Where's my Backup Point Guard?

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

The downside to reverting back to the 'Nash' offense is that backup PG becomes ridiculously difficult again. I hate to say it but I think the best course is to give Barbosa another go at it. Keep a subset of the set plays that the team used before for him to run, cap Steve at 30 minutes per game and live with Barbs at point the rest of the time, game in and game out. I would think all of the players could get behind this approach - how could anyone not want to help lovable Leandro succeed?

ive been saying the same thing this season. I am a huge barbosa fan and when he played point last year it make me nauseous.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

Booyakasha!

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/featur...21~28~28~18~28~21~21~28~18~21~22~22&te=&cash=

 

[mjb21aztd]

sigh great lets go after d league players when were in the fight for a championship . I atleast hope they get that guy who is leading the dleague lol in assists maybe he can do something for us who knows.

 

[Cheesebeef]

from the Trib:

"The Suns must add a player - a backup point guard by Dec. 24. General manager Steve Kerr said the Suns will wait until the last minute to sign the player, hoping there might be a contract buyout around the league that makes an interesting player available. That might not happen before February, when team payrolls are calculated for the luxury tax."

so in other words, the Suns will continue to value money over winning. In a tough Western Conference where the margin of error is so slim, they'd rather hand the reigns of back-up PG to a guy on ten-day contracts and hope against hope they get more than they paid for over the next two months rather than just paying for a guy who would fill a position of need... for almost half a decade. You try and nickel and dime your way to wins and you pay for it with losses... or did we not already learn that lesson... over the last half a decade?! I haven't said this but it's been a while. I've said it once, I'll say it again, this team will never win anything with Robert Sarver's penny-pinching ass running the show.

 

[cly2tw]

The downside of going back to "Nash" offense?

- He will break down come playoff time
- we don't ever learn playing good defense
- we are not prepared for viable alternatives
- one or max. two rounds and out

Why bother?

 

[jagu]

It will be more fun than what we've seen the first quarter of the season. I welcome Nash offense back!

 

[Mainstreet]

The downside to reverting back to the 'Nash' offense is that backup PG becomes ridiculously difficult again. I hate to say it but I think the best course is to give Barbosa another go at it. Keep a subset of the set plays that the team used before for him to run, cap Steve at 30 minutes per game and live with Barbs at point the rest of the time, game in and game out. I would think all of the players could get behind this approach - how could anyone not want to help lovable Leandro succeed?

The problem for LB, he is not a good decision maker. Sure he can bring the ball down the court but please don't ask him to execute an offense under pressure. However, what is the worse, if he is forced to play PG he easily loses his confidence in other parts of his game like shooting. Asking LB to play PG is taking away from his best assets.

 

[Chaplin]

from the Trib:

"The Suns must add a player - a backup point guard by Dec. 24. General manager Steve Kerr said the Suns will wait until the last minute to sign the player, hoping there might be a contract buyout around the league that makes an interesting player available. That might not happen before February, when team payrolls are calculated for the luxury tax."

so in other words, the Suns will continue to value money over winning. In a tough Western Conference where the margin of error is so slim, they'd rather hand the reigns of back-up PG to a guy on ten-day contracts and hope against hope they get more than they paid for over the next two months rather than just paying for a guy who would fill a position of need... for almost half a decade. You try and nickel and dime your way to wins and you pay for it with losses... or did we not already learn that lesson... over the last half a decade?! I haven't said this but it's been a while. I've said it once, I'll say it again, this team will never win anything with Robert Sarver's penny-pinching ass running the show.

LOL

Signing Damon Stoudamire isn't going to put us over the top...

 

[S_Nash]

YJGS'd trade would give D'Antoni a regular season scoring machine, and no back up PG come playoffs...

Awesome.

 

[Errntknght]

ive been saying the same thing this season. I am a huge barbosa fan and when he played point last year it make me nauseous.

