Pieces Falling into place

harshey1388 · Post #1 » by **harshey1388** » Tue Feb 3, 2009 7:04 pm

ok so this may seem pointless to some but this is the first thing i thought of when i saw the daily dime on ESPN today...

this is all based on a BIG IF.... and the IF is if the suns figure it out and get motivated and driven... then we could still be dangerous...

Lakers: Bynum out atleast 2 and half months... and torn MCL is no joke.... Stephan A says: "lakers as soft like putty without bynum and the lakers are not going to win the ship without him"

Orlando: Nelson old for a while with his dislocated shoulder... last night they just broke down after nelsol got injured and mavs rolled over them.

Hornets: CP3 out with some hamstring problems, looks like... and they were up more than 12 then CP3 gets injured and portland comes back to win the game...

this is semi good for us the west just got pretty soft with 2 big teams dealing with issues... and on the east i am only scared of boston, cleveland and orlando...

this may sound stupid but hey atleast its not another thread about how Nash is a stuck up PG and how we need to get rid of him ASAP haha (didnt wanna mention any specific names)... and i really still believe we can do this if we just get FIRED UP... well thanks for listening guys lets hear some input...

P.S i am just trying to find hope anywhere i can... haha

Post #2 » by **Miklo** » Tue Feb 3, 2009 7:58 pm

Good points, I think these issues make it inexcusable for us to not start making a mark right now. The only way we can fail this season is to beat ourselves, because we have a squad of guys who can take any team on at any given time if they gel together.

that's the big question mark, though...will Porter clean up his act and if not how fast will he be gone...will the murmurs in the locker room from Nash, Amar'e, Barnes etc quiet down as they realize we really could have a shot at a title?

If so, we could be dangerous.

A roc 23 · Post #3 » by **A roc 23** » Tue Feb 3, 2009 8:16 pm

I was thinking the same thing.

The Magic will definately struggle without Jameer. He was playing great and his backup doesn't really do much at all. They're in the East though so that doesn't really help the Suns.

As for the West, I mean the Suns still don't look like a top team, but they should be able to put it together and at least play a little bit better. I like what they did in that Kings game. Get J-rich going and let Shaq be the big decoy (in less minutes). I think we all like Shaq but would rather see him get some time with the bench than play all his minutes with Nash and Amar'e.

IF the Suns change a few things (such as the things I mentioned above), play a little more motivated, and get lucky, they could still make some noise. I think the Suns are definately made for the playoffs moreso than the regular season, especially when you consider our effort problems. Come playoff time no one wants to see Amar'e, Nash, Shaq, J-rich, G-Hill and Barbosa if they are clicking.

Lakers - no Bynum. Sad to see this potential future all-star go again, but it is VERY good for us. Gasol is by far the weakest link defensively. Kobe will KILL us, but I like Shaq vs. Gasol and Amar'e vs. Lamar. I mean they still probably beat the Suns with their depth and a motivated Kobe, but I like our odds a WHOLE LOT better with Shaq beasting Gasol. Amar'e has played excellent against Lamar as well.

Spurs - okay, okay, so here is where I was talking about that luck part. If we can somehow (and for once) avoid these guys, I would be pumped. If they face a team like the Mavs who I think matchup well with them, I think we're much better off. Say the Suns finish 8th or 4th and somehow beat the Lakers in the 1st or 2nd round without Bynum. The Spurs most likely finishing 2nd would mean that they would have 2 series' to get eliminated before seeing the Suns. That's the luck part though . . . altough maybe if the Suns actually got J-rich involved next game they would beat the Spurs anyway. Shaq has shown he can defend Duncan. Now we just need some f'in help defense for Parker.

Denver - we can beat these guys. The Suns don't have any trouble scoring on these dudes, so they'll need to outscore them as we can't defend them either. Melo is not playing well and has been injured all year. I like Grant's defense on him anyway. Melo is the kind of player that has shown you can lock him up with effort and he'll force things.

Blazers - we can definately beat these guys. Beat them handily the first 2 times this season. The last game the Suns lead most of the game until Roy started hitting EVERYTHING. He got his career high, most of it when he was fire from outside (check his %s, he's not usually that amazing a shoote). It was still a close game. Shaq vs. whatever they throw at him his a victory on the Suns side. LaMarcus beasts Amar'e, but Amar'e beasts him so it's kind of a wash. Suns close out on the Blazers shooters and this should be a victory in the playoffs.

