Raja Bell in the last 5 games...

[hunterxaz]

raja puttin up **** stats for a starter imho

[Melon Yellow]

Raja is major part of this team and our success. But I do feel that he has been off this year. I know he's battled injuries, but so has everyone else. Obviously, a decrease in his minutes would be somewhat beneficial to the Suns and some of the other players. I think a lot of us want to see Raja's minutes decrease to let him rest, and give DJ some time to impact on D.

There's no need for Raja to be killing himself out there with extended minutes. I just hope we can see a decrease in his time to a)get him some more rest and b)give others some more time to improve their confidence and keep them ready should they need to be utilized anymore than what they currently are. Of course with the addition of Giricek, I think that DJ wont see as many minutes or have as much oppurtunities which he had in the past.

[JohnVancouver]

I don't think Bell is going to be moved in the offseason. He doesn't have any value. I do however think that Barbs will be moved. Maybe they can be packaged together. Or packaged with ATL's pick to move up in the draft for a 2 guard who can shoot and play defense.

The Suns should look for someone else to start at the 2 in the offseason, and a legitimate backup point who can run an offense.

--T.O. is unlikely to resign Calderon, given what they have in contracts right now and what they would need to pay him. Just a thought.
Kinda makes you wish we had kept Rodriquez or Rondo, huh?

I agree about moving barbs, much as i love the guy. he's just too one-dimensional a player and hasn't really gotten any smarter in picking his shots.

But PHX isn't going to have much room for signing anyone, are we? I'm pulling for Atlanta to go completely into the crapper

[nashill]

-= original quote snipped =-



DJ covers the floor a helluva lot better then Bell.... always in the thick of things. That is exactly the kind of player you want on the floor to affect a game.

DJ might be better than Bell in 2 years but right now, no. I agree DJ deserves playing time but not to replace Bell but to give Bell some rest.

[Arles]

-= original quote snipped =-

Defensively he is exactly what we need. Face it, he can't score. He doesn't have the confidence in his perimeter shot that he needs to have. The opposition doesn't even have to guard him outside 20'. Even when he is open he doesn't shoot. He also needs to work on finishing around the basket. The fact is, he is just too raw. He isn't ready to contribute on this level. I think we will see a big difference in his confidence next year just by having a full year under his belt.

I'm not saying we should play DJ 30 MPG, I'm saying he should get a consistent 10-15 MPG in the 2nd and 3rd quarters to give guys like Nash and Bell a bit of a breather.

On a sidenote, it's very interesting that if a player is a complete waste of space defensively (ie, House, Diaw at times, Barbs - esp early on, ..) but can score pretty well, they are OK to play 15 MPG. But, if a player is strong defensively but a little shaky on offense - well, we can't really afford to play him.

You put DJ out there for 15 minutes in the middle quarters to hound the best perimeter scorer, hustle for loose balls, get out in transition and occasionally slash to the basket and I think you will be very surprised at the impact it has on the other vets (Diaw, Hill, Barbs, Amare/Shaq) out there.

Even if DJ doesn't hit an 18+ foot jumpshot for the next 4 games, playing him will make us better. If you look at every one of our losses in this stretch, you will see a point in the 2nd or 3rd quarter where having a little more energy may have turned the tide. Now, if we have a player capable of that, I would say that's much more important for a 5-10 minute stretch in the 2nd quarter than his ability to knock down 1 20-foot jumper. Barbs and Raja can knock down 40% of their 20-foot jumpers, yet they have consistently killed us because of their lack of energy at times. That's the big thing we need in the middle quarters, not a strong jump shooter who can't defend or is gassed.

[Melon Yellow]

^ Agreed but it supports the fact that Mike cares more about offensive production than defensive production. I'm not worried about scoring. With good defense comes oppurtunities, and as long as we keep good defense going, we will be successful. I was very impressed with our defense last night although we basically had to play well to keep from losing because no shot was falling.

Bottom line: Offense will be fine, but we need to work on our defense.

[-SDU-]

i still dont get people wanting to can bell?

WTF are yall smoking?
sure give DJ 10mpg, i agree totally, but play him more than bell?

hell no

[Arles]

i still dont get people wanting to can bell?

WTF are yall smoking?
sure give DJ 10mpg, i agree totally, but play him more than bell?

hell no

I certainly agree here.

[HootieRules]

-= original quote snipped =-



Are you serious? What is he inspector gadget? GO GO GADGET ARMS!

Bell can hit the 3 - right now he's slumping - DJ, cannot. And I'm a DJ fan since day 1
(picture)

Rah-Rah has been slumping all year, I've stopped holding my breath waiting for him to knock down open 3s. We have 3 guys that can make 3s on this team right now - LB, Raja and Nash. We absolutely need all 3 to shoot well to even sniff the 2nd round. Looking bleak right now.

[The Laker Kid]

i will never join the "fire dantoni" bandwagon

i cant believe people are actually saying this?

+1

I mean c'mon people! D'Antoni is simply coaching and is trying very hard to win. It also shouldn't be blamed on Kerr or Sarver because they only did what they had to do to compete on the next level. If anything, IMO the blame should go to the Big Shactus. Shaq's the one who promised Nash that he "will not disappoint" him. I don't think Nash is very happy right now...

[rsavaj]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=EkUOAAuqbVI

That will either cheer you up or make you sad.

[skatesb16]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=EkUOAAuqbVI

That will either cheer you up or make you sad.

Cheered me up. Seeing that 3 against the Clippers still gives me chills.