Phoenix Suns 2010-11 Preview

[Ashy Larry]

Let's call this Suns Preview Lite, or Suns Pseudo Preview. This one is for the rest of the SB Nation. Alex, Trevor, Panama and I will soon come up with something much more verbose and impressive in the coming weeks. So, allow this to serve as that little hit to keep you from full on Suns withdrawal.

Team Name: Phoenix Suns (http://www.sbnation.com/nba/teams/phoenix-suns)

Last Year's Record: 54-28

Key Losses: Amare Stoudemire (http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21911/amare-stoudemire), Leandro Barbosa (http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21912/leandro-barbosa), Louis Amundson (http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21762/louis-amundson)

Key Additions: Hedo Turkoglu (http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21604/hedo-turkoglu), Hakim Warrick (http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21734/hakim-warrick), Josh Childress (http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21559/josh-childress),




1) What significant moves were made in the offseason?
On the court, Amare Stoudemire signed with the Knicks (http://www.sbnation.com/nba/teams/new-york-knicks), Leandro Barbosa was traded to the Raptors (http://www.sbnation.com/nba/teams/toronto-raptors) for Hedo Turkoglu, Hakim Warrick and Josh Childress were added.


Off the court, Robert Sarver leveled the front office. Gone are Steve Kerr and David Griffin. In their place is former player agent Lon Babby as President of Basketball Operations and Lance Blanks as General Manager. Other additions to the front office include John Treloar at new Director of Player Personnel.



2) What are the team's biggest strengths?

Collective Depth, Experience, Flexibility, The Bench, Underdog Status, Team Chemistry.
Collective depth could also be called selective depth. The Suns may be able to go 10-11 deep but said depth may not be in all the right places. Nevertheless, the Suns return one of the best second units in the NBA and have enhanced it with the additions of Childress and Warrick.


The additions of Josh Childress and Hedo Turkoglu allow Steve Nash to play off the ball more. The idea is that with Turk's ball handling skills, the Suns can utilize Nash's high shooting percentage to make up some of the scoring they lost with Amare Stoudemire's departure. The move also allows Nash to rest more and reduce the normal wear and tear he obtains during the normal 82 game season at PG. Childress can play at the 2 or 3 and provides a solid bench presence to spell either Jason Richardson (http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21518/jason-richardson) or Grant Hill (http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21607/grant-hill).


Last season the Suns weren't picked to win anything. The experts said the usual: Phoenix was too soft on the boards, they couldn't play defense, yet they didn't have enough firepower to run like the old SSOL days. Alvin Gentry (http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/98780/alvin-gentry) and Co. responded to the predictions by creating a hybrid version of the D'Antoni led Suns that ran wild when they could, yet also continued use of the pick and roll. Robin Lopez (http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/35082/robin-lopez)'s development allowed for his use as an inside scoring option.



3) What are the team's weaknesses?

Size, Front Court Depth, Age


Robin Lopez is a curly headed beast who made huge strides last season after overcoming some early season injuries and the infamous "glass door" incident. But he has spine problems that may prove to be chronic and catastrophic to the Suns. If he goes down for any significant length of time, the season could easily go sideways for Phoenix. Then again, they made a nice playoff push without his presence last season. Let's just say life is easier with a healthy Lopez.


The same goes for Grant Hill and Steve Nash, both who reside on the wrong side of 30 continue to defy age and the experts by playing 80 something games per season. Significant injuries (knockin on wood) could make things pretty dang difficult for the Suns.


Amare Stoudemire was correctly deemed to be a defensive liability, however he brought down 20+ points and 9 boards a game last season. No one expects that individually from Hedo Turkoglu, Channing Frye (http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21910/channing-frye) or Hakim Warrick. The Suns have once again imparted the "rebound by committee" plan due to their lack of enforcers up front. Rookie Gani Lawal and Dwayne Jones (http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21853/dwayne-jones) should help out in the dirtworker role yet both of them are offensive liabilities at this point.

4) What are the goals for this team?

