Suns Vs. Blazers: A Post Festivus Party

The Suns rebounded last evening from their loss to the Wizards with a 110-87 shellacking of the Portland Trailblazers. With this win, a new winning streak is hopefully born. After that horrifying defeat by the Washington Wizards I slipped into a depressing malaise and wouldn't leave my bedroom until last night. Actually, I've been on vacation, hanging out with the fam and celebrating Festivus. I GOT A LOT OF PROBLEMS WITH YOU PEOPLE. Or perhaps it is the other way around.

I hadn't known that so many people celebrated Festivus but in light of the recent comments I have received, some of you got down to the Airing of Grievances a bit early, no? First off, I don't think there is a "conspiracy" but I do believe that they called the Denver game partly because of the Nuggets' depleted bench. I was pissed not because I wanted to see Denver get annihilated but because it was going to screw with the Suns rhythm, which it did.

The Suns arrived in Phoenix just a couple hours before the Wizards game and were not prepared for what was about to unfold. That game was crazy. Gilbert Arenas was unstoppable, as was Caron Butler. It was a great game by both teams but Washington had more energy and they outlasted the Suns and effectively snapped their winning streak at 15, the new franchise record.

That Blazers game last night was an easy win and they finally put together 48 complete minutes. How about that bench? Portland helped the bench looked better than it probably was with an ineptitude I haven't seen in a long time. Jumaine Jones is looking good and he probably stole the eighth rotation spot from James Jones. JuJo had a nice game last night with 13 points on efficient shooting. What's kind of funny, Boris Diaw played the most minutes last night and was the only scoreless Suns player, but he did have 8 assists. Marcus Banks came in and had three quality minutes as well scoring three points and handing out three assists. And then there was Sean Marks' monster dunk.

Breaking News: Suns @ Nuggets Called Off

Evidently the Association is having pity on the Denver Nuggets by calling tonights game off due to a blizzard. This is rediculous! It makes no sense. The Suns are there, check. The Nuggets are mostly there, check. The officials are there, check. Whats the damn problem?! What, because the Nuggets got into a fight and Iverson can't make it in town tonight, immediatly after he was traded, they can't play? Sounds like the Suns are getting screwed on this one.

Though blizzard conditions paralyzed the Denver area, the postponement was somewhat unusual because the Suns, the officials and the Nuggets were all in town.

Three hours before the scheduled tip-off, workers were buzzing around the arena preparing for the game, but a big cheer could be heard in the hallways when official word came that the game was off.

15 and Counting, Suns Tranquilize Raptors

The Suns own the 15th straight game last night with a 115-98 win over the Toronto Raptors that sets the franchise record for most wins in a row. The previous record of 14 was set by Charles Barkley and Dan Majerle's team that went to the Finals during the 92-93 season. This streak, however, seems like it can keep on moving forward with the amazing basketball this team is playing right now. We have a game tonight against a Denver team who is missing the league's leading scoring tandem of Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith who are suspended as a result of that little altercation in New York on Saturday night. The Nuggets just acquired Allen Iverson so they could have a chance if he's in the lineup.

The Suns 15th win came a little too easily. The Raps were without all-star forward Chris Bosh so things were difficult for them from the start but it was glaringly obvious from the start that Amare Stoudemire was going to have his way in the painted area. He repeatedly abused the Raptors weak interior defense with an array of scoring options. The highlight play of the night had to be a dunk by Amare set up by Nash and Barbosa. Nash was in the high post and received a pick from Barbosa to shake his defender. Barbosa rolled as Nash broke free and received a nice bounce pass from the two time MVP which he then immediately dropped another bounce pass towards the baseline and found a slicing Amare Stoudemire who dunked it with ease.

Ball movement was the story of the night. Nash had 15 assists in 28 minutes. Had he played his customary 35 minutes, he would have had 20 assists. Most of the team was relatively passive on offense except Amare. Nobody was taking real bad shots and if they didn't have an easy shot, they dumped the ball into Amare. Amare had his way and was efficient going 11 of 14 from the field and six of six from the charity stripe. This game is the epitome of the great basketball the Suns have been playing. They don't look like they will slow up any time soon.

Tonight the Nuggets should be our next victims of the onslaught. Most of the starters played less than 30 minutes last night and should be well rested for the mile high city. Without Carmelo and J.R. Smith I can't see the Nuggets being able to hang with the Suns. They are missing nearly 60 points in the lineup. Iverson might play but it is doubtful. I'm not even sure if Andre Miller is going to play. Regardless, Iverson doesn't play well against the Suns and it would be his first game with a new team, a feat that any player would have trouble with. Honestly, I can't see Iverson and 'Melo playing well with each other. Unless Iverson accepts his role as the second fiddle, it will not work. This is 'Melo's team and J.R. Smith will likely be unhappy as his development will be stifled by Iverson's presence. In addition, George Karl doesn't get along with many players and that has the potential to blow up.

