D'Antoni, Kerr deny rift rumor

[Findog]

especially considering how talented the Suns' top seven are. NO ONE IN THE LEAGUE EVEN COMES CLOSE!!!!

Diaw for whatever reason hasn't adjusted well to Amare's return, his last few games notwithstanding. Bell doesn't seem as effective as he was a couple of years ago. The Suns themselves just aren't as imposing as they have been.

[da_suns_fan]

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...simmons/070117

I forgot, the Suns approached "that hallowed level" last year.





Well at least he got that part right.

Jealousy forum.

Im hoping KG wins the MVP award this year. That way when the Suns and Celtics meet in the finals, the USA Today spread will have a shot of the two two-time-mvps going at each other for their first le.

What a great series it will be. And talk about great for the league!

[da_suns_fan]

Diaw for whatever reason hasn't adjusted well to Amare's return, his last few games notwithstanding. Bell doesn't seem as effective as he was a couple of years ago. The Suns themselves just aren't as imposing as they have been.

Eh....Bell has been great lately. Check the game logs.

[Findog]

Jealousy forum.

Jealous of what? Neither the Mavs or Suns have won it all, but in their current incarnations, Dallas has come closer.

Im hoping KG wins the MVP award this year.

Who cares about that award? Duncan is the best big, Kobe or LeBron is the best wing/guard. Nobody else has any business being crowned MVP. Nash's MVPs are a joke, as is Dirk's.

That way when the Suns and Celtics meet in the finals, the USA Today spread will have a shot of the two two-time-mvps going at each other for their first le.

You're probably going to have to put a gun in your mouth and pull the trigger, because it's going to be Detroit and San Antonio again.

What a great series it will be. And talk about great for the league!

You might as well talk about a Grizzlies-Sixers Finals. I like Boston's chances to reach the Finals much more than Phoenix though. Phoenix couldn't beat San Antonio if their life depended on it. Now, if Dallas took care of the Spurs for them, then Phoenix might have a shot. But I don't think the Suns can beat Boston in a seven-game series. Boston can actually play defense and they would pound Phoenix on the boards.

[da_suns_fan]

Jealous of what? Neither the Mavs or Suns have won it all, but in their current incarnations, Dallas has come closer.

Who cares about that award? Duncan is the best big, Kobe or LeBron is the best wing/guard. Nobody else has any business being crowned MVP. Nash's MVPs are a joke, as is Dirk's.

You're probably going to have to put a gun in your mouth and pull the trigger, because it's going to be Detroit and San Antonio again.

You might as well talk about a Grizzlies-Sixers Finals. I like Boston's chances to reach the Finals much more than Phoenix though. Phoenix couldn't beat San Antonio if their life depended on it. Now, if Dallas took care of the Spurs for them, then Phoenix might have a shot. But I don't think the Suns can beat Boston in a seven-game series. Boston can actually play defense and they would pound Phoenix on the boards.

Wow....why don't you fax all the teams this post and we can cancel the rest of the season.

Im pretty sure the Suns are more than capable of beating the Spurs in a seven game series. Especially if Grant Hill stays healthy. He adds a new dimension to their game.

It appears that the Suns are about to start firing on all cylinders. Amare took almost two months to get back to where he was last year after that knee surgery during training camp.

I think we might see the Suns approach their potential next month.

[Findog]

Wow....why don't you fax all the teams this post and we can cancel the rest of the season.

Im pretty sure the Suns are more than capable of beating the Spurs in a seven game series. Especially if Grant Hill stays healthy. He adds a new dimension to their game.

It appears that the Suns are about to start firing on all cylinders. Amare took almost two months to get back to where he was last year after that knee surgery during training camp.

I think we might see the Suns approach their potential next month.

I think Phoenix has a puncher's chance of beating San Antonio, and I think Dallas has a puncher's chance of beating Phoenix. We'll see what happens. The Suns weaknesses' are their coach and his refusal to use his bench, the lack of a reliable backup for Nash, their propensity for being outrebounded and they don't play good enough team defense. Of course, Skinner would help with the rebounds and Diaw would make a great backup PG, but apparently that thought has never occured to MDT.

Dallas hasn't been a good road team and they don't get enough consistent low-post scoring, the addition of Bass notwithstanding. And their defense isn't as good as it was last year.

San Antonio of course you have to wonder about their role players outside of the Big Three. Can they get consistent contributions from all of their old guys? Horry, Bowen, Finley, Barry, and Vaughn are all on the wrong side of 33. We'll see what happens. The gap between Dal/Phx/Sas and the rest of the conference has narrowed, and they each have their flaws.

[DazedAndConfused]

The Suns will never make it out of the WCF with the team they have now. Yes they can put up a great offensive game every 3rd game or so, but when the shots aren't falling they don't have a great defense to keep them in games. Even when they build up 10-15 pt leads they are never in the clear because they give them up just as quickly. I would even say their defense has gotten worse this year since they let go of Kurt Thomas.

Teams that can slow it down and pound the paint can expose the Suns over a 7 game series. Utah, SAS, and the Lakers all have the capability to do so. Even if the Suns miraculously make it out of the WC, they would have a very tough time beating DET or BOS.

[JMarkJohns]

The Suns will never make it out of the WCF with the team they have now.

I think they can, but it's heavily contingent upon D'Antoni seeing the light, them developing or netting a quality backup PG, using a Marion/Amare/Skinner frontcourt much more often and sustained health and energy from Nash, Hill, Marion and Amare, of course is heavily dependant on a backup PG and Skinner being used more.

They can, but D'Antoni is the lynchpin. If he pulls the same he's been pulling, then the whole playoffs fall apart for the Suns.

