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Your Leader....WOW said 04/28, 01:45 PM
Not a fan of the pick only but it was the Phoenix Suns getting Shaq.

Don't vote based on the picks please.

Good luck hokie

Your Leader....WOW said 04/28, 02:27 PM
Not only did I pick the Shaq trade because of how the Suns' series is going against the Spurs, but for how they performed during the regular season as well.

The Suns game has been all about the run-n-gun style of offense for the past several years. Shaq is quite possibly the worst person to have in that kind of offensive attack. He just isn't capable of running up and down the court as fast as they would need him to, so they had to change their offensive style mid-season. Never good for a team that has a title chance.

Nash is the type of point guard that like to penetrate into the lane and kick it out to someone else. With Shaq in there clogging the lane, that's pretty hard to do. Nash said himself that it was harder to play his game when Shaq was in the lane with the defenders that accompany him.

The Suns also lost Shawn Marion. They may have improved slightly in the rebounding stats, but they depreciated greatly in perimiter defense. In the West, which is dominated by slashing point guards, perimiter defense is key. You mentioned yourself that the Mavs were having this problem. So are the Suns with Tony Parker. Marion would typically cover him Parker and do it well.

Your Leader....WOW said 04/28, 06:47 PM
"so in all reality they both saw the same drop off " No, the Suns got a much worse deal then the Mavs did. What was the main reason that the Suns acquired Shaq? To defend Tim Duncan and the other big men in the West. He has been unable to do that effectively. He was supposed to be the perfect compliment to Nash and bring the Suns a championship. He has failed in both aspects.

The Suns run and gun offense was based on Nash having the ball and Marion was usually the guy that would receive the pass. So not only did they lose a key perimeter defender, but they also lost a guy that produced a large number of their fast break points.

Back to Nash's play. He loves to drive into the lane and dish the ball to teammates. With Shaq in there taking up space and having defenders draped over him, that makes this task much harder to accomplish. Nash is now running into huge seven footers, whereas with Marion, the big guys would all be outside defending him.

By inputing Shaq into the Suns offense, they have ultimately destroyed themselves. They don't have Marion on the fast break or on the perimeter. The Suns have effectively ruined themselves for a couple years to come.