Fans Expectations from Terry Porter and the Coaching Staff

[PHXTERROR1987]

Ya you are now just looking at the numbers, of Shaq. Think about how many turnovers and not going to lie his defense is crap. He is slow, and old. Not saying that he doesnt try, cuz we can all see that. He gots a great personality, but i just believe the Matrix, can play defense, make his own shots, and be clutch. I dont believe shaq can do that ne more. Yes i understand what we get from him, but the question is, what did we lose? Trust me if we were more patient something else would of came along.

[arizonatribe]

You're right, if we were more patient something else could have come along: something else we could not have used in the playoffs. Don't forget the trade deadline we had to meet in February. That would have been really bad if we traded for someone and weren't able to use them when it counted; Kerr would have really been popular then!

Let's just think through the particulars of what was out there at the start of the year and up until the trade deadline. Who specifically was available who was willing to trade for Marion and not require one of our core players or gutting a team full of 4 to 7 million per year players who didn't want to be gutted for the Matrix? Centers are notoriously difficult to pry away from teams in trades, and then it typically happens in their waning or mediocre years.

One incredibly important factor in a trade like that is having someone who would make a serious contribution at Center but not kill our cap space in two years. If we tried Okafor or Biedrins it would be the same as Jameson: we'd have to have offered him an expensive multi-year deal two months ago that would have killed our cap space when it counts in two seasons.

There are teams that would probably have been impossible for us to pry away their centers considering (a) we have no consolation back-up Center to deal them, causing them to still need to pick someone else up (b) we are unwilling to part with one of our core players and those we would part with are perceived as overpaid, and (c) the other team in a trade are unwilling to take in another Small Forward behind their then/current superstar Small Forward. Teams like Denver (Camby), Memphis (Gasol, who again cuts our cap space in 2010), Clevland (Ilgauskas), Clippers (Kaman, again a cap space issue in 2010) and Chicago (Noah).

Then you have teams that arguably no one has any hope of acquiring their Centers who are either current or potential superstars, or fit their team's current system perfectly. Teams like Houston (Ming), Orlando (Howard), Portland (Oden), Milwaukee (Bogut), Utah (Okur) and Toronto (Bosh).

Then that leaves you with an option like New Orleans (Chandler), but could you imagine how hideous that would be to watch the Matrix torch us on alley oops from CP3? At least they dealt him somewhere where he's unlikely to hurt us. Let us all pray hard that Riley doesn't deal him to the Big Easy and/or that he doesn't sign there next year. If so, (Chandler, West, Marion, Stoyakovic and Paul) god help us.

The remaining options are all Centers that can't compare to how Shaq plays now (I doubt I'm leaving anyone out). We obviously turned down teams that didn't have anyone to offer in the frontcourt or required us to deal Amare.

You are right that the big Diesel is a liability against guards and small forwards who know how to absorb contact, but O'Neal's defense against big men is typically very good. He does commit a lot of turnovers, 2nd only to Nash, and could stand to improve still many aspects of his game.

Add that to the list of expectations for Terry Porter: properly pace, motivate and make use of what we have left of the Big Diesel in his waning years.

[PHXTERROR1987]

im not saying that we should of went for a center. instead for a pg and sf, would of done the deal just right. we could of worried about a center later. or traded diaw for a decent center. Shaq still slows us down. In fact, all the centers you mentioned are faster than shaq.

[tsherkin]

but i just believe the Matrix, can play defense, make his own shots, and be clutch.

Play defense, yes. Make his own shots? Only in the sense of offensive rebounding (which Shaq did better), scoring in transition (an advantage for Marion, surely) and moving without the ball. Shaq was way better at actually scoring in an iso and certainly a lot better at drawing fouls (Marion has always sucked ass at that).

We missed his perimeter D but got post D instead, and better rebounding than Marion was providing. There were any number of reasons that the trade was at least sound, if not good. Remember, the team didn't get a training camp with Shaq and he's a significant change to their style and chemistry. This year will be a considerably better test of the quality of the Shaq trade.

+1 - but how many coaches won a ring in theyre first year with a new team???

Phil Jackson comes to mind. Pat Riley, too.

