I know that this is just the second game of the season, but every good team learns from their failures, after all… Isn’t that how life works?
This team is a work in progress and I have to admit that it felt pretty darn good to beat the Spurs in their court, but there are still a bunch of things that need to be addressed in order for this team to be successful.
The Bench: On paper, our bench is a very good one. Barbosa could be a starter in any team, same goes for Diaw. Both of them have playoff experience and are great all players. Both of them can drop 20+ point any given night against any team. The problem is that they are not consistent. I feel that if we are going to have a shot a winning the championship or going deep into the playoffs, we need these two to play solid basketball.
The problem that I see in Leandro is that, as a player, you have to accept at some point of the game that its just not your night and focus on helping your team in some other way rather than trying to score every time you have the ball in your hands. He should pay attention to Grant Hill, who comes off the bench not only to score, but to defend and help Dragic at the point. If he is not scoring, he is going for the rebounds, taking charges, distributing the ball. Barbosa needs to understand that Basketball is not only about scoring in bunches, if he doesn’t, he will always be an one-dimensional player with low basketball IQ.
Boris Diaw will always be a question mark, I have no complaints of what I’ve seen from him on the court. I think that HE knows he has to step up if he wants any playing time. The best thing that could have happened to him (or us for that matter) is losing his biggest fan on the sidelines. He will have to earn the spot and for now he is deserving.
I can see why The Suns went through so much trouble to get Goran Dragic. The kid is doing a good job, sometimes he seems very nervous but that’s understandable. His defense is decent, he even bothered CP3 on several plays, even causing Paul to lose the ball. He was an important part of that mini comeback in last night’s game and if he continues to play with that intensity Potter will be nothing but pleased.
As for Lopez goes…geez… 3 fouls and 1 TO in 90 seconds? He needs to cool down a little bit and try to guard his man without being overaggressive. We really need this kid to help us with rebounds, he is way more agile than Shaq. He needs to stop getting in foul trouble so the Big (insert nickname here) can get some rest without us getting Killed on the boards.
The Suns will get better as the season moves along, The second Unit will improve. I’m sure of that. Every championship team has great role players and a good bench and I give credit to Porter for trying to develop our bench and trying to provide some rest to the starting crew.
Terry Porter is doing what D’Antoni never did: making everyone feel like they belong on the team and that they can contribute. No matter what role they have. As a player, it motivates you to work harder, you feel frustrated after a loss and happy after a win because you actually played.
To me, that’s more important than winning a few games at the beginning of the season. The 2nd Unit will gel…they better do. We sure need them.