The Rising Suns

No Sympathy for NBA Players

2011-10-21T16:16:00.000-07:00

The NBA owners and players have been meeting recently in an attempt to save some sort of season. The owners are demanding serious cuts in player’s salaries but the players have not been willing to give in. The war of words in the media has definitely tilted towards the owners as fans simply don’t have any sympathy for the players. This could be a big week for negotiations and it may decide whether we can bet on NBA basketball anytime soon.

Players Fighting a Losing Battle
You really have to kind of feel sorry for NBA player’s union president Derek Fisher. He is a really good guy who is trying to make the best of a bad situation. The owners are not going to give in to the players but Fisher has to put up a brave face and try and hold the union together. It doesn’t help that many of the players have no clue as to the reality of the situation. "We have 450 guys that are entitled to various opinions," said Fisher, "It's extremely difficult to try to not just control their thinking, but make sure as a group we're sending a collective message."

Mixed Message from Players
The players can’t even get the right message out to the media. Some players have said that they have considered caving in to the owner’s demands. Others, like Denver’s Kenyon Martin have even started to argue with fans.

Owners Winning the War
The owners are going to win the war; it is just a matter of how big the victory will be. The NBA is not the NFL and there is no outcry from the public to save the season. The NBA owners are not getting much sympathy from the public either but they don’t need any. They are going to win this battle and they are getting a lot of help from the players who can’t get any type of consistent message out there so that the public will support them. The players will have to give in to the owners to some extent. Perhaps Fisher can save something but as each day goes by the likelihood of the players winning anything grows dimmer. Whether there is any season to bet on NBA basketball is still up in the air but what we do know is that the owners are going to win when this lockout is over.

Trade Deadline

2011-02-25T08:21:00.000-08:00

The 2011 trade deadline has come to a close and the potential for a positive Suns deal was there, and they definitely made some moves.

Still, NBA odds makers likely won't be favoring this team anytime soon.

Instead Suns management traded Goran Dragic, surprise breakout player of the 2010 playoffs, or, a bench player that got lucky for one series. They also traded away a first round pick. All for Rockets guard Aaron Brooks, a definite gamble.

Trading Dragic I can understand. But the Suns affinity for trading away first-round draft picks is unsettling.

I am glad they kept Steve Nash, I would like to see him retire in Phoenix. I feel no matter his age he will continue to be a very positive contributer to any team.

Obviously the Suns needed some young talent and athleticism to pair with Steve and Aaron Brooks does have the potential to become a star player. Time will tell.

The Suns have always been of proficient teamwork. But I feel that the team has always lacked a bit of selfish and aggressive play. Maybe Aaron Brooks could fill that role.

A few quick thoughts

2009-05-29T21:55:00.000-07:00

Seems like forever since we've seen the Suns. I was thinking I wouldn't be that interested in the playoffs but to my surprise I've enjoyed it. The Bulls/Celtics series was an all-timer. LeBron James' nightly exploits have blown me away. I was listening to the end of Game 2 of the ECF on the radio with a buddy from Ohio when LeBron hit 'the shot.' We were both screaming. I hope they comeback against Orlando and setup up an epic Finals. James is easy to root for because he comes off as genuine, has created a fun atmosphere with his teammates and is so fun to watch. Watching the Lakers and Cavs battle would be nice but the Magic aren't too shabby either. Entertaining basketball is all we can ask for at this point since our beloved team is chilling.

So the lottery came and went. The Kings and Wizards got screwed and it further shows how the lottery works for the good and bad. Have two worse teams ever gotten the 1st and 2nd picks? The Clippers are owned by total jerk and the Grizzlies don't have a fanbase in the city they moved to. Blake Griffin and Ricky Rubio have to be hoping for trades. The Suns will get an interesting player at 14. They have two second round picks too but I think they should be active on the trade front. At 14 I think Earl Clark should be the guy. A legit 6-10 basketball player. The kid can do anything and can actually guard people. He's got a Lamar Odom written all over him. It's probably the NJ accent though. A lot of people are saying take a PG but this draft is full of point guards and why waste a pick on a PG if we're committed to Dragic and trying to extend Nash. The thing with Clark is motivation and I think playing on a team with hungry veterans helps guys realize quickly how small the opportunity is to be an elite team. Playing with Nash, Hill and Shaq would help his progress immensely. We'll see though.

A few rumblings in interviews that Amar'e is dropping hints that if the Suns don't want to win, he's outty. Heard similar overtones from Nash that he wants an idea of what the team is doing before he signs an extension to end his career in Phoenix. The Shaq trade rumors have started to bubble up as well. I can't really blame guys for being skeptical of management with how they bungled what was the best young team in the NBA. Doesn't it seem like yesterday that the Suns were the #1 overall seed in the Playoffs and taking on the mighty Spurs. Free agency is a player's leverage and they have to use it. There are plenty of cities to play and earn a fat check but veteran players want a chance to win. When the Suns stopped developing players, they killed their team and now it's a big bag of spare parts. 'Used to be' is the phrase that describes too much of our roster.

Shaq: used to be the most dominant center in the league
Nash: used to be the best point guard in the league
Hill: used to be Grant Hill
Amar'e: used to the best young big man
J-Rich: used to be the two-time slam dunk champ

Thinking about the guys that 'Used to be' Suns makes it even more depressing. Kerr has recommitted to run n' gun. That's nice. It'll keep fans in the seats and keep the Suns on TV. But we need young studs. We need players to rally around and appreciate as they grow. Draft a stud. Find a way to get Trevor Ariza. Trade Alando Tucker if you're not going to play him. Trade one of our big contract stars and get some flexibility. Do something to make us see this team as something other than a sinking ship with players waiting to dive off in 2010.

A few thoughts on the future

2009-04-02T21:25:00.000-07:00

I have sporadic internet access at the moment but here's some food for thought that I'll write more on later.

Grant Hill possibly returning

Alvin Gentry possibly returning

UPDATE
I officially gave up hope after the crushing OT loss to Utah last Saturday. That followed by the stinker in Sacramento was it. Today's nationally televised blowout in Dallas simply gave the jerks at ESPN ample opportunity to pick at the Suns as they fade into the lottery.

I find it funny how Mark Jackson, Jeff Van Gundy and Jon Barry can espouse at length on what it takes to win an NBA title when none played or coached on a title team. Listening to Jackson and Van Gundy complain about how bad the Suns and Mavericks are was inexcusable given that they get paid to be there. Fans of both teams are watching and these guys sound like grumpy New Yorkers who didn't want to make a trip to the South. I've hated ESPN/ABC's coverage for a while and it seems to be getting worse. One thing I liked about watching the NBA Finals in Europe last year was having no idea what the Portuguese announcers were saying. I could watch the game without Jackson's fortune cookie observations and Van Gundy surliness. If it's Kobe vs Lebron this year, I might have to mute and hope Dr. Jack Ramsey is on the radio.

Since the season is going to end a lot earlier than we've grown accustomed to now is as good a time as any to think about the draft. With Suns all but mathematically locked into the 14 spot, I think they can get a rotation worthy player with shrewd scouting. One player I really like is Sam Young of Pittsburgh. He knows how to play. We were watching tourney games a couple weeks ago and he was involved in every play down the stretch as Pitt pulled out a tough win. He makes spectacular plays and the little plays that don't show up in the box score. Blocking a layup after a foul to prevent a three-point play and then the player misses a free throw. Runs a late in the shot clock inbounds play to perfection with an assist while simultaneously screening two guys to give his teammate an open shot. He can guard guys bigger than him, he's explosive and runs the floor well. He's a senior and a little older than others in this draft class but I don't see how that hurts him. He's the type of player you can see playing on a winning team.

