Suns Top Blazers; Move Above .500

The Suns layed the smackdown on Zach Randolph and the Portland Trailblazers last night 119-101 in what appeared to be an easy win for the purple and orange. We just flat out have Portland's number, especially this year. They are in a period of rebuilding with young players. Brandon Roy was out with an injury and LaMarcus Aldridge got his lip busted open by Jalen Rose early in the game.

He had to have about seven stitches before coming back to have it busted open again. Bad night for the second overall draft pick. Spanish Chocolate (Sergio Rodriguez) looked good. But again, they are rebuilding and we are making another run at the title with a proven superstar regaining his confidence.

Amare is gradually shaking off all the rust he accumulated during his long rehab and he is close to regaining his form. He still occasionally loses a pass that he would have picked up a couple years ago. He still doesn't have all his handles. Mentally he is still remembering all the little nuances of the game that matter but he is almost there. He is probably at about 90% and at this rate it won't be long before he is completely back. His defense is improving and he might actually be better than he was two years ago. He picked four steals last night after blocking seven shots Friday night. He is moving quicker laterally and is rebounding better. And he is trying to tear the hoop down over and over again. The dude can jump again.



Boris is back too. It seems like Boris, not Marcus Banks, is being groomed to be the Suns next great playmaker. He has the mentality and the skills along with a very high basketball I.Q. to take over when Nash is out of gas. Last night when Nash was out and Marcus and Diaw were in I saw Diaw bringing the ball up and setting up the offense on more than one occasion. This makes me feel more at ease because Boris can handle this position, Banks struggles because he is trying to be something he is not.



Marcus Banks is an amazing talent but he is not the playmaker that Nash or Diaw is. Marcus brings an element that we need regardless of his playmaking ability. He can burn about any defender and finish strong at the rim. When he gets rolling we might dwarf last season's ft attempt average. Getting to the line doesn't seem such a problem this year. Our rebounding has greatly improved as well and we actually beat the Blazers in the battle of the boards last night. This was an easy win that finally takes us over .500 and now we are on a four game winning streak. Raja is on fire as of late and had a game high 30 points last evening. Hopefully we get Barbosa back soon and we can begin really rolling over opponents. Let's keep it up.