For me, the biggest part of Marion's game is and always is his defense who can guard 4-5 positions. "The Mavs are just the 12th ranked defense in the league, but that’s up from 17th last season, with the big difference on the roster being Marion. More telling is that no team in the league defends the league’s top five scorers better than the Mavs. In fact, Dallas (.452 true shooting percentage against) has a huge edge over Charlotte (.523), the second best team in defending the big five. Anthony, Bryant, Durant, James and Wade all have sub-par numbers against Dallas. And while Jason Kidd(notes), Josh Howard(notes) and Caron Butler(notes) have defended them at times, it’s been mostly Marion doing the work. Further, the Mavs are 9-5 against the Nuggets, Lakers, Thunder, Cavs and Heat. So defending the stars well has paid dividends in the standings." http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AvdP6Z410ON6Nv.8tL8MdHVzK7J_?slug=nba_com-numbers.game.all.defense-20100401 Name Of Marion's Game: Shut Down Melo By Tim MacMahon ESPNDallas.com http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dime-100329/mavs-key-marion "Shawn definitely was the player of the game," said Dirk Nowitzki, who made a pretty strong case for that honor himself by notching his second career triple-double with 34 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Mavs coach Rick Carlisle opened his postgame news conference by lavishing praise upon Marion, whom the Mavs acquired in a sign-and-trade this summer to address their problem of defending elite wing scorers such as Anthony. "The key to the game was the job Shawn Marion did on Carmelo," Carlisle said. "He's one of the toughest guys to guard in the league, and [Marion] took the challenge." Guards Jason Kidd and Jason Terry were among others who echoed the opinions of Nowitzki and Carlisle. They all painfully experienced the damage Anthony did during the playoffs last season when the Mavs had nobody to match up with him. Anthony dominated while Denver dismissed Dallas in five games, averaging 30 points on 49 percent shooting. But he's been miserable in the two meetings against the Mavs in which Marion has played this season."

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=183725

 

This season is so filled with drama that it deserves a place in comicdom i.e. "Robin smashing the window", Grant "hurt", Gentry ejected, the Amare roller coaster i.e. will he or won't he etc. The rooks deserve to be mentioned in their own sidekick spin-off. Dragic the Dragon. Robin the Lopez and Louis "Hands" i don't know.

I find game threads more stimulating than recaps and that's why I'm proposing this.

Let's call this rag "The Suns' last ride" or any other name we like...

Fantastic article by Doug Thonus on the Bulls:

2000-2009 Chicago Bulls, a dynasty of profits

If there was a world championship for money making, the city of Chicago would bankrupt itself throwing parades for our Chicago Bulls.   The Bulls may not have put all the winning pieces together on the court, but the business side is crushing the competition.

In the NBA, the Bulls are #1 over the past decade.   The second place team?   The Lakers.   Trailing by 100 million in profits.

Bare in mind, over this stretch the Bulls made the playoffs four times and got past the first round once, while never getting past the second round.   The Lakers, in a bigger market, won four titles and made it to the NBA finals two other times over this stretch.   Yet, they fell 100 million short of the profit levels the Bulls achieved.  How is that even possible?

Team	10 Year Profit	3 Year Profit	1 Year Profit
Bulls	474	165	51
Lakers	373	131	51
Suns	275	87	21
Pistons	263	126	42
Rockets	199	91	30
Celtics	165	51	13
Spurs	141	54	19
Clippers	140	31	10
Cavaliers	127	50	5
Wizards	113	32	5
Raptors	109	75	18
Heat	104	25	8
Jazz	85	23	8
Knicks	80	9	21
Kings	62	25	-3
Warriors	55	26	12
Hornets	49	13	0
76ers	45	5	8
Hawks	42	15	-2
Magic	26	9	-2
Thunder	12	-2	13
Nuggets	10	-26	5
Bobcats	7	-5	-15
Pacers	-8	-23	-16
Timberwolves	-9	-15	-7
Nets	-36	-16	-14
Bucks	-47	0	-7
Grizzlies	-99	-21	-7
Mavericks	-154	-33	-17
Blazers	-259	-46	-20

http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicago-bulls-confidential/2010/03/2000-2009-chicago-bulls-a-dynasty-of-profits.html

======

The ways the management puts it, we seem to be bleeding money and our Suns franchise is not profitable. Evidently Sarver and Kerr seems to be more interested in raising their profit margins by selling picks, dumping salary and refusing to sign our proven marque players like JJ and Amare.

How long will Suns fans put up with such nonsense?

Our window to win is this season and next season when Nash is still around with Amare.

So no more trade talks.

No more salary dumps.

And no more selling of picks.

We need to win. After all, you lucky fans in US have been paying for success for a long long time.

Anything else is not acceptable from the players and the management!

Correct me if I'm wrong but was this similar to the time Marion got traded, although the deal did not get done for Amare this time?

===

Suns offer Stoudemire to Rockets
Amar’e Stoudemire

On the eve of the trade deadline, the Phoenix Suns told Amar’e Stoudemire they would likely keep him. They also still tried to trade him.

An NBA source said the Suns made an 11th-hour effort to send the All-Star to the Houston Rockets for forwards Shane Battier(notes) and Luis Scola(notes) and a draft pick. The offer surprised the Rockets, who passed because they were worried about Stoudemire leaving as a free agent this summer.

League sources still expect the Miami Heat to be Stoudemire’s top suitor this summer if he opts out of the final $17.7 million season of his contract."

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=ArBr0XVG5SAoo2I0boccv7O8vLYF?slug=mc-afterthebuzzer021910&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

====

I'm not a professional NBA player and I don't live in US. I have to come in early to work everyday with a boss that shouts at me every time he sees something he does not like, although I'm considered very good in what I do.

I see myself as a small town person who does not know big city life or ever have a home team to support every 2-3 days. That's why I am really envious what every US city seems to have i.e. vibrant home teams with their own history and culture.

