Return to Seven Seconds or Less
The Suns are back to Seven Seconds or Less and after a 4-2 record since replacing Terry Porter with Alvin Gentry, it seems to be working because they lit up the scoreboard for 642 points and an average of 128 points per game prior to the Lakers loss Thursday night. Looks like this collection of players got accustomed to playing only one way, especially with Steve Nash running the show.
The thought of scoring 140 points in three games in a row after the change in coaches and philosophy had a lot of basketball enthusiasts shaking their heads in disbelief, but this is who the Suns are and they have welcomed the change with an exuberance that has Phoenix fans feeling hopeful about the playoffs despite losing Amare Stoudemire to an eye injury for eight weeks.
I, for one, thought going into this season and coming off of another playoff loss to the Spurs that the Suns style needed a tweak in order to finally overcome San Antonio – similar to what the Isiah Thomas-led Pistons had to do in order to beat the Larry Bird-led Celtics or the Michael Jordan-led Bulls.
I viewed the combination of Shaquille O’Neal and Amare running the two-man game with Nash on equal basis with Tony Parker and Tim Duncan. I viewed the ability to post up Shaq and spread the floor with shooters as a way of getting high-percentage shots and maintaining a balanced floor, thus improving the transition back to defense and allowing Nash to stay fresh.
Porter was not wrong for trying to change the culture of this team. He just underestimated how tough it would be to communicate the change. I remember when Phil Jackson hired Tex Winter and told Jordan that he wanted to install the triangle offense. It took him a number of games to finally convince Jordan and Scottie Pippen that this system could work and, most importantly, win championships. That’s why I say he is the best coach ever… Because he had to convince arguably the best player ever to change and trust his teammates.
Unlike Jackson, though, Porter took over a winning team and attempted the change – which was and proved to be much more difficult.
Immediate success was the key to keeping the communication lines open and it seemed as if Porter was on the right track with regards to that. The Suns got off to a 8-3 start and although players were skeptical, the wins were piling up. People took notice especially when the Suns opened the season with a road victory at San Antonio. But six losses in their next nine games and five in double figures left them at 11-9. Then doubt and emotion started to cover the locker room.
I did not think it was a huge negative because I was comparing it to the track record of San Antonio and always marveled at how they got off to slow starts and picked up steam as the season went along. Once the playoffs started, they were in full gear and rested. There is plenty of sense in that thinking because I remember Larry Brown once telling me that he needed his teams and players to struggle at times so he could regain their focus to continue to teach and keep them on the track for the goal of winning a championship.
Because they can be off the track, but still moving forward and think everything is still OK when in hindsight a crash was about to happen. I felt the Suns were learning a lesson and would continue to listen and adhere to this new philosophy from Terry Porter and get back on track. Winning 11 out of the next 14 games proved my theory correct.
The Suns were a respectable 22-13 and it seemed Jason Richardson, who came over in the trade for Raja Bell and Boris Diaw, was finding his rhythm within the offense. With a favorable schedule, the Suns were apparently headed towards another 55-win season.
But a loss to Minnesota at home set them on a track where they lost to another five teams playing less than .500 basketball. That cost Porter his job and put the Suns in the position they are in today – fighting for their playoff lives.
The question remains… What is the best fit for this basketball team? Because, yes, they have won four out of six games with Gentry and are averaging 124 points. But the four wins were against sub-.500 teams and both losses were against the best two teams in basketball – the Lakers and Celtics.
Gentry can argue the fact he did not have Amare for either game and Nash was out with a sprained ankle in the Lakers defeat. Based on how this team picked up where it left off last year in reference to the running game, it is pretty obvious they are more comfortable with Seven Seconds or Less and the stats pretty much support their argument.
There are two statistical areas I felt the Suns were deficient in and it seemed to be costing them games: turnovers (16) and allowing opponents to garner more offensive rebounds (-3).
