Rewriting the future

So the Suns have sputtered a bit since the trade. They've had a few tough losses and a couple blowouts as they played without Marion and now with Shaquille O'Neal. A subject that's been coming up a lot is the playoffs. After what we saw with Dallas last year (and even Cleveland when you think about it), matchups are everything.

I think we know who we DON'T want to play in the first round.

The Hornets beat the Suns in every way imaginable this season. They beat us at the buzzer, held us off in the clutch and blew us out. They're still young and inconsistent at times but they matchup well with the Suns and they are the last team we want to see in the first round. The Hornets are where the Suns were 4 years ago- trying to win a fanbase back.

As it stands right now, the Suns have the 5 seed and fourth best record, which would mean homecourt advantage in the first round against a team like Utah. At this point, I don't think there are any favorable matchups for anyone in the West, let alone the Suns. The stretch run will be important for the team because they are working in a gigantic piece to the puzzle in the Big Upgrade.

The Spurs and Lakers are hot are even though the standings are still tight, I'm not expecting either team to cool off. The Yao Ming injury really hurts Houston (and China's olympic team, godspeed in recovery Yao) and while they are still red hot, I expect them to fade. Kinda nuts that a team could possibly win 45-50 games in the West and be in the lottery and a team in the East could win 36-40 games and be in the playoffs. The West reloads, the East rebuilds.

I was looking at some playoff history trying to find some precedent for a team that made significant midseason trades and won titles. The 2004 Pistons come to mind. They got Rasheed Wallace midseason and won the title as a three seed. They didn't lose any players of real significance though. The 1995 Houston Rockets traded for Clyde Drexler midseason, a move panned by NBA heads. They successfully defended their title as a six seed (and beat our beloved Suns on Mario Elie's kiss of death three). The 1989 Detroit Pistons traded class act Adrian Dantley for Mark Aguirre and won their first title. There are more I'm sure but these are ones I remember.

So while other fans can celebrate winning streaks and signing veterans off the waiver wire, we get to think. We can analyze each game as our team develops a new identity and tries to rewrite the future. Our team is built for the playoffs. Our role players will have an impact. Amare will dominate. Nash will make big plays. No matter when the season ends, we will drink... excessively.