RealGM

Hey guys,

If there is another thread to discuss these questions, I apologize, but I think this is a great thread to discuss several issues that everybody can give their opinions about.

It would be nice if everyone can answer these questions.

If there is already a thread regarding things like this, please tell me so the MODS can lock this thread and I can post these questions in another thread.

Thanks.

Here are my questions:

1) Is Boris Diaw the long-term replacement for Hill at SF considering that Hill has a history of being injured a lot and is in his mid 30's?

I thought Boris played great in Games 4 and 5 in the Playoffs this year and I think he can compliment Shaq and Amare well.

Or is he not the long-term answer?

2) Is anyone else concerned that Shaq and Nash won't compliment each-other well? They didn't seem to have good chemistry on the court and Marion and Nash had GREAT chemistry! Or will their chemistry improve by playing together for a full season?

3) How confident are you that this is still a championship contending team if everyone is healthy considering how well Phoenix played at the end of the season winning 15 of their last 20 games?

4) Why doesn't D'Antoni get enough credit for how he developed Joe Johnson, Barbosa, Diaw, and Amare? People keep criticizing him for not playing the young guys enough, but those 4 emerged as very good players under him.

5) Who was really behind the Shaq trade? Was it D'Antoni? Kerr? I've read conflicting reports about it. Some say Kerr was reluctant, others say that Mike D was reluctant.

6) Why is Kerr so eager to see Amare play more with his back-to-the-basket when he's already a great jump-shooter and driver and averaged 25 PPG in the regular season?

7) How well do you think Shaq and Amare will compliment each-other by playing together for a full year? Or will they struggle like Shaq and Nash did?

Yes, Amare was brilliant after the trade, but Shaq was a non-factor offensively and I don't know if he will be happy about that for a full season and I have no confidence in him anymore seeing how he was completely shut-down by the Spurs in the playoffs and he has no lift anymore.

Looking forward to reading your answers! Thanks!

...Diaw...

Diaw is the Suns best post-up player, yes sadly its not Stoudemire. Diaw has the up and under, the baby hook, the quick spin dribble inside, the up fake then pivot and finish with left or right layup... basically he is accomplished as a post up. Not the best, far from it, but he is the Suns best post up player now.

Sadly also, Diaw and Stoudemire cannot play together, Game 4 and 5 showed, Stoudemire could not be effective when Diaw is being isolated. Stoudemire also voiced his frustrations during the post interviews as most have read. So I think with Stoudemire being the focal offense point, Kerr must discuss to Porter the importance of implementing Diaw with Stoudemire and vice versa.

Also Diaw can be an Odom type, he has the handles and does "okay" when he faciliates up top. However that requires taking the ball off Nash.
When Nash controls the ball, Diaw becomes a trailer for the layup or a 17-18 foot jump shooter... not terrible at them, but he aint no Marion to finish the trail... and he aint at his best as a jump shooter.

He is an anomaly. So basically, Diaw can work with Stoudemire if they dont iso him down the post and allow him to facilitate up top. BUT, that way Nash and Diaw doesnt work... and when Diaw and Nash are set for plays, Diaw gets in the way of Stoudemire.



So what do you do?


And no, Hill as good as he has been, has 1-2 seasons before he starts to really slow down. He is great for 20 minutes but any more and you risk him breaking down as he has shown last playoffs. Hill also might opt out, as the Suns are not top 2-3 in contendership, he might join another team, quiet frankly, if he joins the Hornets he would be a terrific 6th man. And *gulp, the Lakers. Dont count the Spurs out also...




...Nash and O'Neal...

Both are still trying to learn to adjust to each other, O'Neal is not the explosive and quick big man he used to be so he relies on an entry pass and backing down his man, thats not how Nash likes to run the offense. Nash wants to penetrate, and find cutters or the open 3 point shot. Porter will need to find a happy medium. But yes, sadly, both are too old to change their ways now.


... Championship clock/window...