The Suns have a good chance at extending this streak much further especially with all the momentum they have built. We should be able to beat the Nuggets and then we play the Wizards, who are a terrible road team, at home. After that we get the Blazers at home and then we head to Dallas. We could have a 18 game winning streak heading into dallas. Then, I like our chances in Dallas. We have a great shot at beating Dallas. This team is just too good right now. We can beat any team in the lig. We could definitely extend this streak to 20+ games. Make it happen D'Antoni.

Raptors @ Suns Post Game Podcast

I hooked up with Ryan from Hoopsaddict last night after the game and talked with him about everything from Steve Nash to T.J. Ford to the number one draft pick Andrea Bargnani. Check it out.

Suns vs. Raptors: Corralling the Beast

7:00pm vs. Raptors TV: NBALP TSN, FSN AZ

The Suns are at home tonight looking to corral the Toronto Raptors, or Phoenix Suns Norte, for their 15th straight win. This is a huge game. This is the game that would break the record for number of wins in a row currently held by the 92/93 team that went to the finals. This would be the win that infuriates Charles Barkley and sends him into a manaical tirade about how this shitty Suns team can never win a championship. But, this could also be the springboard game that sends us on to win 18 in a row, 19 in a row, who knows.

I do know that the Raptors franchise forward, Chris Bosh is out. I also know that point guard Jose Calderon is out with a frightening injury. Still, the Raps have been on a roll even without Bosh and won three straight with TJ Ford doing his best Steve Nash impression. The Suns need to respect this team and come out playing fierce tonight. We have to get this win. Rookies Jorge Garbajosa and first overall pick, Andrea Bargnani, have been playing great with the added playing time. The Suns need to put them away early because the Raptors do not have a goto scorer. If we can amount a good lead, they will have a real difficult time getting back into the game. As an added bonus we can stick it to Brian Colangelo for no apparent reason.

The next four games on the schedule are all winnable games with the fifth being a test at Dallas. Tonight we have Toronto, tomorrow we face a DEPLETED Denver team, then we face the Wizards who can't win on the road, and finally we face the Blazers a week from today. We could realistically have a 18 game winning streak heading into Dallas, and I like our chances there. This team is just playing exceptional ball right now. Besides the back to back today and tomorrow, our schedule is relatively tame until after the Dallas game with four days off before the Blazers game. I think we will have plenty of gas in the tank to go for 18 or 19 or more in a row. The guys should be able to come out tonight on fire since they have had some time off. Tomorrow's game shouldn't require a full effort either with the lig's leading scoring tandem of Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith suspended for their crazy antics this weekend. That's about 60 points that Andre Miller, Earl Boykins, and SOMEONE will have to make up for. I just don't see it happening.

The Suns are Steamrolling

Somewhere, Charles Barkley is not happy. This weekend the Suns tied up the franchise best, 14-game winning streak that had been set in the 92-93 season with Sir Charles at the helm. This feat came as a result of two unlikely wins at the hands of the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings. The Suns are now looking at pushing this streak to the brink with a potentially easy game tomorrow vs the Raptors. The streak shouldn't stop there as the next four games should be easily winnable and would put their streak at 18 straight wins.

The games, first vs the Raptors would have got more difficult with the following evening at Denver except for that little skirmish that done got five Nuggets suspended and took all the media thunder away from the Suns rediculous winning streak. Now I really don't mind a little scrap once in a while. It seems to happen at least once a year and it adds to the drama and excitement of a game. And it basically gives the Suns a free game. I'm just glad it wasn't Raja and Ron Ron going at it, thank god the guys were professional and didn't get intense.

The Golden State game was odd. The Suns came out crushing the Warriors who couldn't buy a bucket. It looked like they were new to this running game. Then mental fatigue set in on the Suns and gave up a 20 plus point lead to make the game exciting, but ultimately won 105-101. But the man who made this game happen was Boris freaking Diaw. The Zone Buster. It was the Warriors suffocating zone defense that almost took the Suns completely out of this game but Boris' post game routinely collapsed the Warriors zone. He ended the game with his season-first triple double. Amare, meanwhile, dominated the paint and scored at will, again. I guess it's routine now and we don't really have to check up on his comeback. With such a balanced team effort and Amare doing whatever he wants in the paint, this team is having no problems closing games out. Oh yeah, I would just like to add, the Suns won the rebounding battle once again.

