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I'll be honest, I haven't watched the Suns in a while, barely at all this season, but have always been a supporter of Nash and Channing Frye(I used to live in Portland).

I gave out a little info on what VC can bring to the Suns, and I just wanted to ask my new fellow Suns fans a few questions about the team?


1) Is Nash really a bad defender?
-I hear all the time that Steve is the worst perimeter PG out of all the elites and can't handle the quicker PGs in the league.

2) Who's usually the best player OVERALL coming off the bench?
- I know Dudley is a hustle and energy type of guy, and that Dragic is a decent shooter and distributor, but who's the main guy for you off the bench? (Could it possibly become Pietrus? )

3) Does Alvin Gentry like to play big in the 4th or go with a small lineup?
-I'm looking at the roster and we are a little depleted with bigs, but with a PF/C rotation of Gortat/Lopez/Warrick/Frye, more options are available now in the 4th in terms of matchups or who we play against.

If it were me, I'd go with this lineup in the 4th.
Nash/VC/Hill/Frye/Gortat (Not too sure about this, but I'd love to try this lineup)

4) What's the type of offense this team runs?
I know Steve Nash will obviously be handling the ball, but what is the team's offense? Is it straight up fast breaks, or do they run alot pnrs with Nash and Lopez/Frye? Is there any isolations for Grant Hill and do the suns like to play at a high tempo or choose to slow down when they need to?

5) How did your trainers get the fountain of youth!?!
Really, I'm just wondering whose on your staff and what they are doing. I mean Grant Hill does not look 38 at all. Steve Nash is always an MVP candidate for the past 6 years, and Shaq had rejuvenated stops here in Phoenix. What is the secret!?

RvM wrote:I'll be honest, I haven't watched the Suns in a while, barely at all this season, but have always been a supporter of Nash and Channing Frye(I used to live in Portland).

I gave out a little info on what VC can bring to the Suns, and I just wanted to ask my new fellow Suns fans a few questions about the team?


1) Is Nash really a bad defender?
-I hear all the time that Steve is the worst perimeter PG out of all the elites and can't handle the quicker PGs in the league.

2) Who's usually the best player OVERALL coming off the bench?
- I know Dudley is a hustle and energy type of guy, and that Dragic is a decent shooter and distributor, but who's the main guy for you off the bench? (Could it possibly become Pietrus? )

3) Does Alvin Gentry like to play big in the 4th or go with a small lineup?
-I'm looking at the roster and we are a little depleted with bigs, but with a PF/C rotation of Gortat/Lopez/Warrick/Frye, more options are available now in the 4th in terms of matchups or who we play against.

If it were me, I'd go with this lineup in the 4th.
Nash/VC/Hill/Frye/Gortat (Not too sure about this, but I'd love to try this lineup)

4) What's the type of offense this team runs?
I know Steve Nash will obviously be handling the ball, but what is the team's offense? Is it straight up fast breaks, or do they run alot pnrs with Nash and Lopez/Frye? Is there any isolations for Grant Hill and do the suns like to play at a high tempo or choose to slow down when they need to?

5) How did your trainers get the fountain of youth!?!
Really, I'm just wondering whose on your staff and what they are doing. I mean Grant Hill does not look 38 at all. Steve Nash is always an MVP candidate for the past 6 years, and Shaq had rejuvenated stops here in Phoenix. What is the secret!?

1 - Yep Nash is a pretty terrible defender. I mean, he can kinda keep up, it's not like his man just burns past him every play but he's a liability for sure. Dragic is a better defender so he's actually more useful in certain situations.

2 - IMO Dragic is the best overall, he can be a one man game changer while the others are sort of moving parts in the whole equation. I'm confident in Dragic one day starting for this team...and I could see Pietrus picking up minutes but it will be pretty competitive for him on that bench with Duds and Chill

3 - Gentry really switches that one up. USUALLY he doesn't play based on size, it's more based on who's hot and of course managing Nash's and the other starters' minutes. In a really close game though he'll actually play offense/defense, that's really the only time he swaps in/out based on size. Otherwise, it basically ends up being, the bench will play during the 4th and how close til the end they stay in depends on how hot they are. Nash and co come back in at that point.

4 - yeah it's fast break but also is always reliant on the pick and roll. That's what Nash and Amar'e were famous for and Nash does it no matter what personnel he has (currently a lot with Warrick, some with Lopez and some with just about everyone really). A lot of times we'll basically just move the ball around to find the open man instead of running set plays.

5 - seriously, welcome to PHX where we have the best trainers in the NBA. That's pretty much a consensus opinion, they've worked wonders with Hill, Nash, Shaq and more. I'm hoping they can help keep VC fresh.

+1 for Goran being the guy off the bench. He has great fire in his eyes. Hell, I like him as a combo guard with Nash on the floor too; the kid can really play defense.

