ducks
03-01-2008, 09:20 PM
Too many mistakes turn Suns' fortunes
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/110297
One of the secrets to Phoenix's success over the past four years was its ability to play fast without making a lot of mistakes - and without paying too high a price for the mistakes it did make.In the midst of a huge personnel change, the Suns are losing the turnover game - and losing games as a result.
Suns expected to add Giricek to roster
It's as much about losing Shawn Marion as it is about adding Shaquille O'Neal - as much about the musical chairs of positions and roles as it is about age or inferior effort.
The defense is taking a lot of heat for the recent 2-3 slump - and the fact the Suns are a pedestrian 5-5 since the trade, with all five losses coming to elite teams Phoenix may well face in the playoffs.
But it's the sloppy, discombobulated offense - minus the easy baskets of Marion, plus the burden of incorporating O'Neal - that's creating pressure on the other end.
Prior to the Marion-O'Neal trade on Feb. 6, the Suns were averaging 13.6 turnovers a game and forcing 14.7 on the other end - just about a plus-one.
In the 10 games since the trade, despite playing at a more deliberate pace, the Suns have committed a whopping 15.8 turnovers and are forcing only 12.3 - and it seems like every Phoenix miscue winds up in their basket.
Seven of the past 10 opponents have scored at least 18 points off turnovers, almost double the 10.6 the Suns yielded during the first 48 games of the season. And in their past two meetings with New Orleans, the Suns coughed up the ball 39 times, leading to 46 points.
"We aren't as aggressive or gritty on defense as we need to be, but we have to execute better on offense," Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We've been giving up 15-25 points a night (off turnovers), something we've never done. We have to get that number down again.
"A lot of it comes from guys not knowing where to be or how to play with each other. Shaq is a new guy. Linton (Johnson) is a new guy and he's different from Brian Skinner. Amaré Stoudemire) is playing a new position. You hope for the best, but there will be growing pains. We expected the problems and no one is feeling sorry for us."
The Lakers (Pau Gasol), Mavericks (Jason Kidd), Spurs (Kurt Thomas and Damon Stoudamire), Warriors (Chris Webber) and Jazz (Kyle Korver) all added new pieces before the trade deadline. But none of those teams had the added burden of losing a main piece.
Marion not only created turnovers with his steals (two a game), deflections and strong perimeter defense, his offense also came in the form of easy transition or alley-oop baskets that the Suns miss.
"We have a lot to work on offensively," guard Steve Nash said. "We're out of sync, we're hesitating and that leads to turnovers. We're playing games and guessing, and just that little doubt by not being as familiar leads to fast-break points (the other way) that are hurting us."
Nash remembers when his Dallas team reached the conference finals in 2002-03, but was retooled the next season to add shooters Antwan Jamison and Antoine Walker to the attack.
That team never did click and was blown up after one season. Nash doesn't think that will happen here, but the level of the transformation is daunting.
"We changed a big dynamic. It's not like we traded a center for a center," Nash said. "We traded away and got two completely different players. It's going to take time.
"We have to battle through this stage. But we have good players. We will improve our cohesion and if we do that we can beat anybody. If we can make the playoffs and in that time figure out what we're trying to do, we'll have a good chance to do damage."
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/110297
One of the secrets to Phoenix's success over the past four years was its ability to play fast without making a lot of mistakes - and without paying too high a price for the mistakes it did make.In the midst of a huge personnel change, the Suns are losing the turnover game - and losing games as a result.
Suns expected to add Giricek to roster
It's as much about losing Shawn Marion as it is about adding Shaquille O'Neal - as much about the musical chairs of positions and roles as it is about age or inferior effort.
The defense is taking a lot of heat for the recent 2-3 slump - and the fact the Suns are a pedestrian 5-5 since the trade, with all five losses coming to elite teams Phoenix may well face in the playoffs.
But it's the sloppy, discombobulated offense - minus the easy baskets of Marion, plus the burden of incorporating O'Neal - that's creating pressure on the other end.
Prior to the Marion-O'Neal trade on Feb. 6, the Suns were averaging 13.6 turnovers a game and forcing 14.7 on the other end - just about a plus-one.
In the 10 games since the trade, despite playing at a more deliberate pace, the Suns have committed a whopping 15.8 turnovers and are forcing only 12.3 - and it seems like every Phoenix miscue winds up in their basket.
Seven of the past 10 opponents have scored at least 18 points off turnovers, almost double the 10.6 the Suns yielded during the first 48 games of the season. And in their past two meetings with New Orleans, the Suns coughed up the ball 39 times, leading to 46 points.
"We aren't as aggressive or gritty on defense as we need to be, but we have to execute better on offense," Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We've been giving up 15-25 points a night (off turnovers), something we've never done. We have to get that number down again.
"A lot of it comes from guys not knowing where to be or how to play with each other. Shaq is a new guy. Linton (Johnson) is a new guy and he's different from Brian Skinner. Amaré Stoudemire) is playing a new position. You hope for the best, but there will be growing pains. We expected the problems and no one is feeling sorry for us."
The Lakers (Pau Gasol), Mavericks (Jason Kidd), Spurs (Kurt Thomas and Damon Stoudamire), Warriors (Chris Webber) and Jazz (Kyle Korver) all added new pieces before the trade deadline. But none of those teams had the added burden of losing a main piece.
Marion not only created turnovers with his steals (two a game), deflections and strong perimeter defense, his offense also came in the form of easy transition or alley-oop baskets that the Suns miss.
"We have a lot to work on offensively," guard Steve Nash said. "We're out of sync, we're hesitating and that leads to turnovers. We're playing games and guessing, and just that little doubt by not being as familiar leads to fast-break points (the other way) that are hurting us."
Nash remembers when his Dallas team reached the conference finals in 2002-03, but was retooled the next season to add shooters Antwan Jamison and Antoine Walker to the attack.
That team never did click and was blown up after one season. Nash doesn't think that will happen here, but the level of the transformation is daunting.
"We changed a big dynamic. It's not like we traded a center for a center," Nash said. "We traded away and got two completely different players. It's going to take time.
"We have to battle through this stage. But we have good players. We will improve our cohesion and if we do that we can beat anybody. If we can make the playoffs and in that time figure out what we're trying to do, we'll have a good chance to do damage."