Happy New Year
Happy New Year! This year I'm a bit lonely since I'm spending it away from family. My sister is in NYC and my family is in Toronto, while I'm in Waterloo. I decided not to drive home partly because of the weather and because it's a weekday. I'm always tempted to take the day off of work, but I have never done so. Has anyone ever missed school or work because of Chinese New Year?
But the craziest news today is the Shaq-Marion trade. The Suns were my favourite team to watch, but now they won't nearly be as exciting. Marion was great on the fast break and now that Shaq is on the team, I don't see as many fast breaks happening. I guess he could be the one that initiates the fast break with the rebound, but marion was one that could either start (by rebounding or steal) and finish fast breaks. Shaq can only start them. Will Phoenix's half court offense be better? I don't think Shaq will draw many doubles anymore to help Phoenix. He will just get in the way of Nash/Amare's pick and roll. No team is going to cover Shaq when he's away from the basket. This means there might be an extra help defender when Nash does his pick and roll, limiting his choices.
On the defensive end, Marion was by far Phoenix's best man to man defender. Now they have to use Raja Bell in that role and increase his minutes. Shaq is suppose to help with the interior defense, but I have my doubts as to whether he can stay out of foul trouble. He also won't be able to play big minutes, so Amare will end up at C most of the time anyway.
And the biggest issue is Shaq's health. He is way overweight and has multiple injuries. By the time playoffs roll around, Shaq could be injured and then this trade will be for naught. Next year it'll be even worse. The year after Shaq will probably be retired.
Then the salary cap problem of bringing Shaq onboard. The Sun's owner doesn't want to pay the luxury tax, but by bringing Shaq on, he's on the hook for $20 million for two more years. Two more years after this one.
In conclusion, I'm sad they broke up this entertaining Suns team. :_(
But the craziest news today is the Shaq-Marion trade. The Suns were my favourite team to watch, but now they won't nearly be as exciting. Marion was great on the fast break and now that Shaq is on the team, I don't see as many fast breaks happening. I guess he could be the one that initiates the fast break with the rebound, but marion was one that could either start (by rebounding or steal) and finish fast breaks. Shaq can only start them. Will Phoenix's half court offense be better? I don't think Shaq will draw many doubles anymore to help Phoenix. He will just get in the way of Nash/Amare's pick and roll. No team is going to cover Shaq when he's away from the basket. This means there might be an extra help defender when Nash does his pick and roll, limiting his choices.
On the defensive end, Marion was by far Phoenix's best man to man defender. Now they have to use Raja Bell in that role and increase his minutes. Shaq is suppose to help with the interior defense, but I have my doubts as to whether he can stay out of foul trouble. He also won't be able to play big minutes, so Amare will end up at C most of the time anyway.
And the biggest issue is Shaq's health. He is way overweight and has multiple injuries. By the time playoffs roll around, Shaq could be injured and then this trade will be for naught. Next year it'll be even worse. The year after Shaq will probably be retired.
Then the salary cap problem of bringing Shaq onboard. The Sun's owner doesn't want to pay the luxury tax, but by bringing Shaq on, he's on the hook for $20 million for two more years. Two more years after this one.
In conclusion, I'm sad they broke up this entertaining Suns team. :_(
Labels: basketball, Chinese New Year, NBA, weather
posted by Nelson at 10:33 PM
2 Comments:
Mark My Words....
Shaq will make the Suns better.
He will bring them a ring.
I would have to agree with Ben. On paper, this looks like a horrible trade. Marion played so many different roles on the Sun's defence, and he manages to get points without any offensive play setup for him specifically. My initial reaction was one of shock. However, upon doing some more research, I begin to see why Steve Kerr would pull off a trade of this magnitude.
Of course he isn't as fast as Marion running the fast break, but how many fastbreaks require all five guys running the floor? The Suns are still a team of speed and have plenty of fast break finishers.
I think having Shaq gives them more versatility in their offensive attack. They can run as usual, but if the fast break opportunity evaporates, they can wait for Shaq to catch up and setup in the low post.
We all know that in the playoffs, the games generally slows down to a half court set anyways. Having Shaq will be a definite bonus.
Anyway, there are as many rebuttals to every potential benefit of bringing Shaq to the Suns. That being said, I wouldn't bet against a motivated and angry Shaq. Suns will be better.
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