Suns best unit?

[Wannabe MEP]

I don't think it's their starters. Not even close, actually.

I'm going to assume out best unit needs Nash and Fropez. The question is not: Who are the next three best players? or even: Who are the best #2, 3, and 4 players. The question is: Who best complements Nash and Fropez (Nash especially)? It doesn't matter if they'd be on the bench for every other team in the NBA; if they complement Nash well, they are a part of our best unit.

If you're playing with Nash (and you're not the center), you have to be able to do two things:
1) play defense
2) shoot threes
3) A slasher would be nice as well. Only one necessary.

Midrange jumper? Not necessary. Explosive moves? Nope. Create your own shot? Hell no.

J-Rich, Hill, and Hedo are all good players. They may very well be our best players at 2, 3, and 4. But they are not the best players to complement Nash. At most one of them should be on the court with Nash. They should come in when Nash goes out, and then we always have veteran guys who can create on the court.

I think our best possible unit is:
Nash and Fropez
+
Dudley, Frye, and Childress

Because Dudley, Frye and Childress complement Nash. They open up space for the pick and roll. There's enough D, enough hustle, enough quickness, etc.

[Mjee]

No J-Rich? Did you watch the game last night? J-Rich was the only one besides nash that was consistantly an offensive threat. Hill was worthless!
My line up is:
Nash Jrich Hedo Warrick Lopez

[Sun Scorched]

The Most Well-Balanced Unit
Nash / Richardson / Childress / Frye / Lopez

The "Oh ****, We're Behind by 20" Unit
Nash / Richardson / Childress / Turkoglu / Frye

The "We're Ahead, Let's Hold On To It" Unit
Nash / Childress / Hill / ??? / Lopez

The Best Bench in the League
Dragic / Dudley / Childress / Warrick / Frye

[Wannabe MEP]

No J-Rich? Did you watch the game last night? J-Rich was the only one besides nash that was consistantly an offensive threat.

Well no, I didn't, actually. But I watched last year. It's not that I don't like JRich...

I cannot understand why people don't understand this: Dudley is the perfect fit for the Suns system. He is the perfect player to play alongside Nash. He should play a lot of minutes. We are simply better with him on the court. Pretty much always. I don't care who he goes in for. He just makes the team better. He's like Battier, except way cooler. And he's simply the perfect complement to Nash.

Humor me and look at these stats:
http://basketballvalue.com/teamunits.php?year=2009-2010&sortnumber=17&sortorder=DESC&team=PHX
They're just stats. They won't bite. I'll explain them to you if you want me to, if tables or stat geek info makes your head hurt.

Out of JRich, Hill, and Turk, I'd put JRich with Nash, so that works ok in my book. But I really, really, REALLY, like the idea of Nash, Dudley, and Childress on the court together.

[Mjee]

How about .....
Nash Jrich Dudley warrick Lopez
Without a doubt J-rich needs to start .....JChill can come off the bench, he doesnt have as much fire power offensively as Jason. If we start J Chill and Dudley (and give them starter minutes) we wont win more than 40 games.

[Stix]

Nash - JRich - Dudley - Frye - Lopez.

[DBrimstone]

All I know is that we had far too much "here Hedo, have the ball in your hands" plays where we did nothing to help him. He's not fast enough to get by someone without a pick so he just ends up shooting it. We really need to totally re-vamp how we're using him

[Mr. Sun]

I like to try for starting cast:

Frye
Hill
JChill
JRich
Nash

[nashill]

1st unit

nash
jrich
hill
warrick
frye

2nd unit

lopez
hedo
jchill
jdud
dragic

last 6 minutes of the game lineup

jrich
nash
lopez
frye
hill/hedo

[nevetsov]

Not necessarily best, as it depends on matchup, but certainly some combos I would have liked to have tried during preseason:

Nash
Dudley
Childress
Warrick
Frye

Surrounds nash with 2 3point threats, a slasher and a p'n'r threat (2004?). Also places 2 best perimeter defenders with Nash. Good for quick scores in short spurts.

Goran
Rich
Hedo
Clark/ Lawal
Lopez

Hedo handles and has offensive options everywhere in Rich/ Goran and even p'n'r with Lopez. No pressure on Clark/ Lawal to score at all, allowing them to focus purely on D and rebounding, and above all being consistent.