Fast forward to the next evening and the Suns look even worse. They don't even start out good like the night before but somehow pulled out a win 105-98. Yet, when you get seven players scoring in double figures, you always have a chance. The Kings couldn't focus on one person defensively and had them scattering. But it was the Suns defense that won this one. The Suns held the Queens to 40% shooting from the field and an anemic 28% from downtown, and they took 25 of these shots. I wasn't overly impressed by Kevin Martin, who has been their star and high scorer for the season. His shot is ugly but he manages to put them in. He's not overly quick but real lean. He tried to come in with a killer instinct and put on a show but Leandro was not having it. After burying a three in Barbosa's grill, Leandro came back the following possession, pulled up, and dropped a pull up jumper right back in Kevin Martin's face.

These two were jawing at each other for a while and just going at it. At one point I think Leandro was talking smack in Portuguese. This was just pure entertainment. Two rising stars scrapping. The Kings played well but got a little lost later in the game when the Suns defense picked up intensity. If this was last year we would have lost these two games.

This is a new year. We are rebounding much better, defending much better, we're going to the charity stripe and we aren't dying by the three. We are officially an elite team. One that can win against all odds. We truly have a pure team effort with someone different stepping up when we need it the most. We have a dominating presence in the paint and three all stars playing their hearts out. I think we have the best team in the lig and I think we can go for 20 straight wins. Who knows, maybe this is a 70 win team this season.

Warriors, Come Out and Play

7:00pm vs. Warriors TV: NBALP, FSN AZ

The Suns are back at home tonight and look to extend their 12 game winning streak to 13 against the Warriors. The Warriors are a good team this year playing Nellie ball and I think they are the only obstacle between us winning 15 in a row and breaking the franchise winning streak which is now at 14 straight wins. The streak was set back in the 92 season when Sir Charles was leading us to the finals. Breaking this record would elevate this team into the history books as one of the best Suns teams ever and possibly shut Charles' hater attitude up for a second. He just can't stomach that his legacy might be overshadowed by a better Suns team.

The last time the Suns played the Warriors they battled fiercely even without Baron Davis and now he's back. I can easily see this one becoming a 130 point exchange of baskets. We have the upper hand this time though being at home. Also, I think that some of the Warriors young players who were dominating the last time we played them are starting to come back down to Earth. Still, Baron Davis and Jason Richardson can play like superstars and they have loads of talent on the bench. We will need to play with intensity and defense to come away with a win. Out of the next three games, this one is the most important. Sacramento and Raptors are the two games after this one and they should be easier wins.

Eddie Johnson, ex Suns player and current analyst, now has a blog. I like Eddie. His telecasts always have the best insight into all the nuances of the game and he is a great speaker. He really illustrates what is happening in the game from a players perspective. And I love the subtle jabs he takes at that jackass Tom Leander. From the looks of it, his blog is pretty decent as well.

Suns Beat Heat; Win 12 in a Row

The Suns continued National Lampoons Florida Vacation last night by heading south from Orlando into Miami where they owned the Heat 99-89. Despite the relatively close, and low, score, this game wasn't real competitive. Without Shaq and Dwyane Wade the Heat knew they had no chance and played like it. No energy, no creating shots, just a piss-poor effort. It wasn't until Antoine Walker, his own best defensive stopper, was pulled along with most of the rest of the starters that the Heat gained some ground on the disinterested Suns. It warmed my heart to see his sad mug frowning on the sideline.

This seems to happen more than I'd like. The Suns starters come in, dominate the game so much that the Heat starters get benched and the rookies get some burn, and the rooks bring tons of energy and passion to counter the Suns lackadaisical attitude toward the remainder of the game. Part of it has to do with the Suns bench struggling when they do get minutes, which I believe to be because they are having difficulty picking up the system. They quickly give up a lead and Coach Mike has to go back with the starters. The major culprits are Marcus Banks and Jalen Rose. These are the guys who will likely get the final rotation spots when the time comes but they are not having an easy time with the system. I believe that over time it will come, like James Jones who wasn't getting much playing time early but has played well enough as of late to get the eighth rotation spot.



James is finally knocking down shots to add to his solid defensive play. He's great for this team because, when he's in rhythm, he can shoot but he's also versatile enough to defend most players. It makes it easy for the Suns who do a lot of switching on defense. They have been playing more zone and versatile players like Jones, Diaw, Marion and Bell can switch and guard most players. Shawn Marion is an animal on defense this year.



Shawn's guarding everyone from the one to the four, blocking shots, and snaring steals. Last night the rookie Robert Hite caught fire and brought the heat within a single digit deficit, he drove left into the lane where Shawn Marion introduced the kid to the NBA by spiking his shot off the backboard. Nash, on the other hand, continues to lead the offense with precision. He also continues his insane clutch play as he stuck a dagger of a three in the fourth when the Heat went on a run that widdled the Suns lead to single digits. Steve just pulls up and calmly drains a three and effectively put the game away.



