Is a Phoenix Sun Worthy of MVP Consideration?

Adam Brennan — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 22:43:24 +0000

With 11 games left in the season, the Phoenix Suns are a mere 1.5 games back of the 2-seed in the most incredibly competitive Western Conference I have seen in my lifetime. Last year, despite going 46-36, the Suns narrowly missed a playoff spot and were left for dead. In the off-season, the confidence of Suns fans was not reinforced as the only free-agent acquisition was Channing Frye and they drafted a work in progress in Earl Clark out of Louisville. To give the Suns upper brass some credit, they were able to sign Nash to long-term deal, re-signed the venerable Grant Hill and finally and most importantly dumped the anchor that was Shaquille O’Neal to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The outlook leading into this season was still somewhat bleak. For example, prominent websites such as bleacherreport.com had projected the Suns as the 21st best team in the NBA. Numerous ESPN.com pundits had the Suns 8th in the Western Conference. Even my prediction was somewhat bearish:

“I am picking the Suns to finish 5th in the Western Conference this season. This is in contrast to ESPN’s experts blended rating of 8th for the Suns in the West. The teams I project ahead of the Suns in the regular season are as follows: 1. Los Angeles Lakers 2. San Antonio 3. Denver Nuggets and 4. Portland Trailblazers.”

I definitely overestimated the impact of Richard Jefferson on the San Antonio Spurs. The injuries to Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla have definitely hurt the Portland Trailblazers. The Suns as of right now, are exactly where I predicted them to be all the way back on October 22nd. However, now I am becoming more bullish and I firmly believe that the Suns will be a top 4 seed in the Western Conference once 82 games are over.

How are the Phoenix Suns exceeding expectations? Its not as if the people that made these predictions have never watched a basketball game before. Rather, these are former players and statistical experts. I think the Suns were written off by many due to the assumed decline in play from aging players in Steve Nash and Grant Hill, the numerous past injuries to Amar’e Stoudemire and the Suns inability to play defense. As we have seen in recent months there has literally been no decline in the play of Steve Nash and Grant Hill this season. Nash has increased his output over last season in points per game (15.7, 2009 vs. 16.7, 2010) and assists per game (9.7, 2009 vs. 11.1, 2010). Hill, despite having a slight decline in points per game (12.0, 2009 vs. 11.6, 2010) is averaging more assists and rebounds per game that any season since 2002. Not bad for the NBA’s elder statesmen starter now that Shaquille O’Neal is on injured reserve.

Amar’e Stoudemire was once again mentioned in numerous trades near the deadline. Stoudemire’s numbers over the first half of the season were solid, however he seemed to lack the lift in his legs he has enjoyed in prior years. Defense was a word of the English language that he did not speak and the Suns were sputtering out of the playoff race. At 18-10, after a 14-3 start the Suns seemed to be the flawed team everyone expected. The league had figured out the Channing Frye can make 3’s and a major weapon was taken away from the Suns. Enter Robin Lopez. Lopez changed the whole dynamic on the team. He added a shot-blocking presence that the Suns have not had in the Steve Nash Era. Amar’e Stoudemire was able to have more freedom to roam inside and he quickly began to explode offensively. His return was punctuated with the dunk over Anthony Tolliver of Golden State the other night see below:

Finally, the league underestimated that the Suns could actually play solid defense. It has taken a solid commitment by the players however the person that truly deserves the accolades is Alvin Gentry. Alvin Gentry unlike his predecessor Mike D’Antoni, was willing to use more than 7-8 players in an entire game. This subsequently has led to the development of a second team now referred to as “Planet Purple”. This defensive-minded bench is lead by the pesky Jared Dudley. Dudley has been able to produce 1 steal a game this year while only average 24 minutes a game. Goran Dragic has also proven to be an excellent on the ball defender and has made multiple steals and blocks while recovering from a turnover. Finally, there is Lou Amundson. This guy is lightning in the bottle at US Airways Center; the chants of “Lou’ invigorate the crowd and players every time he gets an offensive rebound or rejects an opponent. The bench of course doesn’t deserve all the credit. Jason Richardson and Grant Hill have consistently played solid defense on the other team’s best players. Robin Lopez’s presence inside allows the perimeter defense to play tighter on their man and not fear getting burned. This has also allowed Stoudemire to help off his man and has resulted in ferocious weak side blocks.

Getting back to the original question: is any Phoenix Suns worthy of MVP consideration? The answer is likely no, as I can not place anyone on the Suns higher than 5th on my list. My list varies from most pundits as the obsession with Lebron James is all the more prevalent these days. Here is my top 5 and why:

1. Kevin Durant: 29.7 PPG and 7.4 RPG. Durant leads his team in both scoring and rebounds. He is also tied with Lebron James for the scoring title currently. With 12 games still to go has helped increase his team’s win total from 23 last year to 43 this year.

2. Lebron James 29.8 PPG, 7.2 RPG and 8.5 APG. What else can be said? Leads the league in player efficiency rating (PER) +32.63 and also has the best Plus/Minus in the league at +608. Why #2, his team is actually going to lose more games this season despite the fact the Eastern Conference is slightly down competetively from last season.

3. Dwight Howard: 18.5 PPG, 13.3 RPG, 2.7 BPG. Leads the league in rebounds, blocks and field goal percentage (60.8%). His only liabilities are that he is only a 60% free-throw shooter and fouls the 3rd most of any player in the NBA at the defensive end.

4. Kobe Bryant: 27.5 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 5.0 APG. Is there anyone else you would rather have the ball down 2 in the final possession?

5. Steve Nash: 16.7 PPG, 11.1 APG. Nash is the only other player other than Dwight Howard to lead the league in more than one statistical category. Nash is 1st in assists and 1st is free-throwing shooting percentage at 93.4%. Not a bad safety valve to have when sealing a victory in a close game. Nash is literally the best point guard ever at the age of 36. To put it in perspective the best year any point guard over the age of 36 has had previously John Stockton, 13.4 PPG, 8.2 APG. Unfortunately Nash’s inability to defend keeps him from getting higher on this list.

Suns Basketball » Amare Stoudemire Dunk Anthony Tolliver

Is a Phoenix Sun Worthy of MVP Consideration?