Ball or Nuthin' » Suns

Knicks Better Not Forget Their Meal Ticket

T Lamont — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 16:36:35 +0000

Amar’e Stoudemire has to be holding his breath yet again.

As anticipated, Carmelo Anthony thoroughly enjoyed the spotlight in his Madison Square Garden debut as a member of the New York Knicks. Anthony finished the night with 27 points and 10 rebounds, as the home team triumphed 114-108.

But, in typical ‘Melo fashion, the newcomer was far from efficient – taking 25 field goal attempts in the process. Fellow All-Star Stoudemire had the next highest number of shots – a mere 13. Of course, Wednesday night was all about Anthony coming back home. But against a team with only one true interior defender (Andrew Bogut), Stoudemire’s presence should have been more domineering.

However, it’s not like A-Stat hasn’t been taken for granted before. In Phoenix, he was consistently on the trading block when the deadline came around. The Suns knew they weren’t going to give him the money that he wanted. In a nutshell, they didn’t treat him like a major impact player. And after a deep playoff run last season, Steve Nash and company have been a mediocre mess this year.

So far this season, Stoudemire has received nothing respect and admiration for the MVP-type effort that he gave for New York prior to Anthony’s arrival. But if New York aspires to any level of long-term success, it must ensure that Stoudemire is not solely viewed as a secondary offensive option. The Eastern Conference is loaded with All-Star caliber perimeter players, but the truly elite teams are able to establish some form of dominance from within the interior (outside of that team from South Beach, of course). Orlando, Boston, Chicago and Atlanta all have inside ruggedness that balances out their level of perimeter skill.

Anthony was the center of attention in the Garden on Wednesday night.

Of all of the interior options on the East’s best teams, Stoudemire trumps them all from a standpoint of offensive completeness. Amar’e has shown the ability to attack the rim with ferocity and nail the free-throw line extended jumper – and, in fact, he has shown even more range than in prior seasons.

The bottom line is that we all understand the love fest with ‘Melo. The New York native returns home to help elevate the hopes of the locals. It’s a great story.

But if the Knicks are aspiring toward a happy ending, they had better not fail to realize that their resurgence began on the shoulders of Amar’e Stoudemire.

Magic Make Pressure-Packed Trades for Turkoglu, Arenas

T Lamont — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 04:19:26 +0000

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One week before Christmas, the Orlando Magic were feeling the pressure.

Two seasons ago, the Magic made a surprise appearance in the NBA Finals. That year, Orlando dispensed of two teams who fans gave a better chance of advancing to the Finals – the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics (albeit without Kevin Garnett, who was injured at the time). The team from South Florida did it with relative ease, earning a championship date with the Lakers. Although they were unable to cash in on the ultimate prize, a line had been drawn in the sand. The expectations were high, and fans and analysts began to tag the Magic as a franchise to reckon with for the forseeable future.

But what happened next? The business of the National Basketball Association took priority over the continued development of the franchise.

Much of the team’s dismantling came at the hands of Hedo Turkoglu. He was the driving force behind Orlando’s postseason surge in 2009 and, predictably, was in the final year of his contract. What Turkoglu did was no different from what players do frequently – outperform their normal standard level of play, and make a splash in the free-agent market. And the Turkish import did just that, landing an overpriced, 5-year, $53-million deal with the Toronto Raptors.

The Magic, realizing that they now had a playmaker void on their roster, traded for the athletically talented, poorly driven Vince Carter. While he and Dwight Howard might have been a match made in video game heaven, the promise that general manager Otis Smith hoped for never materialized. Orlando perhaps experienced its worse nightmare – that their decision to let Turkoglu walk had turned around and bit them on the backside.

Yesterday, they banked on yet another hope – that the franchise could rekindle the magic that existed when Turkoglu was on its roster. Orlando made two notable trades, and let’s take a look at the potential impact of each one:

Magic get Turkoglu, J-Rich and Earl Clark for Vinsanity, Pietrus and Gortat

Jason Richardson, doing what he does best these days...

Otis Smith gets his man (Turkoglu), but the cost was way too steep. Let’s just assume that Turkoglu was still playing at the level that he did when he left Orlando. In that case, this deal would be understandable. However, even if Orlando got the old Turk back, what the Magic coughed up for him may have still been considered a bit too much.

At this point, we’d be safe to ignore the unproven Earl Clark in this transaction. In addition to Turkoglu, the Suns gave up Jason Richardson for the combination of Vince Carter, Mickael Pietrus and Marcin Gortat. Carter and Richardson are high-flying, 3-point shooting scorers who have very similar styles…and in the same offense, should produce very similar results. Right now, that looks like a fairly even swap. But the deal gets sticky from here.