We won't have a clear draft picture until May 19. Players have until April 26 to declare and the lottery drawing is May 19. While it would be a miracle of sorts if the Suns slips into the top 3, they can start the rebuilding process with a good pick at 14. This offseason will be interesting.

Alvin Gentry has gotten a lot out of this group, especially bench players who gathered dust under Terry Porter. He seems like a great choice to coach this team going forward. We'll see what Sarver and Kerr do. They could go in another direction and pay a retread to install a new system with a new roster.

Steve Nash and Grant Hill could return or be let go or traded to chase rings. While I really like both players in Phoenix, I'm rooting for them individually to win it all as well. There are plenty of great players who never won rings but I really want it for Nash. As mentioned before, I've been watching him since I was high school including watching him play in-person in the NCAA tournament. He's my favorite player.

Amare Stoudemire and Shaquille O'Neal have value and big salaries so their names will come up often in trade rumors. I personally think the Suns will pounce on a draft-pick or young-player laden trade offer this summer for one or both. While the Suns may continue to be an uptempo team, there will be some sort of moves made that balance out the roster with youth and players who excel on defense.

The pressure is really only on one person: Steve Kerr. All the main players on his roster a proven commodities. This season has proven that the Suns had a tenuous yet effective balance between their stars and role players under D'Antoni. The Gentry mini-era has proved that only the role players on this team will guard anyone. We've seen lineups with Jared Dudley and Louis Amundson make runs because they make scrappy plays on defense that feed the break and keep the tempo up. With the firepower this team has, it only takes a commitment from the stars to play come defense. Nash is a bad defender because he's small but he's usually one of the league leaders in charges taken. The reality shortcuts the effort. With Amare and Shaq, they're huge but they don't bring the type of energy a player like Tyrus Thomas, Paul Millsapp or even Samuel Dalembert brings on a consistent basis. Big men are a precious commodity in the NBA and it really hurt Phoenix this season that they have two that are poor on defense. It's up to Steve Kerr to commit to a vision for this team and execute the moves to bring it to fruition. Robert Sarver is watching that balance sheet closely and losing don't sell tickets

As we move further away from the suspension series, it seems that Horry hip-check changed the direction of this franchise. The Suns have not caught a break or made a smart move since. With the Lakers dominating the West, Portland poised to add the final piece and the Nonics two drafts away from completely dominating the league- the Suns need some luck, some smarts and an infusion of youth to be an elite team again. I'll keep following but honestly I can't wait for football to start.

Die Hard

2009-03-25T23:39:00.001-07:00

So I was going to write about the tournament and players I'd like to see in purple and orange next year. Then the Suns went into Die Hard mode and have put together a win streak in the face of being a lottery team.

I love points. I love the exciting finishes. I'm loving the bench guys making plays. I look forward to watching my team play again.

Worst Case Scenario

2009-03-08T15:09:00.000-07:00

We needed a good road trip to keep the playoffs in sight. The Suns lost four toughly contested games, finding new ways to lose each one. They went cold in Orlando. They couldn't get a stop in Miami. They couldn't get the last shot to drop in Houston. They were out-executed in the clutch in San Antonio.

At this point it looks bleak for the Suns making the playoffs. The team hasn't quit. Nash is making plays, Shaq is still a force and different role players are contributing something each night. But this trip was a chance to step up to another level and really strengthen their case as a playoff contender. Unfortunately nothing good came out of it.

The Suns lost ground on the inconsistent Mavericks. We got word Amare Stoudemire is officially out until next season (even though it was highly unlikely he'd return). The Suns are four games back of the Mavs who currently reside in the 8 spot (aka the 'get housed by the Lakers' slot). They play two more times, including Tuesday night in Phoenix.

The team is not terrible. If they were in the East, they'd be battling for homecourt advantage in the first round. But Phoenix is in the West, where you need 50 wins to get into the party.

So maybe it's time to start thinking about the lottery. Here's the reality, as I've mentioned before. The Suns are going to battle until the season ends which means they'll be the best nonplayoff team. So the Suns are practically guaranteed (98.2% chance) of getting the 14th pick in the draft. If they don't get that pick- it'll be in the top 3 of the draft (1.8% chance of that happening). Is there a player out there who can have an instant impact at 14? Is there a rotation player that can be developed at 14? Even better question, what type of team are the Suns going to be going forward?

The Steve Kerr era has been a failure. This talented yet aging team continues to lose tough games and see a playoff run slip away. If Kerr has a strategy after the stutter-step mess this season has been, we'll see it deployed this offseason. Not sure how much faith I have in Kerr to rebuild this team quickly but perhaps some luck may finally give this franchise a boost.

Seven Seconds or Shaq

2009-03-01T17:29:00.000-08:00

Steve logs on to FML and types. "I traded my backup power forward because he hated our new coach and was overpaid as a backup. The team plays awful under my hand-picked coach who's a friend and former teammate and I fire him. I promote an assistant who brings back the old style. My All Star power forward goes down for the season after we decide not to trade him for draft picks and expiring contracts. His eye injury is the continuation of a training camp injury dealt by the backup I traded. F my life."

Seven Seconds or Shaq
This is the Suns hope for the remainder of the season. If the early offense isn't there, dump it down to the Big Cactus. The fact of the matter is we have a guy who really wants to win another title... who's done it before. We have two guys who are desperate to win a title before their stellar careers come to a close. Shaq is rested from having sat out all the back to backs early in the season. He's been rejuvinated by the training staff. Now the team really needs him. Some nights, they'll run people off the floor. Other nights Shaq will have to dominate for the Suns to win. He passes well out of the post. He's hitting a decent percentage of his free throws. He's probably as funny as he's ever been.

The Suns victory over LA today was their best of the season for many reasons. They were missing Steve Nash and dependent on Shaq and someone else to step-up. Matt Barnes after saying the Suns owed the Lakers one, has his best game of the season. The Suns built a lead and rebuilt it after a furious Laker rally. The Suns also goaded Kobe into 38 shots. Kobe put it on him today and kept firing until he had 49 points and a 2nd straight loss.

So the Suns are 6-2 in their quest to go (at least) 22-9, secure 50 wins and hopefully a playoff berth. The warmups against the Clippers and Nonics are nice but the Suns will have to get playoff-quality wins to get into the playoffs. It's time to start playing to the strengths and fight like this season is not lost. Hearing so many Laker fans in the crowd on national TV was a disgrace. This team needs it's fans back. If the Suns are going to beat the mountain of odds building against them, they need all the help they can get.

Stoudemire out with injured eye

2009-02-20T09:48:00.000-08:00

All the excitement from the run n' gun blowouts is now tempered with a bit a bad news. Amare had to have surgery for a partially detached retina and will miss up eight weeks. During his monster 42-point game against the Clippers, Amare appeared to have hurt the eye defending Al Thornton on a dunk attempt when Thornton hit him in the face with his left hand.

I think we'll definitely see a return of the goggles when Amare returns. However a return this year means the Sun have to make the playoffs. Good thing they didn't trade Shaq yesterday. The bench will have to step up to replace the production but Amare was one of the Suns matchup advantages especially in the SSOL offense. Let's see if they nab a big like Mikki Moore who was waived or if Courtney Sims actually dresses for the team now.

Sprint to the finish line

2009-02-18T13:33:00.000-08:00

Last night's game against the Clippers was X-rated. There are wins, there are blowouts and there are X-rated affairs like last night.

It was enjoyable to see the Suns running and gunning again. Dropping a 140 spot on the hapless Clippers was a nice way to open the stretch run and hopefully send a message to the Western conference. At this point no one is picking Phoenix to do anything. B-Ball analysts are gloating for picking against the Suns and dissing Steve Kerr and Robert Sarver like they are Dumb and Dumber.