Those numbers, combined with their inability to force turnovers (12) or secure second chance attempts on the glass, left them with close to -7 possessions a game. So if we look at the +1 point differential the Suns have been hovering around all year, we see why weak teams have found a way to grab victories from them.
The last six games those numbers changed in the Suns favor. They have turned the ball over 13 less times than the opposition and they have scored 35 more points off turnovers. They are a +1 in offensive rebounds, which is a huge turnaround from the -3 they had entering those games. So if six contests tell us anything it is that the Suns are more productive all-around when they run. Yes, they will give up more points, but that has always been the beauty of this system – to fool teams into thinking they can score at will, but in the same instance allowing the Suns to rack up 133 points per game in the four wins.
The running game helps the Suns avoid the two-man game teams punish them with when they were a walk-it-up-the-court team, especially the middle pick-and-roll. The list is long… Parker-Duncan, Chris Paul-David West, Deron Williams-Carlos Boozer, Jason Terry-Dirk Nowitzki, Rajon Rondo-Paul Pierce, etcetera… They have all feasted this season on the Suns’ inability to defend it with regularity. The pace of the game baits teams into taking quicker shots and forgetting about what is their bread-and-butter play to get great shots against Phoenix.
The more the Suns can keep the great teams from running pick-and-rolls, the better their chances are of winning against them and that is why this group needs to run despite having arguably the most dominant big man in NBA history in Shaq.
The hope now is Nash will be back soon from a sprained ankle and Phoenix continues to make a run at the final playoff spots, but it will not be easy because the Suns embark on what I think is the most difficult stretch of games any team in the NBA will face this season.
These next two weeks will decide if the Suns have enough to get back in the thick of the race and secure a playoff spot. After playing Toronto tonight, they will play seven straight games beginning with another date with the Los Angeles Lakers at home on March 1 and by March 12. 11 days later they will have faced Orlando, Miami, Houston and San Antonio on the road and come back home to face Dallas and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
If the Suns can weather the storm and at least win three or four of the seven games, then they have a chance to make the playoffs. They seemed to have solved beating up the poor teams and they will get a chance to do just that after this stretch. They will have 17 games left and 10 will be against teams with poor records and six of those games will be at home.
It will be extremely difficult to accomplish this with Amare Stoudemire out the rest of the season, but if they find a way to get to the postseason they will automatically become the most dangerous team to face if Amare returns for the playoffs. How would you like to be the Lakers or Spurs having to deal with Shaq, Amare and Nash for seven games in the first round. Welcome to the Western Conference!
Papi chulo Said,
February 27, 2009 @ 2:03 pm
Also, why is kwame brown still in the league but Marcus Hatten couldn’t get a shot? Anyone?
Raul Said,
February 27, 2009 @ 2:24 pm
Phoenix Sun are History.
Shaq, althought a likeable guy, can’t keep up with the 7 second rule.
Amare, does not play defense and will likely be handicap by wearing some protective goggles or something of that style.
Nash,,,, well,, he is getting old and fragile… I believe another hip-check ala “Horry” would easly sideline him again….
Plus,,,, they way they got destroyed by the laker’s reserve was very ugly. I believe the score could have been a lot worse than 130 plus points they allowed.
And they schedule coming up is not friendly for them in the next 7 - 10 games….
In short, I believe we will be seing a very different Phoenix team next season due to all of the trades that will transpire..
Michael Bennett Said,
February 27, 2009 @ 2:48 pm
The Suns will not make the Playoffs this year.
The Shaq-to-Cavs trade should’ve happened. If it did, they could’ve make it there. It would have been better for both teams.
Now, the Suns don’t have the on-court chemistry of the last five years. They don’t have the proper pieces to play that 7-Seconds-or-less offense. So, they’re always going to struggle against teams with good defense.
Is Shaq willing to come off the bench? If so, the first unit could be a scary, high potency offense. Then, the second unit could beat up the other team’s reserves.
