Suns Torture Rockets; Win Fifth in a Row

The Phoenix Suns abused the Houston Rockets last night in the first half before toying with them and letting up on their necks in the third quarter, allowing Houston hope before finishing them off in the fourth, 102-91. The Yao Ming Marathon didn't go down as I anticipated but the Suns did come out with great defense (WHAT?!) and stifled the big man who found himself in foul trouble early, enabling the Suns to mount a big lead.

The Suns were generous, they let Yao play with them, and they let Tracy McGrady do his thing, but Tracy was too concerned with setting up his inferior teammates and didn't find his own offensive rhythm. Credit the Suns defense though they played McGrady well and Kurt Thomas played Yao even better.

Kurt didn't allow Yao good position in the post, the place he thrives. Kurt used his big body to really muscle Yao around when he was trying to establish position. Yao had a tough time last night between the double teams and Kurt stifling him all night. The Suns defense is thriving right now, Shawn Marion has been upping his intensity and had four blocked shots last night. The Matrix had the highlight of the evening on a defensive play where he was tracking McGrady, who was driving to the bucket, Tracy put up a shot and Shawn went up and sent that shit back to Houston. Honestly, Tracy's ego was hurt a little bit. I'll try to find a clip of this one, if you find it first hook me up.



Amare played good on defense as well, his rebounding has vastly improved this season, 15 last night, and he only had two fouls. This is the Amare that we desperately need. We know he can score 35 per game but we have plenty of offensive firepower, we need Amare to rebound and block more shots. We know we can go to him for points if needed but we must also rely on him to get a stop in critical situations and he has shown that he is reliable thus far. Barbosa came back strong last night and I think it's safe to say that he has found a consistant groove. Not a minute in the game last night and he picks off a pass and runs the court for an easy layup. It was just a great effort by everyone, except for that third quarter when we didn't play very hard.



Even though they coughed up a sizeable lead, again, they showed a lot of grit and heart throughout their offensive slump and still made defensive plays. They got through their cold spell and came back strong in the fourth. I would say that this has been our best complete game yet, but I keep saying that after each win. They just keep improving and we are yet to see the ceiling.

Suns vs Rockets: The Yao Ming Marathon Preview

7:00pm vs. Rockets TV: NBATV RTV, FSN AZ

Yao Ming has been the catalyst to all the Rockets success thus far this season. You may be thinking that it is Tracy McGrady who is the Rockets best player but this season he has made it his goal to set up the big guy, and Yao is taking full advantage. Not to say that we can forget about T-Mac, who has scored like 15 points in under a minute, but if you can shut down Yao, it makes it very difficult for the Rockets to win.

Now, the Rockets are a great team. Last season's flop was a fluke, both star players were largely injured for most of the season. The year before the Rockets took the Mavs to seven games in a rediculous playoff series. This team is legit but we have their kryptonite. Like those other teams who try to pound the ball inside on the Suns, we know the Rockets glaring weakness. Yao cannot run a marathon. If we go small and make it our focus to run on every single possession, Yao Ming is only going to last a few minutes at best on the floor. This strategy has worked great in the past against the Rockets, and against other dominant centers like Shaq.

They simply do not have the conditioning to run with this team. If we run hard and often, we win this game. Of course we are also going to have to stay in front of T-Mac as best we can because he is a legitimate superstar. But I think Shawn Marion and Raja Bell can do an adequate job of bothering him enough so that he doesn't catch fire. Tracy has also been doing a much better job of enabling his teammates this season so the other guys are going to have to make sure they stay with their man. Most importantly, they need to run run run and run some more. Yao is so bad against this strategy, we can actually blow them out, as long as we can defend well McGrady enough. Barbosa should be back in the lineup tonight which is good because we are much faster with him on the floor. Look for Coach Mike to go extra small tonight.

Making a Case For Marcus

In this first leg of the season I've heard a lot of negative rumblings about Marcus Banks' play. Many Suns fans feel like the Banks pickup was a poor move and that we should have drafted one of the talented rookies that came out of the most recent draft class. Although many of the rookies that we could have picked up are making a case of their own recently, expecially at the Suns' expense, I stand by the Coach and organization's decision.

First off, it seems like the decision not to draft a PG has been biting us in the ass lately. First Marcus Williams just goes off on us after we plowed through the Nets' big three. Then Portland's Sergio Rodriguez, who we drafted and traded to the Blazers, tried to show us what uptempo ball was really about when he got the chance to play. But, the fact is these young players had the green light of the Autobahn after their respective teammates got blown out. They didn't have to run an offense, they didn't have to play within the team's gameplan, they were out there in garbage time of a blowout loss when the Suns players were already done playing. How could you not get 30 points in this situation?

Mike D'Antoni has publicly stated that he is not in the business of developing rookies, he's in the business of winning championships. He would much rather have a player with actual NBA experience. Well as it turns out, Marcus' league experience was playing for bad teams with very different styles from the Suns. Marcus is still a very young player, but not virgin young. He will need some time to understand the Suns gameplan so well that it is instinctual. He doesn't yet have the highest basketball I.Q., but like Leandro, he will learn how to function in this offense. Nobody is asking Banks to be Steve Nash but he probably feels a ton of pressure to do so. Banks just needs to go out there and play the game he KNOWS how to play and leave the playmaking to Steve, Boris, and now, Barbosa. Yet, there is one thing that cannot be taken from Marcus that cannot be taught: genetics.

Marcus Banks' athleticism and upside (nice buzzwords huh?) are the caliber of a lottery draft pick. He has an incredible combination of strength and speed for a point guard. With the right direction from Suns staff I believe we will get to see the most from Marcus in the future. He has shown some flashes of brilliance but he has also been, like his minutes, inconsistant. It seems to me that Coach Mike wants to get his core of starters rolling and getting wins before he works with the rest of the rotation players. Marcus may need some time to just watch and learn the Suns style before he is consistantly productive. In my opinion, Marcus is a HUGE upgrade to the backup point guard position and I feel that in the future he is going to be a stud.

Marcus' Attributes:

• Lightning quick, can blow past his defender at will, finishes well at the rim with contact.
• Great defender, very strong, can defend players much bigger than him, quick hands, plays passing lanes well, comes up with steals and initiates fast breaks.
• Good shooting mechanics, not a great shooter but his form is there, once he finds his rhythm and confidence in this system he can be a great shooter.
• Adequate passer, doesn't make highlight reel passes but makes the easy ones, once he develops better court chemistry with his teammates his playmaking will improve.
• Very explosive and athletic.
• Great character, he has accepted a lesser role than he could have had for the opportunity to play with a great team. In the future I can see him having a major role on this team.
  

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.

Suns @ Trailblazers Preview Thyme

7:00pm @ TrailBlazers TV: NBALP RSNP, My45

The NBA's freshest seasoning, the Phoenix Suns, are headed to Portland tonight to cook the Trailblazers. The Suns have been executing on both the ends of the floor as of late and are playing much better with each other. The formalities are now out of the way and we are close to an actual coherent identity. I'm actually finally getting used to the new players and roles that each player has earned himself. I'm down with Barbosa's ferocity and Nash's newly animated leadership. I can handle Amare's ups and downs because I see vast improvement. I like Marcus Banks even though he has had a rough start, I feel like he will settle into a comfortable role and continue to improve and prove himself for years to come.

