As a result of the awful pre-season and that ridiculous 18-1 run Portland made in the 4th quarter on Tuesday, a lot of loyal Suns fans are extremely nervous. I don't blame them. I'm sure everyone has heard the quote from Steve Nash from the other day: "To be honest, if I was outside this picture and a betting man, I would probably pick us to be outside of the playoffs considering all the changes and the new guys."
While I am a little nervous, I don't think Nash really meant it saying he had no confidence in his team. I think he was saying he can understand why an outsider would doubt them. I mean what ESPN's John Hollinger had to say was much more troubling:
"(Steve Nash) loves the desert and certainly benefits from the Suns' world-class training staff, but how much longer does he endure the penny-pinching ownership and the fact that the final years of his prime will be spent scratching and clawing to get the No. 8 seed in the West? All his interviews sound like he's trying to talk himself into optimism through gritted teeth, but the reality is that his owner nuked a team (and front office) that was two wins from the Finals and, if he stays put, Nash and Co. are probably going to the lottery.
Even if Nash doesn't push for a trade, what sense does it make for the Suns to hang on to him (and Grant Hill, for that matter) if they're bumbling along toward 32-50? Wouldn't it be more prudent at that point to trade their four 30-something starters and rebuild?"
Pretty heavy stuff right? I don't know how I feel about this. Part of me thinks it'd be good to trade Nash and start over. Don't get me wrong, I love Nash, I'd want him to go somewhere he'd have a chance to win it all. That being said, I'd rather see us pull of a trade where we could get a young, strong, mobile power forward that rebounds (Like Sacramento's Jason Thompson, who averaged 12.5 points and 8.5 rebounds last season). I also love Grant Hill, he drinks Sprite after all, but salary wise we could trade him straight up for Thompson (and maybe get a 1st round pick too?). Sacramento has a strong young core and lots of big guys but they could definitely use veteran leadership. With someone like Hill they could gain a lot of maturity. The Suns could get Thompson and then move Turk (who I'd rather trade than Hill but his contract is a mess and it's not likely happening) to his natural SF position. That would make a lineup of Nash, Richardson, Turkoglu, Thompson, and Lopez with Dragic, Childress, Dudley, Warrick and Frye off the bench. That could be a mean lineup! I have a mancrush on Josh Smith, so he is who I want the most (he is a premier defender AND dunks like a mad man). I think he'd be great on the pick and roll with Nash but I don't see how we could pull that off. while I am a bit troubled with how this season could turn out, I am just going to enjoy this season a game at a time.
New subject: BTTF!
It was awesome in the theater! I was texting Bater the whole time in line and ran into/sat by Jordan and Bryce! The atmosphere was fantastic and it was awesome to see it with such clarity and such great sound. People were laughing throughout and one guy gasped in disbelief when Marty couldn't get the DeLorean to start. Jordan and I laughed pretty hard, it was like that guy had never seen it or something! I had to hold back laughter at some of the parts that were in the "Brokeback to the Future" video (Nate told me he did laugh and was the only one in the theater laughing). Well done, Bob Zemeckis and team.
Did the NBA season just start?? Is the Suns blog back in action?? haha Just kidding.
ReplyDeleteNice post Matt! I'm not going to lie, I am pretty nervous about the Suns this year. But lets not forget how crappy they thought we were going to be last season. I think "she'll buff out"... hopefully.
And Back to the Future in theaters was amazing! I just seemed different watching it in theaters. I totally laughed at all the "wrong" parts too haha it was funny. Also, I already talk to Jordan about this but I felt so giddy the entire movie. I could just tell I had this dorky grin on my face the whole time. I didn't care though... it was awesome! Oh and as i walked out of the theater some dude offered me $5 bucks for the free poster I got. I had two so it was cool with me. Got me some free In-N-Out!
Matty nice post. I have been noticing some comments from Nash lately as well. How can he not be frustrated. I think we have some good players but it doesn't seem to be working well. It's funny because I keep thinking, if we could just trade a couple of our wings for a good power forward we would be set. But that's what we had last year with Amare! In the end I think he wanted to leave. But they didn't do a very good job replacing him. We're paying too much money to several decent players (Frye, Turkoglu, Warrick, etc), when we need to get one great player. We have plenty of guys off the bench that we can afford it.
ReplyDeleteSarver needs to make up his mind. If he wants this team to go down in history he needs to make some big moves and get Nash a title. If he's not willing to do that he needs to let Nash and Hill go somewhere they can be successful and build around Dragic and Lopez.
Matt...I am officially convinced you should be a sports columnist (also singer/song writer)...I would seriously read the Matt Olsen Sports Column every morning! And yes, I am nervous about the suns too!
ReplyDeleteSo I'm feeling left out because everyone got to see BTTF in the theater except me...the least you could do Nate is give me that poster to make up for it instead of selling for a measly $5!!
And lastly...James...James Sweeney....It's good to see you contributing to the blog buddy...keep it up! PS The sea was angry that day my friends...like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli.
Sorry I've been a slacker on the blog. Anyway, Nate and I just got back from watching the Suns dominate the Jazz. And we high fived the whole team as they came out of the tunnel at halftime. I must admit I got a little giddy:) But on a serious note, a couple observations:
ReplyDelete1. Hakim Warrick needs to start. He does by far the best of anyone on the pick and role
2. We won't be as good as we were with Stoudemire, but we should recover, I don't think Nash will allow us to not make the playoffs.
3. We should have just stuck with Warrick and re-signed Lou, and not traded for Turkoglu. He is a good player, but as I mentioned before, Warrick should be starting. He fits in much better, and hustles more. I can't tell if Turkoglu is just lazy or really can't find his role, but he looks lethargic and is too small to be a power forward.
4. I have a man-crush on Goran Dragic. It's a shame he plays the same position as Nash. He needs more playing time. He takes it to the whole strong and makes plays for people. He's going to be a great player.
Hope all of caught the game. The Suns will be fine. They have a lot of talent. But Sarver still needs to make a move to give us a chance to win it all before Nash retires.