[YFZblu]

No J-Rich? Did you watch the game last night? J-Rich was the only one besides nash that was consistantly an offensive threat.

Well no, I didn't, actually. But I watched last year. It's not that I don't like JRich...

I cannot understand why people don't understand this: Dudley is the perfect fit for the Suns system. He is the perfect player to play alongside Nash. He should play a lot of minutes. We are simply better with him on the court. Pretty much always. I don't care who he goes in for. He just makes the team better. He's like Battier, except way cooler. And he's simply the perfect complement to Nash.

Humor me and look at these stats:
http://basketballvalue.com/teamunits.php?year=2009-2010&sortnumber=17&sortorder=DESC&team=PHX
They're just stats. They won't bite. I'll explain them to you if you want me to, if tables or stat geek info makes your head hurt.

Out of JRich, Hill, and Turk, I'd put JRich with Nash, so that works ok in my book. But I really, really, REALLY, like the idea of Nash, Dudley, and Childress on the court together.

Jared Dudley, flat out, needs more minutes. This guy needs to be playing 25mpg IMO.

[Gorilla Warfare]

Nash Jrich Hedo Warrick Lopez

[JohnVancouver]

Not necessarily best, as it depends on matchup, but certainly some combos I would have liked to have tried during preseason:

Nash
Dudley
Childress
Warrick
Frye

Surrounds nash with 2 3point threats, a slasher and a p'n'r threat (2004?). Also places 2 best perimeter defenders with Nash. Good for quick scores in short spurts.

Goran
Rich
Hedo
Clark/ Lawal
Lopez

Hedo handles and has offensive options everywhere in Rich/ Goran and even p'n'r with Lopez. No pressure on Clark/ Lawal to score at all, allowing them to focus purely on D and rebounding, and above all being consistent.

I like both those lineups, though I would like to see Lopez in with the starters over Frye - but Channing has been working hard on rebounds and D, so the other way works too. I always seem to be saying that about Frye but it does bear mentioning.
It's to his credit that he didn't let last year go to his head and just camp outside shooting threes and doing nothing else. He's really stepped up his play as a big man, event though it's not his game naturally

[Wannabe MEP]

Nash
Dudley
Childress
Warrick
Frye

Surrounds nash with 2 3point threats, a slasher and a p'n'r threat (2004?). Also places 2 best perimeter defenders with Nash. Good for quick scores in short spurts.

Hmm...I think I could really, really like that lineup. It's crazy, because it takes out our entire second unit and pairs it with our star...

I think we have to try it.

Goran
Rich
Hedo
Clark/ Lawal
Lopez

Hedo handles and has offensive options everywhere in Rich/ Goran and even p'n'r with Lopez. No pressure on Clark/ Lawal to score at all, allowing them to focus purely on D and rebounding, and above all being consistent.

This is not bad. Mix in Hill when you need him. That first unit may really be our best unit, and now this second unit is loaded with talent and experience that might mix really well. If guys can stomach coming off the bench, this could be perfect. This could easily be a starting unit.

[Wannabe MEP]

By the way, why don't we do what the Lakers do with Gasol, Bynum, and Odom? They play two of those three at all times. Yes, Odom comes off the bench, but he plays about the same minutes. Unless there's foul trouble, they just play those three.

Why don't the Suns do that with Lopez, Frye, and Warrick?

[RaisingArizona]

Nash/Jrich/Hedo/Warrick/Lopez

[Kingsforlife]

Just played with the Suns at Lakers won 91 to 87 :) Hakim Warrick 31 points 8 rebounds 5 assists 3 steals 1 blocks 0 turnovers :O and made the game clinching fast break basket over Steve Blake with 3 seconds left :D

[Kerrsed]

Just played with the Suns at Lakers won 91 to 87 Hakim Warrick 31 points 8 rebounds 5 assists 3 steals 1 blocks 0 turnovers :O and made the game clinching fast break basket over Steve Blake with 3 seconds left

Wrong thread.

[Kingsforlife]

Nash/Jrich/Hedo/Warrick/Lopez

that is right and Lopez needs way more than 25 minutes especially when Channing Frye is in your rotation.

[Wannabe MEP]

Nash
Dudley
Childress
Warrick
Frye

This.

Warrick. Three point shooters. Players who hustle. With Nash.