Gentry is a great coach for so many reasons, one of them being there is no answer for what his rotation will be each game. I can't think of many coaches who have that. We've seen him ride the bench for 10 minutes in the fourth quarter during game 5 of a playoff game. He really puts faith in his players. Makes it fun to watch.

We run very few set plays, but we did run a few exclusively for JRich. I'm assuming VC will inherit them quite easily. I envision a focus of: Nash/Frontcourt PickNRoll first option, VC iso second, Hill 3rd, Nash figuring something out at the last second 4th.


Our training staff has been praised for the "holistic" approach. With Nash, his bad back is mitigated by keeping an amazing core muscle regiment. Same with Shaq, his hip issues were due to poor gluteus/core strength, and Shaq was baffled with his rejuvenation as much as his fans were, claiming all his other trainers simply worked on his hip flexors. They focus not so much on fixing the symptoms, but on the root cause of injuries and ailments.

Most of the players change their diet significantly when they come to the team too. No processed foods, red meat, refined sugars, etc. That's more Nash's influence though.

RvM wrote:I'll be honest, I haven't watched the Suns in a while, barely at all this season, but have always been a supporter of Nash and Channing Frye(I used to live in Portland).

I gave out a little info on what VC can bring to the Suns, and I just wanted to ask my new fellow Suns fans a few questions about the team?


1) Is Nash really a bad defender?
-I hear all the time that Steve is the worst perimeter PG out of all the elites and can't handle the quicker PGs in the league.

2) Who's usually the best player OVERALL coming off the bench?
- I know Dudley is a hustle and energy type of guy, and that Dragic is a decent shooter and distributor, but who's the main guy for you off the bench? (Could it possibly become Pietrus? )

3) Does Alvin Gentry like to play big in the 4th or go with a small lineup?
-I'm looking at the roster and we are a little depleted with bigs, but with a PF/C rotation of Gortat/Lopez/Warrick/Frye, more options are available now in the 4th in terms of matchups or who we play against.

If it were me, I'd go with this lineup in the 4th.
Nash/VC/Hill/Frye/Gortat (Not too sure about this, but I'd love to try this lineup)

4) What's the type of offense this team runs?
I know Steve Nash will obviously be handling the ball, but what is the team's offense? Is it straight up fast breaks, or do they run alot pnrs with Nash and Lopez/Frye? Is there any isolations for Grant Hill and do the suns like to play at a high tempo or choose to slow down when they need to?

5) How did your trainers get the fountain of youth!?!
Really, I'm just wondering whose on your staff and what they are doing. I mean Grant Hill does not look 38 at all. Steve Nash is always an MVP candidate for the past 6 years, and Shaq had rejuvenated stops here in Phoenix. What is the secret!?

1.overstated. he's a liability but there are worse defenders. Arenas, for example. Nash is intelligent, can rotate and is solid when he's got someone to back him up. now with Gortat he'll be fine.

2.Dragic, enough has been said. Dudley brings great energy though.

4.Steve will be ballhandler and Carter will probably come off some screens etc, Nash runs a lot of pick and rolls so Carter will usually spot up as a 3P shooter. also, Vince will be playing a lot more post-ups next to Nash. whenever he has a mismatch he'll always get that ball. Hill and Nash are extremely unselfish and will find him.

1) Is Nash really a bad defender?
-I hear all the time that Steve is the worst perimeter PG out of all the elites and can't handle the quicker PGs in the league.

Overstated. He really isn't that bad of a defender. No way he's a lock down guy but no way he is allowing his match up to play way above average as well.
I'd say he is OK. Neither good nor bad. Maybe a little subpar.

2) Who's usually the best player OVERALL coming off the bench?
- I know Dudley is a hustle and energy type of guy, and that Dragic is a decent shooter and distributor, but who's the main guy for you off the bench? (Could it possibly become Pietrus? )

Very arguable.
Some say Jared Dudley because he just brings that energy on the floor with the most athletic hands, ever.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJo9aDjEZDs[/youtube]
Some say Goran Dragic because he runs our offense, hustles hard and just plays with that fire in his eyes. You can tell he really wants to win.
Some say Channing Frye because he creates big mismatches.
Personally, I'd say it's a tie between Jared and Goran.

3) Does Alvin Gentry like to play big in the 4th or go with a small lineup?
-I'm looking at the roster and we are a little depleted with bigs, but with a PF/C rotation of Gortat/Lopez/Warrick/Frye, more options are available now in the 4th in terms of matchups or who we play against.

Yes, he does play with a really small lineup at times. As a matter of fact we defeated SAS last year by going small (Grant Hill at the 4th spot kind of small). As for now, it's not like there's a choice...

