| Sizing Up The Suns.. Where Is It? Authored by Brent Diggins - July 24, 2007 - 6:14 pm
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The Size Situation
Let’s get the facts down on paper first. As of now the Suns have Amare Stoudemire at 6-10 and Sean Marks at 6-10 as their bigs. Stoudemire will have to start every single night at center. So what about the PF and SF to fill out the front line? In my estimation the 6-8 Boris Diaw will be the starting PF and the 6-7 Shawn Marion will be the starting SF.
After that, the Suns roster is filled with a bunch of players that fall in the 6-5 to 6-7 area including Raja Bell (6-5), Grant Hill (6-8), Eric Piatkowski (6-7) and rookies Alando Tucker (6-6) and D.J. Strawberry (6-5).
Smaller players include Steve Nash (6-3), Leandro Barbosa (6-3) and Marcus Banks (6-2).
Outside of the height, the only player on the Suns to crack 250 pounds is Sean Marks.
Are the Suns Running Scared?
Clearly the Suns are one of the smallest teams not only in the West, but in the entire NBA. They are sleek, agile and can get up and down the floor faster than any team in the league. The Suns are, flat out, sexy and exciting to watch, but are they putting all their eggs in one basket?
With the Spurs, Dallas, Utah, Denver and Houston possessing bigger front lines, not only in height, but in weight, the Suns management has clearly come to the conclusion that if they are going to beat teams they are going to do it their way, by running.
Maybe the Suns decided this out of choice, out of lack of choice or because they feel the only way they can beat teams is by outrunning them. No matter why, we have to wonder will it work?
Why Running Suns Will Work
Over the past three years the Suns have run more than Forrest Gump, and during those years they have posted regular season win totals of 61 (04-05), 54 (05-06) and 62 (06-07). They clearly can beat any team put in front of them.
Compared to the aforementioned years, this Suns team is even quicker and smaller with a starting line-up of Nash, Bell, Marion, Diaw and Stoudemire and key bench players in Barbosa, Hill, Banks, Tucker and Strawberry.
No other team will be able to match up quickness and speed, except for perhaps the Warriors and Hornets, and players like Yao, Duncan, Dirk, Nene and even Boozer and Brand will have to take oxygen frequently.
With the addition of Tucker and even Strawberry, who I actually like, the Suns defense on the wings becomes even more tenacious. It will be extremely important, if not vital, for the Suns to get their long arms and quick hands in the passing lanes to force turnovers so they can execute their fast breaks.
If they do force the turnovers and get out on the break, they will have easy options with all the finishers on the team. Expect the Suns point total be at or over their 110 ppg average of last year, and expect their point differential (7.30) to increase. The teams that will be able to keep up them or can control the tempo will, and those who can’t will be blown out by 25.
With this arsenal of firepower, quickness and skill the Suns should have no fewer than 55 regular season wins and will be a contender yet again.
Why Running Suns Won’t Work
So why won’t the Suns running more (with a downsizing) work? As mentioned above it should get them 55 plus regular season wins…unless…there are injuries. Just one injury to one of the key bigs would spell doom. If Amare or Diaw go down, something they’ve both done in the past, what will the Suns do? They will get owned in the paint by the very talented bigs of the West. Big guys getting easy points in the paint dooms any hopes of the fast break.
Outside of injury, a few other factors will play big into the Suns’ success. First, Amare and Diaw are foul prone so Suns’ fans better get used to Sean Marks. Having Marks on the floor not only slows the fast break, but the talent drop off is tremendous.
Another major concern is that with running there is more fatigue. Every Suns’ fan knows that Nash, and a lot of the other guys, wore down in the playoffs last year. If they are running more throughout the season, it will take a toll on their bodies. With no back-ups for Amare or Diaw, those two will wear down even more, and Diaw isn’t in the best shape to begin with anyways and Amare is playing a lot this off-season.
Finally, the biggest concern has to just be the size differentials. The Suns are fine at the starter positions, but if one person; Marion, Stoudemire or Diaw get injured or in foul trouble the Suns become thinner than, an even pregnant, Nicole Richie. Suns’ fans know what Duncan, Boozer, Nene and others do to Amare. They get him in foul trouble quick and often. Add in other talented West big men like Brand, Yao, Oden, Garnett and Gasol, and Diaw and Amare will have their hands full all season long.
In the history of the NBA, there have been zero teams who have won an NBA championship running and gunning to the extent the Phoenix Suns will. Most championship teams are opportunistic runners, but have the capability, and prefer, to execute in a half court set. I hear all of you saying, ‘but this is a different NBA.’ But is it really? Go through the last two decades of championships and show me a run and gunner champion. Call me old school, but I think the championship formula will always be the ability to play defense and execute in the half court offense something that the Suns will have to be able to do.
However, there is a first for everything, and this season will prove that the Suns can outrun the competition or run themselves into the ground.
Brent Diggins is a freelance writer, an avid NBA fan, and the President of Diggs Communications, a Phoenix based marketing firm. You can reach him at brentd@diggspr.com. |