I think the Suns are still a contender, on paper and on potential.
But, I am expecting a more emotionless Suns team this season, a less motivated Suns too. New coach, changed system... new players being used etc, those are MASSIVE changes that just puts a lot of concerns with players and it affects them somehow. Not to mention age, Bell, Nash, Hill, O'Neal...



.... D'Antoni...

Joe Johnson has always been talented, but lacked confidence, Barbosa too. Diaw in a sense also, thats how D'Antoni is, he lets the players play their style and not confine them in a system or discipline as opposed to Popovic. He is also lenient so players tend to lack discipline... so D'Antoni is a double edged sword...


... O'Neal trade...

Kerr pulled the move after the Suns lost in a slowed down game against the Spurs without Parker... atleast thats what triggered the wheels to motion. D'Antoni frustrated also, I think didnt really like the idea, but realized that its a high risk very high reward move. Suns weren't going anywhere with Marion and Stoudemire as the PF/C.... too small. Especially how the Lakers's Bynum was improving greatly and how the Hornets beat the Suns in their own style by pounding them inside and outside.... Suns needed a change.


...Stoudemire's game....

Stoudemire being a jump shooting, face up player is fine as showed by his fantastic season and career so far. But he having a back to the basket game IS MUCH MORE TEAM-FRIENDLY...
you get to see the open shooters at the elbow, has more options in terms of attracting double team and finding the open men, a back to the game basket allows him to control the defense more also. Pick and roll is good and all but it isolates everyone else barring the 2 players involved. Stoudemire backing down his man then attracting a double, only for him to kick back out to Nash for the shot, OR if a defender rotates to Nash, rotates the ball to his left or right for the open shot... well the benefits of a back to game kick back offense is very HIGH.

...Stoudemire and O'Neal....

Stoudemire's confidence gained a bit with O'Neal pampering him behind closed doors. Stoudemire has always been good but with O'Neal there manning the interior, he also got more chances to roam around in both offense and defense, sadly in defense he lets everything go pass him and at this point is simply just a highlight shot blocker and a mediocre defender. Stoudemire playing at the "4" helped, again he has improved his shot so he gets a few opportunities to use it more so than when Marion was there. Improvement wise, I expect Stoudemire to score in the 27~28 range a night with the focal being him. But its his defense with O'Neal that will make or break the Suns.

^, great post, thanks!

My thoughts:

- I really want to keep Diaw and Barbosa; I don't get why so many people want to trade them.

- I agree that I think it's going to be difficult for Nash and Shaq to co-exist considering that they didn't have good chemistry last season.

- I agree that the team needed a big presence like Shaq because the West is loaded with good big-men now like Yao, Duncan, Bynum, and Greg Oden will be back next year.

Amare can't defend any of them, so I can see why Kerr/Mike (whoever wanted to make the trade) thought it was a good idea to get Shaq.

Getting a big-man was understandable, but Shaq is just not that good anymore and was the wrong person to trade for.

They should have kept Marion this season and then made a trade this Summer if they didn't win it all. Making such a big-trade during the middle of the season was a dumb idea and was a panic trade after the Lakers got Gasol.

I mean, the team was doing so well with Nash/Bell/Hill/Marion/Amare. I still don't get why they made the deal when they did.

I just wish we have a solid answer in terms of who wanted the trade since I've read conflicting reports about it.

I agree with you that Amare will average around 27-28 PPG next year.

I sure hope Grant Hill comes back considering how badly he was missed against the Spurs and what a good year he had for Phoenix.

Thanks for the response! I enjoyed reading it!

But they weren't doing "great" with Marion/Stoudemire front court.

Suns had easiest schedule, had a substantially BAD record against the playoff teams in the west.

By watching the games you just knew the Suns werent going anywhere far with the small lineup.


Kerr thought O'neal move would get them the ring this year....obviously he was wrong.

Kerr was crazy to think that such a huge change in mid-season would result in a ring THIS season.

Although I must say that I had hope that Phoenix was going to make it far in the playoffs until Hill went down with his injury.

This team won 15 of their last 20 games in the regular season and beat some really good teams after the Shaq trade.

