Errntknght
Registered User
Unless JJ bolts I'd expect the Suns to be very close to the same team next year, hopefully subtracting McCarty so D'Antoni can't give in to the urge to put him on the floor. I'd expect coach Mikey to work a trifle harder developing a big lineup, though not much. He loved the way the team played this year and as the memory of the Spurs series fades he'll slip right back into the same gameplan. Oh, he'll wring his hands about the D but he hasn't a clue as to what to do about it anyway, so don't expect much change there. He needs to hire a defensive guru as his chief assistant, but he needed to do it last year and didn't. It's too bad because good defense is what the running style needs to fuel it.
The offense is headed down a dead end path without a young PG learning how to run the offense under Nash's tutelage. Barbosa has shown that he's not the one for that though I'm not sure D'Antoni is entirely convinced even now. I don't think the Suns have much hope of drafting a PG who can handle the job, as it requires tremendous court vision, very deft ball handling and scoring ability to pull it off - and then several years of experience.
A better course would probably be to put Nash in charge of the offense as the offensive coach as well as the playmaker. I don't know if Steve is up to that but he's probably the best bet we have to diversify the offense and bring the concept of teamwork to it. Demonstrating teamwork with his own play hasn't has much effect but if he were to be in charge of designing the whole offense I think he'd be able to get them involved.
It's pretty obvious that the place to start is running more of the offense through Amare, making him much more of a playmaker - it's almost criminal that the Suns coaches have neglected that aspect of his game, given the way he distorts a defense as soon as he touches the ball. He passes quite well, so it's just a question of organizing some movement to give him targets and practicing. I'd expect him to rival Chris Webber within a couple of years - at passing. He's already more of threat on his drives than Webber ever was and his jump shot is coming along very rapidly.
I don't the team should give up on finding another big to work along with Hunter at giving us more post presence. Last year, Przybilla and Mihm changed teams and stepped up their games - and Hunter did pretty well, too. There are usually some young bigs around who's teams haven't gotten the most out of them. I don't who it will be this year but it could be someone out of nowhere like Diop from Cleveland or Gadzuric, who's been okay. Maybe Pachulia and there's always Kwame Brown, whose stock is down in the dirt. Mikki Moore... not a lot of potential but a fairly solid guy that the Clips may let slip away. Of course, there's our own Jake Voskuhl, who could be in that category. We might scavenge the Sausage King if we try, unless we've seen enough of him already.
The offense is headed down a dead end path without a young PG learning how to run the offense under Nash's tutelage. Barbosa has shown that he's not the one for that though I'm not sure D'Antoni is entirely convinced even now. I don't think the Suns have much hope of drafting a PG who can handle the job, as it requires tremendous court vision, very deft ball handling and scoring ability to pull it off - and then several years of experience.
A better course would probably be to put Nash in charge of the offense as the offensive coach as well as the playmaker. I don't know if Steve is up to that but he's probably the best bet we have to diversify the offense and bring the concept of teamwork to it. Demonstrating teamwork with his own play hasn't has much effect but if he were to be in charge of designing the whole offense I think he'd be able to get them involved.
It's pretty obvious that the place to start is running more of the offense through Amare, making him much more of a playmaker - it's almost criminal that the Suns coaches have neglected that aspect of his game, given the way he distorts a defense as soon as he touches the ball. He passes quite well, so it's just a question of organizing some movement to give him targets and practicing. I'd expect him to rival Chris Webber within a couple of years - at passing. He's already more of threat on his drives than Webber ever was and his jump shot is coming along very rapidly.
I don't the team should give up on finding another big to work along with Hunter at giving us more post presence. Last year, Przybilla and Mihm changed teams and stepped up their games - and Hunter did pretty well, too. There are usually some young bigs around who's teams haven't gotten the most out of them. I don't who it will be this year but it could be someone out of nowhere like Diop from Cleveland or Gadzuric, who's been okay. Maybe Pachulia and there's always Kwame Brown, whose stock is down in the dirt. Mikki Moore... not a lot of potential but a fairly solid guy that the Clips may let slip away. Of course, there's our own Jake Voskuhl, who could be in that category. We might scavenge the Sausage King if we try, unless we've seen enough of him already.
