It's been 28 years since Paul Westphal, Alvin Adams, and Garfield Heard led the Phoenix Suns to that NBA Finals classic against the Boston Celtics. I'll even be willing to look at the fact that Charles Barkley went quietly into that good night when Michael Jordan came knocking in the 1993 Finals. The 2004-'05 version of the Phoenix Suns has the chance to reach the heights of these teams by moving up a weakening Western Conference ladder.
The Suns got a much-needed lift in the offseason when it turned to the free agent market to turn around its sagging fortunes. The team already had a young, energetic talent base with U.S. Olympians Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire, and exciting newcomers Joe Johnson and Brazilian star Leandro Barbosa. With the addition of former Sun and all-star point guard Steve Nash and the powerful and explosive Clipper shooting guard Quentin Richardson, the Suns have more than just a solid team.
The Colangelo family also added seven-center Steven Hunter, an athletic yet soft big man, who played for the Orland Magic last year. The Suns' head coach is Mike D'Antoni, a former NBA and ABA player and Italian League hero, who has an open-floor coaching style similar to that of Rick Pitino. This style should benefit a roster stocked with speedy thoroughbreds.
A potential starting lineup of Nash and Richardson in the backcourt, Marion and Stoudemire at the forwards, and Hunter at center will strike fear in many NBA teams.
In addition, the Suns have an extremely strong bench with guards Barbosa and Howard Eisley, swing men Johnson and Casey Jacobsen, and UConn grad Jake Voskuhl backing up Hunter at center. The Suns' roster will probably be filled out with rookie Jackson Vroman from Iowa State, Zarko Cabarkapa from Serbia-Montenegro, and Maciej Lampe from Poland.
This year's Suns team should run and dunk so much that will bring a smile to the faces of team legends Larry Nance and Tom Chambers. With D'Antoni able to employ a solid 10-man rotation, the Suns should be able to wear down opponents with an aggressive transition game. With a super-intelligent point guard in Nash that creates opportunities and makes everyone better around him, look for big years from Stoudemire, Marion, and Richardson.
Playing in the NBA's Pacific Division has been quite an uphill battle in recent years for Phoenix. The five-team division consists of the Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clipper, and the Suns.
The Lakers kept Kobe Bryant, lost Derek Fisher and probably Karl Malone, traded Shaq for Lamar Odom, Brian Grant, and Caron Butler, got rid of whiny Gary Payton (although he refuses to report to the Celtics) and Rick Fox for Chris Mihm and Chucky Atkins, and resigned aging throwback Vlade Divac.
The Kings still can't excel with Chris Weber in the lineup; the Warriors traded big man Eric Dampier and got garbage (Eduardo Najera and Christian "I Left My Game at Duke" Laettner from Dallas) in return; and the Clippers, well the Clippers always bring up the rear.
I see the Suns finishing in second-place in the Pacific Division behind Sacramento and ahead of the underpowered Lakers. This should put the team at about a six-seed behind Minnesota, San Antonio, Denver, Sacramento, and Dallas. Phoenix is maybe a decent big man away from challenging for the title. Who knows, maybe a player like Rasheed Wallace will wear out his welcome in Detroit and bring his title touch to the Valley of the Sun? Stay tuned for more NBA team breakdowns.
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