Reply With Quote
They are gonna suck this year....just gotta feeling.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_yl...v=ap&type=lgns
Suns abandoned breakneck speed for defense
By BOB BAUM, AP Sports Writer Oct 25, 4:10 am EDT
Phoenix Suns coach Terry Porter yells to his team during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Clippers in Los Angeles in this Oct. 21, 2008 photo. The delightful, if ultimately unsuccessful, breakneck style of the Phoenix Suns is history. The low-key Porter is a marked contrast to the flamboyant and talkative Mike D'Antoni, who left after five-plus successful seasons in Phoenix.
Phoenix Suns coach Terry Porte…
AP - Oct 24, 5:38 pm EDT
* NBA Gallery
PHOENIX (AP)—The delightful, if ultimately unsuccessful, breakneck style of the Phoenix Suns is history.
That’s probably just as well, because an aging Shaquille O’Neal enters his first full season at the center of Phoenix’s game.
New coach Terry Porter will take a few fast breaks, but his area of concern is at the other end of the court.
“The challenge for us all year long will be doing a better job at the defensive end,” he said. “That’s going to be a long, long process.”
The low-key Porter is a marked contrast to the flamboyant and talkative Mike D’Antoni, who left after five-plus successful seasons in Phoenix.
But D’Antoni’s Suns only once made it as far as the conference finals. He and general manager Steve Kerr had different ideas about how the game should be played.
Kerr—a close friend of owner Robert Sarver—prevailed, and he brought in Porter to cast a new mold for the team.
“I think the word that comes to mind is details,” Grant Hill said of Porter’s style. “He’s a stickler for details … whether it’s spacing the floor, where we need to be, helpside defense, things of that nature. It is an adjustment. I think we’re beginning to see it can be really helpful.”
The 36-year-old O’Neal enters his 17th season and, he says, most likely his next-to-last. Steve Nash, 34, is in his 13th NBA campaign. And Hill, 35, is in his 14th year as a pro.
Those numbers probably explain why the Suns no longer are mentioned as one of the teams to beat in the West. Porter, though, believes his team can be a contender.
“I still think you look at our roster and we have everything an NBA team needs,” he said, “inside presence, obviously perimeter presences, we have some athleticism and we have speed in areas that we need.”
D’Antoni never went more than eight-deep, and often used only seven, in his player rotation. Porter wants to use nine but says “there are some guys that are going to make it tough.”
At least 10 players seem to merit time on the court.
Porter decided to start Matt Barnes, an offseason free-agent acquisition, ahead of Hill at small forward. The other starters are Amare Stoudemire at power forward, O’Neal at center, and Nash and Raja Bell the guards.
That leaves Leandro Barbosa, Boris Diaw and Hill coming off the bench. Then there are the team’s two rookies—7-footer Robin Lopez and heralded young European playmaker Goran Dragic.
With Nash out with an ankle injury, Dragic played a lot in the preseason and impressed Porter. Lopez is counted on for some rugged defense in relief of O’Neal.
“When you look at our bench, we’ve got a lot of options, a lot of versatility,” Porter said.
The 26-year-old Stoudemire is approaching the prime of his career. In 2006, his first season back from microfracture knee surgery, he was second-team all-NBA. Last year, he averaged 25.2 points and 9.2 rebounds, earning first-team all-NBA honors.
Stoudemire had to play out of position at center before the arrival of O’Neal. Now he’s at his natural spot. At 6-foot-10 and 249 pounds, with quickness, power and an accurate jumper to about 18 feet, he will be a big matchup challenge to opponents.
Phoenix Suns coach Terry Porter talks with Raja Bell during a break in the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game against the Atlanta Hawks in this Oct. 8, 2008 photo in Phoenix. The delightful, if ultimately unsuccessful, breakneck style of the Phoenix Suns is history. The low-key Porter is a marked contrast to the flamboyant and talkative Mike D'Antoni, who left after five-plus successful seasons in Phoenix.
Phoenix Suns coach Terry Porte…
AP - Oct 24, 5:36 pm EDT
In the 29 games after Shaq joined the team last year, Stoudemire averaged 28.5 points.
Stoudemire was slowed in the preseason, first by an ankle injury, then by a torn iris from a poke in the eye, then in the final game he dislocated his left pinkie.
“Thank God it’s over,” he said.
Nash has seemed in denial that the Porter-led Suns would mean a severe decline in the speed of the Phoenix’s game.
“I think we’ll come to a consensus and be somewhere toward the middle,” he said. “I’m not really concerned that we’re going to change styles completely.”