The first leg of the season has been like a playoff atmosphere and we just weren't ready for it. Now we have had some weight lited off our collective shoulders and are punishing any team that dares come east of the Mississippi. We're also ready to handle the west's challenges. Now we have a simmering Portland team to deal with. They started hot but now are settling into who we all thought they were. Still, Zach Randolph is a monster and is playing much more consistant and dominant that last year and he should be taken very seriously.

We should attack Zach early and often, forcing him to expel energy on the defensive end because he is their offensive anchor. We should also throw different defenders his way and double and triple team him. He has a tendency to cough up the ball trying to pass out of a trap. We should make his teammates step up and hit jumpers. It's just too hard to take this team seriously. They are in the midst of talks to relocate the team. They have a glut of young players. They have some promising rookies but Brandon Roy, a possible R.O.Y. candidate, is out with an injury. Most importantly though, we crushed this team by 45 points last season. It going to take at least five years to forget about that one. Tonight, I'd say Suns by 16.

Amare Blocks Nets' Chances

Amare Stoudemire came out with smoke in hs lungs and was not going to let the previous game's shutout bother him. The Suns combined great defense and superb offense, eventually running out to a 22 point lead before finishing off the road-weary New Jersey Nets 99 to 93. Amare was a beast on the interior where he was throwing back shots like a drunken sailor. Amare finished the game with seven blocks where Nash let the offensive charge with 26 points and 13 assists. The Suns took out the big trifecta of Carter, Kidd and Jefferson possibly at my request but it was the rookie Marcus Williams who brought the game back from a double digit deficit in the fourth with 27 points on a offensive flurry.

The Suns again handed the opponent a sizeable lead. They literally took out the big three who went to the bench after being rendered inneffective by the Suns improved defense. That's when the Nets started playing. Marcus Wiliams came in and had the ultimate green light: garbage time in a blowout game. He made good use of his minutes last night and caught fire when the Suns' minds were already in the locker room. Honestly, he didn't really impress me, he had one nice pass and his shots were just pull up jumpers that happened to go in. It was the Suns lack of initiative that let him go off rather than his own dominance.



Nash played yet another MVP game for us and sealed the win. This guy keeps showing up with moves I've never seen before. He hit a game winner a few games back and now he's improving on last season's career stats. Now let's hope we can get continue to have Marcus Banks improve and hopefully in a month he will be able to play 20-25 solid minutes every night to keep Nash healthy for the playoffs. I like what I'm seeing so far and he is definitely improving. Sometimes Marcus falls in love with his shot and he needs to realize that he's out there to set his teammates up as much as he's there to score. Whern Amare is on the court Banks always has that post threat to bail out on if he can't get anything going. He seems like he is having the same problem that hampered Leandro's progress a couple years ago where he is so fast he loses control. Still, he is an upgrade to our backup pg position.



The Suns are slowly puting it together. We are about 10 deep with players that Coach Mike will actually play and that's the most we've ever had. The chemistry still isn't perfect and guys are still learning how to play with one another. Remember, there are a lot more people to get used to having on the floor. Amare has to learn how to play with just about everyone and it is going to take more time. What I like is our adaptability. We lost our MVP point guard and won a game without him, which has been difficult for us in the past We lost our leading scorer and one of our top players so far and won two. We had our dominant superstar shutout and came away with a win. We are going to be so much more versatile and dangerous once everyone gets familiar.




Like a dolphin jumping out of the
water.

Preview: Suns vs Nets; A Battle of the Five and Sixes

8:30pm vs. Nets TV: ESPN RTVHD, FSN AZ

Tonight the Suns matchup against the skidding New Jersey Nets who have dropped three in a row. The Suns on the other hand are looking to extend their two game winning streak to three and right this ship with an even record. Whenever scouting the Nets you must focus on the big three, Vince Carter, Richard Jefferson and Jason Kidd. Now this is not the most consistant team but they have the ability to win against any team, any night. You're not going to be able to take all three out of the game but you must try and limit their impact.

First we've got to slow down Jason Kidd. The best way to defeat a team that has one of the top point guards in the world is to slow him down and limit his effect on enabling the team to score easy buckets. Jason Kidd isn't the best shooter so I would like to see each Suns player lock down on his man and make it difficult for Kidd to toss easy passes for his teammates to finish. We can let Kidd shoot jumpers if he needs to, he won't be able to carry his team for the entire game. I would like to see Marcus Banks come in and play some D on Kidd, he might be able to pester him into frustration. This also is a good way of slowing Vince Carter down too.

If Vince doesn't get good shots in rhythm his fg% goes dramatically south because he will still take a large number of attempts. He is the main scoring option for this team and Raja Bell needs to get in his face. Vince is in a contract year so I imagine we will see Carter firing away. You are not going to shut him down, he is far too good, but we want to get him shooting under 50% to have a chance at winning this game.

Boris Diaw should be the main defender on Richard Jefferson, the final member of the big trifecta. Diaw is strong enough for Jefferson and quick enough to stay in front of him. Marion would give up some weight on that matchup and I think Richard could overpower him. This could be a good game to start Marion at PF and Diaw at SF. We need to make sure the rest of the team doesn't have any breakout games either if we want to continue our winning streak.

Nenad Krstic is having a great year too so we need to make sure and body him out of the paint the best we can. Kurt and Amare should be able to knock him out of rhythm. I would like to see a zone defense part of this game because New Jersey isn't the best shooting team and they would struggle with a zone. Marcus Williams is another young player to look out for, he is arguably the best point guard in this past year's draft and under the tutelage of Kidd, he should become a great guard.

I want to see some of the D we displayed against NOOCH tonight and hopefully we can improve our offense and maybe get our first blowout. We haven't put together a complete game yet, only flashes of great offense and then flashes of great defense, not simultaneously. This could be the game we put it all together.

Steve Nash Drops the Warriors

This is Steve Nash's game winner with four seconds remaining to crush the Warriors on Monday night. Someone had fun making this short clip.

Suns on a Roll Baby: Suns 92 NOOCH 83

The Suns finally escaped their early season funk to the tune of a two game winning streak with a win over the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets last night. The Hornets were without starting forward David West and were searching for a way to defeat the Suns. They then announced that they would get away from the game they usually play and attempt to run with the Suns. Well they went small and the running lasted about a quarter, from both teams. After the first quarter the Hornets were out-NOOCHed by the Suns who finally played defense in an, as nice as I can put it, ugly ugly game. Not quite as heinous as Desmond Mason's shot but bad nonetheless.



The Suns were not exactly lighting it up on the offensive end but their defense got NOOCH out of rhythm early in the second quarter and that was the trend for the rest of the night. The Suns finally had control of a game for the entire 48 minutes. Chris Paul did not dominate the way I thought he would and Peja's shot was out of sync. Tyson Chandler continued his solid defensive streak but he is a major liability on offense. The Bulls are probably lamenting his trade and Big Ben's large contract about now because Chandler is essentially the same type of player that Wallace is but he is actually playing much better than Ben is right now.



Steve Nash led the way in scoring for the Suns but it was a balanced effort that got us the win. Amare was way out of rhythm, coughing up balls about every time it was in his possession. He just couldn't hang on to the ball. He only played 20 minutes and was completely inneffective the entire time. I have faith that he bounces back strong. It's nice to see that Coach Mike now has a handle on his rotations enough to be able to make up for bad play from a starter and get a win. Boris Diaw has actually shown up for the last two games and left the Krispy Kreme's at home. Diaw was nice last night and even had a highlight dunk. The highlight of the night, though, goes to Leandro Barbosa before he rolled his ankle.