Boris continues to play well and hopefully all the fat jokes slow up. Antoine Walker is over there on the bench and has a much bigger appetite than Boris. Diaw is shooting more lately and having some success too. He's more comfortable taking the open three, probably because he's been working on that a lot. It's good because Boris will rarely ever take a bad shot so when he does shoot the three, he's wide open. Plus he has pretty good mechanics. I would rather see Boris playing SF and becoming the recipient of open looks rather than Marion, who is a really bad shooter. I love Marion and I know he can't stop shooting those because he's wide open and he has confidence but if he plays PF like he used to, which is where he plays best, it will cut down on those low percentage jumpers and make him rebound and defend more, which are his strengths.

Suns @ Heat: End of the Road

5:00pm at Heat TV: ESPN RTV, My45

The Suns head to South Florida tonight to take on the Miami Heat in the final game of this treacherous road trip. This game is against the defending champs, however, it shouldn't be all that close. The Suns have it easy tonight with the Big Aristotle, Shaq, out with a knee injury but also their shining star Dwyane Wade is out to get some teeth pulled as well. Pretty convenient time to get some dental work done. I guess Coach Riley's sentiments are that his team has no chance of winning with a healthy Shaq and Wade, but with O'Neil out and the team struggling, to say the least, they don't have a snowballs chance in hell. You go get those teeth pulled Dwyane, but I would avoid watching this thing because it has the potential to get ugly.

When you got Antoine Walker, who is actually his own best defender, as the leading scorer for your team you got more problems than a confessional. I guess we will be seeing more of the Irishman tonight. Hopefully Coach Mike keeps the starters minutes down to under 30 toinight and let our bench get some burn. I mean, the Heat has some decent players, but I can't see Riley giving Zo a bunch of minutes for fear that the Suns run too much and he collapses. Gary Payton, I'm looking at you too. The Heat are too old, too slow, and lacking any real star power tonight. The Suns have an easy one for the taking if they decide to put it away early. I hope they do, it could be good minutes for our bench to get into gear.

I am so sick of these early ass East Coast games. If you haven't noticed, I've been missing parts of the first half because they start far before I get off work. I've tried to watch some of the first quarters on the tv in our lounge but that long commute just kills any chance I've had of really paying good attention to the game. And listening to the game on the radio just doesn't cut it. I welcome the opportunity to put this road trip away at a rediculous 5-0 and get back to normal timed games. I never would have thought we would go undefeated on this trip, and now, looking at 12 in a row. The three games after tonight are against the Warriors, at the Kings, then against the Raptors so I see no reason why we can't win them all to reach a franchise-best 15 game winning streak. That's the goal boys, get it done.

Suns Show Power, Defeat Magic

The Suns cruised to a 103-89 win as they locked down the Orlando Magic, and the latest NBA power rankings. It was to be Amare vs Dwight, superstars of the future, battling for respect and power rankings and once again Amare shows he's having no problems with his rehabilitation. After taking out Okafor and Howard in as many days, on a back to back nonetheless, Amare not only proves that he is back but that he is one of the most dominant and unique athletes in the NBA. He just has so many moves around the hoop and the dexterity to finish in even the most unlikely situations. His conditioning is much improved since the start of the season and he's looking healthy and making lots of noise at the rim. Enough so at least to dominate tonight, and now, 11 in a row. Oh, and those other guys help out too.

Shawn Marion was on point all night tonight on offense but it was on defense that the Matrix, and the Suns as a team, really put this game away. Shawn was swatting Grant Hill's jumpers and playing the passing lane for easy break aways. He just has this jump to everything he does that's quicker than what the others are doing. Tonight that jump was blocking shots and altering everything and snaring rebounds. His defense has gone from solid to all-star during this winning streak. And then there was the alley oop pass from Nash in the fourth that broke their cold spell and effectively put the game away. Nasty dunk Shawn.

The Suns clamped down in the third again, just like in the Bobcats game yesterday, and Amare was going at them the whole time. Steve Nash was quietly asserting himself threading passes to finishers in the most unlikely spots. Give Dirty Kurt some credit too, he was a major part of keeping Dwight Howard out of this game. He's very strong and has great post awareness. He can keep the best guys out of good position and really limit their impact. Until, of course, he gets in foul trouble. The only reason I can see why Kurt gets the worst calls against him is because he's got that dirty player moniker and doesn't really finesse anything. Except those nimble layups that Steve helps him out on.

Yeah we've now won 12 of the last 13 and it is not going unnoticed. We're rolling and some of that can definitely be attributed to Coach D'Antoni who received a very flattering compliment by one of the Lig's greats, Pat Riley:

you have to have Mike's mind. I mean, Mike's got a mind unlike any other mind. People say, `Well, let's go out and do it.' But you have to know how to do it. And you've got to know all the nuances to make it really effective, and there isn't a coach in the league that has that...He's brought a system into the NBA unlike any one I've seen ever. And he has it down to a science. So you can copy him, but you still have to have all the nuances about all the things they get off of it...

