Why isn't this team playing better?

[Black Jesus]

Look at our roster

C- Shaq- Top 3 Center in the league
PF- Amare- Top 3 PF in the league
SF- Richardson- Top 10 SF in the league, electric scorer
SG- Hill- Smart Veteran that can handle the ball
PG- Nash- Top 5 PG in the league

Bench
Barbosa- Scoring threat, mismatch with speed
Barnes- scrappy player, streaky
Lopez/Amundson- Big body off bench for a few

WORTHLESS
Goran Dragic

Aside from the 04-05 team, this is the best team we have had.

 

[S_Nash]

DE-FENCE

DE-FENCE

DE- Well you get the idea...

 

[dodie53]

our roster looks good on paper,
so many scorers.

a trade is needed

 

[Black Jesus]

true. I understand Amare is underperforming in every facet of the game, but maybe we should trade Barbosa for good defending guard, and then play hill off the bench again

 

[jagu]

No D = suckiness.

 

[LV-Suns]

Not at all.

 

[dodie53]

^
nice avatar

 

[JS22]

Too much offense. Too many scorers. Need to trade Amare for a solid defensive PF and a young player or two. That, or trade Nash for a PG who can defend and run a standard offense. (Rondo would look great in a Suns uni. Nice job screwing that one up.)

 

[Mainstreet]

The Suns just never fully bought into Porter's coaching or his style of play. It was interesting that when the Suns started freewheeling (like the old days), they almost got back into the game at the end.

 

[shazaam6]

The Suns just never fully bought into Porter's coaching or his style of play. It was interesting that when the Suns started freewheeling (like the old days), they almost got back into the game at the end.

Almost
The Suns are not utilizing their combined talent/strengths on offense and they aren't playing defense effectively Nash Amare

On offense, watch the slow feed into Shaq while everyone walks around. Pathetic. Then it is one on two for whoever decides to go to the basket. No picks for each other ever ....except the Amare/Nash pick and roll which teams are expecting and intercepting Nash's passes.

We need to run an offense that frees up Amare, not one where he has to drag his man and beat another to the hoop or shoot the 18 footer.

Where is the improved defense Porter. Do you see it Kerr? This is B.S.

Shaq wanted more touches and has become option 1 now (and he is playing better than expected) but Amare should be the primary scorer, not Shaq. When they throw it into Shaq, Amare seems useless/lost, stays out of the play entirely and is also out of position to get rebounds. Porter WTF are you telling him to do when Shaq gets the ball, take yourself out of the play because you and your defender are clogging the paint? Amare is our best finisher and has a reliable jumpshot, he should be cutting with picks and screens set for him but he stands out of the play somewhere for some reason. He isn't even a decoy because Shaq rarely passes to him. Why???

This offense SUCKS. Nash needs to create, if he can't because he is too old, well that is another problem entirely but I don't think so. Shaq is dominating our offense too much.

We have enough good offensive players that they should be a nightmare to doubleteam, but we don't run an offense that exposes defensive mistakes anymore.

Why does our defense usually leave someone with an open 3 when we double but we don't get open 3's when they double?




On the bright side, although I miss Bell:
Since we traded Diaw and Bell, I don't have to hear "Raja that" anymore.

 

[dodie53]

the team lacks DB!

 

[az jam]

Bottom line is that Porter is not a good coach for this team.

 

[Ollie]

A so-so coach, no leadership on the floor, no game identity, and a team defense worse than D'Antoni's... the recipe for failure.

 

[DeAnna]

Other than the obvious lack of D, I think too many stars who want to be top dog. Nobody wants to be the role player.

 

[95pro]

i think it starts at the coach, who imo is so-so as well.

shaq seems to be getting the ball more and more.
everyone is stagnant.
go to him 3-4 times at the start. let nash shoot more at the beginning.
run some double screens for jrich, kind of what the spurs do for parker.

right now everything is centered around shaq, look at his minutes, and everyone is becoming more and more stagnent of offense.

i also wish we could focus on mismatches. there are times when jrich and barnes can back down the opposing pg/sg.

 

[Mainstreet]

The Suns are conflicted on offense between the running style and the post up Shaq style. The Suns need to embrace one style to be effective. If Shaq weren't playing so well he would be ideal to bring off the bench when the game turns half-court like in the playoffs. Unfortunately right now the Suns are looking like a bubble playoff team that may not make it. IMO, Shaq was brought to the Suns to be a role player.

The Suns need to embrace one style, however, their personnel says run. It really looked like the Suns were playing a college team (talent wise) in the Knicks but that team knew what style they were playing and played it consistently.

 

[Maligzar]

The problem is Amare Stoudemire has mailed it in.

5 rebounds in the last 2 nights? ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?

Not to mention his pathetic defense, which in his mind is "tenacious".

This team needs Amare to carry them night in and night out; with the guys like Shaq, Steve, Jason and Grant all contributing. Aside from pathetic ownership decisions to dismantle the run & gun system and drive a winning coach out of town. I blame Amare.

 

[Covert Rain]

I am not surprised at all how this team is playing.

