Diaw is just a part-time PF, he's ok in offense, but weak in D.

Diaw is weak at boxing out - Which Sun isn't? - but he is a decent to good on-the-ball defender.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Grant Hill is a much much better defender than I realized. Have any of you watched him closely on the defensive end?

BTW, he was Defensive POY at Duke. I forgot about that.

 

[arwillan]

Diaw is weak at boxing out - Which Sun isn't? - but he is a decent to good on-the-ball defender.

stole the words right out of my mouth....or keyboard

diaw is a decent post defender, he's just undersized. against guys who don't have 4-5inch height advantages he can do very well (boozer, for example).

 

[arwillan]

Grant Hill is a much much better defender than I realized. Have any of you watched him closely on the defensive end?

BTW, he was Defensive POY at Duke. I forgot about that.

i knew he was a good defender, i didn't realize he won that award. very interesting....that was funny yesterday when he got a steal from jamison

and the announcer said "looks like he still has NC's number"

 

[Darth Llama]

I'm in the minority I guess, because I liked Amare as a Center.

It seems like the days of the big and powerful "back to the basket" style centers are going by the way side. Amare has the skills needed to be this kind of player, which is why I like him as a center. Maybe I'm just "old school" but I hate the idea of having your center step out and shoot 3's. I have always felt that teams are better with a big powerful body down in the paint, and Amare brought that for Phoenix. Of course, he has to move to 4 now because Shaq is a true center in every sense of the word, but I honestly feel that Amare is a better Center then Shaq at this point.

I'm still a little confused as to why the Suns didn't go for a big power forward instead, but I guess now we get to see Amare at his "true" position. The guys a monster anywhere, but I still like him in the middle.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

I'm in the minority I guess, because I liked Amare as a Center.

It seems like the days of the big and powerful "back to the basket" style centers are going by the way side. Amare has the skills needed to be this kind of player, which is why I like him as a center. Maybe I'm just "old school" but I hate the idea of having your center step out and shoot 3's. I have always felt that teams are better with a big powerful body down in the paint, and Amare brought that for Phoenix. Of course, he has to move to 4 now because Shaq is a true center in every sense of the word, but I honestly feel that Amare is a better Center then Shaq at this point.

I'm still a little confused as to why the Suns didn't go for a big power forward instead, but I guess now we get to see Amare at his "true" position. The guys a monster anywhere, but I still like him in the middle.

No one is willing to give up their big power forward, unless you are Memphis and Pau Gasol though. Go figure.

 

[slinslin]

I'm in the minority I guess, because I liked Amare as a Center.

It seems like the days of the big and powerful "back to the basket" style centers are going by the way side. Amare has the skills needed to be this kind of player, which is why I like him as a center. Maybe I'm just "old school" but I hate the idea of having your center step out and shoot 3's. I have always felt that teams are better with a big powerful body down in the paint, and Amare brought that for Phoenix. Of course, he has to move to 4 now because Shaq is a true center in every sense of the word, but I honestly feel that Amare is a better Center then Shaq at this point.

I'm still a little confused as to why the Suns didn't go for a big power forward instead, but I guess now we get to see Amare at his "true" position. The guys a monster anywhere, but I still like him in the middle.

Because Amare is at his best cutting to the basket, driving to the basket, shooting from the elbow and not banging with guys under the hoop who are bigger and stronger than him because the Suns never "allowed" Amare to pick up more weight/bulk/muscle than he already had.

Amare is the prototypical PF with awesome offensive skills and he isn't even a bad defender, he is just exposed as a C because it's damn hard to fight players in the post and on the boards when they have 20 or more pounds on him and not having any help from someone who is bigger than him.

 

[Roger L]

I'm in the minority I guess, because I liked Amare as a Center.

It seems like the days of the big and powerful "back to the basket" style centers are going by the way side. Amare has the skills needed to be this kind of player, which is why I like him as a center. Maybe I'm just "old school" but I hate the idea of having your center step out and shoot 3's. I have always felt that teams are better with a big powerful body down in the paint, and Amare brought that for Phoenix. Of course, he has to move to 4 now because Shaq is a true center in every sense of the word, but I honestly feel that Amare is a better Center then Shaq at this point.

