Phoenix Suns
2006-07 record: 61-21 1st in the Pacific
Added: Grant Hill, Brian Skinner, D.J. Strawberry, Alando Tucker
Lost: Pat Burke, Jumaine Jones, Jalen Rose, Kurt Thomas
PG: Steve Nash, Marcus Banks,
SG: Raja Bell, Leandro Barbosa, D.J. Strawberry
SF: Grant Hill, Boris Diaw, Eric Piatkowski, Alando Tucker
PF: Shawn Marion, Brian Skinner
C: Amare Stoudamire, Sean Marks
Versus Bulls
2006-07
Home Tue. January 2, L 96-97
Away Sun. February 11, W 116-103
2007-08
Away Thurs. November 15, 9:30PM
Home Sun. January 27, 12PM
Overview:
Tick tock, tick, tock. Everyone knows that the window for the Suns to win a title isn’t going to stay open for too much longer. The Suns have mortgaged their future by selling off draft picks, thanks for Luol Deng by the way, in order to have the money to keep their core in tact. Shawn Marion can opt out after this year, Nash is 33 years old, they have a number of bad contracts with Marcus Banks and Boris Diaw leading the way, and for all their praise have yet to win a slugfest against the Western Conference heavyweights from San Antonio. I don’t buy into the school of though that Phoenix was robbed last spring. Even if one ignores the result of Game 5, the Suns still lost Game 6. The Spurs are champions, they are perfectly capable of winning Game 5 or 7 on the road against a fully loaded Suns squad, as Game 1 of that series showed. If they can’t get to the Finals this year, they are going to need to rework the roster to have any hope of staying among the elite in the West in 2009. Marion is going to leave, their financial limitations will keep them from finding an equal to replace him. Even if the 1st round pick they will receive from the Hawks is Top 10, I’m not sure they can parlay that into a ready-made reinforcement.
I fully expect that the Suns will play this season thinking that this is their last chance. That isn’t to say they will play every game at a playoff-type intensity for all 82, almost the opposite. I think Mike D’Antoni to manage minutes and make sure the veterans like Steve Nash, Shawn Marion, and Grant Hill to pace themselves. Nash especially, because he has had a tendency to slow down as the seasons go on. Once a player has back problems, they don’t go away. The Suns do not need to win 60 games in the regular season to win a title. As thin as they are on the bench, they need their stars to be peaking in May, not February. I think that the Suns will likely win the Pacific, but probably end up being the 3rd or 4th seed. It really doesn’t matter. They can win on the road, they know that they can beat anyone that appears on their schedule, now they just have to do it.
What they mean for the Bulls?
I often hear and read that Tyrus Thomas can be the next Amare and Luol Deng will be the next Shawn Marion. Everytime I see the Suns, however, I don’t see it. Amare has simply a vastly superior basketball skill set to Thomas and Deng isn’t as athletic as Marion. I do however, love the way the Bulls and Suns matchup. Nash and Hinrich, Barbosa and Gordon, Marion and Deng… they make for enjoyable games. They Bulls might be on the short end of the stick as far as overall talent is concerned, but as anyone who has followed the Bulls knows when they are hitting their shots they can beat anyone.
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