Scoop Jackson & Chris Ramsay not big on Suns this season

[daveang]

From the latest article on ESPN regarding which team is most likely to fall into 'turmoil', Scoop Jackson says the following about the Suns:

Look at how they've gone backwards over the years in their playoff finishes. The loss of Marion. The unproductiveness of Diaw. Now the loss of D'Antoni. I just have a feeling it's about to all fall apart. Plus, for the last three years I've picked them to win it all and they've pissed me off all three years, so I'm done with them. I'm officially off the bandwagon and I'm taking the rims with me.

Alot of people I'm sure are off the Suns bandwagon, and expectation wise they certainly go into this season with less expectations placed on them, although Suns fans expect them to contend for a championship. I actually like this situation for the Suns, with a new head coach minus the high expectations, hopefully they can relax and play minus the pressure - though it will always be there with Shaq around, it will be less intense.

And these words for the Suns from Chris Ramsay (who the hell is Chris Ramsay anyway?):

My friend, I don't know you anymore.

You used to be so much fun. You were the burning hot, run-and-gun rock star of the NBA. You had amazing and powerful style. You had The Matrix. And you had Mike Mustache. You were -- without a doubt -- the coolest team in the league.

Now, you are suddenly uncool.

You are the ancient Rolling Stones playing halftime at Super Bowl XL. You will tip the season with a 163-year-old starting lineup: Shaq (36), Amare (25), Hill (36), Bell (32), Nash (34).

I'm concerned that age and injuries will devastate you. I'm afraid that a losing locker room will drag you down a cold, dark wormhole in the Arizona desert.

And my biggest fear is that you will become the '06-'07 Heat ... a Shaq-dismal team of semi-inspired vets. They opened with a 42-point home loss to the Bulls, drifted through the regular season and got swept in the first round of the playoffs.

You could not stay the same forever. I get that. The NBA has a natural cycle. Teams are sold. GMs move on. Players get traded. Coaches get fired. But you changed and you didn't have to, Suns. You were special. You gave away your mojo.

And that's why when I ask the Magic 8-Ball if you will make the playoffs this season.

It answers "My sources say no."

Even so, I have to send best wishes to your new coach Terry Porter. I've always liked TP. I really do wish you success ... but, my friend, I am not hopeful.

Hey Chris Ramsay, I may have lost my last bet regarding Men's Basketball at the Olympics, but I'd love to bet that I wouldn't lose my next bet if it was against you saying that the Suns will make the playoffs this season....Oh and it's funny how the Suns supposedly go from a serious title contender to "Ancient Rollling Stones" in one season - yes, Shaq is 6 years older than Shawn Marion, but besides him, I hate to break it to ya Chris, but everyone in the league is a year older than they were last season......Sheesh.

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-34-63/Turmoil-to-Follow.html

[pidi]

so what you want ?? a team that runs the hell out the building wins about 60 games a season and losses in the playoffs??? a team that can´t get over the hump with shawn marion??
damn, i don´t want that freakin mojo off a regular season team that plays sweet bball and pisses off in the playoffs.
i´d rather be a fan of a team that plays boring defensive minded basketball and has a chance at the championship.
both, jackson and ramsay have it easy. they could run theyre mouth at the shaq trade - but i don´t care. i hope the suns will prove both of them wrong and than let me see what those two write than..

[BurningHeart]

Good. It's nice being the underdog again. The Suns have historically been better as the underdog.

[Stix]

I look at this and I'm not really going to take it seriously, these jounalists in my opinion are just taking the easy pick, of course you pick on the team that has the older players with a new coach... Jackson himself seems bias against Phoenix especially when he says "Plus, for the last three years I've picked them to win it all and they've pissed me off all three years, so I'm done with them. I'm officially off the bandwagon and I'm taking the rims with me." Oh brother...

I can write an article on how I think the Suns will be the most DANGEROUS team in 2008-2009, and could have just as many reasons why if not, more... Amare is a year older, he has a new focus on defense which he says he has never even "practiced" before. Shaq will be helping him, whether people like it or not he is still a dominant presence on the interior and no longer takes the role as "the man", the focus will be and always has been on Stoudemire, which could lead him to average close to MVP numbers this season. Next Nash, still a top 5 PG in the league who I can see actuallty benefiting from a slower system which would be the case with the new coach as he is perfectly cabable of running a half court system, I can see TP running a mix up of fast and slow ball which is what Championship calibur teams must be able to do. Raja Bell and Grant Hill are two very good experienced vets who play excellent defense, if they stay healthy throughout most of the season and into the post season this team will benefit greatly, they will have to rest more this season but we have an excellent bench coming in behind them... Boris Diaw which in my opinion is a key part in being able to play either fast or slow ball because he can do both quite well, plays decent defense, and can slide into pretty much any position on the floor. He could be due for another breakout year this year, if not... your still getting a solid bench player who can also start for that matter. After Boris, you have LB who can go for 20 ppg on any given night, imagine if Barbosa and Amare go for 20 and 30 respectively... that is 50 points right there between 2 players. Scary.

Scary because you still have Matt Barnes behind both of them, who is a huge upgrade over Gordon Giricek IMO and a bargain of an aquisition for the team as he will have something to prove when he gets his playing time so you can guarantee he will be bringing his "A" game night in and night out, he is also a scrapper and will be great to have come playoff time. I think the same would go for Admunson, but I think he was mostly brought in for Amare to practice D on, but he will also do some dirty work when he gets his time on the floor. Then you have the rooks, Dragic could either be hit or miss, but imagine if he's a hit and becomes a solid back up heir to Nash whom he will be emulating, i'm starting to get chills. If he is a miss, you can still give Sean Singletary a try. Regardless if these guys can score, they are still considered decent defenders and ball handlers, and you really don't need much more out of a back up with a team with this much talent. Speaking of defense, lets not forget about the new 7 footer we aquired in the draft who's been known to be a defensive specialist... just sayin'.

[ray ray]

Scoop Jackson taking the rims with him?? I'm very happy that the Suns are not the sexy pick any more. They need to take it personal and Shaq being 8-10 pounds heavier kind of gives me a good feeling about this year. I know that we all want him to be in tip tip shape coming into training camp, but lets face it, its Shaq. He can lose those pounds in 2 weeks or so.

All in all, I think that Matt Barnes is going to make a huge differance in this team. I have also heard that Alando Tucker has been impressing the coaches. There was a couple of plays that Tucker made and impressed Amare and Grant Hill.

[JohnVancouver]

[quote="phungk"]I ... Jackson himself seems bias against Phoenix especially when he says "Plus, for the last three years I've picked them to win it all and they've pissed me off all three years, so I'm done with them. I'm officially off the bandwagon and I'm taking the rims with me." Oh brother...

--- Well, we all know how that feels. We've all had our hearts broken and our sanity abused. But screw him, he's not a True Believer. Last spring I felt like someone had driven over my dog when they lost to SA, now I'm excited again. Added some good people, the rotation should be more ... reasoned, and some of the pressure to win everything is off. They're in a good place.
As you say, they can still run if it's there but the half-court game is in far better shape, the defense will be better (how could it not) and we may still pick up a good player. Both backup points are rookies but that's two more PGs we have now than a year ago.
We have a decent bench and they may even get on the floor this year. That's a big change.
I think the keys are - Stat is serious about playing D, Nash doesn't get worn to a nubbin, Diaw plays like we know he can. And we get lucky ... all championship teams get some lucky breaks, and we're due.

[arizonatribe]

Let 'em talk.

All the analysts writing them off and most of our panicked Suns fans desperately afraid of the rebuilding years and changing their tune to "We're in trouble! Prove me Wrong" instead of "We're going to win Big". This will put the team between a rock and a hard place, and hopefully make them play with a chip on their shoulder, never feel comfortable at home (feeling the boobirds are just 3 turnovers away), and ultimately develop mental toughness.

What's done is done with trades and changing personnel, make a monument to the D'Antoni/Marion Suns and move on. Get yourselves a Shaq voodoo doll if it makes you feel better.

[garrick]

Forget those fairweather Suns fans, they stick with teams that are popular but once the teams starts to decline they will run off to some new hot NBA team like the Lakers.

I admit I am not happy with a lot of the decisions that went on both with Colangelo and Sarver but I still am a loyal Suns fan nonetheless.

[lilfishi22]

Last season we were the coolest team in the league and no doubt the most fun to watch, but that's as far as we went. Marion is still one of my favorite players, but we weren't going to win with him. Some of you have said, we were so close the last two years even with Marion, Yes, but the time's have changed. Even our the prime of the SSOL era, we were already pushing our luck with our offense. Most of us knew that our offense could only take us so far before real defense stops us.

With the addition of Gasol to add to the Bynum-Kobe-Odom trio and emergence of the CP3-Chandler-West-Stojakovic quartet, we were already in a decline even before the Shaq trade. Our offense was the flashiest and most efficient a two seasons back, but it was quickly becoming a novelty act when people finally to realize that in a tough 7-game playoff series, efficiency goes down and defense wins games. "Mike Mustache's," offensive system making us the "coolest team in the league" drove our vets into the ground, leaving nothing but sheer will to play on in the post-season.

We are uncool in that we no longer will score 110ppg and we won't blow out as many opponents as we used to, but I see that we've had our share of the fun and the rock star lifestyle, now it's time to get serious. Age is always a factor in veteran teams, and while we probably have the oldest starting lineup in the league, it's still a damn solid starting lineup.

Should we really listen to these commentators? Yeah, if you are the type who wants to know what other people are thinking. Should we them seriously? No. As much as their concerns about our team is true or not, these guys are just commentators and are paid to voice their opinion, heck Jackson even admitted he was a bandwagon fan. So in the end, what are the disadvantages of having articles like this written? Probably none, most Suns fan already know about the concerns brought up and what not. And what are the advantages? We are painted as the underdogs now, a title I have no problem running with.

[arizonatribe]

"There wasn't a lot of cap space or options for us," said Suns guard Steve Nash, who was on hand Thursday to hail the arena solar-power idea he began pushing more than two years ago. "To pick up the players we did is really exciting. We're way deeper, more energetic and hungrier. I think the chemistry is really important. We made subtle, great moves."

[tsherkin]

The Suns look compelling for any number of reasons.

1) They've finally added some youth; Matt Barnes isn't an old fart veteran, no disrespect to Shaq or Hill or any of the other fill-in FAs or trades that the Suns have made recently. He's younger, he's got some athleticism about him, he defends... It's important to fill in the wing rotation so that the guys aren't extended so badly. They actually used and brought over a draft pick, which was nice. Dragic may suck but at least he's a young guy who's known for defense. Robin Lopez is likely to be a good rebounder at least at one end of the floor and another big to toss into the rotation to spell Shaq and keep Amare at the 4.

2) Terry Porter will get them playing D a little better, which is always a good thing. He doesn't intend to sacrifice the transition game, which is of course important.

3) Training camp... Shaq will have one with the team and the coach will have a chance to design and implement a game plan that effectively uses both the halfcourt and transition games, manipulating Amare and Shaq in tandem to take advantage of the Shaq effect that helped Amare explode alongside the Diesel. Call it Diesel-fueled or somesuch.

Ignore for the moment that Amare will theoretically play competent defense for the first time in his career and the fact that Grant Hill is still around and this is not a time with which to trifle.

The Lakers, Hornets and Spurs are elite teams of concern; the Rockets could be a balance-tipper and the Clippers are an unknown (but I expect 8th seed or no playoffs because they have crappy chemistry).

It's not hard to argue that the Suns are a top-4 or top-5 team in the West, depending on where Houston sits. And that's in a conservative mind-set. Too, it's important to note that Shaq played like crap in the playoffs last year, so if that changes, the Suns are going to offer a totally different look this year, yet another possibility for optimism.

[flanpaw42]

i can't take anything these reporters say as serious. it use to be cool to go for the suns. now its cool to bash them. thats all it is. the avg reporter is a functioning (Please Use More Appropriate Word) who has next to no actual knowledge, but they can write. it is easy to hear what another says and then write that in your own words. not just sports, news in general is ridiculous. there is no such thing as a respectable reporter. they only want to talk about what sells. bashing the suns sells.

i dont care, i am gonna love the suns and the cardinals no matter what happens. why? because thats what i have been doing for the past 28 and 20 years respectively. we have a solid veteran team who seems to have good chemistry and detroit proved a few years back that is all you need. i predict we prove all the naysayers wrong and get our ring

[rsavaj]

Suns fan for life, but I can't say that I don't share some of their doubts...

[JohnVancouver]

Fox sports:

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/8563 ... eir-luster

the conclusion this guy comes to is - we'll make the play-offs, battle the Lakers in the Pacific but no longer serious contenders.

Eve without my orange goggles, we're better than that. I still think this team has a good shot, providing we get some breaks.
Really - if Shaq could hit a respectable percentage at the line, things would have been different last spring.

[HootieRules]

Seriously, who is Chris Ramsay?

Scoop is always good, I like his stuff.

Everyone else at ESPN sans maybe Stein and Adande don't know a basketball from their ass.

[eastsidecrossover]

They are reporters and have to make a story sound good. However, the suns just can't win with the analyst and journalist. They loved the style, but said they could not win it all. They said we needed size, defense, a bench and we have in a way done that. Maybe not the best pieces, but we have a better team to compete in the playoffs I think now. The run and gun style was figured out because MD was a dumb ass and would not make necessary changes and keep the other coach’s guessing.

I like them being underdogs, but Im not optimistic they will go far. Too many ????? on this team, new coach that I don’t have a feel for them as of yet.

Since the Shaun Livingston bandwagon did not work, maybe marbary will come over as a backup. I hope at least.

[mkot]

No Marbury. I don't want his antics on this team right now, especially with a young point guard in the fold.