Opening Thoughts

by TexSUN on Oct 1, 2007 7:35 AM MDT in Suns News Comment 18 comments

For fans, the season doesn't truly start until November 1, but for the Suns, their work for the 2007-08 season begins today with the annual media session. Of course, for most of the Suns, their work has been unofficially ongoing for the past month, but with Shawn Marion back in town, this will be the first day for everyone to be there, including new Sun Brian Skinner who is supposed to sign his deal today. No doubt there will be lots of video from the media session on Suns.com. (Update: There's a webcast on Suns.com today at noon Pacific/3pm Eastern). In the meantime, here are a few reasons to start getting excited about the upcoming season (at the risk of jinxing everything, of course):

The Suns have a rejuvenated and motivated Grant Hill, who seems eager to recapture his youth and help the Suns capture their first ring. Everything I have read about him so far has been 100% positive. It sounds like he has been working his tail off all summer to be ready and healthy for a championship run. Be sure to check out the diary by jasonsuns1 for more about Hill.
There are two rookies on the team who have spent the summer working out with Steve Nash, and traveling the world with him playing in charity games. Both of them look like they'll know exactly what to do with those perfect alley-oop passes Nash likes to throw.
The Suns have reason to hope that a trimmed-down Boris Diaw will have a season more like 2005-06 than 2006-07. He even took Suns trainer Erik Phillips with him to Europe.
Mike D'Antoni has been quoted as saying he wants the team to have fun this year, and fun for them means fun for us as fans too.
We really have a great group of guys on this team. If you didn't think so before, how about now when you're reading about how Andrei Kirilenko's teammates in Utah are talking about him, vs. the quotes from our guys about Marion like the one from Steve Nash in the top right sidebar? If any team can recover from the kind of public laundry-airing perpetrated on the Suns last week, it's these guys.
By all reports our guys are motivated to win it all this year (well, except perhaps for Marion, who's likely to be motivated for a different reason). Despite having four new players coming on board, they've been practicing together and getting to know each other for over a month. I said all last season that if the rest of the team had been as "lasered-in" on winning a championship as Nash seemed to be, there would have been no stopping them. This year, we may get to find out if that was right.

Those are just a few reasons to be excited about the upcoming eight months of basketball. I'm sure more will come out in the media session today, and hopefully in the comments to this post as well. Since this blog has been described as a virtual sports bar by my predecessor, let's make a virtual toast to kick off the season. Cheers!

Poll

What has you most excited about the upcoming season?

Grant Hill's arrival

42 votes

The rookies

10 votes

Boris Diaw back in shape

10 votes

D'Antoni's promise of fun

7 votes

The voluntary workouts and early motivation

15 votes

84 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs | Comment 18 comments

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Comments

hey...cheers to the Suns for this coming year...

I liked reading the Utah link about Williams and A.K. Wow, I'm curious, now that Marion is here, if he's similar and leaves practice (one of the first), etc. I've read multiple times, that Marion is really an amazing player, but he hasn't worked super hard on any off season to improve himself, like his shooting or DRIBBLING, unlike Amare. Amare has been working on all sorts of things during his off seasons, that 12-16 foot jump shot he nails so often, that wasn't there 3+ years ago, not like now. To be fair to Marion, can anyone think of things he's worked on and improved over the last 2-4 years?

Does anyone (obviously not the suns players, they're going to be positive, even if it's a cover (which I respect in this situation)) know about Marion and his practice work, vs A.K. I have to say, after reading that article, I'd say my opinion of A.K. dropped a little.

by jasonsuns1 on Oct 1, 2007 8:11 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Work ethic

Hmm.. A very good question. I'd be interested to hear what others have to say. As for me, I can't recall ever having read one way or the other whether he works on his game during the offseason, or any other time beyond the mandated practices, etc. That certainly doesn't mean that he doesn't, though. I just haven't read either way. I can't even remember it being discussed in Jack McCallum's book, though it might have been (it's been a while since I read it). Given how Shawn reacts to reporters commenting on his unorthodox shooting form, my guess (and that's all it is) would be that if he doesn't work on his game, it's because he doesn't think he needs to, not because he's being lazy. But that's pure speculation, and no basis in known fact. If nothing else, though, I do think he works hard when it matters most. A guy doesn't play 80+ games every season without playing through injuries and pain. It's just not possible. And all you have to do to believe he gives it his all during games is to watch him appear out of nowhere for loose balls, deflections, and rebounds. I'm not sure the same could be said about AK (of course, as others have pointed out, the situations are not exactly apples to apples, though).

