2007-08 NBA Preview: Pacific Division

1) Phoenix Suns

With Shawn Marion grumbling, Steve Nash aging, Amare Stoudemire’s knees suffering, and not much young talent on the roster, the Suns' window of opportunity may be closing.

This season, they’ll still be the Suns everybody knows and loves: Nash consistently making brilliant decisions, Stoudemire filling lanes perfectly, Marion excelling in nearly every aspect of the game, and the rest of the gunners running in transition.

But the same problems still exist in the Valley of the Sun.

Mike D’Antoni still hasn’t committed to any sort of team-wide defensive scheme, and the offense is way too Nash-centric—which is a problem when Nash is exposed to bigger, more physical defenders.

Marion and Raja Bell dedicate themselves on defense, and while Nash can’t defend his shadow, he's a crafty defensive player.

That said, the Suns don’t preach defense as a necessity, their rotations are nonexistent, and their basket protectors—Stoudemire and Boris Diaw—are completely inept.

At least Kurt Thomas could be counted on to defend the West’s premier post scorers...but Phoenix basically gave him away.

It shouldn’t be a problem in the regular season, as the Suns have enough firepower to outgun most teams in the league.

But do the Suns have enough offensive versatility if Nash is neutralized in the playoffs? Can Stoudemire finally learn to rotate on time? Can Grant Hill keep up with his jet-setting teammates? Will the Suns play the kind of defense that will allow them to beat a team that adequately prepares for their offense?

If the Suns don’t answer those questions this season, they may never get over the hump.

 

2) Los Angeles Lakers

Despite his sometimes-justified, sometimes-petulant rants, it’s nearly impossible to envision Kobe Bryant playing on another roster this season.

And because of that, the Lakers should have more than enough to make a return to the playoffs.

The major question mark is Kobe himself.

In the last few years, there have been points at which Bryant tried too hard to be a playmaker and get teammates involved. Because of LA’s mismatched roster, he would often end up creating plays for nobody.

On the other end of the spectrum, there were games in which Kobe would try to score all of his team’s points. While he put up some scintillating performances, there was no rhythm and flow to the Laker offense—and Los Angeles would sometimes operate one-on-five.

Will Kobe find the happy medium between being too unselfish and being too shot-happy? And can Kobe get back to being the dominant defensive stopper he was during the Lakers' recent glory run?

If not, even just making the playoffs will be a struggle.

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