July 25th, 2008 – Dr. Browntorious
When most people think about the Phoenix Suns title chances, they figure their best chance may have passed them by. A lot of the Suns fans figure their best shot was the year they got ousted from the playoffs at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs. Um wait a minute, that’s seemingly every year. I’ve heard every excuse from ‘if Amare didn’t get suspended in Horry incident’ to ‘if Nash wasn’t force to leave that one game with a nose bleed’ to ‘if Tim Duncan didn’t hit that three’. Well in fact if’s, and’s, and but’s are useless at the end of the season as there can be only one champion and nothing is going to rewrite history.
Personally I feel that all of the playoff heartbreak the Suns fans have had to endure over the last few years has been leading up to something great that is yet to come. The window of opportunity is closing on them fast, but I strongly believe that 2008-2009 could be the Phoenix Suns best chance yet at winning it all. The stars seem to be aligned: the youth has developed, the Usual Suspects are back, and the veterans have the know how and desire to succeed. Here are a few reasons why I think the Suns may be the most dangerous team in the NBA next season:
Amare hungry for MVP
Stoudemire is one of those guys that wants to be the absolute best and will not stop until he has been declared just that. Fortunately for the Suns he is also the type of person that absolutely hates to lose. While he was dogged by allegations early in his career that he was selfish, Amare over the past few years has clearly put those to rest. He has played well within the team, and at the very same time emerged as one of the most exciting and dangerous offensive weapons the league has ever seen. By the end of last season the only knock on Amare was his inability to successfully guard many of the premiere centers and post players in the league. Amare Stoudemire certainly got the memo on that one after the clinic Tim Duncan put on him when Shaq was forced to the bench with foul trouble. If this summer is anything like the past few, Amare is undoubtedly working his ass off to improve the one biggest weakness in his game. What is that weakness? Defense.
Stoudemire already has the speed, strength and overall athleticism to guard virtually any forward or center in the league if he puts his mind to it. That’s exactly the point; so far he hasn’t put his mind to it. What Amare needs to do is get as motivated about defense as he is about scoring the ball on offense. He has to study his opponent’s tendencies and moves and become an expert in defensive footwork, angles, and rebounding. Can he do it? I wouldn’t expect anything less from this guy. Amare Stoudemire is my early candidate for the 2009 NBA Most Valuable Player Award.
Suns sign Matt Barnes
At the end of last season the two biggest weaknesses the Suns had to fill were finding a good wingman that was young, athletic, and could play ‘D’, and finding Steve Nash a solid back-up point guard so he doesn’t burn himself out come playoff time. Well the Suns can check off box number one with the signing of free agent Matt Barnes from the Golden State Warriors. This guy possesses a unique combination of speed and strength for a wingman, he is a great defender who has a nose for coming up with big rebounds, and he can shoot the three ball which will mesh quite nicely with Nash and Diaw’s style of play. Barnes also proved in the 2007 playoff upset of the Dallas Mavericks by the 8th seeded Golden State Warriors that he doesn’t shy away from taking big shots, and can be counted on to knock down big shots in big moments (something that plagued the Suns in this year’s first round knock-out against the defending champion Spurs).
Shaq with diesel left in tank
For the past two years people have been discussing the decline in Shaquille O’Neal’s statistical performance. Regardless of his scoring decline, Shaq did exactly what he was brought in to do with the Phoenix Suns, rebound and stop Tim Duncan. Unfortunately for the Suns it wasn’t enough last year. In the playoffs against the Spurs, Shaq averaged 10 rebounds and over 2 blocks per game, and aside from his foul trouble was fairly effective at keeping Tim Duncan under wraps. Unfortunately every time Shaq took a rest or was in foul trouble Duncan would light up the undersized Suns like a kid in the candy store. If Amare can improve his post defense against guys like Duncan heading into this season it could be a very different story for the Suns.
Another factor to consider is that Shaq and his teammates did not have a training camp and full season to learn the Suns system and figure out how to best utilize his size. My feeling is that after a summer to rejuvenate and a solid training camp with teammates and new coach Terry Porter, Shaq may just have a little more pep in his step. Shaq is a man with a lot of pride, and he will most likely be looking to solidify his reputation as one of the greatest centers to ever play in the NBA by adding another ring to his collection.
The leagues best offense may be able to play some ‘D’ in 2009
The acquisition of Matt Barnes changes a lot of things defensively for the Phoenix Suns. Having a long athletic wing player like Barnes who can defend will allow the Suns to go to a solid defensive lineup in stretches that would further mask the defensive weaknesses of Steve Nash in guarding opposing point guards off the bounce. But more importantly the development of DJ Strawberry as showcased in recent summer league action would even allow the Suns to play in stretches with a defensive line-up of Strawberry or Tucker, Raja Bell, Matt Barnes, Amare Stoudemire, and Shaquille O’Neal. This could be just the formula the Suns need to shake their reputation of having an offense first, defensive last philosophy. The Suns still have loads of offensive weapons with Leandro Barbosa, Boris Diaw, Grant Hill, Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire, but they certainly have enough good defensive players in their rotation for this coming year to be considered very legitimate contenders.
Another factor signaling the shift in philosophy to play a more offensive/defensive balanced approach was the coaching change that had Mike D’Antoni walking and brought in defensive minded Terry Porter (previously of the Pistons, Bucks, and Kings). Porter is an old-school guy like Kerr, and is sure to get better defensive productivity out of the Suns than Mike D’Antoni could.
Barbosa and Diaw are still here and ready to roll
There was a lot of chatter at the end of the season that the Suns may be considering breaking up the core of their team and putting Barbosa or Diaw on the trading block. Fortunately for Suns fans this never came to fruition and the versatile Diaw and lightning quick Barbosa will be back with the Suns next season. With a rotation of Shaq, Amare, Nash, Bell, Hill, Barnes, Barbosa, Diaw, Tucker, Strawberry, and possibly even Lopez the Phoenix Suns could be one of the deepest teams in the Western Conference this year.
Tucker and Strawberry ready for increased role in rotation
If the work ethic displayed by DJ Strawberry and Alando Tucker in the NBA Las Vegas Summer League were any indication of their development coming into this season they will undoubtedly be given more consistent minutes and possibly a spot in the regular rotation. While both players are known for their athleticism and looked at as potential defensive specialists, they can both score the ball with ease and have developed into solid jump shooters. On the final night of summer league the duo combined for 45 points; with Tucker finishing fourth in the summer league in scoring with 21.6 ppg.
