What About Next Year?

[George O'Brien]

I am as irritated about giving up two firsts just to save money as the next guy. But I am not sure that the Knicks pick would have made much difference.

The Suns are an amazingly you team. They have two up and comig stars in Marbury and Johnson. They have a former star in Marion who would be an all star again if his outside shooting was at the level it used to be. The Suns have a very promising rookie PG who should become pretty good at some point.

The Suns have the rights to a high scoring Euro guard and two raw but promising big men in Lamep and Carbakapa. All three should be able to contribute by next year and give the Suns some depth. The Sun have a decent backup center in Voskuhl and a decent backup SG/SF player in Jacobsen.

With any luck at all, these players should be a lot better next year.

Holes? They need more big men. Dice is a possibility. White may improve with better training over the summer. And Eisley could develop into a veteran leader if he starts using better judgment on his shot.

Why are the Suns not likely to end up in the top 5 in the west? Experience. The Lakers, Spurs, Mavs, Kings, and Wolves all have a lot of veteran players. Portland has a very experienced roster. Even the Nuggets have several veterans in their starting lineup.

Adding an expensive FA is not going to change that any more than adding another really young player wouldn't be much help.

The most important things for the Suns over the summer will be to learn to play good defense and teach Marion how to shoot.

 

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by George O'Brien

The Suns are an amazingly you team. They have two up and comig stars in Marbury and Johnson.

It's finally official. George is losing his mind.

 

[Chaz]

Re: Re: What About Next Year?

Originally posted by Chaplin
It's finally official. George is losing his mind.

LOL

Do you think we should tell him the Suns traded Marbury?

 

[scotsman13]

chap, i think what he means is that they are an amazingly young team. and yes they are. johnson and amare have all the markings of stars (they just need time). marion is a great secondary player. and they have a lot of players who will develop into some very special players in barbosa, zarko and milos. lampe may even turn into something with time.

 

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by scotsman13
chap, i think what he means is that they are an amazingly young team. and yes they are. johnson and amare have all the markings of stars (they just need time). marion is a great secondary player. and they have a lot of players who will develop into some very special players in barbosa, zarko and milos. lampe may even turn into something with time.

And I think you're being naively optimistic. There is nothing that proves that Z, Barbosa and especially Milos are going to be great players. And as for Lampe... I'm holding out hope, like everyone else. But even if they all become solid role players, we STILL won't have what it takes to win the NBA championship, which is what I want.

If I have to watch us constantly develop young players, that's fine, but I want a damn championship, and this roster, no matter if it's next year or 10 years from now, will not get one. Period.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Originally posted by Chaplin
And I think you're being naively optimistic. There is nothing that proves that Z, Barbosa and especially Milos are going to be great players. And as for Lampe... I'm holding out hope, like everyone else. But even if they all become solid role players, we STILL won't have what it takes to win the NBA championship, which is what I want.

If I have to watch us constantly develop young players, that's fine, but I want a damn championship, and this roster, no matter if it's next year or 10 years from now, will not get one. Period.

Amen. I am so sick of seeing all this crap about this group turning into a championship roster. It ain't gonna happen. We need to add to this group, and unless this is a ingenious plan to get a superstar, I am pissed. I miss the Suns being good every year. They were the toast of the town, and every year you thought they had an opportunity to win a championship. I am sick of watching every game, and not really caring, because it is a meaningless game. I get enough of that with the Cardinals and the Coyotes. This move just seems to be another step backwards. Call my negativity annoying, but the myopic positiveness of others is really getting on my nerves.

 

[slinslin]

Originally posted by scotsman13
chap, i think what he means is that they are an amazingly young team. and yes they are. johnson and amare have all the markings of stars (they just need time). marion is a great secondary player. and they have a lot of players who will develop into some very special players in barbosa, zarko and milos. lampe may even turn into something with time.

You are talking about every player as if it is a 100% certain thing he will become good.

Zarko has played only like 5 good games so far. And at least as many games he looked like he shouldn't be in this league at all.

Lampe is years away at this point

Vujanic is an unknown. He doesn't really play PG in europe and averages little assists even by european standards. He is a quick guard with decent or good handle and good scoring abilities that is what he has shown so far.

Barbosa has shown enough to say he will at least be a good backup player for his entire career.

Marion has sucked this season.

JJ has played very well only for a part of the season.

The only thing that is pretty sure is that Amare will become a great player.

If you can add players that are great (Kobe) or young and can play (Okur/Swift) you definately take them even if you have prospects that might get to the same level in a couple of years.