- They beat Boston, San Antonio (twice), Portland, Sacramento, Philadelphia, Denver, Golden State, and took Detroit to over-time at Detroit before losing.

I had a lot of hope based on what I saw towards the end of the season, but Shaq was horrible in the first round and Hill's injury killed Phoenix.

In hindsight, they should have kept Marion and THEN made a trade this Summer for a big-man who is better than Shaq.

The Diesel wrote:Hey guys,

If there is another thread to discuss these questions, I apologize, but I think this is a great thread to discuss several issues that everybody can give their opinions about.

It would be nice if everyone can answer these questions.

If there is already a thread regarding things like this, please tell me so the MODS can lock this thread and I can post these questions in another thread.

Thanks.

Great thread! Speaking of great things, I finally hit Real GM status today! Only took 2+ years. I am a prolific poster, alright.

Here are my questions:

1) Is Boris Diaw the long-term replacement for Hill at SF considering that Hill has a history of being injured a lot and is in his mid 30's?

I thought Boris played great in Games 4 and 5 in the Playoffs this year and I think he can compliment Shaq and Amare well.

Or is he not the long-term answer?

Great question, and a tough one. Even with D'Antoni gone, I still see Diaw as a 4 long-term. I know that playing him at the 3 allows him to post up more, but it also guarantees that your entire frontcourt (assuming Shaq & Amare are still around) can't shoot from outside. I was bellyaching all year about the Suns' lack of outside shooting, and playing Diaw at the 3 does nothing to help that. I really think that long-term, either Diaw or Stoudemire has to go for Diaw to be worth his contract.

2) Is anyone else concerned that Shaq and Nash won't compliment each-other well? They didn't seem to have good chemistry on the court and Marion and Nash had GREAT chemistry! Or will their chemistry improve by playing together for a full season?

Yes, this is a concern for me. Nash is at his best (in the half court) when running the pick & roll. Shaq can't roll to the basket, and can't hit any shot outside of 5 feet. So if you put Shaq somewhere where his man has to cover him, he clogs up the lane, reducing the effectiveness of the pick & roll. Furthermore, Shaq isn't helped very much by Nash's passing, because Shaq doesn't really get open without the ball like Marion did. Instead, he establishes post position and tries to score in the low block. But the difference between a great entry pass and a decent one isn't that great, and Nash isn't a particularly outstanding entry passer anyway. And finally, Shaq can't jump, so Nash's alley-oops have one fewer target.

3) How confident are you that this is still a championship contending team if everyone is healthy considering how well Phoenix played at the end of the season winning 15 of their last 20 games?

Right now, about 20-30%. I expect Nash to be worse than last year and everyone else about the same. I didn't think we could win it all after the Shaq trade, and I think we'll be worse next year. (In full disclosure, I didn't really think we could win it all even before the Shaq trade, because our interior D sucked. But I thought the pre-trade team was better, more likely to win it all, and MUCH MUCH MUCH more enjoyable to watch and root for. And I LIKE Shaq.)

4) Why doesn't D'Antoni get enough credit for how he developed Joe Johnson, Barbosa, Diaw, and Amare? People keep criticizing him for not playing the young guys enough, but those 4 emerged as very good players under him.

I don't know. D'Antoni gets a lot of ridiculous criticism from Suns fans. I really don't know what their problem is. Dude is a great coach. Not perfect, and definitely not as good as PJax or Popovich, but still really good.

5) Who was really behind the Shaq trade? Was it D'Antoni? Kerr? I've read conflicting reports about it. Some say Kerr was reluctant, others say that Mike D was reluctant.

I believe that Riley called the Suns first. I also believe that Sarver, salivating at the thought of selling Shaq jerseys, quickly and gladly signed off on it. I tend to think that Sarver pushed his basketball guys to make the trade. As for Kerr and D'Antoni's reluctance (or lack thereof), I don't know what to think. I'm still stunned by this trade in some ways.

6) Why is Kerr so eager to see Amare play more with his back-to-the-basket when he's already a great jump-shooter and driver and averaged 25 PPG in the regular season?