What I do hate, along with greedy players "I'm not excusing Amare as I have never said he deserves a max", are management staff that strings fans and players along and ends with "That's business as usual".

I'm sorry. As a fan, it will never be business as usual.

My heart bled when Stern banned Amare and Diaw in that WSCF against the Spurs, while the refs continue to let the Spurs do their ticky tack fouls. I had a splitting headache when it was reported that Amare had to go for micro-surgery. My heart stopped when I heard they traded Marion after telling him they won't.

When they traded Shaq "good riddance", I nearly dropped my sister's baby when I saw what we got back in return...

As fans, we live and die by our teams. Everytime the Suns lost, my mood is black for half the day. And it is not unreasonable that I have grown utterly disgusted with the management and owners of our team.

Besides last 3 draft picks in the last 2.5 years, nothing has gone right for this team.

I sincerely hope that the Suns management will start to rebuild our team, as well as some form of relationship with the players and fans worthy of trust.

If not, please hesitate a little before buying any more season tickets from these jokers unless they give us a few guarantees on building the team or dumping sallary to create a lottery team like NJ.

We should consider doing this in case we need them to force them to sell the Suns before it can truly rise in the West again.

Thanks for your time and attention.

 

The Sacramento Kings are in advanced talks with the Houston Rockets on a trade that will swap Kevin Martin(notes) for Tracy McGrady(notes), league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Along with Martin, the Kings will send Sergio Rodridguez, Hilton Armstrong(notes) and Kenny Thomas(notes) to the Rockets. Joey Dorsey(notes) and Carl Landry(notes) will go to the Kings.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AiBqpoo_OY3pby1jUosmhX68vLYF?slug=ys-kingstrade021710&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Kerr and Sarver... the only thing I can commend them is if they stay pat this season...

Other front offices are making deals to help their teams!!!

Sorry I'm tired of posting about Amare. Let's talk about something else.

Can we swing a deal to get DJ from Charlotte with LB?

Can we trade for Marcin Gortat /Bass  with Ryan Anderson ｏｒ JJ　Ｒｅｄｄｉｃｋ？

Btw, good potential trade by Blazers:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AqKXJca6J_J4QMf.JSFor6C8vLYF?slug=aw-blazersclips021510&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Ｉ　ｔｈｏｕｇｈｔ　ａｂｏｕｔ　ＤＪ　ａｆｔｅｒ　ｒｅａｄｉｎｇ　ｔｈｉｓ　ｂｕｔ　Ｉ　ｆｅｅｌ　ｔｈｉｓ　ｄｅａｌ　ｗｏｎ＇ｔ　ｈａｐｐｅｎ　ｕｎｌｅｓｓ　ｉｔ＇ｓ　ａｎ　ｉｄｅａｌ　ｗｏｒｌｄ　ａｎｄ　ｔｈａｔ　ｄｏｅｓ　ｎｏｔ　ｈａｐｐｅｎ　ｔｏ　ｔｈｅ　Ｓｕｎｓ　ｔｈｅｓｅ　ｄａｙｓ．．．

Five Deals That Should Be Made

By Chad Ford
ESPN Insider

The NBA trade deadline is one week away, and we're in the proverbial calm before the storm. While trade discussions continue around the league, most GMs are frustrated. Deal parameters remain vague, with teams still overvaluing their assets and undervaluing the assets of others.

As we've seen in past seasons, one big trade can have a domino effect on others. It tends to narrow the options, focus the discussion and turn up the pressure on teams to make moves.

Given the gridlock, perhaps some fresh ideas will help. In that spirit, here are five hypothetical trades that I think could and should happen. While none of these trades have been specifically discussed, to my knowledge, all of them include teams looking to deal and players on the market.

1. Heat-Suns-Bobcats

Miami gets: Amare Stoudemire (from Phoenix), Acie Law (from Charlotte), Stephen Graham (from Charlotte), Ronald Murray (from Charlotte)

Phoenix gets: Michael Beasley (from Miami), D.J. Augustin (from Charlotte), James Jones (from Miami), Dorell Wright (from Miami)

Charlotte gets: Udonis Haslem (from Miami), Daequan Cook (from Miami)

Would Miami do it? The word out of Miami is that the Heat have been pushing to make a deal. While Miami is considered a potential destination for LeBron James and Chris Bosh this summer if the two become free agents, the danger with doing nothing now is that Dwyane Wade might walk if the team fails to get James, Bosh or another top player or two.

This trade would set up the Heat to go in a couple of directions:

(1) It could be a pre-emptive strike on the free-agent market and still provide the salary-cap space to sign another free agent or two in addition to Stoudemire. If Stoudemire were to opt out of his contract and re-sign with the Heat for a contract starting at $13 million to $15 million, the Heat would still be able to sign one max-level player, such as LeBron James, or a couple of players with a starting salary of $8 million to $10 million.

(2) If Stoudemire were to opt out and leave, the Heat, thanks to this trade, would have enough cap room to sign two max-level free agents, such as James and Bosh.

One dangerous scenario is that Stoudemire could decide not to opt out of his contract, leaving the Heat with more limited resources in the 2010 free-agency market. And of course, they'd be giving up on Beasley, a potent scorer who just turned 21.

Would Phoenix do it?
The Suns have been shopping Stoudemire but want more than just cap relief -- they want assets. This deal would provide a little of both.

Beasley is an athletic 4 who should be able to put up similar numbers to Amare in the Suns' run-and-gun system, or perhaps even better numbers, given the rebounding prowess he showed in college. The Suns would also get Augustin, a young point guard they could groom to eventually take over for Nash. Jones should be able to step right back into the system he left in 2007, and if he doesn't work out, his 2010-11 contract is only partially guaranteed. Wright has upside, and his contract is expiring, giving the Suns options with him, as well.

While I believe the Suns would prefer to add Andre Iguodala and Samuel Dalembert, this might be a better, more affordable deal for them in the long run.

