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Because they can't play defense even if their lives depended on it.
To ask you a question Jmarkjohn's. How is San Antonio better this year than last year? As for what you said in your post I disagree with that Howard has hit his ceiling. I think this year is his prime year. Last year was close but he can still get a little better. Harris is developing quick. Especially now that he is starting. Anthony Johnson allows Dallas to have a real point guard for 48 minutes and Terry gets to play the 2.
Moron
Thats how you spell It from where I'm from. there's no wrong way of saying It.
Not underrated.
Amare has to prove that he can be a consistent force, and they have to learn to make adjustments as a team to his game. He's doing a very good job thus far and the team's adjustments aren't far behind. Most say they're on par with the Spurs and Mavs...I'm inclined to agree.
We'll flesh out who is truly better in the playoffs...
seriously they love the hype, the media attention, smallball
tim duncan on 2 bumb ankles > any suns player
Far from underrated, before the season most sports writers have basically said that IF Amare came back 100% the Suns would be the team to beat, but that at the beginning of the season that was a big IF. I agreed with them.
Now I'm not so sure. I think Amare will come back pretty strong, but the keys will Nash's durability, and how good their bench really is. Diaw had an amazing season last year, but he's been only so-so this year. Barbosa shows flashes of brilliance, but will he keep it up all year. Will Kurt Thomas be as healthy by playoffs? Also, some of their offseason signings (James Jones, Jumaine Jones) haven't paid off too well yet. So we'll see. On paper, with a healthy Amare, they look like they should be tops.
For underrated, I'd have to go with the Lakers, actually. I didn't think Kobe would learn to trust his teammates, or that his teammates could be this good.
James Jones aquired before last season and has done a good job defensively in spot duty.
Jumaine Jones hasn't played except in one game. Banks is still learning how to play with the Suns and Jalen Rose is still not in the mix.
The Suns have depth but a lot of questions still.
Like last year this is almost a completely new team.
I agree that the Lakers are probably underrated.
They've lost 5, like SA, and are undefeated in their division.
Lakers are only 2-3 on the road, have split with Utah, and lost to Pistons.
Not wonderful, but certainly in the playoffs and a good chance to take their division vs LAC and PHX.
I'd be surprised if the Spurs sweep the Lakers this season.
PHX is soft because they only play on one end, 1980s style.
I'm not going to say the Suns are a great defensive team by any stretch, but most of you obviously haven't watched any of the games during this recent winning streak and are basing all of your "no defense at all" comments on the past 2 seasons. With a healthy and in-shape Kurt Thomas in the middle, the Suns have played much better defense after their 1-5 start and that's why they've started winning.
They still can't rebound incredibly well, and give up too many second chance opportunities, but that's going to happen because they want to run off a missed shot and sometimes a few of them take off too early. And it's not that they are getting great defensive numbers (i.e. lots of steals and blocks - even though Amare had 7 against Philly), but that they are simply more active defensively - shutting down the easy drive, getting in the passing lanes, double-teaming with vigor that is forcing teams into bad passes and bad shots.
They're still going to give up a lot of points because they have defensive lapses in the middle of games (generally the 3rd quarter) and their style of play allows more possesions and shots for both teams. However, as long as they're scoring more than the other team and getting defensive stops when they need them, then I like the team's chances in the playoffs. D'Antoni has finally started admitting that they can't just outscore everybody all the time and win... however, if you look at other teams throughout history who have tried this style of play, only one other has been consistently successful like the Suns: the Lakers of the 80s.
I agree with this assessment. Very well analyzed in my opinion.
You're asking this question on a board populated with people who used to wonder the exact same thing about the Spurs. Despite routinely making solid runs into the playoffs the Spurs were often overlooked until they won the championship. Same deal with the Mavs until they overcame the Spurs and made the finals. You want to be mentioned in the same sentence as the best in the west you have to beat them in the playoffs first. The Suns could be head and shoulders above every other team in the league right now and sports talking heads would still be saying, "They're playing great now, BUT..."
7-game winning streak
Nash with 20 assists.
