Raja Bell gave Tony Parker alot of trouble in the first half of the WCF of 2003
But Tony worked through it. It gave hte media fodder for their 'parker suffers againts bigger physical guards' theory
This is a good signing for Phoenix, the only problem is, it still doesn't fix the root of their problem.
Poor frontcourt and backcourt defense.
Their MVP is a pathetic defender, and their center, while being damn near unbeatable on the offensive end, is almost, not as bad, but almost as pathetic as Steve Nash.
This improves their bench, IF, they resign Joe Johnson and Jim Jackson.
But if they let a guy like Jim Jackson goes, this IMO, hurts their bench.
True, but to play Bell against Manu at crunch time, the Suns will either have to go small, or they'll have to take one of Nash, Johnson, or Marion off the floor. I don't see how either of those options is a positive for them.
exactly right FWD, thats the first thing that came into my mind when they signed Bell,
well, this might be an option for the last 5 mins of a game, to put Bell in for Nash.
But, DAntoni might not have the juevos to yank Nash, and put a more defensive team in there.
The price you pay, for overpaying for a half court guard.
Did you forget that Joe Johnson now will be able to have more time at the point guard so Nash will have more rest and Bell and Jim Jackson will get time also.
No one on that lineup now should play over 40 minutes in the regular season due to the new depth Phoenix has.
The Suns should have dealt for Mike James instead.
never hurts to have a defensive minded player on a team. Great singing.
Bell for James.The Suns should have dealt for Mike James instead.
T_Park,
Johnson will be back and Jackson still has a year left on his deal.
Also Amare is improving on defense.
It is not so much Amare improving on defense, it is more Amare wanting to play defense. The guy has a chance to dominate in the NBA for 10 years if he chooses to.
Having Kurt Thomas is a luxury for Amare so he won't have to guard the other teams center. This will keep him out of foul trouble and he can be more aggresive on defense late in games and take the tougher assignment. I feel that is what the problem was is foul trouble.
I would rather have amare guarding most ctrs. Most of the dominant post players in the NBA now are PF's.
Kurt Thomas will guard the more dominant player and Amare can guard the other. In the 4th quarter I would put Amare on the better player if he is not in foul trouble.
getting one decent defensive player doesn't change the way they run there run and gun.
Exactly right.It is not so much Amare improving on defense, it is more Amare wanting to play defense
have you ever watched Kurt Thomas play defense??Having Kurt Thomas is a luxury for Amare so he won't have to guard the other teams center
Hes decent, but not great.
All thomas will do, is let the Suns starting lineup be a normal starting lineup,
Stoudamire
Thomas
Marion
Johnson
Nash
B
Jackson
Bell
Hunter
Barbosa
Good bench.
Depends on how D'Antoni goes into training camp this year.
if they stress defense hard hard hard core, maybe, they could beat the Spurs.
the suns aren't a great defense but they aren't terrible either. what was terrible was their defensive rebounding and giving up second shots. Kurt Thomas specializes in defensive rebounding which is perfect for Phoenix.
people are sounding like kurt thomas is the second coming of dikembe mutombo or something
what quotes thought that way?
phoenix might try and get defensive, but they will never be as tough as the pistons were this year, I am thinking they are trying to copy how seattle played the spurs in the WC semi-finals. Seattle wasn't great defensively, but they proved a much tougher team than the suns were in the WC Finals.
Welcome to the forum but I have to disagree about how tough Phoenix can be. Amare is just going to get better and now they will be a much improved rebounding team. 3 guys who can rebound instead of 2. Marion and Joe Johnson will be guarding Ginobili instead of Q. Richardson. That will make a difference.
this sucks. That was the player Dallas wanted.I hate Phoenix.
They had him 2 years ago, why didn't they keep him??That was the player Dallas wanted
Question
It looks like Raja Bell is on the Suns now. I believe they made a deal to him.
Mavs did have Raja Bell and they let him go to the Jazz. Now he is with the Suns.this sucks. That was the player Dallas wanted.
Is it just me or did anyone else's jaw dropped when they heard the cash he was going to get? say the MLE pencils out to $5 million, the contract is for 5 or 6 years.
Nope i was wrong, even Raja's jaw dropped. He said he absolutely couldn't believe the amount of money. He's a good pickup but why did they overbid so fast by that much? Hunter is NOT expected back bc he wants more than the minimum. If they give the full MLE to raja he won't resign.
Bad move.
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