Suns need a Combo Guard

[AZLouis]

New deals in works for Johnson, Stoudemire as Suns face bright future

By BOB BAUM, AP Sports Writer
June 2, 2005
PHOENIX (AP) -- Shaking off their disappointment, the Phoenix Suns already were looking to their bright future a day after their elimination from the Western Conference finals.

``You've got to take your lumps somewhere along the line to be a champion,'' Steve Nash said, ``and hopefully this is one of those building blocks to be something better.''

The Suns held a team meeting on Thursday, then players met individually with Suns president Bryan Colangelo and coach Mike D'Antoni.

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The top priorities for the offseason, Colangelo said afterward, are re-signing Joe Johnson and inking Amare Stoudemire to an extension.

There will be other minor adjustments, perhaps adding a bit more size on the bench.

``We're going to get better,'' Colangelo said. ``We're going to do everything we can this offseason to improve.''

Johnson is just 23, Stoudemire is 22, and the Suns want to lock up both rising young stars to long-term deals.

Johnson is the team's most accurate 3-point shooter, best perimeter defender and a player who can break defenders down off the dribble.

His absence was sorely felt when he fractured his left eye socket against Dallas in the conference semifinals and had to sit out the first two games of the Western Conference finals. Johnson is a restricted free agent, meaning the Suns can match any offer he gets from another team.

Colangelo has said that any team that signs Johnson will be wasting its time.

Johnson said Colangelo and D'Antoni assured him he is a crucial part of their plans. The Suns could have signed the young guard before the season began, and he will cost a lot more money now.

``I'd love to stay here and be a part of it,'' Johnson said, ``but like I've been saying all year, this is a business and business comes first.''

The Suns have exercised their option for Stoudemire next season under the contract he signed as a rookie, but with his emergence as one of the best players in the game, they want to sign him for what obviously will be the maximum amount allowed.

Stoudemire expressed no desire to play elsewhere.

``I love the city of Phoenix and I love the state of Arizona,'' Stoudemire said. ``The fans here have been amazing since the first day I got here. I have no complaints about the organization, team or anything like that, so it's looking good right now.''

The Suns' 101-95 loss to San Antonio on Wednesday night sent the Spurs to the NBA Finals and ended the NBA's feel-good story of the season.

With a frenetic, refreshingly entertaining style directed by Nash, and with Stoudemire emerging as an awe-inspiring performer, Phoenix went from 29 victories in 2003-04 to an NBA-best 62 this season, the third-best turnaround in league history.

The Suns averaged 110 points in the regular season, the most by any team in a decade, and boosted it to 112 in the playoffs. Nash, lured from Dallas by a big contract, had his best season and was named the league's MVP.

Nash, Stoudemire and Shawn Marion were named first-, second- and third-team all-NBA, respectively.

D'Antoni, who turned the team loose to run and gun while still exercising low-key control, was named coach of the year. Colangelo was the Sporting News executive of the year.

The biggest needed improvement, obviously, has to come on defense. The Suns often were able to outscore opponents without exerting much effort at the other end of the court. But the Spurs often shredded Phoenix for easy layups or wide-open jumpers.

``Our main focus is we've got to work on becoming a great defensive team,'' Stoudemire said, ``because our offense is unlimited.''

Through the playoffs, the higher the stakes, the better Stoudemire performed. He averaged 29.9 points in 15 playoff games, 37 against San Antonio in a jaw-dropping mix of mid-range jumpers, acrobatic inside moves and thunderous dunks. Stoudemire is well on his way to reaching his goal of becoming one of the NBA's best.

``With this team, once I polish my game up a little more,'' he said, ``I'll be able to take us to the promised land.''

Stoudemire defined his future role as ``point center,'' a hybrid position that would have him touching the ball even more.

``Playing the position I played this year with a different twist,'' Stoudemire explained, ``with more of an inside-outside type game. With that point center thing, I think that's the right position to call me right now.''

D'Antoni said anything Stoudemire wants to call himself is fine with him.

``He is developing into the best in the NBA ...,'' D'Antoni said. ``He's going to get better and he wants to be the best. He's going to define how to play in the NBA hopefully in the next 10 years. He's going to be the model that people are going to have to adapt to.