I think they always want to get out and get easy ones (baskets). It's not that easy. You've got to be totally committed. You've got to be committed to it. You can't be half in and half out. Now, Mike's committed, really committed. He's not committed to it out of a lack of respect of defense. He's just committed to pushing the pace to a very high level and he gives players great freedom and gets great confidence... When you've got Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire, you've got two very unique players, and Mike picks the right guys to do it, You can't just run. You've got to be committed to it roster-wise, philosophy-wise and freedom wise.

Coach Mike knows what he is doing and evidently I do too. Or at least thats what NBA dot com is leading me to believe by quoting me in their most recent press page. And to think, all it takes is an internet connection and some loud fingers.

Carnival of the NBA

The Carnival of the NBA is now up at Cavalier Attitude. Be sure to check it out, it's a great read. Lot of NBA stuff over there. The site is pretty much the epitome of a disgruntled Cleveland Sports fan and the author, Amar, is a quality writer.

Bobcats Need Nurturing; Not Ready for Suns

The Cats thought they were ready for the Suns last night and kept the game competitive until the second half when Steve Nash and the Suns asserted themselves and dominated for a 114-84 win. I thought the Bobcats were going to make this game interesting but they quickly fell apart in the third because they were not used to scoring so many points. The Bobcats aren't a prolific scoring team but tried to keep it competitive but with players going 1-11 like rookie Adam Morrison did on all his attempts, it's going to be hard to win.



I realize that Morrison is a part of this team's future but when he is shooting this badly , when do you decide to ice him for a while? And how long is this team going to take to rebuild? They have a lot of great players, ROY Okafor, Raymond Felton, Sean May, who had a monster game last night, Brevin Knight, Gerald Wallace, I mean they should be winning 40 games. Who know what the problem is but until they figure it out, they will be a punching bag for the better teams in the league.

I think it's finally safe to say but Boris is coming around. He had another great game last night where he was much more agressive around the rim and just playing with more energy. I think he will find that if he starts looking for his shot more it is going to open up easier passing opportunities. His driving finesse layup on the break was a thing of beauty. Amare is asserting himself day in and day out as well. I didn't expect him to play so well against the defensive monster Okafor and his shot-blocking prowess. Yet, Amare took the rock to him and even tried to dunk over Okafor. He had the elevation but Okafor got his hands up and made a lot of contact so Amare had to settle with free throws. Amare did have some boisterous dunks and he finished the game shooting at a high percentage and pulling down 12 boards.

I think we are slowly getting production from the bench. Coach Mike is treading into unfamiliar water with as many players as he would like to play but slowly, they are getting some burn. James Jones is finally hitting some shots too. We are looking very good so far on this road trip and we need to win one more out of two games for this to be a complete success. Going undefeated would just be rediculous but I think we can take the Miami game easily, it's just this Orlando game that is tricky.

Somehow, Suns Beat Celtics

After a marathon of a game on Thursday night the Suns came into Boston and stole an unlikely win at the very end 116-111. This game was not pretty for the Suns. Each player looked very lethargic and mentally fatigued. We should not have won this game. The Suns were throwing the ball away way too often to have a chance yet they played acceptable defense on the reeling Celtics and exploited their inexperience down the stretch. Look at these crazy numbers: The Celtics took 98 shots to our 71 and made one less shot. We had 19 turnovers to their 11 but we actually won the rebounding battle again. This game came down to the final three minutes when the Suns hit every shot to come away with a win.



We played particularly sloppy in the first three quarters but stayed within striking distance until the fourth. Our bench gave us the production that we desperately needed since our starters logged such heavy minutes the night before. Except for Shawn Marion, who, I'm convinced, could run a triathlon today. The man isn't human. He was even running the floor in the fourth quarter last night to receive the outlet pass for fast break points. Even after the New Jersey game.

When it came down to crunch time the Celtics strategy was obviously to get the rock to Pierce so we made sure to defend him well and forced the youth to make plays. They didn't and we nailed all our shots in the last three minutes to ice the game. A win like this shows that we are a definite contender.

All championship quality teams find ways to win unlikely games. Last season we took the Knicks to three overtimes ultimately to lose. This year we win a similar game at New Jersey in one of the highest scoring games ever. Last year we failed to win any close games determined by three points or less. This year we are winning. It shows how ready we are to take that next step and win the Larry O'Brien trophy.



Tonights pictures are a far better quality than the pics from the Nets game. This shows how much the league and the media pays attention to a win like at New Jersey.