by TexSUN on Oct 1, 2007 8:59 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

sure in agreement there

I don't think anyone who has watched Marion play a lot would say otherwise. He hustles and runs as hard as anyone I've ever seen play. Makes me think of the Barkley vs ref race during the all star break, if you had everyone compete in such a race, but made it a race of 1000 laps, I think Marion might win, he is amazing being able to play so many games, through injuries, etc. It really says a lot about his desire to play. I wonder if we'll really know the reasons he's so upset, or if he's been somewhat like this for a few seasons now (which I suspect). I really think it has to do with covering for Amare on defense as much as some other things. And yet Amare gets more recognition than Marion. I bet that eats Marion up a little, too bad if that's the case. We need a spy... One thing is pretty much known, Marion is very sensitive and gets upset easily, and honestly, that's a bad thing in the playoffs. Imagine, going along, doing great, then someone else hits you or pushes you around more than normal, Marion, instead of being tough back, or thinking nothing of it, probably leans toward the side of getting upset about it, and takes some of his concentration off what he's doing... just a guess, but it kind of fits the sensitive thing. I think if he was meaner, he'd be a much better player, but, I kind of like that he's such a nice guy, (reference to 7 seconds or less) where he laughs about a coach telling him to get in there and knock another guy down..

by jasonsuns1 on Oct 1, 2007 10:48 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

My last comment

I just deleted a (far-too-lengthy) reply I had to this. Sorry if anyone was reading it and/or replying to it. I didn't like the way it sounded after it was up, and it was way too long besides. I'll re-word it and repost it later today. Gotta get back to work for now. Apologies for any confusion.

by TexSUN on Oct 1, 2007 11:36 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

nice reply and thoughts TexSun

I just talked to a friend in Phoenix who's been a suns fan and ticket holder for 20+ years, and he says he heard Nash and Hill have been working out together (this we all know) and that Nash called Bell a few weeks ago and said something to the effect of... Hill is REALLY GOING TO HELP US OUT THIS YEAR, basically meaning HILL was really impressing Nash!! THIS NEEDS TO BE BLINKING ON OUR TOP PAGE OR SOMETHING, so people start to get the excitement and sense of something really special coming together. As for Marion, I missed the point about Hill coming in and pretty much taking Marion's preferred position on the floor, good point. But, it's a no brainer once you've seen Hill's ball handling and cross over ability, he's one of the all time best at getting to the rim, seriously, he's that good. I know he's 35, but can you imagine the hunger of a guy never really getting his chance to prove how good he is, then coming to a team like the suns with so many pieces, plus the health thing getting better help,
this guy must be on cloud 9, and as a fan, so am I!

by jasonsuns1 on Oct 1, 2007 11:36 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Dang it!

I knew I didn't get that deleted in time. Ok, forget re-wording it. Here it is exactly the way I had it so that everyone knows what this response from jasonsuns1 was for:

This is again pure speculation, but I think you may have hit the nail on the head on one of the reasons why the Matrix is upset. I do think this is something that has built up over time, and not something that was just about a guy being unrealistic on an extension, or even the trade rumors (although, both no doubt played a factor). I took a little flack--and understandably so--for being a little too easy on Marion in my post-trade request musings. Maybe I was, but I just can't get it out of my head that there are two sides to just about every story. If I had to guess, I'd say it's something like 20% anger over the extension, 20% frustration with the trade rumors, 20% about being unhappy with his "third banana" status on the team, 20% about not wanting to be locked in full-time at the power forward spot yet again when he'd rather play small forward (something Grant Hill's arrival all but guarantees), and the remaining 20% some combination of a general all-around feeling of insecurity and unhappiness, along with issues like the one you mentioned (and not just having to help out Amare on the defensive end, but also having to cover for Nash on guys like Tony Parker too). Combine all that with the KG deal, and I think it finally just all spilled over.

Also, I could be wrong, but I get the impression that maybe he sees being in the NBA more as "just a job" than other players do. For example, when I watch Steve Nash, Amare, Raja Bell, Leandro Barbosa, etc, I get the impression those guys would play for free even if they weren't getting paid. Marion comes off that way too sometimes, but not quite as often as some of the others do. In some ways, it makes him easier to relate to (probably why I've tended to unfairly get more upset at Amare's verbal slip-ups than Shawn's). Most of us know people who complain about their jobs a lot, but they keep plugging away at it--and even excelling at it--despite giving the impression they're chronically unhappy there. Anyway, I could be way off base here, but that's how it seems with him sometimes, especially in some of his comments last week. One thing's for sure, Suns.com will probably have their largest online audience ever for their webcast today. :)

by TexSUN on Oct 1, 2007 11:38 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Seems the readers agree with you

The "Grant Hill's arrival" option is leading the poll so far. My vote goes to the early workouts--I think that's huge that these guys have basically been holding their own private training camp for a month, which should make integrating Grant Hill into the lineup (and even the rookies) a lot easier to do. If nothing else, it's given Nash a lot of time to get familiar with where Hill likes the ball, and it's given Hill time to get used to catching those passes that come hard and unexpectedly at times. One of the funniest things I saw in my first year watching this team was Nash hitting Steven Hunter smack in the forehead with a pass when the defense left him open and he wasn't ready for the pass--I remember thinking, "it's coming like it or not, big guy!"

by TexSUN on Oct 1, 2007 11:53 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

haha

great comment on hunter and nash passing! On the poll, I kind of wanted to select both options, the early workouts and Hill kind of go hand in hand.

by jasonsuns1 on Oct 1, 2007 12:09 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Let the fun start!!!

