Heir'z Corner: The Sun Has Set in Phoenix

[Heir]

I'll just be plain, simple, and to the point:

The Phoenix Suns aren't one of the premier teams anymore, nor are they title contenders.

There isn't a guarantee that they'll make the playoffs at all. They're good enough, but being good enough and actually having the drive and foundation to turn your potential into results are two completely different things.

I'll even go as far as to say that we'll sweep them in our season series this year. I don't see them keeping up with us over a 48 minute game and actually being a threat in the closing minutes. Kobe enjoys playing against them too much because he knows he can do whatever he wants against their defense and adding more bullets in our gun(Bynum and Gasol) only will make it easier for him.

Steve Nash vs Derek Fisher- Nash is still one of the best point guards in the game today and even though he's getting older, he still has a lot left in the tank. The biggest question mark concerning him is whether or not he'll come into training camp motivated about getting his team back on top or if he's supremely frustrated with how last season concluded. He knows that having Shaq won't do well for his team as far as motivation goes. Meanwhile, Derek's role in our offense will diminish with Bynum back, which just means that he'll have more energy to contain Nash on the defensive end and come up with big plays on offense when we need them from players outside of our Big 4. Nash will have the better stats, but Derek will win the overall matchup.

Raja Bell vs Kobe Bryant- Last season Kobe dominated him like no other. He's never had too many instances where Bell put up a real fight, but last year he showed what he can really do against him when he has other options and doesn't have to score every trip down to keep us in the game. This year we've added a 7'2, 285 giant with 9% body fat in the post to make it even easier for him. Good luck, Raja. Not really, but yeah.

Grant Hill vs Lamar Odom- This matchup brings a smile to my face. Why? Because I can only imagine what Phil plans to do against this team with so many options. We can slide Lamar down into the post against Hill anytime we want, while Pau can be around the elbow. That benefits us because Hill isn't strong, nor athletic enough to bang with Lamar in the post. It also moves Stoudemire away from the basket so he can't get rebounds. Hill's quickness on offense might be a problem for Lamar, but if we play him in the post on a consistent basis against Hill it'll wear him down. Just like he did to Marion in 2006.

Amare Stoudemire vs Pau Gasol- Stoudemire was scary after they acquired Shaq and I expect him to be even more aggressive this year since he's one of the few players on this team who has motivation. But against Pau and the mighty Lakers, that motivation will come up short. Pau's length gave Boozer, Duncan, and Garnett trouble in the playoffs and I expect him to do the same to Stoudemire. It's possible to be too aggressive and that's what will most likely be his downfall versus Pau. Even if he does get his, there's no one else out there who Phoenix can go to consistently and get results, so it'll be a one man show.

Shaquille O'Neal vs Andrew Bynum- Finally, Shaq and Andrew will battle it out for the first time since....well, you know. According to Mitch, Drew looks even better this summer than he did last year- keep in mind that he's coming off surgery. How was Shaq's offseason, you ask? He dissed Kobe, apparently threatened a woman, and aged even more. Will Shaq even be able to keep up with Drew in terms of endurance over a 48 minute game? We'll see.

Closing Thoughts:

Phoenix isn't on our level anymore and we WILL sweep them this year.

If any Suns fan disagrees, this is a debate I'm ready to have. Bring it.

[BringinDaRuckus]

...ok...

[The Diesel]

The Lakers are definitely better than the Suns.

[rsavaj]

kthxbai

[HootieRules]

Nash will have the better stats, but Derek will win the overall matchup.

So it'll be a one man show.

A Laker fan talking about another team being a one man show? I've heard it all now.

[BringinDaRuckus]

...And the thread creator is 15... Does that explain a lot or what...

[ray ray]

Okay, we then need to tell the Suns players not to even attempt to play this season since on paper the Lakers squad is a LITTLE better than the Suns. Mrs. Heir'z corner, I'm a firm beleiver that you don't win title's becouse your a little better talent wise, " You play to win the game". Plus, I think that the Lakers are being over hype a little. They are good, but not as good as the Lakers fans make them to be.

Sorry, but don't hate my comments, I just speak the what I feel.

GO SUNS!!

[lebron4mvp]

paul will beable to hang with stat are you jokeing me realy has to be a joke theres no one in the leage that plays the 4 spot that can hang with stat so as much s you want to think there is sorry to bust the bubble but there isnt.




i guess you did not see what shaq did to your lakers last year and he wasnt even 100% shaq will play hard all year but he will play even harder aginst the laker's

[lilfishi22]

I admit last playoffs we were just plain bad. Our defeat was a combination of bad coaching decisions and our vets being worn out from the regular seasons. These are by no means excuses though. Kudos to the Spurs for just plain outplaying us. We were outplayed and out coached plain and simple. Out coached and out played and also they were lucky a few times as well, I mean a Tim Duncan 3?

But last season's team is very different to this seasons team. We have plenty of depth on the bench and have a plan to sufficiently rest our vets for playoffs. With a whole season of Shaq, we should be able to integrate him into our offense and defense much better. Add that with a new focus on defense and we should be a solid team, capable of beating any team in the league. So if this guy is putting us down even before the season starts is just stupid.

I have to question this guys credibility and knowledge of basketball when he writes us off as a non-playoff team just because his team can beat us from his own head-to-head match up analysis. "Nash will have the better stats, but Derek will win the overall matchup." How does that make any sense? When he talks about the STAT vs. Gasol match up, "Even if he does get his, there's no one else out there who Phoenix can go to consistently and get results, so it'll be a one man show." Isn't that exactly what the Lakers are in the playoffs? Odom disappears in the playoffs and while Gasol still puts up decent stats, it's still a one man show in LA.

I don't care if they sweep us in the regular season. We almost swept our nemesis, the SA Spurs, in the regular season and look where we got? Playoff is what counts. So I say, let's get a few games into the regular season first before we start writing teams off. I'll be honest, I wrote the Lakers off at the beginning of last season, and they made a huge turn around with that ridiculous Kwame for Paul trade. It's the NBA, anything can happen so it seems.

I agree with RayRay, the Lakers are an excellent squad but over hyped for sure. It's all fun and games when I make predictions, but I'm never serious about them because I understand anything can happen.

Let's bring home the championship.

[-SDU-]

more ammunition...... nice

lakers were better 2 seasons ago when we had no kurt and no amare and also had the refs in their pockets and look what happened then.....

time will tell

[TASTIC]

Thread like this are a joke, I'm not even going to justify locking this.