Would Charlotte do it? Augustin has had a disappointing season and fallen out of favor with Charlotte coach Larry Brown. And the Bobcats have been active on the trade market, looking for a power forward who can rebound and defend; Haslem would fit the bill and he's in the last year of his contract. While Cook hasn't become the player the Heat hoped he would, he could see some minutes at the 2 for the Bobcats.

To see Chad Ford's full Insider story, click here.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime

Sources: Teams sweeten Amare offers

 By Chris Broussard
ESPN The Magazine

While Cleveland has zeroed in on Amare Stoudemire, it benefits the Suns to let the process play out until the last hours before Thursday's deadline.

Sources with knowledge of the negotiations said Saturday night that the Cavs and Suns were in serious talks about a deal that would send Zydrunas Ilgauskas and J.J. Hickson to Phoenix in exchange for Stoudemire, one of the league's most dominant big man.

 

Stoudemire is averaging 21.2 points and 8.6 rebounds on the season.

But reports that the five-time All-Star Stoudemire could be headed to Cleveland have led other clubs to spice up their offers to Phoenix, according to sources.

The ball is now in Phoenix's court.

The Suns are mulling over whether the financial relief provided by Ilgauskas' $12 million contract -- they'll likely waive Ilgauskas after the trade -- and the young and talented Hickson are enough for them to part with an impact player like Stoudemire.

And the Cavaliers have to be fairly certain that Stoudemire would be willing to re-sign with them before giving up the fast-improving Hickson.

However, according to sources, Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala, appears to be the Suns' top choice.

So far, the Sixers have been leery of giving up their best player for Stoudemire.

While Stoudemire has good relationships with LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal, some close to Stoudemire believe Miami -- where he lives during the summer -- is his first choice.

Miami has pursued Stoudemire hard but has no one on its roster (besides Dwyane Wade) that interests Phoenix, according to sources. That includes Michael Beasley. So it would take a three-team deal for Stoudemire to be traded to the Heat.

Of course, Cleveland can also pursue three-team deals that would sweeten the offer for Phoenix.

Chris Broussard is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4913834

Cavs-Suns trade far from a done deal

Published: Sunday, February 14, 2010

http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2010/02/14/sports/nh2094191.txt

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By Bob Finnan
RFinnan@News-Herald.com

From all indications, a potential Amar'e Stoudemire trade to the Cavaliers is far from being done.

The Cavaliers reportedly offered center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, forward J.J. Hickson and possibly a first-round pick for the five-time All-Star.

Stoudemire, 27, would seemingly give the Cavs the needed firepower to win their first NBA championship.

He was the starting center for the Western Conference in Sunday's All-Star game at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The 6-foot-10, 249-pounder is averaging 21 points and 8.6 rebounds per game this season.

He missed part of last season with an eye injury and had microfracture surgery on his knee in 2005. But he's gotten most of explosiveness back and is one of the most talented big men in the league.

An imposing front line of 7-1 Shaquille O'Neal, Stoudemire and 6-8 LeBron James would strike fear into every team in the league.

There were conflicting reports about how far along the Stoudemire deal is with the Cavs, who are 43-11 and winners of 13 straight games. Some said it's almost a done deal and the teams are just crossing their "T's" and dotting their "I's."

Others think the Suns are still fielding offers from other teams, most notably Philadelphia and Miami.

Cavs general manager Danny Ferry was unavailable for comment.

This much is known: Ferry and Cavs owner Dan Gilbert met with Suns GM Steve Kerr and Suns owner Robert Sarver in Dallas on Friday.

That's where some think the teams laid the foundation of their second blockbuster deal between the Cavs and Suns in the last eight months. Kerr sent O'Neal to the Cavs on June 26, 2009, for forward/center Ben Wallace and guard/forward Sasha Pavlovic — both spare parts — along with cash and a draft pick. The Suns bought both players out of their contracts.

Ilgauskas' $11.5 million expiring contract has become quite attractive as the NBA nears the trade deadline at 3 p.m. Thursday.

The Cavs are hoping whichever team acquires Ilgauskas would buy him out of his deal, which would allow him to return to Cleveland after 30 days. That can't be written into any deal. It would have to be a "wink-wink" clause between the two teams.

For those conspiracy theorists out there, one report suggests the Stoudemire rumors are a smoke screen for what the Cavs are really trying to do — acquire Wizards forward Antawn Jamison.

The 6-9, 230-pound Jamison might be a better fit for the Cavs for the stretch run this season. The Cavs could also make a deal for Pacers forward/center Troy Murphy.

Stoudemire, though, appears to be the Cavs' No. 1 target.

He is making $16.4 million this season. He has a player option on his 2010-11 contract worth $17.7 million. If the Cavs make the trade, they'd probably want to sign him to a contract extension.

Jamison, 33, seems like he'd fit in seamlessly with the Cavs. He's the classic "stretch 4" for which they've been looking. But he has two more years on his contract after this year, worth $13 million in 2010-11 and $15 million in 2011-12 — quite risky considering his age.

Stoudemire was paired with O'Neal in Phoenix last year and it was anything but smooth sailing. Some thought they both clogged the lane.

He is adept at making the mid-range jumper, but he still gets most of his points inside. He would also be the second or third option with the Cavs. Would he be able to accept that kind of role?

Would he roll up his sleeves, play defense and buy into Coach Mike Brown's system? He's capable of being a very strong post defender.

It could be one of the biggest coups in Cavs history or Stoudemire could knock over the apple cart.

Trade rumors have followed him around in the last couple years as the cash-strapped Suns want to avoid the luxury tax at all costs.

He doesn't know the reason.

"I don't understand why," he told the Arizona Republic. "It's not being explained to me why every year there's always trade talk with me being involved. It's a little difficult to deal with.

"They never really explain why the trade talk is coming, why they want to trade me. I've done a lot of work in the community. I've been trouble-free forever, so I just don't understand."

Stoudemire said he'd love to play for a team competing for the championship.

"That's my goal," he said. "The Suns' goal may be a little bit different. I'm not sure. I don't know if they see me in their future plans. I don't know what they don't see within me."

