We have 4 all-stars on this team...

[Hat]

a former 6th man, a former slam dunk champion who's probably thee best 3 pointer shooter in the league, and a tireless workhorse who's got edge.

Why can't we win important games?? We should be in the top 4 seed and barely scrapping by in the WC.

WTF is going on? I'm so tired of the "they gotta gel and figure out their chemistry, etc." excuses.

Time to draw the line Phoenix. Start winning more. You got great players with lots of experience. Shape up or ship out.

/rant

 

[slinslin]

Our perimtere defense fails to put any kind of pressure on the ball.. this is probably due to Nash's lack of defense that he must allow space so his man doesn't blow by him everytime.

We commit the most turnovers and we force the least..

 

[SirStefan32]

Our perimtere defense fails to put any kind of pressure on the ball.. this is probably due to Nash's lack of defense that he must allow space so his man doesn't blow by him everytime.

We commit the most turnovers and we force the least..

And we give up a lot of offensive rebounds.

 

[BC867]

WTF is going on? I'm so tired of the "they gotta gel and figure out their chemistry, etc." excuses.

Time to draw the line Phoenix. Start winning more. You got great players with lots of experience. Shape up or ship out.

Think about it. First you want them to win more . . . then figure out the chemistry.

Two points. Figuring out the chemistry has to be followed by practicing the chemistry. There is no shortcut.

Then they'll win more.

But first . . . . . . . . . . it sure looks like there's another big trade on the horizon.

Be patient. And remember, the regular season is the means to the end.

What's the end? The Suns marketing department said it best, "Eyes On The Prize".

 

[dodie53]

big trade?
for the suns?
i think the suns' run n gun days are over so,
are they going to ship Nash out?

 

[slinslin]

It would make sense, as well as Barbosa since both of them can't adopt to a halfcourt game. Well Barbosa is young he might still learn it although unlikely considering his style.

If we could somehow get Conley from Memphis for Barbosa. Conley hasn't been tearing it up so his value isn't that high but he might be just what we need at the PG spot.

 

[JGKoblenz]

Conley for Barbosa looks right to me.

 

[JS22]

People are going to hate me for this, but I think a BIG problem is Nash. He is so awful on the defensive end. It completely throws off the rest of the team defensively.

Barbosa isn't quite the answer either, but the Suns defense looked a LOT better last night with him at the point. (And with Dudley hustling his ass off. Can anyone tell me why he doesn't get any PT?)

I would not be opposed to unloading Nash for a pick and a solid player or two. And Nash has been one of my favorite players over the past few years. But his defense is basically killing the team defense overall.

 

[slinslin]

You are probably right but it is hard to..

1. Trade him with 2 MVPs and achievements here in the last years.
2. Find an acceptable package that matches his contract and helps us be a better team for this year and we pretty much would have to get a PG in return somehow, unless you trade Barbosa for a pure PG then you could maybe trade Nash for a backup PG, a role player and a draftpick.

The PGs who could help us all have more trade value like Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Tony Parker, Derek Rose, Rajon Rondo or Devin Harris.

The only ones that I could think of are Conley but he is a big risk and seems to have some problems defensively too. Bayless is the same, potential but hasn't shown anything and maybe Monta Ellis who is a bit of a tweener and had a longterm injury.

What else could you do.. pull of something risky like Nash for Iverson,Bibby or Baron Davis.

 

[nowagimp]

more like 1 all star and 3 "old stars". See lakers with GP and the mailman, not so good eh?

 

[Cheesebeef]

more like 1 all star and 3 "old stars". See lakers with GP and the mailman, not so good eh?

actually, more like 1 old all-star (Shaq is the 2nd best C in the West), 1 borderline all-star (Amare) and 1 old star (Nash)... and who the hell is the 4th?

and it did work out pretty well for the Lakers getting them to the Finals. That's a hell of a lot better than anything this team has done in 15 years.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

Not a fan of Grant, Cheese?

 

[nowagimp]

actually, more like 1 old all-star (Shaq is the 2nd best C in the West), 1 borderline all-star (Amare) and 1 old star (Nash)... and who the hell is the 4th?

and it did work out pretty well for the Lakers getting them to the Finals. That's a hell of a lot better than anything this team has done in 15 years.

The 4th "all star" grant hill has been trying to beat out journeyman matt bqarnes for a starting position. As far as working out for the lakers, with shaq and kobe I think they were favored to win it all werent they? those were the days when the lakers had (2) NBA MVP candidates.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Not a fan of Grant, Cheese?

oh come on, saying Grant Hill's an All-Star would have been like calling Hakeem an All-Star by the time he went to Toronto. Hill's All-Starness might as well have happened in a different universe at this point in time.

 

[nowagimp]

actually, more like 1 old all-star (Shaq is the 2nd best C in the West) ...