The Suns were on the break and Barbosa beat everyone down court and received a LONG outlet pass where he barely got the layup up before his speed, and the defender, took him into the crowd. The ball went high off the glass and the little bit of English the Blur put on the ball helped the bucket drop. It was very nice especially for all the heartbreakingly close layups Leandro has missed early in the season. If anyone finds video of this before I do, please hook a brotha' up.

Leandro went out shortly after with a sprained ankle which sucks because he was our top scorer and one of the most consistant players early in the season. Hopefully his absense helps to get the other guys going strong and improve court chemistry. Leandro always seems to hurt his ankle early in the season. He must not have had many sprained ankles this far in his life because once you do it enough the tendons and ligaments get stretched out and you can bounce back quickly from a rolled ankle. My ankles are so stretched out and mutilated that I can roll an ankle, where most people would be out at least six weeks, and five minutes later be right back to normal. Barbosa will get there soon enough if he keeps on going down like this.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Update: Does anyone else think Shawn Marion's shot looks like a dolphin jumping out of the water? No? Come on people. Well that's the conclusion we came to watching the game last night. Shawn, love your game, but please, stop shooting threes, and greatly limit your other jumpers. Dolphins are not meant to be on the court.

Mike D'Antoni Interviewed by ESPN's Chad Ford

Early in the season Coach Mike was interviewed by ESPN's Chad Ford about the Suns, Amare, Steve Nash, Boris Diaw, small ball, the international game, Team USA and much more. It is a pretty straightforward interview and coach handles it nicely, like he always does. Coach Mike is very intelligent but at the same time humble. He is able to question almost everything he does as a coach and I think that is why he has been so successful. He takes responsibility for his actions and the teams. Czech it.

Gameday: Suns vs. Hornets

7:00pm vs. Hornets TV: NBALP, My45

The Suns square off tonight against NOOCH who have been red hot to start the season. They stand at a very solid 8-3 behind the rising star point guard Chris Paul, their offseason free agent addition Peja Stojakovich, and the much improved defensive play of Tyson Chandler. This team should not be taken lightly. The matchups might get a little odd since someone other than Steve Nash must guard Chris Paul or else he will have his way with us, and with his skills to create for his teammates, that is a very dangerous thing.

We can handle one superstar but if Chris Paul gets the rest of his team going strong, NOOCH is going to be difficult to beat. I think we need to have Raja on Chris Paul but then Steve cannot guard Peja. We may need to go big tonight if Steve is getting crushed by Paul. Steve cannot guard any of the other positions so I suppose he will have to guard Paul. I would like to see us throw a lot of different defenders at Paul to make him uncomfortable. We can send Raja, Banks, Barbosa, Marion and Nash at him in different points of the game hopefully disrupting his flow.

Peja is another very difficult matchup especially if he plays the shooting guard because he is 6'10". I would like to see either Shawn Marion or James Jones handling Peja, I think they could do very well against him. Peja has been playing exceptionable for NOOCH to start the season so we need to disrupt him as well. Peja should probably be the small forward and it is likely that we will see him there so I think our matchup with him is favorable.

Raja can guard Desmond Mason, or possibly Nash if Raja takes on Paul. Desmond Mason is much less of a threat than Paul but he is still a very talented player. He just doesn't have the multi-dimensional effect on the game that Chris Paul has. Down low they have Tyson Chandler, which should be a good matchup for us too. He is fairly lumbering and isn't much of a threat offensively. Kurt, Amare or Boris should be able to guard him just fine. Likewise I think we can exploit Chandler offensively with all three of our big men. He's going to have his hands full.

This game should be exciting. pitting the best point guard in the world against another rising superstar point guard. They are still a fairly inexperienced team and we need to exploit that. We MUST play better defense or we will never become a great team. It would be nice if we can make this the start of a long winning streak. Taking out NOOCH could finally become two wins in a row baby! Then maybe we have a chance of getting to .500 ball, riveting!

Upgraded Template and Amare is Nice

Welcome, look around, I changed the template a bit. I hope it is an upgrade. Notice the Suns news feeds on the right hand side. Now you can hear more than just my mess from one location. Fairly valuable I would think. Oh and there is the Suns schedule down there somewhere, keep scrolling and you'll get there. There are a couple bugs and I will try to iron those out. For I.E. 6 people, things don't align exactly but It's not too big a deal and if it is, get a proper browser. Firefox is best while the new I.E. 7, which I just downloaded 30 minutes ago, looks pretty solid too. Finally Microsoft got their heads out their asses.

Another nice feature is this little clip of Amare bustin out with a fatty 360 layup. Amare had his way with the 76ers big men that night and this is just a sample. You know Steven Hunter probably has nightmares of Stoudemire.

NBA on TNT Uncut

I've been contacted by a representative of NBA on TNT and they want to introduce some new spots that will be running. These spots feature Jay-Z talking about retiring and coming back and he talks about his early fame. Both videos play at the same time so pause one before watching.



*Videos removed due to annoyance.

Suns Finish off Warriors

Last night in California the Suns became the victors of an old fashioned gunfight and Steve Nash, mild mannered that he is, brought a pen. Steve was planning on inking a W from the beginning and eventually finished off the Warriors with a huge three pointer with four seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to which the Warriors could not answer. The Suns hit big shot after big shot in the fourth when the Warriors tightened up into a defensive zone and packed the paint at any hint of a drive. We were forced to make open threes time after time and they were dropping.

This win might be the most important one of this young season in terms of building chemistry because each player was scrapping and scraping for this win. We even rallied to come back from down 17 points when every basket and call was going Golden State's way. Their run was punctuated by a Monta Ellis thunderous dunk that sent reverberations throughout the arena. We were shook. But Steve was not having another loss. Steve was especially vocal and demonstrative with his teammates, even snapping at them at times when they were not in the right spot. It paid off because everyone played their hearts out.



In the fourth quarter run it was Raja Bell and Leandro Barbosa who were hitting the big shots, keeping us in the game. Even James Jones used his time wisely and made a couple key threes and making a good foul on a poor free throw shooting Biedrins, who was a beast all night long. Him and Monta Ellis are going to be studs in this lig. And then it was Nash capping off the insane effort, by both teams, with a three with only four seconds left, securing the win.



Amare continues to play well even while in this game it was difficult to get him going, not by any of his doing. He just happened into a string of bad luck from the start but eventually got it going. Boris finally showed up and did what it is that he does, he almost notched a triple double. This team showed the urgency needed to get a very quality heart felt win. I hope this raises the team's confidence and helps with chemistry.

Suns Lose to Jazz Again

The Suns sans Nash just dropped a second game to the hot Utah Jazz on Saturday. This game was very close throughout but again the Suns choked up a nice lead, eventually going to overtime where they fell to the Jazz. The officiating was horrible in this game, for both teams, but I guess that makes it fair, right? I have to give it to the Jazz for willing themselves to victory. We had our chances to close this thing out but we couldn't get a basket. Kurt Thomas misses a couple free throws, Leandro Barbosa misses two key layups, and at the end in overtime, we get two wide open threes that don't go. Barbosa was ice cold all night but still managed to rack up 12 assists.

