Suns Reported Looking At Rush

[Irish]

The Suns are gonna lose a bunch of season ticket holders when the necessary rebuilding/blowing up of the team eventually comes.

Summer of 2010 will be interesting. Nash and Shaq will come off contract, but that does not necessarily mean they'll retire. Best case would be that they come back on a year by year basis at a lower price. Stockton played until he was 40 and Mutombo's age is beyond counting.

But with the financial relief a major drop in their costs would mean being able to use their MLE and do some deals that would add to their salary strucutre.

IMHO, it is not self evident that the Suns will have a total collapse.

 

[Mainstreet]

If the Suns are playing poor basketball just before next season's trading deadline in February I can see the Suns start rebuilding then.

 

[Irish]

Chad Ford says ther is no promise involved with Rush

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2...mpnotes-080528

Ditto for rumors that Brandon Rush is a lock to go to the Suns at No. 15. I spoke with Steve Kerr and Rush's agent, Mark Bartelstein. Kerr acknowledged that the Suns like Rush and he'd be a great fit, but also said the Suns are bringing in around 20 players for their pick. Bartelstein said Rush is working out for teams drafting before and after the Suns.

 

[JoRain]

Chad Ford says ther is no promise involved with Rush

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2...mpnotes-080528

I really hope so. I would hate to see the Suns waste this pick

 

[joshstmarie]

I disagree. A 55 win team thats perceived to have a good shot at the title or at least the conference finals will sell out its games.

 

[joshstmarie]

The Suns are gonna lose a bunch of season ticket holders when the necessary rebuilding/blowing up of the team eventually comes.

that happens with EVERY team... whats your point?

 

[Irish]

I really hope so. I would hate to see the Suns waste this pick

My read on it is that Rush is clearly someone they like, "Kerr acknowledged that the Suns like Rush and he'd be a great fit", but see no reason to make any promises. There are several very good prospects in the top 14 that might fall due to unexpected jumps by some currently lower ranked guys.

 

[nowagimp]

My read on it is that Rush is clearly someone they like, "Kerr acknowledged that the Suns like Rush and he'd be a great fit", but see no reason to make any promises. There are several very good prospects in the top 14 that might fall due to unexpected jumps by some currently lower ranked guys.

It could be that they leaked their interest in Rush to cover their real interest in another player like McGee or Donte Green.

 

[Irish]

It could be that they leaked their interest in Rush to cover their real interest in another player like McGee or Donte Green.

With BC, that would be my first expectation. Their disinformation campaign prior to taking Amare was a work of art.

I could see this as a disinformation campaign if their goal was Green or Arthur, both of whom are expected to go either very close before or after the Suns pick.

 

[WildBB]

NBA basketball is odd. In every other sport great defense can shut down great offense. Baseball goes to the best pitcher, the NY Giants showed what you can with an overpowering defensive line, and hockey has always been dominated by great defense.

But in basketball, there are guys who are all but unstoppable. The only hope the defense has is to make the guy work and hope to limit the guy's teammates and do a better job on the other end. Throwing five super defensive players at teams doesn't work if they can't score.

The challenge is to figure out whether it is easier to teach great offensive players to play defense or teach great defensive players offensive skills. There is no RIGHT answer because both approaches have their limits and tradeoffs. The Lakers of the 80's were terrible on defense while the Shaq/Kobe Lakers were pretty good. But if you want to win, you have to be able to do both.

That's the key. It's a balance. You have to have everyone committed, BUT you also need go to guys and defensive stoppers. We don't really have BIG men that are stoppers. We have go to guys but not that intimidating presence that you need. That is what they should be looking for. A tough guy ala a Boozer type that might be overlooked. This team always looks offense first though, and that's a problem.

Not saying they should address it in the draft, but they need to address it.

 

[LV-Suns]

Since when is Boozer a defensive stopper?

 

[WildBB]

Since when is Boozer a defensive stopper?

Boozer is a fairly tough inside presence. He rebounds well, blocks out very well and and can defend. Ask LeBron if he'd liked to have had Boozer instead of Gooden the last few years.

 

[arwillan]

Boozer is a fairly tough inside presence. He rebounds well, blocks out very well and and can defend. Ask LeBron if he'd liked to have had Boozer instead of Gooden the last few years.

i assume this is a joke. Sure boozer is better than gooden and sure boozer rebounds well, but he is without a doubt one of the worst defensive big men in the league. he gets into foul trouble almost as badly as amare and his defense is probably even worse man to man. On top of that, he has absolutely 0 shot-blocking ability. His defense is kind of like shaq's: very poor, but he is a presence who takes up space and grabs rebounds.

 

[Irish]

i assume this is a joke. Sure boozer is better than gooden and sure boozer rebounds well, but he is without a doubt one of the worst defensive big men in the league. he gets into foul trouble almost as badly as amare and his defense is probably even worse man to man. On top of that, he has absolutely 0 shot-blocking ability. His defense is kind of like shaq's: very poor, but he is a presence who takes up space and grabs rebounds.

I haven't seen enough of Boozer to say either way. If I was to make a guess, Boozer is in an impossible situation being teamed up with Okur. It makes his physical limitations (short with average length arms) magnificed.