I disagree. To evaluate MDA you have to look at 05, 06 & 08 (the last 3 years with Amare). They have the best combined regular season record over those years, and not even 1 finals appearence to show for it. This year's team (with Marion) was a worse version of that team--it wasn't going anywhere. MDA's team really only overachieved the year without Amare, in the end how he was leading them just wasn't going to cut it. Avery Johnson on the other hand at least was only a play away from a ring. He did get his team to the NBA finals. He did get his team playing defense. I actually think he might not be a bad pick for Phx if they can't JVG or Carlise or someone like that. I think Avery J's weakness is he is a little panicy and that reinforces the leadership problems on the Mavs--that would be less of an issue with Nash there and a team already with an offensive identity. AJ he does try to use his bench and overall has a sounder approach to winning playoff basketball games than MDA. On Phx Amare, Diaw and Barbosa are all 25-26. I do think the guys above minutes need to be cut down (and assuming Hill comes back, he has an option). Now look at SA, who only has 1 rotation player under 30, Parker. But what SA does is be much more strategic in Duncan and (even moreso) Manu's PT, and uses the bench even though of course there is a short team drop off. Phx needs to do the same an bring down Nash's, Bell's, Shaq's, and Hill's (if he returns) minutes. Personally, though, I think Phx should move Barbosa or Diaw + maybe their 15 pick from Atl and add a defender who can also spread the floor with his shooting. Basically look for a Battier II. Another thought I had was something like try to acquire Arenas (Diaw and Barbosa and pick) and have him play off guard when Nash is in and a PG when Nash is out. Add a player like that (and we say last in Boston players do move) and a coach who believes in using a bench and playing a little defense--they could be in the mix next year. But right certainly a starting lineup of Nash, Bell, Hill, Amare and Shaq won't cut it. Too long in the tooth in the swingmen positions (and Hill doesn't have the J range) and IMO too much pressure on Nash. That is unless Barbosa can return in 2007 form and be coached to better utlize his talents and play some defense.
You dont even need to take Grant Hill's age into consideration. Just bring up the word "injured". Grant Hill makes Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming look like Iron Men, and Karl Malone as god.
Your line of reasoning doesn't make sense. We all know that Karl Malone rarely missed a game, but how does that factoid fit into you third sentence?
Big mistakes were made by Suns Management and their head Coach. Bringing Shaq into Phoenix caused the following problems:- The success of the D'Antoni Suns was the fast paced game. The success of the Steve Nash led Phoenix Suns was the fast paced game with several great three point shooters. Loosing Marrion was removing the glue that held the faced paced game together, he did all the other things well. Amare Studemire has been nothing but trouble in and out of the locker room which caused Joe Johnston to losse interest and also Marion was haunted by Amare. The only player to benifit from bringing Shaq to Phoenix is Amare Studemire. Steve Nash is a much lesser Playmaking and Scoring Point Guard when having to play the slow down half court game to accommodate Shaq. So with Shaq the team is limited and with a player like Amare they won't be able to keep another star player very long as they will be asking for a trade once they get the same pressure demands of Amare in the Locker room.
Yetti, the Suns had better chemistry with Shaq than with Marion. They also starting rebounding much better, and they could play better defense against post players. This team was going nowhere with Marion, better versions of the run and gun team lost in 2007 & 2005. While Shaq didn't fix the defensive problems, let not pretend they were playing good defense with an undersized Marion at the 4, and they were getting killed on the board on top. They need to retool philosophy first. They need to preach toughness and defense, and using a bench to lesson the burden on an older core group the way Popovich conserves his aged group. Maybe a player or two change for fit as well (trade Diaw or Barbosa (+ maybe pick) for get someone like Gorden, Hinrich, Deng, Arenas). Clearly Nash cannot maintain his former pace, they need another outside creater and ball handler to lesson his burden. Barbosa regressing this year hurt them big.