Amare had another solid game but looked a step slower than the previous evening. If that was a step slow, I can't wait to see him at full conditioning. Boris Diaw was translucent and really needs to get aggressive. He was literally a non-factor and he's had some time to get into shape, there is no room for any more excuses. I mean, second round rookie Paul Millsap got a double double. Shawn Marion kept us going in this game and I had no clue until I checked the box score but he had 35 points. We are struggling right now. Honestly, I don't know how you can expect to win with three starters fouling out from, did I mention, horrible reffing? Not to mention our MVP sidelined with an injury. But the fact remains that we had a lead and again blew it.

Suns 106 Sixers 94

7:00pm at Jazz TV: NBALP, My45

Whoa boy, now this was a great win for us. Coming into this game we were 2-8 without Nash and we handily turned that to 3-8 with powerful statements by Amare Stoudemire and Leandro Barbosa. If there was any doubt that the Amare of old was returning, last nights game was all the proof one needs. Amare was nasty last night. He was jumping sky high for rebounds, he was cramming down impossible put backs. And one. Amare was doing things last night that maybe five players in the league can do, maybe. At one point he spun baseline jumped and did a 360 under the basket and came around with the unlikely layup and drew the foul. Amare annihilated the Sixers big men. I just can't believe some of the dunks he displayed last night. When I can find them on Youtube I will post them because they were vicious.

Leandro Barbosa is bringing his game to the next level each night. He must have a cheat code or something because he actually is skipping levels. He's close to Dwyane Wade type of efforts, while already being a much better shooter. Leandro drops 26pts 10reb 3ast and 5 steals in Nash's absence to secure the win. If he consistantly puts games like this together, which he has thus far, he will be going to the all star dance. It's not only his steller shooting and improved defense, he is playing much more under control and making great decisions. Amare and Leandro were flat out relentless last night and when they play like that it is going to be very difficult for any team to beat us. Talk about relentless, we have a trifecta brewing in our midst.



Marcus Banks stepped in last night and earned his playing time. He forced a number of steals. He made some nice thread the needle passes to Amare. He shot well and he was doing what his body is built for and taking it to the hoop, making contact. This boy is strong. He dug the ball out of some unlikely positions after drawing the foul and sank the shot, and one. I like what Marcus brings a lot even though he has struggled early in the season. He is very gifted athletically and when he learns to play more under control, much like Leandro, he is going to be unstoppable. He has that relentless mentality like Amare and Leandro but he is much more blatant in finishing where Barbosa is more of a finesse finisher. We ought to have no problem getting to the line this year which was a major flaw to our team last season.



We actually won the rebounding battle last night which is very promising. Boris played a better game last night but Shawn looked out of sync. Still, the guys were securing 'bounds and shooting the outlet pass down the court for easy buckets. We were solid on defense last night, adding to Iverson's shooting woes in U.S. Airways center. That game last night was exciting to say the least. Let's see how they fare in Utah tonight against a hot Jazz team. They took the first game from us on our home court so now it's time to repay the favor. We need this game to make a statement to them that they will need more than a hot start to be an elite team. After last night's game, I like our chances a lot. I hope to see Amare rebound well on the second half of a back to back.

The Suns Vs. Philadelphia 76ers

8:30pm vs. Sixers TV: FSN AZ, ESPN

I've been waiting to write this post all week especially after the two losses to our Texan rivals, then myself coming down with the flu, followed by close retribution over the Grizzlies. I blame Pat Burke and Piatkowski for sucking every ounce of euphoric glee our team had built up inside of me in the first three quarters. How then hell did these scrubs cough up a 40 point lead to the Pau-less Griz? How the hell did we manage six days of no basketball after that triathlon of an introductory schedule?

Anyways, this time off is probably the best thing for our team. Now we can really start the season off with everyone, hopefully including Stoudemire, conditioned. I think this time will be great for some of the new guys like Jalen and Marcus Banks to really understand Coach Mike's system. They've seen it in action with limited contributions. Now they have had almost a week to ponder their position and practice with the team in the system. It should be a great learning experience. Now on to the 76ers.

Well it is basically the same formula year after year that continues to amount to nothing more than a mediocre team and campaign. Iverson seems like he is still getting better and he gives 100% every night. They continue to get very talented and athletic players in the draft (Iguodala and Carney) who never get much of a shot to blossom under Iverson and C-Webb's dominance. Chris Webber looks a step slow this year and other than these things this is about the same .500 team we saw last year. Lets look at some of the matchups we will see.

Samuel Dalembert/ Steven Hunter - Amare Stoudemire: Amare shouldn't have many problems with these guys. Dalembert has never really reached his potential. He's very tall and very long but Amare can overpower him on offense. Also, Dalembert isn't an offensive juggernaut, which is good because Amare is still not the best defender. Hunter is a crybaby and won't put up much of a fight.

Chris Webber - Boris Diaw/ Kurt Thomas: Webber is slowing down and the young Diaw should be able to punish him offensively. Diaw should be able to stand his ground defensively as Webber will likely be more of a jump shooter this season. Diaw is quick enough to get good position in the post on Webber for rebounds. Kurt Thomas can handle Webber defensively and they are both pretty slow these days. Kurt will likely help out against Dalembert.

Andre Iguodala - Shawn Marion: The match of the athletic freaks. Iguodala's development has been hampered by Iverson's reign but he has been getting more minutes this season and a bigger share of the offense. Iguodala has been playing the position of point forward and will likely bring the ball up at times. Shawn Marion is quick enough to keep Andre in front of him defensively. This should be an entertaining matchup.

Kyle Korver - Steve Nash: Nash will likely be guarding Korver toe majority of the game. Korver isn't exactly an athletic stud but he will likely chuck up poor shots thinking he has a mismatch in Nash. We want Korver jacking up shots.

Allen Iverson - Raja Bell: Even though Barbosa has been playing like an all star, Raja will likely get the start to try and slow down Iverson. I know you can't shut down Iverson but if Raja can disrupt his flow a bit and maybe make him take bad shots we should be in good shape. I would also like to see Raja work on limiting Iverson's effectiveness as a playmaker because he is a dangerous man.

I'd like to see how Leandro's improved defense stacks up against Iverson. Barbosa is clearly quick enough for the job but will he be able to perform? Will Boris finally pick up the pieces of his game after dropping ten pounds and having a week to practice? Will Amare bring his A game like he did against the Griz? Well he should after having nearly a week off. This game will be a much better gauge of Amare's progress since the Griz were lacking Pau and any semblance of a center. Amare will have to go up against Dalembert and Chris Webber, two very talented and large inside guys.

I've been looking forward to this game all damn week. Iverson is so much fun to watch play. Philly is an extremely athletic squad and will put up a good fight. They took us out in the preseason and now is our time for revenge. We really need to play solid team defense on this team because any number of players is talented enough to get hot and torch us. We need a win going into Satudays game at Utah. I hope our schedule is cake the rest of the season because this is a battle of attrition in the first month.

G Love & Special Sauce - I-76

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Has the Season Started Yet?

Please excuse my slow posting over the last week, I've been working on the layout of this blog in order to give you more information. I got a big chunk completed but it is definitely not finished. I'm trying to think of new features that I can add and I would like to hear some suggestions. So far I managed to place rss feeds of Suns news in one section but I have much more room to fill and I don't know what else I should put. I want your feedback on what you would like to see on this blog, either Suns resources, maybe the Suns schedule, anything, just give me some ideas.