With Stoudemire having undergone knee and eye surgeries in recent years, there are differing perspectives on his market value. Nevertheless, Stoudemire has made a strong comeback from eye surgery this season – averaging 20.9 points and 8.6 rebounds – and impressed rival executives and scouts. Stoudemire has been inclined to use Pau Gasol’s(notes) three-year, $57 million contract extension as a parameter for negotiations, and more than one league executive believes that circumstances will result in Stoudemire getting richly rewarded this summer.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-stoudemiresuns012510&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

ccording to an NBA source, the two teams have discussed this and other trade scenarios, although there are a few snags with the potential trade. Stoudemire's contract situation is chief among them.

<!-- ymaps begin 1 --> <!-- ymaps end 1 -->The NBA's trade deadline is Feb. 18.

Iguodala has four years and $56 million remaining on his contract; Dalembert will earn $12 million next season, after which his contract expires. Stoudemire's contract expires at season's end, but he has a player option to earn $17 million for the 2010-11 season.

The Suns are very interested in Iguodala, according to the source. But are the Sixers interested in acquiring Stoudemire, who may or may not remain with the team past the end of this season?

Contrary to what has become popular belief, the Sixers are not interested in expiring contracts, so this deal would make sense only if there were assurances that Stoudemire - rumored to be balking at the thought of joining the Sixers - would remain another season and then seriously consider re-signing.

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/sixers/20100206_Sixers_Notes___Iguodala_trade_talk__Phoenix__Houston.html

A nice review of the different trading options for teams around the league:

http://www.sbnation.com/2010/2/3/1290513/nba-trade-deadline-breakdown-amare-stoudemire-rumors-antawn-jamison-andre-iguodala

Kindly take a look at Philly's fans eager to move iggy for amare and read the reasons why...

I'm just using information from these 2 posts to draw a comparison.

===

Amare is shooting 57.1% from the field which ranks 10th among all NBA power forwards but is by far the best percentage of any player that averages over 30 minutes per game. No offense to Trey Gilder, but I don't think his 100% shooting percentage is relevant here.

The second most efficient (relevant) scorer is Kevin Garnet at 54.7%, then comes Carlos Boozer at  53.6%, and Chris Bosh at 51.7%. That translates to an extra 1.7 points per game if Bosh shot as well as Amare.

Amare benefits from getting to the rim more than Bosh and shooting almost as good as the great Dirk Nowitzki from outside.

Checking in with 82games.com we learn that both Amare and Bosh average 49% of their points as "Inside" but there's a big difference when it come to "Dunks" (Amare, 17% / Bosh, 9%) that accounts for their overall efficiency gap. Amare's athleticism advantage over Bosh translates to the numbers.

So there you have it, Amare is the most athletic power forward in the game that is playing starters' minutes (and will remain so until/if Blake Griffin begins his NBA career).

As for the outside shots, Amare is shooting 46.9% compared to 48% for Dirk (who only scores 18% of his points inside the paint and as a result only has an overall FG% of .477). That's a gap of only 1.1% between Dirk and Amare when it comes to Dirk's single most important weapon. Put that in your bratwurst and eat it with some sauerkraut.

Just for fun, consider that Amare is also a better outside shooter than LeBron James (44.5%), LaMarcus Aldridge (42%) and far better than Pau Gasol (26.7%).

Amare's biggest weakness on the offensive end are low post moves and decision-making.

Rebounding:

Amare takes a lot of flack for his rebounding but consider that his 10.2 rebounds per game in December puts him behind only Camby, Boozer, Zach Randolph and Bosh and he's within 1.2 rpg of all of those guys.

After a slow start to the season where his timing and athleticism were still recovering, Amare is now putting up big rebounding numbers on a consistent basis. He had 21 boards against the Spurs and had a five game stretch last month where he averaged 13 per game.

Most importantly, he's bringing the effort on the glass almost every night. You'd be hard pressed to find 3 games this season where Amare's effort hasn't been 100%.

It isn't comparable to look at a specialist like Lou Amundson who in limited minutes puts up gaudy rebounds on a per 40 minute basis. Lou has a great nose for the ball and puts in a ton of effort but I seriously doubt that if he were playing 35+ minutes per game every night that he would be able to sustain it. And let's not even talk about free throw shooting.

While I won't go as far to say that Amare is an elite rebounder he clearly ranks at the top of the class when it comes to power forwards that play big minutes and are also counted on to score the ball. His reputation here is far worse than his reality.

Defense:

Defense has always been a struggle for Amare but he has benefited this season from a much simplified defensive game plan that has him showing hard on each and every screen. He's done a good job using his quicks to disrupt the ball handler and then recovery rapidly to his man.

His post defense is decent and like many of the league's players in that he struggles with guys that have great back-to-the-basket footwork (Al Jefferson, Pau Gasol, Zach Randolph). He gets into trouble when he's in help rotation especially against teams like Toronto and Orlando that run funky stuff like a 2/3 high pick and roll where his assignment changes to being a help defender instead of being involved directly in the play. He simply doesn't have the instincts of the league's top defensive players like KG and Duncan and doesn't make good, timely decisions when teams force him to think fast.

Most importantly for the Suns, the days of teams abusing Amare in the pick and roll game are gone. Credit to him and the Suns coaching staff for cleaning up that glaring weakness in his game.

http://www.ktar.com/?nid=112&sid=1249193

SCORING

Randolph is averaging 20.9ppg this season with the Grizzlies in their shoot-shoot-shoot offence, which ranks fourth in the league in team ppg behind only the fast-paced Suns, Nuggets and Warriors. Funnily enough, that 20.9ppg is exactly the same as he averaged in his 39 games with the Clippers last season and pretty amazingly close to the 20.5ppg he put up in 11 games with the Knicks at the start of last season. 2007-08 with the Knicks was a much poorer 17.6ppg, whilst 2006-07 (his last with the Blazers) was a stat-padding 23.6ppg.