At this point, I can't help but think about the season preview:

So my theme for this season is Die Hard. This season is for the Die Hard fans. The folks who'll keep rooting for the Suns through it all and who'll love it the most when we get that first ring. Hopefully the Suns will show some John McClane perseverance through all the challenges this season. Hopefully the Phoenix Suns will be the team that's the hardest to finish off. If they can do that, regardless of when the season ends- we'll be inspired.

We need this team to run, we need them to play loose and crazy, we need them to be who they are. As much as people hated the Shaq trade, I hope his energy and leadership really shine through down the stretch. After he was the star of All Star weekend, Shaq is rejuvenated for one last run to glory. In a hilarious appearance on NBA TV last night (if you're missing Fan Night on Tuesday, you are really missing out) he said at best they can finish 26-5 at worst 22-9. That may be good enough to nab homecourt in the first round. So far it's 1-0 and with Zach Randolph getting himself suspended, it should be 2-0 after tonight a rematch with the Clippers.

Three thoughts...
The talking heads are doubting the return of Seven Seconds or Less (SSOL) because the Suns have lost shooters. I like the approach they used last night. Run for layups. They scored 90 points in the paint. The Clippers scored 100 total. With the finishers they have on this team, they can run for layups and midrange shots and be just as effective. Amare didn't take a jumper from what I remember. Plus J-Rich, LB and Nash can shoot and Barnes will break out of his funk at some point.

The bench has to give the Suns something if they are going to avoid burnout. Nash is the motor here and there has to be some playmaking when he takes a seat. It's almost better that they haven't been running all season as they may be peaking when the playoffs start. I hope last night was a building block for Dragic. Getting into the lane puts a lot more pressure on defense than dribble, dribble, start the offense. He was playing not to make mistakes because Porter had him on a short leash. Last night, he wasn't hesitating and pounced on opportunities including a monster dunk. We know what to expect from Amundson, LB and even Barnes at this point. Dragic is a wild card but we've seen players confidence grow in this system before, let's hope it happens again.

Besides the Lakers at 1, no other spots in the West are locks. New Orleans is playing slower ~~and just traded Tyson Chandler~~. Houston just lost McGrady for the year. Portland is young. Dallas is old. San Antonio is not as solid defensively. Utah is still missing Boozer and Kirilenko and they're awful on the road. LA and Denver have a few warts too. There are opportunities to be had, let's see if Phoenix can rise in the standings.

Terry Porter: I'm out

2009-02-16T09:47:00.000-08:00

Terry Porter has announced he's been fired as head coach of the Phoenix Suns. This may have been the worst kept secret over All Star weekend. It was accurately leaked on RealGm on Thursday, reporters were referencing that inside source by Friday, and TNT's Craig Sager jumped Shaq with that story during the game on Sunday.

I went into Porter's failings in my previous post. What's bound to come out now is more stories about how Porter treated this team. He apparently wasn't well liked at all and had very questionable motivational methods. It is interesting what will be done now as far as trades. The financial situation hasn't changed and there are plenty of sharks in the water ready to pounce on Amare at bargain price.

There have been a lot of stories this weekend skewering Steve Kerr and Robert Sarver for how they've handled this team on their own. With the benefit of hindsight, we can see they haven't made any moves to build on the momentum of the back to back WCF appearances in 05 and 06. At this point, do you want to see the team completely blow it up or try to nab a low playoff seed and almost certain first round elimination? Or is there still some chance they can put together a run for the ages?

Eyes on Phoenix

2009-02-09T18:08:00.000-08:00

Eyes around the NBA are focused on Phoenix. It used to be because the Suns would be in the top 2-3 teams in the Western Conference heading into the All Star break. Now the Suns are hosting the game. Instead of showcasing the city and franchise, it's a distraction from what's wrong with the Suns. Let's investigate a bit:

1. Terry Porter
No coach in the league has a tougher job. Unfortunately for Porter, the degree of difficulty doesn't reduce the accountability for the team's performance. The system he's implemented hasn't worked. Players have complained publicly, malcontents were traded, every NBA analyst has an opinion and most importantly in this business- fans aren't happy. The teams hasn't won more than three consecutive games at any point this season. The scoring is down, the games are slower and the team is struggling against good teams and middle of the road teams. The team is fighting for the eight spot when the bottom of the West is plagued with injuries and any spot up to four can be had with a winning streak. Translation: Porter is compromising what he wants to do with a roster that was built for a different coach and tweaked by his general manager.

2. Emphasis on defense
Suns junkies remember all the hype after the Porter hire about the team focusing more on defense. We all remember how Dallas tweaked a few things, changed coaches, made a couple of smart minor moves and got to the Finals. It seemed that way in training camp, when Porter stopped the scrimmages because there was too much scoring and saying "That's not our identity." Porter's Suns are one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA. Shaq doesn't even extend to shooters on the pick n' roll. Amare still doesn't fully understand help principles. Their best individual defender at this point is Grant Hill, who's 36. The team may give up slightly fewer points per game but they play at a slower pace and the point differential is much smaller. Translation: I wouldn't trust this team to guard a swimming pool.

3. New offensive offense
This one rubs a lot of people the wrong way. All one has to do is watch the game Sunday versus Detroit and tonight versus Philadelphia. Fact: Steve Nash is the common link between 6 of the last 7 top scoring offenses (last year, missed it by .9). So the new coach decides to make a healthy Shaquille O'Neal the focal point of the offense. The Nash and Amare pick n' roll has made token early appearances but mainly only showed up late in games. The fast breaking after makes disappeared. This team doesn't force any turnovers to speak of so the break dried up. Best offensive point guard of the decade, 2-time MVP relegated to feed the post on a team full of players built to run. So against Detroit, the team pushed at every opportunity, Nash picked the Pistons apart en route to 21 assists. Tonight, the Suns were run off the floor by the Sixers fueled by 18 turnovers. Shaq had no lift and Porter threw in the towel in third quarter down 14 points. The pick n' roll with Amare is still rarely used. Amare is often handed the ball at the elbow and asked to make a play. LB once again is being asked to run the 2nd unit and his inability to create for others is still a glaring weakness. Translation: the team can run half-court sets but making that the primary focus on a team with Steve Nash is dumb.

4. Trade rumors
Because of the places I've lived, I've mostly had to watch on League Pass over the last few years. I saw the Nash/D'Antoni version of the Suns play for the first in person 12/23/04. Joe Johnson had an awful night, Stoudemire ( who was practicing nothing but midrange jumpers before the game) had a great night, Nash had 17 and 14, D'Antoni barely used his bench and the Suns beat the Grizzlies to go to 23-3. The next game I saw in person was 4/19/08. Game 1 of the Spurs series last season. Best game I've attended in any sport and it broke my heart. D'Antoni's team left it on the floor but once again he was outcoached, far too familiar of a refrain during his tenure. Long lead-in for my point but think about all the changes between those two games. Nash wins two MVPs, Amare is All NBA after microfracture, Joe Johnson traded for Boris Diaw, LB goes from scrub to sixth man of the year, Steven Hunter leaves in free agency, Q Rich traded for Kurt Thomas, Kurt Thomas and draft picks given away, Casey Jacobsen traded for Jim Jackson, Jim Jackson traded for nothing, Shawn Marion traded for Shaquille O'Neal plus the selling of James Jones and the draft picks that turned into Rudy Fernandez, Sergio Rodriguez, Luol Deng and Rajon Rondo. Now Amare is on the block. Two thoughts here. 1. How many times did the roster reshuffle around Stockton and Malone before they reached the NBA Finals? They were the only constant between the teams that made the Conference Finals in 91-92 and the Finals for the second time in 97-98. 2. With all the change within this organization just in the last 5 years (ownership, general manager, coach), what are the Suns going to build around? What is their plan?

Trading Amare or Shaq is a salary dump, plain and simple. The team clearly doesn't expect to compete for a championship at this point. Unless sliding into the 8 spot to stop the Laker juggernaut is what the team is aiming for. Kerr may be trying to back track to use Amare to make up for mistakes he and his predecessors have made. However getting All Star players requires luck and skill and Amare is the only one the Suns have been right about that's still on their roster. Translation: The road to hell is paved with good intentions, apparently so is the path to mediocrity.

5. C.R.E.A.M
I got a message from a friend who's a season ticket holder. Apparently fans have starting skipping games and the USAC is partially full for weekend games. For an ownership group so reluctant to lose money, rebuilding is not a pleasant prospect. Getting out of luxury tax territory is a goal for Sarver et al but losing playoff money will hurt especially if season ticket renewals go down or the Suns can't increase ticket prices. The word in the past is teams get about $1 million per playoff game, but that's inaccurate because the league takes a cut and visitors get a cut during long series. But the extra ticket revenue from making the playoffs helps with critical extra income. It convinces fans it is worthwhile to support a team. Watching the league pass games, I see a lot of empty seats at NBA arenas. Fans getting priced out of games is not a new story but in this tight economy, I think good teams are going to be a lot more reluctant to lose, unless of course it's cheap. Even though the Lakers sucked after trading Shaq, they only missed the playoffs once and Kobe missed a ton of games to injury. The Knicks are unlike any other franchise in the league, so they manage. The Suns need to keep a competitive team on the floor. Translation: Robert Sarver's efforts to save money cost this team a title and will ultimately cost him more money as this franchise loses value.

It sucks we're on the verge of seeing this team completely blown up but sports can break your heart. A lot of sports talk is just a long discussion about 'almost.' You know the Sun Devils almost won the national title with Jake the Snake. The Suns almost won a title with Seven Seconds or Less. The Cardinals almost won the Superbowl. The Patriots almost went 19-0. It's just a matter of if we want to keep watching... and paying.

I give up

2009-02-04T21:59:00.001-08:00

When was the last time you saw a 60-point swing? How about in the last two Suns games. From the complete domination of the awful Sacramento Kings on Monday, the Suns were torched by Golden State 124-112 Wednesday night.

Golden State came out firing and jumped out to a 17-2 lead. There were mismatches in the Suns' favor all over the floor but the Warriors exploited Amare Stoudemire with Kelenna Azubuike going for 19 in the first quarter, 25 for the game. Stephen Jackson went for his first career triple double too.

It's become an all too familiar refrain.

" ____ is having a career night."

"That's a season high for the _______."

"The Suns just don't look like the same team."

While there are several gripes about players, I'm thoroughly convinced Terry Porter was the wrong choice as a coach. If I hear about another meeting, I'm gonna puke. Just watch the team play. The Warriors were launching jumpers all night and hitting them. The Suns cut the lead to 11 late in the third quarter and Porter goes ZONE!?! 14-4 run including two 3-pointers and the Suns are down 21 at the end of the quarter.

While it did appear the refs were just collecting paychecks tonight, the Suns were outplayed and outcoached again. Golden State didn't play their 8th guy until that run late in the third. After the game, Jackson admitted he was surprised at how little Phoenix used Stoudemire (13 pts, 4-8 FG, 5-6 FT). It just wasn't clear at any point what the Suns were doing and the sense of urgency and defense were AWOL again.

The Suns are a shell of what they were. The jerseys and a few of the names are the same, but this isn't a contender and it's barely a team.

Spurs exploit Suns awful D

2009-01-29T21:56:00.000-08:00

When your toughest defensive player is a 36-year-old on a reconstructed ankle, you have a roster of ~~bums~~ offensive players. Watching the Suns refuse to play help defense on countless Tony Parker forays into the lane- just made it a matter of time. A matter of time until the Spurs made a run and Suns folded.

Terry Porter, hacking Bruce Bowen makes no sense- especially in a TIE GAME. Sure he's shooting 28 percent. He shot more free throws in this game than he had all season. Way to kill any momentum you had. Here's a thought. When the Spurs hack Shaq, they kill your offensive rhythm and then attack your weak defense. When you hack Bowen, he hits and the Spurs (a defensive team) can set their defense without a transition. Not a good strategy.

This was painful to watch because just like in the past, it was just waiting for the Spurs to snatch the game away. The Suns are to Duncan's Spurs what the Cavs were to Jordan's Bulls: foils.

Mark Price :: Steve Nash
Craig Ehlo :: Raja Bell
Larry Nance :: Amare Stoudmire
Chris Dudley's free throws :: Shaq's free throws
Unproven Steve Kerr :: Unproven Steve Kerr

The Suns can't finish 7 or 8 and expect to beat LA or the Spurs in the first round. If this team is truly built for the playoffs (doubtful at this point), they need to start jockeying for position now. If they can't beat teams that are tougher and proven, they need to beat down the bad teams. There is no boon in missing the playoffs. The 9th team in the West has no chance in the lottery and won't pick any higher than 14 because the Eastern also-rans are much worse. This team won't have the ability to blow it up or rebuild until 2010. So the time is now. These players have to put forth their best effort to look like they care to win a title when they lack the ingredients to actually achieve it. For a list of what those ingredients are, start listing the strengths of the San Antonio Spurs.

Suns Hawks game notes

2009-01-25T16:41:00.000-08:00

1ST HALF
Amare is somewhere else. 5 turnovers. Why doesn't Porter sit him?

Mike Bibby's headband is so big. It looks like he has a head injury and he's wearing a bandage.

Joe Johnson starting to heat up. Grant Hill isn't guarding him despite forcing him into 4-21 when these teams played a couple weeks ago.

Flip Murray getting it going against the Suns again.

When Josh Smith posts Amare he spins middle into a left-handed shot. EVERY TIME. What does Stoudemire do to defend it? Nothing. He isn't aware a lefty is going to his strong hand.

Hawks are piling up the fouls trying to guard Shaq.

Suns shoot 63 percent in the first half but are trailing by two- 14 turnovers.

2ND HALF
Stoudemire appears to have woken up and the offense is focused on getting him going.

Josh Smith continue to beat Amare to rebounds.

Some tough foul calls on Grant Hill have him with four after picking up a call on a defensive rotation. How is it a 36-year-old is the toughest defender on the team?

Blown call on an obvious trip. Terry Porter complains and gets a technical foul. I love when refs compound their mistakes by T-ing up a someone who holds them accountable.

WIth Nash out, the offense just becomes one on one.

LB has it going tonight. Maybe Matt Barnes complaining about their minutes worked.

Josh Smith uses his right hand in the post and misses. Let's see if Amare picks up on it.

Soloman Jones is apparently Dwyane Wade. He gets generous calls against two veteran players. Grant Hill picks up his fifth on a clear charge. Shaq picks up his fourth on a Jones diving flop.

Josh Smith on the block again, spins into the right-hand layup and tries switching to the left at the last minute and misses. Reluctant to credit Amare defense but Smith really needs to develop a right hand

Amare acting tough toward Zaza Pechulia after a normal foul. Quit crying you big baby.

LB huge three.

Mike (who was 1-10) hits a huge three.

Amare has JJ on him and settles for a jumper. Miss.

Terrible help defense on pick n roll. Soloman Jones left wide open for dunk.

LB turnover, Hawks miss two layups.

Shaq has little guy on him and goes right to the rim. Misses shot that hangs on the rim for a week. Hits two free throws

Nash with a travel. 19 turnovers.

Amare with rebound after it hits the floor. Amare passes to LB for another huge three.

Nash bad pass. 20 turnovers.

Amare misses open jumper than could have given Suns a six point lead. LB steal. Shaq holds ball too long for 24 second violation. Does anyone want to win this game?

Shaq loose ball foul, tosses Marvin Williams and a waiter into the front row.

Hawks haven't scored in 5 minutes. LB fouls to prevent layup, Soloman Jones calmly drops two free throws. Suns up 2.

Nash to Stoudemire, layup and 1. 26.6 left. Not sure if someone said something to him at halftime but he has been a different player.

As awful as the Suns perimeter can be, it's been good tonight. Mike Bibby 2-13, Joe Johnson 5-20.

Suns won this one on defense. This game was hard fought and Stoudemire and LB hit big shots in the fourth. Still a chance to salvage this road trip with a win in Washington tomorrow.

Lottery Bound?

2009-01-23T17:55:00.000-08:00

It makes me sad to say this: the Suns have become unwatchable. It really seems like players are lost or they quit. The lack of intensity is so obvious that other teams' announcers are troubleshooting the Suns.

Amare ends up starting the All Star Game and celebrates by getting torched by Boris Diaw, his former overpaid backup.

As the losses mount (3 straight, 5 out of 6), it's becoming clearer this group is awful defensively. Offensively they're totally dependent on Shaq and while Nash has been a trooper sacrificing shots- the loss of his offense is killing the team.

Terry Porter needs to reach into the coaching bags of tricks and find something to stop this free fall. Do something to save this team!

Is Amare a franchise player?

2009-01-21T08:28:00.000-08:00

The stinker against the Celtics is festering on my DVR and I really can't bring my self to watch it. The box score said reactions said enough. Sure, it was the team's fourth game in five nights and the previous three were tightly contested battles. Sure it's tough to beat the champs on their home floor. But this team has four former All Stars who've been 1st team All NBA, 2 former MVPS, a 2 time Slam Dunk champ, a Sixth Man of the Year, young role players and veterans who'll scrap and hustle. The pedigree isn't helping on the court though.

While there are several teams who'd love to have the Suns' record, they are laboring to get wins and their playoff position is precarious. I doubt many coaches would want to trade places with Terry Porter. He's the coaching equivalent of Pete Myers bringing his style and game to good team only to be filling some giant shoes after the franchise's best run of success. While I am not one to long for the D'Antoni days, I recognize that Porter is trying to win with D'Antoni's players, Steve Kerr's compromised vision and Robert Sarver's budget. That's a tough task but the team's bad defense and inconsistency is showing there is still some resistance to Porter's methods.

The biggest disappointment at the moment is Amare Stoudemire. While the Shaq trade seemed to bring out the best in him last year, that player seems to be gone. He has taken cues from Shaq in the big talk but unlike the 4-time champ- he is not backing it up. Just a couple months ago, people were speculating about Amare's 2010 possibilities, now I'm sure there's a contingent of fans who'd be content to see him walk or traded.

Watching Amare is slowly convincing me that he isn't a player to build around. Granted it took me a couple years to be sold on Amare anyway but all the reservations are coming back. He's a bad help defender, he doesn't close out on jump shooters, he's a poor defensive rebounder, he doesn't ever seem to bend over for loose balls and his aggressiveness seems to be on the wane. I know you've seen it too. Not just the tendency to settle for a bunch of jumpers, it's the body language when someone else has it going. He shrinks from the action. In games where he picks up early fouls, he completely disappears. What type of franchise player plays like that?

I think the answer is pretty clear. The Suns don't have a franchise player. If it were up for discussion, it's Nash or Shaq. That's not a promising prospect given that both players are capable but on the decline. This team is loaded with talent but the lack of sacrifice, especially on defense is appalling. The only starter willing to sacrifice offense to try and shutdown his man and make the little plays is Grant Hill. If Amare is having a tough night, he pouts and shrinks. I've watched too many big men over the years fix themselves on another aspect of the game when their shot goes missing. Amare doesn't do that and seems unwilling to hustle more when things are going badly. He has no problem throwing tantrums and getting technical fouls though.

I think a wake up call is coming Thursday night when the All Star starters are announced and Amare misses out. Billboards in China are one thing, playing on the big stage in China is another. This is a year dominated by guys who were on the Olympic team. While I thought it made sense that he skipped Beijing given the wear and tear on his surgically repaired knees the last few years, perhaps letting down Jerry Colangelo was a mistake. All the current MVP candidates were Olympians and each seems to have added intensity or improved an aspect of his game. I think that can be attributed to working with the best every day in practice. When I see Kobe playing with pain, Lebron dominating on defense, Chris Paul carrying his team with injured starters, Dwight Howard putting up 20/20 games and Dwyane Wade just willing a bad team into the playoff chase- I don't see Amare in the same class of player.

Amare has improved aspects of his game. His passing is better for instance but that's still on offense. On the defensive end, Amare said he wants to be like Ron Artest. He's only succeeding in that he comes off as a head case to fans and a complementary player full of potential to help win big or cripple a team with his drama.

New Year's Resolutions for the Phoenix Suns

2008-12-31T22:21:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-10T18:24:00.000-08:00

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.

Nets scorch Suns, road trip looms

2008-11-30T19:32:00.000-08:00

So the Suns started well and then turned into the D'Antoni Suns in the fourth quarter. They gave up 43 points in the fourth.

Once again a quick guard dropped 40 on the Suns. Devin Harris had 47 points and 8 assists.

The Suns got nothing from their bench and Boris Diaw singlehandedly got the Nets back into the game. Boris, if you have an open layup don't fire a pass to the Nets coach. According to the nba.com boxscore Boris was -28 when he was on the court.

The Suns revamped defense couldn't get a stop when it mattered in a game they needed to win.

Amare got ejected at the worst possible time. If you want to be the featured guy, you can't help from the locker room.

The officiating was bad but the Suns lack of ball control did them in again. 21 turnovers.

With New Orleans, Dallas and Utah looming, the Suns are about to be seriously tested. Terry Porter will have to do some serious coaching. The team came out with energy and toughness only to wilt when it mattered. The bench did nothing and were forced to hold a lead after the starters played the entire third quarter.

Suns head out on the road now. They dropped five of their first nine home games. Not sure which direction the team is heading regardless of how early in the season it is.

A few thoughts...

2008-11-10T08:43:00.000-08:00

Much like the Suns, I've been forced to curtail my high-speed ways. AT&T didn't feel I needed internet so I've been unable to post much.

So 17 games into the season, the Suns (11-6) have shown us quite a bit. The off-season changes have changed the identity of the team. At times we see a team that can be successful in the playoffs. Other times we see a team that could use an infusion of youth via trades and the lottery.

Steve Nash is struggling in his new role. He's being encouraged to run the break but also run the half court offense through Shaquille O'Neal. Nash is averaging 8 assists a game and 3.8 turnovers. He just doesn't look like the same player.

He has shown flashes of being his MVP self. When he took over the game against the Thunder and refused to let the Suns lose, it made me wonder why doesn't Porter just let him just run the team. Then I remembered Shaq wasn't playing that night.

Shaquille O'Neal has been good. He's been good around the basket, passes really well out of double teams and has brought a tangible toughness to the team.

Focusing so much on O'Neal has rendered portions of the regular season useless. Shaq needs rest, so the team is resting him during back-to-back sets.

Suspensions, injuries, bereavement and poor play have changed the rotation on a nightly basis.

The lack of continuity has been a major issue for this team given the concrete rotation and rhythm play of previous years.

Amare Stoudemire (excuse me Amar'e) is a hard player to figure out. He has one of the best games I've seen from any player in Indiana. Then has three disappearing acts against the Grizzlies, Rockets and Kings. Do you remember the last time he had a double double? It was against Detroit November 16.

Amar'e's inconsistent rebounding is part of a larger problem of late. Good defense, poor rebounding. The Thunder and T-Wolves grabbed 15 and 21 OFFENSIVE rebounds respectively. Two of the worst teams in the league hung around with the Suns because they were given multiple chances to score.

More chances are also a result of turnovers. The Suns lead (trail?) the league in turnovers. Until Friday's mess versus Miami, it was Boston. Since Boston is 5th best in forcing turnovers and the Suns are second worst- I think it is safe to say the Suns are the worst ball control team in the league at this point.

ESPN turned the annoying focus of the Summer of 2010 toward Phoenix this week with Stephen A. Smith's article about Stoudemire's potential departure from the Suns.

While it's rather ridiculous to speculate about TWO years from now, it is interesting because cash will likely change the balance of power in the league. Phoenix will have a ton of cash to spend but could potentially turn into the Clippers- a team in a warm city with money to spend that nobody wants to play for.

The next two years will be interesting because not only are teams weary of the Lakers dominating the league but also weary of losing their star players to big bidders. The current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires after the 2010-11 season so the cash grab that summer will be the last under the current system. We'll hear for more about business than simple wins and losses.

The fact remains Shaquille O'Neal is the only max free agent signee to lead his new team to a title. Teams will be looking for combos in 2010 and stars like Amar'e, Chris Bosh and Dirk will be hearing about forming new dynamic duos along with players like LeBron or D-Wade. The talk won't go away. So let's hope for the best now. Hopefully the Phoenix Suns can be a destination rather than a victim of mass exodus.

The Suns have found a way to win games but they are far from a finished product. There are complaints about Porter's approach from his players that he defuses with pretty decent logic. He wants the Suns to run after stops instead of makes. He points out players get great touches in the offense but often miss shots or turn it over.

For all the moaning and analysis, the Suns are in the thick of the Western race. They don't have many quality wins but there are positives to build on. 82 games is a long time.

Whatever the Suns are supposed to be, they aren't very good at it at this point.

The Suns don't seem to fully trust one another and only more games and strong performances can remedy that.

Unlocking The Fire

2008-11-08T21:55:00.000-08:00

I'd like to take a moment to take a step back and take a good look at Amare Stoudemire right now. It's sometimes difficult to look at him as a player in an objective light... a lot of people have been predispositioned to dislike him based on the common belief system regarding his defense, (Which isn't as bad as you think) whereas most people have a hard time giving him a lot of credit for what he does on the offensive end. (Trust me, it's not like he gets 12 dunks a game that are spoon fed to him by Nash, though that notion has faded some over time.) Take a quick jump back to middle ground, that includes you Suns homers too, and take a quick, yet objective, look at what Amare Stoudemire has done through the first seven games of the season...

Through the first 6 games he averaged 25.8 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 2.7 APG, 1.5 SPG, 1 BPG in 38.2 minutes a game. He did this on an absolutely unreal 67.1 FG%, also shooting 86% from the free throw line. Now that, in and of itself, is a hell of a statline, but if you start looking at putting his scoring numbers into perspective, he is averaging 25.8 points a game on 13.2 shots a game. That is 1.95~ points per shot. Looking at it another way, Amare is #6 in points per game behind Tony Parker (27.4), Danny Granger (27.2), Chris Bosh, Tim Duncan and LeBron James (26.0). Let's make a little visual representation of the efficiency of the people ahead of him as compared to Amare...

Player	PPG	FGA/G	Points Per Shot
Tony Parker	27.4	19.8	1.38383838383838
Danny Granger	27.2	17.8	1.52808988764045
Chris Bosh	26	17.8	1.46067415730337
Tim Duncan	26	19.4	1.34020618556701
LeBron James	26	19.7	1.31979695431472
Amare Stoudemire	25.8	13.2	1.95454545454545

Take a good long look at that. The closest person to Amare in there is 4.6 shots per game higher than Amare. The closest person to him in points per shot is just shy of .43 per attempt lower than him. Not only is Amare scoring in rather astonishing volumes, he's doing it at historic level efficiency. (And once the game from tonight against the Bucks registers, it will be even crazier, as he had a somewhat surreal 24 points on 8 shots.) Oh yeah, and he's leading the league in True Shooting %. Go figure.

However, Amare's scoring prowess is well documented, and while it's even more ridiculous than normal, it still doesn't shock and awe Suns fans and skeptical critics. What is interesting is his apparent willingness to be unselfish and make good passes. While his turnovers to assist ratio is nothing to be proud of, he has significantly increased his assist totals this year and is visibly making better decisions on the offensive end. He's not just being a finisher or scorer, he's rounding into a more complete offensive player.

Perhaps the most exciting part of the season, however, is Amare's focus on the defensive end. Terry Porter must have got a hold of him and shook him or something, because he is clearly playing better off ball defense this year. He's playing passing lanes, contesting shots and, perhaps most importantly, not picking up stupid fouls that take him out of the offensive end of the game. You combine this with the fact that he's doing a better job boxing his man out (instead of flying around trying to snatch the rebound), and pulling down the contested rebounds that we really need on the defensive end. His 9.3 RPG isn't a particularly impressive number, but you watch him play and you can see the difference in his attitude on the defensive end. it's refreshing, and frankly, about damn time.

Beast Mode Activated

2008-11-06T10:03:00.000-08:00

Amare's line vs Indiana: 49 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals, 2 blocks, 17-21 FG, 15-15 FT

I'll post more later...

Vets get a day off

2008-10-31T21:23:00.000-07:00

Suns are trying to build chemistry at the moment.
Guys are confused and turning the ball over... a lot.
They got torched in their home opener by a good team.
The Hornets are very similar to Phoenix at their D'Antoni peak.
They can be guarded and they will miss shots.
Plenty of usable stuff in the game film.

As for the Blazers, they are coming off an emotional win over the Spurs.
The back to back won't be fun for Portland.
I think Nash will make plays and the veterans will follow suit.
The kids will make the most of their minutes.
Once the cloud of season-opening hype and analysis passes, the Suns can continue the process of becoming who they'll be... with more focus.
Fewer people in their ears and a lot more time with the coaches.
Bill Cartwright and Steve Kerr both won 3 titles win Jordan.
Terry Porter saw Flip Saunders mistakes with the Detroit Pistons.

Coaches have a lot of interesting things to say.
On Amare Stoudemire: "He's not a great player," one member of Team USA's staff said in Beijing. "He makes great plays. There's a difference."
The process of this coaching staff getting these players' attention... to build a consistent ferocious effort around their strategy... to accept new roles... to fully commit to each other... is the most interesting aspect of this team to me.

Nash's assist to turnover ratio will an interesting stat to watch.
The barometer for losses last year was turnovers.
The Suns will need to be efficient because there will be fewer possessions in their new scheme.
Teams will try to outrun them... at their peril.
I hope Nash has an Isiah Thomas mode.

This team needs Alando Tucker to get healthy..
He's a bruiser who attacks the basket and draws fouls.
He's a winner and he'll find a way to give the Suns an advantage.

Looking forward to the matchup tonight.
The Blazers go deep on their bench, so we might see some interesting matchups.

Go Suns!

10/29 - Phoenix @ San Antonio

2008-10-29T21:08:00.000-07:00

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.

Die Hard: 2008-09 Phoenix Suns Season Preview

2008-10-21T08:54:00.000-07:00

"I’m doing the game on TV for Euro Sport here and I hear someone is saying that they should’ve put Amare Stoudemire on this team instead of Tayshaun Prince. I mean, are you crazy? You want a prima donna instead of a team guy like Prince who only cares about winning? I mean, just shut up. You are out of your mind." Analyst Dan Peterson

Charles Barkley: "I love Steve Nash, but this is Chris Paul's and Deron Williams' league right now. I always say that Chris Paul is driving and Deron Williams is in the back seat."
Reggie Miller: "Where's Steve Nash?"
Barkley: "He's in the trunk."

