Dunk Base

Written by Josh Clikeman and edited by Jason Rubin

No, not the movie…I’m talking the Phoenix Suns.  As Suns fans know all too well, last season was pretty disappointing.  The fans were not pleased, to say the least, with missing the playoffs.  But as it seems, neither were the players.  Last year for the Suns was a train wreck lead by coach, Terry Porter, “Captain Shaq” and a one-eyed Amare’. Fortunately, some good came from it, though.  Earl Clark seems to have plenty of potential even if he is something of a project and the Suns were able to get some cap-relief with the buyouts of both Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic.

The Suns have been lacking a reliable three-point shooter that spread the floor since the Shaq for Marion trade.  They now also need a defensive anchor since shipping Shaq out to Cleveland and a go to play such as the pick ‘n roll.  However, since the start of the season, the Seven Seconds Or Less (SSOL) method is molding back into form.  Channing Frye has stepped in and has been a monster from downtown, shooting an exceptional 13-20 through the first three games of the season and has helped the team reach an astounding league-leading 52.4%.

This is an major improvement compared to a successful, high-powered offensive team such as the 2006 Suns.  That team lead the league with by shooting 39.9% from the three-point line.  It is doubtful that the current incarnation of the Suns will keep this 50% + three point shooting up, but this major perimeter-based outside shooting threat is what the Suns have been missing the past few seasons.

One of their other problems has been their poor defense.  Shawn Marion and Raja Bell were great defensive players for the Suns.  Marion, in particular, was extremely athletic and long, allowing him the ability to guard the 3, 4 and 5 positions.  Bell, in comparison, played very good lock down defense that was able to cover Steve Nash’s defensive liabilities.  And while other players on the team had good individual defensive abilities, the unit as a whole did not mesh particularly well.  However, they were significantly better defensively than last season’s team.

The Suns have some things to be happy about defensively, though.  Grant hill, also recently known as “Benjamin Button”, Lou Amundson and Jared Dudley have been playing solid defense as of late and have really brought energy to the team.  This season the Suns appear to have improved quite a bit defensively as seen with the recent Phoenix/Minnesota game.  Jason Richardson has stepped up his defensive game and Grant Hill still putting up a great defensive effort at 37 years of age.  Even Amare’ Stoudemire, despite his slow offensive start has been displaying a much great defensive effort.  However, the Suns really need to step up their rebounding game.

Last season’s playoff-less campaign can really be attributed to the loss of Amare towards the end of the season.  Shaq was also not the best fit with Amare and they clashed quite a bit offensively.  And even Jason Richardson has difficulty getting used to a new system.  But with the additions of Earl Clark and Channing Frye in addition to better defined roles for the Suns, things are really look up this season.  Their offense has really flourished.

The NBA is a tough league and elite teams such as the Lakers, Celtics, Spurs, Magic and Cavs have all improved.  Even the middle of the pack teams such as the Raptors, Mavericks and Trail Blazers have made strong offseason moves.  But this Phoenix team is seriously being overlooked.  Don’t be surprised if the Suns put up a greater effort than expected this season.  They are certainly a team on the rise and can contend with the best of them.

The above article was written by Josh Clikeman and edited by Jason Rubin.

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