Richard Smith III Said,
February 27, 2009 @ 3:40 pm
Do you think the Suns and Cavs will reevaluate a Shaq swap over the summer? I thought the players never bought into Terry Porter so he was doomed from the start. When your main two guys are not fully on board then it’s a wrap but I do hope Porter gets another opportunity sometime in the future. This team’s measuring stick was the Spurs and with a semi healthy Spurs team the still couldn’t beat them and the writing has been on the wall since losing twice to the Spurs after winning at the begining of the season, which was without Ginobili. The culture needed to change in order to make a winner but they chose to go the route of eye candy and glam so they will remain as such. Look for Shaq to be shopped this summer, possibly Nash as well depending on the “true” direction this team wishes to go.
frank B Said,
February 27, 2009 @ 5:02 pm
You know Eddie, your playing the company man a little too much in this article.
I posted this last year, when you were gushing enthusiasm about getting Shaq. Sixty Million dollars for a 36 year old player? Come on, basketball is a young man’s game. Even more importantly, it is a team game and without Kobe, Ron Harper, Rick Fox, AC Green, Derek Fisher, Glen Rice, Robert Horry, Phil Jackson and others with the Lakers and Dwayne Wade, Alonzo Mourning, James Posey, Gary Payton, Udonis Haslem, Pat Riley and others with the Heat, Shaq wouldn’t have won any championships. He never, ever, never won a championship by himself no matter what his salary and the pundits suggest.
Let’s be real. The Suns were my second favorite team after the Lakers. Watching the Suns was kind of like watching an Evander Holyfield fight; you knew there was going to be a lot of action and that the Suns were not going to back down. Also like Evander Holyfield, the Suns would make their opponents play their game. The Suns were going to run, run, run, and then run some more. I would call it a run and fun offense.
This strategy worked. Really well. So as an outside observer, it was stunning to me that Steve Kerr would view one player, Shaq, as more important than the coach and the team. This is stunning because Kerr won those championships in Chicago with Bill Wennington and Luc Longley playing center, so this center worship seems unfounded by his own playing experience and basketball history (how many championships did the truly most dominant player of all time Wilt Chamberlain get, yeah that’s right a whopping two).
There is something in life that I would call chemistry. Another way to say it would be synergy. The Suns had a chemistry or a synergy that was unique in the league. They had a belief that they could play their style of game better than you could play your style of game. And they could. Hell, if Roberty Horry hadn’t teased Amare off the bench that one series the Suns might have two championships by now and people would be calling you and D’Antoni geniuses.
What is the Sun’s character now? They have a coach who seems like a nice guy but will he create a new identity for the team that is succesful? How can he? There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason as to has a Suns uniform on at this moment. Charles Barkeley is usually wrong, but last night he got it exactly right….Grant Hill, Steve Nash and Shaq are too old to run a track meet every night against 20 year olds. If they try, they are going to break down.
I miss the D’Antoni coached Suns. I won’t be watching this incarnation of the Suns and neither will anyone else come playoff time because the Suns won’t be there.
An old expression is If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The Suns weren’t broken, so why were they fixed?
Jeff D Said,
February 27, 2009 @ 5:28 pm
To all the doubters, the Suns will probably not make the playoffs because, other than Shaq, they do not have a healthy regular rotation player with any size. This is not Shaq’s fault. But also understand how Gentry is methodically shaping the team in the way that was promised over the offseason.
Gentry is playing his reserves. Yes, they were blitzed by the Laker bench, but understand that for the first 51 games of the season, the Suns’ reserves didn’t play regularly and didn’t have a chance to develop. But they are already showing a lot more progress than before Gentry took over.
Gentry is also reinforcing the need to play better defense. So how does this help when they still give up big offense to the Celtics and Lakers? Well, changing the Suns into a respectable defensive team takes time. The old school, tough medicine approach didn’t work. A more progressive, positive approach has a much better chance of succeeding but it will take time.