It begins with acclimating the new acquisitions and finding the chemistry that catapulted the Suns into the 3 seed of the playoffs then Western Conference Finals last season. A run at the post season is a reasonable goal for them. But a deep run in a reloaded Western Conference will be difficult. But if we've learned anything from last season, this team is capable of nearly anything when running on all cylinders.


5) What Could Have the Biggest influence on the upcoming season?

Chemistry. Injuries. Size


There are a flood of "if's" surrounding the Phoenix Suns entering the 2010-11 season. If Robin Lopez's back gives him trouble and results in significant time off the court, the Suns could be in for a long season due to their lack of front court size. If Steve Nash misses significant time, is Goran Dragic (http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/50285/goran-dragic) ready to step in to the starters shoes? If the new guys cannot play together, make up for Amare's loss... if, if, if...Bad news all around. That's the pessimistic and "expert" view. On the other hand, the new guys know how to play the game, it's up to Alvin Gentry to mix and match. After some experimentation, this team could be a very tough match up for a lot of teams. Gentry even believes they are better than last season. I think he may be right.


Predicted Regular Season Record: 51-31


http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2010/9/23/1705975/phoenix-suns-2010-11-preview

[Venti Quattro]

crofl underdog status

[sefant77]

lol 51 wins

[picc84]

lol fun

[Giuseppe]

If we get hit by a 9/11'ish event, as I'm ruminating about, it's the SunsPERIOD

[Xylus]

51 wins sounds about right.

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

I predict a 47-49 win season, and a deadline trade of Luke Walton for Goran Dragic, Jared Dudley and Grant Hill after Walton gives Babby a call and tells him he wants to work out a trade to bring Walton to Phoenix so Walton can play more.

[Venti Quattro]

I predict a 47-49 win season, and a deadline trade of Luke Walton for Goran Dragic, Jared Dudley and Grant Hill after Walton gives Babby a call and tells him he wants to work out a trade to bring Walton to Phoenix so Walton can play more.

lol i'll be jizzing in my pants if that deal happens. even if it's just for Goran Dragic.

[#41 Shoot Em Up]

I predict a 47-49 win season, and a deadline trade of Luke Walton for Goran Dragic, Jared Dudley and Grant Hill after Walton gives Babby a call and tells him he wants to work out a trade to bring Walton to Phoenix so Walton can play more.

ur a fag:lmao.
As far as the thread goes, no way they win 51, more like 37

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

lol i'll be jizzing in my pants if that deal happens. even if it's just for Goran Dragic.
They'd need to throw Hill and Dudley in. Babby would want the small forward position cleared out so Walton would get 35 MPG, anything for a former client!

[duncan228]

NBA Season Preview: Phoenix Suns (http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/10/18/nba-season-preview-phoenix-suns/)
Kurt Helin

Last season: 54-28, as they returned to the style that the roster was built for — seven seconds or less. Well, really, it was more like 12 seconds or less as they utilized a lot of secondary options in the transition and drag screens, but the philosophy was the same. The rode that style to the best offense in the league last year, and rode that (and the bench) all the way to the Western Conference finals. A good season.

Head Coach: Alvin Gentry, who showed a lot of veteran coach savvy last year. He understood that the team needed to run against with this roster, so they did. He understood that he had a bench that could be special and he used them well, built them into a unit that won a few playoff games themselves.

Key Departures: Amar’e Stoudemire, half of the best pick-and-roll duo in the game, was not offered a five-year, fully guaranteed contract by the Suns. This may be what you will see under the new CBA — on long-term deals, after three year teams will have an opt-out or inexpensive buyout of a player — but it is not part of the current deal. New York came in with the full five guaranteed and now Stoudemire is going to save basketball in New York.

Leandro Barbosa went out in the Turkoglu deal, but that was not big loss with Nash as the starting point and Goran Dragic is the clear number two. Lou Amundson was allowed to leave and they will miss him, not a lot of energy/rebound/dirty work guys like that around.

Also gone is Steve Kerr, who came in a few years back and tried to convert this roster into a Spurs-style team (trading Shawn Marion for Shaquille O’Neal among other moves), which backfired. Miserably. But to Kerr’s credit he recognized his mistakes and changed course, rebuilt the team again in a running mold. Not a lot of GMs are willing to admit they were wrong and make changes like that.