Looking at those same scoring numbers on a per 40 minute basis does not bring anything glaring to light, with his 22.5 points per 40min with the Grizz this season falling a little short of the 23.5 he put up last season.

Where Z-Bo certainly has improved is in his shooting percentages. He is shooting 50.3% from the field and has a true shooting percentage of 55.6% -- both of which are the highest he has shot since his second season in the league. His 80.2% at the free throw line also bests any season percentage since his Portland days. So he is scoring more efficiently, if only marginally.

SHOT LOCATIONS

Oddly, the majority of Randolph's shooting percentages from different locations on the floor have not improved or have not improved markedly, on previous seasons. His 60.0% at the rim is a quality mark, especially considering that he has also increased the number of shots he gets at the rim. This accuracy doesn't beat his 64.0% with the Clips last season, but is better than the numbers he was putting up prior to that.

Looking at his percentages from less than 10 feet (48.1%) and 10-15 feet (30.5%) shows that he has not improved in those areas at all, however he has managed to take less shots from those distances -- surely a sign of a veteran pro, picking and choosing his spots more smartly. He has improved his percentage from 16-23 feet (43.0%) on last season's 37.0%, which is a handy weapon to have as well.

REBOUNDING

Randolph has always been a solid rebounder and this season has been no different. Whilst his defensive rebounding rate has not been as great as he has been in the past, grabbing a 21.8% of defensive rebounds available, he has massively picked up on his offensive rebounding. This season he averages 14.6% of available offensive rebounds, compared to 9.6% with the Clips, 10.9% (2008-09) and 9.0% (2007-08) with the Knicks and 10.0% with the Blazers (2006-07).

No doubt, when it comes to improvements in rebounding and shots at the rim, a large portion of thanks must go to Marc Gasol for clearing out space for Z-Bo. I know that Chris Kaman and Marcus Camby only combined for 93 games last season with the Clippers, but it makes you wonder what they were doing to not help Zach out in the same way.

Randolph's 12.4 rebounds per 40 minutes is in the ballpark of what he has been doing for a long time -- so no great improvements there. However his 4.9 offensive rebounds per 40 minutes was a big improvement and no doubt accounts for his increased shooting percentage at the rim.

 

PASSING

This is an area that Z-Bo has long been accused of failing in. In short, he is known as one of those black holes -- once the ball goes in, it doesn't come back. Not much has changed in that area. His 2.1 assists per 40 minutes in 2009-10 so far is not spectacular for a guy that gets as many touches as he does and it is actually worse than his last few seasons by about half an assist. On the other hand, where he has definitely improved is in his turnovers. His 2.2 turnovers per game (and 2.3 per 40 minutes) is his best performance since his sophomore year in the league -- impressive stuff.

DEFENCE

Another area that Randolph is generally lacking is in stopping his opponents. Nothing much has changed in this respect either. His 0.9 steals, 0.4 blocks and the 0.1 charges drawn per 40 minutes are not impressing anyone and do not show any improvement on previous seasons.

http://www.asternwarning.com/20100128503/articles/nba/analyzing-zach-randolph-statistically.html

 

From Yahoo's Ball Don't Lie

"In his directorial debut, Suns point guard Steve Nash cruised the Santa Monica pier with Baron Davis on a bicycle built for two. It was a smashing success, based upon blogger feedback and links, but as all movie snobs know, a Director's second film is much more important than his first.

Enter "SuperBADge" — a four-minute buddy-cop short, starring Shaquille O'Neal and Alando Tucker as "Thaddeus Thundercastle" and "Billy Ray Badger," respectively. Here's a look at the trailer:

 

I have a man crush on Kevin Love and Al Jefferson "Yes Shaq, I'm just not into you with your tweets and your flop and your rants"

But there is no reason for the Wolves to trade  what will be  one of the most dominating front court line-ups in the West besides Bynum-Gasol. Fourth Quarter Foyle is a natural as a hot shooting SG and combo  guard.

Nash and Barnes are the best things to trade them but they don't have anything worth trading for Nash. Here's a nice breakdown of the salary commitments. They have over 6 million in cap space and won a blind draw with Memphis for fifth place in the lottery, giving them a 7.6 percent chance of landing the top pick. And they have 3 first round picks and 2 second round picks:

As you're probably well aware, the Wolves are sitting on 3 first round picks (most in the league) after Utah thankfully misssed the top 7 of the final standings, and 2 second round picks:

Wolves' pickky bank:

• "Our own pick is the 5th most likely to turn into #1 (a 7.6% chance, to be precise). The worst we can come out is #8 (if three teams with worse odds than us wind up in the top 3).
  
• #18 comes our way via trading Ricky Davis and Mark Blount to Miami (seems unfair in retrospect, doesn't it?)
• #28 is from Boston as part of trading KG.
• #45 and #47 both come from Miami in exchange for Mario Chalmers (we got $2 million in cash as well)."
  
  http://www.canishoopus.com/2009/4/18/843597/looking-ahead-the-assets

Can we trade Barnes as he helps spread the floor with his shooting and he hustles with a second round pick for 1 or 2 for their 18th pick, or 28th pick plus their 2 second round picks?

This is just my view from what I noticed over the last few years. Criticism are helpful but not crudity and insults because I don't believe in that type of behaviour.

1] Suns were or weren't bottom feeders in defence before trading Marion, KT, Bell and Diaw. It’s covered in this thread by someone else. You decide whether there is any merit to this claim:

Suns through the years:

Season W-L PCT Pace Rank Off. Rating Rank Def. Rating Rank
2004-05 62-20 0.756 94.7 1 116.0 1 108.6 17
2005-06 54-28 0.659 94.2 1 113.5 1 107.6 16
2006-07 61-21 0.744 94.2 3 115.7 1 108.0 13
2007-08 55-27 0.671 95.1 4 115.2 2 109.9 17
2008-09 40-34 0.541 94.3 4 115.1 1 113.2 26
Pace = Possessions per 48 minutes
Off. Rat. = Points scored per 100 possessions
Def. Rat. = Points allowed per 100 possessions

Rk. = League Rank

http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2009/4/22/849502/defensive-conspiracy

2] SSOL will never win a ring.

