The sky's not falling

[Suns_fan_2007]

I can't believe the high number of negative threads and posts I'm seeing here regarding the recent few games.

Let's all take a breath and relax, and remember that the Suns are going through a MAJOR change. Any time you remove an all-star like the Matrix and put in a big man like Shaq, your team is going to take time to gel and there will be lapses like the game against NO.

To be honest I was not such a huge fan of the Shaq / matrix trade. But what's done is done, and I don't think it was such a horrible thing either. Yes we lost some games, badly, but that's the chance you take when you switch out key pieces on your team.

Even if we had kept the Matrix, we'd have no better chance to win these games or the playoffs. With Shaq we have a better chance post-season, we all understand that.

So let's all chill and give it more time to see how this team is able to gel. We've got major talent on this team still, and we're all used to winning, but let's give the guys a chance to work their kinks out and get back to the most important thing - winning a ring.

Peace out.

[tsherkin]

Nice post and all pretty true. A lot of what we're sometimes forgetting is that we've had a lot of lapses in the offense, which is of course Phoenix's strength. Grant getting zero'd, this guy shooting poorly, Diaw disappearing, etc. And Bell's struggling on D, so it's tough times for dealing with perimeter guys. And of course Nash can't defend Paul worth a damn, but then, who can? He did the same sort of things to Jason Kidd not long ago.

[The Laker Kid]

Yes I agree - give them some time to gel. The real scary thing is that when Shaq is motivated, he can really do some damage. D'Antoni has to come up with an offensive scheme that can accommodate Shaq. If he can stay healthy I can see Phx going all the way to the WCF.

[luhbron]

Can someone clarify for me why so many people think that the system with Marion instead of Shaq would be more ineffective in the playoffs? I'm not trying to bash or anything..I just don't get it. I really thought you guys would have won the championship last year if it wasn't for that game without Amare and Boris and everyone I know feels the same way. I don't see why it couldn't work again.

[Frank Lee]

..... D'Antoni has to come up with an offensive scheme that can accommodate Shaq. ......

and there in lies the greatest obstacle.

[whambamslam]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=A ... &type=lgns
Kenny Smith is the only media member that I've seen that still has the suns winning the championship. And this was even after we got blown out by Detroit.

2. Phoenix Suns: Any time you add one of the 50 greatest players to your team, you

[nashill]

Shaq

[nevetsov]

I can't help but think we're only an injection-of young-wing guys away from sorting things out. I love Raja and his veteran savvy but I think he is getting to the point where he is better served bringing it off the bench for short, concentrated bursts, rather than gutting it out for 40+ mins as a starter. Remember he was originally brought in to be a bench guy, so we've definitely gotten a good return on him. A demotion to the bench certainly wouldn't be a disservice to him or the team.

Leandro definitely deserves a shot at a starting role, but i'm not sure if his average defense would be the correct serum for our ailing D. Young legs are definitely a plus, and he certainly has proved he finds a higher gear as a starter (as evidenced by his performance earlier this year) but in all honesty who doesn't play better when starting next to Nash and Amare? Raja and Q were both above-average-yet-unspectacular shooters before arriving here, and look how they responded being paired with Nash.

I'm hoping Giricek (should we sign him) can follow in a similar fashion. He seems to have the ability to be a good shooter. Hopefully he can get the requisite minutes required to flourish as a perimeter player.

Kind of went off on a tangent.. back to Leandro. He certainly requires attention as an off the ball perimeter player. He can shoot, drive, the whole deal. There's no doubt in my mind that this kind of offensive mechanism would make teams respect our perimeter game more and consequently open up more space for Nash and Amare.

But as we have all witnessed of late, Nash's defensive liabilities are becoming more and more noticeable. I can't help but think we need at least one great perimeter defender and one good perimeter defender starting at the wing positions as well. Both should be respected 3 point shooters, at least one should be able to create their own shot to keep teams from collapsing on Steve.

Let me throw out some combos:

Nash/ Barbosa/ Strawberry
Nash/ Barbosa/ Johnson
Nash/ Johnson/ Hill
Nash/ Strawberry/ Hill
Nash/ Barbosa/ Giricek
Nash/ Giricek/ Hill

I don't mind the 3 guard lineup as much now that we have some significant size up front.

