OT: How good is Phoenix?

[campybatman]

That is, I was expecting San Antonio to challenge Los Angeles for being the top team in the western conference. It might be too early, but Phoenix looks like they'll give the Lakers a race for the division title.

It's ironic, I'd picked Phoenix to be the top team in their conference last season. I don't know, I thought S. O'Neal would make a difference with a full season with them. Actually, I wasn't in favor of the Suns acquiring him because they're a running team. Still, S. O'Neal is a good player when he's healthy and motivated.

Anyways, is Phoenix's early success this season a mirage, or are they for real? Do they match up well against the Lakers or no?

[aboubata]

they are 20 games away from Nash back spasm and him laying on the side with a towel under his head while the team loses.
I doubt they will have have home court in the first round

[Bluewhale]

As long as healthy, it's 55-60 games good.

[sully00]

They are the Suns. Nash and Hill are getting old but as talented as you can get and they just make their teammates better. Their bench is young and thin and they have to fix that to be more than a paper tiger going into the playoffs but their first 4 as good as anyone in the NBA if also as fragile. Amare hasn't even rounded into form yet.

I don't think SA is built as well for the regular season, but are much better built for the postseason, their big guns just do not hold up well to the mins of the 82 games. DEN is still going to win a lot of games as will DAL.

[MyInsatiableOne]

they are 20 games away from Nash back spasm and him laying on the side with a towel under his head while the team loses.
I doubt they will have have home court in the first round

Agreed...this is a fast start out of the gate but I predict they will fade and fall back to earth relatively soon...they still play no D...

[campybatman]

This article must be from yesterday.

Yeah, how is Hill doing it? Amazing, no wonder he didn't want to leave...

Phoenix needs to defend better at slowing down the offense of opponents. They're allowing ninety to hundred plus points. I mean they're scoring, but so are their opponents.

The Suns had no business opening the season 7-1 with a 37-year-old small forward in Grant Hill, a thinned-out frontcourt and a five-game trip through the East for their elderly point guard to navigate. Yet, they stand atop the West with their best start in nine years while Nash leads the league with 12.9 assists per game.

As recently as four years ago, Nash was winning back-to-back MVP awards, so he is ambivalent about compliments that he is now overcoming his age.

"A challenge?" he asked rhetorically. "I don't know if it's that, or if it's just another burden. I've had doubters since I was in high school. Once you finally think it's over, then they think you're too old. In some ways, I'm accustomed to it and I don't mind it -- it's just the way it's always been for me. That underdog mentality is just ingrained in me."

Last year, Nash heard whispering suspicions of erosion in his play. The 46-36 Suns were missing the playoffs for the first time in five years, and Nash's 9.7 assists and 15.7 points reflected a statistical decline. All of those numbers, he says, were reflections of a circumstance -- the half-court presence of Shaquille O'Neal -- that was beyond his control.

"The way we played at the start of the year, we wanted Shaq down low and we wanted Amar'e [Stoudemire] on the elbows," said Nash, who found his driving lanes clamped off. "I don't care who you are, there's no room for anybody, so it really limited my opportunities. Teams saw it as an opportunity to trap every pick-and-roll I ran and get the ball out of my hands."

This is the first Suns team in 19 years to score triple figures in its opening eight games. Of course, that pace can't go on all year. They're hitting an outrageous 47.1 percent of their threes (and 50.2 percent of their shots overall), and Hill is their leading rebounder with 8.6 per game. They are, in all kinds of ways, a team in transition. And over the next five months, their weaknesses up front and on the bench will begin to show.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/w ... ?eref=sihp

[captain green]

They look good to me Nash,hill richardson,amare, fyre, starters. barbosa, dragic, dudley, amundson getting the rotation minutes.
They beat us but there a Nash, Amare injury away from sinking I'd say at least a 4th seed in western if healthy.

[tombattor]

Who cares? They are regular season wonders. They won't do caca in the playoffs. Same trash we've seen for the past 5 years.

[Andrew McCeltic]

Yep, uptempo offense, scores a lot of points, wins a lot of regular season games, falters in playoffs - although they've got Jason Richardon now, who might be the best halfcourt/1-on-1 scorer they've had in the Nash era - along with Amare - so they're not completely wrecked when the games slow down.

[campybatman]

Richardson is good, I mean, Boston should know... But I think Phoenix could've traded Marion instead of losing J. Johnson. Because they'd ended up trading Marion eventually. The only thing, J. Johnson is a versatile player who's a good ball handler. With Nash, he would just be a scorer which Richardson is.

[MyInsatiableOne]

Who cares? They are regular season wonders. They won't do caca in the playoffs. Same trash we've seen for the past 5 years.

[GuyClinch]

Nash is pretty amazing. I got the first quarter last night - and I saw TWO passes that I haven't seen in well - since the last time I watched Nash.

[EJay33]

Nash is playing out of his mind right now. We're about 1/10th of the way through the season and if we conducted MVP voting for the first 10th of the season it'd be either Kobe or Nash. He is playing like a man who wants his 3rd MVP. Are you kidding me? Two 20 assists games already?

They caught the Celtics at a good time - -playing their 7th game of 8 in 12 nights and JRich was nutso to boot. I don't think the Suns are on Boston or LA's level and I'm not sure that they can beat a healthy Spurs team in a series, either. However, I'm not sure the Spurs can get to the playoffs healthy, either. Teams like Denver could also cause them problems because I don't see how they can stop Billups or Melo.

We'll know a lot more about the Suns after tonight's game versus LA. I know I'll be watching, should be fun. Don't forget that Nash is not a fan of Kobe Bryant and I'm thinking both guys will be looking up upstage each other.

[JR Hawks]

Who cares? They are regular season wonders. They won't do caca in the playoffs. Same trash we've seen for the past 5 years.

This is the correct answer. Their style of play is nice to beat half-assed focused (and worn out teams like the C's were last week) teams during the regular season but its a loser when D picks up in the playoffs.

[Avalanche]

probably a 4-5 seed and still a playoff failure IMO

[campybatman]

What I find interesting, Phoenix fired Terry Porter who wanted to instill a defensive mentality. However, it didn't exactly work as hoped. They'd realized that...

In recent years, Dallas (Nash's previous team) has realized that they needed to become a better defensive team to improve their chances in the western conference. They're still a team improving defensively. But at least they're aware of it and are trying to become better in that area. Conversely, Phoenix remains an offensive team first and second.

[LongTimeFan]

Well they are going to play the Lakers tonoght. One of them has to lose.

They beat the Celts, but the Celts were exhausted.

[campybatman]

Boston might have been a tired team but Phoenix did convert 13 of 24 attempted three-point shots. Hard to overlook that...

[MyInsatiableOne]

Phoenix is on a torrid 3-pt shooting tear right now...if they only made half of what they did against us, we're 9-0...

[SonicYouth34]

They're a good team that won't go very far in the playoffs, just like before