They're comin to Tucson tomorrow!!!! I'm excited

by whatisboxhappening on Oct 1, 2007 10:38 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Are you going to the scrimmage?

If so, how about giving us a report in the diaries?

by TexSUN on Oct 1, 2007 10:42 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Scrimmage

Yeah I'm goin to the scrimmage. I'll probably be too excited to remember every little detail. But I'll be sure to write my thoughts if I have any :)

by whatisboxhappening on Oct 1, 2007 2:27 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Cheers!

Here's to this season being as fun and exciting as the past 3!

With 1 extra bonus of course. Eyes on the prize!

by brian13 on Oct 1, 2007 12:37 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Lord Knows

I've been right in the mix on the Marion trade stuff. I think it's relevant, because it's a major part of our team, and it's a trade situation, so we need to find ways to at least make up the difference, if not improve.

But let me be very clear.

With Marion, without Marion, I truly believe this is the best team in the NBA. We've got Grant Hill now. We've got Skinner. We've got Diaw who's going to be looking for redemption. Amare with a healthy season under his belt. Bell. Barbosa. We're loaded. I love this team, regardless of Shawn Marion's zipcode.

I don't really understand getting mad at Marion, I guess. This isn't the NFL. How many players really commit to a team? AI's in Denver. Shaq's on his third team. Karl Malone's last season wasn't in Utah. Grant Hill is neither a Piston nor with the Magic. Players move a LOT. Is he asking for more than he's worth? Probably. But so many players in the league are paid more than they're worth.

For right now, he's a Sun. And when he hits shots and nails alley-oops, you'll get excited, as will I. And if he's traded, we can embrace the new team members and get excited for the new potential (or start icing the tub for Lamar Odom).

Either way, we've got Steve Nash. We've got Amare. We've got Barbosa. And we've got an offense that can score 120 points at will.

Let's do this.

by Ridiculous Matt on Oct 1, 2007 2:24 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Love it!

I love the way you think! The team IS loaded...talented and exciting and just fun to watch. You're so right about how anyone will feel when Shawn-the-Sun makes a play. Well said.

I echo your sentiments: Let's do this!

Looking forward to the season!

by Sunny on Oct 1, 2007 3:07 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Too Many Optimists Around Here

All the love for the Suns ... with or without Matrix. Pretty exciting; after all, we do have Skinner. The one-two power punch of Skinner and Marks is probably what's going to put the Suns over the top.

I think it's a somewhat minor distraction, but, come on, guys, don't let your attention spans devolve into something smaller than the 8 seconds I have (all I can do is wait for the Suns to shoot the basketball).

Lost in all the debate is something seriously comical. Trix was so upset about all the trade rumors that he requested a trade. The only parallel I can think of is a mob snitch tired of running and begging to be shot.

My friend just got back from Vegas. He took my $10 and put in his own $10. We're only getting 9 to 7 odds, which means if the Suns win it all, I've got to split a little over $25 with him.

So, I'm still a bit miffed at Marion and I'm not going to be able to retire with my winnings. I'm not sure why I should even watch the games this season.

Mmmmm ... Guinness

by JSun on Oct 1, 2007 4:37 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Excellent...

...Can I have your tickets, then??? :D

OK, so maybe I have basketball ADD, but this particular sports obsession is a relatively new one. It doesn't take much to make me happy, Suns-wise.

I don't like when Marion, or any other athlete, messes with his or her team's chemistry, but sunofa's point was a good one. Is any of this really going to detract from your enjoyment of the moment when the Matrix makes a sweet play? I think not.

by Sunny on Oct 1, 2007 6:10 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's ok to be mad

I was probably nicer to Marion in my post on the subject than 80% of the writers out there, and even I couldn't resist a few "hot-headed" shots at the guy. I mean, come on! He does this the week before training camp starts! What kind of reaction did he expect?

That said, now that the Suns have decided to attempt welcoming him back into the fold (for now), it is important that we fans do the same. That means no booing him, no matter how tempting it might be to do so. He needs to feel as much a part of the team as possible, not because we approve of what he did, but because it's what's best for the Suns' chances to win the championship. Besides, if all his teammates who were working so hard this summer can put it behind them, so can we.

by TexSUN on Oct 1, 2007 3:09 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Is it possible??

Interesting thoughts, TexSUN. Reminds me of how we here in the western half of the Keystone State treated the Pens' Jaromir Jagr once he decided, rather publicly, that his playing days in Pittsburgh were over. Jagr ended up in our nation's capital shortly thereafter, and whether with the Captials or subsequently, the Rangers, he has yet to touch a puck in the city where his professional career started without a rousing chorus of "boo's." And if memory serves, the boobirds were out long before Jagr left town.

I hope fans in the Valley of the Sun heed your advice (I know I will when I scarf up JSun's tickets!), but I doubt that's possible. Sad.

by Sunny on Oct 1, 2007 6:18 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs