Phoenix Suns 2014-2015 Season Expectations

[Wally_West]

http://espn.go.com/espn/chalk/story/_/i ... e-best-585

Vegas has our over/under for games won at 42.5. Seems like easy money to me. I'll take the over, please.

Yup, worked last year.

[SDC]

http://espn.go.com/espn/chalk/story/_/i ... e-best-585

Vegas has our over/under for games won at 42.5. Seems like easy money to me. I'll take the over, please.

Yup, worked last year.

i predicted 5-6 game less wins after frye left, whether the suns sign bledsoe or not.

[Indy]

http://espn.go.com/espn/chalk/story/_/i ... e-best-585

Vegas has our over/under for games won at 42.5. Seems like easy money to me. I'll take the over, please.

Yup, worked last year.

i predicted 5-6 game less wins after frye left, whether the suns sign bledsoe or not.

So you are officially taking the under?

[carey]

So you are officially taking the under?

I'm leaning towards that. I think 41 is about right as the team is currently constructed. I know people like to throw out that record when Goran and Eric played together, but I think this year teams will have more film on our offense. I guess we'll see. As I've said it largely depends on the strides our front court makes. If teams take away our 2 PGs do we have the option to go down low for easy buckets? Last year that was mostly a resounding no when Kieff didn't have it going. And defensively they will be more important than ever.

[Superbone]

If teams take away our 2 PGs do we have the option to go down low for easy buckets?

You can't stop an unstoppable force.

[Wally_West]

If teams take away our 2 PGs do we have the option to go down low for easy buckets?

You can't stop an unstoppable force.

Let them take our 2 PGs ! We have at least 4 more spare. We are like a spartan army of PGs!

[gosuns]

What do you guys think of rotating starters and minutes. Especially for the positions we are stacked in, 1-3.

In Soccer it has become pretty common to rotate Players to avoid injuries and to have fresh Players on the field. Could such a System work in the NBA with the Kind of schedule they Play. You could rotate the Starters and for example replace Dragic for every third game with Thomas, than replace Bledsoe with Thomas the next game, give the rookies more minutes every five games. Obviously to make this work, you would have to also take in consideration strenght of Opponent, machtups and other stuff. There are studies that indicate that the risk of Injurie grows with every consecutive game you Play. For example, in Soccer if you Play a third game in a week, you are more at risk to suffer an Injury. (muscle related, according to a press conference Held by Rafa Benitez, ex Manager of Liverpool, Inter and currently with Napoli, winner of Champions League and Europa League)

What do you think? Could such a System work in the NBA?

[carey]

It's an interesting idea for sure. A team like the Suns that has similar talent across the board would probably be the team that could pull it off. Or a team like the Spurs that sort of does it already where they are a well oiled machine and everyone knows their roles precisely. I guess my main worry would be consistency. It might be hard to achieve with a shuffling line-up like that. I do like the idea of keeping guys fresh. Especially Dragic who I really worry about in that regard.

[Ring_Wanted]

What do you guys think of rotating starters and minutes. Especially for the positions we are stacked in, 1-3.

In Soccer it has become pretty common to rotate Players to avoid injuries and to have fresh Players on the field. Could such a System work in the NBA with the Kind of schedule they Play. You could rotate the Starters and for example replace Dragic for every third game with Thomas, than replace Bledsoe with Thomas the next game, give the rookies more minutes every five games. Obviously to make this work, you would have to also take in consideration strenght of Opponent, machtups and other stuff. There are studies that indicate that the risk of Injurie grows with every consecutive game you Play. For example, in Soccer if you Play a third game in a week, you are more at risk to suffer an Injury. (muscle related, according to a press conference Held by Rafa Benitez, ex Manager of Liverpool, Inter and currently with Napoli, winner of Champions League and Europa League)

What do you think? Could such a System work in the NBA?

Really interesting. You need real depth to pull it off, but the Suns seem well positioned to do so, at least at the 1-3. PF-C would be much more problematic, unless you are willing to use Marcus and TJ at PF and count on Kieff to consistently spend time as center

Besides fresh legs, if it works it also serves the purpose of avoinding depreciation of assets, especially the young guys.

I'd also keep the guys from spending more than 8 minutes at once on the court. I don't know where I read it, but apparently that's the threshold where fatigue begins to impact performance, even if you are in top shape.

[Mori Chu]

I think it's an interesting idea but wouldn't work well in the NBA. Guys are creatures of habit and get used to playing in certain roles at certain times. Also guys want the respect of starting every game, etc. I think it is a good idea to think creatively about how to reduce the wear 'n' tear on the players, though. Just reducing the starters' minutes a bit would help a lot, as would giving some guys rests on back-to-back games where we just sit Dragic or Bledsoe randomly for 1 game here or there.

[Shabazz]

I still remember in 08-09 when we "strategically" rested Shaq for a few games to save him for the playoffs, performed poorly in those games, and then ended up missing the playoffs by two games (damn, you Matt Barnes). I'd rather we didn't outsmart ourselves again.

Resting players works for the Spurs because they're a playoff lock and their stars are old. We're not good enough to risk it or old enough to need it.

[Ring_Wanted]

I still remember in 08-09 when we "strategically" rested Shaq for a few games to save him for the playoffs, performed poorly in those games, and then ended up missing the playoffs by two games (damn, you Matt Barnes). I'd rather we didn't outsmart ourselves again.

Remember Shaq's 3pt goaltending?

[Cap]

A perfect legal play in FIBA. Unfortunately, we weren't playing FIBA rules.

Too bad. The current roster would kick butt with the trapezoid lane.

[LazarusLong]

What do you guys think of rotating starters and minutes. Especially for the positions we are stacked in, 1-3.

In Soccer it has become pretty common to rotate Players to avoid injuries and to have fresh Players on the field. Could such a System work in the NBA with the Kind of schedule they Play. You could rotate the Starters and for example replace Dragic for every third game with Thomas, than replace Bledsoe with Thomas the next game, give the rookies more minutes every five games. Obviously to make this work, you would have to also take in consideration strenght of Opponent, machtups and other stuff. There are studies that indicate that the risk of Injurie grows with every consecutive game you Play. For example, in Soccer if you Play a third game in a week, you are more at risk to suffer an Injury. (muscle related, according to a press conference Held by Rafa Benitez, ex Manager of Liverpool, Inter and currently with Napoli, winner of Champions League and Europa League)

What do you think? Could such a System work in the NBA?

Variations of this have been used in the past. The championship Pistons teams used Isiah, Microwave and Dumars at guards, occasionally moving in Dantley or Aguirre at the 2. Up front, it was Dantley or Aguirre, Rodman, Spider, Mahorn, Buddha and Laimbeer.

John MacLeod had an 8-9 man rotation in the late 70s, and played nobody more than 32 minutes. That eventually was the bone contention with Westphal, who thought the team should stay with the hot hand, total minutes be damned. MacLeod was a bit too programatic; I specifically remember a game against the Lakers when Rod Foster was on a tear and was lighting things up in LA. Suns had been losing by about 12-14 pts, and Phoenix got the gap down to four with Foster getting hot. Then MacLeod subbed out Foster for Walter Davis, who promptly missed two shots, and turned the ball over. Game over.