GarageGabs

When the Phoenix Suns traded Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks for Shaquille O’Neal I told myself I’d give the deal until the playoffs before I passed judgment. Well, I can’t resist. Only 8 games into the trade I can’t help but wonder what in the world were the Suns thinking?

When this deal went down most of America wondered just how in the world a 36 year old lumbering Shaq would fit into the Suns fast paced offensive style. The Suns weren’t playing their best basketball at the time, but they were holding down the top spot in the West and remember, this was the same Suns team that was a David Stern decision away from taking down the Spurs in last years playoffs. Still, the thought process of the Suns seemed to be match size with size. With Shaq, Phoenix could run the half-court offense that is so coveted come playoff time. With Shaq, Phoenix had a big man that could match-up with the other bigs in the West. With Shaq, Amare Stoudemire could move to his more natural power forward position. With Shaq, the Suns would have a formidable front line. Made sense….well, sorta. Even Shaq himself said it would take some getting used to. Shaq noted that given a few of games, he’d be be a perfect fit for the Suns offense. Not to be forgotten was the fact that Marion, the Suns best defensive player, was a bit disgruntled. According to rumor, Marion was messing with the “chemistry” of the team.

Well, team chemistry problems for the Suns are no rumor now. Phoenix looks flat out STAGNANT. They are 3-5 with O’Neal in the lineup and the losses haven’t been pretty. A 30 point drubbing at the hands of Detroit. A 17 point loss against up and coming New Orleans. A home loss to Philadelphia, who aren’t exactly one of the better teams in the league. Last night’s 13 point loss to Denver; a game in which it was the Nuggets who got out and ran…..a game in which the SUNS couldn’t keep up. Even their wins haven’t been pretty. Phoenix failed to top 100 p0ints in 2 of their 3 victories since adding Shaq. They’ve slipped from the top spot in the West, all the way to 6th, and if they keep losing, they’ll be on the outside looking in come playoff time. At best, the Suns look to be one and done.

What’s the problem? ONeal’s numbers aren’t that bad since joining Phoenix. He’s scored in double figures four times and pulled down a season high 18 boards last night. The problem is the Suns are trying to adjust to O’Neal rather than vice-versa. Shaq looks flat out LOST at times…to be fair, the entire team often looks lost. Gone are the days of Steve Nash penetrating and having several shooters waiting on the wings. Now he drives to find a lane clogged by not only a lethargic Shaq but his defender as well. At times, Nash drives and has Shaq and Amare Stoudemire standing in the paint…..plus two more defenders. Nash jumps and is lost in the air…looking for someone to pass to. O’Neal just stands there, a big sweaty mess. Phoenix just flat out isn’t built for a guy like O’Neal. I remember many moons ago watching the twighlight of Kareem Abdul Jabaar’s career. Friends and I used to joke about how long it took Jabaar to run down the court and catch up with the offense. Shaq is a reincarnation of those days, plus about 60 pounds. Kareem was a tall dude. Shaq is not only tall, but he weighs 325 pounds on a good day. He’s been carrying around that weight for his entire NBA career. He’s not exactly what you’d call “fleet of foot”. At times, he just DOES NOT MOVE. He stands in the paint, waiting for the ball. He doesn’t contribute to the offense in any other way. Throw me the ball. That’s about all the guy is good for now. No picks. No hustle rebounds. He doesn’t always command double teams anymore. If the ball doesn’t come right to him, (which it often does seeing as he stands directly under the rim) Shaq isn’t chasing it down. He can’t shoot free throws worth a lick, (of course we already knew that) so he becomes a bit of a liability come crunch time; although the Suns haven’t visited crunch time to often in recent weeks. If the Suns fail to score their bigs can easily outrun O’Neal to the other end of the court where it’s dunk city. Was it really worth trading your best defender, hustler, and rebounder….for this? Given, Marion wasn’t one to create his own offense very often, but the guy moved without the ball and picked up tons of garbage points; and he played exceptional defense and would stick the occasional ugly 3. Marion was a team player despite rumors that he wanted to be more. Other guys have begun to look hesitant as well. Boris Diaw at times looks flat out scared to shoot. Raja Bell has hit only 22 field goals in the 8 games with Shaq on the court. It’s almost as if Phoenix is thinking “play our way” and then the idea of passing the ball into O’Neal enters their minds. Sure, “playing our way” hadn’t gotten them to the finals, but it had a lot better chance of working than the current strategy. Why did they give up so soon? Did the media and fan criticism (a running team can’t win in the playoffs) finally get to them? Were they THAT desperate to get something for Marion? Did they figure O’Neal would sell more tickets? He’s obviously not a long term solution and doesn’t appear to be short term, in fact, Kurt Thomas (member of Phoenix last year and recent addition to the Spurs) was a much better fit. Kurt wasn’t the quickest guy on the court either, but he added tons of things that don’t show up in the stat book. If it ain’t in the stat book, Shaq didn’t add it.

Can Phoenix pull out of this? Honestly, I don’t think they can, but anything is possible. I hate to say it, but O’Neal, despite what he might tell you, is WELL past his prime. If he can’t give 30 minutes of hustle, then he needs to play 20. Whatever it takes to get the guy to work his tail off when he is on the floor. The first couple of games with Phoenix Shaq was running hard up and down the court. That was obviously a mirage; Shaq making a splash so to speak. There just aren’t going to be many fast breaks where Nash drops it off to O’Neal filling the lane. When he’s in the game, Phoenix is going to plod. When Shaq can’t go, the Suns need to stick Diaw at the 4 and simply try to outscore teams. I admit, I only watched 10 minutes of the game last night. During most of those minutes, O’Neal was on the floor. It was quite simply some of the worst basketball I’ve ever seen one man play. Loafing up and down the court. Getting called for 3 seconds. Just generally being in the way. Losing is wearing him down. The reality that he doesn’t fit with this team is wearing him down. You can see it in his face. He’s hitting a wall that his big behind might not be able to climb…..and he knows it. Shaq, the guy that has ALWAYS been able to put his money where is mouth is has quite possibly bitten off more than he can chew.

What do you think?  Did Phoenix make a mistake by adding O’Neal?  Will they make the playoffs?  Are they just in a slump?  Let me know what you think about Shaq in Phoenix.

*UPDATE*

Seems Shaq and the Suns must have read this article.  Since writing this article, the Suns are 1-1.  First, they lost to the Utah Jazz 126-118 and then yesterday they actually did the impossible, defeating the SanAntonio Spurs, 94-87.  Shaq put up great numbers vs. San Antonio, with 14 points, 16 rebounds and 2 blocks in 35 minutes of action.  It didn’t hurt that 5 other Suns scored in double figures, but Sunday’s win could mean the Suns are finally getting it together.