Igoudala, Half court shot nothing but net!

[rickortreat]

Great buzzer beater with the Sixers down 81-80, Iggy dribbles the ball towards the half-court line (almost to where the old tip-off circle would be) and shoots with the clock at 00:01 and it swishes clean.

nba.com does a pretty good job of covering the highlights, so you can always see these amazing plays there.

Of course, the Sixers won, Iggy went off for 32 points and Andre Miller outplayed Steve Nash on both ends of the floor.  When Iggy plays like that he's as good as any player in the league, he just doesn't do it quite as often as they do. Andre Miller's more aggressive play at the point has been the biggest difference in their recent success. His ability to make shots and draw fouls is what enables the Sixers to function in half-court sets. He abused Steve Nash on the offensive end. 

The Suns are not what they were, and right now, they're not that good.  They lost whatever defense they had with Marion.  A good team can take the Sixers apart, so it's clear the Suns don't qualify.

Now Philly has an easy three games coming up, the Clippers, Seattle at home and away at Milwaukee.  They are currently 7-3 in their last 10.

I had hopes Atlanta would catch them to keep the Sixers out of the playoffs, but they have a tough schedule coming up that should knock them out.

It's not looking good for a lottery pick right now.

Mar. 28th the Suns visit the Sixers in a revenge match.  That will be a good test for the Suns to come in and beat the Sixers.  If they can't, their chances of going deep in the playoffs will be slim.

[westkoast]

I am glad it took a Sixers win for you to finally realize that you were VERY mistaken about what you thought PHX was going to be able to accomplish as soon as Shaq got there.  Die hard Philly fan or not you know that the Sixers have no business beating the Suns in March when the playoff race is so tight out West.  Excellent win by your squad though.  I did not see the game but I was able to catch a few high lights on ESPN.

Shaq pointing to his ring and talking so positive is already starting to fade now that it may look like the trade for him wasn't so hot.  He went on the record saying he's doing what he was asked to do but no one is playing defense LOL!!   The irony....

[rickortreat]

I wasn't mistaken about anything.  It was the smart move, but whether or not it translates into wins is another story.

Their lack of team defense isn't Shaq's fault.  They were a bad defensive team before he got there, and they haven't improved since his arrival.

Shaq was brought in to take care of offense at the end of the game and give them an inside presence.  But no one player makes that big a difference on defense, that requires a full team effort, and the Suns don't have the pieces.

[westkoast]

I wasn't mistaken about anything.  It was the smart move, but whether or not it translates into wins is another story.

Their lack of team defense isn't Shaq's fault.  They were a bad defensive team before he got there, and they haven't improved since his arrival.

Shaq was brought in to take care of offense at the end of the game and give them an inside presence.  But no one player makes that big a difference on defense, that requires a full team effort, and the Suns don't have the pieces.

It was a smart move....but it might not turn into wins?  Isn't that what would make it a smart or dumb move?  If they win it was a smart move.  If they start to play like crap and lose to lesser teams then it was dumb right?  It was a smart move....but they lost to the lowly 76ers on their home court, giving up almost 120 points?  After just losing by 19 to the Pistons on their home court a few games prior?   They have consistently given up 110-130 points since the move.  Only one game has stayed under 90 points.

No one said the lack of defense is Shaq's fault.  What was said by myself was that it's not Shaq's fault as much as it is Steve Kerr's for trying an experiment mid season.  Removing Marion to get Shaq is what hurt their team defense quite a bit. 

And Shaq was not brought in to care of the offense.  The offense was never a problem.  He was actually supposedly brought in to focus in on rebounding and defense so Amare could focus in on scoring.  You are smoking crack if you think the Suns went after Shaq for his 15 points a game.

[WayOutWest]

Shaq was brought in to take care of offense at the end of the game and give them an inside presence.  But no one player makes that big a difference on defense, that requires a full team effort, and the Suns don't have the pieces.

LOL!  Hard for Shaq to be in the offense at the end of games when he is sitting on the bench since Hack-A-Shaq forces coaches to take him out.  There are plenty of players that make all the difference on defense all by them selves.  Russel, Hakeem, Mourning, Robinson and Shaq where all defensive monsters in their prime.  Shaq is way past his prime where he could control the paint when the perimeter defense is weak.  Shaq can still take up space and keep big bodies out of the paint and prevent offensive rebounding but he's not quick enough anymore to be the last line of defense for the Suns weak perimeter defense.

I can't believe you think Shaq is in there for end of game OFFENSE, he is shooting 47% from the FT line this year.  Anytime he shoots below 50% from the line Hack-A-Shaq will be extreemly effective.  Teams employed Hack-A-Shaq when Shaq was shooting in the high 50's and low 60's so what makes you think it will not work now?

[Randy]

Rick,

Once again, thanks for the laugh. 

no one player makes that big a difference on defense, that requires a full team effort, and the Suns don't have the pieces.

Umm, baloney -- Shaq HAS been the player in the past -- he just isn't that player any more.  There have been players that make ALL the difference defensively and Shaq has been one of those players.

I still scratching my head on this -- perhaps you can help me understand it:

It was the smart move, but whether or not it translates into wins is another story.

Umm, let me tell you something -- NO move is smart if it doesn't translate into wins.  Now some moves are made (see Seattle, Memphis, etc.) to help you win down the road and in some cases, giving up wins today -- but if they don't translate into wins at SOME point, then it was a STUPID move.  I can't believe that you think a move is smart even if it doesn't translate into wins. 

[rickortreat]

It is a smart move because the Suns management knew they could not win an NBA championship as they were constructed, and believed that Shaq could provide the missing ingredient.  It was smart because it was the only option they had:

The objective for the Suns is to win a title, and to win one soon, because Nash is getting old.

Wins are not important, as long as they make the playoffs and get the matchups that they want. Ideally they would have home court advantage, but obviously, they have some problems they need to work out.

Defense is a team effort, anyone who thinks otherwise simply doesn't understand the game.  No one can stop a Kobe or an AI one on one, sometimes they score when two or three players are trying to stop them.

Whatever the problem is, Phoenix needs to learn how to win, and figure out what kind of a team they are.  Right now, they aren't what they were before the trade and they're not in a good place now.

It may be that D'Antoni, just doesn't know how to get them to play defense.  He should call Larry Brown.