by Paul Coro - Oct. 24, 2009 01:04 PM
The Arizona Republic
It is no simpler to bring back the Suns' success with the fun-and-gun offense than it was to establish it in the first place.
The idea that Phoenix scored like a pinball machine in past years by just rolling out the basketball was more myth than method. It was a learned behavior of timing, spacing, instincts and principles.
The Suns tried to return to those ways in the middle of last season with a coaching change to Alvin Gentry but really remarried the system for the season that starts Wednesday by trading Shaquille O'Neal in June to go smaller and fleeter.
Only Gentry, Steve Nash, Amaré Stoudemire, Leandro Barbosa and Grant Hill were around two years ago to be entrenched in the curriculum. Thus, it has been back to school, with the aim to return to a higher class of performance - and the playoffs.
The Suns have spent a month in the classroom, as if they had a course load with P.E. to get in the shape it takes to be a running team, science to recapture their chemistry and geometry to learn the angles of old offensive sets and new defensive ideas.
"We had to brush up on it," Gentry said of a style he learned for four years as an assistant for Mike D'Antoni. "We didn't have to go back through the whole book but we definitely had to go back through the Cliffs Notes. I think they're catching on."
The Suns were never a smooth ship even when they averaged 58 wins over four seasons (2004-08) but things got rockier last season.
Barbosa was jolted by his mother's death. New coach Terry Porter's ways did not mesh and he lasted 3˝ months. Raja Bell and Boris Diaw did not make it that far, getting traded in December. Stoudemire missed the season's final two months after an eye injury that resulted in off-season surgeries. They missed the playoffs for the first time in five years but their 46-36 record was the second best of a non-playoff team in the past 25 years.
The right mix
To get back to the postseason, the Suns returned Nash, 35, and Hill, 37, as leaders with new contracts and a roster of 20-somethings, including Stoudemire in a season that will define his contract future. (He is extension eligible and could opt out next summer.) The Suns averaged 117.7 points with O'Neal and under Gentry at the end of last season but have now had a month to make speed a part of the culture again.
"This isn't chaos," Gentry tells his team at practice. "We have to be organized. . . . If we're mentally tired, we're dead."
Regardless of the conditioning and yelling, the Suns are happy to have their system back. Scoring should come easily to a starting unit and sixth man built to play this way, now that free agent Channing Frye was added to spread the floor as a long-range shooting center.
"The Nash-and-Stoudemire era is not over yet," Stoudemire said. "We're still here. We're still improving. We're still getting better as a unit. We're bringing the Phoenix Suns team with us. I'll tell you what: We're definitely focusing in on the defensive end and it's going to show this season."
Dreaded D word
Oh, yes, defense.
The annual pledge to be better defensively is in effect again. This time, the hope clings to Gentry's simplified tactical approach, more practice time and accountability. Gentry reduced the schemes, wanting the Suns to improve what it does and not react to opponents with last season's overload of options. The hope is to get back into the NBA's top half for defensive field-goal percentage. It will not come from roster restructuring. The Suns lost O'Neal's post defense, got even smaller with Robin Lopez out for a month and signed Frye, whose strength lies in his offense.
That defense will be compromised by a larger weakness - team rebounding. The preseason made the hole look more like a chasm.
Gentry talks about pack rebounding replacing the lack of a quality rebounder, beyond reserve Louis Amundson. He has the team fronting the post and taking charges in the paint to make up for the lack of an interior enforcer.
"We're a good team and we've got good chemistry," Gentry said. "It doesn't matter what happened last year."
Nash likes the "clear vision" Gentry has provided. The staff likes how Stoudemire is trying more than ever to defend and be a good teammate as a co-captain. Stoudemire likes how his team is flying under the national radar. Fans might like a younger, deeper look if the latter proves true - the bench defends well but leans on Barbosa to score.
"We're happy with the style Alvin Gentry has put in," Barbosa said. "We're going to surprise a lot of teams. We'll be back soon."
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns...-sunsmain.html
When Amare and Nash are franchise players, you can never count on the team's defense."The Nash-and-Stoudemire era is not over yet," Stoudemire said. "We're still here. We're still improving. We're still getting better as a unit. We're bringing the Phoenix Suns team with us. I'll tell you what: We're definitely focusing in on the defensive end and it's going to show this season."
These fluff articles accomplish nothing, I can't stand them.