``That's a lot to heap on a 22-year-old kid, but if we're going to be successful, he's got some broad shoulders and I'm going to try to be sitting on them. I'll be riding them.''

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slu...v=ap&type=lgns

[JMarkJohns]

There's one main area of weakness with Johnson and it's he sometimes gives careless or lazy passes. Other than that, he can handle the backup PG duties for upwards of 20 minutes a game.

Barbosa is as talented as they come, but D'Antoni saw fit to sit him after every mistake, defensive lapse or turnover, thus, his confidense isn't very high. His shots is solid from 20 feet and on and he pushes the ball. He's better than most give him credit for, but he's barely played a full-time back-ups minutes for one year in the two years he's been in the League, so inexperience factors in here. He'll come around...

Suns need a big, athletic bruiser who can boc-out and grab boards. The Suns force misses. You all should know this, but they lack the siz and skill to consistantly dominate the defensive glass, typically allowing 15-20 offensive rebounds.

I believe that this will be solved with the addition of Sean May for depth, Amare's and Hunter's improvement and extended use of either Amare and Hunter or Amare ad May at the 4/5 spots.

Overall, rebounding is the main issue, not defense. Look back at the box-scores of this series and the amount of offensive rebounds the Suns gave up will total around 100.

For a five game series, that's laughably awful.

[myhc]

You really think Sean May is the answer? I don't really know what big men are available out there, but I don't think he'd fit into your up tempo style. Dude is like 6-8, 260.

[mavsfan1000]

Hunter is the answer and he should be starting next year so they can get used to that lineup.

[JMarkJohns]

Sean may will measure about 6-8, but has really trimmed down from his 290 freshman weight to last year 265 junior weight.

He gets down to 255, he will fit the system perfectly and here's why.

Last year he was still a bit overweight, but ran with an up-tempo college team and he still dominated. He ran the floor very well, yet still had the ability to bang down low and grab every rebound that came near him.

This will need to improve (weight/stamina) with the Suns, but May will certainly be able to come in and bang around for 20 minutes, which is all the Suns need. They don't need an All-Star, nor even a starter. Just depth. They need a big-bodied hustle-bum who can grab 7/8 boards, score 9/10 points and body up on the oppositions best PF/C, allowing Stoudemire to block shots and rebound.

Hunter is also huge and has stated he wants to remain in Phoenix and has said he will attempt to bulk up this offseason, trying to gain around 10/15 pounds of muscle.

[mavsfan1000]

Putting Amare at center was the only way the offense was made so easily. Amare had all the room while the other players spaced out the floor. Putting in a center or Sean May may hurt the team. The perfect player which I don't think exists is an athletic center that can hit the 3.

[JMarkJohns]

Amare would stay at the C, Marion at PF with Hunter off the bench at C and May off the bench at PF.

May has a good 15-18 jumper. Much better than Hunters and it's is still improving.

May showed that weight hid very good athleticism for someone his size and with increased weight loss/strength training, he should become even more mobile. He'll never be a leaper or gazelle or whatnot, but he's as athletic as a bruiser is going to get.

As has been said here, some concessions will have to be made for this Suns team to improve. One is a notch down in speed and athleticisim for better size, skill and need.

May answers the need of bench foward.

[mavsfan1000]

Barbosa I'm still not convinced will be that good. Nash will have to play heavy minutes without a solid backup. I think the key is to be able to run 48 minutes and have a deep bench.

[JMarkJohns]

Johnson is more than capable as a backup and anything from Barbosa is jus added.

Suns got a 2nd-rounder, so perhaps take a PG with it.

[2centsworth]

JJ is amazingly inconsistent against the spurs. Maybe it's just Bruce, but 2 out of 3 years JJ has been hit and miss against the spurs. Suns could use a player like Bruce who can shut people down and hit 3's. They could also use some help on the boards.

[leemajors]

hunter is not really that good, he is just that much better than jake voskuhl. what i can't figure out is how a team with joe johnson, amare and marion only won 29 games last year. have you seen the pic on the front of the official suns page? looks like duncan and amare are about to kiss.

[JMarkJohns]

hunter is not really that good, he is just that much better than jake voskuhl. what i can't figure out is how a team with joe johnson, amare and marion only won 29 games last year. have you seen the pic on the front of the official suns page? looks like duncan and amare are about to kiss.