Dang it all, don't try to one up me! I said it during the summer, so there!! (Actually, I didn't quite... but I did say that under a different coach and system Barbs might make a serviceable backup point after all.)

 

[Mainstreet]

It seems likely the Suns will sign a NBADL player because of contractual considerations. An article from Jerry Brown of the East Valley Tribune dated 12-17-08 shed a different light on it for me.

Kerr was in Denver last night to watch a NBA Development League game between Colorado and Rio Grande Valley - and the point guard battle between two former NBA players - ex-Sun Smush Parker and Eddie Gill - with Gill believed to be the player of most interest to Phoenix. NBA teams can't extend 10-day contracts until Jan. 9, but the Suns can sign an D-League player to a nonguaranteed contract and release him if a better option arises.

So if the Suns sign Gill or someone else at PG it may be only a temporary maneuver.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/132704

 

[Errntknght]

The problem for LB, he is not a good decision maker. Sure he can bring the ball down the court but please don't ask him to execute an offense under pressure. However, what is the worse, if he is forced to play PG he easily loses his confidence in other parts of his game like shooting. Asking LB to play PG is taking away from his best assets.

I did, perhaps too obliquely, address these points in the remainder of my post but I will fill it out. You don't have it quite right - Barbs did not lose his confidence in his shot when he first played point for us, nor did he generally when he played point for Brazil in international competition. It wasn't until he had to back up Steve Nash that he dissolved. I'm not saying he was ever a terrific PG but he was adequate and he shot well. Heck, last year Leandro was the de-facto, if unoffical, backup PG a good bit of the time and his shot didn't disappear, though as YJGS said, he rather sucked at operating D'A's offense.

Now if Porter just handed him the ball and said 'go do what Steve does' - which is what D'Antoni appeared to do when he moved Leandro to the official backup point his first full year as coach - I think Barbs would likely flounder again. This is why my suggestion was to retain set plays for Barbs to run. Also get the other players to buy in to the idea and give the guy lots of support.

Its a rather daring move but Barbs looks like he's on improving track this year on both defense and driving more under control. The team is in desperate circumstances with Nash on track to be totally toast by the playoffs - and yet the team has so much firepower that it has a chance to be a serious contender. Waiting and hoping for Kerr's piddling around to pay off has got to the worst possible plan. I'd rather plunk Dragic in my plan in place of Leandro than bet on Kerr.

Barbs can contribute but on size alone he's not a good fit at SG - but if he could give us 18 decent minutes a game at point we'd be in pretty darn good shape. Bolster his confidence, make sure he knows what he's expected to do, work on the set plays with him, set out the time slots he will be on the floor then trust him to perform. He's capable and he might surprise everyone.

 

[Black Jesus]

i always liked Marbury. I wanted us to trade marion, but it worked for the best, would welcome him back with open arms!

 

[Mainstreet]

Errntknght, LB played some of his best basketball at PG tonight. So you're right there may be some hope. Now can you fix the Suns defense? Tucker must be terrible because he never gets off the bench. His injury should be healed by now.

 

[SirStefan32]

I gotta agree. Barbosa is getting much better, even playing point.

 

[cly2tw]

As Errknight correctly put it, LB's PG performance was severely handicapped by DA's directing him to play like Nash and to push the speed at all cost. That's why we really need to rein in Nash too. His turnovers + defensive weakness has become unbearable lately.

One optimal trade for us is probably Nash for Crawford+Azubuike, if GS would. With Crawford as starting PG who is big enough to defend SGs, we could give LB also more court time.

 

[SirStefan32]

As Errknight correctly put it, LB's PG performance was severely handicapped by DA's directing him to play like Nash and to push the speed at all cost. That's why we really need to rein in Nash too. His turnovers + defensive weakness has become unbearable lately.

One optimal trade for us is probably Nash for Crawford+Azubuike, if GS would. With Crawford as starting PG who is big enough to defend SGs, we could give LB also more court time.