If you believe Jerry Colangelo he is trying to build a championship team not a mediocre playoff team but he doesn't want to wait long for it either.

 

[scotsman13]

Originally posted by Chaplin
If I have to watch us constantly develop young players, that's fine, but I want a damn championship, and this roster, no matter if it's next year or 10 years from now, will not get one. Period.

and i think your wrong chap. i think that a team based around jj and amare has as good of a chance to develop a championship team as any that has kobe and not shaq.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Originally posted by scotsman13
and i think your wrong chap. i think that a team based around jj and amare has as good of a chance to develop a championship team as any that has kobe and not shaq.

You are absolutely insane. Comparing a shooting guard that we wanted to release 3 months ago, but has had a few good months to one of the greatest shooting guards in NBA history. On top of that, you compare Amare to Shaq, arguably the most dominating player in history. Amare isn't even a top five power forward!!!!!!!! I cannot believe you are even serious here, please tell me this is tounge and cheek....

 

[Chaz]

Originally posted by ASUCHRIS
You are absolutely insane. Comparing a shooting guard that we wanted to release 3 months ago, but has had a few good months to one of the greatest shooting guards in NBA history. On top of that, you compare Amare to Shaq, arguably the most dominating player in history. Amare isn't even a top five power forward!!!!!!!! I cannot believe you are even serious here, please tell me this is tounge and cheek....

He said a team with Kobe and not Shaq.

And you may have wanted to release JJ. I was busy saying he is not really that bad and needed some more time.

 

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by SirChaz
He said a team with Kobe and not Shaq.

And you may have wanted to release JJ. I was busy saying he is not really that bad and needed some more time.

Pat yourself on the back a little more, will ya?

 

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by scotsman13
and i think your wrong chap. i think that a team based around jj and amare has as good of a chance to develop a championship team as any that has kobe and not shaq.

Huh?

A team with JJ and Amare... Sure, that's a possibility, but you conveniently ignore that if we got Kobe, it would be with Kobe, Amare AND JJ. Isn't that better than just JJ and Amare???

 

[Chaz]

Originally posted by Chaplin
Pat yourself on the back a little more, will ya?

That did sound immodest but I was just trying to remove myself from his "we wanted to release JJ" clause.

 

[SirStefan32]

I am sick of hearing about the "Next year" or "Two years down the road." I want to win and I want to win now!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Originally posted by ASUCHRIS
Amen. I am so sick of seeing all this crap about this group turning into a championship roster. It ain't gonna happen. We need to add to this group, and unless this is a ingenious plan to get a superstar, I am pissed. I miss the Suns being good every year. They were the toast of the town, and every year you thought they had an opportunity to win a championship. I am sick of watching every game, and not really caring, because it is a meaningless game. I get enough of that with the Cardinals and the Coyotes. This move just seems to be another step backwards. Call my negativity annoying, but the myopic positiveness of others is really getting on my nerves.

ASUCHRIS . . . though this may not be the cardinals board . . . welcome to the darkside, my friend, welcome to the darkside.

 

[cardsunsfan]

Every team thinks they have up and comers, but what are the odds they are going to become really great, better than other players on other teams? Probably not much better than the odds of other teams projects panning out, and there are a lot of teams out there....

 

[George O'Brien]

Originally posted by SirStefan32
I am sick of hearing about the "Next year" or "Two years down the road." I want to win and I want to win now!!!!!!!!!!!

It is not going to happen. The Suns only have 18 wins.

Sorry about mixing Marbury and Amare. I am still in shcok over the trade.

At this point the decision to get younger has been made - almost three years ago. A year ago we figured they would not be a contender until Hardaway came off contract. Now it looks like the same is true but refers to Eisley - Hardaway Lite - whose contract gets in the way.

Even getting Kobe does not really get the team into the hunt a whole lot quicker because Amare will mature as fast as he matures. I do not expect much from Lampe for a couple of years and I doubt whether Cabakapa, Vujanic, and Barbosa will be solid for at least another year. Kobe on this team would be a bit like having T-Mac on the Magic, excetp that the Magic have little hope due to the Hill contract.

 

[cardsunsfan]

I think Kobe would help tremendously and get us into the playoffs. I think we would have made the playoffs this year if we had him. We haven't been losing by the that much every game.

 

[George O'Brien]

Originally posted by SunCardfan
I think Kobe would help tremendously and get us into the playoffs. I think we would have made the playoffs this year if we had him. We haven't been losing by the that much every game.

