The 4-Point Play

Just some quick observations so far:

1) Chemistry is playing a major factor in the standings so far this season. Some teams who are normally very good have been rent apart by injury and lineup changes:

The poster-team for this would have to be the Suns. 2 years ago they were a running team that relied on the Nash-to-Stoudemire pick-and-roll; everything fed off that.

Last year, with Amare out, they turned into a motion offense that utilized fantastic spacing and sublime ball handling.

The emergence of Leandro Barbosa, Raja Bell, and Boris Diaw, along with Kurt Thomas, were big reasons why the Suns went to the WCF’s last season.

This year Diaw decided that after he got his contract he would splurge in the “twinkee” aisle of his local grocer and came into camp looking like a French Charles Barkley.

Stoudemire has been on a roller coaster ride to recovery from knee surgery, and yet the team needs his interior presence.

Trying to mix and match all the talent on the team has been one hell of a chore. Clearly the team hasn’t figured it out. The offense will always be decent because of the sheer talent and because Steve Nash has broken offense down into micro-pieces which he has learned to construct into something resembling art.

Defense is where the problem lies because that takes players understanding a concept, covering for each other, and knowing the roles of everyone on the team.

The plan going forward must be to start Amare Stoudemire WITH Kurt Thomas. The days of Boris Diaw starting need to end. It’s vital that the team rebounds better and defends the paint better and you can’t do that with a guy like Diaw.

Secondly, they need to figure out if the tenacity of Bell or the quickness of Barbosa is a better option on the perimeter defense. My hunch is Bell is the perimeter linchpin, however with the way the rules are interpreted now it’s clear that defense is becoming a speed skill. As an aside, Barbosa leads the team in overall +/-, which means it’s very hard to justify benching him at this point.

Either way, I think the Suns will get it together once all their players get acclimated to the “new news” vis a vis starting positions and bench rotations.

Other observations-

-Boston and NY, once proud franchises, are in total shambles. Both have some quality young talent, but I fear that both have horrific coaches that get less out of that talent than a dead llama bloating in the sun.

-Worst team currently that will make the playoffs:
Miami. Currently 3-4, but are being outscored by more than any team in the league. They’ll rebound.

-Best team currently that will miss the playoffs:
Orlando Magic. Currently 5-3, I have little faith that they will hold on to their spot. It will be interesting to see if the 2 early season surprises out east (Magic and Hawks) can make it to the dance.