Use One Word To Describe This Season's Suns Team

[Errntknght]

Leaderless - off the floor and on the floor

 

[boisesuns]

Playoffs?

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[Gee!]

Unprofessional

 

[SactownSunsFan]

Poor choice of words. I think there are guys on this team that worked their asses off and gave everything they had.

Sure there were a couple of guys, but a few guys does not a team make. This is a team that gave up on Porter the minute he tried to apply a defensive philosophy, resulting in his release for an interim coach that let's the inmates run the asylum. This is a team that can't muster up any defensive stops in close games during crunch time. This is a team that refused to play with any passion or fire in the biggest game of the season on Sunday.

Defense requires effort and effort, when your body's aching, denched in it's own sweat with legs of rubber, comes from deep down inside. It's a sad state of affairs when your best defenders are a 36 year old who's career has been derailed by serious ankle injuries and a guy who's played for 3 teams in his first 4 years in the league. Grant could have used an excuse to play poor defense, but he didn't. Amundson could have sat at the end of the bench as he did to begin the season, but he stepped up and played hard and earned minutes. What's the rest of the team's excuse?

As historically good as they've been on offense, they've been as historically bad defensively.

This team is gutless.

 

[Mulli]

lottery

 

[leclerc]

Moribund.

"Philip Parsons in the Times called the show moribund. Well I looked up moribund in my dictionary..."

 

[Chaz]

disappointing

 

[FArting]

frustrating

 

[shazaam6]

lottery

I was going to post this word today.

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[FArting]

angry

 

[shazaam6]

losers-r-us

 

[Linderbee]

disappointing

disappointing

Surprised I didn't see it more.

 

[Covert Rain]

Sure there were a couple of guys, but a few guys does not a team make. This is a team that gave up on Porter the minute he tried to apply a defensive philosophy, resulting in his release for an interim coach that let's the inmates run the asylum. This is a team that can't muster up any defensive stops in close games during crunch time. This is a team that refused to play with any passion or fire in the biggest game of the season on Sunday.

Defense requires effort and effort, when your body's aching, denched in it's own sweat with legs of rubber, comes from deep down inside. It's a sad state of affairs when your best defenders are a 36 year old who's career has been derailed by serious ankle injuries and a guy who's played for 3 teams in his first 4 years in the league. Grant could have used an excuse to play poor defense, but he didn't. Amundson could have sat at the end of the bench as he did to begin the season, but he stepped up and played hard and earned minutes. What's the rest of the team's excuse?

As historically good as they've been on offense, they've been as historically bad defensively.

This team is gutless.

Gutless implies that this team had the talent to get it done but just didn't give it their all. This team lacks the defensive talent and philosophy to play good defense. Huge difference. Like I said..poor choice of words.

 

[SactownSunsFan]

Gutless implies that this team had the talent to get it done but just didn't give it their all. This team lacks the defensive talent and philosophy to play good defense. Huge difference. Like I said..poor choice of words.

Agree to disagree. I think this team had the talent to play better defense, but flat out refused to do so. There's a reason why Porter didn't last the season, and it's because this team turned their back on him when he tried to instill a defensive philosophy. Read player quotes from the first half of the season. It's all there.

 

[Covert Rain]

Agree to disagree. I think this team had the talent to play better defense, but flat out refused to do so. There's a reason why Porter didn't last the season, and it's because this team turned their back on him when he tried to instill a defensive philosophy. Read player quotes from the first half of the season. It's all there.

Wow.. your one of the few people who have looked at this roster and associated with defense. It's an ability thing. Nash could play for POP and couldn't player better defense as an example.

I agree that there are some guys on this roster that could possibly improve defensively but the guys on this roster are primarily talented on the offensive end.

If this team is ever going to get good defensively, the roster needs an enema.

 

[SactownSunsFan]

Wow.. your one of the few people who have looked at this roster and associated with defense. It's an ability thing. Nash could play for POP and couldn't player better defense as an example.

I agree that there are some guys on this roster that could possibly improve defensively but the guys on this roster are primarily talented on the offensive end.

