Lukasbmw

1. Start the right players. Play the right players.

Nash, Amare, and Marion are to start every night. These guys are our superstars. Amare is ready to shake off the rust. He has proven he can return to his old form BUT he needs more playing time.

For physical, big teams with no offensive SG threat, KT and Barbosa will start.

For physical teams with a high profile SG, KT and Raja start.

For smaller or more athletic teams without an offensive SG threat, Diaw and Barbosa start

For smaller or more athletic teams with a high profile SG, Diaw and Raja start.

Our 8 man lineup:

Nash/Rose
Bell/Barbosa
Marion
Amare
KT/Diaw

Who rides the bench? Why?

Banks - Freedom in the Mike D offense does not mean holding the ball and jacking up shots...freedom means moving the ball and having the freedom to shoot when you are open.

JR - Confidence is everything. No confidence = no playing time. Start playing with confidence or ride the bench.




2. Barbosa

Barbosa has developed an incredibly sweet shot and is the only Sun who can penetrate consistently. However, he needs to stay on the wings to be effective. The Suns offense is based on unselfishness. When Barbosa holds the ball and forces shots or starts heading to the basket with no plan, bad things happen. Barbosa needs to keep the ball moving and only shoot when he is open. The only shots he seems to miss are the ones he forces. If time is running down on the shot clock and no one is open, THEN and ONLY THEN, should Barbosa take it to the hole and hope to draw a foul. Barbosa has proven he is completely incapable of passing to an open man while driving to the hole. He seems to always force a lay-up while trying to draw a foul. This only works half the time. The other half of the time, a turnover is the result. If we have nothing going...fine...give it to Barbosa and let him speed towards the hoop. Otherwise, keep the ball moving. Less dribbling, more passing. Barbosa is not a playmaker...he is an off guard. He needs to either pass the ball, take the open shot, or immediately put it on the floor and go strong to the hoop.



3. Ball movement

When the Suns move the ball, they are unstoppable. When the Suns try to play one on one or force things, they are terrible. Banks and Barbosa are the biggest problems here. Both get their hands on the ball and pretend to be Starbury. These guys needs to keep the ball moving. Making the extra pass = easy hoops. Amare is another Sun who has been forcing plays...probably because he is dying to prove he can still dominate. When Amare forces plays, bad things happen. When Amare is patient, good things happen. Keep the ball moving and play unselfish basketball.


4. Giving Steve-O a break

Barbosa is not a play maker. Banks is not a play maker. When both of these guys handle the PG duties, ball movement suffers and our offense sucks. Banks needs to be benched until he learns how to move the ball. Barbosa needs to play the off guard position and learn how to pass out off traffic. When Stevo goes out, we need to run with a team that will move the ball and make the extra pass. Barbosa and Banks cannot play the two man game because they can't pass worth ****. However, Rose and Diaw or Rose and Amare running a two man game might be the answer. When Stevo goes out, ball movement cannot suffer.

5. Box out

When a shot goes up, slam your *** into your opponents chest, extend your arms ,and get ready to jump. With a front line of Marion, Amare, KT, Diaw, and possibly Rose or JR, we have 3 guys who are all over 6'8", There is no reason why we should be killed on the boards on a nightly basis.


We have been in each and every game guys. We are almost there. If we play the right guys, keep the ball moving, and box out, we will soon be running other teams out of the building.

THE MATRIX 31

We have to have a set starting lineup. We cannot switch it every game.

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THE MATRIX 31

BootyKing

I agree that we need a set starting lineup. However i believe we can switch KT and Diaw depending on the lineups. Coming off the bench against the Spurs didn't upset KT's game, KT deserves to start over Diaw atm. What as happened to Diaw? It cant just be all the croissants. Its sad to see him not playing to his skill level. I really didn't think he was they type of guy to play for a contract and I still have faith that he isn't, but he needs to perform soon.

Memphis is a must WIN game.

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Dissonance19

Yeah, we need to keep one lineup.

I'd prefer Kurt starting now, and Diaw on the bench as well. Thomas has been one of our better players. One of Diaw's problems is he showed up to camp fat and out of shape. He should've prepared himself. If I were part of the management, and saw that, I would've waited till the END OF THE YR to extend him. Even if it means, we lose him. He needs to be more dedicated than that. He knows we run.

Jacoby_Ellsbury

It was stupid to bring Amare off the bench in the first place. The Suns basically created an extra step for themselves doing that.

Pain5155

this is only the 7th game of the season, no need to call it a must win.

Tiz

Agreed. Stick with one starting lineup. Prefer to see:

Nash
Barbosa
Bell
Marion
Amare

With KT, Diaw and Rose getting the key bench minutes. KT at the 4 or 5, Diaw at just about any spot and Rose at the 1, 2 or 3. JR (3 or 4) and Banks (1 or 2) right behind them, especially for defense.

I think the real key is getting them hungry for the boards like they were the other night against Memphis. Now granted we were playing Memphis, but we dominated the boards and you could tell that Dantoni must have beaten this into their heads. There were times the guys were even fighting each other off for those boards. They need to keep that rebounding level.

The nice thing is that the rest of our November schedule eases up a bit. We had 6 games in 10 days and 5 of those were playoff teams. Now we have 7 games in the next 17 days. Home against Philly, NOK, NJ and Houston. Away against Utah, GS and Portland.

Carbo04

I'd perfer the same lineup to keep consistancy. But we just need to do whatever we can to get some W's.