Hornets - difficult opponent. Anytime you play the best (or even top 10) point guard againt Nash there is going to be trouble. The good news for the Suns is that the Hornets are not as good this year, Chandler is ALWAYS out, Peja get worse every month and their bench is awful outside of Posey. Mo Pete isn't going to kill us anymore and their backup PG is worse than ours (Daniels is ****). Plus I'd like to see current Shaq vs. their now starting centre Armstrong. Should be a big advantage. Without Chris for ANY time they'll continue to fall (they were falling without him). Without Paul they're a lottery team.

Rockets - always injured. T-mac always kills the Suns. Last time we played them Hill didn't get any time, as he wasn't a starter. G-Hill guarding current T-mac is a nice matchup for us. I know the Rockets gave us a beat down (at the start of the season), but injuries have hit them hard and they really don't scare me never much. Shaq ALWAYS plays Yao evenly. It's weird. They are such a low % team outside of Yao, and they are so injured all the time that I don't even consider them real contenders (not that the Suns are right now either). The thing is that you can work on team chemistry and game plan (like the Suns), but it's another story trying to work on chronic injuries (like the Rockets).

Mavericks - not much explanation needed. A motivated Suns team has more talent than the Mavericks and the matchups are all in our favour. Shaq always plays well against the Mavs. Barbosa loves playing the Mavs and J-rich and Amar'e are a big challenge for a team like the Mavericks that struggles dealing with athletisism.

All in all we have a chance to still do something, but it's going to take a lot of change and some special circumstances to occur. We're still a huge long shot to make it more than one round into the playoffs. But I think with the Lakers losing Bynum and CP3 missing any games the Suns odds are that much better.

harshey1388 · Post #4 » by **harshey1388** » Tue Feb 3, 2009 8:18 pm

damn bro you took my topic and stretched that bia OUT haha i did mine inbetween classes so thats my excuse... haha good job with the details on the other teams though i couldn't agree more!

just hope these suns get it together... porter or no porter , kerr or no kerr just figure it out and lets get it going already!

harshey1388 · Post #5 » by **harshey1388** » Tue Feb 3, 2009 8:20 pm

oh i also want to point out about hornets... i dont care if Peja gets worse every month.. that foo tears the suns apart night in and night out so thats what scares me about that team!

A roc 23 · Post #6 » by **A roc 23** » Tue Feb 3, 2009 8:32 pm

Haha, I had an exam and an essay due yesterday so I decided to take it easy today. Figured I hadn't posted on here in a while and I need to kill time before my basketball team (I coach a grade 9 team).

It's true that it doesn't matter what kind of a funk any given player is in. They're going to snap out of it when they face the Suns. I think it's a mental thing for the opposition. Players know the Suns struggle on defense so they play that much harder and this extra motivation gives them more lift on their jumper or something. :lol:

The Hornets just don't have much talent on their roster without Chandler. They have the best PG in the league, a decent (shouldn't even be an all-star) power forward and a small forward who can get hot. Aside from that you have a terrible bench and Rasual Butler and Hilton Armstrong starting. The Suns just need to close out on the shooters and help Nash with CP3.

The Suns have what I consider to be the worst defensive rotations in the league. Absolutely no help defense on this team. My boy Amar'e is the worst help defender in the league if he's not blocking shots. This is why no matter what we do the other team's point guard kills us with penetration. This also opens up a lot of room for shooters off the drive and kick. Shooters KILL us. Peja beasts, Posey beats and even players like Mo Pete seem to drop 20 on us because of drive and kicks.

WTFsunsFTW · Post #7 » by **WTFsunsFTW** » Tue Feb 3, 2009 11:44 pm

pass the koolaid!

harshey1388 · Post #8 » by **harshey1388** » Wed Feb 4, 2009 12:39 am

WTFsunsFTW wrote:pass the koolaid!

only kool aid i got is hope bro, its not that expensive

ray ray · Post #9 » by **ray ray** » Wed Feb 4, 2009 12:58 am

We still need to make some type of move before the trading deadline. We need a versital player that brings hustle, defense and spreads the floor. The West just opened up with Bynum's injury and we need to make a some trade that's going to bring some defense to our team.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/t ... &te=&cash=

What do you guys think?

