Shaq Gets Traded to the Suns - Page 4

I think Marion is overrated. He makes a good team great, but he isn't enough on his own. Ironically (like the discussion re Lamar Odom earlier), Marion makes an ideal third or fourth option--at athletic player who can cut, finish, defend, and stick the open three despite not having any plays called for him. That's kind of the problem with Marion, however--he's not the kind of guy you call plays for. You can't exploit matchup problems with him because, offensively, he doesn't really cause any. He's a guy who contributes positively across the board and doesn't hurt your team in any way (except perhaps psychically, in the locker room), but he doesn't take the game over. There's something to be said about hard-hat-and-lunch-pail kind of guys (of which I think Marion is one of the very best), but at the end of the day they're not the guys who win it all for you.

History doesn't remember the "great" Mavs teams of the late 80s, the Sonics or Jazz teams of the mid 90s, the Blazers teams of the late 90s, or the Kings of the early 00s. These were great teams that just didn't get it done. The Suns' best shot was last year, and they didn't get it done then. They're not as good as they were then, and a lot of other teams have gotten better. So I applaud Kerr for rolling the dice. You need a little luck to win a championship, and you might as well roll with the biggest die of them all.

I mean, let's put it this way: Generally speaking, I would rather have Turkoglu on my team than Marion

I often wonder how much Marion's reputation is inflated because of the lovefest that's shown him in nine-category leagues.

Really? Turkoglu always frightened me. He was just getting into the league then.

Turkoglu is playing in a system that tailors to his talents, but his talents are considerable and as such I think a good coach would alter his system to accommodate those talents (much as Stan Van Gundy has done). He's a tall player who can dribble well, can shoot well, and most importantly can make plays. He's a pretty good rebounder and makes defensive plays, although no one will confuse him with Bruce Bowen. (That said, the Magic defensive system is geared toward gambling and having Howard erase any mistakes that come from that.) Stats don't tell the whole story, but here is the simple truth: Turkoglu is a matchup nightmare. He can stretch the floor and finish around the hoop, and he can post up. He's too big for most SFs to handle and too quick for PFs to handle. In this way, he's a lot like Dirk (although less in everything, of course). This year, he's come up big in crunch time, too--according a recently posted Yahoo! article, he's fifth in the league in fourth-quarter scoring, which sounds like a meaningless stat until you consider the august company ahead of him (LeBron, Wade, Joe Johnson, and Kobe).

Granted, I am a bit idiosyncratic in my basketball tastes (as I am in my fashion tastes!), but I especially like players like Turkoglu. The fact that you can go to him again and again when you have an exploitable matchup is something that you will never be able to do with Marion. For all of Marion's attribute's, and I'll say it again, he's just a glorified Udonis Haslem. Do you think the Magic would be better with Marion rather than Turkoglu? I say no way.

I honestly think the Suns' offense will run much more smoothly with Diaw in the lineup rather than Marion. What that does to the Suns' defense is another matter, but that really wasn't their game, anyway. That just means that the burden of their perimeter defense will fall more on Raja Bell's shoulders, which should be OK.

Turkoglu would come in for Christie, Stojakovic, and Webber. I just remember him sinking 3s all the live-long day and wondering, "Who the hell is this guy?"

During crunch time, I remember being worried about Bibby and Turkoglu and kind of (nervously, of course) hoping that the ball would end up in Webber's hands and his eggshell-like psyche. I don't think he's ever recovered from "The Timeout."

I will say that my friend (who is a fan of classic power-forward basketball and smash-mouth football) hates the style of basketball that Turkoglu plays--similar sentiments to those Chron was voicing. Sure, Turkoglu wasn't as good last year, but Rashard wasn't there yet. He probably wouldn't be as good on the Spurs, for example, but he would be a hell of a player on the Suns, Warriors, or even Mavs, I bet.