The Suns’ run from 2004-2007 showed us playing deep into the West’s play-offs i.e. finals and semi-finals with key players injured. If you think it’s not a big deal, people are writing off the Celtics and Spurs simply because they lost a key player to injury. Luck and refereeing do win games for teams and it is simply the case our team in the play-offs lacked both. Exhibit: Tim Duncan’s one-in-a-lifetime clutch 3.

3] It’s all D’ Antoni’s fault.

Before we blame the coach for his 7-8 man rotation for 4 years, we should blame the selling of picks that could net us good young talent that could actually break into the rotation. This rotation was also needed for a balanced team in which key players are needed to defend in 3-4 positions like Marion, Bell and Diaw due to the defensive shortcomings of the other players. Btw, I’m also not excusing D Antoni’s tenure as a GM such as his bone-headed signing of Marcus Banks to a ridiculous contract.

3] The Les Undesirables: These players were holding us back and they need to go.

Fans and management fell prey to the desperation trade syndrome while scapegoating players or blowing up locker discontent to cyber astronomical proportions.

    - Marion was a cancer, over-rated and his stats was due to Nash.

    Couldn’t that be the other way around i.e. Nash could focus on his assists and shooting  
    becos Marion helped covered his D? Marion actually scored, rebounded and defended
    harder than anyone on the team, partly because he had to cover for Nash and Amares’
    lack of D. It is perfectly understandable why he was disgruntled by the fact that
    accolades were given to those 2 instead. We are condemning players like Amare for
    wanting to be franchise players because they don’t play D. But even if they do play D, 
    we still condemn them anyway, while shielding favourite players from criticism.
    That’s the cancer of this franchise and we fans are a part of it. We need to stop this.

     - Diaw was overpaid and underperformed.

     An outstanding replacement and role player along the lines of Glen Davis, he is a
     horrible bench player and people also saw him as a franchise player due to his
     ridiculous contract and that he was capable of being another Amare because he
     subbed for him during 1 season and played damn well.

       I would argue that expectations of Diaw were misplaced. Athletic and viable in 4
       positions, Diaw was the back-up PG that the Suns really needed. Take a look at our
       play-off series against the Spurs last season. Diaw’s D and playmaking helped us
       steal games from the Spurs who wanted to blow us away with an insurmountable
       lead. From 2005-2006, Diaw was a fine sub for Nash when he got injured during his
       MVP year. Trading Diaw was really not one of Kerr’s finest moment as he looked
       for scapegoats to distract people for condemning the decisions made by him and
       Porter. > > > Imagine an athletic 6 8 PG with long arms, good court vision and an
       unselfish attitude and no team can match us that well in the PG position. < < <

       - Amare don’t play D and he cannot be our franchise player
       
       He actually plays above average defense i.e. almost 10 rebounds and leading the
       team in blocks. He played like a franchise player in the half season after Shaq came 
       to complement him. This season, Amare was marginalized by Porter and Shaq who
       and Amare’s motivation and play suffered. Other players like Nash, Bell and Diaw
       played poorly as well. I am all for torturing Amare for not playing like a franchise
       player if our system revolves around him, not someone else. But the fact remains our
       defense suffered becos Nash and Shaq still don’t play D and we traded our 4 best
       defensive players within 2 years.

3] We can win by outscoring our opponents.

Against minus .500 teams, we can. Nothing more. And we were already condemning our 2008-2008 Suns team for beating lottery teams and failing to do that against the contenders in the West. Are we fans ready to lower the bar for next season? 

4] Gentry is who we need

Gentry’s head coaching resume is as thin as Porter’s with zero play-off experience. SSOS is merely a patch work solution that allows players to just attack with a minimal concern for defense, which was what they wanted from Porter. Gentry pretty much let the players decide how they will score, as could be seen by Barnes’ horrendous shot selection. My concern was that he did not give them an earful for such behaviour and to remind them that they could passed to a hotter scorer in a team full of scorers. Perhaps he did so because he was only an interim coach but he needs to stop that as a head coach but his lack of play-off experience may hamper his ability to persuade vets in crunch time.

Play-off proven coaches like Tom Thibbodeau should be offered the head coach position. His defensive schemes have helped Boston to a ring and he knows how to balance team play with individual stars. He also needs to have a clear 1-2 year mandate to do what he needs to do to improve this team by restoring a defensive focus and introducing 

5] SSOS is the answer. If so, it’s C plus, not A plus.

Most of the young teams are adopting up tempo offense and they can run us out of court with their youthful athleticism. SSOS also does not address our shortcomings and the best Gentry can do is to throw zones at key players for a limited amount of time. This is a patch work defense at its best due to an utter lack of perimeter defence beyond Grant Hill and a porous interior D.

C plus can become B plus if fans and management realize that SSOS depends on high percentage shots within the paint, rather than chancy threes. It allows us to be less reliant on spreading the floor and tying the team to more than 2 shooters of 3. However, it requires us to have athletic young “pogostick” bigs that can rebound and block well. Amare is a natural for this and Tyson Chandler another great pick. Our SF will need to help defend the perimeter and help out on the weakside. Perhaps Luis Amundson can do the job or Robin Lopez.

5] Nash is a good fit for SSOS? Maybe, maybe not.

Nash’s turnovers were horrible during most of Porter’s season as he is incredibly bad at entry passes in a slowed-down half court offense. His defensive shortcomings were exposed clearly for everyone to see. Nash finally played better after the JRich trade and the management comittment to an up tempo offense.

