Why Phoenix Made The Deal For Shaq - Eddie Johnson

[Supreme_Being]

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Why Phoenix made the deal for Shaq

February 7, 2008 @ 9:17 am · Filed under Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, Shawn Marion, Shaquille O'Neal, Pau Gasol

A few weeks ago I heard about a potential deal the Suns might be involved in, but I brushed it off because around this time of year we hear all kinds of rumors. Then when the Lakers acquired Pau Gasol, my mind started to wonder and mainly because there are two teams that the Suns view as huge hurdles to the finals: the Lakers and the Spurs.

I again started to worry because it meant more Shawn Marion trade rumors and one more round of those rumors could really destroy any progress the Suns made since the Garnett discussions last summer with regards to the Matrix.

Well, here we are again and this time it’s a done deal.

Let’s get one thing straight before I talk about the value of this trade and give my five reasons why the Suns had to make a deal for Shaq and my five reasons why it could work… Shawn Marion is one the best people and players I have ever had the pleasure of watching and the Miami Heat will find out what working hard for 48 minutes is all about when the Matrix arrives in South Beach.

Marion leaves as one of the most consistent and popular Sun players ever and he will definitely be a candidate for the Suns Ring of Honor when he retires. Shawn is the best combination rebounder and defender in this league since Dennis Rodman and the Suns will have to find a combination of players to replace what Marion brought to the table every night in those hustle categories.

I also know Shawn well enough to say that he will indeed miss Phoenix, but he understands that being traded virtually head up for the most dominant player that has probably played is nothing to be embarrassed about.

Although the Matrix factor will be missed, the Suns had to do something. Yes, they have the best record in the Western Conference. But something was not right. The dominance that we were used to see was not there on a consistent basis. We did not see the blowout games or the 20 to 4 runs that this team has spoiled us with over the last three years. The games seemed to be a grind and it wore on the fans and critics and caused us to think that maybe the Suns were becoming vulnerable. That, combined with the improvement of the Hornets, Nuggets, Trail Blazers and Warriors at the bottom of the pack, made a trip to the Finals look hazy and difficult.

So we also must assume the Suns front office and coaching staff had some of the same anxiety because they are extremely giddy at having the opportunity to put Shaq in a Suns uniform.

Here are five reasons why the Suns had to make this move for Shaquille O’Neal:

Steve Nash’s window of opportunity is closing

As each year passes, the Suns cannot expect Nash to continue to create offensively for everyone. Pushing the ball on the fast break is one thing, but having to run the two-man game 40 possessions every night against physical defenses will eventually take its toll. Nash deserves a chance to add a le to his two MVP trophies.

Spurs have never won back-to-back championships

The last time this scenario came to bear, the Dallas Mavericks used a physical combination of Erick Dampier and DeSagana Diop to wear down the Amare-less Suns to move on to the Finals against Shaq and the Heat. The Spurs have showed signs of wear and tear and the Suns do not want to miss out again on this opportunity.

Lakers add Pau Gasol factor

The Lakers could have said we traded for Pau Gasol on Halloween because it scared everyone in the Western Conference. I don’t even play anymore and it scared me. Imagine the frontline of Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum and Gasol. Then combine it with the athleticism and shooting of Kobe Bryant and it’s obvious how every team is saying, “Why is Phil Jackson so darn lucky and why can’t he suffer for long?”

Throw in Trevor Ariza, Jordan Farmar, Derek Fisher and Ronny Turiaf. The Lakers look like a championship team this year.

Suns are 2-6 against the top teams in the West

The Suns have beaten the Lakers without Bynum and they beat the Spurs early in the season. They are 0-2 against the Hornets, lost twice to the Lakers with Bynum and got beaten by the Mavericks. The major reason for the losses has been an inability to defend the paint and the lack of defensive rebounding. Proof lays in the stats of the teams interior players when they play the Suns. Bynum averages 21 and 12. Duncan averages 27 and 17. Chandler averages 15 and 15. All above their season averages. And if you want to look further, Al Jefferson, who plays on arguably the worst team in the league, averages 32 and 16 in two Timberwolves wins this season against the Suns.

Combine this with the foul trouble of the Suns best offensive player, Amare Stoudemire, and we see why the Suns chose to pursue Shaq.