Their 's been in the wind ever since Horry took out Nash.
Amare is a horribly flawed basketball player. One does not even know where to start with a critique of his game. He's off in a world of his own, totally without conscious. He's like "Sgt. Schultz" (Hogan's Heroes)....he hears nothing, he sees nothing.
haha only to the suns does 'success' = blowing out weak teams all season then getting raped out of the playoffs year after year by someone who actually plays defense
Agreed, people need to realize the Suns greatest accomplishment from 2005-2007 was beating the 2005 Mavericks. Big in deal.
This stupid says this every year about his defense, and the fans still buy into the smoke he's blowing up everyone's asses.
I don't think anybody can deny that the Suns were successful from 2004-2008. Only one team out of 30 wins the le each year. A lot of factors go into it beyond just talent, like luck and injuries and officiating and coaching.haha only to the suns does 'success' = blowing out weak teams all season then getting raped out of the playoffs year after year by someone who actually plays defense
I have been saying over at phxsuns.net that I think we will actually miss Shaq a lot. We have zero players who can rebound. We're going to get absolutely murdered on the glass. It's going to be a long year.
Plus, we don't have our 2010 draft pick, because we are re s and gave it away to the OKC Thunder for the privilege of taking one Kurt Thomas off our hands. What a joy it is to be a Suns fan!
Loser's mentality.
I think the difference is they are resting on their success rather than striving for greatness. Success isn't that difficult. Look at the Suns all-time win percentage. It's like fifth best for a franchise, yet, When you think of great NBA franchises, I doubt the Suns crack a top-5. Celtics, Lakers, Bulls... then probably two from a mix of San Antonio, Detroit, Houston, New York, Philadelphia.
It shouldn't be enough to just be successful.
You needed to remain static after the Horry/Nash debacle. But, you compounded that mistake (the comprehensive response to Horry's act) with upheaval to the roster & strategy. In reality the Spurs had not beaten you. You'd beaten yerselves. You took it personal, when it was never more than business.
Success is winning a le. Anything short of that is failure.
Compe ively, yeah... but it's easy to get complacent with multiple 55-62 win seasons and deep runs in the playoffs that lead to a financial boon. According to perspective, such is a success, which is what my post was saying. Not only is such flawed, but it's legacy-robbing.
It's success if you're Robert Sarver or a Nash nut hugging got who only cares about having fun. If you're a real fan and you actually want a championship, it's failure.
Like I said, perspective...
Colangelo never went all in either.
Even in the '93 Finals there was trepidation on Barkley's part. The sequence that led to Paxson's three was Barkley's responsibility completely. His reckless maneuver commenced a chain of events that led to Paxson being left wide open. Ainge took the fall, nobody indicted Barkley, but it was his rank immaturity & refusal to be still that ended the Suns.
Colangelo being a owner doesn't excuse Sarver being a bad owner.
Can you elaborate? I remember Barkely saying Ainge missed a rotation, but I can't remember exactly. .... I guess I can look up Paxson three on youtube...
Ouch!!! Just watched it someone didn't rotate forcing Danny to come down leaving his man open.
Barkley went for the steal that he had no chance at just below his side of half court, and Chicago immediately started the dominoes to fall ending with Paxson.
Barkley would not wait to see it thru to the end. He had to "peek" early, "open the oven" prematurely and it cost the Suns everything.
That's Barkley MO though: act first, think about it second.
Amare and Nash being no different.
Then the following few years Barkley and Majerle went out drinking the night before several important playoff games against Houston.
"and Barkely went out clubbing with MJ to celebrate the Bulls victory and their false friendship."
Precisely. Barkley buddying up with Jordan during that series, during the games even, while trying to make it right by attempting to intimidate Pippen during the series, during the games even. Barkley's behavior was absurd and led directly to the loss. Kevin Johnson recognized the phony Barkley was and called him on it, but, his voice of indictment fell on deaf ears.
***Though KJ was no saint. He took in that poor waif up to his Camelback Mountain estate and rolled around nude with her in the shower and bed. But, she wasn't some Eagle CO. debutante, just some throw away piece of tang.
Then that one year Ollie Miller & Barkley arranged that gang bang and Ollie blocked the staircase up the loft where they had the poor girl spread out on a St. Andrews Cross.
She was 14 years old. KJ's lucky he did such a good job suppressing that incident.
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