Suns @ Celtics: The Day After

5:30pm at Celtics TV: NBALP, My45

I'm not expecting too much tonight from the Suns and I still believe they have a good chance at winning. It's a testament at how fare gone this Boston Celtics team is. Wally World is out, Kendrick Perkins is out and they want to run even though they're not a very good running team. We'll probably see a lot of play from our bench tonight due to fatigue from last evening, but then again, maybe we won't. The Suns were in the zone last night. I've been in this illusive 'zone' before and it doesn't always readily escape you. The Suns are in an amazing rhythm, lets see if they can pull this out.

Nashty; Suns Unravel Nets Thread by Tedious Thread

Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns delivered a message to the Association last night and that message should reverberate loudly to the the East Coast megalopolis' media: do not f*** with us. Methodical and clutch, the Suns toyed with the Nets sanity throughout the evening, matching them possessions of surging offense to the bitter end when they won 161-157. Both teams executed offensively to perfection and got superstar performances from each teams poing guard. Jason Kidd was not going to let this one go, but either was Nash. It was a classic battle of hall of fame point guards. Steve abused New Jersey's cardboard-cutout semblance of a defense. Likewise Kidd was killing us in a multitude of facets. Both teams were unstoppable.



The Suns shot 52% from the field and 55% from three, yet they were still down by three points with four seconds left in the game. Nash broke free, received the final inbounds pass, saw daylight, rose up and jammed a dagger into the heart of the Meadowlands. Everybody in Phoenix simultaneously lost it. I was manically jumping around the house. Later, I went to the gas station and I learned that Sanjog had been watching on the tiny 14 inch tv at the station, he says he went off after Nashty's shot. Nashty was just unbelievable. This was a three-time MVP statement. At one point he was trying to drive the lane, two Nets sealed off his path so he threw the ball through them and forcefully jumped through the little bit of air they left between them and received his own pass. Of course they called a foul on the Nets but that was crazy.




This game had it all. It had ups, downs, I got frustrated, and I was in awe. The Suns showed me the amount of heart and determination they have in the tank last night and that well is bottomless. I was getting pissed that the Suns weren't dumping the ball into Amare during crunch time in the fourth, and then he fouls out. I cringed everytime the Matrix jacked up a three, but he was hitting them and went 3 of 6. I was screaming at Boris for not scoring, and then in crunch time he posted up the smaller Kidd numerous times and hit the easy hook shot.



Boris abused Kidd on these post ups. He gave Kidd some spin moves, he was giving him hard bumps, he made him move halfway across the court and then he put up a soft hook that went down with ease, just when we needed points. Boris was a big factor in destroying the Nets' defense and keeping us in the game late in the fourth and into overtime. 3-D came away with a sick double double of 16pts and 14 assists.

For Miss Suns Gossip

The Suns gave it their all and barely made it out of regulation alive. Once they forced OT I knew the game was now in our favor. We're used to a sprinting through games, Kidd and the Nets are definitely not. It was only a matter of time before the Nets got too tired to continue. Not to mention Vince Carter fouled out in regulation, so that made things easier except Amare and Raja were also out. Kidd just kept on pushing though and we were not getting stops. Steve, Boris and Shawn held it down until the Nets finally ran out of steam. Late in the second OT Kidd had the ball on their final possession, he tried to drive right but fatigue caused him to dribble off his own foot and into the hands of Leandro. The game was ours from that point on.



UPDATE: I almost forgot, Nashty getting up in Mikki Moore's grill like he was about to throw down was easily one of the more badass things I've ever seen from Steve. Mikki was afraid.

UPDATE 2: Lang Whitaker of Slam was at the game and has a great recap posted. One of the best things to come from this an observation of the Suns bench after Nashty hit the big three to send it to overtime:

the Suns called their last timeout with 4.1 left. They came back to halfcourt, and after what seemed like 4.99999 seconds, Diaw threw it in to Nash, who came off a Kurt Thomas pick and drained a clutch three from the top of the key. Suns assistant Alvin Gentry hopped off the bench and screamed, “Yes sir motherf*ckers!”

Amare Stoudemire Interviews with NBATV

Big thanks to the O.G. Suns forum and one of the authors for bringing to light this great Amare Stoudemire interview. This is the best Suns forum by far and they keep up on the standards by not letting the likes of you and I register or post. In this Interview Amare talks about his rehab (what else?), about the team this year, about the organization and a lot of other stuff including dessert foods. It is nice to see the guys gushing over STAT since most of the Suns press these days gives a lot of backhanded compliments along lines of 'they're good, but they'll never win a championship not playing D,' or 'they can't rebound' (after a game in which we won the rebounding battle). But the best thing to come from this interview is one of Amare's quotes:

With the Phoenix Suns, everything is ice cream and cake.