The Portland Trail Blazers and the Greg Oden factor

The Blazers are the team of the future. If Greg Oden lives up to his promise and LaMarcus Aldridge and All-Star Brandon Roy continue to grow, the Suns will have another couple of big bodies to deal with over the next few years.

So now that I have given you why the Suns made the move, here are five reasons why it could work:

First let me say this… I have heard the comment about Shaq is a s of himself so on and so forth. Give me a break. I predicted the Heat would struggle this year and it was not because of Shaq. It was because of the players Pat Riley surrounded him with. Riley basically signed and drafted players that can’t throw the ball into the post and most importantly did not strike fear in teams with their jump shooting ability. This can ruin any big man that is a threat to post up and be productive in this league, including one of the most dominant ever.

So it’s absurd to judge Shaq on what he has done this year. He deserves to be judged on what he can bring to the Suns.

Suns rise immediately to one of the most physical teams

Shaquille O’Neal is a wall. The most overhyped stat is blocked shot. What about deterrence and altering decisions with the ball? The Suns are at the top of the league in blocked shots, but are viewed as a weak defensive team. The reason they blocked shots is because they got a ton of opportunities. Now that statistic will go down, but the opposition’s in-the-paint scoring will too. That means teams will take more jump shots and the Suns are better at that game than anyone in the league and now they also have the interior scoring of Amare and Shaq to boot.

The Suns are the worst defensive rebounding team in the league because they could not command space. Shaq will allow Amare, Grant Hill, Raja Bell, Boris Diaw, etcetera, to be better rebounders because he will eat up space and punish offensive rebounders with long outlet passes – thus allowing Nash and Leandro Barbosa to leak out.

Finally, Shaq will protect Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire from physical play. Players are physically afraid of him and he will punish you if you take shots at his teammates. I would love to see Robert Horry throw Nash to the floor with Shaq around to punish Parker or Duncan.

Three players that command serious defensive attention

Shaq, Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire will cause teams to change their defensive philosophy during the course of the game, which is extremely difficult to do.

Case in point. How will teams defend the Suns when they run the high pick-and-roll with Amare? Normally teams will rotate the weak side big defender over to challenge him. Well, if that occurs you have Shaq on the weak block flashing in for a pass from Nash or a guard trying to block him out. If teams get silly enough to rotate a small player to Amare, then they allow Raja Bell or Leandro Barbosa to have wide open three-point shots on the weak side.

Mike D’Antoni can use his full playbook now with the back-to-the-basket dominance of Shaq.

Improve the running game

The biggest fallacy about the Suns and their running game is that Shaq will slow them down. I believe it will speed them up and give them more opportunities to run. I have already talked about possessions and the physicality Shaq brings to the Suns.

Now couple that with better confidence with your defensive rebounding – thus allowing Nash, Barbosa, Hill and Bell to run out earlier. The Suns could be even more potent. Also throw in Amare running more because of not having to fight and box out big centers.

I never saw Kareem Abdul-Jabbar running the lanes for the Lakers, but I did see him igniting it with rebounding and long outlet passes, and then coming down on the block with commanding presence.

Amare will become more dominant

Because of the matchup nightmare Shaq would bring, Amare Stoudemire will benefit the most.

Foul trouble should decrease and scoring and rebounding should go up. Also watch for his weak side defense to produce more blocked shots and steals. We have never seen what Shaq could do with a young dominant power forward beside him and he has one of the best in Stoudemire, who should be ecstatic at the chance to stop battling centers every night.

Nash can play without dominating ball

This might be the most important cause of the Shaq trade and here is why.

D’Antoni would love to keep Nash on the floor and use him off the ball, but he knows the offense would stall. The addition of Shaq and his great passing out of the post will allow the NBA’s best three-point shooter to spot up for periods during the game and punish defenses for doubling.

Case in point. Grant Hill throws it in to Shaq with Nash and either Barbosa or Bell on the weak side and Amare on the elbow waiting for the short jumpshot or the run to the basket if they double off of him.

This will destroy any defense and if Shaq stays healthy the Suns will be the team to beat come playoff time.


http://hoopshype.com/blogs/johnson/i...deal-for-shaq/

[adidas11]

The biggest fallacy about the Suns and their running game is that Shaq will slow them down. I believe it will speed them up and give them more opportunities to run. I have already talked about possessions and the physicality Shaq brings to the Suns.

Now couple that with better confidence with your defensive rebounding – thus allowing Nash, Barbosa, Hill and Bell to run out earlier. The Suns could be even more potent. Also throw in Amare running more because of not having to fight and box out big centers.

