Be Water

[itlnsunsfan]

I think the Suns are showing the league an example of what Bruce Lee would call "being water".

There's nothing an opponent can attack, or take away, that the Suns don't have a counter.

Offensively, we have elite scoring at all four levels. I say four instead of three because we are elite from 3, mid range, at the rim, and at the freethrow line. We are elite at moving the ball. When we need crunch time buckets, we have elite iso players.

On the other end, our perimeter defense is elite. Our paint defense, thanks to Ayton, is elite. You can't attack the mid range the way we can. One, other teams don't have the firepower from mid range we do. Two, Ayton's mobility does not allow this kind of exploitation. We switch at an elite level. We play with high defensive iq and intensity. We can play small or big. What's more, we are able to dictate to our opponent whether they can go small or big.

There is no well for the opponent to draw upon.

Mentally, we are unflappable. We are relentless. We never stop grinding. We have a killer instinct.

The opponent is not able to win the mind game.

We've actually witnessed in three consecutive series, our team breaking the mind of our opponent. Lebron quitting, Jokic's ejection, Beverly's ejection.

Amazing for how young we are.

We have an elite coach. On the court and off.

We are as perfectly constructed a team as there is in today's NBA.

We have an elite GM.

Water, my friends.

[saintEscaton]

Very observant post. AND1ed sir

[lilfishi22]

What's interesting/surprising to me is that on paper, you wouldn't think of this team has having few weaknesses and the ability to change its offensive and defensive game plan relatively easily. You look up and down the roster and no player really stands out as a superstar, which these days you almost need 2 as a prerequisite to win it all. CP3 is the closest but even then nobody thinks he's a Lebron or Kawhi level type of player that can carry you.

To be as chameleon-like as we are takes more than just talent. It takes incredible trust and buy-in. How many role-players/wanna-be stars don't want to do that dirty work or want to be showcased more? It takes a group of elite professionals and a true team culture for us to be able to play the way we do.

[itlnsunsfan]

What's interesting/surprising to me is that on paper, you wouldn't think of this team has having few weaknesses and the ability to change its offensive and defensive game plan relatively easily. You look up and down the roster and no player really stands out as a superstar, which these days you almost need 2 as a prerequisite to win it all. CP3 is the closest but even then nobody thinks he's a Lebron or Kawhi level type of player that can carry you.

To be as chameleon-like as we are takes more than just talent. It takes incredible trust and buy-in. How many role-players/wanna-be stars don't want to do that dirty work or want to be showcased more? It takes a group of elite professionals and a true team culture for us to be able to play the way we do.

It's simply remarkable. Dare I say elite culture? To go from what we were three years ago, to where we are now, what appears to be a complete organizational shift, is this unprecedented?

[thamadkant]

This Suns team's weakness against the current era of basketball is health... like all teams but mostly the elite teams. The Suns have the line up to cover shooters and front face big men. Cam Payne and Paul are very good defenders enough to bother and make star PGs work and expend energy. The Suns can shoot outside, score in isolation, finish dunks and close to the basket shots, they have elite mid range shooters and have versatile players all around.

[garrick]

It's a credit also to drafting high character players unlike some of the bad picks like Jackson, Chriss and TJ (not bad player but he pouted at times) that were extremely immature.

Ayton, Bridges and Cam are all humble players that don't mind doing the dirty work and don't pout when they don't get enough touches, I really don't think had we drafted Luka that the Suns make it to the finals this year.

He's a very talented player but he wants the ball in his hands all the time and he wouldn't be happy being second of third fiddle & we've seen issues already with KP being disgruntled and not playing up to his potential.

[itlnsunsfan]

This Suns team's weakness against the current era of basketball is health... like all teams but mostly the elite teams. The Suns have the line up to cover shooters and front face big men. Cam Payne and Paul are very good defenders enough to bother and make star PGs work and expend energy. The Suns can shoot outside, score in isolation, finish dunks and close to the basket shots, they have elite mid range shooters and have versatile players all around.

Agreed.

I do think we have very good depth for the most part, with the ability to compensate for any one of our players missing time, with one exception, and that is Ayton.

Whereas, if Paul misses time, Payne can do a relatively good job of subbing. If Booker misses time, Paul can give us 40 any night. Though not optimal, I believe the machine can continue to run.

If anything happens to Ayton, we completely lose that dimension.

I worry about that.

[spanishninja]

What's interesting/surprising to me is that on paper, you wouldn't think of this team has having few weaknesses and the ability to change its offensive and defensive game plan relatively easily. You look up and down the roster and no player really stands out as a superstar, which these days you almost need 2 as a prerequisite to win it all. CP3 is the closest but even then nobody thinks he's a Lebron or Kawhi level type of player that can carry you.

To be as chameleon-like as we are takes more than just talent. It takes incredible trust and buy-in. How many role-players/wanna-be stars don't want to do that dirty work or want to be showcased more? It takes a group of elite professionals and a true team culture for us to be able to play the way we do.

