GMATCallahan wrote:It seems as if Kerr is sort of lurching, without a consistent philosophy to guide him. For instance, he and Porter have advocated defensive improvement, but now Kerr has dealt away all the solid defenders from the '06-'07 Suns (James Jones, Kurt Thomas, Shawn Marion, Marcus Banks, Raja Bell, and Boris Diaw). So whereas that team at least ranked thirteenth in Defensive Rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) at 106.4, now Phoenix is down to twenty-fourth in Defensive Rating at 109.7.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/PHO/2007.htmlhttp://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/PHO/2009.htmlAnd with Bell and Diaw gone (perhaps the Suns' best defenders at guard and forward, respectively) and Richardson and Dudley replacing them, more defensive slippage is possible. So is Kerr really being guided by the notion of defense, or not? Likewise, what is the Suns' offensive identity at this point? They seem caught in the middle between running and half-court play, struggling to blend their various tactics due to the lack of a prevailing philosophy or an encompassing strategy.
Part of the reason why the D'Antoni/Colangelo philosophy worked so effectively is that they developed a vision for how they wanted the Suns play and then brought in players that could fit that vision and complement one another, starting with the signing of Nash in the summer of 2004. No one anticipated consecutive MVP awards for the former Dallas point guard, but it certainly made sense to acquire a veteran All-Star playmaker who already possessed experience in a fastbreak system and who could feed young, athletic finishers and scorers in Amare Stoudemire, Shawn Marion, Joe Johnson, and to a lesser degree Leandro Barbosa. Furthermore, Phoenix then inked another player who could run, shoot, and finish in that kind of game plan, namely swingman Quentin Richardson. Under D'Antoni and Colangelo, he Suns weren't just haphazardly bringing in talented parts, but rather adding players who would particularly fit the system and vision that they were building and who would mutually enhance one another. As a result, discrete instruments melded into a collective orchestra.
Similarly, during the next summer (2005), the Suns added relatively anonymous players named Raja Bell, Eddie House, James Jones, and Boris Diaw. When they all proved successful during the '05-'06 season, some imagined that Nash had just magically turned chicken waste into a feast of chicken. The reality, however, is that D'Antoni and Colangelo targeted specific players whose shooting or passing skills would make them smart fits in the Suns' system and who would complement Nash, opening the floor for him and thus allow him to create open shots for them, which they in turn could cash into baskets. By possessing a cogent vision, the Phoenix brass managed to select just the right kinds of players needed to form an elite roster, even if those players were not flashy names.
With Kerr, conversely, I don't see any kind of coherent strategy. If the Suns are trying to be more of a defensive team, the general manager hasn't helped matters by shipping out so many of the better defenders. If the Suns are trying to be more of a half-court team, Kerr perhaps should have stuck with one of his few post-up players (Diaw) rather than acquiring a swingman who plays best in the open floor (Richardson). Instead, it seems as if Kerr is just grabbing at this and then grabbing at that, sort of like Isiah Thomas in New York and Danny Ainge in Boston prior to the summer of 2007. Thomas only sullied his name and his franchise, and while Ainge eventually figured matters out, it took him four years of struggle and some excellent fortune (Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett hitting the trade market in the same summer) before he found his way. Perhaps Kerr's rather haphazard approach will reveal some method through its madness or fortune will be on his side, but if not, he may be dragging this franchise through his own learning process.
Kenny Smith basically made this point tonight (prior to the Boston-Washington game) about the Suns' lack of identity or philosophy and how without that clarity of vision, a team doesn't really know how to acquire and assemble the right personnel.
Barkley didn't understand what the Suns were doing, either.
