Game Thoughts: Spurs vs. Suns Game 5

[pauls931]

I agree with that for an additional reason. It was unrealistic to expect a championship when you trade star players in the middle of the season. There is not enough time for the team to completely gel, especially for a player like Shaq where the team has to change a lot of how it plays. I think losing Games 1, 2, and 5 in crunch time reflect the lack of time the Suns have played together.

I think next year will be a very good year for the Suns if they can keep away from changing too much and if they can add another player to their rotation.

Good points. I'm hoping the Suns don't panic and do anything too stupid during the off season. The shaq trade was big and they sacrificed homecourt in the first round to pull it off. I wouldn't mind seeing Dantoni stay, but keep in mind he's not the only person there that runs the team, I mean they have to have defensive coordinators and the likes working in the background too. Lack of cohesion kill them on offense and not figuring out how to guard the high pick killed them this time. Usually it's duncan in the post scoring or kicking it out to a shooter than beats the suns, but this time the Spurs killed them with penetration.

[timvp]

To close out the series, Parker assisted on or scored five of the final six baskets.
I guess Tp is clutch now

Parker had the best clutch stats of anyone on the team last year in the playoffs. He had really good clutch stats this year during the regular season. TP being clutch shouldn't be anything too new.

[SpurAddict561]

LMAO@ this

[foodie2]

That third quarter, they could have lost to the

That's a tough question. I don't think D'Antoni is a very good coach but he's a good fit for that team. For the Suns to win a championship, it's going to have to be with offense. A team with that personnel isn't going to become a defensive-minded unit. You can't have Nash, Stoudemire and a 37-year-old Shaq and try to win with defense.

I realize that Nash will never play defense and Shaq is too old and has no lateral quickness (and never did defend the P&R very well anyway), but couldn't a good defensive coach teach Stoudemire to play defense? From what I observed, if he were able to rotate properly and basically do anything on the defensive end besides highlight-reel blocks, it would be a giant plus for their team. Do you think he's trainable--or is he just too dumb to get it?

[timvp]

I realize that Nash will never play defense and Shaq is too old and has no lateral quickness (and never did defend the P&R very well anyway), but couldn't a good defensive coach teach Stoudemire to play defense? From what I observed, if he were able to rotate properly and basically do anything on the defensive end besides highlight-reel blocks, it would be a giant plus for their team. Do you think he's trainable--or is he just too dumb to get it?

He could get better, no doubt. However, he can't get better enough to the point that the Suns can win with defense. Him improving next year would probably be negated by Nash and Shaq aging another year.

But yeah, you're right, Stoudemire could get a lot better. He has everything other than the know-how to be a good defensive player. People say he's too dumb to play defense, but when I watch him play D he strikes me as a player who has never been coached properly ... at any level.