Key Additions: Hedo Turkoglu comes in but it seems an expensive and odd fit. He theoretically can take some of the load off of Steve Nash because he is a good pick and roll ball handler. He was in Orlando during their run to the finals two seasons ago, but last year in Toronto as the pick-and-roll ball handler he shot just 36.1 percent and the team scored just 0.77 points per possession, and he turned the ball over 18.8 percent of the time. You do not really want to take the ball out of Nash’s hands for that. If he can return to form and remain a good spot up shooter, he can have value. But the drop off as a number two man from Stoudemire to Turkoglu is dramatic.

One of my favorite pickups this summer was the Suns getting Josh Childress back from Greece, at a reasonable five years, $34 million. He’s been overseas for two years and I think a lot of people forgot just how good he is (he was in the running for sixth man of the year before he left). The only question now is now many small forwards the Suns can have on the roster — Grant Hill, Turkoglu, Childress and Jared Dudley.

Hakim Warrick was brought in at an inflated four years, $17 million, but he is athletic and shout fit well with the system. Gani Lawal was drafted.

Former agent Lon Babby is now your head of basketball operations, with Cleveland assistant GM Lance Banks given the head job. However, most of the roster moves were made before these guys came on board (although Turkoglu and Childress were Babby clients, so…). Their fingerprints are not really on this team yet.

Best case scenario: A return to the Western Conference finals and another shot at the Lakers.

For that to happen: The more diversified offense is going to have to work, Turkoglu has to step up, age cannot catch up with this team and somebody has to play a little defense and rebound.

The Suns are now without the unstoppable force that was the Nash/Stoudemire pick and roll. Now you’re going to get a lot more Robin Lopez setting the pick — which he did well with in a limited role last season.

Around them will be the one thing the Suns have in abundance — guys who can shoot the rock. Everyone on this roster can score, and that diversity of attack is what the Suns will count on now that they can’t just fall back on Nash and Stoudemire. They will to a degree (although how late-game situations play out will be interesting). This team is going to put points up because everyone out there can knock it down and there will be open looks in transition. And even at 37, you can expect Nash will still get them the rock. Plus Goran Dragic has become Nash in Waiting with his stepped up play.

At some point, age is going to catch up with Steve Nash and Grant Hill, but for now they remain on the Ponce De Leon plan. Expect good seasons out of them.

The question will be how well with the Suns defend — they were 19th in the league last season in defensive efficiency and they added guys like Turkoglu who is not a great defender and will get major minutes. Stoudemire and Amundson were also their best rebounders, so the Suns will be vulnerable on the boards. And really good running teams start it with defense and rebounding. As a team, the Suns need to find a way to defend and board or every game will be a shootout.

More likely the Suns will: Be entertaining but not as good, and struggle to make the playoffs. Simply put, talent wins games and the Suns lot some with the Stoudemire departure.

Last season the Suns offense was good enough to overcome the defense, and the bench could win them games. This season, the defense and rebounding will likely be a bigger anchor on a good, but not quite as good, offense. Turkoglu will be spotty. Hill and Nash will need a couple nights off.

So long as Steve Nash is on the team the Suns will be entertaining and dangerous. But to get back to where they need to be just too many things have to go perfect again, and that’s hard to expect.

Prediction: 44-38, fighting for (and maybe missing out on) one of the last playoff spots in the West.

[Xylus]

Season hasn't even started and I already want Turkoglu gone.

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

Idk how they managed to trade Brickbosa for one of the few more dipshitted players in the NBA. It's like they made a concerted effort to somehow trade Barbosa and get worse, even though trading Barbosa for nothing woulda made them a better team.

[sefant77]

Not just that, Barbosa is younger and has 2/15 left and Hedo with 30 has a trainwreck contract with 4/44 left, epic roflcopter.

And the cream on top is this after selling all the nice 1st the last years, helping other west playoff teams to improve.

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

Actually there's no real reason to question that trade, it wasn't a trade done to make the Suns better. The hidden agenda with that trade was Fat Faggot Babby doing his client a favor. Idk why I even bother talking about it knowing that it's not like the Suns thought it was a good trade.

