Bleacher Report - Articles by Erik Mackay

Championship Teams Are Not Built Overnight

Erik Mackay — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 02:07:58 -0400

Well, that was not quite the season that we expected out of the talented Phoenix Suns. Is it understandable though or did they really screw up? Their performance was awfully frustrating to watch and it is difficult to say that they didn't screw up.

If I walk around the streets of Phoenix, Mesa, Tempe, Scottsdale, Chandler, Glendale, Peoria, and Gilbert asking people for their opinion, I would probably hear a lot of derogatory remarks toward Terry Porter and Steve Kerr.

This is understandable, given all that has gone on this season in Phoenix. In reality, what are we expecting? Championship teams are not built over night.

The move to trade for Shaq to replace Marion baffled a lot of people. Why put a big, slow, inversatile, injury prone player like Shaq in a run and gun offense? The answer is simple.

The run and gun game was not working.

They were not going to win a championship with that game without getting very lucky. It was an exciting, effective style of play until they hit the wall somewhere usually around the conference finals or second round. The team was filled with quick, energetic, efficient, but relatively small players.

What is it that killed them every time? Rebounds. Every pre-halftime interview with D'Antoni when the Suns were trailing was always the same. He would say, "We are getting killed on the boards." The small-ball game is not going to cut it in the later rounds of the playoffs against teams like San Antonio, Dallas, and the Lakers.

It literally seemed as though they would just peak too early, so we looked for excuses like they ran out of gas, Nash is getting old, Amare is not performing, etc. These things are not entirely false, but they do not explain why the Suns keep falling short.

So, it is time for change. Marion wants out, he gets his wish, D'Antoni leaves, now the Diesel is sitting in the frontcourt and the suns have a whole new look to them. Perhaps the makings of a more well-rounded team?

The Suns are trying to build something that will go further than D'Antoni's run and gun game. This has thus far required sweeping changes. The Suns are not a young team. They are run by a point guard pushing mid-30s, Stoudemire has been around a while, and Shaq has been playing since the end of Larry Bird's reign.

A team run by veterans is not the quickest to adapt to a whole new style of game. A very young team though, well they would be starting from scratch so you don't need to break them down and rebuild. However, the Suns have what is nowadays considered an older team.

They have new players, they have to work on some chemistry, they have to see how things play out, they will have to fill some holes, they will have to make some acquisitions and some releases, and they have to make some mistakes so that they can learn and come back even stronger.

They need to be given some time. They are going to struggle at first. That is okay, because they are going to get better. They have five excellent starters, a lot of talent in guys like Leandro Barbosa and Stromile Swift, and a couple young prospects in Robin Lopez and Jared Dudley.

They have what they need, they just have to put it together and find how to build something stronger than what the Spurs and the Lakers have. And they will. They will be better than both of these teams, but it may not be as soon as we all hope.

We, including the team itself, got impatient this past season and drama started to erupt. In this situation, you need to step back, put it all behind you, and focus on doing what they need to do, step by step.

If you build it, it will come. So, the Suns need to take a breath of fresh air, work hard over the off-season, and come back ready to win some games and do better in '09-'10.

Dwight Howard: Superman Carrying Orlando to Dynasty

Erik Mackay — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:58:49 -0500

The Orlando Magic basketball team is a young franchise that really has not achieved a whole lot since making its debut in 1989.

In their best seasons, Orlando were swept swept by Houston in the Finals and Chicago in the Conference finals. A couple unsuccessful transactions and postseason collapses followed, leaving the Magic with the #1 pick in the 2004 draft.

They passed on NCAA Champion and powerhouse Emeka Okafor to get a younger C/F straight from high school, Dwight Howard. This move earned many grunts from fans, until about two years later, when the team developed a nice nucleus around the center and point guard Jameer Nelson.

What happened? I’ll tell you what didn’t happen.

They didn’t sign another flashy, big-name player like Steve Francis, give him the ball and say "Here, win us some games."

Dwight Howard is an excellent player to build a team around. Instead of an incumbent 25 point scorer that doesn’t gel with the team very well, and brings a lot of drama, they take a player they can develop. Howard grew into Orlando Magic basketball. This is just what the Magic needed.

Howard is now the face of the Magic, and rightfully so. He brings energetic play to Orlando, a hard working attitude, a great personality, and, best of all, defense, a perennial Orlando Magic weakness.

With Dwight Howard, Orlando can win a championship. He is an adequate core player. They are not championship-ready yet because Howard is still young and falls in the same category as Amare Stoudemire and Chris Bosh: players who have the talent but lack the experience to be a Tim Duncan or Shaq.

Last season, you saw veteran Hedo Turkoglu taking the big shots at the end of games. That will be Dwight Howard soon. Nothing against Hedo, he is a huge part of this team, but he doesn’t have the talent that Howard has, so more and more they will be looking to the big man.

Talent wise, Howard will still improve, and even his numbers will improve a little, too. However, the biggest improvement you will see now and over these next several years is his experience. He will be ready to take that clutch shot; he will step up without hesitation and make that big defensive play; and he will have his best game when they need it most.

