Nice to see some national recognition of the improved defense.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/kelly_dwyer/01/02/champs.chumps1116/index.html
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/kelly_dwyer/01/02/champs.chumps1116/index.html
Suns still shining
Phoenix learns it can win by playing defense
Posted: Monday January 2, 2006 1:14PM; Updated: Monday January 2, 2006 1:14PM
By and large, the NBA schedule-makers do a fabulous job. They've many things to work around while clearing arena dates and laying the tracks for an 82-game season amid hockey's glorious return, the usual assortment of ice skating extravaganzas and the very real threat of dinosaurs (your Rolling Stones, U2s, Madonnas).
But on Jan. 1, 2001, then Minnesota coach Flip Saunders complained loudly and openly about having to play a matinee New Year's Day game. Fair enough, the NBA said, and soon addressed Saunders' complaints by not scheduling any afternoon New Year's Day games. But eight games on New Year's Eve this year? The hell? Is there nothing more desultory then having to ring in the New Year while Matt Harpring hits a technical free throw?
On to the New Year ...
Champs
While many are enthused by New Jersey's inspiring return to the ranks of the mediocre, we're more impressed by the Suns' sinister stare-down of the rest of the NBA, a needed pose struck without the services of their most imposing player -- Amaré Stoudemire.
The Suns have won three straight and are 19-10 overall, which is good enough for the Pacific Division lead and second overall in the West. That's a 54-win pace, which may not look too hot in comparison to last season's 62-win run, but it's a darn sight better than many predicted for a team featuring three new starters while playing without the best young big boy in the game. Saturday night's overtime win against the Bulls was Phoenix's 17th game in just 32 days, a brutal schedule for any team, much less the fastest squad in the league. Still, the Suns won 12 of those games, answering a whole host of questions regarding their rank among the NBA's elite.
Heading into 2005-06, the biggest issue facing these admitted sieves was defense. Though the '04-05 squad wasn't as uninterested in stopping the ball as most media outlets would like you to believe (Phoenix was 16th out of 30 teams in terms of overall defensive efficiency), the Suns middle-of-the-road D did little to close the gap on defensive giants such as the Spurs and Pistons.
This year the Suns rank second (!!) in the league in defensive efficiency, a fact virtually unnoticed because their blistering pace skews all traditional defensive benchmarks, including points allowed per game. And as much as the additions of Raja Bell and Kurt Thomas were supposed to help the defense, their aging presences alone have not been the fuel to the Suns'
defensive fire.
The difference comes from the team's core: guard Steve Nash and coach Mike D'Antoni. Heading into last season both Nash and D'Antoni knew that their young team's best chance of winning would come by focusing on running, dishing and shooting at will. With players such as Joe Johnson, Shawn Marion and Quentin Richardson on the floor, defense wasn't going to be a high priority, anyway. They couldn't survive among the trees if the score read 94-87 at the end of the night, and couldn't afford the sort of frustration that sets in with a slow start. Alas, mon frere, they ran.
This year, minus the offensive talents of Johnson, Richardson and Stoudemire, the Suns would have been wiped off the face of the earth before Amaré even got a chance to lose his crutches without a little D being thrown in. Even if Nash still won't make anyone think of Tayshaun Prince, he and D'Antoni have gotten the message across: Phoenix needs to run, score and defend to win. Although Phoenix gives up an average of 96.4 points per contest, it still outscores teams by 6.7 points per game -- the second-highest differential in the NBA.
There's glorious depth on this club, with seven players averaging double figures in points while Eddie House and Leo Barbosa combine to average 24.6 points per game in 42 minutes a night. The downside is that there are still have a lot of guys to keep happy. James Jones has been solid in his first year as a Sun, but he tends to mope. Luckily, Bell's upcoming three-game suspension for fighting (you know it's going to happen, by St. Patrick's Day at least) could open up a nice little starting slot (however short-lived) for the former Pacer.
So what's next? January is no picnic, starting with the Spurs and Heat in the year's opening week, and half of their games on the road. Don't expect a return to the mean, however. In the wacked-out, nutty 2005-06 season, the clang-happy Pistons can shoot while those high-archers from Phoenix are suddenly all up in yo' grill. Scary stuff, especially if it means seeing your local NBA wonk having to abandon his usual dismissive stereotypes in their usual lieu of real work.