Shaq can play uptempo provided he gets proper rest and doesn’t have to run up and down the floor on every possession while in the game. When the fast break opportunity does not present itself in early offense, then Shaq can post up and get an opportunity to score.
If this team and coach are given the chance to stick together for next season, then I think the Suns will be one of the best teams in the league. For this season, there have been too many changes and their loss total so far is too big a hole to dig out of. The biggest mistake that Robert Sarver and Steve Kerr can make is to force more major changes this offseason. The Suns need to commit to winning for next season and then let contracts expire naturally if things don’t work out.
ak Said,
February 27, 2009 @ 5:39 pm
frank b, the reason steve kerr tried to fix the suns is because they WERE broke. they played a style of basketball that was fun to watch just like you said and it won them 50+ games a season, but that style doesn’t win in the playoffs. you have to play defensive grind it out basketball to win a ship. that’s why your lakers got beat by the celts last season (and that’s why they won’t win this season unless they make it to the finals easily while boston and cleveland tire eachother out while the lakers stay fresh and give themselves an advantage especially without bynum) and that’s why my pistons handed the lakers the first ever five game sweep back in 2004.
frank B Said,
February 27, 2009 @ 7:24 pm
Five games is not a sweep ak. Believe me, the Lakers have been swept before though. The year before Phil Jackson got there our Shaq attaq was short circuited in a 4 game sweep by the Spurs.
Even if your right, that the Suns would never have won a championship because they weren’t good enough on defense, how in the world does bringing in Shaq help? He hasn’t stopped anybody on the pick and roll play since 2003. Jason Richardson must be the answer then too? When I think of defense, I think of Jason Richardson.
Have no doubt, playing defense does win championships. The Celts are the latest example (how many championships did that Russell character get?), the Spurs have been tough for years, no one played better D than Chicago during the Jackson/Jordan era, Detroit won by defending, so I can understand why Kerr thought playing better defense would improve the Suns chances but the reality is that the Suns have moved farther away from a championship with the moves they have made.
We lost to the Celtics last year because they were a better team than us overall and I must say that the 40 plus foul shots that he Celts shot to the Lakers 10 or 15 in game two didn’t hurt. What did hurt, ouch, it still hurts, was that unbelievable come from behind win in LA Boston pulled off in game 4.
Not to worry though. Boston is a year older, a step slower, and no longer has PJ Brown, James Posey, and Sam Cassell coming off the bench. They have also received their first cancer injection by signing Stephon, it is always someone else’s fault Marbury. The infection may be terminal.
mj Said,
February 27, 2009 @ 8:04 pm
This will make the suns more entertaining but they still cant beat the spurs or lakers in the playoffs. Sarver is probably the worst owner in the NBA with all the bone head moves he’s made with the draft. Kerr SCREWED Porter over. He knew Porter would require defense to a bunch of lazy players….what did Kerr expect? Then he fires him? He shouldve never hired him in the first place if he wasnt going to back him up. Ya I know its a players league but geez what a coward Kerr is. He should’ve just sat there and let D’Antoni run his system until it was time to break the team up…..granted they would’ve continued to lose in the playoffs but at least they couldve been fun to watch. Suns are minimum 5 years from being relevant again…..Good night Phx….
mj Said,
February 27, 2009 @ 8:16 pm
also would like to extent my personal thanks to Sarver for destroying this team…..go back to your mortgage company….oh wait…its not doing so hot anymore is it?…..Where’s Jerry when we need him? This is a perfect example as to why the nba owners should be required to be billionaires like in europe….that way they don’t freak out about money all the time.