Golden State just might be stupid enough to do that. Our best shot of getting rid of Nash may be Don Nelson and possibly Colangelo over in Toronto.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

YJGS'd trade would give D'Antoni a regular season scoring machine, and no back up PG come playoffs...

Awesome.

I love my trade.

 

[Griffin]

It seems likely the Suns will sign a NBADL player because of contractual considerations.

A quote from Bordow's article:

Kerr plans to add a guard to the roster before Christmas but admitted he's not likely to find a player who will crack the playing rotation.

In other words, Smush Parker isn't coming to Nash's rescue.

So, not that Parker is the answer, but why not him? He's definitely available seeing how he is playing in the D-League and he wouldn't be subject to a guaranteed contract.

And the second question, why not give a guaranteed contract to someone who might be able to help? Kerr did not hesitate giving Dragic, a second-round pick, three guaranteed years at close to $2M/year when most second-round rookies get one or two years at far lesser salary. Now Kerr admits that Dragic "is struggling". Was that so unforeseeable?

 

[Cheesebeef]

LOL

Signing Damon Stoudamire isn't going to put us over the top...

LOL. who said anything about Damon Stoudamire? Oh that's right, no one.

but yeah, a solid back-up PG wouldn't help this team... right and unless you think we're gonna get a solid-backup PG on ten day contracts then I don't know ... ah forget it. it's not like you're gonna respond with anything but a distortion of what's gonna be said. tally ho chap.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

LOL. who said anything about Damon Stoudamire? Oh that's right, no one.

but yeah, a solid back-up PG wouldn't help this team... right and unless you think we're gonna get a solid-backup PG on ten day contracts then I don't know ... ah forget it. it's not like you're gonna respond with anything but a distortion of what's gonna be said. tally ho chap.

Cheese - the problem is you don't suggest an alternative that would prove your theory that the Suns are just doing the cost concious move.

Who is out there that they could get if the were willing to not be "penny pinching"?

Until you sound off a viable alternative if just sounds like you are pounding on the same rhetoric that - while has surely been true in the past - may not be applicable in this situation.

Even if Sarver wanted to spend 10 million on a back up PG - who would he spend it on? The way I see it picking the best off the scrap heap is the best alternative unless you want to give up something of value like LB or more draft picks in a trade. There is a reason those d=league guys and FA's are available.

Personally I want Steve Blake. And not just because he shot lights out the other night. He runs the offense really well IMO. I'm just not sure how we would go about getting him.

 

[elindholm]

You guys in Phoenix correct me if I am wrong, but while it's common knowledge is that Gambo is a buffoon, doesn't Coro actually have some credibility?

You're wrong. Incredibly, it is not common knowledge that Gambo is a buffoon. In fact many people give him a lot of credibility, for reasons that I can't begin to fathom.

Coro seems fairly reliable, so you have that part right.

 

[Mainstreet]

You're wrong. Incredibly, it is not common knowledge that Gambo is a buffoon. In fact many people give him a lot of credibility, for reasons that I can't begin to fathom.

Coro seems fairly reliable, so you have that part right.

I agree. Coro has credibility to me. Gambo and Ash seems like something out of WWE.

 

[AceP]

Today's news

Suns Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin organized a workout for Monday to fill the team's 13th roster spot, which must be done by Wednesday. Free agents Dee Brown, Damon Stoudamire, Troy Hudson, Darrell Armstrong, Eddie Gill and Walker Russell Jr. will participate.
Brown started for Washington recently but was cut after the Wizards traded for Mike James. Only Russell, the NBA Development League's assists leader, has no NBA experience.

Troy Hudson, a surprise name here. Is he still capable of playing? I thought he retired due to injury.

Just my personal opinion, none of above interests me. I'd rather to see Barbosa more at PG instead of inserting any of those into our rotation.

 

[shazaam6]

DJ Strawberry for defense. I bet he could run their throw-it-to-the wing, who throws it into Shaq, offense too.