I never saw Kareem Abdul-Jabbar running the lanes for the Lakers, but I did see him igniting it with rebounding and long outlet passes, and then coming down on the block with commanding presence.

A point that I brought up in another thread. Having Shaq on the Suns may actually allow them to run MORE, not less.

[m33p0]

gotta admit, this might be the case.

[VaSpursFan]

sound logic and reasoning...it'll be interesting to see how this plays out. i'm still waiting on dallas to make their panic trade

[JamStone]

Eddie Johnson might want to stop sucking Shawn Marion's now that he's not a Sun anymore. You'd think Marion impregnated him or something.

[BillsCarnage]

Hey, EJ is a Suns homer, so know that first. That being said he has one of the highest basketball IQ's I've listened to.

The one thing in the presso yesterday i was curious to hear about was what the medical staff though of Shaq and evidently he's in pretty good shape. The Suns' medical staff is considered one of the best in the league and based on what they've done with Hill, Nash and Amare i have no doubt they can get Shaq back into decent playing shape.

I expect them to spend most of Feb working w/ Shaq - maybe even playing .500 ball. But, they don't care about the regular season now; it's all about getting Shaq ready for the PO's.

[sribb43]

i hate watching suns broadcast bc of EJ's homerism...atleast Tommy H. over with the C's is somewhat funny but EJ praises the suns as if they are the greatest thing on earth and its sickening. He by himself almost ruined a great game that i was watching between the suns/hornets. The way he was talking about shaq, youd think they had acquired the 24 yrs Orlando Magic Shaq

[sribb43]

Hey, EJ is a Suns homer, so know that first. That being said he has one of the highest basketball IQ's I've listened to.

The one thing in the presso yesterday i was curious to hear about was what the medical staff though of Shaq and evidently he's in pretty good shape. The Suns' medical staff is considered one of the best in the league and based on what they've done with Hill, Nash and Amare i have no doubt they can get Shaq back into decent playing shape.

I expect them to spend most of Feb working w/ Shaq - maybe even playing .500 ball. But, they don't care about the regular season now; it's all about getting Shaq ready for the PO's.

it not so much about him getting in shape, its the fact that he has a jacked up hip that when he seems to play on it, automatically aggrevates it

[Shred]

it not so much about him getting in shape, its the fact that he has a jacked up hip that when he seems to play on it, automatically aggrevates it

"Jacked up?" Don't go throwing medical terms around here. Hey, where did you complete your fellowship in orthopedic surgery? Do you know my doctor?

sribb43, ca. 2006: "Amare will never play like he used to after microfracture surgery aggrevates [sic] his jacked up knee."

[ancestron]

....we need a plan....

[bonesinaz]

Eddie Johnson is so ridiculous that I would never take this seriously.

[DazedAndConfused]

One thing I know about Pat Riley is that he knows the value of a big man. He's won all his rings off the backs of HOF centers. He would not trade Shaq unless he knew there was nothing left in the tank.

I applaud PHX for having the balls to make this move, but think about this. They could have signed Kurt Thomas for $8 million a year, a guy who IMHO plays better defense than Shaq and can rebound equally as well, AND kept Marion in the process. Instead they cut Thomas, sell their draft picks, and now are taking on Shaq's inflated contract. Horrible horrible decision making by the PHX FO.

[Cry Havoc]

The one thing in the presso yesterday i was curious to hear about was what the medical staff though of Shaq and evidently he's in pretty good shape.

I've never questioned how "in shape" Shaq is. My thoughts on him are that he's older now, and regardless of how many calisthenics you do, you cannot gear an old frame to withstand the kind of weight that Shaq has now. The speed and pace and grind of an NBA schedule is too much.

EVEN if Shaq is healthy, how many minutes a game can he play? 25? 28, at the most? Marion was averaging close to 37. So that's 10 minutes per game, ideally, that you have empty space on the floor for Phoenix where an all-star used to be.

And this is all assuming Shaq doesn't get hurt in the rugged, pounding Western Conference.

[boutons_]

Shaq is done.

fat (but down from peak obesity), outta shape, badly foul prone, injury prone, but these clowns make him out to be still the 30PT/12RB Shaq of 2000-2003.

