The Phoenix Suns get back to work: 2007-08 outlook
October 2, 2007 by Mike Olbinski
I wrote a long season preview yesterday in anticipation of training camp starting down in Tucson today. It was full of hope, full of excitement, full of good things about the growth of players on the team and their chances for a title. I was pretty pumped with what I saw in our potential and wanted to share it.
A day later and that bright outlook is suddenly a lot dimmer. It goes to show you really have no idea what is going on with a team.
With camp starting today, you have to wonder what Steve Nash is thinking and feeling. All this guy wants to do is win an NBA championship and that chance was stolen from him last year in the scandal-filled playoff matchup against the Spurs. That’s okay, he’ll get another chance this season.
But with the sudden storm clouds forming around Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion, Nash must be worried. I would be…
If you saw the video of the media interviewing Shawn Marion yesterday, it was worrisome. Dan Bickley wrote in his blog that when Marion was asked about the importance of winning a title, this was his response:
“It’s very important,” Marion said. “But at the same time, I have other things to look forward to, too.”
I have to steal the line from Bickley’s article. “Ugh.”
What else can you say to that? Marion offered to explanation or any reason to think or feel this “trade demand” situation is over or reconciled. By all accounts, it looks like he’s going into camp feeling the exact same way as he was last week. And that’s can resonate well with Nash or his teammates. Or Mike D’Antoni.
Mess with chemistry and your team can suffer big time. Of course, if anyone can overcome this Marion issue, I would reckon it’s D’Antoni and Nash.
As far as Amare goes, his surgery reportedly was a success and he’ll only be out 2-3 weeks. I wrote a bit about Paul Coro’s article on Stoudemire’s right knee and how it’s continued to have issues, yet he played fine on it last year.
What can we expect from him this year? I would venture to say it’s anyone’s guess. He could once again go an entire season without missing a game, or his knee could keep acting up. Needless to say, this will worry fans all season. Hopefully the knee is a non-issue and he continues to be a huge force for the Suns.
What’s the outlook for the season? I wanted to do a big preview for the team, but I have a hard time getting into the details of all that. Besides, there are people with more access who can do much better. And the Marion and Amare issues make it somewhat cloudy.
But I will tell you what I think assuming Stoudemire stays healthy and Marion plays hard despite possibly wanting to leave.
A lot of fans went nuts over losing Kurt Thomas this offeseason. I still say that Thomas will not be the reason we win or lost in the playoffs. His defense was amazing on Tim Duncan, but Duncan still scored his points regardless and we lost. All we essentially needed was someone who could play one-on-one defense with him and stop him on occasion.
What we really lacked was a third scoring option. Marion cannot be that. Barbosa isn’t ready for that, especially against the Spurs. Boris Diaw could possibly do that this year with the reported weight loss and improved conditioning, but I still don’t see it.
No, I think the key ingredient this year is Grant Hill.
I am wary about pinning hopes on an oft-injured guy, but he’s been pretty healthy lately. And he’s joining one of the best NBA franchise at keeping their players on the court. Of course, that article came out a day before Amare’s surgery. Bit I digress.
I suspect a few things will happen this year that will be huge:
- Amare Stoudemire will get better defensively.
- Boris Diaw will be much improved
- Grant Hill will be a huge factor
- Leandro Barbosa will be a better point guard
- D.J. Stawberry will be a great boost off the bench
Ever since Joe Johnson left, we’ve been missing that third scorer. Even last year, people on the forums posed the question “What if we had Joe still and not Diaw?”
That question lingered with me. It was obvious last year that a Johnson-type player would have been huge for us. Defensively and offensively. When it comes down to a slow-down playoff game, Nash and Amare can only do so much. Marion should be that third option, but he can’t score on his own.
So enter Grant Hill. Is he Joe Johnson? Maybe not defensively, but he’s LIKE a Joe Johnson. He can shoot, pass and create his own shot. Granted, his three-point shooting leaves a bit to be desired, but the 48.2% career field goal percentage is nice to have. Last year he shot 51% from the field.
Not to mention he played in 65 games during 2006-07 and averaged 30+ minutes in each. The year before he was over 34 minutes.
The loss of a big man in Thomas could be glaring if Hill isn’t around come playoff time. But if he is healthy, I feel this is a better team than last year and one that will make a serious run.
You have to take into account improvement from our young players. Stoudemire in particular. He has such potential to grow and you know he’ll be better barring health issues. If he can find a defensive mindset to go with his offensive barrage of tools, we’ll automatically be better than last year.
Then you throw in a third scoring option in Grant Hill and you have yourself a solid, successful team.
Only two things can get in the way:
Marion’s ego and Amare’s knees.
———
What do you guys think? How will the Suns do this year? Are you worried about Marion and Amare?
Posted in amare stoudemire, shawn marion, steve nash, nba, basketball, phoenix suns
subscribe to our full feed!
Loading ...
content rss
I think this will be THE year. I am always very positive when the new season starts, but frankly I think all other contenders have bigger question marks than the Suns. The rookies and Grant Hill should allow coach D’Antoni to have a deeper rotation and have everyone ready for the playoffs. Go Suns!
[…] hope Strawberry continues to play well, since I wrote about him in my season preview being a factor this […]
What an interesting article. I can say that what other teams don’t match the Spurs in, is the ability to battle for points down low. Other than the Rockets with Yao, I can’t really see any team fight for those types of points and thus,they settle for jump shots. Duncan, even with his slightly pedestrian athletecism, can use his fundament brilliance to get off shots down low. It’s something KG, Dirk, and even Amare lacks on a nitty-gritty basis. Sure if it’s easy Amare will dunk on anyone, but put 2 defenders in his grill, will he be able to battle like that all game long? That’s what remains to be determined. If he cannot, the Spurs will walk away from America West yet again, victorious.
The problem is, you double-team Amare and now with Nash and Grant Hill, you’ll run into problems.
Before Hill, no one cared about Marion or Diaw, because they just weren’t scoring, or can’t score.
But that’s the deal, you just don’t double team Amare. Whether he averages over 30 or not, the Spurs mantra of disciplined defense limited the other options. Hill does provide a triple-threat type of player and that makes him dangerous but how well will that blend with the veteran’s in D’Antoni’s offense? Leandro will still need touches, so will Nash, so will Amare’, so will Boris…Skinner won’t need as many(we all now he can’t shoot as well as Kurt Thomas, so again, will Hill fill that bill?
Bowen has his defensive credentials punched in and has done a solid job of keeping Marion and Diaw from contributing, add Bowen understudy, Ime Udoka, and it would seem that the Spurs still have the upper hand.
I think Hill will blend in nicely…he’s a veteran, afterall, just like you said.
I still think the Spurs are getting old and their time is up. Amare will be better this year, and while Duncan is awesome, I still think that matchup is close enough to go either way.
The difference between Duncan and Amare or for that matter any other bigman not named Duncan is that no one else has that great an effect on BOTH sides of the court. Duncan is 1st Team ALL-NBA and also ALL-NBA D. For the D team, he has been on that list the entire career and for 1st team ALL-NBA he has been 1st team 9-10 seasons.
While Amare’ could certainly be better, that better has yet to exceed Duncan’s best. And unlike Amare’, Duncan isn’t coming off of any type of surgical procedure and had a whole summer to rest. I anticipate a great matchup between both team’s and see Phoenix as a strong contender but feel that as long as San Antonio plays their brand of efficient basketball, that no team can beat them 4 out of 7 times.