If this team is ever going to get good defensively, the roster needs an enema.

Defense in basketball is more a mentality and effort than it is natural talent and/or ability. Jason Richardson is light years ahead of Shane Battier from an athletic standpoint. It stands to reason he'd be the better defender, right?

I'm not saying this is a team that could have been mistaken for a top 5, maybe not even a top 10 defense, but to be among the worst defensive teams in the league? They could have sucked it up and played harder on the defensive end of the floor.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

blundacious!

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Depressing, especially when you think of what "could have been".

 

[elindholm]

Defense in basketball is more a mentality and effort than it is natural talent and/or ability.

This is one of the NBA's great myths, espoused by idiot talking-head analysts who have nothing to say and figure they'll go with something safe that they've heard a thousand times before. The same point is also often made, just as inaccurately, about rebounding.

Playing good defense requires either above average athleticism or tremendous basketball smarts, ideally both. I doubt you can find an example of a superior defender who doesn't have at least one of those qualities. Those things are, in one case, largely inate, and in the other case, acquired over years of training and commitment. It's completely unrealistic to believe that a bad defender can say to himself, "Okay, I'm going to really try this time" and suddenly become good.

(That said, defense as bad as the Suns' also requires a complete lack of accountability, and that could be addressed.)

 

[TucsonDevil]

Irrelevant... once again

 

[TucsonDevil]

This is one of the NBA's great myths, espoused by idiot talking-head analysts who have nothing to say and figure they'll go with something safe that they've heard a thousand times before. The same point is also often made, just as inaccurately, about rebounding.

Playing good defense requires either above average athleticism or tremendous basketball smarts, ideally both. I doubt you can find an example of a superior defender who doesn't have at least one of those qualities. Those things are, in one case, largely inate, and in the other case, acquired over years of training and commitment. It's completely unrealistic to believe that a bad defender can say to himself, "Okay, I'm going to really try this time" and suddenly become good.

(That said, defense as bad as the Suns' also requires a complete lack of accountability, and that could be addressed.)

If you can make it to the NBA, I don't think it is a stretch to assume you have some sort of Basketball Smarts. I would also argue that those apply themselves can learn to play defense... or in your words, learn basketball smarts.

I know this with personal experience. I play regularly with guys much larger and athletic than myself. Overtime, I have learned to play sneaky defense because I get sick and tired of being embarrassed by backdoor cuts, picks, and quick first steps. I would assume that poor NBA defenders can learn to do the same. Will they be Michael Jordan, Bruce Bowen, Dennis Johnson or even Shawn Marrion through sheer will? NO, but they can be dramatically better than Leandro Barbosa!

 

[ASUCHRIS]

NO, but they can be dramatically better than Leandro Barbosa!

I agreed with some of what you said, but can't believe that you'd bring up Leandro. I think as the year has gone on he's improved more than anyone on defense, and finally looks like he is getting it. He should be a defensive terror with his quickness and length and has started to get in the passing lanes.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

Half-Mounted in terms of a Spur, cheap imitation of one at that.

 

[Covert Rain]

If you can make it to the NBA, I don't think it is a stretch to assume you have some sort of Basketball Smarts. I would also argue that those apply themselves can learn to play defense... or in your words, learn basketball smarts.

I couldn't disagree with you more. You can nurture or develop abilities a player already has. That's what they call raw talent. If a player has always had a mediocre shot but bad mechanics for instance a coach can correct that. It doesn't mean that the player never had the ability just horrible technique. There are inherit skills in the NBA that require athletic ability a physical ability or mental ability that not every player in the NBA has. You can't teach that to every player.

Steve Nash for instance has had a bunch of coaches. He is also by all accounts, by coaches and players, is one of the hardest working guys in practice. I am not just talking about the Suns. I am talking everywhere he has gone. I don't buy Steve Nash doesn't apply himself on defense. Steve Nash has horrible lateral quickness but a very high IQ (basketball smarts). No matter how much he applies himself he will never be a good defender.

 

[justAndy]

inconsistant