[conqueso]

i hate watching suns broadcast bc of EJ's homerism...atleast Tommy H. over with the C's is somewhat funny but EJ praises the suns as if they are the greatest thing on earth and its sickening. He by himself almost ruined a great game that i was watching between the suns/hornets. The way he was talking about shaq, youd think they had acquired the 24 yrs Orlando Magic Shaq

It's not his homerism that bothers me, but instead his inveterate re ation. I also find it unbelievable that people think his points are "logical," when they are anything but.

Here's the deal with Shaq. It would be a stretch for Shaq to play more than 24 mpg for the Suns even when healthy because of all the running, which means they're going to have to rely on Diaw and his $9 million (!) contract and Brian Skinner and his multi-colored goatie for most of the remaining 24 mpg. Marion was averaging 36.5 mpg, so that means an extra 12 minutes per game of either Skinner or Diaw, which should be a terrifying prospect for Suns fans.

But even when Shaq is in the game, he doesn't make them that much better. Yes, Shaq and Amare create matchup problems for the Spurs and Mavs and Lakers (until Bynum returns). The Rockets--who matchup up very well with them since Yao can Shaq and Scola performed well against Gasol in international play--aren't an elite team with any chance of going deep into the playoffs. But which one is Dirk going to guard? Which one is Duncan going to guard? That's kind of a pick-your-poison deal, since even though Shaq is like 40 years old, he still weighs ten times his age and is still strong as , and banging with him will wear out whoever has to guard him.

Here's the thing though: the Suns have two paths they can follow with Shaq. Either they can try to make him fit in with the Suns' system (which is like the ultimate square peg in a round hole as Hollinger pointed out), or they can change the whole way their team approaches the game to accommodate Shaq. With the first option, Shaq will be pretty much useless, since it takes him :07 Seconds or MORE just to run down to the offensive end of the court...the Suns will have already shot the ball by the time his fat ass joins the play.

With the second option, the Suns do what everyone has been telling them they need to do to push it to a championship next level: slow the tempo down and commit to defense. No doubt this was Kerr's motivation for trading for Shaq; create matchup problems and slow everything WAY the down. While this is a compelling move that is probably a good strategy generally, you would need to do more than trade Marion for Shaq to mold a team committed to defense. First, you would have to give Amare a brain transplant, since his ego won't allow him to play defense if it won't result in a highlight reel dunk. Second, you would need to just bench Nash, because he's a ty defender to his core. And third and finally, you'd have to fire D'Antoni, because he just couldn't bring himself to grind everything down to a more reasonable, "boring," championship-winning pace.

But if the Suns do try to play more ugly ball with Shaq to utilize his strengths more, they just won't be the same team. For one thing, you don't have to double Shaq anymore because he's old and crippled, and so many of the threes taken by the Suns are wide-open in transition. If they slow down the break, all of those dry up. For another thing, changing the team to suit Shaq's skills moves the team away from a style that suits Nash's skills. He is not a spectacular half court point guard. In fact, he's probably not even one of the top 5 point guards in the league in the half court game. He's a full court, fast-breaking point guard, which is why he went from kinda-All-Star to ing ridiculous MVP overnight when he moved from Dallas to Phoenix. Even though that Nellie Ball he was playing in Dallas was still fast-paced, it was nothing like the :07 Second or Less Suns, and his effectiveness reflected that.

If Phoenix is content to trade their MVP's domination for MAYBE 16 and 7 out of Shaq, then they should go ahead with this trade. But I don't think they've thought through all the "chemistry" issues thoroughly if they think replacing a whiny Marion with ing Shaq is going to actually make their team run more smoothly, either on or off the court.

As for this idiot's specific points, I hear the point that better defensive rebounding could speed up the Suns, but it's not like you're getting a big improvement with Shaq in there: Marion averages 10 rpg this year (8.1 defensive rebounds per game), while Shaq only averages 7.8 rpg this year (4.8 defensive rebounds per game). Last year he averaged only 7.4 with 5 defensive boards. Plus, Marion was fast enough and athletic enough to do what DRob did way back in the day, which is grab a defensive board, outlet, and then run the floor so he could be involved in the finish. Shaq cannot do that. So with Shaq, you're getting a guy who's a worse defensive rebounder and much worse fast break runner,

While it's true that it doesn't take 5 guys to fast break, that's truly a re ed comment to make. Marion was, without a doubt, their best fast break finisher. They have given that away in return for someone who absolutely cannot be a part of the primary break, and might not even be a part of the secondary break. So while the Suns can still possibly fast break because "it doesn't take 5 guys to fast break," their fast break just got a LOT worse because they lost their best fast break finisher and didn't get anyone who can't effect anything except the rebound at the very start of the break. So not only have the Suns picked up a worse defensive rebounder and a much worse fast break runner, they've given up their best fast break finisher too.