During Gentry’s tenure, SSOS really gelled during Nash’s absence and culminated in a great lakers win without Nash. The game plan was to score more in the paint as we lack consistent 3-point shooting “Barnes and J Rich I’m looking at you”. And we did well as Grant Hill and LB could handle entry passes as they played in other defensive schemes in their other team. When Nash rejoined the team, the chemistry was off but Nash compensated by taking more shots himself to reduce the need to make entry passes and his attendant turnovers. This made the team even more reliant on Nash to push them over the hump when SSOS is defined by team effort, quick ball movement and athleticism in the paint.

> > > This is the key reason why I advocate moving Nash, besides his lack of fire in key games and D in all games. If not, SSOS will end up being a SSOL wannabe depending on hot perimeter shooting and as Nash is the only 3-point shooter, his shooting will make us or  break us every game. I just don’t feel like gambling any more seasons away. 2007-2009 are 2 seasons too many to do more of the same.  < < <

Sacramento Kings (17-65)

Local Optimism: None. At. All.

Case for Improvement: Kevin Martin (24.6 PPG) missed 31 games due to injury. Young big men Spencer Hawes (11.4 PPG and 7.1 RPG) and Jason Thompson (11.1 and 7.4) are quickly improving. Undrafted rookie Bobby Brown and seldom-used Ike Diogu showed by the end of the year that they could be valuable bench players next season. Your little sister could be their coach and it would be an improvement. They are guaranteed a top-4 draft pick, so they’ve already narrowed their scouting appropriately, not to mention they have the best chance of landing Blake Griffin.

However… They’re bad. Like really bad. Opponents shot a league-high .483 against them, including .406 from deep. They desperately need a point guard, but is Ricky Rubio the answer?

Verdict: No chance of playoffs. A steady point guard, a healthy Martin, and continued improvement in the frontcourt (especially defensively) could get the Kings 20-27 wins in 2009-2010.

Phoenix Suns (46-36)

Local Optimism: Not so bright. Fans want GM Steve Kerr to pack his bags and for the rebuilding to begin, but there are still some people who think the Suns should/can make the playoffs next year. A much higher percentage would like to see Phoenix clean house, starting with Kerr.

Case for Improvement: Steve Nash can still shoot and pass with the best of them. Shaquille O’Neal, Jason Richardson, and Amare Stoudemire are more-than-capable scorers. Interim Coach Alvin Gentry will hopefully be signed as the guy and continue his dedication to the running game they were built for.

However… Is anyone willing, able, or healthy enough to play defense? Most of the key pieces are getting old (Nash, O’Neal), have injury issues (Stoudemire), or are free agents (Grant Hill, Matt Barnes). This roster could be totally retooled next year, necessitating time to gel and find an identity.

Verdict: Possibility of playoffs if Gentry gets the Suns back to being the Suns on offense. Without improvements in the D, however, they could end up around .500 next season. If they truly are a team that’s strictly rebuilding next year, expect a massive drop in the win column.

http://www.emptythebench.com/2009/04/21/western-conference-playoffs-outsiders/#more-376

==========

<strong> Suns should trade Amare if they get Blake. But Nash will probably need to be a key part of this trade. </strong>

"The Griz are armed with three draft picks and more money to spend under the salary cap than 90 percent of their NBA competitors.

Indications are that their summer dealings won't simply come down to whether they win the draft lottery next month.

They are slotted sixth in the draft, and also own Orlando's 27th pick in the first round and will have the 35th selection in the second round.

But the Griz could also have $15 million to $20 million to spend in free agency, giving the franchise the most flexibility it's enjoyed since joining the league in 1995.

In short, Memphis has more resources than ever to get better.

Just add good judgment and stir.

"We have a number of directions we can go in this offseason," Wallace said.

Ask coach Lionel Hollins, and he'll tell you the team's needs mimic a grocery list of necessities. The Griz need a more physical starting power forward, plus backups at point guard, shooting guard, small forward and center."

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/apr/19/grizzlies-have-tools-to-get-better/

=====================

We can trade

SG "J Rich becos I miss your D more than your 3-sixty"

SF " becos Barnes u gotta go. Hill u really gotta stay"

Back-up Centre in Lopez "he needs to play with rooks not vets who he is constantly being awed of"


What we don't want

1] Gaye is over rated on offense and not that keen on D. Also untouchable

2] Mayo is untouchable

So who do we want along with all the picks they have?

How can we tank when we have sold most of all picks in the next future?

Will suns fans be happy with a first round or second round exit without condemning the team as incapable of winning a ring next season?

Seven Seconds Or Less

SSOL was balanced as we had at least 3 good perimeter defenders every season e.g: JJ, Marion, Diaw, Bell. Essentially, we force people to score in the paint for 2 points against our threes. George Karl and other coaches have often picked up on that. And Suns normally lose when our 3s ain't falling.

Indirectly SSOL helps to cover our defensive softness in the post and paint and the fire escape at our PG position with our strong perimeter D and forcing people to play faster and ignore their own defense to catch up with our 3 point shooting.

Exhibit A: Immediate side effect: After Shaq trade, our pacing and scoring suffered as we were a 3-point shooter short and we have to go begging from the likes of Brent Barry... sigh.

Seven Seconds Or Shaq

SSOS strengthens our offense at the expense of exposing our defense shotcomings for any discerning coach and able floor general. Our porous defense necessitates our players to play a "Whack-a-Mole" on cutters and slashers when they penetrate as and when. We lack perimeter defenders who can control the path to the basket to where our bigs are there to alter or block the shots.

SSOS scores more becos we go for more high % shots in the paint "Barnes are u listening" but with good shooters like Nash and Dragic, J Rich "not so much", Barnes "sigh" we have an inside and outside scoring game, thanks also to Shaq, LB and GH.

However this is done at the expense of a poor outside and inside defense.

We desperately need defensive-minded ahtletic bigs "like Hornet's 7 footer" and someone who is quick on post play at both ends.

We also need cutters and slashers who can create their own shots be it 2 or 3s and pass well "Diaw or Odom would be nice".

Look SSOS is a study of patchwork linking ill-fitting skill sets. Playing zone at intervals is only to cover our shortcomings for as long as we can and most of the time they can't play it for that long as our vets are ageing.