[Darthkiller]

nash will be moved mid season to the knicks for ray felton and eddy curry(insurance already paid halfo the contract, the sarver should like that)

[AussieFanKurt]

nash to spurs for temple + 2nd round draft pick, it'll happen

[pauls931]

I pray for nash's sake he could get on a contender, and let the suns blow things up asap. I'm still bummed about there not being a dragic/stoudamire future. ugh... Hedo? Guess karma came back for me badmouthing him on Orlando...

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

Guess karma came back for me badmouthing him on Orlando...
Same, I talked so much shit about that guy it's not even funny, then he fuckin ends up on the Suns.

[duncan228]

Phoenix Suns (http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/10/21/the-works-griffin-saves-the-day-talking-hawks-and-staring-at-t/#suns)
By Bethlehem Shoals and Tom Ziller

The Suns certainly aren't alone in the club of teams that lost major stars. Cleveland, Toronto and Utah are in there as well, and arguably (in the case of the Jazz, at least) lost better players. (I'll accept arguments Amar'e Stoudemire meant more to Phoenix than Boozer meant to Utah.) In some way, every team addressed the loss. Toronto took the opportunity to re-sign Amir Johnson, a still-promising if tick-tocking livewire who could be the one-man defensive protection system Andrea Bargnani needs. The Raptors also drafted North Carolina's promising Ed Davis, a projected long-term starter at power forward.

The Jazz, of course, swindled a Northwest rival whose name I cannot speak for Al Jefferson, who is basically a younger Boozer. The Cavaliers still haven't realized what happened, it appears, and have responded to the loss of LeBron James with a mixture of hurt and anger. And, one would assume, with heavy doses of Jamario Moon. (As Chris Webber would say if he spoke French, bonne chance.) How did Phoenix respond to the loss of Amar'e, who left No. 6 on the franchise's all-time scoring list?

The team re-signed Channing Frye, apparently to continue to play the stretch-5 behind Robin Lopez. The team signed Hakim Warrick to a small deal to play some power forward. The team traded for Hedo Turkoglu, and has him playing the four. The team drafted Gani Lawal in the second round, and could use him at power forward; Earl Clark, 2009's first-rounder, could play there as well.

Yes, the Suns replaced Amar'e Freaking Stoudemire with that crew.

With a presumptive starting frontcourt of Lopez-Turkoglu-Grant Hill, Steve Nash and Jason Richardson might end up duking it out for the NBA scoring title. (Heck, maybe the rebounding title too.) Phoenix has for nearly a decade been home to offbeat lineups, but this is just ... worrisome and a little sad. Stoudemire had his flaws and represented, due to injury, a huge risk. No one blames the Suns for passing on a max five-year deal. But this charade that suggests the Suns think they can contend by replacing Amar'e with that group? It's almost insulting.

What Needs to Happen for Them to Win: If Lopez can develop well and provide a reliable inside option, or at least a reliable pick-and-roll weapon for Nash to hit, things will be better. If there's anyone that can facilitate that leap, it's Nash. A rejuventated Turkoglu, hitting both open shots and the open man, would help tremendously. Josh Childress is seriously slept on, and could be just the chameleon Phoenix's bench has needed.

Really, it comes down to Nash and how much he can boost the production of the underwhelming frontcourt. If ever the debate over the so-called Nash Inflation Rate were to be settled, this is the time. If Nash is really all he's said to be, he can make this team win a lot of games.

Worst Case Scenario: Nash can't make this team win a lot of games. The team gets out-rebounded every night, and Nash and Richardson are forced to shoot 20 times a piece. Frye hits a prolonged cold streak; Hedo eats too many cold steaks; Lopez can't get the footwork down and struggles to handle Nash's deliveries cleanly. Clark remains invisible. Leandro Barbosa Appreciation Night feels like a wake. (TZ)

[MmP]

Boy the 04-05 Sun team was a great suruprise and fun for that time but seems to be over this year.
i cant figure where nash will relie instead of the high pick and roll with stoudomire
i expect hedo to bounce though

[duncan228]

Suns Far From Ready for Regular Season (http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/10/23/suns-far-from-ready-for-regular-season/)
By Brett Pollakoff

PHOENIX -- The Suns had hoped to use the final game of their preseason to get a decent look at their starting unit before opening night, and to see some semblance of progress with the team's regular rotations. Instead, what they got was a crushing 144-106 loss at the hands of a Denver Nuggets team that was without the majority of its key players.