However that said, if they hadn't sold off Thomas and Jones I'd be much more upbeat about their chances, which, as of now, I say is 40-60. With Thomas, Jones, Hill and, maybe, Skinner, I'd say it's easily 50-50 and maybe even a slight advantage to the Suns.

[DazedAndConfused]

That's gotta be the most frustrating thing if you're a Suns fan. Your team just needs a few small pieces to plug in the gaping defensive holes and you'd be damn near unstoppable. Why your owner doesn't make the moves baffles me.

[RonMexico]

And for every Ginobili, how many guys in the second round never make it? Im guessing something over 70% is accurate.

You should mean - how many high lottery and first round draft picks never make it.

There are two 2nd rounders that have been on the USA Basketball team - Boozer and Redd. Look at guys like Nikolaz, Shawn Bradley, Mike Dunleavy (with his first team), Tyrus Thomas (I think his poor at ude is going to get him out of the league real quick), Patrick O'Bryant... there are plenty of diamonds in the rough to be found in the 2nd round... especially since guys who go late in the rounds get on better teams and are able to learn from established players in front of them for a few years.

You can't discredit what kind of energy a guy like Strawberry will bring to the floor each night as he's trying to prove himself. Experience during the regular season will only help if his number is called in the playoffs where match-ups in a 7 game series are very important (see: Golden State vs. Dallas in 2007). It's just dumb to let a guy like that who obviously has little fear on the defensive end to ride the pine all year.

We all know that D'Antoni has notoriously short practices to preserve the older guys like Hill and Nash, so he's not going to pick up much unless he's on the floor. Banks's confidence is so low that he's pretty much worthless now, and his work ethic has been called into question by many teams before (Boston/Minnesota). But when guys like Banks and Strawberry get on the floor and provide some energy, then it galvenizes the whole team, adds that "missing" chemistry and helps the Suns prevent losses to teams like Miami and Minnesota. Brian Skinner almost single-handedly salvaged the Miami game at home with his energy and if it weren't for a God-like performance from Nash during the final minutes in Miami, the Suns were in danger of losing that game too (which btw, is a game where Amare got frustrated over foul calls and was tossed with 2 techs... bringing me back to my earlier point about giving him some defensive help early to spark his offense).

Also, I know that I said having Skinner in there helps Amare down low, but also having a strong perimeter defender can prevent the guards from getting to the bucket and prevent Amare from picking up ticky-tack fouls trying to help. Then again, Mike didn't win les in the Italian league 100 years ago by playing defense, so why should he do it in the NBA?

[da_suns_fan]

You should mean - how many high lottery and first round draft picks never make it.

There are two 2nd rounders that have been on the USA Basketball team - Boozer and Redd. Look at guys like Nikolaz, Shawn Bradley, Mike Dunleavy (with his first team), Tyrus Thomas (I think his poor at ude is going to get him out of the league real quick), Patrick O'Bryant... there are plenty of diamonds in the rough to be found in the 2nd round... especially since guys who go late in the rounds get on better teams and are able to learn from established players in front of them for a few years.

You can't discredit what kind of energy a guy like Strawberry will bring to the floor each night as he's trying to prove himself. Experience during the regular season will only help if his number is called in the playoffs where match-ups in a 7 game series are very important (see: Golden State vs. Dallas in 2007). It's just dumb to let a guy like that who obviously has little fear on the defensive end to ride the pine all year.

We all know that D'Antoni has notoriously short practices to preserve the older guys like Hill and Nash, so he's not going to pick up much unless he's on the floor. Banks's confidence is so low that he's pretty much worthless now, and his work ethic has been called into question by many teams before (Boston/Minnesota). But when guys like Banks and Strawberry get on the floor and provide some energy, then it galvenizes the whole team, adds that "missing" chemistry and helps the Suns prevent losses to teams like Miami and Minnesota. Brian Skinner almost single-handedly salvaged the Miami game at home with his energy and if it weren't for a God-like performance from Nash during the final minutes in Miami, the Suns were in danger of losing that game too (which btw, is a game where Amare got frustrated over foul calls and was tossed with 2 techs... bringing me back to my earlier point about giving him some defensive help early to spark his offense).

Also, I know that I said having Skinner in there helps Amare down low, but also having a strong perimeter defender can prevent the guards from getting to the bucket and prevent Amare from picking up ticky-tack fouls trying to help. Then again, Mike didn't win les in the Italian league 100 years ago by playing defense, so why should he do it in the NBA?

Again, Im not saying that he won't make it in the league or he doesn't have potential, but at this point he still VERY much looks like a late second round draft pick. Take last night: We see him make a great defensive play, but then we see a ball bounce off his shoulder while he's tying his shoe followed by three straight trips down the floor where he takes an ill-advised shot (somewhat out of control).

But hey, HE'S A ROOKIE! He needs time to develop. But at this point, it appears he needs more time in the D League.


And for the upteenth time, I agree about Skinner! He should get a lot more minutes. He didn't come off the bench in the second half last night even though Amare was being careless on defense (probably because his teammates weren't involving him in the offense).

[da_suns_fan]

I think they can, but it's heavily contingent upon D'Antoni seeing the light, them developing or netting a quality backup PG, using a Marion/Amare/Skinner frontcourt much more often and sustained health and energy from Nash, Hill, Marion and Amare, of course is heavily dependant on a backup PG and Skinner being used more.

They can, but D'Antoni is the lynchpin. If he pulls the same he's been pulling, then the whole playoffs fall apart for the Suns.

However that said, if they hadn't sold off Thomas and Jones I'd be much more upbeat about their chances, which, as of now, I say is 40-60. With Thomas, Jones, Hill and, maybe, Skinner, I'd say it's easily 50-50 and maybe even a slight advantage to the Suns.

You forgot that they should go grab JALEN ROSE from the ESPN offices and offer him a starting spot! Think how good they would be with TWO Grant Hills out there!