Will D'Antoni Ever Change the Suns Offense?

[George O'Brien]

Watching the Suns play the Spurs was very frustrating. I knew the Spurs would kill the Suns when the Spurs had the ball because the Suns were playing their fourth game in five nights. The Suns defense requires an awful lot of effort and when the let up, they give up lots of open jump shots and were not getting back on defense.

But there is no excuse for the Suns offensive woes. They simply were not moving without the ball. If is all but impossible for this Suns team to beat the Spurs off the dribble, yet they kept trying and were taking awful shots.

Early on when Lampe was first playing, several times other guys were taking very difficult shots rather than passing Lampe the ball. He ended the game shooting 6 of 10, but should have had the ball several other times. The Spurs are like most teams that play the Suns and pack the low block but leave a hole in the high post. Dice had some good shots and Lampe did too, yet somehow this is not exploited enough to force opponents to pull someone out of the paint.

 

[Chaplin]

I know it's easy to blame this loss on D'Antoni, but come on...

 

[Evil Ash]

I'd like to see him change the DEFENSE first! The Suns can't stop anybody right now.

 

[George O'Brien]

I know it's easy to blame this loss on D'Antoni, but come on...

I get frustrated when I watch the Suns stand around. I am not clear why tight defense seems to turn the Suns players into statues, but it is something Mike is going to have to work on.

I'd like to see him change the DEFENSE first! The Suns can't stop anybody right now.

I have suggested the Suns may need a "defense guru" to get them to play opponents tighter on the perimeter and still be in postion to stop guys driving the paint. In any case, I doubt even the Pistons could play four games in five days and still stop the Spurs in San Antonio, although I don't think the game would have been out of hand so quickly.

 

[SirStefan32]

Look guys, the Suns have NOTHING to work with at this point in time. They flat out suck. It is very difficult to change your offense when you don't have one. There were two players on this team who could generate offense, and they are both in NY right now. What they need to do is get Milos Vujanic so that there is at least one point guard who can generate some offense.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Look guys, the Suns have NOTHING to work with at this point in time. They flat out suck. It is very difficult to change your offense when you don't have one. There were two players on this team who could generate offense, and they are both in NY right now. What they need to do is get Milos Vujanic so that there is at least one point guard who can generate some offense.

Clearly you have watched the team lately... Joe Johnson and Amare are both budding stars, Marion is playing much better, and McDyess looks like he can contribute. Point guard who can generate offense? Have you seen Joe Johnson the last week? Maybe you should watch the games before making comments.

 

[Chaplin]

Look guys, the Suns have NOTHING to work with at this point in time. They flat out suck. It is very difficult to change your offense when you don't have one. There were two players on this team who could generate offense, and they are both in NY right now. What they need to do is get Milos Vujanic so that there is at least one point guard who can generate some offense.

Are you actually saying that Penny Hardaway was one of only two players that can generate offense on that Suns team? And that now we have nobody of that caliber today? That is ridiculous!!

 

[George O'Brien]

Look guys, the Suns have NOTHING to work with at this point in time. They flat out suck. It is very difficult to change your offense when you don't have one. There were two players on this team who could generate offense, and they are both in NY right now.

The Suns scored 99 against Houston (a win), 98 in a lot against the Clips, 123 in a win over Milwaukee, 103 in a win over Cleveland, and 99 in a win over New Orleans.

Can you imagine what they could do if they had an offense?

 

[SirStefan32]

Ok, lets depend on JJ to generate offense. Let's not sign any PGs, let JJ run the point and see how long before Suns wins more than 30 games in a season.

 

[George O'Brien]

Ok, lets depend on JJ to generate offense. Let's not sign any PGs, let JJ run the point and see how long before Suns wins more than 30 games in a season.

On another thread, I discussed the issue of whether the Suns should draft yet another PG. Obviously a big element of this is going to be what the Suns do in the FA market.

If the Suns signed Kobe or some other "name" shooting guard, then they would commit themselves to making JJ into a PG with Leandro and Vujanic as backups. One of the secondary options would be to sign Brent Barry who would take over at the point.

