Suns simplifying defense, going back to last year's scheme

[rsavaj]

http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2010/ ... -set-fixes

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/ar ... ctice.html

Interesting...sounds like this season we really tried to take the next step and ramp up our defense by practicing new and more complex ways to defend(like MIA, BOS, etc.), but I guess we really, really suck at anything that involves read/react on the defensive end. So now we're back to what we did last season, which wasn't great, but it was a hell of a lot better than what we're doing now.

[JasonDaPsycho]

I don't know why but this piece of news gave me some optimism towards this season.

Still on the tank bandwagon though.

[teamsteven01]

i think we need to simplify our rotations..you know, trade a wing or 2

[Dalerax]

I'm optimistic, and I hope this helps the team, but I think one of the main problems is the constantly changing rotations. If our guys knew what to expect going into a game it'd be easier to prepare for. Like Channing recently said, at times they're running around like headless chickens.

And please play Childress. Even for a few minutes. Dude deserves some time and can actually defend. I get so happy when I see him grab an offensive rebound from out of nowhere; he's a scrappy player.

[Wannabe MEP]

I'm optimistic, and I hope this helps the team, but I think one of the main problems is the constantly changing rotations. If our guys knew what to expect going into a game it'd be easier to prepare for. Like Channing recently said, at times they're running around like headless chickens.

And please play Childress. Even for a few minutes. Dude deserves some time and can actually defend. I get so happy when I see him grab an offensive rebound from out of nowhere; he's a scrappy player.

yep, yep, and yep.

[Calvin Klein]

I don't know. It always seems like we just can't be bothered to try hard on defense.

It's like we go "Let's try and be a good, solid defensive team". Then we struggle so we go "Bah, **** that, let's just go back to being average".

Maybe we need to struggle to get it right....no?

Whatever...

[Sundamental]

This news is just another example of the piss poor job Gentry has done this year. It should not take thirty games to figure this out. Absolutely unbelievable they're this far into the season and they're still making major changes.

And to make matters worse, it looks like it was precipitated by a player coming in from a good defensive team and telling them how bad they really are. Does Van Gundy have any assistants we can make a trade for?

[BurningHeart]

This news is just another example of the piss poor job Gentry has done this year. It should not take thirty games to figure this out. Absolutely unbelievable they're this far into the season and they're still making major changes.

And to make matters worse, it looks like it was precipitated by a player coming in from a good defensive team and telling them how bad they really are. Does Van Gundy have any assistants we can make a trade for?

You ARE aware of all the changes that have happened to this roster in the last six months, right?

....great post Dalerax. Please post more. You seem to know what you're talking about, lol.

[Sundamental]

This news is just another example of the piss poor job Gentry has done this year. It should not take thirty games to figure this out. Absolutely unbelievable they're this far into the season and they're still making major changes.

And to make matters worse, it looks like it was precipitated by a player coming in from a good defensive team and telling them how bad they really are. Does Van Gundy have any assistants we can make a trade for?

You ARE aware of all the changes that have happened to this roster in the last six months, right?

....great post Dalerax. Please post more. You seem to know what you're talking about, lol.

I'm very aware of all the changes. I'm also aware that Gentry has been unable to come up with an effective strategy. Perhaps we wouldn't have had to make this last trade if he had been doing a better job. Hell, if we had just kept Lou we likely would have been more stable. And don't give me the "He's not the GM" bit. If he had wanted Lou, we'd have him. Instead, we use earl Barron. When are people going to wake up and realize the main problem with this team is Gentry?

[BurningHeart]

I wish we kept Lou as well. I said from the beginning that losing him would be devastating.

[hunterxaz]

I wish we kept Amar'e, Lou. Oh well, we were good defensively last year. We'll be good again this year.

[JohnVancouver]

I'm optimistic, and I hope this helps the team, but I think one of the main problems is the constantly changing rotations. If our guys knew what to expect going into a game it'd be easier to prepare for. Like Channing recently said, at times they're running around like headless chickens.

And please play Childress. Even for a few minutes. Dude deserves some time and can actually defend. I get so happy when I see him grab an offensive rebound from out of nowhere; he's a scrappy player.

yep, yep, and yep.

I would so much rather see Chills in there than Hakim

[Dalerax]

I would so much rather see Chills in there than Hakim

I have to agree. I understand that Warrick is a good PnR player, but aside from that there isn't much he brings to the table. He's a mediocre offensive player and a horrible defensive player on the worst defensive team.

Chill is capable of scoring, he's just had that splint on since the season began. Splint's off now, I think it's time to give him an opportunity. With more minutes he could give us a few buckets, a few putbacks, and most of all, more defense.

[Calvin Klein]

Chilly needs to be there at PF instead of Warrick. For sure.

[BobbieL]

I wish we kept Lou as well. I said from the beginning that losing him would be devastating.

I wish Sarver never thought he could be a GM and make a team of 15 small forwards and combining to pay a bunch of average players almost what he could have paid Amare, Lou and Brian Cook and been a helluva lot better.

But I do think the team will get better with three guys that can contribute in various ways rather then just Jrich scoring every now and again.

[Wannabe MEP]

I would so much rather see Chills in there than Hakim

I have to agree. I understand that Warrick is a good PnR player, but aside from that there isn't much he brings to the table. He's a mediocre offensive player and a horrible defensive player on the worst defensive team.

Chill is capable of scoring, he's just had that splint on since the season began. Splint's off now, I think it's time to give him an opportunity. With more minutes he could give us a few buckets, a few putbacks, and most of all, more defense.

Chill actually looked really good in the PnR a couple times. Seems incredibly unorthodox to play him as Amare-lite, but he's basically the same size as Diaw, and we played Diaw as the center.

[MarJJMar]

Childress is definetly not the same size as Diaw, he is far from it.

[Wannabe MEP]

Childress is definetly not the same size as Diaw, he is far from it.

Umm... basketball-reference.com has:
Diaw 6-8; 215
Childress 6-8; 210

Other sites have slight variations on those numbers, but it's certainly within an inch and a few pounds. Diaw was probably 5-10 pounds lighter during the 2005-2006 season. He has been criticized for extra fat--the extra pounds are not Dwight Howard-esque muscle.

[Wannabe MEP]

ok, nba.com has them both at 6-8, but with a bigger weight disparity. but again:
1) Extra belly fat on Diaw?
2) Diaw was lighter in 2005-2006.

[MarJJMar]

You must be high if you think Diaw is or was 6'8 215.

6'8-6'9 240 is closer to the truth and 6'8 210 is generous for Childress. 6'7 200lbs I'd guess is closer to the truth.