At halftime, Suns look good

[FArting]

Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 21, 2008 10:25 PM
The Suns make the turn for the season's second half feeling half full on their standing atop the Western Conference.

A season half full

The Suns begin the season's second half tonight in Milwaukee with a "half-full" view of how the first 41 games left them with the best record (29-12) in the Western Conference. Here's a semester synopsis. How's the road ahead?

After the end of a four-game road trip that starts today, the Suns will play 22 of their final 37 games at home. Phoenix again has proved to be a good road team, but the toughest road ahead lies in whom the Suns play. Most of the remaining games are against the Western Conference's 10 winning teams, including three each with San Antonio, Denver, Golden State and Portland. Phoenix is 5-8 against winning Western teams but 6-0 vs. winning Eastern teams. The Suns still have all four games with Boston and Detroit after the All-Star break.
Do they add a tad or be glad?

The Suns have pledged to not move a core player but could add a role player. The two top candidates seem unlikely. The Memphis Commercial-Appeal reported that guard Damon Stoudamire, amid buyout talks with the Grizzlies, wants to sign with Boston. Free agent big man P.J. Brown has shown no inclination to leave retirement and might be in no shape to do so with the Suns at this stage. Regardless, Phoenix feels it is a better team with Grant Hill and Brian Skinner than it was a year ago with James Jones and Kurt Thomas.

Are they tough enough?

Phoenix hopes its four-game run of holding opponents to fewer than 100 points bodes well, but questions will persist about the Suns' ability to dig in defensively and on the boards. The Suns opponents' 45.5 field-goal percentage is virtually the same as last season's 45.7 but Phoenix's rebounding has worsened. The difference has come because of the league-worst 14 offensive rebounds Phoenix yields per game. Dallas and San Antonio don't rank in the top 10 for opponent field-goal percentage either but are among the top 10 rebounding teams. As much as Amaré Stoudemire's defensive fundamentals and energy need to be solid, the Suns also need their 6-foot-10 center to get into the league's top 20 for rebounding.

Are they on the same page?

Other teams seem to enjoy each other more but the Suns are not clashing like plaids and stripes. There can be too much bickering on the court and bench. Some individual-minded issues fester. Yet, each Suns player aims to maintain professionalism and harmony. The unifying effect of a stretch run and playoffs should help. Steve Nash keeps the peace by finding a scoring balance better than anyone.

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/0121sunsbox.html

 

[jandaman]

The key now is to preserve the veterans until the Playoffs.

Nash
Hill
Bell


They need to get rest for the playoffs.

In blow outs, I would sit Nash Hill and Bell the last quarter, and if the team must slow down to accomodate feeding Stoudemire more then they should. D'Antoni is stubborn when it comes to the tempo, but he really needs to conserve some mileage for the 3 above. They are not young anymore.


I was hoping the rookies, Banks and Marks would get plenty of playing time early, but the tight race in the West, not to mention Pacific alone, in combination with Suns losing some games they should of won and some games against rival teams they usually beat... well I can understand why D'Antoni limited the playing time for the above players.

But second half, if he must go to Stoudemire more in a half court set for offense, then D'Antoni should do it as it will benefit the Suns in their playoff run.

 

[nowagimp]

the west looks tough, though the lakers seem to have been snake bitten again. the spurs also dont look so good. They have lost 7 in a row to teams with winning records, its a bit of a story in San Antonio, fans are getting antsy. The spurs will be there, but they just dont seem like the same team of the past few years. Their defense isnt that good this year, it seems the activity is down. Horry, Barry and Bowen are older than most NBA players, but I suspect Pops will limit their minutes so they are ready for the playoffs. The suns clearly havent peaked, hill is getting some rest, and Diaw shows signs of emerging from his cocoon. Skinner is still getting used to the system and looks good playing along side amare for stretches. We shall see, this is probably DA's last chance to win. If the suns abandon the DA system, Nash wont be as valuable anyway, so might as well try one more time and hope everyone is healthy.

 

[CaptainInsano]

Spurs looked like crap the entire first half of last year, and were being called too old then.

Look what happened there.

The spurs will bring it come playoff time, so don't get your hopes up that they are too old or are going to be even a slight pushover.

Teams peak and slouch at different times, for some reason SA peaked early this season but that is only their secondary peak IMO.

Oh, and the lakers (if healthy) are going to be tough to handle come playoff time whether people want to believe it or not.

 

[nowagimp]

Spurs looked like crap the entire first half of last year, and were being called too old then.

Look what happened there.

The spurs will bring it come playoff time, so don't get your hopes up that they are too old or are going to be even a slight pushover.

Teams peak and slouch at different times, for some reason SA peaked early this season but that is only their secondary peak IMO.

Oh, and the lakers (if healthy) are going to be tough to handle come playoff time whether people want to believe it or not.

Where the spurs look different this year is on defense, where they have the same FG% against as the suns. That didnt happen in any year recently. Sure they will be there, but their problems are not in offensive execution, its their defense that has been below par. Also lets be serious, they still won 60 games last year, that doesnt look so likely this year. They are the oldest champions in the history of the NBA(rotation players), that cant last forever and defense goes first with age.

 

[CaptainInsano]

Where the spurs look different this year is on defense, where they have the same FG% against as the suns. That didnt happen in any year recently. Sure they will be there, but their problems are not in offensive execution, its their defense that has been below par. Also lets be serious, they still won 60 games last year, that doesnt look so likely this year. They are the oldest champions in the history of the NBA(rotation players), that cant last forever and defense goes first with age.

I really REALLY hope you are right, but I refuse to get my hopes up because I did that last year and was quite shocked when the spurs went 20-2 close to the end of the season.

We will see, please let me be wrong.

 

[nowagimp]

I really REALLY hope you are right, but I refuse to get my hopes up because I did that last year and was quite shocked when the spurs went 20-2 close to the end of the season.

We will see, please let me be wrong.

I am more worried about a healthy clicking Lakers, Hornets, or Mavs team after watching the cavaliers get 15 offensive rebounds in beating the spurs at home a few nights back. The spurs big 3 all scored well, but the oboards they gave up killed them. They even had obviously favorable officiating at home(non calls on defense were just incredible), but 15 offensive boards, sounds like the suns. The cavs outrebounded the spurs by 5. The spurs then went out and lost to the rockets, who shot 38% FG's(!!) but grabbed 16 oboards to make up for the poor shooting. The rockets outrebounded the spurs by 4 in that game.

This spurs team just looks different, I cant recall a time in recent memory that the spurs were sub .500 for a month and a half. They are 9-10 since december 11 and have beaten one team with a record better than .500 in that time. I dont have hope, just my concerns for the suns are about other teams that make the west very competitive this year.