Your 2008-09 Phoenix Suns Starters!

[nowagimp]

Im ready for the season to start and the games to mean something. All the preseason is meaningless to these guys. I am under no delusions, the suns are probably no better than a 6 seed, but might be able to pull an upset in the first round of the playoffs. the additions of barnes and possibly lopez could be a significant upgrade, but other teams like the lakers(bynum), houston(artest) and th ehornets(posey) have had even better upgrades. Im ready to watch some bball, let the games begin!

 

[French Fries]

Um, they came in 6th last year and this year they're older. Portland and Houston are probably improved, the Lakers should be better, the West is still very deep, I'd be quite surprised if the Suns were able to do better than a 6 seed.

that's true, they came in 6th last year, but don't forget the fact that we got what, 55 wins as opposed to the first seed's 57 (correct me if i'm wrong, my memory's never my strong point). while what you're saying might be true regarding other teams and us being older, don't look down on this team too much, it's not all bad. although if you're just lowering your standards so you won't be depressed as much if (or when) we exit in the playoffs then it's totally understandable, i do that too...

 

[Irish]

If we ignore the first couple of weeks Shaq played following his return from injury and stupid use of him, the Suns record could have easily been the best in the NBA.

We know everybody is older, but they are clearly better suited to the playoffs than in the past. Last year losing Hill was a complete disaster and now Hill will play a lot fewer minutes to prep him for the playoffs.

GG was nice, but only average on defeense. Barnes is not a hugely better shooter (both have a history of inconsistency), but every other part of his game is better: defense, rebounding, going to the basket, passing, etc.

When Hill went down, D'Antoni took a few games to react due in part to a lack of depth. This team seems much deeper.

Obviously we don't know how all of this will work out. But IMHO it is not obvious this team will drop las much as some people seem so sure of.

 

[Wonder]

Shaq has missed at least 20 games per year for the last 4 years and is only getting older and less effective.


Offensively, completely agree. Defensively it remains to be seen.



it looked like things were changing for him the second half of the season. Age again starts to take it's toll. He may be Nash, but he's not MVSteve anymore.


this is like saying take a full packet of miralax and eat ten prunes before you go to sleep and try not taking a dump in the morning. no matter what, it's gonna happen.


probably but will they be tough enough to deal with the offense being measurably less as Porter wants it to be? Only time will tell.



I just don't see any basis in fact to say this. pre-season is pre-season. Sean Marks looked impressive in pre-season last year.



every fan of every team can say the same thing.


every team in the west will have the same thing.


you say everyone is saying 6th-8th seed and that we'll be number 2 in the division. Well, everyone's also saying the Lakers will win the title. For a projected 6-8 seed to end up better than the odds on favorite to win the whole thing wouldn't be shocking? Okay.



i don't even know what to do with this comment. is there some good and some hope going into the year? yeah. Amare's a beast, hopefully Porter can find a good balance to make the o/d work, but with our age and propensity for injury to say there's "nothing bad coming into the season" just makes very little sense to me.

The pessimistic Suns fans never get old I guess.

 

[mojorizen7]

Well, this team could finish with an identical record as last year and some people would consider that taking a step backwards simply because they weren't "entertained" enough. IMO those folks would rather look pretty in defeat rather than win ugly.
Sports is entertainment but not in the same way that going to a movie is....

 

[Cheesebeef]

The pessimistic Suns fans never get old I guess.

Don't fool yourself. What I listed wasn't pessimism. It was realism.