The Eastern Roadtrip Begins With Suns @ Nets

5:30pm at Nets TV: NBALP, My45

Tonight the Suns head to Joisey to begin a five game Leastern Conference road trip. We have some easy matchups made difficult by two separate back-to-backs. I hate how early this game starts, I may miss part of the first half. The most difficult game being the Magic, who we play on the tail end of the second back-to-back. The other games, against the Nets, Celtics and Bobcats should be easily winnable. The Heat game should be a goddamn public caning, they can't even compete with us with a healthy Shaq and Wade, let alone a post-championship malaise, an injured Shaq, Antoine Walker and Gary Payton's prostate.

The Nets game tonight should be a breeze since we just played them and whooped on the big three, effectively sending them to the pine. Although they might be looking for redemption, I am less than worried. Our team is fired up and rolling and Marcus Williams' fake pass-first characterization isn't going to go off for 30 again. Not to mention the possibility for a Vince Carter rookie hazing since Vince hasn't been too impressed by Williams' shooting propensity. I hear Marcus Williams is fashioned in the mold of Stephon Marbury and Carter doesn't like all the shots he's taking away from the superstar. If we're lucky we will see Carter publicly humiliate Williams.

The Orlando game can go either way. They are sitting on top of the Leastern Conference and playing really good ball. Likewise, so are the Suns, except we are in a difficult conference. I'd say we are the better team but they will be the fresher team. We can pull it out if we save some energy from the previous games and all the guys continue to play well. Coming out of this trip 4-1 is acceptable, 3-2 is not. Unless Nashty gets rested well. I can handle the team dropping some games to stay healthy. Let's get it on.

Suns Defeat Kings Handily

The Phoenix Suns crushed the Sacramento Kings, who were without defensive monster Ron Artest, easily last night 127 to 102. It looked like the Kings went small in the early going to try and have a fighting chance without arguably their best player but the formula was disasterous as the Suns racked up 41 points in a fairy tale first quarter. Nash was just Nashty. Violet Palmer hit Steve, and the bench, with two teks early on. Didn't she get that memo? The one that says do not T up the soon-to-be three time MVP. Well Nashty took it personal and decided to show her who had the most influence on the court. Steve Nash came up with nine assists in the first quarter alone and Shawn Marion capped it all off with probably his prettiest play of the year.

The Kings had the ball with less than a minute left in the first. They put up a shot that doesn't go but they secure the rebound and try to put it back up quickly. Well, James Jones was right there in the center and wasn't having none of that and swatted the shit out of that ball into the hands of the Suns. A streaking Shawn Marion receives the long pass across court and is posted up along the right baseline for a split second before he turns and puts up a fadeaway jumper/floater thing, you never really can tell. The Matrix swishes the shot before running off the court into god knows where. Uhhh, Shawn? Get your ass back in here we got three more quarters to play. Someone said he had to go to the bathroom and thought it was halftime already.



Throughout the rest of the game it was more of the same. Shawn Marion and Leandro Barbosa repeatedly ran the floor and were rewarded with a long pass for fast break points. Leandro really had his way inside as there was nobody there to block his shots. He really showed that there are no flaws to his game last night. He hit long shots, mid range pull-ups , and layups over and over. He showed Kevin Martin, who was 4-11 for 13 points, who the real up and coming star is.



Amare looks like he isn't trying to force it offensively, it's like he wants to cash his paychecks with rebounds lately, which is a good thing. We have plenty of scorers and if Amare can play better D and rebounding we will be much better off. We actually won the rebounding battle again. And hey, how about James Jones? He was kicking ass in limited minutes off the bench, snagging rebounds, blocking shots, and he even sank some shots, finally. If he can find a way to score some points he's going to get some minutes because he plays hard and smart.



The Kings looked lost out there. They seemed to have no gameplan. Brad Miller wasn't involved whatsoever when he should be the focal point of their offense. The Kings shot 43% from the field and 26% for three. The Suns have found some D and their offense is efficient as ever. This is the seventh we've won in a row and we are getting close to taking the division from the Lakers' clutched fists. Oh yeah, Pat Burke, he hit three three pointers in closing garbage time, the last of which was a very difficult deep, fadeaway, high arching bomb. Pat Burke, way to not even try to play a good game, just launch a bunch of threes and hope they go, that'll get you minutes.

Suns Suiting up for Battle With Kings

7:00pm vs. Kings TV: NBALP SCORE, FSN AZ

The Sacramento Kings are coming to Phoenix tonight to try to stop the red-hot Suns. Coach Mike D'Antoni and company is looking for their seventh straight win against an inconsistant, and division rival, Sacramento team. Coach Mike is trying to figure out the game plan tonight and might actually have Shawn Marion guard someone at his position instead of having Shawn guard Bibby, the point.

I wouldn't mind doing it, but then Steve (Nash) would have to guard either (6-foot-7) Kevin Martin or (6-7) Ron Artest... We'll wait and see. I like Shawn a little better on Artest, because while Raja (Bell) is long, he isn't quite long enough.

This could be a good thing for a number of reasons. First, having Shawn guard Artest means that he will likely be playing closer to the hoop, where he plays his best. Artest has been known to launch a bunch of outside shots but he is much more dangerous inside where he can use his strength. Shawn is fast enough to keep in front of Artest but also long enough to bother Ron Ron when he tries to post up Shawn. I want to see Shawn extend his streak of blocking the opposing team's all-star to three and he will have a good chance of doing so tonight because Artest is, at best, an average offensive player.

The second, and quite possibly more important reason that Shawn is guarding Artest is because otherwise, Raja would have to guard Ron. That is like puting a book of matches in a room full of gasoline. Especially after Ron Ron publicly stated that he wanted to "have a little fight" with Raja after a hard foul on Brad Miller in preseason. Not a good idea right there. Hopefully the Matrix's cool demeanor plays the Yin to Ron Ron's Yang, or something.

Raja has his assignment, the Kings new all-star in the making, Kevin Martin. This season Martin has been the man in Sacramento, averaging a team high 22pts. Raja should be capable of bothering Martin enough that he shoots under 45%. I also think Leandro can guard Martin with his length and quickness and also be a real thorn in the Kings' chaps because they lack any serious shot blockers. I can see Barbosa having a huge night.

Amare Stoudemire Vs. Milwaukee Bucks

This is a short video of some of Amare's highlights against the Bucks on Friday. Looks like STAT is very close to being back at 100%. Even his defense and rebounding has improved. One if his perfect blocks is shown in the mix. Big up to rdm2 for the mix.

Suns Get Double Lung Shot; Down Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks, sans Charlie Villanueva, went small last night looking for a gunfight that they couldn't finish and wound up losing to the streaking Suns 122-116. The Bucks had a three guard lineup on the floor that was nearly unstoppable in the first half. The speed and athletic ability of Michael Redd and Mo Williams combined for 68 points but it wasn't enough because the Suns locked down on defense in the third and fourth quarters to break away for the win.

Redd looks much more agressive than I'm used to seeing, I don't know if he's trying to win the scoring title or what but he had that look in his eyes. Maybe with Charlie V out Redd thinks he needs to play the Kobe Show until his team gets healthy. Him and Williams would not miss, they were making insane shots that should never go in. Still they did not get enough help from their teammates to have a chance when the Suns defensive intensity picked up in the third.

Ruben Patterson was making things increasingly difficult for the Suns with his beligerent play but he fouled out with time remaining, making it easier on the Suns. The Suns, however, had a balanced attack throughout the game with five players in double figures. The Suns matched the Bucks' offensive barrage the whole game and it was the Suns defense that put them ahead.



Amare's improved defensive play was on showcase again as he was easily rejecting shots around the rim. He's just got such an emotional drive to win. He's often seen pumping his fist after a dunk that results in an and-1. Many of Amare's dunks last night resulted in an And-1. The man of the night was Shawn Marion who was tied with Nash for a team high 27 points but it was his 14 rebounds, four steals and three blocks that sealed the win for us. For the second straight game Shawn had posterizing block on the other team's star player when he rejected Michael Redd with a highlight block. Both Amare and Shawn are consciously playing much better defense which is helping us close out wins.



Steve Nash continues to shoot the ball well and his vocal leadership intensity has increased on the court. This isn't the mild mannered Canadian of years past. Steve is barking orders at his mates and snarling at them when they screw up. They know he's got love for them so they follow his direction and it's ensuring wins. At one point Boris Diaw was the recipient of a beautiful Nash pass on his way to the rim but then passed the rock from immediately under the bucket to a streaking Shawn Marion who almost dunked it hard, but was fouled instead. Nash was screaming at Diaw for not taking the easy dunk. Nash didn't say to Diaw "How the hell is a guy supposed to win a third straight MVP when you're stealing assists from me?"



Honestly Steve was pissed because Boris had a number of good looks at the basket which he passed up and sent the ball out to a shooter. This time though Shawn did have an easier path to the rim than Boris but Boris could've powered it in. Nash works hard to get his big guys an easy path to the rim and he doesn't want all that work to be for nothing. Boris is going to need to score 15 points per game and can't always look for assists.



Boris was active however and was playing well despite being timid on offense, he was playing solid defense. Then he was helping on D and took a hard elbow right to the grill which erupted with blood. He had to be pulled and the nose really looked broken. Evidently it wasn't and after the blood stopped gushing he shoved some tissue up there and came back into the game.