MDA and Nash are overrated. MDA never thought about coaching defense. Nash is not successful in the half court. The suns with or with marion were not going anywhere. If they couldnt do it in 05 they arent gonna do it now. Avery will succeed somewhere else....book it.
Suns grant D'Antoni permission to speak with other teams http://www.ktar.com/sports/?nid=21&sid=827069&r=1
So it's really over now. The pressure on the Suns next season will be enormous. If they don't hire a good coach to replace D'Antoni and if they take a clear step backwards next season (which seems likely), Suns fans will want to tar and feather Sarver and Kerr. Sarver's #1 mistake was running off Bryan Colangelo. Suns fans should never forgive him for that.
2 things: - Kerr destroys the run n gun Suns in 1 season. Good work by a GM. Let's say the Suns wont contend for the next few years. - How will D'Antoni's run n gun style do w/o Nash? I think Nash and D'Antoni really found each other. A perfect match. There is no Nash out there in Chicago or NY. Chicago has Kirk Hinrich, NY has Starbury - D'Antoni's old PG. Good luck to run n gun with these 2.
I think the people saying Kerr destroyed the team didn't watch them that much. The team wasn't playing as well as it had in previous years. The run and gun was relying on the athleticism of the players. As they got older, it got worse. They were torched on defense and couldn't go full out anymore like that had previously. Marion was a good player, but he wanted out and had no problem moaning and groaning about it. He'd be gone the next year anyway most likely. They were getting beat on the boards and were pathetic in the paint defensively. The Shaq trade looked horrible at first, but as they began to gel, they played with much better chemistry and he really shored up the defense and rebounding. No, they weren't good at defense now, but that stems from having all but one player on your roster either being too old, too slow, too lazy, or just not talented enough on defense to slow down an opponent. The Shaq trade was not stupid imo. He was not the downfall of the Suns. The downfall of the Suns was that they lost their athleticism and lost shooters. Grant Hill wasn't a good fit at all. Diaw falling off of the level he showed to get that contract hurt them badly.
Steve nash took his team to western conference finals 2 times. He did it once without Amare. If you think nash is overrated what do you think of tmac and kg who don't get out of the 1st round.
the talent that surrounds nash is more than tmac and kg(minnesota). check out tony parker's career high playoff numbers...what team do they come against?
If..............Dantoni goes to Chicago, they will trade for Nash or T.J. Ford. They'll find them an engine. I don't think he goes there. I think the logical next step is for BC to get rid of Mitchell and bring in his coach.
100% spot on. And whether it was Colangelo or another, they made a huge mistake going into 06. Think if they would not have traded Joe Johnson (who was a perfect fit--shoots the rock, good handles to lesson the burden for Nash, smart BB IQ, pretty good wing defender) and rather sent Marion packing when he had great value. The mistake was made then to build the team around Nash, Amare and Marion instead of Nash, Amare and Johnson. Last I checked Parker ended up playoff MVP in no small part for his play against Utah and Cleveland as well. Last I checked a bunch of folks (Tim Thomas, Richardson) should give back abut 50% of their career earnings to Nash. You do remember the rag tag group with no significant player over 6'9" that he lead to the WCF? That is the equivalent of an athletically overmatched team like Princeton getting to the Final Four.
Because he's a jerk of an owner who wanted to assert himself after he bought the team. When did the downfall of the Suns start? When Joe Johnson asked for 5yrs/$50MM and Sarver ignorantly offered no more than 5yrs/$45MM. JJ was their most versatile player (yes, more than Marion) and he would take over distributing when Nash was on the bench. When JJ left, so did some of their clutchness and toughness. IMO, that one move right there cost them a championship or two. As we all know, it worked out very well for JJ. Think about it: The Suns could have locked up a max-level player for 5yrs/$50MM. They would have had JJ instead of blowing a huge mountain of money on Boris Diaw, who only shows up to play hard about 15 games per season.