Im not sure you can be an all star and not be able to play back to backs without looking like you went from 2nd best to 10th best in the west on the 2nd game of back to backs. Besides, are we still calling Tim Duncan a PF when he plays with 2 SF's and 2 guards on the floor? I suppose you could say Bonner was a "center", in the starting lineup, LOL. If POP said TD was a '2' would he be a '2'?

 

[Cheesebeef]

Im not sure ytou can be an all star and not be able to play back to backs without looking like you went from 2nd best to 10th best in the west. Besides are we still calling Tim Duncan a PF when he plays with 2 SF's and 2 guards ont he floor?

I'd say a guy who's played 24 of 29 games and is averaging 17 and 9 is an All-Star. Not everyone's on their game every night.

 

[nowagimp]

I'd say a guy who's played 24 of 29 games and is averaging 17 and 9 is an All-Star. Not everyone's on their game every night.

17 and 9 just might get you an all star spot at the center position as long as TD stays at PF.

 

[mojorizen7]

What amazes me is that Shaq is the most deserving all-star canididate on this team,taking nothing away from Amare/Nash etc...
who woulda thought that when we aquired him 10 months ago?

 

[nowagimp]

What amazes me is that Shaq is the most deserving all-star canididate on this team,taking nothing away from Amare/Nash etc...
who woulda thought that when we aquired him 10 months ago?

the part that concerns me is that he has improved statistically, while all others suns have fallen this year. This year amares PER is down 10 freakin units, perhaps a product of the porter system. Still when your best offensive weapon takes that kind of a slide and your all star PG performance is way down, its a concern. The other part that concerns me is that the suns are frequently running the offense through a guy(shaq) who turns the ball over one time for every assist he generates. And late in games the suns ability to convert on offense is statistically worse than last year, quite a bit worse, while they still have problems getting stops on defense.

 

[Bayless2Budinger]

What amazes me is that Shaq is the most deserving all-star canididate on this team,taking nothing away from Amare/Nash etc...
who woulda thought that when we aquired him 10 months ago?

Yes he is the most deserving be cause his PER is higher than Amares even though he doesnt even play enough minutes to qualify.

People on this board need to stop comparing Shaq with Amare. Shaq is not in the same ballpark as Amare.

 

[Bayless2Budinger]

the part that concerns me is that he has improved statistically, while all others suns have fallen this year. This year amares PER is down 10 freakin units, perhaps a product of the porter system. Still when your best offensive weapon takes that kind of a slide and your all star PG performance is way down, its a concern. The other part that concerns me is that the suns are frequently running the offense through a guy(shaq) who turns the ball over one time for every assist he generates. And late in games the suns ability to convert on offense is statistically worse than last year, quite a bit worse, while they still have problems getting stops on defense.

Or perhaps Amare always gets off to slow starts and has already improved his PER 10 fold since the end of November.

 

[Skumbag]

actually, more like 1 old all-star (Shaq is the 2nd best C in the West), 1 borderline all-star (Amare) and 1 old star (Nash)... and who the hell is the 4th?

and it did work out pretty well for the Lakers getting them to the Finals. That's a hell of a lot better than anything this team has done in 15 years.

What about 1 other borderline all-star in J-Rich aka Swish

We will not win anything with Nash at the helm. He's not athletic enough to stop anyone thus forcing everyone else out of position and its only getting worse with age. Where can we pick up a Chris Duhon or Steve Blake? We need someone who can just hit an open jumper and is quick enough to stay in front of their man.

 

[Irish]

I don't think the Suns are ever going to become a top 10 defensive team with this roster. Nash is too slow and too small to be good defender. He'll take charges and make steals, but opponents attack him as the team's weak link.

Amare and Shaq are decent man defenders but have trouble reacting quickly to penitration. Shaq is too slow physically and Amare has trouble thinking of his man AND the guy driving the lane. It is not a shock to learn the Suns absolutely shut down the Griz in the fourth quarter last night without Nash and Amare playing.

 

[leclerc]

Hill said it after the game also, that it felt good proving they could do it, stopping scores at the end of the game/when they needed to. I think this team is going in the right direction now and we'll have a good month of January even though Nash might be slowing down. He's out with back spasms right now so that is probably some of the reason for his sub par game recently...

 

[nowagimp]

I don't think the Suns are ever going to become a top 10 defensive team with this roster. Nash is too slow and too small to be good defender. He'll take charges and make steals, but opponents attack him as the team's weak link.

Amare and Shaq are decent man defenders but have trouble reacting quickly to penitration. Shaq is too slow physically and Amare has trouble thinking of his man AND the guy driving the lane. It is not a shock to learn the Suns absolutely shut down the Griz in the fourth quarter last night without Nash and Amare playing.

1) shaq is a weak link in the pick and roll, just ask POP, or watch the spurs series last year. Yeah nash is also weak.

2) the griz played 4 games in 5 nights and were on 2nd of back to backs(like the suns). the suns are somewhat rested with a light schedule lately. I'll wait on the shut down defense claims until the suns play a rested team with a more consistent offense.