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Hermann is my favorite player. I'll be deeply upset if we don't start to play him more and keep him next year.
They blew.
Hermann is my favorite player. I'll be deeply upset if we don't start to play him more and keep him next year.
That was pure ownage.
2nd place wooohhoooo
But throw in the Laker game, and that is 236 pts they have given up in two games. Shaq can't begin to make up for the Offense they lost with Marion.. I'm looking now with Suns having the toughest remaining schedule in the West, they may not even make the damn playoffs this year. Wouldn't that be a ing hoot?
Think they just went to 5th seed....
I hear you, but how much can you really take away from the Lakers game. That was Shaq's first game with the team. Even this one is only the third, right?
I'm not saying they're going to be able to get it together, but let's make an assessment in a month.
I will take it further and say you won't see Shaq's real value until the playoffs. Shaq in the regular season tends to coast.
He better not coast too much, the West is tough.
Except Shaq hasn't been coasting since joining the Suns. He's clearly trying. You can tell by his efforts on the glass. But, now he can't finish near the rim, still has free throw problems, and has had some problems spacing himself in the half court sets. As mentioned on the telecast, Shaq hasn't hurt them too badly in transition. It's the half court sets where he hurts spacing and can't finish at the rim.
Good job D'antoni, you have Suns playing like the Heat now
I would agree, but like JamStone said, he is clearly trying. This is probably the hardest he's worked in a while, and he's not showing much offensively or defensively, other than rebounds and a couple of blocks.
The problem with the Suns is what it's always been. Their lack of defense and their suspect supporting cast. Diaw, Hill, Barbosa, Bell is a limited group to depend on year after year outside of Steve Nash and Amare Stoudamire. Their role players don't have defined roles.
Shaq is definitely working out there and I give him props for that. But as you said, he now has trouble finishing at the rim and he still can't hit free throws. Also he's too slow on defensive rotations, he can't help much with the fast break, and there's just no way he's going to have the production on both sides of the court that Shawn Marion gave them.
Also, how long is he going to keep up this kind of pace and this amount of minutes?
I loved the one play I think it was in the 2nd quarter where Maxill drives into the pain uncontested for a layup. Vangundy asks, Where's the trasition D for the Suns? And they replay it and Shaq and Amare are slowly coming up the court ing to eachother about a bad previous call while the paint stays unguarded.
they have scores less then 90 points the last two games
Shawn is a good player but is not like the Suns were going anywhere with him. He was always MIA in the playoffs. In fact he had a crucial turnover in Game 6 against the Spurs that could have cut the lead to 3 instead in turned into a score for Finley sending the Spurs to the WCF. I like the fact that Kerr and Sarver had the guts to make this trade that not many teams would have done. Whether it works or not we will see in the playoffs.
Shaq is a better fit for this team. Marion was pissed and leaving anyways. The problem is not with Shaq, and it's painfully obvious that they need a real SG now. Bell might be good defensively, but he's way below average offensively.
You know, even if Shaq helps the Suns in the playoffs, there is a very tight race developing in the West. The entire conference is separated by 5 games right now. If Nash or Amare get injured, or even if (any team) the Suns hit a rough patch, there isn't much gimme room. The Suns chances for a le would take a massive hit if they fell to 6th or 7th in the conference and had to wade (pun intended) through a bunch of the hardcore defensive teams. Shaq will be unable to handle that wear and tear, IMO, if he's already tired. Utah, LA, the Spurs, heck even NO all have bodies to throw up against Amare and hack-a-Shaq. I just don't see how the Suns are going to pull this out and make it work for them. If they don't play zone in the PO, just run a small ball lineup out there to face Shaq, have the fastest big you have running him all over the court and wear him down. As soon as he gets the ball in the post, make hard contact and put him on the line every time if need be, especially as the quarter winds down.
This is going to be a chaotic WC playoff run. I'm wondering how the egos on the Suns are going to handle this if they have one or two more big losses.
Meanwhile, the Spurs, Rockets, and Lakers are streaking right now, rounding into playoff shape. I just don't see the Suns being any better from this point out.
Also, while he hasn't really hurt their transition offense, he has hurt their transition defense. The Suns weren't good in transition defense to begin with. Now, they're slower and lazier. If a good team runs on them when they have clear advantages and makes smart passes, the Suns players don't get back at all. That allows for easy offensive putbacks. We saw that today, several times.
Suns fans probably won't like this suggestion, but a guy like Ruben Patterson, who is a versatile defender and can play up front in small ball would be the type of player the Suns should look into adding. Not Brent Barry. Suns aren't going to continue to struggle scoring like this. Shaq will find his way and the rest of the Suns will figure out where their spots will be to score with Shaq on the floor. It's the transition defense and pick-and-roll defense where they need to improve.
The Suns are the 5th seed at 1/2 game out of 1st. LOL. This is the wildest race ever.
Actually, if the Lakers lose tonight, the Suns would be the 5th seed at 0.0 games out of 1st place!
Last edited by Jeremy; 02-24-2008 at 06:54 PM.
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