The Suns new situation under Alvin Gentry

technoviking · Post #1 » by **technoviking** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 4:40 pm

While I am fully aware that the Suns have only played the Clippers, but I feel that there is plenty to be excited about and plenty to look forward to. I think that the first half of the season under Terry Porter did provide some benefit to this team, as now they aren't going to take the run-n-gun system for granted anymore, and have a better understand of not only their own system, but also of the slow it down, grind it out system that we are so accustomed to seeing come playoff time. With that being said, I feel like we have also been robbed of the time to get all the new people more comfortable in this system due to the hiring of Terry Porter, it feels like wasted time. However, our guys are probably more fresh at this point, than if our starters had been running all season thus far.

If you look at the last two games, and granted, the Clippers are an awful team, you'll notice a few things. The Suns are far and away the best shooting team in the NBA, the only problem is that they always attempt less shot attempts than their opponent, which is often times due to turnovers and offensive board by the opponent. In the first two games under Gentry, the Suns have shot more than the Clippers, in comparison to the two other times the Suns played the Clipper where they were either outshot or had the same amount of attempts. The first game can be attributed to the fact that we killed them on the board, and the second game was due to the turnover advantage and small offensive board margin by the Suns. When the Suns play at a faster pace, turnovers usually tend to be less frequent (the 22 turnovers in the first game was due to the bench), teams usually attempt to slow the game down to neutralize the Suns thus letting the Suns set up their half court defense, and the Suns rebound better because of the various factors.

Lastly, it is important to show the improvement that the bench has made in just these two games. In the first game, the bench scored 50 points in 123 minutes by six people, but committed 14 turnovers. In the second game, the bench scored 46 points in 100 minutes by seven people, and committed just one turnover. If the Suns keep developing their bench, which I feel has potential, they can become a dangerous team come playoff time, especially if you account for their veteran playoff experience.

Suns247 · Post #2 » by **Suns247** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 6:40 pm

I agree with all of that. My favorite part of this new Gentry-run team so far is the fact that he uses the bench. Correct me if I'm wrong, but last night I believe he used 10 different players in the first quarter, and the game wasn't exactly a blowout like Tuesday was. When Dragic came into the game, I believe we were winning by 2 or 3. When you show confidence in your bench and show them more than garbage time, they are bound to produce, and Gentry realizes that.

TXSun · Post #3 » by **TXSun** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 7:07 pm

so far so good. Can't wait for Sunday vs. Boston. we'll see how good we really are then.

Gorilla Warfare · Post #4 » by **Gorilla Warfare** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 7:08 pm

TXSun wrote:so far so good. Can't wait for Sunday vs. Boston. we'll see how good we really are then.

+1

enigmatics · Post #5 » by **enigmatics** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 7:49 pm

Suns247 wrote:I agree with all of that. My favorite part of this new Gentry-run team so far is the fact that he uses the bench. Correct me if I'm wrong, but last night I believe he used 10 different players in the first quarter, and the game wasn't exactly a blowout like Tuesday was. When Dragic came into the game, I believe we were winning by 2 or 3. When you show confidence in your bench and show them more than garbage time, they are bound to produce, and Gentry realizes that.

God I miss the old Suns logo.