I think Kerr is a lot more into the conventional wisdom than D'Antoni. And I think he has very sound reasons for wanting to see more of Amare in the post. As a GM, he has to think long-term. And once Nash retires, Amare's FG% is going to go way down. Having him develop a post game now will be a good way to buffer that. Amare's post game right now is crappy, but he won't be able to take guys off the dribble forever, we can't count on always having a PG good enough to keep the pick & roll so efficient, and as for the jump shooting? Let's face it, for a big, the jumper is there only to keep the D honest. Amare (or any big) spending all day shooting 18-20 footers is a great way to lose a basketball game. Amare shot 46.1 eFG% on jumpers last year - compared to 59.1% overall, and 73.9% on non-jumpers. The more jumpers Amare takes, the worse it is for us. I absolutely agree Amare should be posting more - as long as people realize that we're posting him not because it's an efficient way to score NOW, but because we want to develop it as an efficient way to score EVENTUALLY.

7) How well do you think Shaq and Amare will compliment each-other by playing together for a full year? Or will they struggle like Shaq and Nash did?

Yes, Amare was brilliant after the trade, but Shaq was a non-factor offensively and I don't know if he will be happy about that for a full season and I have no confidence in him anymore seeing how he was completely shut-down by the Spurs in the playoffs and he has no lift anymore.

Looking forward to reading your answers! Thanks!

You're welcome! To answer your last question, I'm less concerned about this complement than I am Nash/Shaq. When Shaq's man is under the basket, it does allow him to double Amare, but that in turn frees up Shaq for the offensive board. If Amare develops his passing a bit more (and Shaq becomes able to jump again, which is less likely), he could dish to Shaq when the double comes and really make people pay. On the other end, Shaq's still a good passer out of the post on the rare occasions he gets doubled. For Amare, that should mean either watching an open 3 go up (very good!), getting a wide-open jumper (not very good, but not horrible), or receiving a pass and going strong to the rim (not necessarily in that order).

Thanks for your responses so far! Great to read!

I just wish we had a clear answer as to who was behind the Shaq trade.

I wonder whether Kerr or D'Antoni wanted it more.

I think it was Kerr even though I remember reading somewhere that he was reluctant to make the trade and Mike wanted to make the trade.

But I just don't know why Mike would want a guy who would slow down his offense so much.

I just wish Kerr or Mike would just reveal who wanted the trade.

The Diesel wrote:Thanks for your responses so far! Great to read!

I just wish we had a clear answer as to who was behind the Shaq trade.

I wonder whether Kerr or D'Antoni wanted it more.

I think it was Kerr even though I remember reading somewhere that he was reluctant to make the trade and Mike wanted to make the trade.

But I just don't know why Mike would want a guy who would slow down his offense so much.

I just wish Kerr or Mike would just reveal who wanted the trade.

Yeah, me too. On one hand, I tend to doubt that Mike D would feign mega-interest in this trade just to put a positive spin on it (at the direction of Kerr & Sarver). But on the other hand, I tend to doubt the spin coming from the Suns these days, especially when it's not very plausible.

1) Is Boris Diaw the long-term replacement for Hill at SF considering that Hill has a history of being injured a lot and is in his mid 30's?

I thought Boris played great in Games 4 and 5 in the Playoffs this year and I think he can compliment Shaq and Amare well.

Or is he not the long-term answer?

Diaw is very talented. The only thing I have ever called into question is his intensity. I saw it once, briefly after he had been getting fouled and missing shots, he took the ball to the rim and threw down a two-handed dunk right over the center. This type of play leads me to beleive he can be a viable option for us in the future. Thing is, what got a lot of people excited was when he was posting up smaller players in isolation during the playoffs. That's great and all, but it takes everyone else out of the game. I like that Diaw can create his own shot, he should, but not in iso every time.

2) Is anyone else concerned that Shaq and Nash won't compliment each-other well? They didn't seem to have good chemistry on the court and Marion and Nash had GREAT chemistry! Or will their chemistry improve by playing together for a full season?

