Suns chances in the Pacific division for 2005-2006
I just finished reading an article on FoxSports.com about Charley Rosen's analysis/preview of the NBA's Pacific Division.
For the most part, he's right on the money, but there were a couple points I had troubles with...
#1 - He puts Kurt Thomas in the Forwards group - from my understanding, the Suns plan to use Thomas as a Center this year and put Amare back in the 4 spot. I would expect between Brian Grant, Thomas, and Stoudemire that they'll end up playing both Center and Forward during the year, but I don't categorize Thomas as a Forward.
#2 - He also points out that the Suns uptempo offense failed miserably against the Spurs, but he failed to mention they were without Joe Johnson for the first couple games. Who knows, maybe they would've taken it to a Game 6 or 7 had he been in the lineup for each game and healthy. I think their offense is just fine - they can adjust and play half court whenever they want to.
#3 - He points out that Amare needs to work on his off-the-ball defense... Personally, I think he could average 20 rebounds a game, 4 blocks and 2 steals a night if he put as much effort into his defense as he did his offense (that's a scary thought).
The Suns are still the heavy favorite to win the Pacific Division, with Golden State and Sacramento not too far behind. The Lakers are going to have some struggles, but they should be around .500 at the end of the year. The Clippers are going to suck (again).
My2Cents