timvp
01-04-2005, 06:06 AM
Here's a battle blog between Gooshie and MannyIsGod. The judges awarded the victory to Gooshie.
Gooshie: They are not the flavor of the week. Nor are they the flavor of the month. No, folks, the Phoenix Suns are for real – and they’re here to stay. That is, of course, if you’re talking about the regular season. Because once the playoffs roll around, the Suns will not go very far.
You’ve heard it all before: “a run-n-gun style doesn’t cut it in the grind-it-out playoffs”, “live by the three, die by the three” and “small-ball has never worked before”. While all those are legitimate complaints, they are not the major source for my skepticism.
What the Suns lack is continuity. This is the first year this Suns team has been together, and history tells us these teams always have some bumps in the road before tasting playoff success.
The teams that win in the playoffs are the ones who’ve been through some battles together. The Suns have faced only three such teams so far this season – Sacramento, Minnesota and San Antonio – and lost to them all three. Call it a sign of things to come.
No matter where they finish in the standings, chances are the Suns will still have to go through the Spurs, Kings or T-Wolves in order to get to the Western Conference Finals. That is why they will not get past the second round of the playoffs.
Enjoy this unique Phoenix team during the regular season because the Suns will be setting rather early come April.
MannyIsGod: You are correct in your assessment of the Suns as not merely a flavor of the week. They boast a team ripe with athletes and shooters. However, you are incorrect in the assertion of their lack of continuity.
If we take a look at the Suns roster we find a solid core that has been there for many years. Shawn Marion, Amare Stoudemire, Joe Johnson, Casey Jacobsen and Jake Voskuhl have all been Suns for at least 3 years running. In addition, Bo Outlaw has been a Sun 3 out of the last 4 seasons and Leandro Barbosa is also a returning player.
What makes this work is the fact that Steve Nash is playing a style very similar to what he played with the Mavs. The Suns also aren’t running a complex offense requiring an extensive learning period. They are simply maximizing the way in which they use their greatest asset -- athleticism.
We look no further than last season to find a team who made two key acquisitions in the backcourt and was able to advance to the conference finals. Although their season ended at the hands of the Lakers, Minnesota showed no lack of continuity with the additions of Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell.
The Phoenix Suns are most definitely here to stay. With the majority of their rotation very familiar with each other, an MVP caliber point guard and the best big man in the Western Conference not named Tim Duncan or Kevin Garnett we will feel the heat of the blistering Suns late into May.
Gooshie: The Timberwolves? Their best player, Kevin Garnett, is in his 10th year there. Flip Saunders has been there 8 years. They’ve been running the same system for years. Sprewell and Cassell are merely interchangeable parts.
The Suns’ best player is Nash – everything offensively revolves around him – and this is his first year with his new teammates. This is Mike D’Antoni’s first full year there and it’s a new system for all their players.
Again, continuity wins in the playoffs. And before you bring up the 2002 New Jersey Nets, remember that they were playing in a very weak Eastern Conference. The Suns will not have the same luck.
Besides, when has a team with so many holes made it deep into the postseason? They have no depth, not enough size and own the worst defensive rebounding percentage in the league at 67.2%. Frankly speaking, that will not get it done come playoff time.
MannyIsGod: The fact remains that continuity is not an issue with the Suns. Their core of players has been in place for several seasons and is very familiar with each other. This is not the complex triangle offense. We have witnessed D'Antoni’s system in which he uses his player’s athletic ability in an effective way.
The offense does indeed revolve around their best player; I won’t argue that point. Their best player is not Nash however, it is Stoudemire. Not only is he the most athletic and powerful big man in the West, he is packing a new arsenal of low post moves. The only two other teams with big men of that caliber are on the Spurs and T’Wolves.
While the defense presented by the Spurs will indeed be an insurmountable hill for the Suns, Minnesota and the rest of the Western Conference do not posses the ability to stop Stoudemire and the high flying Suns.
Gooshie: They are not the flavor of the week. Nor are they the flavor of the month. No, folks, the Phoenix Suns are for real – and they’re here to stay. That is, of course, if you’re talking about the regular season. Because once the playoffs roll around, the Suns will not go very far.
You’ve heard it all before: “a run-n-gun style doesn’t cut it in the grind-it-out playoffs”, “live by the three, die by the three” and “small-ball has never worked before”. While all those are legitimate complaints, they are not the major source for my skepticism.
What the Suns lack is continuity. This is the first year this Suns team has been together, and history tells us these teams always have some bumps in the road before tasting playoff success.
The teams that win in the playoffs are the ones who’ve been through some battles together. The Suns have faced only three such teams so far this season – Sacramento, Minnesota and San Antonio – and lost to them all three. Call it a sign of things to come.
No matter where they finish in the standings, chances are the Suns will still have to go through the Spurs, Kings or T-Wolves in order to get to the Western Conference Finals. That is why they will not get past the second round of the playoffs.
Enjoy this unique Phoenix team during the regular season because the Suns will be setting rather early come April.
MannyIsGod: You are correct in your assessment of the Suns as not merely a flavor of the week. They boast a team ripe with athletes and shooters. However, you are incorrect in the assertion of their lack of continuity.
If we take a look at the Suns roster we find a solid core that has been there for many years. Shawn Marion, Amare Stoudemire, Joe Johnson, Casey Jacobsen and Jake Voskuhl have all been Suns for at least 3 years running. In addition, Bo Outlaw has been a Sun 3 out of the last 4 seasons and Leandro Barbosa is also a returning player.
What makes this work is the fact that Steve Nash is playing a style very similar to what he played with the Mavs. The Suns also aren’t running a complex offense requiring an extensive learning period. They are simply maximizing the way in which they use their greatest asset -- athleticism.
We look no further than last season to find a team who made two key acquisitions in the backcourt and was able to advance to the conference finals. Although their season ended at the hands of the Lakers, Minnesota showed no lack of continuity with the additions of Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell.
The Phoenix Suns are most definitely here to stay. With the majority of their rotation very familiar with each other, an MVP caliber point guard and the best big man in the Western Conference not named Tim Duncan or Kevin Garnett we will feel the heat of the blistering Suns late into May.
Gooshie: The Timberwolves? Their best player, Kevin Garnett, is in his 10th year there. Flip Saunders has been there 8 years. They’ve been running the same system for years. Sprewell and Cassell are merely interchangeable parts.
The Suns’ best player is Nash – everything offensively revolves around him – and this is his first year with his new teammates. This is Mike D’Antoni’s first full year there and it’s a new system for all their players.
Again, continuity wins in the playoffs. And before you bring up the 2002 New Jersey Nets, remember that they were playing in a very weak Eastern Conference. The Suns will not have the same luck.
Besides, when has a team with so many holes made it deep into the postseason? They have no depth, not enough size and own the worst defensive rebounding percentage in the league at 67.2%. Frankly speaking, that will not get it done come playoff time.
MannyIsGod: The fact remains that continuity is not an issue with the Suns. Their core of players has been in place for several seasons and is very familiar with each other. This is not the complex triangle offense. We have witnessed D'Antoni’s system in which he uses his player’s athletic ability in an effective way.
The offense does indeed revolve around their best player; I won’t argue that point. Their best player is not Nash however, it is Stoudemire. Not only is he the most athletic and powerful big man in the West, he is packing a new arsenal of low post moves. The only two other teams with big men of that caliber are on the Spurs and T’Wolves.
While the defense presented by the Spurs will indeed be an insurmountable hill for the Suns, Minnesota and the rest of the Western Conference do not posses the ability to stop Stoudemire and the high flying Suns.