"It's an alarming thing," coach Alvin Gentry said of the blowout at the hands of the Nuggets' reserves. "But it's something that we've got to solve, and solve it soon. We've got three days to do it."

Three days, that is, until the regular season begins. But this loss only hammers home the point that's been evident for some time now during the exhibition season: The Suns are a long way from being a cohesive unit that's ready to compete at anywhere near the level they did last year.

Now, Phoenix wasn't quite at full strength itself for this one -- Hedo Turkoglu, a member of the starting five, was given the night off, and Josh Childress -- another new addition who's received regular minutes as part of the second unit -- was out with a broken finger. But with Denver resting Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Al Harrington and Nene, it's tough to find excuses for a loss like this, especially when guys like Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter and Gary Forbes combine to score 72 points.

So, do you just wipe the grime of this one away because it's preseason, or is it something to take more seriously in the grand scheme of things? This is a veteran Suns team for the most part, so it's not surprising that the players know that there's cause for a deeper concern.

"Well, you're always concerned when you get beat like that," Steve Nash said afterward. "We realize we're not playing very well and we've got to pick it up. Obviously we've talked about how we're a work-in-progress and we've got a lot of room for improvement, but we've got to find a way to hang around in ballgames, even when a team's hot like [the Nuggets] were."

Phoenix is a team that, with Nash at the helm, has historically won games on the strength of its unstoppable offense. But whether it's due to the loss of Amar'e Stoudemire or due to the new pieces not quite fitting just yet, the Suns have yet to find their offensive rhythm of seasons past. And in fact -- at least through the seven preseason contests before this one -- they've been completely abysmal on that end of the floor.

The Suns led the league in offense last year, putting up more than 110 points per game. So far this preseason, the team has managed just over 94 points per game, which would have been good for 28th in the league a season ago, ahead of only Detroit and New Jersey. The three-point shooting has been similarly way off, with the team that shot 41.2 percent from downtown last season hitting at a clip of just 24.7 percent now. That number would have put them at dead last in that category a season ago.

The problem with the three-point shooting is that while the team is getting good looks, the shots simply haven't been going down.

"I don't know if I'm concerned about it, but I'm a little bit baffled," Gentry said before his team took on the Warriors earlier this preseason. "We've gotten open looks. I know some people have asked if it's a byproduct of Amar'e not being here, but we look at the games all the time and we've gotten very good looks. We just have not shot it in.

"I don't think I'm really concerned about it, but we'll see if we're 15 games in and I'm still saying the same thing."

The Suns' early season schedule is extremely tough, so much so that at 15 games in, the team could very well be looking at a record of three wins against 12 losses. Phoenix plays nine of its first 15 on the road, including games against the Lakers, Heat, Magic, Rockets, Hawks, Jazz and Blazers.

That makes it all the more important that the Suns find a way to incorporate their new pieces, and do it quickly. But almost everyone on the team seems to think it's going to take a while before that happens.

"I think we've had some progress, but we've also been up and down, and have not progressed in a steady way like we wanted to," Nash said. "But we can't get too discouraged; we're a new team. We've got a lot of new guys, it's a new season, and there's not very much carryover from last year. We've got to be patient."

Jason Richardson echoed that sentiment, while pointing out some specifics of where the new guys are currently struggling.

"It is going to take a little bit of a while," Richardson said. "We expected it to happen a little bit sooner, but it's going to be a while. Guys have still got to get used to it. [Hedo Turkoglu] is still hesitating on his shots when he's playing. [Josh Childress], he's still trying to cut when Steve is getting to the rim. So it's going to be a little bit of time."

