Shaq taking over the Southwest? Not quite!

By: Ray Dunseith

So, Phoenix fans, how’s that Shaq-Marion deal treatin’ ya?

Not so well, huh?

On paper, that deal might have made sense to the twisted mind of Steve Kerr, but in reality, it didn’t help the Suns much at all. Adding Shaquille O’Neal just slowed down their offense like a fresh pair of Callahan break pads on a Cadillac (that’s right Callahan Auto Parts, from Tommy Boy). Now, this is pretty obvious (especially to Phoenix fans). Its just one less option Steve Nash has to feed on the break. Sure, Diesel’s going to get them some rebounds, but is that going to be much of an upgrade over Shawn Marion’s beastly 10 per game?

What about the half-court offense that Shaq opens up for the Suns? Haven’t seen it yet. Personally, I wouldn’t have called the Suns a playoff contender before the trade and I won’t even joke about it now.

As for Shaq’s comments about making Amare Stoudemire a better player, I can’t see it happening. Sure, it would seem like matching him up with opponents’ power forwards instead of centers would help him offensively, but that doesn’t mean opponents won’t just put the PF on Shaq and let Amare deal with the big guy. As a coach, where would you put your defensive stopper, on the young, quick athlete or the large, slow guy that can’t hit a free throw to save his life?

Obviously Phoenix had a reason to get rid of Marion. The guy wanted to be a focal point like that of Nash and Stoudemire, and it just wasn’t going to happen. But in reality, he was the rice of the Phoenix burrito that held the team together. Boris Diaw can step it up and fill Marion’s role a little, but with Shaq around it’s not really going to matter. It seems like if dealing Marion was a must, they could have found a better deal.

A couple seasons we were all wondering whether the Suns’ up tempo game could be successful, and in the regular season it was. But they couldn’t get a championship (despite ABC and ESPN slurping it all up and definitely hoping this type of team would catch on). It just doesn’t work in the NBA.

Adding Shaq also isn’t going to make them contenders. Kerr’s going to have some work this off-season, and as for the West, the Spurs still got my pick for the Finals in ’08