Reply With Quote
In this compe ion, they are one and the same.
At what? Knowledge levels? Or utter cluelessness and re ism?
In this compe ion, they are one and the same.
Well, I guess I got my answer... You are better than this, Danny. You have a ton of potential, but you need to lose the hostility and the fondness of making inflamatory remarks. Shame, really...
The Suns did decide to trade JJ. Maybe not directly, but indirectly. Here is Sarver, he offers 6 years, 45 million to JJ. All JJ is asking is 6 years 50 million, or market value for the going wing (see Quentin Richardson, Manu Ginobili). Sarver decides he'd rather let JJ test the waters next offseason than give him the going rate. So... when next offseason roles around, Sarver waits to see what the going rate for young wings will be, only to find in horror that players like Larry freakin' Hughes are now getting MAX contracts. Well, in an attempt to save some face, he slinks back to JJ's camp and offers JJ 60 million over six years. Knowing he can easily get 70 million over five, JJ balks at the lowball offer, deciding he'd rather be the building block of a young team, get his millions and be closer to home than be the underpaid, underappreciated third/fourth wheel on the Suns.
By not offering JJ the going rate twice, Sarver belittled JJ to the point where JJ felt he wasn't appreciated, thus demanding the trade.
Sarver bites the bullet and signs JJ for six years, 50 million that first time around and the Suns are as close to an unstoppable offensive machine as there has been in the League the past 25 years. Assuming they trade Richardson for Thomas and sign Bell, the Suns can trot out a lineup of Nash, Bell, Johnson, Marion, Amare with Barbosa and Thomas coming off the bench, and, because of the cheaper rate for JJ, they'd be in better position to use their MLE on vital depth the last few years.
I believe that it stems from similar to what you mentioned earlier. That they have more depth with ballhandlers.
OK, so based upon preseason, Nash sees that Banks is making nice strides, that Tucker has potential, and that Hill has fit right in. Despite losing Thomas, Nash sees a more athletic version in Skinner and considers it a wash.
So, he, in what I believe to be a subtle suggestion to D'Antoni, states that this teams depth is better than last season's in an attempt to get D'Antoni to play Banks, Tucker and Skinner more than he played Banks, Jones and Thomas last season.
However, I don't think it was entlrely an attempt at manipulation. based upon preseason, I can see where he thinks...
PG: Nash, Banks
SG: Bell, Barbosa
SF: Hill, Tucker
PF: Marion, Diaw
C: Amare, Skinner
...is better than...
PG: Nash
SG: Bell, Barbosa
SF: Jones
PF: Marion, Diaw
C: Amare, Thomas
Problem is that last season's rotation shouldn't have been just limited to those eight mentioned. Jalen Rose, Jumaine Jones and Banks all should have been utilized more than each was. Rose and Jones especially. Jones is a good enough of a rebounder that he could have played a Tim Thomas-type of PF role for 10 minutes or so a night. Rose was enough of a ballhandler that he should have been used as a backup PG for 15 minutes a night.
Overall I think that while Nash may actually believe this team is deeper than last years, most of it is predicated upon the belief that Hill, Tucker and an improved Banks are better ballhandlers than were an illused Rose, Banks and Jones, but I think much of his statement is based upon an attempt to sway the court of public opinion against a short rotation in an attempt to take some wear and tear off Amare, Hill and himself.
Good post!
The Suns just went from six extremely talented guys to seven. Kurt Thomas' contributions have been grossly overstated by everyone on this board and JMJ is just dumb enough to believe what all of you continue to say to each other (maybe he should leave SpursTalk for a while).
You don't have to believe that the Suns are deeper this year. I don't care.
I can just tell you how much better it feels when D'Antoni signals Grant Hill to come in rather than James Jones. Thus far, Brian Skinner has played much better than anyone (including all Suns fans) anticipated. Its just a matter of time before he gets his lineups figured out and then the rest of the league if ed.
Its gonna be another great year for the Suns.....and this year they're gonna take it all.
btw - How is Jalen Rose, Jumaine Jones, Pat Burke etc. doing this year?
Why don't you look it up?
Has there ever been a player who did better after leaving D'Antoni?
There have been plenty who have fared worse, but surely there's one who has done better.
Especially considering how much you morons keep talking about how D'Antoni wastes his players on his bench.
Which players? Who redeemed themselves?
Leaving D'Antoni? Or leaving Steve Nash?
Joe Johnson. The guy is a ing beast. Suns are re ed for letting him go. If they kept him, he may have been that one piece to get them to a le.
I know I'm going to get opinions thumb- . I'm just suprised at how ignorant all of your comments were. Clearly Spurs fans only watch the Suns when they play against the Spurs, or else you people would have a clue.
how many more times will stretch own DSF in this thread alone?
... and you make my point. Suns didn't have any choice but to let him go. And he was good while he was here, not just after going to ATL.
I'm still waiting for him to fix his ing "O".
he went from a decent role player to a well-rounded leader and a legitimate star after leaving the Suns.
Why did they not have any choice but to let him go?
and this guy regressed horribly BECAUSE of d'antoni - Quentin Richardson. With the Clippers he was a tough defender who could find ways to attack the basket. Once he got to the Suns, D'Antoni transformed him into a lazy slob who camps at the 3 point line. He's never recovered.
Nope. He was a starter, had a big break-out year with the Suns as the starter the year before he demanded to be traded. He didn't like sharing the spotlight with Nash, Marion, and Amare. Demanded tons of money, then decided he didn't want to stay at all. That is the story. Spurs fans telling a Suns fan about Suns history is pretty stupid.
Yeah I'm not a Spurs fan. Try ing reading.
I dont need to watch SUns basketball to know your team sucks balls at d, and your coach is almost as whiney as his teams fan base. You have yet to make one decent point about anything yourself, just repeatedly getting owned by other posters. But keep trying rag, your almost there.
I wouldn't say that was his big breakout year. He had 2 breakout years. His first was in 2003-2004. Then in 2005-2006, the year he left the Suns, everyone realized how great of an all-around talent this guy really is.
Oh, and what's stupid is preferring having high TV ratings over winning championships, and saying that if your team got lower TV ratings, like the Spurs, but also won championships, you would stop being a fan. That's ing re ed.
Remember this, face?
Just like Joe Johnson left them no choice right?
Your revisionist history appears correct, but is not. He didn't demand tons of money. He demended the going rate for his equals. He asked for just over 8 million per season at the start. Sarver refused to go over 8 million, despite it being the going rate. The next offseason, he gave the Suns ups the chance to right their wrongs and offer market value and Sarver still lowballed him despite a player like Larry Hughes being previously signed for roughly 15 million more than JJ was offered. It was only after these refusals to meet market value that JJ decided his best bet for his future was elsewhere.
The funny thing, it was Sarver who expressed openly that if JJ wanted more money that he had the opportunity to earn it in 2004-05. After he did, Sarver dismissed his previous claims of giving market value to JJ.
JJ was a potential All-Star with Phoenix. He was better than a role player. He was their third most important offensive star, but to diminish what he's become in the absense of Nash, D'Antoni and the Suns because he had flashed glimpses of said potential in Phoenix is silly.
I doubt he'd be better statistically right now with the Suns than he is right now with the Hawks. Therefore, he is better off for having left, despite the offensive prowess of Nash and D'Antoni.
Whatever, who cares? I don't sit and read any of that profile crap anyway. Spurs fan, Mavs fan, whatever. And your point?
don't call me a ing Spurs fan that's my point.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions