Suns best five defenders...
Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 8:29 pm
...may actually be a really good unit on offense as well.
The Suns problem is defense, which is currently sitting at worst in the league. The offense is second best, and probably would be first if Nash hadn't missed two games and if the early season schedule wasn't so tough. I am confident that for the 9th year in a row (at least), Nash will lead his team to the highest offensive rating in the NBA. But we need to improve the defense.
I KNOW THIS IS COMPLETELY OVERSIMPLIFIED AND THAT STATS CAN'T SAY EVERYTHING, but I thought this was interesting. I looked at defensive ratings at basketballvalue.com so far this year for the ten Suns who have played at least a hundred minutes http://basketballvalue.com/teamplayers. ... =2010-2011. Five have positive ratings, in this order:
1) Warrick
2) Frye
3) Dudley
4) Childress
5) Nash
There are a lot of questions about those stats, most importantly the limited data set and the fact that it is unadjusted. But still, isn't it interesting? This is a complete unit, a unit that has hardly touched the floor together. What would happen if they learned to play together?
I think this could be as good of a unit as we've ever had in the Nash era. Here's why.
1) Nash is still Nash.
2) Stat was an enormous defensive liability. Warrick is an upgrade defensively, and only a marginal downgrade offensively. He still can get Nash-fed dunks with ease off the PnR, which is by far the most important thing Stat ever did. He's as good of a free throw shooter as Stat, his true shooting % is slightly better at this point, and his scoring average is lower but surprisingly similar per minute. If he were to get more minutes, especially with Nash, he might improve dramatically.
3) Is it just me, or is Childress-Dudley the second coming of Marion-Bell?
4) Frye is something we've never had before. He's starting to score inside when he needs to, but he allows us to play four-out. The Suns best units have always had four out. He allows us to play small ball without actually getting small.
5) For a Suns team, this is like a redwood forest.
6) Includes our top three 3-point shooters from last year.
7) All five can run the floor well, but Nash, Childress, and Warrick are incredible at it. Dunks first, open threes for the trailers second.
8) fast-break or half-court: I predict tons of Nash-fed dunks for Childress and Warrick.
9) I've made it quite clear in other threads that I believe Dudley is a perfect compliment to Nash (and Hill isn't).
10) Defensively this group has a ton of hustle, two excellent perimeter defenders, and as good of a frontcourt as the Suns have ever had with Nash.
The number one thing this group is missing that guys like Stat, JRich, Hill, and Turk provide is the ability to create one's own shot. I've said this before and I'll keep saying it: WE DON'T NEED THAT WHEN NASH IS ON THE COURT. We need those kinds of players when Nash is not on the court.
The Suns problem is defense, which is currently sitting at worst in the league. The offense is second best, and probably would be first if Nash hadn't missed two games and if the early season schedule wasn't so tough. I am confident that for the 9th year in a row (at least), Nash will lead his team to the highest offensive rating in the NBA. But we need to improve the defense.
I KNOW THIS IS COMPLETELY OVERSIMPLIFIED AND THAT STATS CAN'T SAY EVERYTHING, but I thought this was interesting. I looked at defensive ratings at basketballvalue.com so far this year for the ten Suns who have played at least a hundred minutes http://basketballvalue.com/teamplayers. ... =2010-2011. Five have positive ratings, in this order:
1) Warrick
2) Frye
3) Dudley
4) Childress
5) Nash
There are a lot of questions about those stats, most importantly the limited data set and the fact that it is unadjusted. But still, isn't it interesting? This is a complete unit, a unit that has hardly touched the floor together. What would happen if they learned to play together?
I think this could be as good of a unit as we've ever had in the Nash era. Here's why.
1) Nash is still Nash.
2) Stat was an enormous defensive liability. Warrick is an upgrade defensively, and only a marginal downgrade offensively. He still can get Nash-fed dunks with ease off the PnR, which is by far the most important thing Stat ever did. He's as good of a free throw shooter as Stat, his true shooting % is slightly better at this point, and his scoring average is lower but surprisingly similar per minute. If he were to get more minutes, especially with Nash, he might improve dramatically.
3) Is it just me, or is Childress-Dudley the second coming of Marion-Bell?
4) Frye is something we've never had before. He's starting to score inside when he needs to, but he allows us to play four-out. The Suns best units have always had four out. He allows us to play small ball without actually getting small.
5) For a Suns team, this is like a redwood forest.
6) Includes our top three 3-point shooters from last year.
7) All five can run the floor well, but Nash, Childress, and Warrick are incredible at it. Dunks first, open threes for the trailers second.
8) fast-break or half-court: I predict tons of Nash-fed dunks for Childress and Warrick.
9) I've made it quite clear in other threads that I believe Dudley is a perfect compliment to Nash (and Hill isn't).
10) Defensively this group has a ton of hustle, two excellent perimeter defenders, and as good of a frontcourt as the Suns have ever had with Nash.
The number one thing this group is missing that guys like Stat, JRich, Hill, and Turk provide is the ability to create one's own shot. I've said this before and I'll keep saying it: WE DON'T NEED THAT WHEN NASH IS ON THE COURT. We need those kinds of players when Nash is not on the court.
Thanks, I really appreciate it.
Yeah, I noticed that. I thought it made sense that the style was so different under Porter with Shaq. Which fits my thesis that Grant Hill may in fact be the better player, but not when paired with Nash in the play-fast-and-fire-threes-offense.