Nash enjoys the fact nobody is calling the Suns a le favorite anymore.
“We’ve had a lot of people talking about us the last few years,” he said, “so I’m happy that no one cares.”
The Suns open their season Wednesday at San Antonio. Their home opener is Thursday night against New Orleans.
Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Basketball '08. Get off the bench and register today.
They are gonna suck this year....just gotta feeling.
I think a slower pace will make both Nash and Amare less effective. I also question Shaq's durability. Anyways, good luck to them, except when they play the Spurs.
Suns held opponents to 91.2 ppg in 8 games this preseason, and won the rebounding war in every game but the first. Granted, these are preseason stats, but it's something to keep an eye on.
Now that D'Antoni is out of the picture, the Suns are automatically running a much more effective team defense.
Focusing on defense, taking good shots, and having a deeper bench will automatically make the Suns better. The fun and gun was a gimmick.
Also, everyone knows that the game slows down considerably in the playoffs, especially against tougher opponents. Year after year, the Suns played at a breakneck pace only to start walking it up in the postseason, a style of play they weren't used to playing. A full season of playing a more deliberate style will prepare them for the bump and grind.
And Nash, who steps up for the playoffs, won't be so worn down that his body fails him.
They probably won't be as good in the reg. season but well be better off the post-season. I don't see them going anywhere though.
Sounds like what a team with their talent should do, also Grant Hill coming off the bench is a wise move. They are imitating the Spurs so I expect good things. They have added bench scoring with Hill & Barbosa so scoring will not be as much of an issue for them as it was with us. Dangerous team to keep an eye on, Shaq has always been injury prone just made it through injury free for the 2000 season and throughout his playoffs during the 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 POST SEASONS
Let them win just to piss off D'Antonio!
Let see how they fare with a new philosophy and Amare playing his natural position.
In a nuts ....yeah, couldn't have said it better myself.
Well, actually i'm gonna give it a shot.......
Good riddance to D'Umbtoni's flawed system that's designed to put butts in the seats.Good riddance to him & his pompous rhetoric bull post-game press conferences too.
D'Antoni: "We've just got to play better." Really? Thanks Mike.
"We've just got to make some shots." Thx again Mike.
"Lets go guys! Run run run!" you Mike.
Prediction/RANT: In three yrs Mike is gonna be coaching back in the Euro where he belongs....and he's still gonna be wearin that insanely outdated 'stache ,and wearing that ing smurk on his face that says...."I'm a genius basketball mind. Don't tell me i need to defend or rebound. Playoffs? Oh yeah ,those are those really important games AFTER the regular season when my peers actually make adjustments from minute to minute,game to game...hmmmm well look at my regular season record.....it's pretty good....that counts for somethin right? (insert smurk with arrogant laugh here)"
you Mike D'Antoni
The Suns will be lucky to get a half season out of Shaq and they're starting Matt Barnes. Suns are irrevelant in the West at this point.
I fully expect to see Mike D'Antoni in Italy in the next couple of years, and I fully expect KBP to post up in here talking about what a validation it is of the greatness of European basketball.In a nuts ....yeah, couldn't have said it better myself.
Well, actually i'm gonna give it a shot.......
Good riddance to D'Umbtoni's flawed system that's designed to put butts in the seats.Good riddance to him & his pompous rhetoric bull post-game press conferences too.
D'Antoni: "We've just got to play better." Really? Thanks Mike.
"We've just got to make some shots." Thx again Mike.
"Lets go guys! Run run run!" you Mike.
Prediction/RANT: In three yrs Mike is gonna be coaching back in the Euro where he belongs....and he's still gonna be wearin that insanely outdated 'stache ,and wearing that ing smurk on his face that says...."I'm a genius basketball mind. Don't tell me i need to defend or rebound. Playoffs? Oh yeah ,those are those really important games AFTER the regular season when my peers actually make adjustments from minute to minute,game to game...hmmmm well look at my regular season record.....it's pretty good....that counts for somethin right? (insert smurk with arrogant laugh here)"
the suns are going to blow the spurs out of the att arena on wednesday,.
get used to it spurs fans.
You've so fully transformed into a hyperbole-spewing caricature that it's difficult to conceive of the time that you actually had something worthwhile to say and were worth anyone's attention. You're the Ann Coulter of Spurstalk.
whatever..
watch the game...
get back to me when it's over..
At least I know where you'll be, starting a half dozen stupid threads no doubt.
Most annoying poster?
season has not even started yet and you already in mode
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
