| Suns Will Be More Than Competitive Without J.J. Authored by Casey OGrady - August 14, 2005 - 7:05 pm
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This leaves the Suns without two of its starters from last year’s 62-20 team. Many fans have become frustrated and upset with the Suns' management and have resorted to giving up on the team. Editorials printed in the Arizona Republic proclaim, “They are going to be lucky to be a playoff team next year,” and “next season they’ll display a lot of offensive leakage.” Don’t get me wrong, losing J.J. hurts, but there is no way Phoenix will sink to mediocrity without him. This new Suns team should be equal to or even better than last year’s team.
The Suns added two key role players to replace Johnson and Quentin Richardson. Kurt Thomas is a tough low post player who provides the Suns with needed interior defense and help in the half court offense. I have heard only good things about him from New York fans, and doubt he’ll slow the team down too much. Raja Bell, although widely praised for his defense, has a much underrated offensive game. Amazingly, he averaged more points-per-minute than either Johnson or Richardson last year. He also shot a lethal 40.3% from behind and the arc, much higher than Q’s 35.8. He also did all this on a slow paced, poorly run Utah offense. Imagine what he could do under Steve Nash and the high powered offense of the Suns.
The Suns' off season has not yet come to an end. They still have the opportunity to add to an already strong team. With the possibility of Michael Finley being waived this week, the Suns could look to add him to replace J.J. There are also other remaining free agents that Phoenix could pursue to add depth. No matter how they finish off the off season, the Sun’s management has built a team that will contend for the championship next year and for years to come. Just think, last year, people ragged on Colangelo and Co. for signing Nash instead of Kobe or T-Mac. I think they made the right choice, and for that, they deserve the trust of Phoenix fans. |
