Two Changes Needed

[Howlinyote]

I believe there are two obvious changes the Suns need to make to be competitive with the big boys by the end of the season:

1) Back off on making Shaq the focal point of the offense. Return him to the role Kerr said he would fill when they got him. Rebounding and defense and a great pick and screen guy (not necessarily pick and roll). He is not the Shaq of old and an offense built around him is a mistake and will not work. When the right matchup exits and Amare is in foul trouble, THEN you go to him.

2) If Robin Lopez is good enough to start when Shaq doesn't, then he is good enough to come in off the bench for him and be his backup in games Shaq does start. A team in which Shaq and Lopez fill similar roles, namely defense, rebounding, and picks and screens, will be much more consistent and sustainable over the long haul.

Having the Suns pounding the ball to Shaq one minute, and then going back to run and gun when he is out of the game is rediculous. WHY IS SHAQ THE FOCAL POINT OF THE SUNS OFFENSE? Even I know this is stupid!

 

[Ronin]

I believe there are two obvious changes the Suns need to make to be competitive with the big boys by the end of the season:

1) Back off on making Shaq the focal point of the offense. Return him to the role Kerr said he would fill when they got him. Rebounding and defense and a great pick and screen guy (not necessarily pick and roll). He is not the Shaq of old and an offense built around him is a mistake and will not work. When the right matchup exits and Amare is in foul trouble, THEN you go to him.

2) If Robin Lopez is good enough to start when Shaq doesn't, then he is good enough to come in off the bench for him and be his backup in games Shaq does start. A team in which Shaq and Lopez fill similar roles, namely defense, rebounding, and picks and screens, will be much more consistent and sustainable over the long haul.

Having the Suns pounding the ball to Shaq one minute, and then going back to run and gun when he is out of the game is rediculous. WHY IS SHAQ THE FOCAL POINT OF THE SUNS OFFENSE? Even I know this is stupid!

100% agree. Welcome to the board!

 

[az1965]

I believe there are two obvious changes the Suns need to make to be competitive with the big boys by the end of the season:

1) Back off on making Shaq the focal point of the offense. Return him to the role Kerr said he would fill when they got him. Rebounding and defense and a great pick and screen guy (not necessarily pick and roll). He is not the Shaq of old and an offense built around him is a mistake and will not work. When the right matchup exits and Amare is in foul trouble, THEN you go to him.

2) If Robin Lopez is good enough to start when Shaq doesn't, then he is good enough to come in off the bench for him and be his backup in games Shaq does start. A team in which Shaq and Lopez fill similar roles, namely defense, rebounding, and picks and screens, will be much more consistent and sustainable over the long haul.

Having the Suns pounding the ball to Shaq one minute, and then going back to run and gun when he is out of the game is rediculous. WHY IS SHAQ THE FOCAL POINT OF THE SUNS OFFENSE? Even I know this is stupid!

Hey, good first post

Welcome!

 

[Mainstreet]

A third obvious need is the Suns need a legitimate veteran backup PG. It's going on five seasons and the Suns have yet to figure it out. The rookie PGs are not ready. Jannero Pargo would have been fabulous if the Suns were still a running team. With a bit of sarcasm but yet with a bit of truth, Marbury would not be a bad fit in Porter's halfcourt style.

 

[cly2tw]

A third obvious need is the Suns need a legitimate veteran backup PG. It's going on five seasons and the Suns have yet to figure it out. The rookie PGs are not ready. Jannero Pargo would have been fabulous if the Suns were still running a running team. With a bit of sarcasm but yet with a bit of truth, Marbury would not be a bad fit in Porter's halfcourt style.

Steph is good friend to LB too. Let's bring him back when his divorce with NY goes through.

 

[Black Jesus]

great first post, you agree with most of us on here. Andrew though probably thinks Shaq needs to get more touches.

 

[95pro]

I believe there are two obvious changes the Suns need to make to be competitive with the big boys by the end of the season:

1) Back off on making Shaq the focal point of the offense. Return him to the role Kerr said he would fill when they got him. Rebounding and defense and a great pick and screen guy (not necessarily pick and roll). He is not the Shaq of old and an offense built around him is a mistake and will not work. When the right matchup exits and Amare is in foul trouble, THEN you go to him.

2) If Robin Lopez is good enough to start when Shaq doesn't, then he is good enough to come in off the bench for him and be his backup in games Shaq does start. A team in which Shaq and Lopez fill similar roles, namely defense, rebounding, and picks and screens, will be much more consistent and sustainable over the long haul.

Having the Suns pounding the ball to Shaq one minute, and then going back to run and gun when he is out of the game is rediculous. WHY IS SHAQ THE FOCAL POINT OF THE SUNS OFFENSE? Even I know this is stupid!

yes, you cant run & build the offense around a guy(shaq) who's not available every night...especially with a lot of back to backs this season.

stat seemed dissapointed in the heat game. i know he wants the ball more, and he should be getting it more.

 

[Griffin]

i know he wants the ball more, and he should be getting it more.

The problem is, often when we try to get him the ball, he is not expecting it and either he doesn't catch it cleanly or doesn't know what to do with it. Amare needs an offensive scheme that doesn't require him to think too much but simply to react.