The team is still lacking depth. They are still doing a lot of character building. What they don’t want to do is rely on Howard like they did with Tracy McGrady. Howard is their team leader, their key low post player, and their defensive dominator. They do not need him to score 25 points per game; they have plenty of scorers.

Most of his points will come off offensive rebounds and dunks. They don’t need him pulling up for 18-footers. They also don’t need him to grab every rebound. Rashard Lewis is a great power forward, and they may as well get their money’s worth out of him. 15-20 points per game and 12-13 rebounds per game is what to look for from him.

Defensively, Howard is their leader. The hope is that the rest of the team develops behind him. 2.5-3.0 blocks per game is a must, and if he manages five blocks per game, then more power to him. They want to get the best from all their players.

Let Lewis drop 20 points and grab eight boards per game. Let Pietrus score 10+ off the bench, and let Turkoglu, Bogans, and Reddick shoot the lights out. Foyle and Battie can provide rest time for Howard, and as far as Nelson goes, they need more along the lines of eight assists and two steals-per-game as opposed to 15 points-per-game.

As you can see, the Magic have the elements to produce a championship team, but they don’t yet have the experience and leadership.

However, they have the perfect man for the job: Dwight Howard, a future hall of famer, is the key to unlock to Championship trophy safe.

He brought a new look to this team. He is very marketable, and he has brought energy to the fans at the Amway Arena that McGrady never brought. He impacts the overall performance of the team more than any of the other players.

As good as Howard gets, the team will get.

The Orlando Magic will go as far as Dwight Howard can take them.

An NBA Draft '08 Perspective: Phoenix Suns

Erik Mackay — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 06:19:17 -0400

Phoenix has had an up and down past with drafts, coming up with some big names such as Steve Nash (1996), Shawn Marion (1999), Amare Stoudemire (2002), Leandro Barbosa (2003), Alando Tucker (2007).

They also had some good picks that were traded away for what turned out to be not so good, such as Luol Deng (2004, traded to Chicago) and Nate Robinson (2005, traded to New York).

The last couple seasons, the Suns have begun the regular season as an NBA Champion candidate. However, every season they have failed to achieve such a feat.

What could the Suns possibly need? They had a very efficient team with guys like Marion and Boris Diaw, who could each play four different positions, along with Nash, Barbosa, and Stoudemire, all of whom could run the court very well for their respective positions.

Nash, Barbosa, Raja Bell, and even Marion all had good shooting touches. The bench included steady backups like Marcus Banks and Kurt Thomas, veterans like Grant Hill and Jalen Rose, and young gun Alando Tucker.

In the previous two seasons, the Suns fell to the Mavs and Spurs in the conference finals because their "small ball" line up hurt them as their run and gun game began to run out of gas and slow down.

When Amare Stoudemire was injured, the Suns relied on Marion (6'7", 228 lbs.), Diaw (6'8", 225 lbs.), and Thomas (6'9", 235 lbs.) to carry the rebounding load, which simply did not work against a stacked Dallas Mavericks lineup.

Even with Amare, the Suns just did not have the game to get past San Antonio and get back to the finals again.

"We need to get on the boards! That is where they are beating us!" was a typical quote from Mike D'Antoni this past season. I don't think I saw a single Suns game where D'Antoni did not say that in a timeout or in an interview or press conference.

So then Marion, the "do it all" player, wants out of Phoenix. Steve Kerr understands the team's needs and generally went about it the right way. If you are going to lose Marion, you are not going to have as fast of a team because he is the fastest player at his position, so why not stop the bleeding in the rebouning category?

Kerr went ahead and traded Marion for Shaquille O'Neal the big 7'1" 300 pound center and popular marketing figure. Kerr took a lot of heat for this, but it was not a bad move. Obviously, bringing back Marion would have been ideal, but that was not going to happen.

O'Neal brings a big presence to this small team. He is not just a veteran, but a veteran with the experience that the Suns need. O'Neal is aging and has been injury prone for years, but he has proven that he can still win championships, doing so with Miami two years ago.

Imagine having not just a player, but a mentor with all that success and championship experience playing for this young team and helping these young players along. This is what was on Steve Kerr's mind.

One player is not going to make a team slow. As long as Shaq can get up the court in 24 seconds, they will be fine.

However, whenever you have a veteran, you want to have a younger apprentice player that can learn from him and fill in for him more as he ages. The Suns' goal in the 2008 NBA Draft should be to get a big man to back up Shaq, and to get a steady point guard to back up Nash, who is also getting older.

They don't have Marion anymore, they have Shaq, so they cannot just play 8 players in a game. They have some great bench players in Raja Bell, Alando Tucker, DJ Strawberry, and Brian Skinner, but those are all mid-sized players that have the swingman and forward positions backed up.

They need a legitimate center and point guard to serve as backups. Look for Phoenix to consider a taleneted point guard like Mario Chalmers who will bring some much needed defense to a team like the Suns, or a post presence like DeAndre Jordan, in the first round.

Don't look for another 6'6"-6'8" G/F with speed and shooting ability that would end up a third string at best, or a Roy Hibbert, a 7'2" 280 pound center that would not fit into a finesse team like Phoenix.

If a big name player of such a type is available, the Suns may take him as trade bait, as Phoenix has been known to pull some big moves on draft day.