Melvin Said,
February 27, 2009 @ 10:08 pm
i agree but the way i am seeing it, theyre again heading for a first round exit… poor suns
Brian Said,
February 28, 2009 @ 3:36 am
The Suns could never win a title for a few reasons. One, Sarver shipped out too many picks for nothing (Fernandez, Rondo). Two…they were depending on a PG who literally plays NO defense and never has. Three…Amare Stoudamire is another Tracy McGrady ‘its not my fault” loser. Four…they were whiners and cowards. They always whined and cried about everything and had exactly NO mentally tough competitors. Style schmile…if you are weak and cowardly you never win. I enjoyed watching them but always knew they didn’t have the mental make up to win when it mattered. That was always plain to see.
I have been saying this for years. Amare Stoudamire is not a top 30 player in the NBA regardless of what these clowns try to tell you. He does not rebound, has questionable motivation, no heart, no will and is terrifically selfish. Nash may put up 20 points and 12 assists but the guy he guards typically matches his numbers. Marion? Complete and total headcase coward. They let a real player go (Johnson) when Marion or Stoudamire should have been shipped out instead. They were on the cusp but did not have the right guys to win it all. End of story. Have fun in the lottery….
Jorel Jenious Said,
February 28, 2009 @ 8:06 am
I am a fan of Steve Nash’s point guard ability.
He is an excellent floor general.
However his defensive liability is such that he now needs a DOMINATE defense player on the floor.
Not a good on ball guy.
Not a good weakside shot blocker.
Steve has never failed to attempt to play good defense, but for the most part he is a spectacular game from the opponents point position away from happening.
The likes of Jameer Nelson, Devin Harris, Mike Conley, Rajon Rondo, Tony Parker, Jason Kidd, Chauncey Billups, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, pretty much NBA point guards, have their best games against him.
This happens rather they attack in transition, or in the half court.
They kill him with the mid range jumper, and go by him with ease to finish with uncontested lay-ups, often with zero pick and roll. They aren’t needed against Steve at all.
As a fan in hurts, but they can’t when big series with him.
There are a lot of what ifs.
But the fact remains that every year, Tony Parker takes a bit of his soul, and destroys the notion that he was a two time MVP… So far this season, the play of George Hill and Roger Mason vs. Steve Nash has poked MAJOR holes in the theory.
The seven seconds or less looks good.
It’s exciting.
It puts asses in sits.
Put they need a guy that can dominate both sides of the court to win a title.
That’s not Steve Nash.
They should trade him this summer, maybe to a Cleveland. (Mo Williams, Delonte West and Varejo would work). If the suns thrown in the Lopez Kid, it works for both team. He is done in his current SUPERSTAR capacity.
The best thing the organization could have done was to keep Joe Johnson. By this point in his career, it would be a natural transition to move Steve for a better on ball guy, and a bench guy, and put the ball in Joe Johnsons hands, with Amare and he abusing teams with the pick and roll when Shaq is sitting and the team feeding Shaq and basiclly figure 8 cutting at the two and three with Amare and the point/shooter, LIVING at their favorite 12 to 18 feet jumpers. It would be a thing of beauty. And tough for any team not name the Celtics, Lakers, or Spurs, to compete with. At this point, they are fighting to simply get the right to go out humbly in the first round.
Gregg Ostertag Said,
March 1, 2009 @ 2:10 am
Frank B, the lakers got swept by the JAZZ, remember Kobe and his air balls!!! ahh, the good ol days.
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March 1, 2009 @ 7:13 am
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Phoenix Suns vuelve a ser Phoenix Suns Said,
March 2, 2009 @ 1:24 pm
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Max in Missouri Said,
March 2, 2009 @ 4:09 pm
Michael Bennett is an idiot!
“Is Shaq willing to come off the bench? If so, the first unit could be a scary, high potency offense.”
Seriously man, seriously? Have you ever watched a basketball game? How about an NBA game or more specifically, the Phoenix Suns?
That is honestly such a stupid comment that I am dumbfounded and cannot put together a response, because that would only lend creedance to the thoughts of morons like yourself.
So if they replace Shaq with Amundson they will have this “scary, high potency offense”? Or were you referring to starting Robin ‘instant offense’ Lopez? Or do you somehow think they should get EVEN SMALLER and slide Barnes or Hill over to the 5?
