Article:Breaking down the Suns, with Mr. Stiles.

All right, by now if you’re an NBA fan you’ve seen the Suns play at least one game with Shaq. Hell, their last three games have only been on National television for your convenience. Now I’ve had the luxury of watching all of those games, and of course I’ve put together some of my ideas on the topic. But I am an outsider who lives on the East coast and am cynical about everything, so I wanted the inside scoop from someone I trust. That’s why I turned to the ultimate Suns fan and in my mind Phoenix spokesman Manny Stiles and we sat down and had a brief conversation about how the Suns are doing so far and where they are going, check it out.

BigPPup: Hey, after watching the Suns game (3 in about 5 nights now). I wanted to have a chat (write an article) with you about how the Shaq trade is playing out. I know I have my opinions on what it all looks like and I'd love to talk it over with someone and see what we could come up with, let me know what you think.

Manny S: I'm down with it - but here's a caveat - the Suns SUCK on early afternoon games... Today's (Sunday’s) game was more a measure of how much they partied last night - they looked sick.

BigPPup: No worries, afternoon games are a bad gauge of talent especially for a West Coast team. But like I said, I've seen the Suns last 3 games amazing how much more I see when I'm out on the left coast. And I'm just not sold on this Shaq experiment. For one thing I notice is the transition game when moving onto defense.

Manny S: There's still holes in his game but he brings things that this team never had - a voice that everyone will listen to, he brings JOY to the locker-room and especially, ESPECIALLY a mean toughness - D'Antoni's quote about "Now someone on the other team can get suspended for coming off the bench" is priceless!

Shaq is still adjusting and so are the Suns. I'm not worried about February. I'm thinking about April, May and June!!!

BigPPup: Yeah, I like how he is taking on being a role player and that is good, just not sure how long he will keep to that role. He does give the Suns a presence in the middle that will help out come May. I just wonder if he can A) keep his ego in check and B) stay healthy enough to make a solid playoff run.

Anyone who has trouble playing for Phil Jackson and Pat Riley you have to wonder about.

Manny S: Shaq is more mature now and just coming off a divorce with Shaunie. He needed a change of environment for many reasons. He wants to fit in and he really loves Amare - whom he's known since Amare was a 13 year old in Orlando! He has stated many times that Amare is his "project". Shaq knows this is Steve Nash's team and LOVES a challenge - say like shoving it down the throat of naysayers...

Shaq also is a historian of Big Men in the game and knows how Wilt and Kareem altered their careers towards the end. I think he really, really wants 2 more rings. He knows if he plays nice he will have a great shot at it...

I'll take an old, crafty, motivated Shaq over a younger, more arrogant, and less pliable Shaq any day - I'd take a Shaq that could hit 80% from the FT line over both of them, though!!!

BigPPup:  Alright all right I see where you're coming from. Shaq is trying to do the whole mature thing. Now time for the million dollar question, are the Suns the best team in the west, right now? Will they be the best team in the west come May? I know for me it’s hard to answer this question. I think the Suns are much better with Shaq, but I like the Kurt Thomas trade the Spurs pulled off. Oddly enough Ginobli and Parker may hold the key not the battle in the front court. For me to crown the Suns I need to see them play in the half court set. There's still a level of comfort that they need to achieve with Shaq before I push them to the top of the west.

Manny S: I actually think Shaq hurts the Suns in the half court set a bit (at least for now) because the tendency will be to go to the big guy. Obviously, his best skill now is drawing double teams and passing. He has not learned where the 3pt shooters are going to be yet, that's abundantly clear. When he "gets" D'Antoni's system down, he'll be fine.

The Suns play pick n' roll and Shaq has never done that - well, he's NEVER had a REAL point guard either (yes, I'm looking at you when I'm saying that, Penny!)

I think people need to realize this really isn't about Shaq - the Suns need to relax and play. The Suns' success will ride more on Grant Hill, Leandro Barbosa and ESPECIALLY Boris Diaw than Shaq. The past 3 games they've forced too much and had WAAAAAAAAY too many stupid turnovers - which is VERY un-Suns-like.

Diaw is key because he has a skill set unmatched in the NBA. He TRULY can guard anyone 1-5. He's guarded Tony Parker and he's guarded Yao Ming. When he is aggressive on offense, the Suns are UNbeatable. He is one of the best passers in the game but everyone and their sister knows he loves to pass. He's become predictable and he needs to think shoot first, pass second and he'll be 10 times more effective. (How many NBAers can THAT be said about?) And he's a decent scorer! He just needs defenses to respect his scoring abilities and his superior passing skills will shine.

And for the people who say Marion's stats are missed, they're fools. I'll bet 1/3 of Marion's rebounds are on his own misses and/or rebounds that bounced on the floor first. Grant Hill MORE than replaces Marion's offensive output - and more consistently. Shaq gets bounds that the Suns used to give up as O-Boards and the balls that used to hit the floor first just don't happen anymore... Marion was extremely frustrating. I love him as a player but sometimes he made me want to smash my TV. He created as many rebounds as he got and made as many turnovers as he created. Everyone calls him a "great finisher" but I know he's top 5 in career missed layups. All I gotta say about Marion is the same exact thing I said about Joe Johnson - Love ya, but if you don't want to play here - get the fuck out!!! The Suns win! If you don't want to win, if you want to be "the man"... you're a LOSER! See ya!!!

Back to the topic...

It's an adjustment period. Shaq has played a certain way his whole life - run to the blocks and post up - and is just now changing that - run the break or get to the high screen.

Once he blends in, the Suns machine will roll... I'm entirely not worried.

BUT - Yes, the Spurs are still the best team in the Association. As long as they have a healthy Duncan, they will be the team to fear. The Lakers are playing well, but it's February. Kobe's finger isn't going to get better and Andrew Bynum is going to mess that team up when he gets back. They will have to adjust to a new rotation. I do have to say that Pau Gasol is looking like the demon-possessed Gasol of the '06 World Championships when he dominated everyone - BUT how long will it last???

Remember the Lakers were a MESS at the beginning of the season. They still have the propensity to be a mess. Phil Jackson gets too much credit and Kobe will come back to earth eventually.

I still worry about the Spurs more than any team in the West (I want to KICK Robert Sarver in the pantaloons for dumping Krazy Eyez Kurt to begin with!!!)

All-in-all: 3 games in February don't mean shit. It's a glorified practice until Shaq understands his role, until the locker-room gets used to a positive atmosphere and everyone gets comfortable with playing fun basketball again.

BigPPup: In the words of my idol Jim Rome (pause pause) that answer was Phe-Nom-in-al. I think you hit the nail on the head when you said it’s not about Shaq but rather about the Suns and how they adjust to having the big man in the middle and find the way to utilize his minor skills if you will (passing from the double team, being an enforcer on the court).

I think in the long run the Suns will be fine as long as they continue to adjust and don’t begin to buy into the negative hype that is around them.

All right so that wraps up another conversation with the one and only Manny Styles and once again he has managed to kick my ass and put me into my place, but that does not mean I will not continue to challenge the genius that is Mr. Stiles. I can’t mess with anyone who drops a Larry David reference like Krazy Eyez. Well done Manny and I look forward to doing it again soon.