Suns 3rd best team in Pacific?

DirtyDez · Post #1 » by **DirtyDez** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:01 pm

Don't look now but Clipps have a lot more talent than several teams in the league including us, also they just traded for Rasul Butler which makes them even deeper: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4394050 ... I know it sounds absurd but compare these lineups:
Nash, Dragic
J-Rich, LB
Hill, Dudley
Amare, Clark
Frye, Lopez -

B Davis, Telfair
E Gordon, Collins
Al Thorton, R Butler
B Griffin, Kaman
Camby, D Jordan

They are young and we are old, if they're not better than us this year they will be next year. I'm predicting 3 Pacific teams in the playoffs like 06'... Now their only problem is the coach :lol:

MaryvalesFinest · Post #2 » by **MaryvalesFinest** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:03 pm

As long as Steve Nash has fun it doesn't make a difference to him if the Suns are 5th in the pacific :lol:

In all seriousness it's going to depend on how much Amare recovers. If he comes back the same or anywhere close to it the Suns would be 2nd in the pacific. If he's not the same player he once was the Suns will probally come between 3-5...

the_warden · Post #3 » by **the_warden** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:17 pm

We're might be the third most talented team, but they have Mike Dunleavy.

DirtyDez · Post #4 » by **DirtyDez** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:19 pm

MaryvalesFinest wrote:As long as Steve Nash has fun it doesn't make a difference to him if the Suns are 5th in the pacific

In all seriousness it's going to depend on how much Amare recovers. If he comes back the same or anywhere close to it the Suns would be 2nd in the pacific. If he's not the same player he once was the Suns will probally come between 3-5...

GS and SAC are at least 2-3 years away from having winning records, Clipps have young talent and veteran players who are playoff tested. Only question is will something go terribly wrong this year for the Clipps like always. At least they are being proactive this offseason.

hunterxaz · Post #5 » by **hunterxaz** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:23 pm

forgive me for my ignorance but aren't we a "young" team now? we only have 2 players over 30... and one who is 28...

Post #6 » by **Qwigglez** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:59 pm

Are you kidding..?
The Suns have a really young team. Everyone is younger than 26 except Nash, Hill, and Richardson.
Baron Davis is solid, only when he wants to be, he isn't motivated right now so I don't expect him to play like he used to. I'll take Nash over Davis right now.
Telfair has to be the one of the worst point guards in the league.
Eric Gordon is gonna get destroyed on defense. Their shooting guard position is weak. Richardson and Barbosa over Eric Gordon and Collins.
I'll take Hill, Clark, and Dudley over Al Thornton and Rasual Butler.
Camby and Kaman are injury prone. Both are gonna have to fight for minutes, I see one of them being traded before the deadline.
Blake Griffin is not yet a superstar or an all-star. I won't comment on him because I'm unsure what he is capable of doing in the NBA.
Even in two years I'll take the Suns lineup over their lineup. The Clippers never manage to have a good record consistently.
And I'm still waiting on who the Suns are gonna sign for the veteran's minimum this year

DirtyDez · Post #7 » by **DirtyDez** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 9:02 pm

The Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs are the only 2 teams in the NBA with 2 players over 35 years old. Suns are the only team who starts 2 players over 35. Nash and Hill = 63 minutes per game last year... Finley and Ratliff = 41 mpg last year

JohnVancouver · Post #8 » by **JohnVancouver** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 9:06 pm

DirtyDez wrote:Don't look now but Clipps have a lot more talent than several teams in the league including us, also they just traded for Rasul Butler which makes them even deeper: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4394050 ...

They are young and we are old, if they're not better than us this year they will be next year. I'm predicting 3 Pacific teams in the playoffs like 06'... Now their only problem is the coach

I'm sure between Sterling and Dunleavy they can bollocks this up.
But yes, on paper they look decent - the did last year too.

It's the Clippers, man.

DirtyDez · Post #9 » by **DirtyDez** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 9:27 pm

JohnVancouver wrote:
DirtyDez wrote:Don't look now but Clipps have a lot more talent than several teams in the league including us, also they just traded for Rasul Butler which makes them even deeper: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4394050 ...

They are young and we are old, if they're not better than us this year they will be next year. I'm predicting 3 Pacific teams in the playoffs like 06'... Now their only problem is the coach

I'm sure between Sterling and Dunleavy they can bollocks this up.
But yes, on paper they look decent - the did last year too.

It's the Clippers, man.

Haha yeah, if we're tied with them w/ 3 seconds left i Dunleavy puts Daniel Ewing in! :lol:

b-ball forever · Post #10 » by **b-ball forever** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 9:57 pm

Their defense is too weak right now and they won't make the playoffs till Griffin and Gordon get more experience (assuming Dumbleavy surrounds em with a decent supporting cast).

Warriors have better chances of finishing ahead of us this year then the Clips, but I don't think they will yet either.