Like the defense isn’t crappy enough….take out the big fella and you think Nash is gonna protect the basket? C’mon man, think!
Slim Said,
March 4, 2009 @ 2:07 pm
I remember when Steve Nash won MVP over Kobe. It made you wonder if a players defensive skills was even part of the criteria.
Steve Nash has always been a crappy defender, well below average. How can a guy be an MVP of the League if HALF of his game stinks?
It was a feel good move by the NBA to have poster boy like Steve Nash sell the league.
In hindsight, you got admit the hate for Kobe was strong.
whatever.
c money Said,
March 6, 2009 @ 9:09 am
SHAQ aka “The Big Sensitive” is a front running hypocrite who is unable to take any sort of criticism. Before last week (IMO), Big Sense could do no wrong….but then he chose to flop on a player in foul trouble (4 fouls in the third), and was dunked on. I remember very vividly Big Sense, crying about floppers calling them little girls (Specifically DAMPIER). Now a few washed years later SENSE is flopping and gunning at people for calling him out. WOW! You go SENSE!! Now in your day you were the man!! DEEZ!! Three titles back to back as a dominant ofrce (should of had more!) Finals MVP, Should have gotten more than one League MVP….You Were the man!! But this flopping shindig made me take a step back and look at the big sense in a new light. Big SENSE can not take criticism whether constructive or not….Thats why he is no longer on his FAVE team (Lakers)…KOBE wanted him to be in shape, complained and became public enemy #1. I am by no means a KOBE gusher, but if that advice (criticism) had been taken the right way SENSES career would have had a longer prime and would have prob. won more rings w/Lakers….but no Big SENSE must destroy everything that opposes his world domination plan. He is the REAL superman right? lets get that clear right now….its tatted on his arm ain’t it!? Now front running SENSE wants to rag on Pat Ewing….Why? That is beyond me? Could it be because he is coaching the player fans recognize as superman? But hey….Jordan and the Bulls were not there to stop him from getting his rings, so PAT bow down to the big SENSE you are beneath him and can be ridiculed on a national platform. You too Van Gundy…who the hell do you think you are, you are just the coach of a first place team. Front running SENSE flushed you out because you didn’t have a front running resume, you are not allowed to make a freaking joking comment until you win ATLEAST 4 titles. And though you have more titles than the SENSE can ever dream of acheiving, Phil, you (accusingly) chose KOBE over SENSE, you will no longer receive great man praises. And WALTON…Shut it down big man….your measly ring number is not enough to criticize the SENSE’s work ethic. Whose next, WADE? D WADE you better pick up the phone and call the BIG SENSE before someone puts a mic in his face.
SHAQ was a dominant force in the NBA. For about a 5 year stretch NOBODY did it better. I was one of his favorite fans. Now it seems that he knows his career is coming to an end and wants to remain in the spotlight, and will…..BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY!!
Seann Said,
March 9, 2009 @ 9:29 am
When Shaq puts up big numbers, we’ve generally won.
When Steve puts up big numbers, we generally lose.
With Amar’e out and the with way Shaqs been eating people up you’ve gotta start every half court set thru him surely? Sure keep running and letting Shaq just throw outlets (which he is extremely adept at btw) but when it slows down which it inevitably has to, you’ve gotta go to him and I don’t think Steve buys into this idea at all. So as much as i’ve loved watching Steve down the years it’s time to move on. Somewhere where he has the supporting cast to win it all.
Oh and to say Shaq is a “flopper” for goin down ONE TIME when he took a dipped shoulder from the guy who’s supposed to be a bigger, stronger, faster version of the original is absolutely ridiculous
azFans.com Said,
March 10, 2009 @ 9:03 pm
It worked for a few games, I just don’t think we have enough now… too old, and Amare-less. Sad to say it, but I think this is the end of Planet Orange.