(Barry Gossage/NBAE/ Getty Images)
So, the mercifully short pre-season preparation for the regular season is over, and the interminably long regular season preparation for the post-season will officially get underway in San Antonio this Wednesday.
And frankly, I can hardly wait. For the post-season, I mean. I say this because we won’t know for sure until then whether Year One of going back to thinking INSIDE the box after four years of exhilarating – albeit ultimately somewhat unfulfilling – thinking outside the box, will work or not.
Although a variety of ailments and the understandable trauma of undergoing a personality transplant have made analysis of this pre-season more perilous than usual, one thing we can definitely see is that Coach Terry fully intends to keep his new administration’s pledge for more commitment to defense and a deeper rotation.
Ever since Coach Mike re-invented the Suns and tried to re-invent pro basketball, it’s always been about the post-season for the Suns. No matter what they did in the regular season (and what they usually did was average some 59 wins a year and delight not only their own fans but fans all around the league with their all out offensive blitz), it’s been all about the playoffs.
No matter how tasty the pudding was, the only proof was always in the playoffs. And Porter’s mission, simply stated, is to use the regular season to get the team into a more conventional playoff mode than it has been – without losing too much entertainment value or ground while doing it.
Although the offense is still in search of an identity, it’s obvious there will be more set plays and more looking inside than heretofore seen. And it will likely be several weeks before we see exactly what Coach Terry has in mind at that end of the floor. In fact, the way things have been going, it may be several weeks before he has everybody on the same floor, let alone on the same page.
Because the Suns are still getting used to a new system, they have already passed up more open shots in eight pre-season games than they did last year in 82 regular season games. (Yes, so the stat is bogus; but the point is valid.) And that, you may be sure, will be corrected. Coach Terry may favor more set offense but he is definitely no fan of over passing.
So what can we say about the “State of the Suns” as they embark on yet another search for the NBA version of the Holy Grail (which they have found even more elusive than the original)?
Well, first a couple of generalities:
- Their present is not nearly as bleak as the experts who have predicted they’ll be lucky to sneak into the playoffs as an eighth seed would have you believe. The talent is there for another 55-or-so wins, and no worse than a fourth or fifth seed in the West. If they slip any lower it will be because of lack of health, not lack of ability. And the fragility of some of their key players is admittedly a concern.
- Their future is also not nearly as bleak as those who suggest it’s this year or never for what they see as a team on its creaky last legs. Translation: There WILL be life after Steve Nash and Shaquille O’Neal. Their best years are undoubtedly behind those two, but Amar’e’s are just as undoubtedly ahead of him. And as long as they have him to build around, they’ll be competitive.
It should also be noted that while the best of Nash is behind him, the pretty darn good of him is still very much here.
Going back to the future for a moment, center Robin Lopez and point guard Goran Dragic appear to have one. In fact, Nash’s ankle problems have helped accelerate Dragic’s progress because of the extra minutes that came his way.
Moving right along, Shaq looks as good as he could reasonably be expected to, given his advancing years and declining mobility. Raja Bell is still Raja Bell, Leandro Barbosa is still Leandro Barbosa, and Grant Hill is as smoothly effective as ever. Another point for the plus side, six turnovers last night aside, Boris Diaw has been looking more like the Boris of old than old Boris.
One other challenge for Coach Terry, of course, will be to keep Nash and Shaq healthy, but he’s already indicated he plans to give the latter more rest and the former less minutes.
Also a definite plus other plus is that because of the very the dirt that’s being shoveled on the Suns, they are now in the position of having to prove the experts wrong. And as even the most casual citizens of Planet Orange can tell you, they have always been better at proving the experts wrong than proving them right.
Furthermore, while the West is again loaded, San Antonio has concerns over Manu Ginobli’s ankle and is not getting any younger in key spots itself, and center Andrew Bynum of the Lakers has yet to prove he can be the dominating force over the long haul as he was in the short one before going down with an injury last year.
The bottom line: The Suns are not all that good yet, but they will be. And their title chances are better, always health permitting, than you (and especially “THEY”) might think.