Anyways, after a blistering first few weeks of heavy games against tough teams the horrendous schedule makers have given us six days off. At this point it's probably a good thing. After Saturday's semi-drubbing of the Grizzlies we have almost a week to practice on what we have found works best with this team. I like that Amare, Nash, and Raja will be well rested for tomorrow's game against Philly. Finally we will have some games against more average opponents to really get our mojo back. It seems like this team only wins when its back is against the wall, when they're under pressure. If Amare can put more games together like he did Saturday we will have a much easier time closing out games. We need to play like San Antonio, they can play poorly and still grind out a win using Tim Duncan.

I think Coach Mike has finally figured out the rotations and personnel that he would like to stick to for the remainder of the season to be successful. It's not extremely important who the starting lineup is at this point because we have so many different substitution options and what really matters is who will play the longest. I'm not going to get into a preview yet because I am saving that for tomorrow.

The Leader is Fit

Steve Nash may have been the the most active Suns player this summer and through training camp he got himself into game shape. Most of the rest of the Suns, not so much. Amare had been tentative on his knees and has only recently been playing recklessly. Shawn Marion took some games to really get going. Raja has his calf to rehab while Leandro played hard in the world championships. Leandro was one of the only Suns to be completely ready for the season.

Boris, well, he was kind of playing ball in the world championships in France, in between meals. He was having a great time during his summer and he probably felt like he earned it with how much he progressed last season. He went to Japan for the competition and probably sampled some cuisine there. He was negotiating his contract a bit and also going on safari in South Africa. Then he wound up in Italy for training camp which was more of a tour than work. And finally on to Germany and man do some sausages and sauerkraut sound chronic. Well Boris is picking up the rear in terms of being ready to play at the highest level for this season but he is finally making strides and getting back into shape.

Nash, however, has pretty much trained all summer long. He was playing soccer in New York City and he probably ran much more than he would playing basketball because that's 80% of what soccer is. Nash is in the perfect position right now to continue to improve his MVP game and lead a very competant team through the playoffs and he wants to take full advantage of the situation. Nash wants to breathe fire on the court this season. One poor soul got the opportunity to encounter Nash preparing for a game and was hurt by Steve Nash's words while being a nuisance.

The following should illustrate the on-court Nash who is a fighter and leader and who doesn't take any shit. It is an enounter that a student Journalist had with Nash at the wrong moment that he took personally. This should be perfect for Howie and Jack who have called for this sort of behavior from Nash for some time. I think this is what Coach Mike D'Antoni was referring to when his excuse for Nash's language and behavior was "he's Canadian." Have fun with this one.

He looked at me kindly enough, as if he was willing to give me a minute. I approached him, eager to ask some throwaway question about what the streaking Suns hoped to take away from the matchup against the injury-ridden Lakers.

As I approached, his easygoing expression remained unchanged, and I thought that he would be receptive of my question. Steve, the Lakers have been... (Nash) "Are you kidding me?" he said coldly. "I'm not doing an interview. Not now. No, not now. Tuck!" Nash said, calling for one of the assistant coaches. "Tuck, can't you fucking do anything for me? Jesus Christ!"

Tuck looked at Nash with a look that almost said, 'What do you want me to do, shoot him?'

No guns were necessary, and as I left, Nash said a few things about me that were largely inaudible except for a few "fucks" here and there. I'm not sure what he said, but some of the players - mostly the guys who were fighting to make the team and would have laughed at anything Nash said - looked at me and laughed, and how many six-foot, five-inch monsters laughing at you does it take to get embarrassed?

I hobbled away, red-cheeked and wounded. Nash was a man I had come to respect as a player, but I got to see the upstanding Canadian in an unfavorably arrogant light.

UPDATE: The following track was supposed to go with the post. I wanted to start putting music with each post since most of you are reading this from work and you could possibly enjoy it, but Odeo has been down. If you don't enjoy it, tough, get your own blog. I was a deejay in a past life.

The Pharcyde - Groupie Therapy

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Turning It Around

Ok, I've been out for a bit and missed a couple games. Anonymous came to this blog jonesin' for something after the Suns crappy loss to Dallas and then the quasi-resurrection so I have to give something.

What I saw in the Dallas game was a team not yet ready. They were hitting shots like crazy and we couldn't slow them down a bit. It was good to see some vintage runnin' Suns but we couldn't put a full game together. Dallas got their first win. Leandro Barbosa is playing phenomenally right now and he is looking to be a big part of this team. Amare Stoudemire came out hustlin' in our win over Memphis and while they are certainly not an impressive team considering they were without a center, Stoudemire was explosive enough to get some nasty dunks and a very solid all-star caliber game with 25pts 14reb off a 10-14 clip in 24 efficient minutes.



Steve Nash and Shawn Marion continue to do their all-star thing while improving as well. Boris is even cutting the croissants and slowly picking up his play while Kurt mans the inside like a rock. The real catalyst to sustained success lies in solidifying a rotation, improving court chemistry and playing solid defense throughout the entire 48 minutes, including rebounding. Mike D'Antoni is finally getting a good feel for what he can do with the roster, especially the rapid development of Leandro Barbosa.



Leandro has inherited the start since Ginobili damaged Raja's ribs and he is making great use of that and playing long minutes. He is becoming much more under control, possibly due to the increased playing time taking the nervous edge out of him. Leandro is making much better decisions on the court, showing an impressive array of finishing moves and shooting at a blistering 45% from three point land. In the game against Dallas, he had 30 points. In our win against Memphis he had a double double of 16pts 12asts. He is developing every time we see him play and he gives the team what they need. He has a killer instinct to score but he is also athletic enough to do a number of things very well. Amare had his killer instinct on display in the win against the Griz as well.



Amare needs to be our franchise player to have complete success. The man has a freakish athletic ability and mental drive that was built for NBA play. He came out electric in our core's trouncing of the Memphis Grizzlies (without Pau) before Pat Burke et al nearly gave the lead back. If Amare has to sit out more practices to get him to be able to play at that level, let him play video games. He was jumping out of his shoes grabbing rebounds, dunking in crowds, he hustled for loose balls and even made some pretty jumpers. It was the Amare Stoudemire of the books.

CarnEvil of the NBA Thirty Seven

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Welcome my friends. Not two weeks removed from Halloween and I've got some abhorrent stories to tell you about recent perversions and parlor tricks undertaken within our dearly beloved Association. Be leery of your surroundings at all times, is an intense show not for the faint-hearted. The Carnival is effervescent since the somewhat braggadocious snap to the Suns losing streak when Pat Burke's subs dropped a healthy lead in the most bizarre fashion, yet ultimately ending our glorious 2-5 start.

I like to thank the authoritative association's agenda for giving our team a delightful vacation in Europe filled with many croissants, delightful pastries and all the pasta and kielbasa they can eat. That and opening with four games in five nights followed by another back-to-back against Western Conference Superpower Spurs and Mavericks.

This group of entertainers have taken it upon themselves to sell tell you some things today. Watch out for what you say on these unholy grounds, they have a penchant for quarreling with principles not savored with precedence. You must understand that these peddlers are often times battling severe alcohol affixiation, that stink may be 24/7 NBA basketball eminating from their pores or it could just be last night's dosage. Here it is folks, it comes around every so often and you better not miss the 37th edition of the Carnival of the NBA. Be careful where you walk.

The most important issue at hand is the new no-tolerance policy no-excitement policy. Stern and his cronies have gone too far this time and effectively taken the passion out of games instead of all the incessant bitching of the Tim Duncan's and Kobe Bryant's of the lig. Superstars continue to bitch while the meer semblance of frustration warrants a tek.