LV-Suns · Post #11 » by **LV-Suns** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 10:16 pm

I think we have the potential to win 45-50 games this season and make the playoffs. The x-factor is Amare and our season depends hugely on his play. Its his contract year, he would want to play the way he would like to be paid. If returning Amare and the new acquisitions could cover up the hole Shaq left, I think we could easily get into the playfoffs. Clippers have 3 inefficient players starting(Davis, Thornton, and Kaman) and playing major minutes. I doubt Griffin can be the player who comes in and dominate right away. Clippers also face the same problem, their defensive. Besides Camby, that is one weak defensive team. Maybe in couple years when Gordon and Griffin develops into the right players.

hunterxaz · Post #12 » by **hunterxaz** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 11:37 pm

baron davis apparently has pics of him doing coke and **** white bitches, hope those come out. that may ruin him. haah

Orange_Blooded · Post #13 » by **Orange_Blooded** » Thu Aug 13, 2009 2:12 am

umm nope, the clips vets are too injury plagued and the young guys aren't ready to win yet. not to mention they are the friggin' clips! I don't envision a scenario where LAC tops us in the standings, they may come close if B. Diddy, camby and Kaman can miraculously stay healthy(not gonna happen) .

Post #14 » by **lilfishi22** » Thu Aug 13, 2009 2:41 am

It's the Clippers man. They looked great on paper last year too and just like last year they are gonna find a way to screw this one up. Dunleavy is a horrible coach and they are as much of a put together team as they were last season, they need at least another season with the same core to get the right chemistry.

BD only plays well when he's motivated. He looks like he's leaving or has already left his prime and his team is still years from "contending." Telfair has been a disappointment so I wouldn't look too much into it.

E.Gords is aiight. Great shooter but is undersized and gets burnt on defense every night. Collins is Collins

Thorton is my man on that team, but he's still gotta ways to go before he becomes a real force in the NBA. Too young and too inexperienced

Griffin looks great from his summer league games, but he's really gotta work on his defense. His shot blocking and man-defense is below average at the moment. Lucky for them they have Camby for that.

Camby, I hope we swing a deal for him sometime this season. It's too bad they don't need a 2-guard. Jordan is still raw as hell and is still a few years from being a real center, but he's still better than Rolo at this point.

To me they were more solid last season on paper but this year they get younger and got rid of a few bad characters/bad players and replaced them with some decent back up solutions.

Even if we lose Hill, Nash and someone else for a combined 20 games, we'd still be better than the Clippers imo. Our system alone is good enough for 4-5 wins.

The only team I see that could give us a run for the money for 2nd place are the Dubs. Randolph ripped the SL and Morrow has continued to improve. If they get it together, they could take over us at 2.

DirtyDez · Post #15 » by **DirtyDez** » Thu Aug 13, 2009 4:13 am

lilfishi22 wrote:E.Gords is aiight. Great shooter but is undersized and gets burnt on defense every night.

Looks like him and LB have a lot in common :lol:

TheMan44 · Post #16 » by **TheMan44** » Thu Aug 13, 2009 4:36 am

Your Clippers rotation up top is incorrect. It should be:

C Kaman - Marcus Camby
F Griffin - Craig Smith
F Thornton - Ricky Davis
G Gordon - Rasul Butler
G Baron - Sebastian Telfair

Now, back to your question - is the Suns lineup better than the Clippers lineup?

Of course not. On paper, the Clipper players are lightyears away from the Suns talent.

But in reality, we know they are the Clippers. They are disfunctional and their medical team is not that great. Look at the history of injuries on that club. The trainers cannot adequetly bring these guys back properly for some reason.

DirtyDez · Post #17 » by **DirtyDez** » Thu Aug 13, 2009 5:06 am

Sunsman44 wrote:Your Clippers rotation up top is incorrect. It should be:

C Kaman - Marcus Camby
F Griffin - Craig Smith
F Thornton - Ricky Davis
G Gordon - Rasul Butler
G Baron - Sebastian Telfair

Now, back to your question - is the Suns lineup better than the Clippers lineup?

Of course not. On paper, the Clipper players are lightyears away from the Suns talent.

But in reality, we know they are the Clippers. They are disfunctional and their medical team is not that great. Look at the history of injuries on that club. The trainers cannot adequetly bring these guys back properly for some reason.

Deandre Jordan is better than Kaman and Smith. Also, Camby is better than all of them

TheMan44 · Post #18 » by **TheMan44** » Thu Aug 13, 2009 6:14 am

DirtyDez wrote:Deandre Jordan is better than Kaman and Smith. Also, Camby is better than all of them

Umm. Let's see.....NO:

I don't know what you mean by "better." This is not grade school.

Mike Dunleavy has publicly stated Kaman is the starting center and Griffin is the starting forward - making Camby the backup center and Craig Smith - whom the team went out of the way to acquire with Telfair - as the backup power forward.

DeAndre Jordan is a young, raw talent who will have plenty of mentors to help grow his game. He is very young and is only a 2nd year player. No way the Clippers bench a multi-million dollar contract proven veteran for a 2nd year man who is still growing.

Jordan will have his day to shine, but not this season. Kaman, Camby, Griffin, and Craig Smith are all over him on the depth chart. There just isn't any minutes left for DeAndre.

Nando88 · Post #19 » by **Nando88** » Thu Aug 13, 2009 6:44 am

wish we grabbed Deandre instead of Lopez....

DirtyDez · Post #20 » by **DirtyDez** » Thu Aug 13, 2009 6:55 am

It wouldn't shock me if Dunleavy did something stupid like start Kaman over Camby. MC averaged a dub-dub and is one of the best defensive players in the NBA plus he has a jumpshot. That team can score all day long they need Camby to control the paint defensively. But i hope your right, as a Suns fan i would love Kaman getting more mpg than Camby ecspecially against us. MC had 23 rebounds against us in 1 game last year. Plus Kaman has only played 87 games in the last 2 seasons, don't look for him to stay healthy