What can we do to improve????

[igilmore]

I have been a suns fan my whole life and have checked this forum for a couple years now, this is my first post. I was a big believer that we needed to get rid of D'antoni because, although I was a big believer that his system could eventually work, there came a time, especially after the Shaq trade that we simply had to gain a defensive mentality. Well after watching the first 17 games I have many different emotions. On the positive side, we have no direction whatsoever and we have 11 wins, there is obviously a lot of talent on this team. On the negative side, we have absolutely no direction. Porter was supposed to give us a defensive mentality and we still can't get stops when it matters, and our offense is terrible. I still think this can work and this is how. 1. On offense we have to have a plan. I think the whole idea of run when shaq is on the bench and feed him when he's in is dumb. I think if it is there, run. Porter says don't run on made baskets to control tempo, fine, but run on missed ones. And as far as shaq goes, we are way to focused on getting him the ball. We have the most dynamic front court scorer in the game and after watching the Miami game and hearing Amare's comments after it I have to agree. Porter has completely underestimated him. We have to go through Amare. Play Amare on the high post and Shaq on the low post in half cour sets. I think we are still working the, run on every possesion all the time, mentality out of our system which will take time. Once we get all the jitters out I think this will work as long as we get Amare his touches. But the most important thing that we have to deal with is defense. 2. Our defense is terrible and there doesn't seem to be any passion or drive to play D. Here is the thing, we cannot play pick and roll defense and everybody we play runs some form of that offense on us. But I think this is fixable. When shaq or amare are the screener's defender, they have to show on the pick. Make the opposing team's point guard stay out on the three, here's the deal, Amare or Shaq has to stay with the point guard until Nash, or whoever is being screened can catch up, while this is happening the other big, for instance Diaw, has to come up and guard the roller. This will leave us succeptibleto a corner three for a little while until everybody can catch up, but I feel if that beats us we can live with that, plain and simple we are getting killed on the pick and roll. I really feel that the biggest area that we have improved with Porter is off the ball defense, I really see a concerted effort in guys like Diaw and Hill to play better off the ball defense. I think this sort of defense can work for the few seconds that we need for everyone to rotate on D and could work in the long run. Please give me feedback on what you guys think, because I really do feel we have the pieces it takes to win, we just have to have a plan and play smart.

[SunsWinSunsWin]

WALL OF TEXT

[toucansma]

[TASTIC]

Nice post

Agree with most of it, but in 16 years Shaq has never defended the pick and roll well, much like his FT shooting there's no coach out there who will make that change

Call me crazy but I like the zone we throw out there a lot better than our pathetic man on man defense

[Miklo]

Welcome to the board! I'm a little burnt out on the Suns right now myself, been a fan all my life and could never be a fan of another team but the Suns need to cheer me up at this point haha. The technical stuff you said makes a lot of sense, I think in a broader sense team chemistry is killing us right now. Everyone needs to get on board with Porter, or he needs to be fired. As is, Nash is obviously a much less integral part of this team currently, and with Amare unhappy IMO he is not playing his hardest. Look at his 49 point game, then look at these games where he gets Spencer Hawes-like numbers. I do think the coaching staff is the root of the chemistry problem; if we started out strong and this system was great, nobody would be complaining and everyone would be playing their heart out with a ring on their mind.

[NashtyNas]

Tastic, I agree exactly with what you said. I hate everything Porter has done except for putting in that zone defense. We play so much better with the zone, I wonder why it's not our main defense..

[igilmore]

the problem that i have with the zone is we get killed on the offensive glass when in it and allow too many open 3's.

[Ninjafish]

1. Make paragraphs
2. The answer is get rid of Porter

[TASTIC]

That can be stopped by crashing the boards. It's maddening when Amare plays good D (it's happened, trust me I've seen it once or twice) and then it's like he switches off once the shots been put up, and he doesn't box his man out. To me, we're clearly not a fast break team anymore so why not just crash the boards as a team and play halfcourt?
This contradicts Porter's whole "I want us to run but only after a miss/turnover" bollocks

[NashtyNas]

Stop stealing the words out of my mouth Tastic !

But, as much as I agree with crashing the boards, when Shaq is out, we need to get out and run. Problem is, usually Shaq is out when Nash is out, and we don't have another PG that can run (Barbosa but as we all know hes a finisher). We need 2 things to happen.

a) Stoudemire to defend and BOX OUT HIS MAN
b) still a point guard (I personally think Singletary is much better than Dragic, but still not our answer).

I'm seriously considering a deal with Diaw and Barbs leaving for Tinsley + a couple others from Indiana, call me crazy, but I think it will work...

[Stix]

[TXSun]

I'm assuming its a great post but it was way too long to even start reading it. But to you question on hand, we need to run more and make Amare our featured player. SImple as that.

[JohnVancouver]

WALL OF TEXT

-- appreciate the post but try the paragraph ("enter") key once in while

[pidi]

+1
+ create a team chemistry

[Vernon Maxwell]

[garrick]

Should we try and get Marbs back here for the vet min? He would be a better backup PG compared to Dragic and Sean though he isn't a pass first PG or a fast break PG.

I think with the vets we have on the team they can keep Marbs in check, I think with what he went through this season he would be happy to be anywhere as long as it is not NY.

[TASTIC]

I agree. Worst case scenario, he doesn't pan out and we cut him loose. If I remember correctly, Porter and he were teammates in MIN?

And he's played with Amare and Barbosa before, and I didn't see any negativity between them

[nashill]

assuming that knicks will buyout marbs for15 million, then they might consider to trade for barbs in exchange for a future draft pick. then suns can sign marbs.

[TASTIC]

^Pass...I think Marbury and Barbosa in the second unit with Hill, Diaw and Lopez is a nice unit

I still think he goes to MIA...

[lilfishi22]

I'd like Marbury here if he'll come to PLAY not warm benches, but we have nothing to offer.

If he wants PT, he'll be playing behind Nash, so it's better off he goes somewhere where he'll be a starting PG.

If he wants money, we can only offer him a vet min, and I'm sure despite his antics and his crappy attitude, other teams will offer him more.

If he wants to sign with a contender, well what can I say, we don't look much like a contender right now.

From what he's shown, it doesn't seem like he really cares about a ring, his legacy or playing basketball, he's all about the dough.