Musings From the Hammock

Only three hours and ten minutes until the Hawks and Celtics tip off game 6 in Atlanta, so until then I figure I'll spend the beautiful afternoon rambling on and on about other news in the basketball world.  So I apologize, but this post will have little or nothing to do with my beloved hometown Celtics, but does concern another one of my favorite teams in the NBA, the Phoenix Suns.

Over the past three years, I (like so many others) have loved watching the Phoenix Suns run up and down the court and score with reckless abandon and total disregard for defense.  I have always been a fan of Steve Nash, and watching him run the Phoenix offense routinely made my jaw drop from amazement and sheer awe of Nash's talent and skills.  I also enjoyed watching him knife through the lane and find his teammates through heavy traffic, and then set them up perfectly with soft touch passes using either hand that remined me of Pete Maravich and John Stockton (truly amazing to watch, Nash singlehandedly raised the bar for point guard play in the NBA).  

That being said, I was very disappointed to see the end of that era happen so painfully and in such a disheartening fashion (though the play of Tim Duncan made me smile and gawk in a similar fashion to Nash's play over the last three seasons).  By adding Shaq (and consequently subtracting Shawn Marion, one of the most exciting and electrifying players in the league) and now subtracting Mike D'Antoni (in all likelyhood) means that the run-and-gun Suns are dead for good.  I

f you want to hear their complete eulogy, check out ESPN.com.  I'm over it, and am actually a little bit excited about the prospects of some good things that could possibly come from this break up.  The one prospect that I'm most excited for is the possibility that Mike D'Antoni could end up coaching the Dallas Mavericks next year.  It may not happen, especially when you consider that Mark Cuban is looking for a coach to put the Mavs over the top and win a championship which D'Antoni isn't exactly personifying at this moment, but still I think it could happen.

One of the best reasons I can think of at this point is the shift in Dallas' personnel, which seems to favor a style of play synonimous with that of D'Antoni.  With Jason Kidd, Josh Howard, Jason Terry and Dirk Nowitzki as a core group (throw in Brandon Bass as well, I like that kid a lot), the Mavericks could move back to a Nellie-ball style offense (hopefully with a bit more emphasis on defense!) that relies on ball movement and transition baskets to win games.  

Running the team this way would maximize Jason Kidd's abilities (though he's declined, he's still a great playmaker and someone capable of improving his teammates) and would create more easy scoring opportunities for everyone else.  Think about it, Josh Howard could run and finish with ease (he's long and super-athletic, pot smoking aside), which would help the rest of his game tremendously.  Although Dirk is not fantastic in the open court, he'd do well as a trailer coming up the floor and getting wide-open looks from behind the arc off of Kidd's point guard penetration on the break.  Add Terry and Bass into the equation (Terry could stand on the perimeter and hit shots or pick & roll, while Bass would be a great pick & roll player with his strength and mid-range shooting abilities) and the Mavericks would be a potent offensive team.  

While the Mavericks would suffer somewhat on defense and may not have quite enough to win it all under D'Antoni, they'd be fun as hell to watch and would be maximizing the potential of the talent on their roster.  There's also the chance that with an offseason and a training camp spent together that this Dallas team could transform into an elite contender.  They need a few more wing players (like an athletic shooting guard or another back up point guard) and a center that's tougher than Ericka Dampier, but with a few minor tweeks they could contend next year.  

That's all for now, I'll have more for you, my dedicated readers (all three of you), after the Celtics and Hawks play tonight.  Until then, peace and chicken grease.