Hey Woody!!! That Statement is a bunch of Bull!!!

[LastDon]

Woody's Statement: " I TELL OUR GUYS THAT WE CANT RUN UNLESS WE PLAY DEFENSE AND REBOUND"

SOMEONE PLEASE TELL THIS IDIOT THAT YOU CAN FASTBREAK AFTER MADE BASKETS!!!!!!!!!

SOMEONE TELL THIS IDIOT TO WATCH THE SUNS!!!!!!!

SOMEONE TELL THIS IDIOT TO WATCH THE 80S LAKERS!!!!!

SOMEONE TELL THIS IDIOT TO LISTEN TO OTHER COACHES IN THE LEAGUE!!!!!!

MO CHEEKS SAID ''IN ORDER TO EFFECTIVELY RUN DURING THE COARSE OF A GAME A TEAM HAS TO TRY AND RUN EACH AND EVERY POSSESSION!!!!!!!!

WE WILL CONTINUE TO LOSE IF THIS IDIOT ISN'T FIRED OR IF HE CONTINUES TO BE RELUCTANT TO PLAY UPTEMPO BASKETBALL!!!!

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Do we have Magic? Or Steve Nash running the show here?

As for Cheeks, he has a decent PG in Miller, the center that 60% of The Squawk wants in Dalembert, and a 2-guard that most think we should've taken in Iggy.

So that running philosophy works real well for Philly, right.

Take a wild guess why they can't win more than we can. It's 2 things. And running more isn't part of that equation.

I'll give you a hint.

R--------g & D-----e

[TheDude]

i am against Woody but there's nothing wrong with that statement. Running is sooooo much easier when you play good defense and stop baskets. Sure you can run on made baskets but it's easier on stopped possessions.

[LastDon]

We don't need Magic and we don't need Nash.. We need a commitment from our coach to get his team to play to their strengths.

We have the atheletes to be a running team and Acie is more than capable of getting these guys up and down the floor.

[LastDon]

whether or not you get a stop doesn't dictate your ability to control tempo. How many stops do the suns and Golden State get nightly?

[exodus]

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Do we have Magic? Or Steve Nash running the show here?

No, but we have been successful when we push the ball which is really the bottom line.

When we push the ball (even after makes) and move the ball around quickly in the half court sets we have some success. When we slow it down and run iso's in the half court set we struggle. It isn't complex.

[LastDon]

Its not rocket science. We just have to make a commitment to doing these things!!!

[TheNorthCydeRises]

I'll ask you the question I ask everybody else on the Squawk:

Name one good running team that neither has a good PG running the show?

Don, I'm watching the tape of thr ATL - POR game as I type this. In almost every instance in which we got out and ran, it was off of a long rebound or a turnover.

If people re-watch the entire 2nd half, there are some interesting thingd going on in this game. One of them being Portland hitting damn near everything they put up, with us looking a little shaky with AJ, Smoove, and Marvin out the game. The Hawks are still moving the ball on offense, but Portland is getting red hot.

It was the little things that crept us on us.

- an off the ball call on JJ where Jones steps in front of him and JJ runs him over

- a tough pass by Acie to Chill on the baseline with Chill under the basket, that he couldn't handle

- a travel by Smoove in which he pump fakes on a 20 foot shot, but moved his pivot foot.

- Zaza being out of position on a couple of possessions, but still close enough to possibly affect shots.

- Outlaw hitting 2 threes, and a tough shot over Smoove

- following possession, Smoove throws the ball out of bounds from the post trying to hit AJ in the corner

- but Portland is hitting everything. And that is limiting our running chances

- JJ losing the ball out of bounds

- Roy beating everybody off the dribble

- interesting to hear Smitty mention that he would get JJ the ball on the block. instead of on isolation, on that possession with 33 secons to go.

- if you fault Woody for anything, fault him for maybe not calling a timeout when it was obvious that JJ was in trouble with about 5 on the shot clock.

- after re-watching that 2nd half, Portland just outplayed us and played excellent offensively. We score 4 points in the final 5 minutes of that game. They score 15. They win.

[exodus]

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but Portland is hitting everything. And that is limiting our running chances

Every posession is a chance to run. Every single one.

When you push the ball up the floor, even if you don't get an early shot, you have more time to run your half court offense.

There is no reason for the Hawks to be walking it up. And there is certainly no need to run iso's with JJ running the clock down when there are several minutes left in the game.

[TexasPete]

It's true in a general sense that you need to rebound before you can run. It also helps to have an up tempo PG.

But, you can play a faster pace that would certainly help this team.

I've said this 1000 times...Woody is a control freak who likes to slug it out in the half court. He gives lip service to running but he isn't committed. Running is not in his DNA and yet he sucks in the half court.

Now, he's publicly saying we don't rebound well enough to run. Thats his out, his escape clause. I've watched this guy for 4 years and I said all along Woody wouldn't run.

And he is now saying it.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

We're definitely a better team when we move the ball around, no doubt on that. Our ball movement yesterday was good for most of the game.

And we're good when we have numbers on the break. When we force turnovers and run, we're definitely good. But running after made baskets is something we still don't do even halfway good. I'm sorry, but our center and power forward shouldn't be lading fast breaks.

And it's funny how people keep mentioning Golden St and Phoenix, like we're built like those teams or something.

- both teams have star PGs that can shoot, drive, push tempo, even take over the game scoring wise, if need be ( Nash and Davis )

- both teams have a boatload of shooters and slashers to put around those PGs.