4) What's the type of offense this team runs?
I know Steve Nash will obviously be handling the ball, but what is the team's offense? Is it straight up fast breaks, or do they run alot pnrs with Nash and Lopez/Frye? Is there any isolations for Grant Hill and do the suns like to play at a high tempo or choose to slow down when they need to?

Steve Nash and screens. Generally up tempo. Run you to death kind of basketball. At times you will see them immediately running down the floor even after the opponents made the shot, and Steve Nash will throw the ball way up front and another bucket.

5) How did your trainers get the fountain of youth!?!
Really, I'm just wondering whose on your staff and what they are doing. I mean Grant Hill does not look 38 at all. Steve Nash is always an MVP candidate for the past 6 years, and Shaq had rejuvenated stops here in Phoenix. What is the secret!?

Credit Aaron Nelson our athletic trainer. I heard he was always checking out new methods and equipments for maintenance of the players' bodies.

Nash and Hill have an excellent work ethic and discipline. That, to me, is more important than the training staff.

bastillon wrote:also, Vince will be playing a lot more post-ups next to Nash. whenever he has a mismatch he'll always get that ball. Hill and Nash are extremely unselfish and will find him.

that's what i like most!

Nash's bad defense has been overstated for years. He keeps good position and is intelligent defensively...He can be bumped off easily, run around and shot over...But what can a 37 year old white guy do about that?

1.) Nash is not known for his defense, but really the Suns still hold that "no defense" title since D'Antoni days. He isn't at all a good defender, but I wouldn't say he gives up on defense either.

2.) The Bench Mob. It's the entire second unit. Once our starters wear down the opponents and the game is relatively close, we could usually count on the bench to put it in turbo and keep the game entertaining for a full 48 minutes. Everyone does their part, and everyone knows their role, we'll be a hard team to beat.

3.) Depends on the team we're playing against. Suns are all about mismatches and if it creates one to our advantage we use it. It sucks that we were never able to see our fantasy tall lineup of three 6'10 players, but we still have a lot of versatile solutions to end the game.

4.) Alot of set plays with our wings coming off screens. Alot of Pick n Rolls with Nash. Alot of Pick N Pops. Suns have become a more organized team and are becoming better at playing without Nash.

5.) Just because you recently joined the board, doesn't mean we are giving out top secret information.

bastillon wrote:

RvM wrote:I'll be honest, I haven't watched the Suns in a while, barely at all this season, but have always been a supporter of Nash and Channing Frye(I used to live in Portland).

I gave out a little info on what VC can bring to the Suns, and I just wanted to ask my new fellow Suns fans a few questions about the team?


1) Is Nash really a bad defender?
-I hear all the time that Steve is the worst perimeter PG out of all the elites and can't handle the quicker PGs in the league.

2) Who's usually the best player OVERALL coming off the bench?
- I know Dudley is a hustle and energy type of guy, and that Dragic is a decent shooter and distributor, but who's the main guy for you off the bench? (Could it possibly become Pietrus? )

3) Does Alvin Gentry like to play big in the 4th or go with a small lineup?
-I'm looking at the roster and we are a little depleted with bigs, but with a PF/C rotation of Gortat/Lopez/Warrick/Frye, more options are available now in the 4th in terms of matchups or who we play against.

If it were me, I'd go with this lineup in the 4th.
Nash/VC/Hill/Frye/Gortat (Not too sure about this, but I'd love to try this lineup)

4) What's the type of offense this team runs?
I know Steve Nash will obviously be handling the ball, but what is the team's offense? Is it straight up fast breaks, or do they run alot pnrs with Nash and Lopez/Frye? Is there any isolations for Grant Hill and do the suns like to play at a high tempo or choose to slow down when they need to?

5) How did your trainers get the fountain of youth!?!
Really, I'm just wondering whose on your staff and what they are doing. I mean Grant Hill does not look 38 at all. Steve Nash is always an MVP candidate for the past 6 years, and Shaq had rejuvenated stops here in Phoenix. What is the secret!?

1.overstated. he's a liability but there are worse defenders. Arenas, for example. Nash is intelligent, can rotate and is solid when he's got someone to back him up. now with Gortat he'll be fine.

----- Nicely put - Nash's woes on defense are simply due to physical issues i.e lateral movement, speed, etc. He's at the mercy of bigger, stronger, faster types - just no way around it. As noted though, he is a good team defender and has no lack of smarts.

Calvin Klein wrote:Nash and Hill have an excellent work ethic and discipline. That, to me, is more important than the training staff.

It's a combination. It's not like Nash and Hill just developed good work ethic when they got to Phoenix. But when players see what allows Nash and Hill to maintain their high level of play at their age they buy in to the system.

I'm sure it won't be long before we hear stories about the new guys adopting the "Nash diet" and getting in better shape.

Thanks for the input guys. Much appreciated!