The more I look at it, the more i'd like to see DJ start, but you have to question if this is the right time of year to be doing it. Mike should have experimented a bit more earlier on I think, so we wouldn't have to wing it this late in the season. But that's life!

[djericho]

Shaq is a beast when motivated. Problem is he has to be in shape too, That's not gonna get done this year.

I think the suns have a better chance of winning next year than this year. They have atl's pick. They can move this pick in a trade or if there is a SF/SG player coming in that works with their system they can use the pick to get him.

they'll have a highly motivated shaq (1. wants to prove he's not washed up on a team w/ a 2 time MVP 2. He's stated next year he's prolly gonna retire, wants to go out on top)

I think the issue though was letting Coangelo go to the Raptors. He built a good team for you guys and now it's slowly getting older.

[cavsfan_osiris]

The Suns don't have the luxury of absorbing losses while they figure things out. They've got to get wins. There's absolutely no guarantee they get home court in the first round.

It's not too early to be concerned at all.

[Patterns]

Can someone clarify for me why so many people think that the system with Marion instead of Shaq would be more ineffective in the playoffs? I'm not trying to bash or anything..I just don't get it. I really thought you guys would have won the championship last year if it wasn't for that game without Amare and Boris and everyone I know feels the same way. I don't see why it couldn't work again.

2 names: Bynum and Gasol.

Marion would get abused by Gasol and Bynum has abused Amare the two times they played.

Add to the fact that Marion was causing some locker room troubles, you can see why Kerr wanted a change.

Not to mention the Suns was around .500 against West teams because there are so many bigs in the West. That's terrible for an elite team.

It was the right move to trade Shaq IMO. The Suns get re-motivated and energized and they actually out rebound people now. They just need to defend better.

[nashill]

lakers had their real test today and they loss..

im not worried at all against the lakers but to spurs.. they are hot right noww.

[Frank Lee]

lakers had their real test today and they loss..

im not worried at all against the lakers but to spurs.. they are hot right noww.

To overlook ANYONE at this point is complete folly.

[TASTIC]

Lakers are a powerhouse, sooner we realise that the better. They have a good bench, a solid vet/youth blend, and when Bynum gets back it'll be their real test how they incorporate him back into the lineup

[-SDU-]

i think we match up better with them WITH bynum than without

BUT, i totally believe they are now tougher than the spurs to beat

and i realise the spurs are TOUGH

[Arles]

I'll be the first to admit that I was dead wrong on this trade. Shawn Marion's laughing it up in Miami right now. This team is straight up awful and we have one first round pick (outside of ATL) in the next 3 years. We could be looking at some lean years for the Suns. Good thing baseball is getting going and the NFL draft is starting to heat up. I'll check back on this team in a week or so, but I doubt they make the playoffs.

I still can't get past how deadful their transition defense is. This makes those Doug Moe Denver teams of the 80s look like the 2004 Pistons. IMO, Mike D should be canned if (when) they don't make the playoffs.

[TASTIC]

^Honestly, I hope Shaq retires this year. Sign Brand or Josh Smith and get back to where we were

[Arles]

Well, either way, I'm looking forward to the Western Conference playoffs this year. They should be phenominal. It just may be that I don't have a dog in the race and can enjoy the "event" of it all even more

[mkot]

I've been hating the trade since day 1, and this is why. I called it the worse trade after the Majerle/Hot Rod trade. It's easy to say "slow it down with Shaq, run without Shaq" but this is not simple. The FO is foolish enough to think it would be that simple. It is like they sat around the table and just uttered "SHAQ IS BIG! SHAQ IS BIG! WE TRADED A SMALL FOR A BIG! SHAQ HAS CHAMPIONSHIP! WE WIN CHAMPIONSHIP!"

We can't rebuild, premature and pointless. I hate the Shaq trade, but it's still early. You have to give it the rest of the season before declaring it a success/failure, but if we can't figure this thing out quick, see you next season.

[-SDU-]

thinking the season is over is premature also

i feel sorry for the mods at the moment