Just how much time it will take remains to be seen, and a slow start at this point is expected. The question is whether or not Phoenix will be able to recover enough to put together a run later in the year that is good enough to get the team back to the postseason.

It's going to be a difficult road either way.

"It's still going to take a while before we get it figured out," Gentry said. "It's not going to be easy. But nothing ever worth it ever is."

[Mori Chu]

We are going to suck hairy ass this season. I'm quite sad over it. Culburn might as well increase his "O and X" count by 1 pre-emptively; there is zero chance of this team making an impact.

[HarlemHeat37]

I'm pretty interested in seeing how they manage Turkoglu + Nash..by playing to Turkoglu's strengths, you're pretty much eliminating any advantage your team has..

[DeadlyDynasty]

I'm pretty interested in seeing how they manage Turkoglu + Nash..by playing to Turkoglu's strengths, you're pretty much eliminating any advantage your team has..

This. Orlando used Turkoglu's strengths to beat Boston and Cleveland in 2009. When Hedo would run the point they had no answer for him. He closed out Boston on the road (25 pts, 10 assists), and was a matchup nightmare for the Cavs. When forced to play the 2, 3, or 4 he is rather pedestrian imo.

[Jeremy]

If the Suns had kept Amare, the Barbosa-for-Turkoglu trade would have looked great. But inserting him as the starting PF...no.

[duncan228]

Just the Nash quotes, hit the link for the whole piece.


Steve Nash Frustrated As Phoenix Suns Enter Season With Much Uncertainty (http://arizona.sbnation.com/phoenix-suns/2010/10/24/1772037/steve-nash-frustrated-phoenix-suns-enter-season-with-uncertainty)
By Seth Pollack

"To be honest, if I was outside this picture and a betting man, I would probably pick us to be outside of the playoffs considering all the changes and the new guys," team leader Steve Nash said after Sunday's team practice.

..."I spent four months this summer and a month this training camp feeling like I'm trying to get to the top," Nash said.

"It's hard as a competitor to convince yourself every day all summer and then through the preseason that you're going to get back to where you were and hopefully take the next step, and then you realize that camp is starting all over again and it's not quite as linear as you made it out to yourself all summer."

..."Maybe we need to take a step back, regroup, be a little bit more patient, build a really good team and see how good we can be later in the year instead of jumping out of the gate and be like, 'Oh, we've got to finish top two or three in the West and give ourselves a chance to win the West and go to the Finals.' That stuff can come if we really improve, but we can't put that type of pressure on ourselves right away because we are a new team."

..."We're small. We don't really have a classic four (power forward)," Steve Nash said. "We've got to overcome that in a lot of different ways and that takes a lot of time, chemistry and understanding. We're not going to have that at this point in the season."

..."We've got a ways to go on everything, but having said that, I expect us to go out and give ourselves a chance to win every night. If we play hard and we play smart and play together, there's no reason why we can't scrap our way to some wins and to giving ourself a chance to win almost every night."
http://arizona.sbnation.com/phoenix-suns/2010/10/24/1772037/steve-nash-frustrated-phoenix-suns-enter-season-with-uncertainty

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

So in other words, Nash is looking to just have some "fun" again this year.

[Xylus]

So in other words, Nash is looking to just have some "fun" again this year.

Where exactly did you get that impression? All Nash is saying is that they shouldn't expect to be the best team in the league right away. They have to work at it, improve every game, just like they did last year.

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

I felt like since he stated that if he were a betting man he would think that the Suns aren't making the playoffs, that his mentality to get better and be one of the best teams is a little dampered, giving him a more carefree perspective. I don't think it's good at all when you're trying to reach forward to the top and your leader doesn't even believe the team is playoff material right now.

[Xylus]

I felt like since he stated that if he were a betting man he would think that the Suns aren't making the playoffs, that his mentality to get better and be one of the best teams is a little dampered, giving him a more carefree perspective. I don't think it's good at all when you're trying to reach forward to the top and your leader doesn't even believe the team is playoff material right now.

Those quotes don't sound carefree to me at all. He sounds like he's deeply concerned with the state of the team and is looking for answers. He never says that the team is incapable of making the playoffs, but that they have to work hard if they hope to.