I actually think the lack of superstars is what makes us adaptable. When you look at guys like KD, Giannis, and Dame, you know exactly what they are going to do. Most of the time they win because they are so good at what they do that you can't stop it. Our players on the other hand can do a lot of things well.

[RedIndian]

What's interesting/surprising to me is that on paper, you wouldn't think of this team has having few weaknesses and the ability to change its offensive and defensive game plan relatively easily. You look up and down the roster and no player really stands out as a superstar, which these days you almost need 2 as a prerequisite to win it all. CP3 is the closest but even then nobody thinks he's a Lebron or Kawhi level type of player that can carry you.

To be as chameleon-like as we are takes more than just talent. It takes incredible trust and buy-in. How many role-players/wanna-be stars don't want to do that dirty work or want to be showcased more? It takes a group of elite professionals and a true team culture for us to be able to play the way we do.

This team has the imprint of Monty William’s entire philosophy in life and sport on it.

I know most here don’t watch football (soccer), but I see a lot of parallels between this team, and my favourite football team, Liverpool.

The parallel arises primarily because of Liverpool’s coach Jurgen Klopp, who, to those who are aren’t; familiar, is one of the absolute best human beings and inspirational figures in football.

His teams aren’t necessarily the most talented, but they all play team ball in his ultimate vision – one of gegenpressing. Make no mistake, none of his teams have been devoid of talent. Liverpool (and his previous team Borussia Dortmund also) have had some great players, but never the top 5 or top 10 talents in the world like Messi, Ronaldo, Lewandowski, Neymar, Modric, de Bruyne, but what they’ve had is a group of really good, young, athletic and fast players who all collectively bought-in to one of the hardest tactical systems in football in gegenpressing.

The high press system requires you to play a high-defensive line (and having players who are quick, strong and athletic enough to defend one-on-one), and a front 6 that presses collectively like demons. The reason the system is so hard to perfect is because it requires every single player to buy in. If a single player is out of position, or is refusing to press (because it’s so energy sapping), the system breaks down badly.

Klopp’s great pressing teams do it brilliantly because they all buy in. They have a coach who loves them, they love him back and they’d go to war for him.

Monty is very similar (though he has a drastically different personality to Klopp’s). But at his core, he is one of the most decent humans in all of basketball, and is absolutely inspirational. It’s why our team collectively buys in, communicates so well and just plays brilliantly together.

The parallel isn’t perfect of course – there are a lot of differences between the two sports. But I will say this. Klopp led Liverpool last year to their first title in 30 years. How insane it would be for me personally to have Monty lead my Suns to their first title this year.

Fingers crossed.

[sasquatchBob]

What's interesting/surprising to me is that on paper, you wouldn't think of this team has having few weaknesses and the ability to change its offensive and defensive game plan relatively easily. You look up and down the roster and no player really stands out as a superstar, which these days you almost need 2 as a prerequisite to win it all. CP3 is the closest but even then nobody thinks he's a Lebron or Kawhi level type of player that can carry you.

To be as chameleon-like as we are takes more than just talent. It takes incredible trust and buy-in. How many role-players/wanna-be stars don't want to do that dirty work or want to be showcased more? It takes a group of elite professionals and a true team culture for us to be able to play the way we do.

This team has the imprint of Monty William’s entire philosophy in life and sport on it.

I know most here don’t watch football (soccer), but I see a lot of parallels between this team, and my favourite football team, Liverpool.

The parallel arises primarily because of Liverpool’s coach Jurgen Klopp, who, to those who are aren’t; familiar, is one of the absolute best human beings and inspirational figures in football.

His teams aren’t necessarily the most talented, but they all play team ball in his ultimate vision – one of gegenpressing. Make no mistake, none of his teams have been devoid of talent. Liverpool (and his previous team Borussia Dortmund also) have had some great players, but never the top 5 or top 10 talents in the world like Messi, Ronaldo, Lewandowski, Neymar, Modric, de Bruyne, but what they’ve had is a group of really good, young, athletic and fast players who all collectively bought-in to one of the hardest tactical systems in football in gegenpressing.

The high press system requires you to play a high-defensive line (and having players who are quick, strong and athletic enough to defend one-on-one), and a front 6 that presses collectively like demons. The reason the system is so hard to perfect is because it requires every single player to buy in. If a single player is out of position, or is refusing to press (because it’s so energy sapping), the system breaks down badly.

Klopp’s great pressing teams do it brilliantly because they all buy in. They have a coach who loves them, they love him back and they’d go to war for him.

Monty is very similar (though he has a drastically different personality to Klopp’s). But at his core, he is one of the most decent humans in all of basketball, and is absolutely inspirational. It’s why our team collectively buys in, communicates so well and just plays brilliantly together.

The parallel isn’t perfect of course – there are a lot of differences between the two sports. But I will say this. Klopp led Liverpool last year to their first title in 30 years. How insane it would be for me personally to have Monty lead my Suns to their first title this year.

Fingers crossed.

I never thought about it this way but I think agree with you. Next year Liverpool win the league again!