The problem is this team can't take care of the ball and doesn't play consistent defense. I completely disagree it's Shaq or the offensive scheme we are running. It's no coincidence that the games where this team looked really good, we had a good balance between running and playing half court....oh and we took care of the ball.

Nash and Amare are leading the team in TO's. Matt Barnes is accounting for 55% of the teams TO's off the bench. All these TO's are leading to the Suns giving up the 2nd highest # of easy baskets in the entire NBA. How the heck can a team play good defense with that #????

Nash makes up for some of it with assists but that doesn't mean he is still not helping out the other team by giving up so many points on the other end. Normally that would be countered a bit by the rest of the team hanging on to the ball. That is not happening this year.

The only guys holding onto the ball are JRich, Hill and believe it or not Barbosa. Everyone else on this team is contributing to a huge problem.

Then there is Amare who shows up one minute and dissappears the next. I have seen this team try to get him involved over the last 3 games. He has either lost the ball, been stuffed in the face or just missed.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

From AZCentral:

"The Suns have much to address when they stay in New York today for their first practice since Jan. 14."


Call me crazy, but that just might be a contributing factor.

 

[nowagimp]

The suns are not a good team right now, they play terribly together with so many stupid mistakes. Its all about reps in any offense, and when the team keeps changing pieces, you cant get the reps. Its also about having complementary pieces, and that isnt the case here. Amare and shaq is a bad pairing defensively, and perhaps offensively as amare does much better when the ball goes through him(but handled by nash). Shaq has always played with a good defensive PF for a reason. The suns are everybodys bitch on the pick and roll. Diaws defense is missed, if nothing else. Diaw would have paired better with shaq, IMO. Thing is I dont want to get rid of amare because we have shaq. Amare is the best player on this team, and the suns are not using him correctly. If the suns trade him in a "gasol moment" for a few cigars and pieces of gum I will PUKE. Porter hasnt been here long enough to know what the result of the properly executed offense would be. Yeah his defense is no better, and possibly worse than DA's, as that is the price when protecting the suns defensively challenged big men from foul trouble. Now everyone just kills the suns from outside(>15' is open) in the halfcourt and runs them on the break. Its hard to watch knowing they cannot even beat the bad teams.

Shaq holding the ball and everyone standing around waiting for the doubleteam has happened for more than a decade. It used to be a great formula. But he was always on better defensive teams witha bunch of suitable role players. This suns team has too many defensive liabilities. I kind of understand how Kerr might want to pull the trigger and make a trade to get some D. Perhaps he has finally learned that good defense starts with good defenders.

 

[Andrew]

It is all mental...

 

[arwillan]

unfortunately accolades and skills don't always win championships.

 

[cly2tw]

If there is a way to look at this roster and say, it's not bad on paper, then the coach deserves some blame for "underachieving". The issue is complicated but I believe the main problem is that we are too myopic and naive in our approach towards the game.

As the saying goes, you are only as strong or good as your weakest link, and your weakness is bound to be exploited by good teams. Yet, we don't really work on our weakness. Like under DA, we just try to use our strength as early and as long as possible and hope to get by the rest of the way when our aged legs get tired and when second units have to come in without yet a coherent approach for them to succeed in any way.

More precisely, we start with feeding Shaq and keep playing Shaq and Nash and Amare together way too long. With the reserves, we just let Barnes make the erratic decisions. And when Nash puts all his energy "creating" with the ball, he is not as good shooting the ball once he could anytime in the game, nor could he have enough energy to defend better. Without rhythms, besides Shaq's sure points, often nobody gets hot hands at all, and Barnes and LB will keep shooting nevertheless.

Porter's initial idea was sound, in theory, that Nash should play more off ball. This would give the team a chance to work on their weaknesses: scoring without Nash dribbling; getting Nash into good shooting rhythm to be a constant threat this way; getting Nash more energy for defense; slowly giving Amare more chance to direct the offense; work on other set plays that will be needed in playoffs when Nash almost surely gets shut down to create offense. Yet, he is neither confident nor authoritative enough to force his way through. Now, he is just copying DA's coaching: give the ball to Nash and hope for the best by exhausting him.

Guess what I really wanted to say is: Reserve your best for the times when you need them most and work on your weak link first! So, feeding Shaq has now become a sure thing, we should start with something different first, like screening for Nash to catch-n-shoot to get his shooting touch on first, or for Amare to get his. And in time of scoring draught, we could go to this safest set with rested Shaq to gain momentum. Right now, Shaq and Nash get spent way too early without pressing need.

 

[AceP]

Too much tactical theory. It never worked that way.

It is all about ur star players willing to do whatever it takes to win championship. It is about change themselves for the team in order to achieve that. While there is "as long as I can do what I was doing" in the mind, kiss bye to any hope.

Shaq kept his weight down, worked his hip muscle back, improved his free throw, and improved his rebounding.

Tell me, what Amare has done?

 

[jagu]

Suns r a gr8 video game basketball team. Real life things get complicated. Good thing NBA video games don't have a mental rating.