Suns style catching on?

elindholm · February 4th, 2005, 04:10 PM

Boston 39, Orlando 38 at the end of the first quarter.

arthurracoon · February 4th, 2005, 04:31 PM

Both these teams play up tempo basketball.

Joe Mama · February 4th, 2005, 08:22 PM

I'm not sure what the count is right now, but for most of the season Orlando has actually been the league leader in fast-break baskets. I think the style is catching on though.

Joe Mama

George O'Brien · February 4th, 2005, 10:38 PM

I suspect that there will be several teams try to run, but they will run into the usual problem - it takes a really good point guard to run.

Nash is very unual in that he is a pass first first point guard who is a major scoring threat. Most are either one or the other. A good pass first guard who can't shoot such as Kidd needs a very good supporting group to make up for being a liability in the half court. Most shoot first guys seem to lack the vision to get others involved.

It may take a while before the colleges start training real point guards. Right now most college coaches prefer guys who can shoot threes.

Gaddabout · February 5th, 2005, 01:10 AM

Running is only part of the story for the Suns. Having a PG/C combo like Nash and Stoudemire means they can score in a halfset, too. Nobody has as much talent in the starting 5, and nobody can match the total offensive fire power of that group.

I don't think running is as much the story as the juevos D'Antoni showed in going without a true center, using Marion at the 4 and thumbing his nose at long-held basketball convention.

Joe Mama · February 5th, 2005, 04:39 AM

BTW I've done my fair share of complaining about Amare Stoudemire's rebounding. Certainly it is something he needs to spend a lot of time on next summer (it would be great if he would do it before then). However one thing I've come to realize lately is that part of the reason he has such a mediocre rebounding numbers is that much of the time he is halfway down the court by the time the defensive rebound is secured. In fact part of D'Antoni's strategy is to have his players make sure they are back on defense. Oftentimes Amare is running back on defense before the other team secures the rebounds.

I'm not sure if this is a good thing, bad thing, or just another excuse for his rebounding numbers. I'm just reporting what I've observed.

Joe Mama

George O'Brien · February 5th, 2005, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Mama

BTW I've done my fair share of complaining about Amare Stoudemire's rebounding. Certainly it is something he needs to spend a lot of time on next summer (it would be great if he would do it before then). However one thing I've come to realize lately is that part of the reason he has such a mediocre rebounding numbers is that much of the time he is halfway down the court by the time the defensive rebound is secured. In fact part of D'Antoni's strategy is to have his players make sure they are back on defense. Oftentimes Amare is running back on defense before the other team secures the rebounds.

I'm not sure if this is a good thing, bad thing, or just another excuse for his rebounding numbers. I'm just reporting what I've observed.

Joe Mama

I think that's true. The Suns don't really crash the boards even against teams that rarely run. My guess is that are as good as any team on the offensive glass in late game situations when every posession counts.

I think the real problem with the defensive rebounding is that opponents tend to spread the floor against the Suns which pulls Amare away from the basket. It is very hard to block out when you are fifteen feet from the basket. That being said, I think the Suns players need to be more focused on getting into position after the ball is shot, rather than standing around waiting to see where the ball is going.