Concerned? Not at all. It's hard to integrate one of the best pure point guards in the game with the most dominant center of all time. They have had less than half of an NBA season together and were forcing it in the playoffs. Comparing Nash + Marion to Nash + O'Neal isn't fair, not yet anyways. Think about the amount of time Nash and Marion had to learn with each other. They could practically communicate telepathically. O'Neal will figure out what Nash expects and Nash will learn O'Neal's tendancies.

3) How confident are you that this is still a championship contending team if everyone is healthy considering how well Phoenix played at the end of the season winning 15 of their last 20 games?

As always, it's up to our bench. That will be the true test for us this next year. We know our starters can hang with and beat every team in the NBA on any given night. It's what happens when Nash and Amare step off the floor that makes or breaks this team. Hello offseason.

4) Why doesn't D'Antoni get enough credit for how he developed Joe Johnson, Barbosa, Diaw, and Amare? People keep criticizing him for not playing the young guys enough, but those 4 emerged as very good players under him.

D'Antoni is one of the best coaches in the NBA. Plain and simple. He will do amazing things with the Knicks, as amazing as can be done with that salary-screwed team. I will continue to defer to a coaches decision as long as it's not blatantly biased. I believe Mike knew ten time more than I did about his players and that was why we saw the rotations and minutes that we did.

5) Who was really behind the Shaq trade? Was it D'Antoni? Kerr? I've read conflicting reports about it. Some say Kerr was reluctant, others say that Mike D was reluctant.

Don't care at this point. It's done. I'm happy with it. We got rebounding and this time I wasn't able to say we lost because of the rebounding differential. Plus, this is much better for Amare's development than if we had kept Marion. I absolutely hated seeing Amare play center... hated it. Now if we could just get Silas in here...

6) Why is Kerr so eager to see Amare play more with his back-to-the-basket when he's already a great jump-shooter and driver and averaged 25 PPG in the regular season?

If Amare had a back-to-the-basket game and could soak up the jump hook from O'Neal he would be the great offensive power foward to ever play the game. Sure he needs to play smarter defense, but all of the defensive tools are already there. If you give him all of the offensive tools to use at his liesure... my God.

7) How well do you think Shaq and Amare will compliment each-other by playing together for a full year? Or will they struggle like Shaq and Nash did?

Yes, Amare was brilliant after the trade, but Shaq was a non-factor offensively and I don't know if he will be happy about that for a full season and I have no confidence in him anymore seeing how he was completely shut-down by the Spurs in the playoffs and he has no lift anymore.

Again, I am happy that we are loaded with O'Neal's contract for two more years. He is essentially a 20 million dollar per year on-the-court mentor for Amare. Just seeing the way O'Neal would take Amare aside during games and in practice and the way Amare listened and absorbed... priceless. It will be worth it.

The one thing we need more of is perimeter shooting. We had gotten away from that with the O'Neal acquisition and this allowed other teams to clog the lane and collapse in on Stoudemire and O'Neal. If we keep other teams honest, we'll be golden.

Good take Sun Scorched. I agree.

Is Boris Diaw the long-term replacement for Hill at SF considering that Hill has a history of being injured a lot and is in his mid 30's?

I thought Boris played great in Games 4 and 5 in the Playoffs this year and I think he can compliment Shaq and Amare well.

Or is he not the long-term answer?


I would say no. I think if he is used right, it can be. However, I think he is soft, lacks intensity and is waaaaaaaaaaaaay overpaid. I think it would be of best interest to trade him and get what this team needs

The Diesel wrote:
Here are my questions:

1) Is Boris Diaw the long-term replacement for Hill at SF considering that Hill has a history of being injured a lot and is in his mid 30's?

I thought Boris played great in Games 4 and 5 in the Playoffs this year and I think he can compliment Shaq and Amare well.

Or is he not the long-term answer?

He works best in the post so I guess my answer is no. He is lucky that Amare is a good shooter and that allowed him to live in the post during the play-offs as a SF. But seeing as tho there have been rumours that Kerr wants Amare to be a back to the basket player I would guess his days with us are limited.