Need4Sheed wants to put a stop to such fascism and is circulating a petition so that we can continue to enjoy the characters who work in the NBA. Sheed needs to be able to bust on dudes in pink shirts. "You know what they say about a man in a pink shirt right?"

Hoopsaddict reviews books and drops magazines. No smoke and mirrors in this publication, just the foresight of Ryan Mcneill and illustrative prowess provided by Matt Dyck Studios.

The Basketball Jones podcast is now coming at you five days a week with prompt Association analysis and commentary. You would be wise to bet against these vendors.

Reds Army is detailing a hopeless power struggle in the Celtics organization.

Celticsblog talks about their bad start this season. It looks like Doc Rivers is in a familiar situation.

I think the Cavalier understands the Celtics struggles and I think I understand the Cavalier. Sometimes.

Bobcats Bonfire is burned by the almighty no-tolerance policy and the cats keep on adjusting.

Blog a Bull sees a lot of value in their new rookie, the Swiss Mister(?) Thabo Sefolosha.

Impending Firestorm, an Atlanta Hawks column, recently teamed up on a podcast for the Hawks-Raptors game Friday night.

Pounding the Rock has Spurs-eye vision on the Nix and is glad he doesn't have to see the mutilated face of that franchise for a while.

Golden State of Mind lives for every game as it was their last and have no problems going to big D to hurt some egos. The Warriors own the Mavericks.

Sportsbiz talks about the advertising giant Nike and their Lebron Campaign.

SupersonicSoul is first on the case to keep the Supes in Seattle, a city that should have a NBA team. They have recently been interviewed by the New York Times about the matter.

Mutoni from Bench Renaldo is pissed that his NBA league pass is still not available and rightfully so. Come on Canada, what is this amateur hour?

End of the Bench didn't scribble this post on race in the NBA down half-asleep and we should thank him for that.

DC Sports Guy writes about the Wizards' center feud. Brenda Haywood actually pulls hair.

Lowpost is now featuring a blog section to the rss machine. Most recently he interviews Henry Abbott of Truehoop fame.

Speaking of Henry Abbott, he recently shares some insight on what life is like for a professional basketball player in Europe.

SunsGossip has exclusive video of Lebron James dunking way over Timmy Duncan during the recent Cavs victory. Hilarity ensues.

Freedarko has a new found appreciation of the Suns that was lacking last season following Saturday's win over the Griz when Amare found his spot and Leandro continues to be heartless.

Loy's place asks the question to run or not to run and is confused by the Celtics tactics.

Celticsstufflive recently interviewed long time Boston Herald Writer Steve Bulpett who travels with the team and covers them.

UPDATE: Choose your own Brendan Haywood adventure trade over at Bullets Fever.

UPDATE 2: Howie aka The Hype has his own ideas about how to cope with the new NBA rules. Basically, don't cross David Stern or face death by robot.



That's it for this time, I hope you had fun. If I missed anyone, email me quick.

Suns Thriller Turns Less Than Thrilling

The Suns were handling the Spurs throughout first and third but came up short in the other quarters including overtime, yet played extremely well. Amare's debut start was NICE and he is going to bring the dimension that this team needs to go far. His court movement was all but perfect in the first as he became the recipient of many a Nash highlight pass in a position to stuff the synthetic roundie through the net. The man single handedly created work for poster printers everywhere, on more than one occasion. Thanks to Amare some kid has a job to do, if only for an hour or two.

I thought he would get handled by the Spurs bigs but he was quick and effective. He then got into foul trouble before becoming the unfortunate benefactor of some shotty reffin.' Barbosa also felt that pain when he was cut across the wrist by the dirtiest man in the lig, Bruce Bowen (can someone please hurt this man?) off a drive where he was then called for an offensive foul. Before Amare fouled out he managed more of the game he displayed in the first half, also adding some silky jumpers and easy buckets. Some of it was due to rust but like the rest of the team, he got tired.

Boris Diaw was quiet again and I'm not enjoying that, especially since he's weighing down my fantasy team. San Anton is a difficult matchup for him so I expect he will respond better tomorrow against a good matchup, Dallas. Boris torched this Dallas squad in the past season's Western Conference Finals and they are actually playing worse than we are at this point, thankfully. I did notice Boris at least tried to actively look for his shot tonight but the ones from Alamoland were the better team this evening, this early in the season. The Matrix did a lot of standing around tonight and wasn't much of a force offensively.



Talk about shots, Raja got his mojo back before hitting the huge shot to get us back into it late in the fourth quarter and Steve was hittin' circus shots all over the place. Raja then took some contact from a layup attempt and got to the line where he hit one of two to send it to overtime. I forgive him for missing the second freethrow since he alone dug us out of a six foot grave deep in the fourth. Speaking of Raja and graves, my baby's mama said she thinks Raja is a "cool" name and that "it sounds egyption." So, whatever that means.



I think we proved something tonight. We took a big step forward in terms of getting the team up to optimal shape and performance. Our rotations were much better, not perfect, but Amare will be entirely more effective playing the role he did this evening. I would like to see Coach Mike play Banks more when we get cold and ball movement stalls, like in the fourth quarter and into overtime. He may still be a raw athlete but I like that he is incredibly quick and can get layups in traffic, much like Barbosa, but more blatant. Banks can be a great spark for our team while letting Steve rest; he only played 34 minutes tonight in an overtime game. profound.

San Antonio played well tonight so I tip my hat to them. They had Tim Duncan to go to in crunch time at the end when we got sloppy and tired. If Amare is in the game maybe we win. If we bring someone off the bench as a spark when we get really cold in the fourth maybe we win. We have to find a balance of jump shooters and scorers in the rotation who can get to the hoop regardless of contact. I like where we are heading and I like our chances tomorrow.

Big Game Preview

Wednesday, 6:00pm at Spurs TV: ESPN, My45

The Suns have had ample time to rest, recouperate, and practice from that miserable loss to the Clippers and now they are heading to San Anton to square off against the Western Conference powerhouse Spurs. We need to get a win tonight because tomorrow we have the WCF champion Dallas Mavericks. Coming out of these games 0-2 is strictly unacceptable. I guess our only solace is that Dallas is 0-3 and playing worse than we are and they have a tough game today against the Clippers. I would like to see us break this losing streak with a couple wins to spark a 10 game winning streak that we are capable of rattling off like last season.

Coach is still tinkering with the lineups and has decided to put Amare back in to start, for various reasons. The main reason I think Coach is doing this is to appease the media and fans and to show them that he is in fact trying to find the best mix. I don't know if him starting alone will help him play harder but Amare playing with Nash is what will help the most. The previous games Amare was out there with our second unit guards, who all but forgot they have a 6'10" superstar down low. Nash can help Amare get back to optimal form the best. Steve and Amare have a great court relationship and Nash loves getting Amare the ball in a position where he can make some noise. Steve can get Amare easy buckets where Marcus Banks and Barbosa cannot. Once Amare gets emotionally into games he will be able to leap that mental hurdle and play like the man he once was. Amare is humbled by the decision to get the start and has mad respect for his opponent.

Tell you what, Tim Duncan is a great player... Playing against him my first game starting is a privilege.

Since Boris is also in a funk he is going to come off the bench. Kurt Thomas is possessed right now so he is a lock in the rotation. Jalen Rose may actually suit up for tonights game and play some minutes at SF. He can give us a scoring spark and solid veteran leadership that a championship team like ours really needs. He can also provide another broadcasting option alongside Thunder Dan and KJ.

