Suns concerns

[Twuan89]

What do you guys think the Suns biggest concern is right now?

Out of everything the Suns have done this offseason.

[walkingart]

Before I offer my opinion, what is yours?

[stood-amire]

Hahaha, give guy a break Ofcourse, it would be nice if you would actually give us your opinion first Twuan, just a friendly advice.

[TASTIC]

Age and health. So yes, both are clearly intertwined with each other

What are YOUR concerns Twuan?

[SunsWinSunsWin]

Biggest concern is a key injury of course

Other than that, will the team's defense improve enough to help in the playoffs?

Will Shaq be in the best shape of his life and be committed?

Lastly, this will be a theme of mine...If Barbosa does not show more improvement (specifically defense and basketball IQ) will the Suns trade him while his stock is still high? I am sorry, but he is such a huge liability on defense, that it makes me forget his offense at times.

[pidi]

i wouldn´t concern much about shaq. he has something to prove and i hope he´s on a mission.
the biggest concern? are dragic & singletary ready to take some pressure and some minutes off nash?
is lb on his way to learn defense and earn the starting spot from rara? is diaw motivated or is he on his way to turn fully into doris bia w tch...
is ghill fit enough to help us in the playoffs??
and of course the injuries. if you got such an old team injuries are always a concern..

[lilfishi22]

Well the bench isn't exactly a concern but I would say it is something to look at. I say this because the health of our players, especially our vets, depend on how well our bench plays. If our bench players play well than our vet starters ie Shaq, Nash, Hill and Bell can play less minutes which means fresh legs for the playoffs.

Age isn't that big of a concern as it's just an indication of the type of health problems our vets get, but obviously it affects different players differently ie Nash (still close to MVP form) and Shaq (20mil role player).

Surprisingly I'm not that concerns about Shaq, whether it's his commitment or shape. I feel like he's got these things down pact. Nash is going to be as good as he was last regular season, his decline will be most visible in the playoffs, so if we can get him some more rest minutes then it should be good. Hill was just unlucky last season to have an injury so close to playoffs.

Only concern I have really is our team defense. I hope they get that worked out and ready for the season opener.

[ray ray]

My biggest concern is Steve Nash. We can say that this is Amare's team all we want but in reality, we go as far as Nash takes us. I do beleive that our defense is going to be much better and that our offense is going to decline a little bit. Other than that, here's my top six concerns:

1) Leandro Barbosa progression in the defensive side of the ball.
2) Amare's progression in the defensive side of the ball.
3) Is Diaw finally going to be the player that we know he can be?
4) Goran Dragic's devolepment as the back up point guard.
5) Shaq's weight.
6) Are they going to improve in the defensive side?

[rsavaj]

Not in any order:

Nash's effectiveness/health
-Shaq's effectiveness/health
-Grant's effectiveness/health
-Everything about Porter: his offense, his defense, his rotation, it's all unknown right now and I'm worrying about it
-Amare's ego
-Amare's defense
-Amare's knees
-Leandro/Boris/Raja need to get back to where they were a few years ago
-The fact that our bench has 2 rookies at key positions
-You guys may scoff at me for this, but I still want the Suns to be "The Suns"; a (somewhat) high-scoring, entertaining team that has fun while they're on the court

[Miklo]

The first thing that popped into my head, albeit pretty simple, is getting the scraps together and winning this year, because like it or not we are already shifting down into rebuild mode even as we enter the last or second to last year of our window of opportunity. If we don't win this year, it will be 3-5 years before we have a legitimate shot.

[Phoenix1977]

My biggest concern is how Porter uses the players during the year. If he's anything like D'Antoni, he will run the old guys into the ground and that'll be the end of the "open window" for a championship. If he plays 10 guys and gets the old guys some rest along the way, that concern will fade.

As for the players themselves...I'm hoping we can get something out of Robin Lopez. We really need a big guy that can defend to stick next to Amare when Shaq is resting. Also, the young guys backing up Nash. You know, the obvious.

[phx#7]

If he plays 10 guys and gets the old guys some rest along the way, that concern will fade.

My concern would be relying too heavily on the 9-10 players. I'm not sold on Lopez or Dragic and I'd think them being forced to play a major role would decrease the Suns chances of even making the playoffs.

[lilfishi22]

Don't think anyone has mentioned this but I have a bit of concern about Amare playing 82 games under Porter. We all know what happened with D'Antoni and Amare and D'Antoni was a player's coach so he would've given Amare a fair bit of freedom to do what he wants.

I asked some of the guys on the Bucks board about Porter and they all said stuff like he's a player's coach and he's not an X's and O's guy which sounded a fair bit like D'Antoni. Except the difference is that Porter basically has no experience as a head coach other than the two years at Milwaukee. I'm a little concerned Porter won't be able to control Amare. I'm hoping Shaq will hold things down for Porter.

Anyone else think this?

[daveang]

I think my biggest concern lies with both the HEALTH and ABILITY of Shaquille O'Neal.

He showed his enthusiasm coming into the team late last season, but will he be able to provide that energy, and moreso compete with other NBA bigs on the inside to the level he is required?

At current, that is my biggest concern. That is bound to change once we get a decent look at how the team runs this season, or when Shaq proves us wrong and steps up.

[rsavaj]

I want a player-coach relationship that can incite this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xupO_9ak ... re=related

[eastsidecrossover]

Im not concerned about Amare. He is maturing and with Shaq, he will be in line more. My biggest concern is the backup PG's. I am not a big fan, or beleive that Dragic is our future and can handle the duties as a backup. And then we bring in another rookie to backup nash and dragic. Another concern is our SG position. I think we do not have really any sharp shooters on this team. Bell is one, and nash is too. Barbs is good and Barnes is ok. Next is if Diaw can ever play to his potential as a backup to Amare. Next is the health of nash, hill and shaq. Can they last a whole season without an injury? I don't think Hill can. I think with Shaq, lopez will do a good job and Diaw can help in this area too. I am concerned about our coach because of the unknown.

Last is one of the most important.............that is team chemisty and cohesian! do they come together as one, on and off the court to reach their goal? Because last year, I did not see that. And with so much change, can they buid chemistry fast enough? do they come together as a team to make each other better?

[PHXTERROR1987]

THE CENTER POSTION!!! enough said.

[TASTIC]

I think we're ok with:

Shaq/Amare/Diaw/Lopez getting some time there at one point or another. I'd like to see another athlete added, maybe Linton Johnson or another defensive big

[TXSun]

my main concern is the our veteran players. Can Nash still play MVP ball 1 more season? Can Shaq be as dominant as he once was one last season? Can Grant Hill stay healthy and contribute one last season? Can Raja Bell be all-defense again? These are my concerns. I think we need at least 3 out of 4 here to have a chance at the Finals.