 

[Mainstreet]

The problem is, often when we try to get him the ball, he is not expecting it and either he doesn't catch it cleanly or doesn't know what to do with it. Amare needs an offensive scheme that doesn't require him to think too much but simply to react.

I think the Suns had such an offensive scheme last season.

 

[arwillan]

shaq is still dominant, he can get 30/20 on ANY GIVEN NIGHT! give him the ball and we will win games. he is still better than Kobe.

Damn it Andrew, stop stealing my password!

 

[BC867]

I believe there are two obvious changes the Suns need to make to be competitive with the big boys by the end of the season:

1) Back off on making Shaq the focal point of the offense. Return him to the role Kerr said he would fill when they got him. Rebounding and defense and a great pick and screen guy (not necessarily pick and roll) ...

Excellent post, Howlinyote. I have a lot of confidence in Terry Porter, but for anything to work, the player(s) involved will have to believe in it as much as the Coach and the fans.

I truly wonder if Shaq is willing to honor that role. If so, with Lopez sharing it as you mentioned, we would have a consistent identity.

The same question applies to Steve Nash. Is he willing to change his role to get us successfully through the playoffs?

I'd love to see the answers be 'yes'. Every one of my posts through the D'Antoni years centered on the Suns using the regular season to be highly competitive during the post season.

I've been a Suns fan since 1970 -- 37 of our 40 years of playoff futility.

I want to see our first Championship, just as you do.

 

[DeAnna]

I have a lot of confidence in Terry Porter, but for anything to work, the player(s) involved will have to believe in it as much as the Coach and the fans.

I truly wonder if Shaq is willing to honor that role. If so, with Lopez sharing it as you mentioned, we would have a consistent identity.

The same question applies to Steve Nash. Is he willing to change his role to get us successfully through the playoffs?

Well, even everyone in the news media is saying the players don't buy into Porter's system and have no confidence in him. So I guess it's official.

Nothing that a few consecutives wins won't take care of. Then I'm sure everyone will be back on board.

 

[Covert Rain]

Well Amare was our primary go to option in last nights game and we still lost. I am not convinced if Amare doesn't get kicked that we win that game. By that time the momentum had already shifted in the Nets favor.

There are 3 people on this team you have to give consistant touches to IMO.....Amare, Shaq and Steve. The order doesn't matter. Just make those 3 guys your constant on offense.

Nash can shoot lights out, Amare can get to the line and Shaq can dominate the paint on any given night. The team needs a pecking order but also needs to adjust game to game on who is hot.

The problem I have seen so far, is that this team tries to "force" it to often even when a guy is having an off night. If Amare is hot...go to the well. If Shaq is dominating the paint...go do the well. If Nash is on fire.....go to the well. You have to adjust based on how a player is playing.

If you want to say "always try Amare 1st", I am OK with that. But if the guy is not getting to the FTL or hitting his shots or rebounding for that matter, then we better go to Shaq or Steve for our offense.

 

[nashman]

I thought the 2 changes were new owner, new "qualified" GM

 

[nowagimp]

Well Amare was our primary go to option in last nights game and we still lost. I am not convinced if Amare doesn't get kicked that we win that game. .

these first 2 sentences show the futility of arguing the logic. "well we went to amare, he was dominant and we were winning, then he got tossed and we lost". That about sums it up, the rest is not fact, but pure speculation. PS does shaqs 5 whopping rebounds bother you against the nets?

 

[Mainstreet]

I thought the 2 changes were new owner, new "qualified" GM

So true.

 

[Covert Rain]

these first 2 sentences show the futility of arguing the logic. "well we went to amare, he was dominant and we were winning, then he got tossed and we lost". That about sums it up, the rest is not fact, but pure speculation. PS does shaqs 5 whopping rebounds bother you against the nets?

You mean it's logical to think that we could have stopped Devin Harris? Why? Because Amare was in their plenty during Devin's scoring throughout the game. Sure, you could speculate that Amare could have done something defensively but let's not pretend Amare's impact is more defensive than offensive. Also, the momentum was already shifting before Amare was tossed. Assuming Amare would have saved us is pure speculation.

I think your missing my point. People seem to think that making Amare our "go to guy" will solve all of our problems. I hope that's correct. However, IMO our problems are bigger then that. I think Amare should be more concerned with consistant rebounding and defense then his pecking order in the offense. I personally could care less what that pecking order is as long as it includes Amare, Shaq and Nash....all 3.

Hopefully, the Suns are smart enough to realize that we don't want to go back to when Amare was are only low post threat.....every other game he was in foul trouble because we force fed him the ball even when he wasn't playing well. We need to use all our options IMO because if you left it up to Amare that's exactly what would happen. We brought Shaq here to play the low post and fill the lane. Let him do his job. Let the play on the court determine who you go to for stretches.

I just have a feeling making Amare our #1 option is going to do only one thing. Please Amare. I have no problem with that but I am just not convinced all will be right in the world when it happens.

 

[dodie53]

i think it's Porter fault not too see who the Suns' real main man is.

 

[DeAnna]

i think it's Porter fault not too see who the Suns' real main man is.

I don't really think they need a "main man." As SteelPuppy said, it depends on the matchups and who is hot on offense.