FanPost

Suns' Depth

Note: This started as a response to sunofa 's comment in response to my comment about rookies:

 
if it weren't for the fact that we have no bench.

I mean, almost none.

I don't feel comfortable going into this season, or the playoffs, with no depth. That concerns me.

but I decided to make a diary out of it...

First - I am sorry for the tone of my last post. I don't discount and I actually agree w/ the excitement about our two rooks. Fresh talent is a great thing and I am looking forward to watching them too. I just mean to say that it’s not fair to them to expect too much too soon.

You made a point though about the Sun's depth that I disagree with. I actually can't think of another team w/ the kind of depth the Sun's have available (if Coach D uses it is another matter).

Consider the top 9:

In the Suns starting 5 you have potentially one of the greatest offensive units in a long time. 4 out of the 5 are (or have been in Hill's case) All Stars and we all know how valuable Bell is on D and at in hitting 3's and spreading the floor.

Then at #6 and #7: Diaw and Barbosa could clearly start for about 80% of the teams in the NBA. LB will be an all-star within 5 years and could lead most teams in scoring now and often leads the Suns in scoring off the bench. Diaw is a bit of an enigma but clearly the kid has game and is a seriously talented young player.

And at #8 and #9: Skinner and Banks were both at least part time starters/early rotation players before coming here. I am not sure about Skinner's value yet and I think that Bank's real value to this team is to fill in if there's an injury to Nash, Bell or LB. I believe that w/ more playing time he would look a lot better then he does in his limited minutes. You can't deny the guy is a good defender and has the ability to go off for 30 points if he had starter minutes. He’s not Nash but he’s better then the starting PG’s on a LOT of teams.

Then you have Marks who has been very impressive so far this year and is at least an energetic/athletic big guy w/ good b-ball IQ. And finally our two talented rookies and Pike (who must be either very bad or very good at poker to be still on this team).

I would challenge anyone to show me a deeper team then that in the NBA.
Name any other team that has 4 or 5 legit all-stars.
Any other team that could lose their #1 player and still be a serious threat.
Any other team that has 7 guys that have the real potential to get hot and win a game single-handedly.

The more I think about this team and compare this team to last year’s and the rest of the league the more excited I get.