View Single Post
Old 11-18-2009, 04:59 PM   #155
Xylus
Member
 
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 34
Xylus will become famous soon enoughXylus will become famous soon enough
Default

The Suns are winning for a number of reasons that none of you have talked about:

1) Bench production, primarily on defense. Despite being a bunch of no-names, guys like Jared Dudley, Lou Amundson, and Goran Dragic are playing great defense and are building leads rather than losing them.

2) Alvin Gentry is coaching these guys to play defense, unlike Mike 'Antoni. Amare and Nash are playing the best defense of their lives, and as a team they're holding opponents to a ridiculously low FG percentage in the 4th quarter. They're getting stops when they need them and executing on offense in the clutch.

3) Despite the size disadvantage, the Suns are outrebounding teams because of a "gang rebounding" philosophy instituted by Alvin Gentry. The reason why Frye and Amare have low rebounding averages is because they're boxing out effectively for the wings, Grant Hill and JRich. Hill and JRich have more rebounds this season than any other 2-3 combo in the league.

4) Because there are 3 or 4 players attacking the glass on every possession, the Suns are getting far fewer fastbreak points. In previous years, this would have hurt, but the Suns are also executing very well in the half-court. Amare is scoring off isos, JRich and Grant Hill can both create their own shot, and Nash can do anything he wants with the ball.

This is not the '06-'07 Suns team. The superstars are the same, but the personnel around them is much different.
Xylus is offline   Reply With Quote