- and both teams have a speed demon that they can play at guard to really push the pace and have them score in bunches ( Ellis and Barbosa ) . . the only thing we have close to that on this team that can play extremely fast and score in bunches, is Salim.

We're built to defend folks. If we defend and rebound, we can run.

Just re-watch the game.

[exodus]

We are undersized and athletic. Running plays to our advantage and that has been proven time and again.

Against Seatle Acie pushed it after a made free throw. He blew right through everyone for a 5 foot floater (which missed). Of course it was a 2 for 1 situation. ordinarily he never would have done it but he should.

I would rather see them push the ball and look to shoot earlier in the clock. Even if they miss they still have a good shot at the rebound. We are a good offensive rebounding team and we have a better shot at follow ups when the defense isn't set.

But a turnover is a killer and the Hawks have proven that they are very good at making stupid, unforced turnovers in the half court set which is yet another reason not to slow it down.

Veteran teams like Detroit and SAS can play a slow pace and wear down the defense with their execution and movement. We can't.

[Swatguy]

At last checked, the Suns have won Nothing. The "Showtime" Lakers ('80's vintage) played exceptional defense. It Is Riley's forte as a coach.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Ex, just name me one team that can run, without a good PG running the show.

I can name 1, but even that one is on a technicality, seeing that the guy playing opposite the PG, usually is the one pushing tempo, scoring, and creatng for others.

But just name one team that does this, without a good PG running the show? Just one.

[Traceman]

JJ and MAYBE Marvin are the only guys I would feel comfortable with CONSISTENTLY launching a quick J off a made basket. All of our other guys, I would rather see taking quick shots only if they are going to the rim and that is hard to do off a made basket because the D gets a chance to get set when the ball goes through the hoop. PHO and GS both have terrific PGs and 3 point shooters so they can get away with taking quick shots off made baskets. We have neither.

I actually agree with Woody's philosophy on running. What I hate about him is that if JJ is not "on," Woody offers the team no viable options in the half court once the D gets set.

[capstone21]

nm

[AnakinJoe]

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At last checked, the Suns have won Nothing. The "Showtime" Lakers ('80's vintage) played exceptional defense. It Is Riley's forte as a coach.

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EXACTLY. The Suns are no different than those high-powered Sacramento teams that would eventually lose before getting to The Finals (remember Peja, C-Web & Valde?). Fun to watch but not built for a title. Kerr will break that team apart in the summer when they bow out yet again without a Finals appearance.

No team gets to run for 48 minutes. We didn't lose that game last night because of poor offensive execution in the 4Q, we lost because our 3-point defense is weak. And once shooters bury shots, it naturally opens the inside for guys like Roy to take their man off the dribble at will. We didn't lose the game because of our last 2 offensive possessions. Granted, those possession could have saved our bacon, but it was our poor 4Q defense that allowed Roy to be in the position to be the hero (and Joe the goat).

[exodus]

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Ex, just name me one team that can run, without a good PG running the show.

I can name 1, but even that one is on a technicality, seeing that the guy playing opposite the PG, usually is the one pushing tempo, scoring, and creatng for others.

But just name one team that does this, without a good PG running the show? Just one.

Atlanta. When we run we are successful, and we have been wracking up the fast break points for awhile now.

But all that stops in the second half. We had one game recently when we had 24 fast break points in the first half, none in the second.

I don't know where to find the fast break points rankings but i heard about a month ago that we were top 10 and have surely moved up.

And this business about having to get better on the defensive glass in order to run is funny considering the two worst defensive rebounding teams in the league are the Suns and Warriors.

[Diesel]

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Do we have Magic? Or Steve Nash running the show here?

As for Cheeks, he has a decent PG in Miller, the center that 60% of The Squawk wants in Dalembert, and a 2-guard that most think we should've taken in Iggy.

So that running philosophy works real well for Philly, right.

Take a wild guess why they can't win more than we can. It's 2 things. And running more isn't part of that equation.

I'll give you a hint.

R--------g & D-----e

I think actually, there's a little truth in both.

I believe that running is well orchestrated, usually with a PG that knows what they are doing or with a team with a high BBIQ or with a standard plan of attack. My option has always been for a standard plan of attack because I think we lack the other two things.

In that standard plan, assignments are given and must be followed for the attack to work. (This is the Westhead & Auerbach)...

However, we can still get up and down the court and take advantage of the one advantage we have on most teams... OUR Athletic Wings.

Chillz, Marvin, and Smoove are superb specimens for running. JJ on the other hand is a shooter, plan and simple. We've made JJ into a scorer and he can do that, but it's not his forte.

When we stop running, we expose our main weaknesses... Lack of an inside game , lack of three point shoters, AND lack of a second scorer.

DJ said the other day, we stand at the crossroads.

He's right.

Obviously, we can follow the running team model or we can try to get back to a classical version by picking up a low post scorer.

My personal feelings is that if you consider longevity, it makes more sense to go after the classical model if we can find the right player. That's why I like Gasol. He scores inside. He would bring balance to our team.

However, if we were to go the otherway, I would prefer to get a guy like Watson. He's a true uptempo PG who can shoot... plus we'd have to get a new coach... Woody doesn't want to give in to uptempo.

This team in Westhead's hands right now would win 52 games.

[exodus]

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we lost because our 3-point defense is weak.

Our 3pt % defense is currently ranked 5th in the league.

Portland was 5-16 from 3, and the only reason they made that many is that Zaza was in the game too long and couldn't close out on Outlaw.