Recuperating From our False Start

I have finally recovered enough from our disastrous loss Saturday evening at the hands of the Los Angeles Clippers to write about our team without foaming expletives worse than a drunken Tourettes case rooting for Phoenix' other sports teams. This game was played with a high amount of energy from both teams and the margin of error was much thinner than in our previous games. Steve Nash, Shawn Marion and Kurt Thomas came to win but our rotations were bad, our bench was cut short, and our shooters, well, weren't shooting all that well. Combine these things with another Boris quasi no-show and we would have had a difficult time beating any team playing as well as the Clips did.

Again we got crushed on the boards and visited jump shooting purgatory. And again I was there on the couch screaming "take the motherfucking ball to the motherfucking hoop goddammit." Ok so I'm not completely over it but seriously, this is exactly what would drive me bonkers last season. We fall in love with jump shooting at the times when we couldn't throw a hotdog down a hallway.

We did, however, mount an incredible run that actually put us on top in the fourth quarter but we couldn't sustain the drive and eventually collapsed under the pressure. I am not so worried about this slow start for a few reasons. First, we had a murderous schedule with four difficult games in five days against good teams and teams that pose serious matchup problems for us. Second, we have a bunch of new players to acclimate into the rotation and like last year, when we also had a bad start, this takes some time to iron out. Third, Boris and Marcus Banks are playing awful, when these two get into rhythm we will be much better off. Also, in the long term we really need Amare back badly.



Leandro is still struggling with consistancy as is Raja and these two are our primary shooters, aside from Nash. Amare gets a pass from me for the time being but I want to see progress. Mike D'Antoni really really needs to get him on the court with Nash so that he gets some easy buckets because it will raise his confidence. So far our second unit guards are not getting Amare the ball as much as they should. I think Coach Mike wants Amare out there with the reserve guards to offset the drop in production that occurs when Nash takes a rest but at this point that is not feasible. We need Amare to be the dominant presence that can help us close out games when our shooting goes ice cold.



I really like Marcus and his game really brings a much needed element to this team but like Boris, he is not yet in rhythm. At times he reminds me of a Gilbert Arenas type of point guard. Barbosa is playing like a borderline all star but he is having a bout of inconsistancywith his shooting, but that's just nitpicking. He is on fire and I'm especially impressed with his rebounding. I think Barbosa will smooth out his game in the coming weeks. I just have to say DAMN THIS SCHEDULE. We have games against Dallas and San Antonio this week in the midst of our early season hiccups.

Suns @ Lakers Gameday, Recap

Phoenix Suns @ Los Angeles Clippers: Tonight, 8:30pm; TV: NBATV RTV, My45.

Well the Suns definitely choked last evening; they couldn't make a play when it mattered most. The Suns had Leandro Barbosa rolling in the fourth but soon fell flat. Andrei Kirilenko was a force and he hurt our offense badly. Part of the trouble with this team is that we do not yet have that go-to scorer in crunch time who can dominate everyone's attention and get to the foul line if necessary. Leandro is becoming a great player but we need Amare to step up and take that role. While our guard play has the potential to be the best in the league I think they need to learn that speed and ball distribution will only work so often and sometimes when they don't have anything going they need to dump that ball down into Amare and watch him go to work.

Amare never really got going in this game since Leandro got the start. Leandro dominated the ball a bit too much and Amare couldn't get himself into rhythm. We played well in the second and third quarter when Shawn Marion was exerting himself on both ends of the floor. He played extremely well last night but he can still do much better. I like that his shot is coming much easier than last season and thank Jah. He was killing us during the beginning of last season with horrendous three point shooting. His defense has improved even further and he is blocking more shots than ever. He viciously erased a couple of Matt Harpring's shots which made the crowd go nuts.



Steve Nash played exceptional as always but Leandro was getting good looks and getting to the line when everything was going our way. Steve should have tried to get Amare some easy baskets since we needed him to play well against Utah's oversized lineup. Kurt Thomas had another consistant solid defensive night and efficiently contributed on offense. He is the big thick body we need in the paint since the rest of our lineup is so thin, especially with Boris out of sync.



Raja Bell found his shot, finally, and he is even displaying some great moves to the hoop. A couple times he took his man off the dribble and one time he maneuvered through deep traffic and finished at the rim with his left hand. That was impressive. He continues to improve on offense.



Coach Mike still has to figure out his rotations and get used to playing the best player, each night. If someone is having a sub par game he needs to pull them and throw someone else out there. With the addition of Jalen Rose, we have a cornucopia of dependable options. I foresee Jalen and Junior Jones fighting for minutes on the regular. The team still looks out of sync and we still have some growing pains ahead of us. I wouldn't take this loss too badly, we still played well but just couldn't seal it. I mean, we were up by double digits in every game so far so you know we will start to close them out.



Lets hope we are more warmed up for tonights game in Los Angeles vs. the Clippers. A win tonight would send a strong message to our likely division rival.

Suns Vs. Utah Jazz Preview

Coach Mike D'Antoni today said that Leandro Barbosa would be in the starting lineup for tonight's game. At first I thought this was a horrible decision and that D'Antoni was getting too comfortable with really small ball. I was thinking, "oh great, we're already a bad rebounding team, and now he wants to go with a three guard lineup of Nash, Barbosa and Bell against one of the best rebounding teams in the lig." The Jazz are big. Their frontline is pretty formidable with Mehmet Okur, Carlos Boozer and Andrei Kirilinko. I then realized that D'Antoni was scheming to begin the game full speed ahead to wear out the lumbering bigs so that Amare and Diaw can come in and provide the power we will need inside.

Kurt Thomas can probably play Boozer fairly well but I'm scared about the Marion/ Okur or Marion/ Kirilinko matchup. I think Shawn is outmatched defensively against these players. Also, if D'Antoni does go with the three guard lineup with Bell at SF, this is another matchup problem for Bell that he cannot handle. Lets just be thankful that Andrei isn't an offensive juggernaut. I hope Coach Mike's ploy works and that the team executes as he has planned. The Okur/ Diaw matchup should be one to watch as well. This is a tough team for us so hopefully Coach's plan works. I bet we lost the battle of the boards regardless so lets hope we can wear this large bunch out. Marcus Banks should have no problems with Deron Williams.

Suns Sign Veteran Jalen Rose

The Suns have just happened on another veteran talent who wants to play in Phoenix for dirt cheap. Jalen Rose is going to be in a Phoenix Suns uniform this season. At first I thought this was a bad move since we had such a deep bench but now I see the benefit. Rose is a very talented veteran scorer who can provide an offensive punch off the bench that James Jones has yet to fulfill. Rose has accepted his role or non-role with this team enthusiastically:

As I tip-off my thirteenth NBA season, my focus is solely on winning - not just in the regular season, but in the playoffs. The last few years have been challenging for me and I've found a way to take the good with the bad. I've had numerous coaches and teammates over the past few seasons and as I join my sixth NBA team, I am excited to find a new home with the hope of some stability. I am eager to get back to a winning environment because that is what I know. God willing, I plan on playing this game for a few more years. Being waived by the New York Knicks has created an opportunity for me to find a team to play on that will hopefully get me back into the playoffs with a realistic opportunity to win a NBA Championship...Choosing the next chapter in my career has been difficult but I am proud to announce that I am now a member of the... PHOENIX SUNS. I look forward to getting this season started and hope to see you at the Larry O'Brien championship trophy presentation in June. The stage is set, now its time to grind!