Turkoglu for his former teammates Pietrus and Gortat? That’s basically trading one skill set for another. In the long run the Magic have to ask themselves “do we have anyone on our roster who will attempt to play tough defense against a player like LeBron James?” They did until yesterday. Or perhaps they need to ask themselves “do we have another capable big who knows our system to back up Howard?” Once again, they traded that person away. Pietrus, in particular, is an effective two-way player. His long-range ability also adds a great fit as yet another floor spacer, which is one of the biggest assets on a team built around a bruising center. But since Stan Van Gundy had limited playoff success last year without Turkoglu, he may be willing to part ways with the team’s existing offense to adopt a different scheme. Seeing that Hedo was money on pick-and-rolls, the team may revert to more movement.

Magic get Gilbert Arenas and send away Rashard Lewis

The universe – or at least those in the Washington D.C. metro area – were wondering when the other shoes was going to drop for the Wizards. Washington finally got rid of the high-priced shoe, and they managed to get a fairly good return (as far as talent level goes). So from Washington’s perspective this deal was a must because it allows them to get help at the small forward position (and based on the matchups, possibly power forward), while enabling sharpshooter Nick Young to get more guaranteed burn.

It’s a little more baffling from Orlando’s perspective. Van Gundy will need to quickly decipher how, when and where he will play Agent Zero. Orlando has more traditional positional players filling the point guard (Jameer Nelson) and shooting guard (Jason Richardson?, J.J. Redick)spots, therefore, it remains to be seen as to whether Arenas will be providing firepower off the bench. But one thing about Gilbert – he will be much more assertive in key moments than VInce Carter could ever dream of. And that may be the single attribute that was imperative to the Magic.

Can Arenas' game-changing abilities make Orlando forget about Rashard Lewis' big shots?

Overall Assessment: Orlando may have hurt itself. Over the past year and a half, there’s no evidence that Hedo Turkoglu even remembers how well he played when he was a member of the Magic. Can he really pick up where he left of at the drop of a hat?

The separate deals seems to be solely focused on one aspect of the game – offense. Neither Arenas, Richardson nor Turkoglu pride themselves on defense, yet they got rid of two tough guys who did – Pietrus and Gortat. The new offensively minded players come into town to complement a roster that is already heavily offensive. Including Matt Barnes over the summer, Orlando has now parted way with three key defensive-minded role players.

Is it any wonder why Van Gundy can’t return this team to greatness? Can a team really expect to dethrone the Celtics without rugged defenders? How would Orlando plan to thwart the superior athleticism displayed by the Heat’s trio of James, Wade and Bosh?

With these deals Orlando may have wielded their wands, but it’ll take some real magic for this new unit to achieve the desired goal of an NBA Championship.

Stoudemire Needs A Reality Check

T Lamont — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 19:46:05 +0000

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Do we all believe that Amar’e Stoudemire is one of the most talented bigs in the NBA? Yes.

Do we all believe that Amar’e Stoudemire works hard every game, and plays with a consistent sense of urgency? Yes (although the Lakers made him look rather human at times).

Do we all believe that Amar’e Stoudemire is worth a max contract?

If you said “yes”, you’d better think again.

But it’s definitely not going to matter what we think. Here’s what STAT (his self-imposed acronym-based nickname meaning “Standing Tall and Talented”) thinks:

“The most-important factor of playing for an organization is to be able to be totally comfortable and give them 100 percent, and that’s what I’ve done my whole career, so it’s only right to look for a maximum contract.”

Stoudemire always plays with major aggression on the offensive end of the court.

And we all know that somebody is going to give him what he wants. Somebody being the Clippers, Knicks…folks, Stoudemire is going to get paid. As for him staying in Phoenix (or in a similar winning environment), it seems as if he could care less about that:

“We got the fans excited about basketball again, so what I don’t want is for me to have to leave and the fans are now not quite as excited about the game here. I want to keep the hype. I want to keep the fans involved. I want to keep everybody ecstatic about the Phoenix Suns.”

“I’m just waiting on them (the Suns). We’re just being patient. I guarantee there’s a lot of interest, just from the fact of the trade rumors that were going on that (teams) were possibly making trades to get me. Now there’s a chance to get me without even trading off players? I’m pretty sure there’s going to be a recruiting frenzy.”

Amar’e, you have a decision to make. Go to Los Angeles (Clippers). Get your max money. Get exposed for being a flawed, incomplete player. Lose to your ex-teammates several times a season. Lose to every team in the NBA several times a season.

Or humble yourself instead. Play for a contender. Take less money than you think you are worth. Use your stregths to push a good team over the top. Keep your name relevant among the best power forwards in the league.

The choice is yours.

Lakers Beat Suns, Return to NBA Finals

T Lamont — Sun, 30 May 2010 05:09:06 +0000

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Prior to Saturday’s Game 6, Phoenix’s Steve Nash guaranteed a win by his team. But Nash made one critical mistake.

The team that he guaranteed a win against had Kobe Bryant on its roster.