The Diesel wrote:2) Is anyone else concerned that Shaq and Nash won't compliment each-other well? They didn't seem to have good chemistry on the court and Marion and Nash had GREAT chemistry! Or will their chemistry improve by playing together for a full season?

Concerned when we pulled the trade off. Concerned during the play-offs and Concerned now. They just don't compliment each other. Nash is the best decision maker going around and that is just taken out of his hands (literally) when he has to dump it down in the post. Shaq's not a good PnR player. Where does that leave us?

My preference would be to play those 2 together as little as possible. If each play 30mpg next season that's 12 mins they have to be on the court with one another right? Do that. They just don't work well together and they are too old to change their styles/athletic abilities. They are both absolutely shocking PnR defenders too so when they play together we might as well just spot the opposition 10pts to start the game.

The Diesel wrote:3) How confident are you that this is still a championship contending team if everyone is healthy considering how well Phoenix played at the end of the season winning 15 of their last 20 games?

Last season we had the excuse that we didn't have enuff time to gel. This season the excuse will be that we have a new coach. Mgmt have just set us up for excuses. Not very confident is the short answer here.

The Diesel wrote:4) Why doesn't D'Antoni get enough credit for how he developed Joe Johnson, Barbosa, Diaw, and Amare? People keep criticizing him for not playing the young guys enough, but those 4 emerged as very good players under him.

Cos ppl are idiots [/generalisation]

Seriously tho, he looked outside the square so many times and pulled a rabbit out of the hat. I mean ppl were saying we wouldn't even make the play-offs the year Amare went down. He def has his downfalls but particularly on offense he is one of the best coaches going around. He recruits fundamental players and then sets the offense up so that teams are forced to double. Once they double it's all about ball movement and having good fundamental players means they can all shoot and punish you once you double. It's not rocket science but some coaches get so bogged won in X's and O's they forget the basics. He knows his system, he knows the players who will succeed in his system.

The Diesel wrote:5) Who was really behind the Shaq trade? Was it D'Antoni? Kerr? I've read conflicting reports about it. Some say Kerr was reluctant, others say that Mike D was reluctant.

Apparently Sarver first, Kerr 2nd and D'Ant 3rd. End of the day I think this was just about selling more Suns tops. That's how skeptical I am about it. Otherwise why not go for someone known for his D and whose contract was almost half (Ben Wallace)?

The Diesel wrote:6) Why is Kerr so eager to see Amare play more with his back-to-the-basket when he's already a great jump-shooter and driver and averaged 25 PPG in the regular season?

Because he wants to turn us into the Spurs. I actually think he should be a better back to the basket player especially on mismatches but considering he's so good facing up against players his size or bigger I dunno why you wouldnt just let him do what comes naturally to him.

The Diesel wrote:7) How well do you think Shaq and Amare will compliment each-other by playing together for a full year? Or will they struggle like Shaq and Nash did?

Yes, Amare was brilliant after the trade, but Shaq was a non-factor offensively and I don't know if he will be happy about that for a full season and I have no confidence in him anymore seeing how he was completely shut-down by the Spurs in the playoffs and he has no lift anymore.

Shaq/Amare are a pretty good compliment. The thing is that Shaq has always pumped up the tyres of his PF. He pretty much told Haslem to sign because he would win him rings and be a massive benefit to him because of the double-teaming he commands.

So yeah, while Shaq hasn't had a problem criticising guards he has played with usually he tries to keep the big man next to him pretty happy. Not sure exactly why that is but that has generally been the case.

So Shaq will feed Amare as often as he can. The thing is Shaq's not the one getting doubled anymore and he has just been resigned to the roll of hanging around the basket and dunking. He doesn't get posted up anywhere near as much as he used to for obvious reasons (ie. he's not as good as he used to be).

Defensively is where I thought they would be better (and it may happen next season). With Shaq holding the best post player and Amare being the weak side blocker I thought they would make a good pair but once teams started going to the PnR all that became irrelevant.