Amare missed over 30 games that season and JJ wasn't the JJ he is now, but the JJ of which 2centsworth speaks of...JJ didn't take of until after the trade.

Also, Barbosa ran the point as a 20 year-old with limited english and they had a very inexperienced coach.

Basically, the Suns were 7-7 before Amare went down, then quickly feel to 10-17/19 before trading Marbury. After the trade Phoenix won 6/7 games in their next 20 before going just under .500 the rest of the way with a healthy squad.

[2centsworth]

Amare missed over 30 games that season and JJ wasn't the JJ he is now, but the JJ of which 2centsworth speaks of...JJ didn't take of until after the trade.

He has been a different player since the trade, but what happened to him yesterday? 6-17 which is ok if you contribute in other ways, but what else did he give but missed shots? He had 4 measly rbs and 4st in 42 minutes, the guy is huge and there's no reason why he can't get more boards.

[JMarkJohns]

I certainly wasn't expecting JJ to light the world afire wearing that mask. That's something the player needs time to get used to, not just a few days.

He certainly could've grabbed a few more rebounds, but other than that, he was far from the problem, which was Richardson's and Marion's continued struggles and a lack of made threes. Once Nash went cold, the game was over.

[spurster]

Part of the success of the Suns was that Nash was able to play 40+ minutes/game most of the season and all of the playoffs. My recollection was that in previous years , Nash was worn down by the playoffs. The Suns need to play Nash less and perhaps Barbosa more. It takes some time to create an NBA PG. Now that the Suns know that home court advantage isn't everything in the playoffs, they should give their bench a few more minutes and add/use a defensive player or two.

[2centsworth]

I certainly wasn't expecting JJ to light the world afire wearing that mask. That's something the player needs time to get used to, not just a few days.

Mask didn't matter in game 4, but mattered in game 5? He's just inconsistent against the spurs.

[AZLouis]

Maybe it had to do with game 4 being his first since game 2 of the previous series. 8 minutes in JJ lobbed up an ugly airball. The mask I am sure doesn't deter strength.

He was winded and rusty. And yes he probably had to adjust a little to wearing a mask on his face which caused him to sweat more.

[mavsfan1000]

I think you need more than a 5 man team. You have the best starting lineup in basketball but no bench. Nash can't play entire games and Joe Johnson will wear down to if he plays the whole game. Jim Jackson and one more guard that is good enough to crack the rotation in the playoffs could be the answer. I'm not saying Bobby Jackson but someone similar.

[NASHville]

I agree. Playing every minute just isn't healthy.

[AZLouis]

JJ logged 39 minutes a game this season, more than anybody. He has logged those kind of minutes since joining the Suns. This was the first time he was injured and it had nothing to do with wearing down.

Nonetheless I agree the Suns need another guy or two on the bench that can be relied upon at anytime.

Bobby Jackson is not the answer. He's older now, costs more money, and has been injured quite a lot recently.

Marko Jaric could be an interesting choice. I like Dan au. Dan Gadzuric. There were rumors of a Samuel Dalembert trade(but that involved JJ and will that won't fly anymore).

Not to mention they won only 29 games last year with virtually the same guys other than Nash and Q. Their sudden success surprised not only the fans but the team as well.

[ducks]

ad would not be a bad choice if he was cheap enough
however I think he wants to start

[mavsfan1000]

All you need is an energy player coming off the bench and playing defense and scoring. This would keep Nash and Joe Johnson fresh at the end of games. Are there any type of players like that in the draft you know?

[2centsworth]

Maybe it had to do with game 4 being his first since game 2 of the previous series. 8 minutes in JJ lobbed up an ugly airball. The mask I am sure doesn't deter strength.

He was winded and rusty. And yes he probably had to adjust a little to wearing a mask on his face which caused him to sweat more.

what in the world are you talking about. JJ played game 3, and then put up 28 in game 4. Then he stunk it up in game 5. I'm just pointing out his inconsistent play agaisnt the spurs.

[2centsworth]

keep in mind that he can BARELY see through his stupid mask --guy impressed me in game 4

again mask is no problem, but then it's a problem. More inconsistency to me

[mavsfan1000]

again mask is no problem, but then it's a problem. More inconsistency to me

In this series he was but in the regular season he was the one of the most consistent guard players in the league.