# Suns Setting or Rising?



## MJG (Jun 29, 2003)

> Frank Johnson is fuming. The Suns' second-year coach has just concluded a morning practice and doesn't have many nice things to say about his young, upstart squad.
> 
> "We are struggling, when we should be flourishing," Johnson says as he shakes his head.
> 
> ...


LINK


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## Arclite (Nov 2, 2002)

No sense of urgency? In the preseason? No! :gasp:

 

He's so overemotional sometimes. Getting this upset over a preseason loss is ridiculous. Cleveland went undefeated in the preseason last year..


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## truebluefan (May 27, 2002)

That's a very hard question to answer in preseason


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## RetroDreams (Jun 9, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>Sovereignz</b>!
> No sense of urgency? In the preseason? No! :gasp:
> 
> 
> ...


You say this, but I'm a firm believer that what you do in preseason carries over to the regular season. If it is a problem now, it most likely will be a problem later.

That said, in looking at your roster, I feel you almost have too much young talent and one dimensional vets. I think you guys could really benefit and explode if you got one or two of those jack of all trade types. Aaron McKie comes to mind. 

Just my two cents.


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## Arclite (Nov 2, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>RetroDreams</b>!
> 
> 
> You say this, but I'm a firm believer that what you do in preseason carries over to the regular season. If it is a problem now, it most likely will be a problem later.
> ...


Marion has gained 15 pounds of muscle, Amare is admittedly out of shape from surgery. It takes time to adjust. That is what the preseason is for. Maybe certain things from the preseason carry over to the regular season, but at this stage there's no reason for a coach to start doubting the ability of his team, especially publicly. It's just bad for chemistry.

Our only true "young" talent is Stoudemire.. Agewise, Starbs and Matrix aren't old, but believe it or not, Marbury is already going to be in his 8th season and Marion is going into 5th. They are both near or at their peaks.. Joe Johnson has underachieved, and we have capable vets but they have to stay healthy. We need to improve at center, but so do most teams that aren't the Lakers or Rockets..


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## Tom (Jul 15, 2002)

The elite teams in the West are quickly becoming old and grey. If they stay together they have a chance to rule the west. I'm not even the biggest fan. They do need more of an inside presence. Amare can only do so much on his own.


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## Rashidi (Oct 2, 2003)

> The elite teams in the West are quickly becoming old and grey.


You sure now?

The ages of the good players on elite west teams.

Minnesota
Szczerbiak: 26
Garnett: 27
Hudson: 27
Olowokandi: 28
Sprewell: 33
Cassell: 34

San Antonio
Parker: 21
Turkoglu: 24
Ginobilli: 26
Duncan: 27
Nesterovic: 27
Rose: 29
Bowen: 32

Sacramento
Bibby: 25
Stojakovic: 26
Miller: 27
Webber: 30
Jackson: 30
Christie: 33
Divac: 35

LA Lakers
Bryant: 25
O'Neal: 31
Payton: 35
Malone: 40

Houston
Griffin: 21
Ming: 23
Francis: 25
Taylor: 27
Mobley: 29
Jackson: 33

Phoenix
Stoudemire: 21
Johnson: 22
Marion: 25
Marbury: 26
Hardaway: 32

I think it should be clear that the only elite team that is becoming old and grey is the Lakers, and Kobe will still be pretty young when GP and Karl retire, and age won't really matter with Shaq, he'll still dominate at 35. All the other teams have pretty young cores in place, the first that will fade after LA will be Sacramento, but Houston is just as young as Phoenix, and Duncan and KG are only 27, a year older than Marbury.

The Suns won't be elite (top 4) for another 3-5 years. I wouldn't consider that "quickly".


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## whiterhino (Jun 15, 2003)

Um I think a lot of people don't realize that Zarko and Barbosa are part of the core now, these two were draft steals and have a LOT of talent and are young. I know the season hasn't started yet but everyone will see they will blend quickly.


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## Amareca (Oct 21, 2002)

Voshkul and Jacobsen are also young talented players with great work ethic.


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## shazha (Nov 20, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>BigAmare</b>!
> Voshkul and Jacobsen are also young talented players with great work ethic.



LOL
yes indeed they do have good work ethic..... dude our suns have one problem... We just traded away our only starting worthy center. We are a friggen donut team. 

Zarko better be good, or colangelo, im commin for ya!!


:upset:


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## Amareca (Oct 21, 2002)

Jake Tsakalidis was much worse than Voshkul.


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