FanPost

What is wrong with the Suns? I'll tell you...


The Suns seemingly have a good mix of all-star talent(Nash, Stat), solid role players(Dudley, Richardson, Hill, Barbosa), and young contributers(Dragic and Lopez)... so what is wrong with the Phoenix Suns? Why can't they break into the upper echelon of the West as their roster is currently constructed? How would you change their roster in order to make them a contender? There has been a lot of evaluation of Stoudemire lately but I would like this to be an evaluation of the team as a whole and what needs to be done to get this team back on the contending track.

My thoughts...

In my opinion the Suns have many problems that prevent them from being a contender. In no particular order...

- Missing two key pieces on defense. A guy who just focuses on cleaning up the boards and blocking shots. Lopez fills this role occasionally but isn't consistent enough yet and always seems to get muscled out of position at the last second. A wing stopper. A guy like when we had Raja Bell. We need a guy who just spots up for 3 on offense and just pesters the teams best scorer defensively.

- A better third option. This is a huge difference from the Phoenix Suns teams of old who had very good third options for Nash to play with(see Marion). Jason Richardson is not a good third option on a team. He is a passable starter but Nash needs another guy to feed the ball or a guy who can get his own shot in the context of this offense so our offense isn't so predictable. Either a guy who can come off screens well and shoot or a slasher. Don't get me wrong... I have appreciated how Richardson he has hustled and rebounded well for a guard at times this season but we need a much better third guy on this team. There is way too much dropoff after Stat and Nash. This team really is Stat, Nash and a bunch of good role players. I would like to see the Suns keep the core in tact and get a better third option.

- Some swagger. This team has NO swagger. It was great to see Grant Hill get in Dirks face yesterday but aside from that incident this team has absolutely NO attitude or swagger. They are too nice and need that guy who lights a fire under them and is a spaz/a-hole. They need a headcase. A guy who is nuts on the court. A guy who is an enforcer and gets in your face. A guy who will light a fire under this team and talk a little trash. Nash is too nice of a leader and Stat is too aloof at times. Denver has this with practically their entire team, the Lakers have Artest and little pesky a-holes like Vujacic, the Spurs had Bowen and Horry, the Celtics have Rasheed and KG, we have no one who fills that role. When we were good Raja would always irritate the other teams best player a ton. Remember him laying Kobe out. This gets in the other teams head and can take them out of their game.

Your thoughts?