New Year's Resolutions for the Phoenix Suns

FIrst I want to wish you all a prosperous and healthy 2009.

Here's some resolutions for Phoenix Suns.

1. Cut back on the turnovers
The Suns lead the league in turnovers which now that they play at a slower pace is much more harmful.

2. Commit to defense in practice
The Suns defensive improvement doesn't mean they need to be the 1989 Detroit Pistons. It means they need to be consistent enough to get stops when they need them. Those one or two plays that can be the difference between a win and a loss. Or in the West, the difference between a 6 seed and a 3 seed like last year.

3. Improve the perimeter defense
Dwyane Wade, Devin Harris, Russell Westbrook... Stop letting guards go for career nights.

4. Get Jared Dudley on the court.
Yes he's an hustle role player. On a team with future Hall of Famers and former All Stars, the hustle guys will make an impact that doesn't show up on the stat sheet.

5. Unleash LB
After four years of the D'Antoni Clockwork Planet Orange, we've grown used to his rotations. Now we see him go long period with starters and seemingly odd substitution patterns that seem to leave players gassed at key times. LB isn't a point guard but that's where he's getting minutes. Fortunately, he's getting his game back after a rough personal period. He's a legitimate advantage when he has the green light. On a second unit that is painfully inconsistent, we need him to explode.

6. Stop whining about not running.
It's basketball. When it's there- push it. If teams don't double team Shaq- punish them. Shaq gets shooters open, he gets teams in the penalty and he dunks a lot. Exploit mismatches and keep the unselfish attitude that made the team so good in previous years.

7. Keep smiling
You get paid millions of dollars to play basketball. There are a lot of people who are hurting financially and sports can be a nice distraction. There's no pressure to win a championship in Phoenix. But I think we all agree, the day it happens we will party on a level unseen since ancient Rome

8. Beat LA
The Suns do have some quality wins but before we can focus on the playoffs (or at least making the playoffs in the brutal West), we need a good win over the Lakers.

9. Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit (like Shaq says: "Google it")
The Suns' nationally televised Christmas game was a heartbreaker but Suns fans at home were far more pissed watching ESPN's awful coverage. Listening to Mike Wilbon and Jon Barry skewer the Suns was awful. Jon Barry (who never won a championship) lit into the Suns like he should be coaching them. Mike Wilbon kept the vibe going like he was on PTI flapping his gums about how the Suns don't know who they are and blah blah blah. Make no mistake about it the good folks at ABC/ESPN want another Lakers/Celtics Finals. The sickening thing about it (especially to my fellow journalists out there) is that they try to glaze over this with their studio shows with lame ex-jocks and TV personality journalists talking about the inevitability of LA and Boston in the Finals. ESPN is journalism just as much as MTV is music journalism. It's a great package of stories to hype LeBron and Steve Nash in New York but it's shady when you present that speculation as news. ABC/ESPN is the league's broadcast partner and they have a heavy financial stake in seeing a particular matchup in the Finals. Lakers and Celtics last year was a ratings boon for a league coming off a 2007 with a referee gambling scandal, complaints about archaic rules, and a dumb playoff seeding system that gave us the worst NBA Finals in recent memory. When you hear non-NBA fans compare it to the WWE, this is where it comes from. We've heard nothing but Lakers and Celtics since the Gasol trade donation last year and we won't hear anything but unless Kobe quits basketball to open a pizzeria or the Celtics big three is kidnapped by James Dolan. It'd be fun to see a team destroy the mountain of hype between Boston and LA. It'd be fun to see a team go under the radar all season, turn it on in the playoffs and put together a run for the ages. That'd make 2009 a memorable year indeed.

Suns get J-Rich in blockbuster trade

The Phoenix Suns' transition from the Mike D'Antoni era to the Steve Kerr's reign of terror continues. The Suns traded Raja Bell, Boris Diaw and Sean Singletary to the Charlotte Bobcats for Jason Richardson, Jared Dudley and a 2nd round draft pick in 2010.

As much as I like Raja and what he brought to this team, I love this trade. The Suns get something they desperately needed- an athletic guard who can create his own shot. Richardson fits the bill perfectly. He's won the Slam Dunk contest and he's got endless range. Upgrade. Now he has a much bigger contract than Bell but there's where Boris comes in.

It's no secret Boris has become an overpaid joke. $9 million bench players who pass too much don't endear themselves to fans or teammates. Boris can find new party spots in Charlotte and figure out what real accountability is once he suits up for Larry Brown.

We also get Jared Dudley, who I really like as a role player for this team. I watch a lot of ACC basketball so I've seen this guy grow as a player. He's got a high basketball IQ and great tenacity. He's a true role player who won't hurt the team when he's on the floor. Losing Sean Singletary only hurts if the team can't sign another veteran point guard. They have two weeks to add a 13th player to the roster. The draft pick figures to be good, if the Bobcats stink next year an early second round pick is probably a first-round talent.

So on paper, this trade looks great but it all comes down to how the chemistry develops. Chemistry has been the big issue this season and it's the reason Bell and Diaw have new addresses. The heart and soul or D'Antoni's teams (Bell) and his biggest failure as a GM (Diaw) are gone. Kerr has made it clear he will give his coach a roster that will play the way they want.

I've written in the past, I'm weary of players coming from losing teams to winning teams. Their numbers are often gaudy but they come from a culture of losing. In this case, I think it's different. Richardson was instrumental (along with Matt Barnes) in Golden State's resurgence and was part of the team that ousted 67 win Dallas in the first round. Plus J-Rich is hungry. He's on a winning team again that wants what he brings to the table. Dudley will battle and definitely comes across as guy who'll love playing with guys like Steve Nash and Grant Hill.

With the hard-fought win against Utah and the offensive explosion against the Bucks, the Suns are showing signs of life after the 4-game losing streak. The play and body language has improved. The team is extremely shorthanded against the Lakers tonight so we'll toss that game out but the next 20 games will be interesting to watch.

It sucks to see players you like leave, but the NBA is a business and the Suns got younger with two classy, professional players to improve chemistry. Steve Kerr is making moves to try and craft a winner. Let's see if this puts the Suns back in the Western elite. With J-Rich, Amare and Nash on the break, they're definitely going to be fun to watch.

UPDATE: The Suns battled tonight against the Lakers. Love the energy they showed with only 8 players in uniform.