If the Suns were healthy they might have had a shot at the playoffs. The real issue is getting to the elite level and that only happens when the younger players develop.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Originally posted by Ouchie-Z-Clown
ASUCHRIS . . . though this may not be the cardinals board . . . welcome to the darkside, my friend, welcome to the darkside.

lol, thanks for the invitation. The scary thing is though, of all the professional sports teams in Arizona, theoretically, the Cardinals have the best chance of succeeding. With the Suns, Diamondbacks, and Coyotes all having to make poor financial decisions (pun intended) it is difficult to envision a really competitive team, with other teams with loads of cash to spend. With the NFL, even the Cards have at least a shot to be one of the best teams, and I think they have made many positive moves. I have at least deluded myself into thinking Denny Green and Mikey Bidwill may help change things...

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Originally posted by SirChaz


And you may have wanted to release JJ. I was busy saying he is not really that bad and needed some more time.

I think you may have been in the minority with that viewpoint. Congrats on the preminition though.....

 

[KingLouieLouie]

Unfortunately, I foresee the Suns destined to be a lottery-bound team next season.....I hope the '05's draft talent pool is a lot deeper than '04's college/hs/foreign player crop......


They first need to establish a direction....Some sort of an identity...

The first logical step would be to determine whether or not
D'Antoni figures into their long-term plans.... Is he essentially in a "lame-duck situation" now? If they decide not to retain them, they must finally hire some proven highly profiled head-coach, but who is available? Would the Suns be willing to hire someone such as Pat Riley?

The answer is no since he would clash with Jerry C. and Co....
My ideal choice would be Rudy T, but is he fully recovered now to withstand the rigours of coaching?

Once they get a long-term coach, they'll be able to acquire players to suit his system.... We necessarily don't know who on the current roster will be included in the long-term plans regardless besides Amare, Zarko, JJ, and Barbosa (who are essentially their only "untouchable" players)....

Then, what they ultimately need is a leader, especially that "go-to guy", something which theyve been lacking for most of this season..... That tends to happen w/most younger teams (especially when they constantly lose in the 4th qt like theyve done).... Can JJ develop into that type of player? Its too premature....

Marion is more of a complimentary player, not someone who can lead the team by himself....Amare like JJ it is too premature to to figure what type of long-term impact they may have...

But if they finally can achieve some sort of an direction, identity, and even a set nucleus they'll once again be contenders, but they have to go one step further to finally win it all.... Although, that is a lot easier said than done....

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Originally posted by ASUCHRIS
lol, thanks for the invitation. The scary thing is though, of all the professional sports teams in Arizona, theoretically, the Cardinals have the best chance of succeeding. With the Suns, Diamondbacks, and Coyotes all having to make poor financial decisions (pun intended) it is difficult to envision a really competitive team, with other teams with loads of cash to spend. With the NFL, even the Cards have at least a shot to be one of the best teams, and I think they have made many positive moves. I have at least deluded myself into thinking Denny Green and Mikey Bidwill may help change things...

amazingly enough, i agree. though more so with denny than with mike.

 

[scotsman13]

Originally posted by ASUCHRIS
You are absolutely insane. Comparing a shooting guard that we wanted to release 3 months ago, but has had a few good months to one of the greatest shooting guards in NBA history. On top of that, you compare Amare to Shaq, arguably the most dominating player in history. Amare isn't even a top five power forward!!!!!!!! I cannot believe you are even serious here, please tell me this is tounge and cheek....

Kobe one of the greatest shooting guard in nba history? are you kidding me? he doesnt even rate in the top 50 players. all of which have shown that they can win on their own. everytime that shaq has been out the lakers take a dive. without shaq kobe is a loser, period. sure he can score a bunch of points but then so could cedric ceballos if you gave him the ball enough.

as for jj you may have wanted him released a couple months ago but i didnt. i was one of those people fighting tooth and nail with you guys saying that he was better then hardaway.

 

[scotsman13]

Originally posted by SirStefan32
I am sick of hearing about the "Next year" or "Two years down the road." I want to win and I want to win now!!!!!!!!!!!

then go cheer for another team. this team has been heading for any championship run for years. the last real hope that this team has to have put a championship team together left town when mcdyess left as a free agent. now if we want to a championship team with the suns we need to wait. if you believe just adding kobe would make this team a championship team now then you havent been watching them of late. this teams problem is that they are to young and just dont know the nba game well enough yet, but if they are given time they would grow into a very good team.