[KF10]

Well, I think the Suns offense will be more stable and more balance with the addition of Porter. And team defense will grow. More collectively effort on D on various players. More defensive sets. Like various half court sets, full court press, and etc to force more offensive opportunity...

[Never Fear 33 Is Here]

+1 - but how many coaches won a ring in theyre first year with a new team???

Phil Jackson comes to mind. Pat Riley, too.

IIRC Larry Brown also did it in Detroit, but not sure. Having said that the 3 guys mentioned here had already won 'ships elsewhere or in Browns' case had already proven that he was a winner time and time again. He had/has a huge history of being able to turn bad teams around and turn them into winners.

Whilst Porter has been a winner in coaching, IMO he doesn't have enough of a history as a coach to say that he is a proven winner.

Don't get me wrong, I love the signing of Porter, just being diplomatic I suppose.

[daveang]

I do expect Porter to run a longer rotation, with more involvement minutes wise from Barnes, Dragic, Lopez, Barbosa and Diaw.

I expect the Suns to be cautious with Shaq throughout - we need the big fella healthy come the end of the season.

I feel most importantly, to expect to see a difference defensively in the team - and though that might not be a clearly visible thing, over time it should show in the stats.

[PHXTERROR1987]

In an ISO, yes shaq is better but not much. Shaq thinks he can make his little hook shot still. In fact he looks like a ball hog, trying to prove something in which he cant come through with. As for Marion making his own shots, yes marion moves excellently without the ball, and if your a suns fan you should know that. And what are you expecting out of a small forward? He rebounds great for his size and playing out of position. I guarantee he would be better with a bigger body. so you cant really compare a SF to a true Center rebounding wise. Id have Marion anyday even over Tmac, Iverson, Anthony, ETC. This is an all around player, and i think is better defensively then Raja Bell. I bet all of you even have Marion on your Franchise team. So stop being hypocrites, be loyal to the guy that served so long with PHX. Shaq should just retire tomorrow. You guys have your hopes held way to high for some older players. ie. Jalen Rose. haha. Think before you talk.

Im out.

[arizonatribe]

Comparing Shaq's 2 months handling the ball in Phoenix to Shawn Marion and saying that Shaq looked like a ball hog is not going to get many head nods. While his field goal percentage was very high (61%) the 2 months he was with us, he deferred much more than he has on his last two teams, trying hard to get Amare and Raja open shots. I respect your opinion but I did not see selfish ballhogging whenever Shaq touched the ball.

Shaq's attitude should not be in question. He didn't slack off yet from his commitment to work with the medical trainers and work on his conditioning. His field goal and free throw shooting both improved while he was here, and if or until that changes this season, I have absolutely no criticisms of his work ethic. I'll agree the results still weren't what we hoped for though.

It's not an issue of loyalty to Marion, but he made a stubborn standoff that would have sunk the ship. Signing Marion to a $20 million dollar multi-year deal like he wanted would have killed us in 2 years for cap space and given us nothing more than another roll of the dice in the playoffs the next two years, wondering if we'd ever be able to stop Tim Duncan or if Shawn and LB would finally be effective against the Spurs.

Maybe Shawn's a better scorer and rebounder, but Shaq allows more rebounds for the team (Suns only out-rebounded twice in first month Shaq was there) and more open shots for Amare. It's not a perfect replacement since our 3 point shooting dropped off (but that could be argued as a slump that Raja and LB themselves are responsible for, not lack of open shots because of the Big Diesel). With the exception of when Shaq got in foul trouble, Duncan didn't dominate the Suns offensively the way he did in the past.

Rebounding, defending Duncan (again, lapses only when he was in foul trouble), and clogging the paint is the big reason we wanted Shaq. We lost a lot, but it brought in revenue (just in jersey sales alone) to pay the luxury tax easier, upped the value of the franchise (financially), gave us huge room for 2010 to sign players, and a chance to try something new to a city that was generally demanding change after hitting the same playoff walls over and over again.

Shawn was a great player and came to work like a pro, avoiding much of the bad chemistry that can happen when a player wants out. I hope he ends up in the ring of honor, but the numbers couldn't work for the salary he wanted.