ROSTER
C - Robin Lopez, Channing Frye
PF - Hedo Turkoglu (SF), Hakim Warrick, Earl Clark
SF - Grant Hill, Jared Dudley
SG - Jason Richardson, Josh Childress
PG - Steve Nash, Goran Dragic, Chucky Atkins
ANALYSIS
Brad: I got a feeling we'll disagree on how low I have these guys... one of the more inexplicable offseasons I can remember from a contender from the previous year... their big acquisitions read like this: Hedo Turkoglu, Hakim Warrick, Josh Childress... What do all those guys have in common? Well... they're all forwards by trade, and the biggest of them (Turkoglu at 6'10) was last effective as a point forward type in Orlando... there is a serious logjam here... There's no low-post offensive threat to be seen, although I really enjoy Robin Lopez, and Steve Nash isn't getting younger... Talk me off the ledge here....
Ryan: Well yeah Phoenix had a fly under the radar offseason(in terms of hype) of taking Hedo and losing Amare..but I have faith here.First they had no low post offense last year WITH Amare(he's a jumpshooter and the new word for the NBA dictionary is dive-scorer) but what little they had is kinda taking his talents to the Big Apple.Warrick is no Amare by any stretch but he can pick,drive to the hoop and dunk;which is what would be needed anyways.I really think that Robin Lopez breaks out as a result..his ceiling was relatively low and I think he'll be improving into a more mature scorer. Uh....the swingman quandary is one that I cannot completely wrap myself around so...um...this is how I'll try it..Hedo off the bench..plays point for the 2nd team..or small forward...or power foward...Dudley backs up Hill(who will start) or behind JRich..and Childress backs up the either...got it?...that was easy..I don't know why you struggled with this(heavy sarcasm)...
Brad: I really don't even know how to accurately comment on the swingman conundrum... The inexplicable part of the Hedo move is that his strength is as a creator/ball handler... but they don't need him to play 2nd team point guard with the increasingly capable Goran Dragic there, right? I can't imagine them burying Dragic, and I'm not sure he can play that effectively off the ball... anyway... There are pieces I like... really, Hedo is the only piece I DON'T like... I'm just not sure the whole picture fits together as a playoff team in that gauntlet of a conference... My gut tells me to not underestimate Nash, but my brain can't wrap around this roster as better than the teams I have in front of them... Maybe I'm skewed by how ridiculously bad Hedo was in Toronto.... Sue me! I do love me some Jared Dudley and Grant Hill though...
Ryan: Yeah the Hedo thing was the big question mark and everything that i've read has him playing more 4 than anything else,which goes back to what you said;playing the power forward spot isn't how you play to his strength of guy who needs the ball in his hands to be most effective, but he can create his own shot which is a good thing... He was bad in Toronto.. Jose Calderon wasn't that guy to have the ball outright in that offense...Also in his favor is playing in a uptempo system has a way to masking all of those bad things. I will
go on the record of saying that it does work and I won't doubt Steve Nash ever....so I have them in the 8th spot in the West, they'll hold off the 9th(When you see who's my 9th seed) but that team was so tragically flawed (when looking back on it). They had zero defense and ... Prediction: 8th in the West
Brad: It helps him in playing the 4 that he has a defensive-minded/shot-blocking 5 in Robin Lopez that can help mask him, and all of the other 3's on the roster (Dudley/Hill/Childress) are all above-average on D when put in the right spots... Alvin Gentry has sold me on his abilities, and they have Nash... and they're definitely in what I think is a clear top 10 in the West battling for 8 spots... I just happen to place them in the bottom spot... Hey Steve... Don't take it out on me, man... I loved your Terry Fox documentary... In the end? Prediction: 10th in the West
Brad: I really don't even know how to accurately comment on the swingman conundrum... The inexplicable part of the Hedo move is that his strength is as a creator/ball handler... but they don't need him to play 2nd team point guard with the increasingly capable Goran Dragic there, right? I can't imagine them burying Dragic, and I'm not sure he can play that effectively off the ball... anyway... There are pieces I like... really, Hedo is the only piece I DON'T like... I'm just not sure the whole picture fits together as a playoff team in that gauntlet of a conference... My gut tells me to not underestimate Nash, but my brain can't wrap around this roster as better than the teams I have in front of them... Maybe I'm skewed by how ridiculously bad Hedo was in Toronto.... Sue me! I do love me some Jared Dudley and Grant Hill though...
Ryan: Yeah the Hedo thing was the big question mark and everything that i've read has him playing more 4 than anything else,which goes back to what you said;playing the power forward spot isn't how you play to his strength of guy who needs the ball in his hands to be most effective, but he can create his own shot which is a good thing... He was bad in Toronto.. Jose Calderon wasn't that guy to have the ball outright in that offense...Also in his favor is playing in a uptempo system has a way to masking all of those bad things. I will
go on the record of saying that it does work and I won't doubt Steve Nash ever....so I have them in the 8th spot in the West, they'll hold off the 9th(When you see who's my 9th seed) but that team was so tragically flawed (when looking back on it). They had zero defense and ... Prediction: 8th in the West
Brad: It helps him in playing the 4 that he has a defensive-minded/shot-blocking 5 in Robin Lopez that can help mask him, and all of the other 3's on the roster (Dudley/Hill/Childress) are all above-average on D when put in the right spots... Alvin Gentry has sold me on his abilities, and they have Nash... and they're definitely in what I think is a clear top 10 in the West battling for 8 spots... I just happen to place them in the bottom spot... Hey Steve... Don't take it out on me, man... I loved your Terry Fox documentary... In the end? Prediction: 10th in the West
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