Gold KJ, spot on. Completely agree about Sarver and the Shaq jersey thing - kinda ironic that we may have been able to get KG for Amare and now KG tops the best selling jersey list

1) Is Boris Diaw the long-term replacement for Hill at SF considering that Hill has a history of being injured a lot and is in his mid 30's?

I thought Boris played great in Games 4 and 5 in the Playoffs this year and I think he can compliment Shaq and Amare well.

Or is he not the long-term answer?

Doubtful. He has never complimented Amare because he demands the ball in order to be effective, as does Amare. The Suns are better off with a long defender who can guard the 1-2-3 and stretch the defense with his shooting. JR would have been a better fit, especially on a $3 M/YR deal.

2) Is anyone else concerned that Shaq and Nash won't compliment each-other well? They didn't seem to have good chemistry on the court and Marion and Nash had GREAT chemistry! Or will their chemistry improve by playing together for a full season?

Nash is the one who needs to adjust his game. With averages of 18pts and 11assts per game, Nash accounted for aproximately 40 points per game; he still needs to do this. His assists are going to go down considerably without Marion running the floor with him. If he averages 8assts per game, he needs to score 24pts per game in order to remain as effective as he has been over the past several years. When he drives to the basket and Shaq is in the game, he needs to look to score first, pass second. He has been able to do this in the past with incredible scoring performances, and he is going to have to do it more often now.

3) How confident are you that this is still a championship contending team if everyone is healthy considering how well Phoenix played at the end of the season winning 15 of their last 20 games?

I am extremely confident that this team is still in the hunt for a title. San Antonio seemed to get worse as the playoffs went on, the Hornets will be there again next year (although I think Peja is on the downside, and West and Chandler can't play any better then they have), and the Lakers should continue to improve(but I like the way we match up with them). After those three, there aren't any teams that I think will be better than the Suns next year. Utah and Houston are good, but not great IMO. And Portland should be good, but I don't think they will challenge for a title yet.

4) Why doesn't D'Antoni get enough credit for how he developed Joe Johnson, Barbosa, Diaw, and Amare? People keep criticizing him for not playing the young guys enough, but those 4 emerged as very good players under him.

He had a horrible team, that had a bunch of young talent and no vets when he developed these players (except Diaw). Diaw isn't a developed player IMO either, nor is Barbosa. JJ and Amare would have been stars no matter who there coaches were! I don't think Karl, Riley or Brown get credit for developing Melo, Wade, and Lebron either. He has gotten knocked for not developing a bench, whether it be veterans or rookies AND it is a fair evaluation. We have been hurt every year he was here in the playoffs because we did not go deep enough on the bench during the season. If he is a ten on all other facets of the game, he is a ZERO when it comes to developing a bench. Those who say he is a great coach, are overrating him or have a very different idea of what great means than me. He is a very good coach, but he is not Pops, or Jackson. And if those two guys are considered great then Mike D has no business being called great. Also, IMO, after those two there is a considerable drop off in coaching talent. I think Larry Brown, and Byron Scott are also ahead of everyone else as well. But at that point Mike D, Sloan, and Addleman come onto the radar. Being one of the top 5 to 8 coaches is still pretty damn good.

5) Who was really behind the Shaq trade? Was it D'Antoni? Kerr? I've read conflicting reports about it. Some say Kerr was reluctant, others say that Mike D was reluctant.

Don't know, don't care.

6) Why is Kerr so eager to see Amare play more with his back-to-the-basket when he's already a great jump-shooter and driver and averaged 25 PPG in the regular season?

There have a lot of good answers on this one. I will just say that if he develops a low post game, he will be much better and more effective.

7) How well do you think Shaq and Amare will compliment each-other by playing together for a full year? Or will they struggle like Shaq and Nash did?

Yes, Amare was brilliant after the trade, but Shaq was a non-factor offensively and I don't know if he will be happy about that for a full season and I have no confidence in him anymore seeing how he was completely shut-down by the Spurs in the playoffs and he has no lift anymore.

I think they will continue to compliment each other, and I think of the superstars to have played the game, Shaq is one of the most team oriented players. And I thought he did an admirable job in the playoffs when not if foul trouble.