TrueTaiwanese · Post #10 » by **TrueTaiwanese** » Wed Feb 4, 2009 1:03 am

terrible...Amare himself is worth Tayshaun Prince + Jason Maxiell / Arron Afflalo + Amir Johnson

Jdiddy701 · Post #11 » by **Jdiddy701** » Wed Feb 4, 2009 5:33 am

The only team we can't beat is New Orleans. But I'm not saying other West teams can't beat us, I'm just saying New Orleans is the only team we won't beat in a playoff match. We can beat Lakers, but they can also beat us.

I believe, in order to reach it to the finals, I wanna play Spurs. Suns need to knock them out, just once to boost confidence. I'm hoping for a Suns\Spurs matchup first round again. Just please. It's time to shut them down.

DaDragicShow · Post #12 » by **DaDragicShow** » Wed Feb 4, 2009 5:36 am

We can't beat the Spurs, Lakers or Hornets unless we make a trade.

Jdiddy701 · Post #13 » by **Jdiddy701** » Wed Feb 4, 2009 6:19 am

Suns can beat Spurs. Mentally, I don't know but they're talented enough to knock them out in 6.

Post #14 » by **lilfishi22** » Wed Feb 4, 2009 8:15 am

There's no point of looking at how other teams are doing when we can't even take care of the teams we should put away.

Frank Lee · Post #15 » by **Frank Lee** » Wed Feb 4, 2009 12:29 pm

Here ya go harshey.... but please share um with all your string grabbin hopefuls riding that one game winnin streak over a bottom feeder. Sheesh....and you guys moan about MaryV's sillinesss. We just roll off the worst 10 game stretch of hoops this franchise has ever played....get one blow out win over a team that can't wait for the season to end...... and some of you are callin out the Spurs and fLakers.... I am almost speechless.....

almost :wink:

Post #16 » by **lilfishi22** » Wed Feb 4, 2009 2:08 pm

My point exactly, Frank Lee.

Harshey is sounding awfully like Kerr. 1 good win and we'll forget the 3-7. Porter, you're HIRED!

harshey1388 · Post #17 » by **harshey1388** » Wed Feb 4, 2009 6:06 pm

lilfishi22 wrote:My point exactly, Frank Lee.

Harshey is sounding awfully like Kerr. 1 good win and we'll forget the 3-7. Porter, you're HIRED!

well sue be for being optimistic, unlike just sobbing and moaning at every loss, i finally saw good things happening. I for one look for the upside in things i never said porter shouldnt be fired just because of this one win. you wanna sit there and keep saying lets keep losing so porter can get fired, well i dont wanna see this team tank the season and fall apart because we have awesome talent that can kick some serious a$$. Also, saying you dont care about other teams just shows your one dimension knowledge.

also, whats with people just lashing at other posters, if you have insight then share it no point it just getting all defensive about it to begin with.

I'm just saying. 8-)

eastsidecrossover · Post #18 » by **eastsidecrossover** » Wed Feb 4, 2009 7:00 pm

I have no problem with a cat who is optimistic about this team. They have the pieces, but for some reason, its not happening.

I think we can beat the spurs, but not mentally in the playoffs. I am not going to put us pass the hornets even if cp3 is injured. And, the LA Kobe's, nope, not going to happen.

Thing is, these 3 teams play as a TEAM! Suns do not. The ego has never been left at the door like it has with the Celtics. Personally, I do not see it happening.

I say start the rebuilding now to ease the pain and longsuffering of a long, and painful rebuilding process.

However, I would love to see them turn it around and prove me wrong and challenge for the championship. As of now, they are challenging for that 8th seed.

drivewayball · Post #19 » by **drivewayball** » Wed Feb 4, 2009 7:04 pm

The Suns couldn't even beat a healthy Jazz team ... and they didn't even make the list!

impulsenine · Post #20 » by **impulsenine** » Wed Feb 4, 2009 9:53 pm

eastsidecrossover wrote:I have no problem with a cat who is optimistic about this team. They have the pieces, but for some reason, its not happening.

Bingo. This has always been the problem with this years' Suns. The talent is there, and I don't think anybody disagrees with me there.

I thought this was the year that Hill and Shaq would start dropping off, but they've just gotten better (much to my pleasant surprise). Amare is still one of the most talented people in basketball when he feels like it.

But they don't give rings to people for their potential, you know?