And this is supposed to "improve their running game?" Is this what passes for insightful journalism these days? .

I agree that they're a more physical team now. BFD. Horry didn't win that series last summer for the Spurs, Timmy D and Amare's ego did. So what if he can't shoulder check Nash for fear of the Big Gorilla's retaliation? And even though Shaq may help clog the paint and make interior scoring more difficult, the next step in his logical chain ignores the fact that the Suns have replaced one of their best jump shooters with a guy who can't make a shot from further than 5 feet out: "That means teams will take more jump shots and the Suns are better at that game than anyone in the league." Is it fair to just assume that the Suns will still be the best in the league at the jump shooting game now that their speed on the break has taken a huge hit and they've lost one of their best jump shooters? Christ, who the decided to give this fool a blog?

I agree with him that teams will have to change the way they guard Amare on the high pick and roll, which is not going to cause some massive upheaval in the league. So they can't double off of Shaq...so what? They'll double off of Barbosa or Bell, which is just about as bad as doubling off of Marion from a three point perspective, so it's not like teams can't apply the same strategy. They just need to add a minor tweak.

As one last point, I think Amare might find it a little more difficult to score in the post with a huge blob like Shaq taking up so much space. Before, with Marion out wide, he had lots of room to work and space to use his athleticism to break free of his defender for a dunk. Now he's got to share that space with the basketball equivalent of the anic. And Amare's supposed to become more dominant? WTF?

[BillsCarnage]

I applaud PHX for having the balls to make this move, but think about this. They could have signed Kurt Thomas for $8 million a year, a guy who IMHO plays better defense than Shaq and can rebound equally as well, AND kept Marion in the process. Instead they cut Thomas, sell their draft picks, and now are taking on Shaq's inflated contract. Horrible horrible decision making by the PHX FO.

But they would be in bad lux tax territory. KT was a salary dump plain and simple. This trade still keeps them with a relatively low tax.

EVEN if Shaq is healthy, how many minutes a game can he play? 25? 28, at the most? Marion was averaging close to 37. So that's 10 minutes per game, ideally, that you have empty space on the floor for Phoenix where an all-star used to be.

Evidently you didn't see Boris start last night - sans his idiotic play at the end. Shaq's not going to play more than 25, maybe 30 a game. I'm surprised soo many ppl think the Suns are going to run him out there 35, 40+ min a game. that's why those ppl are fans and not GM's or coaches.

And this is all assuming Shaq doesn't get hurt in the rugged, pounding Western Conference.

Time will tell, but i have to give kudos to Kerr and Sarver for having the cajones to make this trade. It's probably the biggest gamble in NBA history that could pay high rewards or make them look like complete bafoons.

This could be the best team that Shaq has ever played on and the Suns aren't relying on him to be the main go-to guy.

[AZLouis]

Bill, the same was said about Grant Hill and his PT. We all know how that is going.

[mardigan]

He would not trade Shaq unless he knew there was nothing left in the tank.

Or he realized his team sucked ass, had no players, had no cap room, and had an aging center with a big contract who he didnt want to see go out like that.

[41times]

Eddie Johnson is a Suns Tool.

Those reason all are flawed.

Wouldn't Shaq have to be in shape enough to actually "Play" to do all those things?
I guess for 25 minutes per game he can do some stuff?

But really, are the Suns now all of the sudden one of the better defending teams in the league? please.

And are then now going to slow down their game to play more low post? No

The suns lost a great shooter, good defender, excellent athlete. And in return they got a Tired, Old, Slow, injured, 35 year old guy who can't run the court, can't shoot Free Throws, Can't shoot a 15 foot jumper and can't stay healthy.

Nice Try Eddie but we ain't buying what you are selling!

[K-State Spur]

A point that I brought up in another thread. Having Shaq on the Suns may actually allow them to run MORE, not less.