Pat Burke with three 3-pointers in 3 minutes!
Thank God we haven't resorted to Mavs fan-style postings and started a thread en led "how long will the streak last?" Just enjoying nice offensive showcases and another game where the Suns outrebounded the opponent.
The Suns have had very little success the past couple of years against the Spurs, but they've had LOTS of wins against the Mavs. They beat the Mavs in the playoffs two years ago (WITHOUT Joe Johnson), split the season series last year, and probably would have beat them in last years playoffs if Raja Bell hadn't gone down (Mavs wouldn't have stood a chance if Amare was around).
The Suns score at will against the Mavs. They literally get ANY shot they want. The Spurs are a different story.
The Suns are turning heads this season...I don’t think anyone expected them to have a better record than the Junior Varsity team form Los Angeles, in December... (The Clippers)... Lets see how long they can hang in there before they start slipping, whining & make their usual excuses...
LA Lakers
12 5 .706 --
Phoenix
10 6 .625 1.5
LA Clippers
9 8 .529 3.0
They're good, but they haven't really been successful in the playoffs. Unless they reach the Finals, teams are starting to take them seriously
Suns are 4-7 vs. the Mavericks last year and this year and just 10-10 vs. Dallas since Nash arrived.
We've already argued this injury thing. Every team faces injury. You simply have to beat who ya play with who ya got. It may not be a great indicator of what would happen if each team met at full strength, but then again, when does that ever happen?
Two years ago, I'd say Dallas didn't worry me. However, after last year and the loss early this season, I'd say they are far tougher a matchup and while Phoenix can score on them, they do the same on Phoenix and do so to an even clip since Nash switched sides or at a better clip in the last 11 matchups.
The Mavs would never have beat the Suns in the playoffs last season if Avery hadn't decided (after the first 2 games) to play Diop a lot of minutes. He decided to give the Suns the outside shots instead of letting them drive the lane with no worries. It made a big difference. Obviously, Amare would make a difference there. Regardless, the Suns are going to put up points against anyone but until they learn to play at least a little defense it won't matter. They're capable of playing good defense (see first half of game 6 of that playoff series) but they need to do it on a consistent basis throughout the season (the Mavs learned this, the Spurs have known this for long time). You can't just decide to turn up the defense in key moments in the playoffs. The Suns were absolutely GASSED in the 2nd half of game 6 cuz they had played tough defense the entire first half and weren't used to it.
Plus, everytime the Mavs/Suns got into the 2nd half of the playoff games the pace slowed down and Shawn Marion was not nearly as effective. He needs to work on his halfcourt offense big time. Maybe he has, I haven't seen much of him this season.
If Amare holds up then the Suns will definitely have a decent shot though.
No . Avery starting Van Horn was a horrible decision and almost cost us the series. I think JMarkJohn is the most reasonable suns fan on this board but I disagree with the spurs being considered the favorites. Well I'll accept that a lot of people think that way despite last years playoffs and the offseason. Anthony Johnson I think is an underrated pickup. He allows Harris and Terry to start together without losing a lot when they go to the bench.
True That!!!
I was higher on Anthony Johnson in the pre-season than I am during the season. He certainly was a good pick-up, but I wonder how much relief he'll provide. The positive spin for the Mavs is that Avery abandoned the idea of playing AJ over Harris. Johnson will give the Mavs some good minutes and was certainly an upgrade over DA.
I think AJ will have the most value in the playoffs when there's a lot more halfcourt offense being run. He's much better at that than running all the time.
That's a pretty good take. Well done. I agree with all of that.
Danka!
You have no idea how upset I was that Dallas acquired him. I'd been hoping for a year that the Suns would get him and was called crazy for even thinking a player of his ability and value based on contract was even available. I think very, very highly of his game....Anthony Johnson I think is an underrated pickup. He allows Harris and Terry to start together without losing a lot when they go to the bench.
Still, on your team, he won't likely be played enough for his defense to make a big impact and if he is, then Harris' impact is lessoned and considering he's one of the best at breaking down a defense and getting into the lane (especially against the Suns), it may hurt Dallas.
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