Who knows if Jalen will get any minutes sitting on our stacked bench but it does give Coach Mike another solid, proven option. Most championship caliber teams have a group of veterans on the roster who provide leadership and experience that only comes with time. Jalen will likely fight for playing time with James Jones, who seems to have beaten out Jumaine for minutes. First Tim Thomas and now Jalen Rose, how do the Suns keep finding these quality rentals?

Steve Nash: How to Avoid Getting T'd Up

This short clip is from the Clippers Suns game the other night when Steve Nash "argued" an out of bounds call with the ref. It appears to me that this is Steve's subtle way of mocking the new less tolerance for bitching policy. Steve was correct, we got the ball back, and Robert Sarver was berzerk. Steve's got jokes.



Yes is the third Youtube video I've posted in a couple days. The reason is, Youtube is so huge that people are submitting videos that are significantly news-worthy. Wouldn't it be cool if somebody uploaded a video mix of all the best plays for every Suns game? I would do it but I seriously don't have the time for that. If someone else would like to put in the legwork of recording each game and making a quick mix of the best plays let me know and I will include each one here in the game recap. We could build a video encyclopedia of every Suns game right here.

Steve Nash All Defensive Team?

The first loss of our momentous season still stings like that time I went wakeboarding in the Chesapeake Bay with a zillion jellyfish. It left bruises on my pale skin. What the hell was up with that? Was the wrath of God reigning down the 11th plague? Anyways, the Suns barely showed up for Tuesday's fiasco and there is, without a doubt, no worse team to lose to than the Los Angeles Lakers. Losing to that contemptible team is reprehensible. Whoa, did you see that? Two big words (that I had to look up the spelling to) in one sentence. Friends, below you shall see something that should boost your spirits until the next game. It is a short clip of Steve Nash serving up pancakes to the Lakers' rookie, Jordan Farmar (a toothless homeless man's Steve Nash). Steve only plays one end of the court you say? Blasphemy!



Big up to Dr. Seuss of the basketball boards for the clip.

The Ballinest 6 Year Old Ever - Marquise Walker

Soon to be breaking ankles at elementary school courts everywhere. The Suns should start
grooming him now for life in the NBA, he's already down with Shawn Marion. I mean this kid's got moves like Lebron James, court vision like Nash, he's the got handles, he's got the moves, and he's got a silky finesse layup. I hear that everyone on his first grade team had career years with him at the point and he's undersized to boot!

Suns Vs. Clippers Game 2 Recap

The Suns returned to Phoenix yesterday fresh off their loss to the Los Angeles Lakers and handled business in front of a sold out crowd. This time the Suns buckled down on defense and made it very difficult for the Clips to get into a rhythm. Kurt Thomas and Amare Stoudemire played Elton Brand well, cut off driving lanes and staying in front of him, poking the ball away, and best of all they didn't foul him much. Shawn Marion had a great game and his play dictated the Suns' on the defensive end of the floor. He was blocking shots, grabbing rebounds and picking up steals. The Matrix was everywhere, at one point he even batted the ball away from Brand directly under the hoop about four times in one possession even though he didn't get credit for the blocks.

Amare's quick lateral movement allowed him to play much better on D than the previous evening. Amare was also much active in scoring and displayed his repertoire with a nice dunk in the first quarter, some difficult layups from inside in heavy traffic, and some mid range jumpers. Everything was clicking for Amare in the first half. He was actively rebounding and blocking shots. This was by far the best complete game I have seen him play since the procedure that I shall not speak of. The best part was that he looked really excited to be playing. There was a point when Marcus Banks got away from his defender to get a layup with contact, drawing the and-1, and Amare pumped his fist and gave him props. It's a good sign to see everyone getting pumped for each other.

Banks had a nice game too. He played under control and played good defense on Shaun Livingston, who can be a matchup problem. Banks broke away a few times for the easy layup and he always seems to draw contact. He also put in some nice outside shots in succession. I definitely see some glimpses of Gilbert Arenas in Marcus' game.



Kurt Thomas had a good defensive night against Brand by refusing him position in the lane. Kurt can really body bigger guys and keep them out of the paint. He also had a real nice steal on Brand but also got called for some BAD fouls. The ref's are whistle happy on Kurt because these calls were the epitome of phantom call. I think his plan is to take up space in the lane rather than jump for rebounds. He has a thick frame and likes to fully extend himself in the paint so that he has room to grab rebounds. This works for him because he has very long limbs.



Steve Nash had a great game including some hilarious gestures indicating a Suns ball directed at the ref who was deciding the call. Steve still has trouble getting used to the ball and he needlessly let some balls slip away. It seems like everyone was still getting acclimated to the new ball because every so often it slipped out of somebody's hand. Everyone but Boris.

Boris was slow to start again yesterday but he was taking some mid range jumpers that got some help dropping by the new ball. Some of these shots would not have went in with the old ball. When these shots started falling he picked it up and he helped carry the team through the fourth quarter.

In all the team played fantastic for only their second game against a very talented Clippers squad. I like that Coach Mike is getting better with the rotations and each player is settling into his role. I also like that they played good defense for a majority of the night. They definitely made a conscious effort to take the ball to the hoop instead of getting trapped into taking outside jumpers the whole game.

Suns @ Lakers Season Opener Recap

The Suns came out swinging with a 41 point first quarter but did not have the energy for four quarters and fell at the hands of their Pacific Division rival Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers were without Kobe Bryant for the evening but it was Lamar Odom whom the Suns have no answer for. The first quarter the Suns shot lights out, were moving the ball, and were doing everything right. Midway through the second quarter they stopped moving the ball and were settling for outside jumpers, exposing their innefficiencies from last season. They were also not grabbing rebounds and were playing with much less energy than the Lakers young players, such as Andrew Bynum.



In the second half, ball movement stopped and many players would not move without the ball, rendering their offense stagnant. I believe they were not yet ready for the season. Mike D'Antoni still has to figure out his rotations because I think some of the early rotations stifled their offensive charge. Boris Diaw did not have a great game and looked far too passive on the interior. Shawn Marion was active but was not getting many needed rebounds.

Amare Stoudemire looked great in the first half, he had a nice vintage Amare dunk and a really nice block but his minutes were very limited and he never got himself going again in the second half. He looked very active early in the game and was taking it directly to the cup. Later on he lost a few passes and some balls slipped out of his grasp and there were obvious signs of rust on his game. Steve Nash had a great game as did Leandro Barbosa who had a team high 30 points including a blistering 6 of 8 from downtown and some very diffucult layups in traffic. Kurt Thomas had a nice game too, his jumper was money but I don't think he is planning on jumping anymore. He should have a better defensive game against Elton Brand.



I want to see Coach Mike work to get Amare into the flow of the game much more. Last season's innefficiencies (rebounding, no post threat) were already exposed and the Nash-Amare pick and roll game is just the cure. I'm not that concerned with this game, I already said we wouldn't win 82 games and they have some growing pains ahead of them. Lets hope they can rebound tonight against the Clippers at home. We need to take care of business at home in this difficult stretch of games ahead of us.



The Staples Center employed the new stage lighting last evening and I have to say it was kind of cool. All the seats are real dark and the court is the only part of the building lit up. It makes it look more like a show, very cool in my opinion.