Best Starting 5 in years

[Jimcs50]

Phoenix vs Seattle:


Q Richardson, F 6-14 3-3 3-9 0 5 5 0 0 0 0 2 18
S Marion, F 7-18 7-7 1-3 2 4 6 1 2 0 3 3 22
A Stoudemire, C 6-11 8-15 0-0 3 6 9 1 0 1 4 5 20
J Johnson, G 10-20 2-2 2-6 2 8 10 5 0 0 0 2 24
S Nash, G 8-14 4-4 1-3 1 5 6 12 0 0 3 3 21


Can you name a better starting 5 top to bottom since Boston and LA in the 80's?

Chicago? Kukoc, Longley, Harper, Armstrong...need I say more?

Detroit(Bad Boys)? Edwards, Aguire?

Detroit? Prince, Billups?

Lakers? Fisher, Fox, George?

I can not think of a Spurs team either that was this strong top to bottom.

As I said a month ago, Nash should win MVP this year, he is playing at a total other level this year, and if Phoenix gets 1 seed, it would be a travesty if he lost out to TD or KG.

[ducks]

spurs will beat them so what does it matter


lakers starting five on paper last year when healthy was good


you have to have a bench

sun players will be tired come playoff time
82 games will catch up to them
only player that is good is their main backup point

[Jimcs50]

spurs will beat them so what does it matter


lakers starting five on paper last year when healthy was good


you have to have a bench

sun players will be tired come playoff time
82 games will catch up to them
only player that is good is their main backup point


ducks, am I asking about playoffs??? I am asking if there is s better starting 5 in recent history. I know that you need a bench, but damn, these 5 players are scary good. Pay attention, did you take your Ritalin?

[ducks]

yeah everyone one of the starting 5 went for over 30 points in dec so far but nash
nash got 29

but how many points do they give up?
how many rebounds do they get?

looking at them last night
sonics are the better team. but can the sonics shoot that well all year?

[ducks]

ducks, am I asking about playoffs??? I am asking if there is s better starting 5 in recent history. I know that you need a bench, but damn, these 5 players are scary good. Pay attention, did you take your Ritalin?


what good does a great starting five do if they can not do well in postseason?

[Jimcs50]

what good does a great starting five do if they can not do well in postseason?


Again, ducks, am I talking about post season??? Damn, how many times do we have threads in here asking some question, that is all I am asking.... :rolleyes

[Jimcs50]

And rebounding? Their front line averages 25 rebs a night, that is tops in the NBA.

[Nikos]

The Seattle Sonics of 1993-94 had a pretty nice SL.

Sam Perkins
Shawn Kemp
Detlef Schrempf
Kendall Gill
Gary Payton

They won 63 games and had the 2nd best O and 2nd best D on the season. Very balanced.

[Nikos]

Oh, and the Kings SL in 2001-2003 when healthy was very nice.

Vlade Divac
Chris Webber
Peja Stojakovic
Doug Christie
Mike Bibby

[spursfaninla]

Their starters are all very talented, yes. The most talented in the league, perhaps.

However, they play small ball. Dallas did it with a pretty talented line last year, and in similar style could field;

dirk
robinson
antawn
finley
Nash

Which, regardless of people's (rightful) opinion about robinson playing winning basketball, is still full of talent. Their d was terrible and so this lineup in the end was not worth it.



Sac with this lineup;

bibby
jackson
weber
peja
miller

That is a very talented lineup as well. Too small in the back court, I think, to be successful as a starting lineup though.

When teams force half court ball on Phoenix and seattle, they do look much less impressive. On every miss they press FAST, and you are going to miss, so they are going to get lots of run. But I also think Phoenix's bench is the flaw; they depend too much on the scoring of the starting 5.

[2pac]

What about 99ish LA?

Snaq
Elden Campbell
Eddie Jones
Kobe Bryant
NVE

Robinson
Cummings
Elliott
Anderson
Strickland

[timvp]

Those are five nice players for the Suns, but they are a gimmick starting five. It's one point guard, three small forwards and a power forward.

Despite that, they'll be a tough opponent this season.

[dcole50]

The Seattle Sonics of 1993-94 had a pretty nice SL.

Sam Perkins
Shawn Kemp
Detlef Schrempf
Kendall Gill
Gary Payton

They won 63 games and had the 2nd best O and 2nd best D on the season. Very balanced.was that the team that choked to the nuggets? what a great team and a great playoff failure.

i agree with jimcs50 about phoenix, though.

[ZStomp]

That's pretty impressive.

I can't wait to play them.

Can they keep up it up all year?

In a playoff series?

Playoff games different?

Either way....bring it on bitches!

[Jimcs50]

Those are five nice players for the Suns, but they are a gimmick starting five. It's one point guard, three small forwards and a power forward.

Despite that, they'll be a tough opponent this season.

timvp, who says it is s "gimmick"? Why are you supposed to have a "true" shooting guard, and a "true" center? I do not think Dr. James Naismith is rolling over in his grave because the Suns have put 4 very athletic players, that can all do 4 different job descriptions, on the court at the same time, do you?

[timvp]

If they face a team in the playoffs with a true center and a true power forward, they could have some problems.

Then again, not too many teams can say they have that.

[Jimcs50]

If they face a team in the playoffs with a true center and a true power forward, they could have some problems.

Then again, not too many teams can say they have that.


Yeah, our true center is Rasho, and I do not think Stoudemire is shaking in his Reeboks in having to face him in May, do you?

:)

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

I don't think there's anything gimmicky about Phoenix. If there's anyone with as much international ties as our Spurs staff, it's D'Antoni at Phoenix.

He's brought the European game to the NBA. Phoenix damn near plays the Argentinian flex (or a version of it) on offense.

[Jimcs50]

Ok, I make this statement and what do I do??? I bet on Washington last night +10 1/2 thinking that Phoenix will have a mild letdown and squeek out a close win against a good Eastern team.

WTF was I thinking???? What a total numbnuts. :cuss

[boutons]

"Phoenix will have a mild letdown"

While PHX has had to come back from a couple of pretty deep holes, PHX seems to manage, on average, to play all 48 minutes better than the Spurs, esp big games like PHX@SEA.

[BronxCowboy]

What will happen when they play the Spurs? They have scored 100+ points in >83% of their games so far, and given up 100+ points in >54% of their games. Good chance that any of their games will be high scoring for both teams. Spurs are undefeated (so far) when they score 100+, and winless (so far) when their opponent scores 100+. If Spurs and Suns both score 100+, who will win? I think this is a really tough matchup for the Spurs.