The Lakers earned another trip to the NBA Finals by besting the Suns, 111-103.

Bryant went off again tonight, scoring 37 points on 12-25 shooting. Kobe did what he’s been known to do – hit big shots late in the fourth quarter. He nailed three tough shots during this period – including a free-throw line runner, and two deep fade-away jumpers from the wing.

After his much ballyhooed shot selection in Game 5, Artest proved that he is no stranger to putting the ball in the basket. Artest capitalized on Alvin Gentry’s gameplan (to yield open shots to him) to score 25 points, hitting four of his seven three point attempts. Los Angeles had minimal production from other team members, but they cleaned up on the boards (+10 advantage over Phoenix) which led to eight more field goal attempts than their opponents.

What a difference a year has made for Bryant and Artest.

Suns leader and two-time MVP Nash (21 points and 9 assists) extended his infamous streak of playoff appearances without making it to the Finals – it now stands at 118 games, which is the highest in NBA history. A notable fact about tonight’s contest was that Nash only played four minutes in the final quarter. The flow of the game seemed to fit into Goran Dragic’s style of play (he had made a couple of big plays to keep the Suns in the hunt), so he played for the majority of the quarter.

Amar’e Stoudamire struggled from the field, but made it to the line 15 times to push his point total up to 27 points. But as we’ve seen before in this series, Amar’e didn’t get the job done on the glass. Four rebounds in over forty-three minutes of action from a power forward is not going to cut it against the Lakers’ frontcourt.

The Suns had a few others who made significant contributions in Game 6, but the Lakers were simply able to build a good lead and do just enough down the stretch to keep the Suns at bay.

In the end, the Suns had too much to overcome to pull this series out. After the first two games, the Lakers had firmly established that it was going to be an uphill battle for Phoenix – and, indeed it was.

Lakers Win Crucial Game 5 on Ron Artest Putback

T Lamont — Fri, 28 May 2010 04:28:35 +0000

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Redemption was so sweet for Ron Artest.

The off-season acquisition has experienced many peaks and valleys throughout the season. And tonight’s events unfolded in a manner consistent with Artest’s Los Angeles tenure.

Steve Nash did all that he could to give the Suns a chance in Game 5.

Artest took an ill-advised, quick shot – when he could have took ample time off of the game clock – when the Lakers were attempting to hold onto a three-point advantage. But the defensively-skilled forward grabbed the offensive rebound from a badly-missed field goal attempt from Kobe Bryant, and used his upper-body strength to muscle it into the basket giving L.A. a 103-101 victory.

The Lakers, who at one time in the game led by 18 points, saw the Suns chip away at their lead throughout the fourth quarter. But it was Los Angeles who held on for a win in Game 5.

Tonight’s game was full of top-notch, star-level performances. Kobe Bryant filled the stat sheet with 30 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists. Steve Nash led Phoenix with 29 points and 11 assists.

With different Lakers (Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom) making contributions late in the fourth quarter, it was Nash who was keeping the Suns afloat down the stretch. On a few occasions where the Lakers switched on pick-and-rolls, Nash went one-on-one against Gasol with great success. He was able to stick a few pull-up jumpers and dropped off an assist to Amar’e Stoudamire in the key late possessions.

In the process, Ron Artest took a long jumper with a minute left in regulation and missed. The rebound was long and came right back to him. But instead of using the opportunity to burn some time off of the clock (there were 56 seconds left in the game and 22 seconds left on the shot clock), Artest – who said he was ‘going for the back-breaker’ – launched a trey that was off the mark.

The misses set up a Phoenix possession which saw them attempt three triples. Steve Nash clanked a quick pull-up three; Jason Richardson bricked a wide-open three; and then, finally, J-Rich smashed a three off of the backboard that went in to tie the contest at 101 with 3.5 seconds remaining in regulation.

Of course, it was Kobe time. On the subsequent inbound play, Bryant received the ball deep on the wing and shot a fade-away triple with two defenders in his face. Kobe’s shot was horribly short, but Artest didn’t assume that the shot was going to go down.

Ron Artest always gives his best effort on both ends of the floor.

Artest then made the play that, perhaps, saved his face tonight.

The Lakers were able to get a couple of big contributions which made a huge impact on their ability to win tonight. Derek Fisher scored 22 points, and made many clutch shots late in the fourth. Lamar Odom was alive and active once again at Staples, putting up 17 points, 13 assists and 4 assists.

Give the Suns big-time credit for not throwing in the towel tonight. They had seven players score in double figures. Stoudamire had 19, and Channing Frye had a brilliant performance with 14 points (3 treys) and 10 boards off the bench.

Phoenix’s performance should have them encouraged for Game 6. But Alvin Gentry better make sure that the Suns don’t rest on what they did tonight, and go home to Phoenix expecting to win. Phoenix knows that L.A. is not a team to be taken lightly away from home.

Expect another tough battle on Saturday night.