What all time Suns team do you think could beat the Warriors?

[bwgood77]

Got this idea from the General Board and just made a post there, but thought I'd repost it here and see if others could come up with ideas or critique mine.

I'll give this a shot. I think the Suns have enough good shooters in the past and some decent defenders to keep up but since no one really stops the Warriors defensively, you need to keep up with them on offense.

I will create the lineups based on chemistry and maximize shooting. Rim protection is a bit tougher but the Suns can do well with moving the ball and hitting 3s.

Nash/KJ/Kidd
Joe Johnson/Hornacek/Raja Bell/Walter Davis
Marion/Dan Majerle/Eddie Johnson/Grant Hill
Amare /Barkley (Amare plays C some and Marion plays PF some)
Alvan Adams/Mark West

PG - In a nutshell, I like KJ as a player more than Nash, because he was more dynamic and could take over a game but Nash was the better 3 pt shooter.

SG - Joe Johnson shot 47.8% from 3 with Nash, and has the size to guard Klay. Hornacek shot 43.9% for Suns from 3 at peak and 46.6% from 3 with Utah and also averaged 5 apg for his career and 6 apg with the Suns so he moved the ball well and was feisty on defense. Raja Bell shot over 44% from 3 at his peak, and was a solid defender. You could argue he would be ahead of Hornacek. Walter Davis was money from mid range and could be useful...smart passer and great player.

SF - Marion was great on that Suns team with Nash and JJ, though he was PF in that role mostly but I will put him as SF here...he played great D. Dan Majerle left his heart on the floor, dove for lose balls, was a decent defender, and shot 38.2% at his peak as a Sun. Eddie Johnson was a great shooter and could light it up...he shot 41.3% from 3 at his peak season with the Suns and would just be a perfect weapon against the Warriors. Grant Hill was a smart player and even shot 43.8% from 3 at his peak with the Suns.

PF - Again he played C much with Nash and given his non 3 pt shooting ability, would work well as a C just for the devastating pick n roll with Nash, and allowing Marion to move to PF and putting Hornacek or Raja at 2 and Joe Johnson at 3 in certain situations. Barkley was such a great player but I'm not sure how he works against the Warriors. He would outmuscle for rebounds and pull down a ton and could run the offense and take over a game but it's tougher with him in this era.

C - Alvan Adams was best in his rookie year where he averaged 19 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 5.6 apg, 1.5 spg and 1.5 bpg. He could do everything. He was multi dimensional, a smart player, kept the ball moving, and decently protect the rim. Again, Amare would play some C in certain Nash lineups, to spread the floor more, with shooters everywhere else, but when we needed more ball movement you could play him at 4 and Adams at 5 to find the shooters with his passing and protect the rim. Mark West was a great rim protector, peaking at 2.3 bpg, so when we needed that rim protector and Adams and Amare needed to rest, he would be useful.

There would be many variations of lineups, like Majerle playing 2 and Joe Johnson playing 3 for more size, and the others ones I mentioned regarding Marion and Amare but this team allows a ton of versatility, ball movement and decent defense, though since no one stops the Warriors your best bet is keeping up with them.

[8on]

Our bench would kill their bench, but our starters wouldn't. Your starters are basically the 04-05 Suns. I don't see them containing Kevin and Steph with Shawn and Steve. That's basically the ball game. Nope, I don't think the best Suns team ever could beat the Warriors.

[denial]

Raja in his prime plus Marion might make a great perimeter defense to help hide nash. Nash played good team d he just wasn't quick enough to guard 1 on 1.

Right now, after having watched the warriors recently, I feel like the Suns would lose.

But I think we forget just how clutch and great our team was. We were pretty hard to beat. And we were also a very potent jump shooting team (circa 96). I don't know

[Biff]

If we're rolling out all our best players I don't see how they wouldn't be able to beat the Warriors. Any time the Dubs sat Durant or Curry we'd go on a huge run. They'd be playing catch up all the time. Depth would be a major factor. I think we'd be best off playing Barkley and Amare at center and going small to match up better. We don't have good enough centers (like an Hakeem or Shaq) to take advantage of their lack of size. And if they played Pachulia, Nash would PNR him to death. And while our shooting wouldn't be as good, it'd be damn close with Nash, Bell, JJ and Majerle. Barkley is at least as good of a 3pt shooter as Green.

[DirtyDez]

I'd put as much pressure possible on their guards and try to kill them on the boards...

Starters:
07' Nash
91' KJ
06' Marion
93' Barkley
76' Adams

Bench:
82' DJ
05' JJ
09' Hill
70' Hawkins
87' Nance

[RaisingArizona]

The 92-93 Suns would.

[PackSuns]

The 92-93 Suns would.

I think you misspelled "Bulls".

[TASTIC]

Kidd
Raja
Marion
Barkley
Amare

Didn't do a bench...

[TOO]

The 92-93 Suns would.

I think you misspelled "Bulls".

The 92-93 Suns Bulls?

[Damkac]

Unless Curry, Durant, Klay and Green would play 40+ minutes I think all time Suns team would win.

[DirtyDez]

Marjerle and Chambers texted Gambo when they were talking about this on air and they said Golden St would smoke that 93' team.

[SideSwipe]

I think what is needed against the Warriors is exterior defense and interior offense. Take away their 3 pointers and passing, and focus on a deliberate inside game, which the Dubs don't have the size to match.

Kidd/Majerle/Marion/Stoudemire/Adams

Kidd on Klay; Majerle on Curry; Marion on Durant. It would force Green to be the scorer which he is not good at. McGee wouldn't have a chance against Adams and Stoudemire. Barkley is by far the better 4, but in a matchup against Green, I like Stoudemires over-the top play vs Barkley's shorter/ wider play. Green is too much like a taller version of Barkley body-wise.