| The Indianapolis Colts Of The NBA? Authored by Dennis Silva - November 1, 2006 - 1:22 am
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After all, past NBA champs – Miami, San Antonio, Detroit – won because they could control offensive tempo with interior post scorers who command attention and, therefore, open up lanes for other players.
More importantly, however, those teams could play defense. And whether some might feel that the Suns have made immense strides on that end of the floor – and they have – they still do not play championship defense.
The Suns are what they are. They’re a team of athletic, sharp-shooting wings who can rebound some but are allergic to scoring in the paint. They’re a team led by a mercurial 2-time MVP who hits half of his shots from the floor and makes players around him better than what they are.
They’re nothing else, though. They can’t score inside. They don’t defend very well. They have little depth, despite adding free agent guard Marcus Banks and forward Jumaine Jones, who’s essentially a larger clone of guard James Jones.
They’re undersized, fragile and can be taken advantage of in so many areas of the game, something that cannot be said for San Antonio, Dallas, Detroit, Chicago or Cleveland.
While it’s unwise to judge just by mere numbers, they can’t be ignored. Over the past three seasons, Suns’ opponents have averaged 97.9, 103.3 and 102.8 points per contest, respectively. Phoenix has never been ranked higher than 26th in the league in opponents’ points per contest.
But those numbers are somewhat inflated due to the team’s style of play. So let’s take a look at defensive stats that do matter, such as the fact that Suns’ opponents have shot no worse than 44.4-percent from the floor during the past two seasons. Nor do they rebound, having been out-hustled on the boards by averages of –3.1, -2.0, and +0.1 over the past three years.
Phoenix is an exciting team to watch. TNT and ESPN will happily show you ratings as proof. But they’re a team set for success in the regular season. Defense and rebounding will always prevail in the playoffs, particularly the final two rounds. A team might get lucky in the first round – and if its truly blessed, in the second round – but you can’t argue with a recipe that has defined NBA champions for decades. Defense wins championships. Phoenix’s perimeter players can play with anyone in the league. But its frontcourt – especially with the uncertainty surrounding Amare Stoudemire – leaves much to be desired.
So, instead of pursuing marksman like Eric Piatkowski and Jones in the offseason, the Suns should have addressed their biggest need and gone after height and defensive intensity in the frontcourt. Or, perhaps, the Suns are quite content where they are, with the nice revenue and marketing they receive from a league so desperate on changing its identity.
Perhaps, they’re just fine as the Indianapolis Colts of the NBA. |
