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Shaquille
O'Neal: "When you are 60, hang out with 60-year-olds, not 20-year-olds.
That is all I got to say about Jerry Buss."
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HoopsHype.com Articles Gaining
confidence
If you are one of those hoops fans that does not pay full attention to the NBA until after the Super Bowl, do not be alarmed if you glance at the Pacific Division standings to find the Phoenix Suns in second place. It is not a misprint. Preseason prognosticators gave the solar desert dwellers little chance at even a .500 record. After all, this was to be a rebuilding year with a new coaching staff, a new offense and a rookie who came to the league straight out of high school. Patience was the preaching coming out of training camp after missing out on the playoffs last season for the first time in 13 years. But something is happening on the way to Lottery-Land and while it is still only December, the Suns fourth place position in the West makes them the surprise team of the league a quarter of the way into the season. Losses to Memphis and Denver indicate the Suns are not ready for an elite team status, but victories over solid teams like Indiana, San Antonio and Houston seem to show they may not be nearly as bad as nearly everyone thought they would be either. The most surprising turnaround of late has been their play on the road. After starting the season 1-7 away from Arizona, the Suns recently concluded a grueling East Coast swing by beating the Celtics, Sixers and Hawks consecutively and their confidence level seemed to grow with every trip down the floor. “You always think that it would happen at home,” admits head coach Frank Johnson. “You’ve got to give the credit to the players in terms of them having a mindset that we are going to tough it out. We’re going to play good defense, we’re going to move the ball, we’re going to play unselfishly, we’re going to have a little trust in each other.” Trust is not something that was expected to come quickly to this team of new, young components learning a new offensive system. “That has taken some time,” said Johnson. “I don’t think they fully trust each other… but it’s getting better. “ The new motion-type offense Johnson implemented at the start of this, his first full season as head coach, has been tweaked to allow star guard Stephon Marbury and rising star Shawn Marion to drive and create their own shots. The result has Marbury above career averages in both scoring and assists, while Marion is one of only six players in the league averaging over 20 points and 10 rebounds. Rookie Amare Stoudemire has looked more like a seasoned college veteran than a recent high school graduate after the Suns drafted him with the ninth overall pick last summer. “Stud-admire’s” raw ability and work ethic quickly earned him a spot in the starting lineup and he has shown no fear in going up against the Tim Duncans and Jermaine O’Neals of the league. “I’m learning a lot and understanding the game a lot more,” Stoudemire says. While he is happy with his progress so far, he realizes this is just the beginning. “I’m satisfied for right now. I feel as a team we can do a lot better.” The Suns feed on Stoudemire’s energy and hard work. This was no more evidenced than when the rough crowd in Boston got on him after Paul Pierce went down on the Garden’s parquet floor face first after making contact with Stoudemire on a drive to the basket. “The team backed me up one hundred percent,” recalls Stoudemire. “I went straight up and he came down wrong. A lot of the fans in Boston figured it was my fault, but my team was there to back me up and they were supportive. I think that was great.” The victory in Boston may also be remembered for the emergence of confidence in a player who had thus far been the team’s biggest disappointment. “We have a very confident group right now,” says Frank Johnson. “Hopefully we can maintain that confidence. What has really helped us has certainly been the play of Joe Johnson coming off the bench and playing more consistently.” Whether it was a residual disappointment of being traded by the Celtics less than a year after being drafted by them, or the pressure put on him by the expectations the Suns had placed on him, JJ’s confidence plummeted along with his shooting percentage and he was benched after starting the first four games of the season. He has shown flashes of the quickness and shooting touch that the Suns saw in offseason workouts and the summer leagues, but it wasn’t until his return to Boston that he put it all together. “The road trip helped me a lot with my confidence,” says JJ. “I feel good about it because we’re winning. I feel like in order for this team to make the playoffs I have to come out and be aggressive on both ends of the court. We’re starting to trust one another a lot more; we’ve just come together as a team.” Penny Hardaway, who replaced JJ in the starting lineup, agrees the recent success on the road is a big step in the right direction. “Our confidence is high. Winning those big games on the road, especially against Boston and Philly, gave us some confidence about ourselves. I think we’re starting to gain an identity and know who we are. We’re going out on the floor with an attitude and that’s what we need.” Confidence. Aggressiveness. Trust. Winning. These are qualities that a young team on the road is supposed to struggle with as they learn about the game and each other. Frank Johnson says it was simply a matter of putting the wheels, and the offense, in motion. “We started making some shots, started clicking offensively and it just started rolling.” Time will tell if the Suns can remain in playoff contention by Super Bowl Sunday, through March Madness or even past Opening Day. They did make it past the Heisman Trophy presentation, and that is a lot better than most would have thought possible. Steven Koek is a regular contributor to HoopsHype.com Tell us what you think about this article. E-mail us at HoopsHype@HoopsHype.com _____________________ |
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