"It's official. Shaquille O'Neal, he of the decaying body, decreased stamina, excess ego, and limited effectiveness, is not long for this league." Bethlehem Shoals

"Someone should clue in the Big Au Revoir, and others closer to sports dusk than dawn, that the old show-biz ethic -- Always leave 'em wanting more -- means after you're done, not while you're still on stage." Steve Aschburner

"Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time." Malcolm X

The last four years have been exciting and our team became a critical darling. However after a few crushing playoff defeats, the reviews have turned negative. We've turned from a Spielberg blockbuster into Leonard Part 6. The Suns are down in the polls. Sports writers are writing eulogies. In reality, the only thing that is dying is the hype. This team is building a new identity. The organization wants to move from winner to champion. This team's legacy is to rise from defeat. Reborn.

The universe revolves around the Sun. Like the planets and moons keeping orbit, the Suns' fortunes revolve around the big body in the middle.

Shaq. You've got more haters than George W. Bush. One request before you start to totally commit your mind to owning the Magic, wealth protection and a plush pad in Sun City. Think about what it would take for you to take a run at averaging 20 rebounds a game in a playoff series. Can you be satisfied with lobs, offensive rebounds and maybe 4 or 5 plays called for you? Could you be like 1972 Wilt? If the regular season is a long warmup for the playoffs, can you train to dominate?

Steve Nash. You know what would be fun? Running the break in the NBA Finals. The games would live forever on Tivo and iPhones. You'd be the Ron Jeremy of training tapes.

Amare. You have to capture the imagination of the youth. Yo Gabba Gabba is fun for toddlers but teenagers like championships and colorful shoes. Win the MVP of something beside the rookie/sophomore game. Play some defense. Don't be a star. Be Great.

As for the rest of the roster. This band of pirates, gamblers, politicians, intellectuals, carpenters and closeted Barry Manilow fans are ready for adventure. Magic 8-ball says: Raja Bell spends most the season auditioning for a role in Ocean's 14, replacing Bernie Mac. Leandro Barbosa reveals he speaks perfect english and appears in an E-Harmony commercial. Grant Hill travels everywhere by Segway- they make a deluxe model called the Grant. Alando Tucker forces his way in the rotation, Coach Porter starts calling him Tuck. Robin Lopez becomes the most 4th popular athlete in Phoenix, sponsors youth an AAU basketball team that wins a national championship. Goran Dragic, plays like Rondo... but lefthanded. Matt Barnes has a great season and earns a nice contract to stay in town for a while. Boris Diaw stars in tektonic dance video on youTube, rebounds better but still passes too much. Guys with long names get a few minutes, fans clamor they deserve more.

So what do we fans have to look forwardto this year? How about another year of enjoyable NBA basketball. I'll hold off on predictions and just really try to enjoy this season. I'm excited for the season to start. Rather than make excuses I've just listened to all the Spurs fans around me make them. I'd love for the Suns to win the title. I want to throw a sick championship party. I'd love for the Suns to be the first team to do a meet and great with President Obama, an avowed hoops fan.

Times are tough and we can find some inspiration in sports. While I hope the Suns can give us a season of excitement and fun, I think we as a fanbase can inspire our team. For you fortunate folks in the expensive seats at the US Airways Center, be louder than you've ever been. Yell for the sake of yelling and make it miserable for the road team. You should need a lozenge after the game. For you folks in upper ring, watch a few soccer matches and take notes. Be festive. Make our bench feel appreciated and loved. Give the Suns a tangible home-court advantage and enjoy yourselves. For distant Suns fans who have to travel to San Antonio, Milwaukee or Orlando to see the team, get booed at the arena. Wear your purple and orange with pride.

So my theme for this season is Die Hard. This season is for the Die Hard fans. The folks who'll keep rooting for the Suns through it all and who'll love it the most when we get that first ring. Hopefully the Suns will show some John McClane perseverance through all the challenges this season. Hopefully the Phoenix Suns will be the team that's the hardest to finish off. If they can do that, regardless of when the season ends- we'll be inspired.

Hans Gruber: You know my name but who are you? Just another American who saw too many movies as a child? Another orphan of a bankrupt culture who thinks he's John Wayne? Rambo? Marshal Dillon?
John McClane: Was always kinda partial to Roy Rogers actually. I really like those sequined shirts.
Hans Gruber: Do you really think you have a chance against us, Mr. Cowboy?
John McClane: Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker.

The Greatest Pre-Preseason Preview Ever!

2008-10-06T00:49:00.001-07:00

It's that time again, and it's time for another preview to the upcoming season! Following the disappointing first round loss to the rather cantankerous set of Spurs that keep getting thrown at us, Suns fans have been less than optimistic about the upcoming season. I, however, will have to respectfully disagree, as I'm looking forward to the Suns next tear through the regular season leading to the inevitable raising of the 2009 NBA Champion banner in Phoenix. (I told you I was optimistic! Maybe a bit deluded, but optimistic all the same.)

We all know the Suns are putting themselves in position to make at least one more title run, the 08-09 season may be the last productive season we see out of Shaq, (Not relative to salary, mind you, but productive nonetheless...) and maybe 09-10 if Jesus loves us enough. (Not so sure on that one either.) That leaves us with a two year window for a championship run with the core we have right now and, realistically, this year is our last serious chance to put another ring on Shaq's finger, plus maybe get some rings for the rest of the guys too.

The Situation

Going into the preseason, coming out of training camp, we've been greeted with a plethora of interesting information. Some good, (We signed Dragic! Robin Lopez has been playing excellent!) some bad, (Amare hurt his ankle. Then his eye. He also might start wearing goggles, which is awful!) some that really might not matter an awful lot either way... (Amare was on a Nickelodeon show! Steve Nash and Baron Davis made a movie!) The most important part about this offseason, however, would definitely be the pieces we added (Both player and coaching) combined with the fact that the team will be together for training camp. The offseason addition of Matt Barnes should, by all accounts, be absolutely fantastic. He provides an active defender, someone who can handle the ball, make the right play on offense, shoot from deep, and has played in a fast paced team at a high level for multiple seasons now. The addition of Robin Lopez, on the other hand, will give us an ulta-active legit seven footer who can change the game inside with his shot blocking and activity, plus has apparently shown a fairly nice little interior offensive post game. The duo of rookie point guards (Sean Singletary and Goran Dragic.) should be battling to show what they can do, as both have demonstrated that they are legitimate pass first point guards who will work hard to improve their game. (Dragic is a bit more refined offensively while Singletary was a fairly good defender, especially at the point guard, while in college and should be able to translate that to the NBA.) Louis Amundson should fill our "Goofy white guy at the end of the bench" spot that we needed to fill quite well, also, and if he plays his cards right he may end up being roughly half as cool as Pat Burke.

The Expectations

It's a bit odd to try to make a prediction having not seen any preseason basketball to this point, not knowing our new head coaches tendencies, (I have rather high expectations our of new head coach, Terry Porter looks to be an amazing coach on both ends of the floor...) or even knowing how much of a difference in player roles will be present... but let's have fun with this thing and try to get it right!