Most compliment Gentry on going deep into the bench but it may also show that he was still tinkering with the best possible line-up as no one proved that critical or that outstanding in the positions they had to play.

My question is whether we stick to this patch-up SSOL wannabe i.e. SSOS to win big in the regular season.

Or really blow it up to build a team who can survive the play-offs?

Your call.

We Suns fans better learn the virtue of patience becos u can forget about seeing a championship team or a play-off team that can go deep for the next 5-10 years.

We brought this on ourselves.

What are our options?

1] Tank for the next few seasons? Bad idea, we have no picks left and no super star will want to come to such a team.

2] Try to get into play-offs? We may manage that but we will be like Denver aiming to avoid a first round exit for years.

3] Get a better coach? We should aim for Boston’s Tom Thibodeau while Gentry takes assistant coach. He has the ring to convince the bets to listen. Gentry is way too nice as can be seen by his way of handling Barnes. He’s like George Karl before this season. But what are our chances of bidding for him when as many as 8-9 teams are looking for better coaches and many have young talent worth grooming. Our best talent is one-eyed gorilla who thinks the sky’s the limit for his B-rated rap career “oops, Amare I love ya but sometimes I’ can’t keep defending ya”

4] Trade for picks with our vets? That’s the only way we can do it. But can we fans handle that and not lose the faith in our team? Our church here doesn’t seem that big on believers. I see just high rollers and poor gamblers…

5] Build a Euro Team on the cheap with Euro players. Except Greece, most Euro basketball teams are hurting and we may attract good Euro talent who may want to try for lucrative endorsement deals.

All of them are high risk or may be unfeasible. But what are our other choices?

.... especially when I read the Knicksters commenting on how well he would play with the New York Knicks.

Funny thing is that I didn't feel this way when they traded Marion, Bell and Diaw, even though I question the sense of it.

Guess fans shouldn't try to go into Sports Management...

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/rumors/post/Look-for-Duhon-to-come-off-bench-for-Knicks-next;_ylt=Amn42lAgD.qWAMbyie3t2LEQmNIF?urn=nba,155226

 

Spurs’ Ginobili out for rest of season

SAN ANTONIO (AP)—The San Antonio Spurs’ Big Three is down to two.

Manu Ginobili will miss the rest of the season and playoffs for the Spurs after tests Monday revealed that his troubled right ankle has gotten worse.

It was the news San Antonio dreaded after Ginobili sat out the fourth quarter in Sunday’s blowout loss at Cleveland, and leaves the Spurs limping toward the postseason in search of a fifth NBA title since 1999.

Ginobili missed 19 games after the All-Star break to heal a stress reaction in his right distal fibula. He returned March 25, but tests showed the stubborn injury is now a fracture.

The Spurs said Ginobili wasn’t expected to need surgery. But either way, Ginobili is out and the Spurs are hobbling with less than two weeks before the playoffs begin.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AvM1sdrRb5vdrCplPt.KeSG8vLYF?slug=ap-ginobiliout&prov=ap&type=lgns

Trades won't help us but change of management will.

No one seems to realise that any future trades may end up making out team even more fragile and unstable.

Trade Shaq to Cleveland for hsi last chance at a ring and get back a late first round pick and Hibbert only means SSOS needs to be reworked as we lack a dominant big man. Besides Amare, do we have another forward who can help bolster our post play? Nope.

I have low hopes for "Foul-like-there's-no-tomorrow" Lopez for the Suns will truly have no hope tomorrow for the way he plays. Hard fouls, as advocated by Shaq only means Lopez's stay on court will be shorter than ever.

Trade Nash and we lack a seasoned guard whom the veterans will listen to, though our defense won't be as porous.

Trade Amare and we have nothing rebuild around.

Trade Bell and Diaw "wait we already done that" so that NAIVE SUNS FANS can continue drinking the kool-aid that Porter's system was sabotaged by locker room dissenters and that a "shot in the arm" trade is needed "wait we already tried that".

Trades may need to be done but they are not answers to the crap situation our beloved Suns are in.

I would rather we blow up this team. Fans stop buying tickets. Drive the value of the franchise down and start an online petition for the Coelango to pick up this franchise cheap and build it up again.

Sarver's empire is built on property and finance, which is hard hit by the times. He won't have the resources to buid up this team anyway.

Kerr's a good man but he's only a public relations man who has avoided taking responsibility for making decisions that caused the West's best team 1.5 seasons ago to become it's ninth best.

Both of them need to go or the sordid tale of selling picks, dumping/trashing good players, signing wrong talent, not signing right talent will make the Suns the laughing stock of NBA.

I'm in Tokyo right now and Japanese fans are abandoning the Suns like droves. They don't like the behaviour of the fans during the "trade Amare mania" and they certainly like the management even less.

It's not just the management and players needs to change. We fans need to change as well to create an environment that star players will want to come and play in.

By John Schuhmann, NBA.com
Posted Apr 2 2009 12:25PM

"The Suns' defense really started to go downhill when Kerr traded his best defender, Shawn Marion, to Miami in order to acquire Shaq last February.

Say what you want about Marion's attitude in the locker room and how he expressed joy upon being traded from the best team in the West (at the time) to the worst team in the East. The fact is that he's one of the best defenders in the league and can guard 4 1/2 positions (not all centers, but some of them). It's no coincidence that Miami's defense got worse when they traded Marion this February to Toronto in the Jermaine O'Neal deal.

Kerr compounded the Marion mistake when he traded his second-best defender, Raja Bell, in December's deal to acquire Jason Richardson. And when Gentry took over as coach after the All-Star break and promised to return the Suns to their seven-seconds-or-less ways, the team apparently took that as a directive to stop caring about defense at all. At least Porter, while he was lacking the proper personnel, made some acknowledgement that in order to be a successful team, you have to get stops."

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/john_schuhmann/04/01/suns_demise.numbers.game.20090401/index.html

The Jrich trade is a mistake. We lack so few defenders...