RealGM

At some point in the coming months, presumably after a few sauna sessions to melt the offseason pounds off Shaquille O'Neal, the Suns will trot out the big fella and proclaim -- once again, even at age 36 -- he can be the cure for the team's playoff ills.

It didn't work out that way in the last postseason, of course, as the Spurs beat the Suns for the fourth time in six years, this time in a five-game first-round series. But one benefit of a monster inseason trade is that if it doesn't work out, you get to hit the reset button before the next season starts.

You know the routine: The Suns will say that, with a full training camp with O'Neal • with a more cohesive playbook • with better chemistry, the whole team will improve. They'll say this because, well, what else can they do?

Ultimately, the Suns have become the one thing they once seemed so determined not to be -- a regular NBA team with a regular NBA playbook. Now, they'll need to convince fans that they still can contend in the wake of a deal that cost them Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. David Griffin, the Suns' vice president of basketball operations, doesn't think this will be a problem.

"Not at all, really," he says. "Looking back, I think fans understood where we were. Marion didn't want to be here. We wanted to do something that could get some help for Amare (Stoudemire). Everyone understood what we were trying to accomplish with the Shaq deal. Fans understand what we're doing."

What they've done is a dramatic remake, for better or worse. For a brief period, the Suns were the NBA's chief novelty act, chucking up shots in high volume from tipoff to buzzer. But O'Neal's arrival was a prelude to ending that novelty. The thought -- as trumpeted by then-coach Mike D'Antoni -- behind the O'Neal trade was that the Suns could continue playing their frenetic, uptempo style, but O'Neal could be deployed during those key stretches in which Phoenix absolutely had to have an easy basket. Didn't work.

Now D'Antoni is gone, replaced by coach Terry Porter, and you can kiss those 130-124 scores goodbye, though Phoenix still figures to be a powerful offensive team. Porter is preaching defense with plans to slow the offense and better integrate O'Neal. Under D'Antoni, too often, the Suns had already hoisted a quick 3-pointer by the time Shaq had reached the offensive end of the court. So they'll do what almost every other team does: stop hoisting quick 3-pointers.

"The coaching change is going to be significant," Griffin says. "We're going to be much more defensive-minded. Schematically, it will help the offense. It makes it a lot easier to throw the ball into the post when you have the time to set up the play. We never seemed to get to that point last year."

The changes will be obvious from the first day of training camp. But the Suns' fate could be tied to more obscure factors. An understated problem last season was the team's overreliance on Grant Hill, who at 35 is not the perimeter threat needed to create space for O'Neal. And Hill struggled on defense.

The Suns are gambling that free-agent pickup Matt Barnes can regain his outside shot. If he does, he could replace Hill as a starter. They're also hoping their top draft pick, center Robin Lopez, and second-round point guard Goran Dragic (if he can get out of his contract in Spain) can play enough to keep O'Neal and point guard Steve Nash, 34, rested.

And maybe that's just a sign of where this team is now. The Suns are thinking defense, trying to create better offensive spacing, hoping their young reserves will hold up. These are the kinds of things all teams worry about in the offseason.

The Suns have hit the reset button and, here they are. No longer some sort of NBA freak show, they're happy being just another team.

And Hill struggled on defense.

walkingart wrote:I for one, am as excited as I have ever been!

GO SUNS!!!!