Post#6 » by Ballings7 » Fri Aug 29, 2008 5:13 am
Not too surprising.
I thought there'd be something of mention, though - like at least an inconsistent focus, doing it at times, like after bad, obvious losses. Maybe there was.
But certainly the main blame goes on D'Antoni and his coaching staff for the Suns defensive short-comings, and of course the ultimate result of the Suns emphasis and style of play. D'Antoni dictating everything. The key thing there, was there was not nearly enough roster adjustment for defense and rebounding. Kurt Thomas, Raja Bell, Brian Skinner, and mid-30s Shaq over the years after 05, just weren't going to do enough to improve their defensive situation. Specifically with the bringing in of Thomas, you can't rely on Kurt Thomas to be your defensive anchor (not in the main sense, anyway). Now, getting Raja Bell was definitely a good move, but still, there just wasn't the team defense, and especially interior defense, for Bell to have around the most impact an above-average perimeter defender can have.
As an organization, they just didn't have that kind of committment to defense and rebounding a title-seeking squad needs.
Suns still need to improve their defensive personnel. And, really, they can't with certain key players until they retire or exit somehow. Again, they'll get better to an extent with a different philosophy with Porter, but not notably better relative to how they need(ed) to.
The Playoffs don't care about your Analytics
Amare better be nice of the D this year the way hes talking.
