10/29 - Phoenix @ San Antonio

Suns 103, Spurs 98

I can't think of a single thing that could be more appropriate than starting the season off with a win against the Spurs. If I were to make a list of the stuff I wanted to happen tonight, "Suns winning." would be right at the top, just about "Amare gets 60 points and 30 rebounds." (That one didn't happen.)

What did we see in the first game of the regular season out of the Suns? Well, for one, a solid team defensive concept. This had been strangely lacking for the past... roughly four years, and it's refreshing. While the Suns aren't jam packed with solid individual defenders (or team defenders... or defenders...), they made the right rotations and you didn't see an awful lot of easy points out of the Spurs outside of the occasional defensive lapse. (Barbosa still sucks at off-ball defense and Shaq still hits people. The more things change, the more they stay the same.)

We got good nights out of quite a few players, chiefly Amare Stoudemire who absolutely carried the Suns down the stretch. He managed 22 points on just 11 shots (8/11 FG, 6/8 FT), plus he chippd in 8 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and a block. He also made some good hustle plays down the stretch (tracked down a loose ball), made some very heady passes (didn't end up as assists, but they easily could have been), and most importantly imposed his will on the defense when it counted most.

Nash and Shaq both had excellent games as well, with Nash distributing the ball and controlling the pace the entire time he was in the game. He finished with 13 points (5/11 FG, 2/4 3PT, 1/2 FT), 13 assists and 2 rebounds... plus ... a block! (Gasp!) Nash also proved tonight that the Suns will still be running the floor and getting fast break points, and while the pace was slower, Nash will still be Nash with Terry Porter coaching. The Big Shaqtus also had a nice game tonight with 15 points (5/10 FG, 5/8 FT), 13 rebounds, an assist and 2 blocks in 30 minutes. Shaq seems to be in reasonably good shape and, while he is certainly still not very mobile, he is making the right rotations on defense and challenging shots once they get to the rim. (He's also fouling people at an alarming rate... might want to watch that.)

Our supplementary characters in this big book we call basketball came up big tonight also. Starring off the bench we had Leandro and Grant come up with big games, contributing majorly off the bench and coming up big during various stretches of the game. (They had 31 of our 42 bench points!) Leandro managed 18 points in 27 minutes (6/14 FG, 2/3 3PT, 4/5 FT), 3 rebounds, 1 assist, a steal, and rather importantly, NO turnovers. He also had a big jumpshot down the stretch and clinched the game with two free throws at the end of the game. Grant, on the other hand, made his impact early on in the game, as his 13 points (6/8 FG, 1/1 3PT), 2 rebounds and 2 steals. When the 2nd unit came out, Grant did a good job attacking the basket an making the plays the Suns needed, when they needed.

Also of note, Matt Barnes managed 7 points (3/10 FG, 1/4 3PT), 7 rebounds, and an assist in 19 minutes during his starting role while playing excellent defense and generally being active. His shooting should improve as he syncs up with the team, but I liked what I saw out of him. Boris Diaw came out and actually shot a few times, looked good while he was in, and didn't once piss me off while he was out there. Usually he has at least one "WHAT THE HELL!" moment per game... but not this one!

On the rookie front, Goran Dragic and Robin Lopez both got some quality minutes during the game and, while not impressive, certainly showed potential. (I'm consoling myself, leave me be.) I liked what I saw out of Robin Lopez especially, (3 points, 2 rebounds and a block in 9 minutes) while I know that there will be a hell of a learning curve for Goran Dragic (0 points, 2 assists, 3 foul and a turnover in 14 minutes) and he looks like after he manages to adjust to the NBA game he could definitely be a rotation player and potentially even a starter.

First impressions on Terry Porter: YEAAAAAAAAAAH! WHAT? OKAY! I'm impressed thus far. Too early to tell, but that's why I prefaced it with "First impressions". I'm also hopelessly optimistic about everything Suns related.

Expectations for the season: I'm expecting an 82-0 record, Amare to be the MVP, Terry Porter to be the COY, Leandro to be the 6th Man of the Year again, Robin Lopez to be the ROY, and a quick 16 game playoff run that ends with a Suns championship.

Supplementary Info: Tony Parker and Tim Duncan killed us. Bad. In the head. Luckily, no one else did.