Panic Orange!

The Suns world officially went from Planet Orange to Panic Orange. Last week was a real bad week for the Suns. I wanted to blog about it, but got distracted by the other game called the Super Bowl. First, they lost to the Spurs at home. Never fun losing to those guys, but seems to happen all the time. This time they were without Tony Parker. More than losing, the issue was the way they lost even without Parker who kills the Suns usually. It was another drag-out, knock-down game played at the Spurs pace. Its amazing how often the Suns can't run their style against this team. They always talk about "how their offense was not in sync today or the shots didn't fall tonight" or whatever. Lets wake-up and smell the coffee. We are not in sync because the Spurs are VERY GOOD defensively. It's not a coincidence that this happens 8 out of 10 times we play them. So the loss was not just a bad loss, but it just made the question mark hanging over the Suns head that much bigger.

Then comes the Lakers trade. They get Pau Gasol for Kwame Brown, the rookie PG Jarvis Crittendon and 2 future picks. Just giving up Kwame is an upgrade for the Lakers! They also get Gasol in addition? The Lakers were also cruel enough to add his brother Mark Gasol in the trade. Why can't they let the brothers play together? Anyways, this was huge for the Lakers. With Andrew Bynum's development this season, the Lakers were already good and their future already looked bright. Now they get another young stud in Pau Gasol. Look at this starting lineup - Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. That might be enough to make the finals this year. Imagine next year or the year after when the chemistry improves and Bynum matures. Only Kobe hogging the ball can stop this team. Otherwise they should contend for the next 4 years. Great trade for the Lakers.

So as a Suns fan, I thought they had to do something. They can't stand pat. Their window was already shrinking as I had written a few weeks back. New Orleans and the Fakers seem to be passing them by and with this trade, their window became literally 6 months. This team as currently constituted had no shot next year. So what do they do? Then press the panic button with both their hands and feet. The Suns trade Marcus Banks and the Matrix for Shaq. Great trade, just 4 years too late! Shaq is done and has been done for 18 months now. He did nothing last season. Couldn't really carry the Heat without Wade and has looked much worse this season. The dude was extended at 20 million a year and has 2 more years on it. The Suns, after trading away salaries and talented draft picks for years to save money, pick up a huge bad contract for a 36 year old, broken down has-been! Plus the Suns play an up-temp style which would not have been a good fit even for a 28-year old Shaq. So this trade makes absolutely no sense at any level.

But I am still hoping it works. It would be interesting to see Shaq-Diesel run in this offense at least for the first couple of games. The hope is, Shaq makes an impact in the half-court and on defense. It might work when the game slows down in the playoffs. They are also saying the Suns have asked him to be a defensive presence and not demand the ball too much and he has happily agreed. But the problem is, Shaq is not effective these days, period. He can't stop Duncan. So it's really intriguing to see what he can do with this team and in this offense. Plus it would suck if he is injured most of the time. Of course Steve Nash can always pepper over most of the deficiencies on offense. As always, in Nash we trust. Hopefully he can set the Diesel up better than his Miami friends.

What's happening here is that, basically Steve Kerr rolling the dice and also saying this style does not work. Kerr has always been saying the right things publicly, but he wants to change things up. He agrees with Amare that this style doesn't give him many touches. The Brazilian blur out-shoots everybody routinely in this style. I can't imagine Barbosa getting more touches than Shaq, but thats what this weird marriage is set up to do. Kerr is essentially forcing Mike D'Antoni's hand - making him play a more deliberate style and asking him to play defense in the playoffs. It would be very interesting to see how he adjusts. Everybody has to adjust in this deal - D'Antoni, Shaq, Amare and Nash. Lets see how it goes. And nobody is talking about what the Suns have lost. They lost the Matrix - one of the most versatile, athletic wings in the league. I am not sure Shaq can replace what Matrix gave this team, let alone get us a championship. If he does get another ring, his legacy will be cemented forever. I am hoping that will serve as the motivation for him and he'll give us one great season like he did in Miami. Speaking of Miami, what a deal for them? Got Shaq, won a ring and almost immediately got rid of him. Fascinating. I thought they were stuck with Shaq and mediocrity for a few years. Now it might be the Suns!

Put on the seat belt. The Suns season just got very interesting.