I'm still a little confused as to why the Suns didn't go for a big power forward instead, but I guess now we get to see Amare at his "true" position. The guys a monster anywhere, but I still like him in the middle.

With all of the great PF's in the NBA (Duncan, Dirk, Garnet, Bosh, etc.), I agree with you about Amare staying at the Center position. I think he's a better help defender as a Center since there are so much fewer Centers who'll burn you, as opposed to all the talented PF's out there.

 

[BC867]

With all of the great PF's in the NBA (Duncan, Dirk, Garnet, Bosh, etc.), I agree with you about Amare staying at the Center position. I think he's a better help defender as a Center since there are so much fewer Centers who'll burn you, as opposed to all the talented PF's out there.

At Center, Amare was constantly either on the bench or forced to play tentative defense due to fouls.

It will be interesting to see if he does better going against superstar Power Forwards than big body, mediocre Centers.

I think Amare will do better. Spend more time on the court. And not be afraid to play tight defense.

 

[Andrew]

I just had a few quick questions.

As most of you know I am a new Suns fan and still getting used to the numerous players who can play numerous positions, I just noticed a few things tonight and thought it wouldn't hurt to ask.

Is my positioning right for this lineup?

Nash-point
Barbosa-shooting guard
Strawberry-small forward
Hill-power forward
Diaw-center
???

With the forwards out there being Hill and Bell, is Hill always the power forward? I never thought of Hill as a 4...but I know Bell can't be.

Barbosa is only a guard right?

 

[arwillan]

I just had a few quick questions.

As most of you know I am a new Suns fan and still getting used to the numerous players who can play numerous positions, I just noticed a few things tonight and thought it wouldn't hurt to ask.

Is my positioning right for this lineup?

Nash-point
Barbosa-shooting guard
Strawberry-small forward
Hill-power forward
Diaw-center
???

With the forwards out there being Hill and Bell, is Hill always the power forward? I never thought of Hill as a 4...but I know Bell can't be.

Barbosa is only a guard right?

usually bell would be the small forward when we use the 3-guard lineup. hill would be the power forward and diaw the center, that's correct. the only time we would use the above lineup (w/o amare, skinner, or shaq) would be when we play extremely small for w/e reason.

 

[Andrew]

Anybody willing to look at this and tell me the answer? I saw quite a few different lineups tonight and from time to time, its hard to tell who is playing what because they switch so often, at least for me.

Am I wrong anywhere here?

Hill-g
Barbosa-g
Amare-pf/c
Diaw-sf
Skinner-pf/c

Amare-pf/c
Bell-g
Nash-g
Diaw-pf/c?
Grant-sf

Strawberry-g
Hill-sf/g?
Amare-c
Diaw-pf?
Bell-g/f?

/ equates to guys playing multiple positions when substitutions are made, etc.

 

[arwillan]

Anybody willing to look at this and tell me the answer? I saw quite a few different lineups tonight and from time to time, its hard to tell who is playing what because they switch so often, at least for me.

Am I wrong anywhere here?

Hill-g
Barbosa-g
Amare-pf/c
Diaw-sf
Skinner-pf/c

Amare-pf/c
Bell-g
Nash-g
Diaw-pf/c?
Grant-sf

Strawberry-g
Hill-sf/g?
Amare-c
Diaw-pf?
Bell-g/f?

/ equates to guys playing multiple positions when substitutions are made, etc.

the only place you're wrong is on the third one.
1- straw
2-bell
3-hill
4-diaw
5-amare.

that's not really a very unconventional lineup other than amare at center

 

[Andrew]

Ok thanks, looks like if you take / into context, I was right on them all. Thanks, its quite refreshing to see such a versatile bunch of guys...

 

[arwillan]

Ok thanks, looks like if you take / into context, I was right on them all. Thanks, its quite refreshing to see such a versatile bunch of guys...

oh yeah, i just misread. i thought you had hill at pf. with the suns, the line is very small between forward and guard so there's really no set position for every player out there. the best play maker makes the plays, and the rest (ideally) falls into place.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

I think we even had a stint tonight with no guards other than hill

Very odd game.