Barbosa has consistently choked in the playoffs against the Spurs. Why go after a player that cannot produce against pressure? We need tough minded players.
I'm reposting this from another thread, but it definitely applies here. Sorry for the repost, but as much as I can't stand Shaq (he's lazy), I have to defend him and Mike D'Antoni here. D'Antoni made the right move leaving Shaq in. He put his butt on the line and took a gamble. And you know what? By doing so, he made a statement to the front office: 1.) If he was against the trade, he said, "This is who you've given me. This is who you traded Shawn Marion for. This is who you expect me to beat the Spurs with, so I'm going to use him come hell or high water in the exact situation you brought him in for. With your decision goes the team." 2.) If he was for the trade, he said, "I put my butt on the line to bring this guy here, and I'm going to play him. Whether I regret it or not, I'm going to play with the players I have and trust them when it count. I won't second-guess myself like that." Yeah, I can respect that.
<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/AgeFmmtFbnM"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AgeFmmtFbnM" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object> 99 Free Throws and you can't make one.
The thing about the Hack-A-Shaq is that it disrupts the flow of the game for the Suns. Instead of getting the ball to their play makers it causes a stoppage.
Well... Yeah. Hack-a-Shaq is a pox on the game. But it IS there as a viable strategy. I just don't think it made much of a difference in this series. I mean, no one's ever heard of Hack-a-Yao, but even Yao's FT% probably wouldn't have saved the Suns.
agree, its not all shaq's fault. Nash is bad on defense, that's a given, but Amare is just lazy or dumb on D.
Agreed, same with Barbosa. With their physical attributes they have the potential to be great defenders instead of sucky ones. Maybe they will always suck on defense, or maybe MDA has no idea how to teach defense. One way to find out. Couple of other things. I see no other good teams giving up as many layups as the Suns. Good teams committ hard fouls if you are beat, even if it is a decent FT shooter. Tim Duncan should never, ever, get a point blank shot. Tony Parker should never get an easy lap either. You can bet if Popovich has playing against his guys he would order his guys to put them on their butt and make them get up an convert 2 before giving up an easy bucket. Until team gets team toughness and team defense they will fail. Finally, Hack-a-Shaq really isn't a great strategy unless they are super hot. 50% conversion with little energy expended to get those shots and no chance for an opposing TO/fast break is not a winning clip. Now trying in on Ben Wallace (more like 40%)--that could be a sustainable strategy.
You do what you need to do to win. If you need to play a stretch w/o Shaq (and sometimes Phx is more effective without him, at least offensively) you do.
Nash being inept on defense allows penetration which starts havoc for the Suns. With Nash at the helm , the suns will never win a championship.
Look, let's face it: the Suns have set. They're never going to be that fun team again. The Suns are over as we've known them the past few years. I'll miss the 2005-2007 Suns. Heck, the 2005 Suns got me watching basketball again. I stopped watching after the pedorast bearhugged Clyde Drexler and the jazz hands went to the NBA Finals. It was a REGULAR SEASON Suns vs. Spurs game that got me watching again... And the Suns were then my favorite team to watch (I still was a bigger Rockets fan just by default). But they're over. They're gone. They're dead. And their future doesn't look pretty. It's really a damn shame. I'll miss you, Phoenix Suns!
Yes, because of course Jason Williams, 40 year Gary Payon, Kenny Smith, Sam Cassell, Steve Kerr and John Paxon were such stalwarts in keeping their man down. The Suns could get away with Nash being a sub-prime defender if they played better collective defense. Guys like Amare, Barbosa and Diaw--who have physical attributes to be excellent defenders--either need to be coached and willing to play better defense (fit in with a new philosphy), or they need to be traded. Those guys are all just 25/26, the Spurs only have a single rotation player under 30 yet they stay close to the top of the league every year.