Chumps
The Chicago Bulls seemed just fine with their prospects and potential heading into '05-06. Even coming off a surprising 47-win season and a return to the playoffs with the East's third-best record, a letdown was to be expected, and the team prepared accordingly. Without a major free-agent signing or a first-round draft pick, Chicago's only big additions came in the form of Knicks forward Michael Sweetney, who was acquired in a deal that sent starting center and former leading scorer Eddy Curry to New York for a host of draft picks. The idea was that as long as the youthful core continued to learn (of their nine-man rotation, only two are older then 26), a slip in the standings could be swallowed.
But the Bulls haven't so much slipped as they have done a pratfall. The current 12-17 mark puts them on pace for 34 wins, which won't be enough to even sneak in the back door of the postseason. Among the lower points of the current six-game losing streak are a pair of defeats to a second-year Bobcats squad that was allowed to set the pace of their two games from the opening tips. Inexcusable. Coach Scott Skiles deserves his fair share of the blame, watching while his team has had to re-invent itself frequently amid his various lineup rotations as they are forced to try and catch up to opponents who have already created the terms of conflict.
Last season, Skiles' bunch set the tone. They played rugged defense and put the onus on the referees to call foul after foul, an effort that often suceeded when refs (who stopped calling things) and opponents (who stopped playing) gave in to Chicago's withering attack. The Bulls often went small, and instead of focusing on hawking their way toward turnovers and blocks, they concentrated on playing brilliant defense for 24 seconds and forcing teams into hurried shots. Chicago was second only to the San Antonio Spurs in defensive efficiency last season, a remarkable achievement for a team filled with rookies and second-year players.
This season the attack is gone, and Chicago is playing on its heels. The players complain about calls, sometimes rightfully so, but the referees aren't stopping the Bulls from improving on their defense, which currently ranks 17th in the league. Skiles continually tinkers with the starting five, sometimes needlessly. He benches the players in need of the most on-court therapy (Tyson Chandler) and complains about a lack of interior offense while continually ignoring his best options on the inside (Sweetney, Othella Harrington).
Chicago's struggles would go down a lot easier if they were building something to grow on, even with that impending cap space and two potential lottery picks in '06. As it stands, the team's attitude and defensive chemistry has taken a step back alongside the drop in the standings, a turn that they cannot abide by.
The month ahead
*Utah's Jazz have won four straight, and with a win over the Lakers on Tuesday, they'll own the West's eighth-best record and a potential playoff slot. Heartwarming stuff, I'm sure you'll agree, and timely, too because the schedule is brutal from here on out. After Tuesday the Jazz play six of their next eight on the road, all against playoff teams, and their six home games this month are no picnic. Actually, it'll be a picnic, but a horrible one. The kind with those ready-made, pre-cooked sort of hot foods, strange attempts at jerk chicken, you know what I mean? They'll take on the Heat, then the Raptors (which will be like that lone bowl of penne and asparagus salad that you covertly wolf down, while everyone's wondering why the crab dip came out in that particular shade of yellow), with games against the Cavs, Nets, SuperSonics and Spurs following.
*There's no fun in store for Utah's slugfest counterparts in the East, the Indiana Pacers. While they figure out what to do with Ron Artest (everyone says Denver, but why aren't the Magic trying to pawn off Grant Hill on the Pacers in a three-way?), they'll have to play 10 of their 16 games this month away from Conseco Fieldhouse. Three of the home games will be against their Central rivals from Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Chicago, and the Pacers have already lost four straight. Can Jamaal Tinsley ever get healthy? Was asking for nothing but Bolo ties last Christmas a good idea?
*The Nets have won eight straight, and it's nice that they're finally playing close to what their overall payroll would suggest, but they might have the nastiest January of any team: 14 games, 10 on the road, and their home contests include tough outs against the Magic, Pacers, Celtics and Pistons.
*This is the Clippers' month to secure their place as the second-toughest team in the Pacific. Following their win in Portland on Sunday, they have nine of 13 contests at the Staples Center, with four winnable (but rough) road games against the Kings, Nuggets, Warriors and Heat. More important, does Elgin Baylor finally make a move with Chris Wilcox and/or Corey Maggette? Does the man get creative and notice that the NBA has expanded to 30 teams? Will tinkering abound? Will it?!?
