ducks
12-03-2004, 10:06 AM
Suns on the rise
BY MIKE WELLS, Pioneer Press
PHOENIX — The Timberwolves swept last season's four-game season series against the Phoenix Suns by more than 11 points a game.
The odds of the Wolves doing that again aren't good, because this isn't the same Phoenix team that won just 29 games and finished 27 games out of first in the old Pacific Division.
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These Suns don't walk the ball up and play half-court basketball. They've scrapped the customary offense to play "small ball," which doesn't feature a true center. More important, the organization brought in point guard Steve Nash, who constantly pushes the ball upcourt and makes everybody else better.
The end result has been a league-best 13-2 record for the Suns, who are determined to make an already loaded Western Conference even more competitive.
"It's early, but what they've been doing has been successful for them," Wolves forward Kevin Garnett said. "They've had some rocky years and some personnel changes, but they're on Cloud Nine right now. They look good. They're running and gunning. They're totally West Coast, and they're one of the up-and-coming teams."
The Suns, who are on a nine-game winning streak, enter tonight's game against the Wolves leading the league in scoring (107.9 points a game). They are outscoring opponents by 12 points a game, and everybody in their starting five averages at least 12.4 points a game.
"We're going against a team that doesn't play very good offense," Wolves coach Flip Saunders joked.
The Suns didn't overhaul their roster in the offseason. They just did some fine-tuning.
They lured Quentin Richardson from the Los Angeles Clippers, but their biggest acquisition was Nash. He signed a six-year, $60 million contract with the Suns after spending six seasons with the run-and-gun Dallas Mavericks. Besides averaging 16.3 points, Nash, who spent his first two years in the league with the Suns, also averages a league-high 11.1 assists a game. He was selected the Western Conference player of the month for November.
"This whole team feeds off him. As he goes, this whole team goes," Cleveland Cavaliers coach Paul Silas recently said about Nash. "He just changed the whole complexion of the team. They're a throwback to the old days where teams just run and gunned, played pick and roll — 107 points a game in the NBA today? That's awesome."
Forward Amare Stoudemire has been the biggest beneficiary of Nash's arrival. The athletic third-year player has turned into a dunking machine thanks to Nash's open-court ability. Stoudemire is averaging 25.9 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots, which would be career highs if he remains on this pace.
Suns coach Mike D'Antoni is playing without a true low-post scorer by teaming Stoudemire in the frontcourt with Shawn Marion and Richardson, along with Joe Johnson and Nash in the backcourt. The Suns are 14th in the league in points allowed (95.6) and fifth in field-goal percentage defense (42.3), and they're blocking 2.2 shots a game more than their opponent.
"What you have to understand is that they're whole team is active," Garnett said. "They block shots, they put a hand up and they play defense. Even though Stoudemire is their supposed big man, he fills the middle up. You have to pound him. You have to make him play a half-court game."
Despite their early success, Wolves point guard Sam Cassell isn't sold on the Suns.
"It's early. You're not going to win championships in November. You don't lose them in November," he said. "Everything is going so well. We have to see them, and we'll see. We'll be ready to play basketball. We know they're going to come running and gunning. We're going to defend, we're going to put pressure on them offensively and we'll see what happens."
Mike Wells covers the NBA and the Timberwolves. He can be reached at [email protected].
BY MIKE WELLS, Pioneer Press
PHOENIX — The Timberwolves swept last season's four-game season series against the Phoenix Suns by more than 11 points a game.
The odds of the Wolves doing that again aren't good, because this isn't the same Phoenix team that won just 29 games and finished 27 games out of first in the old Pacific Division.
ADVERTISEMENT
These Suns don't walk the ball up and play half-court basketball. They've scrapped the customary offense to play "small ball," which doesn't feature a true center. More important, the organization brought in point guard Steve Nash, who constantly pushes the ball upcourt and makes everybody else better.
The end result has been a league-best 13-2 record for the Suns, who are determined to make an already loaded Western Conference even more competitive.
"It's early, but what they've been doing has been successful for them," Wolves forward Kevin Garnett said. "They've had some rocky years and some personnel changes, but they're on Cloud Nine right now. They look good. They're running and gunning. They're totally West Coast, and they're one of the up-and-coming teams."
The Suns, who are on a nine-game winning streak, enter tonight's game against the Wolves leading the league in scoring (107.9 points a game). They are outscoring opponents by 12 points a game, and everybody in their starting five averages at least 12.4 points a game.
"We're going against a team that doesn't play very good offense," Wolves coach Flip Saunders joked.
The Suns didn't overhaul their roster in the offseason. They just did some fine-tuning.
They lured Quentin Richardson from the Los Angeles Clippers, but their biggest acquisition was Nash. He signed a six-year, $60 million contract with the Suns after spending six seasons with the run-and-gun Dallas Mavericks. Besides averaging 16.3 points, Nash, who spent his first two years in the league with the Suns, also averages a league-high 11.1 assists a game. He was selected the Western Conference player of the month for November.
"This whole team feeds off him. As he goes, this whole team goes," Cleveland Cavaliers coach Paul Silas recently said about Nash. "He just changed the whole complexion of the team. They're a throwback to the old days where teams just run and gunned, played pick and roll — 107 points a game in the NBA today? That's awesome."
Forward Amare Stoudemire has been the biggest beneficiary of Nash's arrival. The athletic third-year player has turned into a dunking machine thanks to Nash's open-court ability. Stoudemire is averaging 25.9 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots, which would be career highs if he remains on this pace.
Suns coach Mike D'Antoni is playing without a true low-post scorer by teaming Stoudemire in the frontcourt with Shawn Marion and Richardson, along with Joe Johnson and Nash in the backcourt. The Suns are 14th in the league in points allowed (95.6) and fifth in field-goal percentage defense (42.3), and they're blocking 2.2 shots a game more than their opponent.
"What you have to understand is that they're whole team is active," Garnett said. "They block shots, they put a hand up and they play defense. Even though Stoudemire is their supposed big man, he fills the middle up. You have to pound him. You have to make him play a half-court game."
Despite their early success, Wolves point guard Sam Cassell isn't sold on the Suns.
"It's early. You're not going to win championships in November. You don't lose them in November," he said. "Everything is going so well. We have to see them, and we'll see. We'll be ready to play basketball. We know they're going to come running and gunning. We're going to defend, we're going to put pressure on them offensively and we'll see what happens."
Mike Wells covers the NBA and the Timberwolves. He can be reached at [email protected].