The Suns after a
feeling out period are suddenly 7-1 in their last 8 games, and the loss was an
overtime loss on the road with some seriously questionable officiating.
On
Saturday night Suns' center Shaquille O'Neal posted an impressive 23
points and 13 boards in 36 minutes of action against Houston to help Phoenix win
their seventh straight. Meanwhile Shawn Marion has made no difference to the
Heats losing ways, and seems to be getting really tired of losing as he now has
a back injury? We are talking about a player who does not get injured.
Marion even aggravated his
sore back after backing his vehicle into a pole. Some people will do anything to
avoid playing for the Heat it appears.
Sometimes what you ask for is not what you thought it would be. And sometimes
the pundits show themselves to be fools.
What
is most impressive is not just what Shaq has done with the Suns, but what he has
done to a team that was considered soft before his arrival. He even has little
Stevie Nash playing defense. It is amazing to watch this transformation in
progress. From a team that scared no one, to a team that on any given day can
bruise you up, and it's not just Shaq. Suddenly Boris Diaw is no longer timid in
the paint, Manu Ginobli is scoring and playing defense, Grant Hill looks 25
again, and the Suns are playing great defense in stretches, although not for
whole games regularly yet, you can see it coming when they decide to lock
someone down, they can do it now.
Most importantly,
Suns big man Amare Stoudemire, is now the most versatile big man in the game.
Now think about his, he is 25 years old. Shaq says Amare is better than he was
at 25. Shaq's presence has allowed him to match up against power forwards on
offense and he can face up at the 4 with Shaq in there, or play with his back to
the basket at the 5 when Shaq is out, it makes him almost unstoppable for the
opposing team. He was already a very good player, verging on greatness. With
Shaq in the lineup, Amare has fully arrived. He is now regularly putting up 25+
points, 10 rebounds, and several blocks a game. If the Shaq we have seen the
last few weeks is the Shaq the Suns will have next year, and Nash holds up for
one more year, you can lay money now that Stoudemire will win the MVP next year,
its not even in question.
If you are a fan of
any other West team and the Suns with their rejuvenated big man and a power
forward who is fast becoming the dominant player in the NBA don't scare you for
the playoffs, you are not paying attention.
What
is most impressive is not just what Shaq has done with the Suns, but what he has
done to a team that was considered soft before his arrival. He even has little
Stevie Nash playing defense. It is amazing to watch this transformation in
progress. From a team that scared no one, to a team that on any given day can
bruise you up, and it's not just Shaq. Suddenly Boris Diaw is no longer timid in
the paint, Manu Ginobli is scoring and playing defense, Grant Hill looks 25
again, and the Suns are playing great defense in stretches, although not for
whole games regularly yet, you can see it coming when they decide to lock
someone down, they can do it now.