I'm not buying it (not to say that I think Shaq will slow them down much either). A lot of people are talking about the rebounding he brings them. Well, at this state of their careers, Marion was an equal rebounder to Shaq. In addition, Marion - at the 4 - is really one of the best bigs playing in space in the league. Whether Phoenix likes it or not, when Shaq is on the floor, there will be one less player available for the easy buckets that they have become accustomed to.

[BillsCarnage]

Bill, the same was said about Grant Hill and his PT. We all know how that is going.

and what ill effects has Hill showed, Lou? The same was said about Hill by the fans.

[BonnerDynasty]

Yes, they have the best record in the Western Conference. But something was not right. The dominance that we were used to see was not there on a consistent basis. We did not see the blowout games or the 20 to 4 runs that this team has spoiled us with over the last three years.

Dominated? Spoiled?

They haven't given ya'll .

I see KJ is the Entertainment-over-Substance side of Suns Fan.

[Cry Havoc]

and what ill effects has Hill showed, Lou? The same was said about Hill by the fans.

They're completely different types of injuries. Hill's injuries are genetic and can be overcome with a little luck. There is no luck left in Diesel. He's going to be hurt, consistently, for the rest of his career, because his body is too much for his frame to endure. As a regular person, he would probably have no such issues. However, playing at the NBA level completely exacerbates any kind of ailment you may have, especially due to weight.

As one last point, I think Amare might find it a little more difficult to score in the post with a huge blob like Shaq taking up so much space. Before, with Marion out wide, he had lots of room to work and space to use his athleticism to break free of his defender for a dunk. Now he's got to share that space with the basketball equivalent of the anic. And Amare's supposed to become more dominant? WTF?

That's precisely the point I made in another thread immediately after hearing the trade. Defenders are now going to easily be able to play over on Amare or Shaq as necessary because both of them play very close to the hoop.

I'm not hating on the Suns with this, either. I don't envy them for getting Shaq. I think they gave up a fantastic player who's extremely underrated because he isn't with the "balla" mentality of breaking ankles to get the first step. Marion on defense is great. Rebounding he's great. Making plays he's great. Shooting he's pretty darn good too.

The one thing he can't do is create his own shot. And now many Suns fans are calling him overrated? It just doesn't add up to me, and seems like cognitive dissonance more than anything else. You're attempting to rationalize this in your minds why this happened so you're casting off Marion as a no-talent malcontent to feel better about the situation. Of course, I agree, he doesn't have the best at ude, but neither does Amare. And at least Marion plays defense.

[mardigan]

Eddie Johnson is a Suns Tool.

Those reason all are flawed.

Wouldn't Shaq have to be in shape enough to actually "Play" to do all those things?
I guess for 25 minutes per game he can do some stuff?

But really, are the Suns now all of the sudden one of the better defending teams in the league? please.

And are then now going to slow down their game to play more low post? No

The suns lost a great shooter, good defender, excellent athlete. And in return they got a Tired, Old, Slow, injured, 35 year old guy who can't run the court, can't shoot Free Throws, Can't shoot a 15 foot jumper and can't stay healthy.

Nice Try Eddie but we ain't buying what you are selling!

People said the same thing about Hill, would he be healthy enough, but phoenix has a badass medical staff, and thats worked out well.

The Suns werent trying to move from worst to first in the defensive catagory, they were giving up 103 points a game already, but now at least they have a big body under the basket that allows Amare to defend his natural position, stay out of fould trouble, and be a better weak side shot blocker, which he is much better at.

People can laugh all they want about Shaq, but he still demands a double, and if you really think he cant give Tim just as much trouble as Kurt Thomas, your a fool. Guys like Tony and Manu also will want nothing to do with driving a Shaq filled lane either. Shaq had no reason to motivated in Miami, he does now.

And jesus already, would you ers stop overating Marion? As Spur fans, how many games in the playoffs have we watched were marion completely disappeared? Did he ever truly scare anyone when the Suns played the Spurs?
Dude is about to turn 30, it's not like he is some badass young dude with tons of potential. , he was only averaging 1 more point and 2 more freakin rebounds in 8 more minutes, big freakin loss. Suns werent going anywhere with Marion, Kerr had nothing to lose in this deal.


And at Cry Havoc for claiming that Hill's ing up his ankles is genetic.

[T Park]

That being said he has one of the highest basketball IQ's I've listened to

Is this the same Eddie Johnson who said Manu Ginobili is "overrated and I don't see what all the fuss is about" during a game against the Suns back in 05?