On the other hand, if the Suns used most of their cap money on a center like Dampier, then drafting a PG only works if the Suns are conviced that neither Barbosa nor Vujanic can every become solid PGs.

 

[SweetD]

Ok, lets depend on JJ to generate offense. Let's not sign any PGs, let JJ run the point and see how long before Suns wins more than 30 games in a season.

Did you get the memo? The Suns starting pg was out.....

 

[sunsfn]

If the coach wants to change the offense, it will have to wait until the off season and training camp. He will have at least 3+ different players and then he can put in his offense.
I have a feeling his defense is going to be practised a lot also.
I really believe this team will have a different look next year as far as offense and defense.

D'Antoni was considered a great coach oversees, and if he can get the right players (unselfish) he will do very good here.

If the suns can come up with a defensive center and Lampe can improve a lot before next year, that will solve most of the major problems facing this team. Point guard will take care of itself with what we have.

 

[George O'Brien]

Did you get the memo? The Suns starting pg was out.....

The Suns did not move the ball well against the Spurs, but the real problem was that Jacobsen was hopeless playing defense against Parker.

 

[Errntknght]

You can't blame the Spurs loss solely on D'Antoni because they're a better team but the Suns halfcourt offense looks putrid in almost every game. We beat some teams with a weak defense because we have three players who can score solo - which obscures the fact that the team aspect of the offense is almost non-existent. I swear coach Mikey doesn't even pay attention - now and then the team stumbles on something that works but they don't go back to it and milk it.

Normally, I'd be inclined to say you need to let the coach have a training camp to see what he can do but the team offense has progressed so little under his direction that it's hard to believe he knows enough about the NBA game to install something that works. I second George's idea to hire an assistant coach as the defensive 'coordinator' but it looks like we're in just as dire need of an offensive coordinator. Yeah, that makes D'Antoni superfluous, which is about what he's worth as a coach.

 

[Chaz]

You can't blame the Spurs loss solely on D'Antoni because they're a better team but the Suns halfcourt offense looks putrid in almost every game. We beat some teams with a weak defense because we have three players who can score solo - which obscures the fact that the team aspect of the offense is almost non-existent. I swear coach Mikey doesn't even pay attention - now and then the team stumbles on something that works but they don't go back to it and milk it.

Normally, I'd be inclined to say you need to let the coach have a training camp to see what he can do but the team offense has progressed so little under his direction that it's hard to believe he knows enough about the NBA game to install something that works. I second George's idea to hire an assistant coach as the defensive 'coordinator' but it looks like we're in just as dire need of an offensive coordinator. Yeah, that makes D'Antoni superfluous, which is about what he's worth as a coach.

I disagree that the Suns offense has not improved since D'Antoni has taken over. The offense was completely horrible and struggled to score over 80 points at times. They now regularly score over 100. Some of the increased scoring is from defense and transition baskets and the return of Amare but they are moving much better in a half court set and passing the ball better than the start of the season. They definitley need to improve the half court execution but like you said lets see what a training camp can accomplish. I think they have shown enough improvement to give D'Antoni that chance.

 

[George O'Brien]

I disagree that the Suns offense has not improved since D'Antoni has taken over. The offense was completely horrible and struggled to score over 80 points at times. They now regularly score over 100. Some of the increased scoring is from defense and transition baskets and the return of Amare but they are moving much better in a half court set and passing the ball better than the start of the season. They definitley need to improve the half court execution but like you said lets see what a training camp can accomplish. I think they have shown enough improvement to give D'Antoni that chance.

I started this thread because I was frustrated at the way the Suns young players melt down against tight defense. They can and do pass the ball when playing against weaker defenses, but somehow forget when there is pressure.

A second problem is that the Suns do not attack defenses to force changes. For example, if a guy is having problems with Amare, then Amare should keep getting the ball until they respond. Or if they are leaving Dice or Lampe open at the high post, the Suns should keep getting them the ball to force the defense to come out to defend them. This is not X's and O's but recognition.

I'm guessing the Suns will become better on their half court sets as they become more experienced. JJ has been PG for a couple of weeks and Leandro for only a couple of months. Still I would like to see the Suns move toward a Kings style high post offense which emphasizes cutters, back door plays, and passing.