Surprise Starter for the Suns

Some interesting roster developments with the Phoenix Suns today. Head coach Alvin Gentry said if the season started today that his starting center would be newly signed Channing Frye, not Robin Lopez. This clearly says that the Suns will continue their run-and-gun ways but is it the right move for this team?

This team has always gone with the game plan of score, score and score some more and hope the other team can’t keep up. It’s been that way ever since Mike D’Antonio was the coach, but where has that gotten them over the past few years?

It’s gotten them no where, they couldn’t even reach the playoffs in the 2008-09 season.

They’ve never been able to stop teams while on the defensive side, something that’s critical come crunch time. That defense got even worse after the trade of Shaquille O’Neal to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

For the Suns to succeed in 2009-10 they need to strengthen their defense and that begins in the middle. They need a presence. Someone in the middle who could rebound the ball and make opposing offenses think twice about going into the paint.

With that being said you would think Gentry would lean towards Lopez. He’s a seven footer who can do both rebound and block shots. Last April, post-Shaq, he finally got a chance to play and responded, blocking 1.5 shots and pulling down 4.3 rebounds a game in about 16 minutes.

Frye is nothing close to a blocker or a rebounder. His career high is 5.5 rebounds and 0.6 blocks per game in about 26 minutes, with the New York Knicks in 2006-07.

Only reason Gentry would choose Frye as the starter is to continue with that run-and-gun style of offense. Can’t really blame him when his point guard is still Steve Nash. Is it smart? Not really, but not surprising.

Frye’s offensive style suits the Suns much more then Lopez’s. Frye is a guy who prefers the mid-ranger jumper, and is continually improving his game from the outside. This outside game will help free up the lane for Amare Stoudemire, something that was always crowded with the Big Aristotle out there.

This will definitely help the Suns score more points. You’ve got a cleared out middle for Stoudemire and you got a guy who can run the pick-and-roll with Nash.

Even so, I don’t think its a good move for the Suns. It means absolutely nothing if you can score points but can’t stop anyone. Look at last years Knicks, actually just look at your own Suns team from last season.

This is a team that doesn’t have what it takes to win a championship, but they do have the talent to be a solid playoff team. Which does mean if they get hot at the right time, say May then they could be winners.

Unfortunately by not correcting their weaknesses in the off season they didn’t put themselves in position to improve. Which means this team could be fighting for a playoff berth again instead of debating on how far they could go.

Gentry insisted at the teams media day that things will be different with this run-and-gun attack.

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We’re going to be a little more demanding defensively.”
“We don’t have to be Cleveland or San Antonio because we are good offensively,” Gentry said. “But we have to be more consistent.”

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Every coach of a poor defensive team says this and it rarely happens. I have no doubts that the 2009-10 Suns will not be different then every other team who thinks their defense will just be better by working harder.

The good news thou is this could change. Gentry said that if the season started today, Frye would be the starter. I’m sure Lopez will make him change his mind during the preseason.