Phx-Suns.Net

Hindsight is too easy. The front office made missteps in many aspects of the Mike D era and obviously had more than their fair share of bad luck along the way. I thought the first one was when they traded away the pick in the '04 draft, which would have given them AI. Then they should have given JJ $5 million more in his contract negotiations. Then they should have pursued a trade for Tyson Chandler for a longer time, and certainly would have given a better package to Chicago than the Hornets did. I also thought that instead of trying to always figure out how to combat the Spurs, they should have kept doubling down on their style, to keep getting faster, more athletic and better shooters and a pass first pg off the bench to keep the pressure on the defense and keep pushing the pace.

The entire organization panicked every offseason and we created this window for ourselves because of Nash's age. We HAD to win before Nash broke down, which was seemingly going to happen at any moment. Even the "Eye on the Prize" campaign put unnecessary pressure on the team.

In2ition wrote:Hindsight is too easy. The front office made missteps in many aspects of the Mike D era and obviously had more than their fair share of bad luck along the way. I thought the first one was when they traded away the pick in the '04 draft, which would have given them AI. Then they should have given JJ $5 million more in his contract negotiations. Then they should have pursued a trade for Tyson Chandler for a longer time, and certainly would have given a better package to Chicago than the Hornets did. I also thought that instead of trying to always figure out how to combat the Spurs, they should have kept doubling down on their style, to keep getting faster, more athletic and better shooters and a pass first pg off the bench to keep the pressure on the defense and keep pushing the pace.

Agreed

ShelC wrote:The entire organization panicked every offseason and we created this window for ourselves because of Nash's age. We HAD to win before Nash broke down, which was seemingly going to happen at any moment. Even the "Eye of the Prize" campaign but unnecessary pressure on the team.

This too. It did feel like the org kept saying Nash was ten minutes away from breaking down every off-season.

So far page 5 is the most reasonable page of this thread.

LazarusLong wrote:

pickle wrote:With D'Antoni, I wonder, why could he not find any use for Steven Hunter back then, but suddenly he's able to devise enough offensive sets with Capela/Harrell today? I mean ... was Hunter just a really poor roll man and couldn't take advantage of Nash passes or something?

Hunter had what I would politely call "nervous hands" which didn't respond well to the Suns' quick-passing SSOL style.

Capella is a better athlete with better hands, while Harrell is a strong, active Ken-Faried type of player with a high work rate.

Thanks for this. Just for the record, I'm not bashing Mike D. I don't think I understood basketball back then as well as I do now, so from what I remember, Hunter was always an athletic shot blocker who fans all pined for, and I wanted to know the basketball reason for why he wasn't incorporated more, beyond the fact that he doesn't shoot the mid range shot... since now it's apparent with Capela that Mike's offense can deal with at least one non-shooter in the fold. Maybe part of the problem also is that as good of a mid range shot as Amare had, he's no Ryan Anderson and he took the pick and roll diver role, so there was no space left for Hunter?

In2ition wrote:...and a pass first pg off the bench to keep the pressure on the defense and keep pushing the pace.

This is it, right here (besides KT and Raja injuries in '06). Everything would go to hell with Nash on the bench. Barbosa was not a PG. Marcus Banks was not a PG. I would have given a kidney for a real PG off the bench. Wished so hard Seattle would take our three picks for Thabo instead of falling in love with freaking Saer Sene. Wished so hard we'd keep Sergio Rodriguez instead of selling the damn pick. It's haunting.

pickle wrote:Maybe part of the problem also is that as good of a mid range shot as Amare had, he's no Ryan Anderson and he took the pick and roll diver role, so there was no space left for Hunter?

Amare could not be bothered with playing defense or rebounding. Hustling at the other end in general. It got to the point that an article came out basically saying that he was at an disadvantage because he had a slim waist. I'll concede that the butt is a very important 'asset' for rebounding, but come on. Anyway, space was never the problem for us. We had the best pick and roll combo since Stockton-Malone. That weapon by itself would bend elite defenses and destroy everything else. It was a matter of not giving up more on the other side. Having to juggle Nash and Marion around to hide a liability and having to buy high on an anchor to cover Amare's lack of rim protection. Spurs used to prefer to play with more focus on defense, but with their talent they had no problem playing the offensive game with us. Then it would turn into a matter of execution and breaks, none of wich went our way when it mattered. A Duncan three? Come on. Finley's. Horry. Shaq's goaltending on a three. The injuries. Bah. We could have been a dynasty.

Ring_Wanted wrote:

pickle wrote:Maybe part of the problem also is that as good of a mid range shot as Amare had, he's no Ryan Anderson and he took the pick and roll diver role, so there was no space left for Hunter?

Amare could not be bothered with playing defense or rebounding. Hustling at the other end in general. It got to the point that an article came out basically saying that he was at an disadvantage because he had a slim waist. I'll concede that the butt is a very important 'asset' for rebounding, but come on. Anyway, space was never the problem for us. We had the best pick and roll combo since Stockton-Malone. That weapon by itself would bend elite defenses and destroy everything else. It was a matter of not giving up more on the other side. Having to juggle Nash and Marion around to hide a liability and having to buy high on an anchor to cover Amare's lack of rim protection. Spurs used to prefer to play with more focus on defense, but with their talent they had no problem playing the offensive game with us. Then it would turn into a matter of execution and breaks, none of wich went our way when it mattered. A Duncan three? Come on. Finley's. Horry. Shaq's goaltending on a three. The injuries. Bah. We could have been a dynasty.

Dude, I'm not arguing about why we didn't win. I'm not the biggest Amare supporter here in fact. Most people seem to have higher opinions of him than me. My original question was why didn't D'Antoni find a use for Hunter, if he could figure out a way to make guys like Capela and Harrell useful in his 2017 offense. Now stop digging up old ghosts.

pickle wrote: My original question was why didn't D'Antoni find a use for Hunter, if he could figure out a way to make guys like Capela and Harrell useful in his 2017 offense. Now stop digging up old ghosts.

I usually don't weigh in on this stuff, but if that's all you're wondering it's an easy answer. Steven Hunter had trouble catching basketballs when they were thrown to him. Capela and Harrell do not. They are also much better than he was in most, if not all other facets of the game.

pickle wrote:Dude, I'm not arguing about why we didn't win. I'm not the biggest Amare supporter here in fact. Most people seem to have higher opinions of him than me. My original question was why didn't D'Antoni find a use for Hunter, if he could figure out a way to make guys like Capela and Harrell useful in his 2017 offense.

Ok, sorry if I digressed from you point.

Now stop digging up old ghosts.

Can't promise anything .

NBA really needs to do something about time-outs. In Bucks-Wizards game just now there was this sequence: Wizards time out -> unsuccessful inbound play leading to the player calling another time out -> Wizards quickly score -> Bucks call time out.
Really?! Three time outs and 2 seconds of basketball. Disgusting.

carey wrote:

pickle wrote: My original question was why didn't D'Antoni find a use for Hunter, if he could figure out a way to make guys like Capela and Harrell useful in his 2017 offense. Now stop digging up old ghosts.

I usually don't weigh in on this stuff, but if that's all you're wondering it's an easy answer. Steven Hunter had trouble catching basketballs when they were thrown to him. Capela and Harrell do not. They are also much better than he was in most, if not all other facets of the game.

Yeah like I said, during those days I would probably qualify myself as a "casual fan" and didn't really understand the ins and outs of basketball, so that Hunter question bothered me for a long time. Thanks for clearing it up.