Depth Chart
Position	Starter	Backup	Reserves
PG	Steve Nash	Leandro Barbosa	Goran Dragic, Sean Singletary, Boris Diaw
SG	Raja Bell	Leandro Barbosa	Matt Barnes, Alando Tucker, Grant Hill
SF	Grant Hill	Matt Barnes, Boris Diaw	Alando Tucker
PF	Amare Stoudemire	Boris Diaw	Robin Lopez, Alando Tucker, Louis Amundson
C	Shaquille O'Neal	Robin Lopez	Amare Stoudemire, Boris Diaw, Louis Amundson

Projected Minutes
Position	Minutes
PG	Steve Nash (30), Leandro Barbosa (12), Sean Singletary/Goran Dragic (6)
SG	Raja Bell (26), Leandro Barbosa (14), Matt Barnes (8)
SF	Grant Hill (24), Matt Barnes (16), Boris Diaw (8)
PF	Amare Stoudemire (36), Boris Diaw (12)
C	Shaquille O'Neal (26), Robin Lopez (18), Boris Diaw (4)

These are somewhat optimistic. I'm assuming Terry Porter is resting the geriatric patients on our team, as the reports have stated, in hopes for the playoffs. I'm assuming Robin Lopez is getting significant minutes. (I sincerely hope he does, especially when Amare is in with him.) I'm assuming Raja and Boris will have reduced roles with the team, and possibly Leandro. (D'Antoni's pet players/projects.) Most of all, I'm assuming that I'm going to end up being wildly inaccurate after we have a big surprise from one of the players that are down a ways in the depth chart. (I'm hoping Alando Tucker...)

Well, that's what I expect. Feel free to share your thoughts on the subject, interesting updates, or just to tear ruthlessly into my writing, whatever strikes your fancy. First preseason game is on Wednesday, October 8th! I wish you a happy preseason, and a merry regular season for all!

Getting ready for training camp

2008-09-22T12:06:00.000-07:00

Hey Suns fans, I'm sure you're ready for the season to start. We'll have more content in the coming weeks.

I'm finishing up my season preview. You can reread last year's reflect on how things have changed and laugh at my prognostication skills.

We're doing a fantasy league this year. I a created league on ESPN. Click HERE and search for 'The Rising Suns' to join. I setup the draft for Oct. 18 at 4 pm. You'll need to setup a profile on ESPN to join. (If you're in the private league I created: IT'S ON!)

I do want to apologize for the lack of content last year. Much like the 07-08 Suns I've recommitted to enjoying the journey and having more fun. The content I write for the site will reflect that commitment and hopefully will not lead to an unexpected trade to another blog. There will be much more frequent updates so feel free to blow up our comment sections.

Last season ended really poorly and I got to see it first hand with a couple of fun but disappointing trips to San Antonio. Game 1 was the first NBA playoff game I'd ever been to. Much like the last 40 years- it was a heartbreaker. So in some small measure this site will serve as a support group for Heartbroken Suns fans. You're not alone. Now that the bandwagon has some wobbly wheels, we die-hards have to stick together.

Dragic to join Suns this season

2008-08-17T14:44:00.000-07:00

Some breaking news on a Sunday afternoon. Suns second round pick Goran Dragic will join the team this season after reaching a buyout agreement with his Spanish team Tau Ceramica.

Dragic will be tossed into the fire as Nash's backup this season. Much like Robin Lopez getting to learn the ropes from former MVP Shaquille O'Neal, Dragic will learn how to run the team from 2-time MVP Nash. This team has an interesting dynamic. O'Neal, Nash, Amare Stoudemire, Grant Hill are veteran stars. Matt Barnes and Raja Bell will battle with the West's glamourous scorers. Leandro Barbosa and Boris Diaw need to prove their value after Mike D'Antoni's departure and a summer of trade rumors. Sophomores Alando Tucker and DJ Strawberry will have an opportunity to earn minutes. Rookies Lopez and Dragic will be counted on to play significant roles, especially with Nash and Shaq expected to sit games in preparation for the playoffs. Big man Louis Amundson might not be more than a practice player but he's a defensive energy big- which further adds to the attitude makeover of this team.

Overall, I think the summer has been pretty successful. The team is deeper and EVERY player the team drafted and signed is known for defense. Good job Steve Kerr. Can't wait for training camp.

Summer Fun

2008-07-31T00:45:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Hope you're enjoying your summer as much as I am. Here's a few thoughts...

I love the Matt Barnes signing. I was hoping the team would nab him last year but Grant Hill came to town instead. Now we have both, Bonus. So looking at the team now, we are at least 10 deep if at least one sophomore (Strawberry/Tucker) gets some burn. Jalen Rose is rolling over in his grave.

I think it's awesome NBA teams are losing rotation players to Europe. I also think it is awesome Brandon Jennings ditched the UofA to get paid in Italy and control his career. I am also looking forward to the Olympics. I know I'm not the only person excited to see Ricky Rubio play for the Spanish national team. I think going to Europe and watching the Euro Cup got me hyped for the international game. Either that or I'm having hoops withdrawal and watching LeBron and the Boyz get a gold medal is the cure.

I'm obliged to link to this video making it around the web. Steve Nash doing the robot = Best.Moment.Ever.

Draftness

2008-06-26T08:43:00.000-07:00

The draft is finally here! Excitement! Amidst all the hype and mock drafting, I read a harrowing story about Len Bias. Something makes me think all the doubts about Beasley being a risk for being a funny 19-year-old kid pale in comparison.

Sorry I didn't post a mock draft for you. I hate the thought of writing something that would be proven dead wrong within a few hours and I was too busy watching football. BTW, I heard most of the world missed the end of the Turkey/Germany match. It was f-ing awesome but heartbreaking for the Turks. They may be in the Final but Germany doesn't impress me. If the Turks hadn't lost so many starters to yellow yards, the outcome would have been different but they still attacked the Germans with their B-team and nearly pulled off another miracle. Hopefully their exciting run erases the lingering effect of Midnight Express. But I digress...

After the Russia/Spain match, hopefully I can find the draft on Swiss or Portuguese TV. If not, internet to the rescue. That won't be quite as fun though and that kills the drinking game scenario...

So here's a draft drinking game.

1 drink every time you hear the words 'upside', 'character issues', 'explosiveness' or 'motor'

2 drinks every time someone wears a white suit; David Stern mispronounces a players name; video footage looks like it's from youtube; or someone from your school gets drafted.

3 drinks if the Suns pull a trade.

10 drinks if the Suns sell a draft pick.

You can substitute bong rips or water if so inclined.

I'll write a profile of whomever the Suns draft. Let's get some talent Steve Kerr!

UPDATE: Robin Lopez was the pick at 15. I didn't see much of him this year but from what I've read, he's a scrappy big who rebounds, defends well and blocks shots. I like it. It's 3 am here. I'll check back in the morning...

UPDATE 2: Here's a some thoughts on our two picks...

#15 Robin Lopez, Center, Stanford, 7', 255 lbs.

On paper, I love the pick. I wanted an energy big. I though we'd get that in the 2nd round but we got a quality player in the first. I like Lopez for a couple reasons.

1. He can play right away. The developed aspect of his game are defense, rebounding, shot blocking and hustle. He makes plays on defense. His numbers are decent but don't forget he played with a big man (his twin) that was just as big and a little more skilled. His current skills translate to the NBA.

2. His potential is what makes me like it more. His brother has always gotten more attention. Robin is hungry. For the first time he won't have to share the spotlight. He can develop and he's got some great teachers. He gets to battle Shaq in practice and learn from Bill Cartwright. That's 7 rings (as players) combined. That's a great situation for a young big man. Just because he's a backup role player now doesn't mean that's his ceiling. Plus if he develops into a Marcus Camby type player, I would gladly take that at the five if Amare continues to be an unstoppable beast at the four.

Plus this pic is a classic...

#45 Goran Dragic, Point Guard, Union Olimpija (Slovenia), 6' 4", 180 lbs. (acquired from San Antonio Spurs for rights to #48 Malik Hairston)

Once again on paper I like the pick. Apparently the Suns LOVE the pick. They celebrated when the trade went down because they had Dragic rated as the second best point guard in the draft. I've read through a few scouting sites and found a couple of youtube vids. Word is, Dragic (gotta love that name) is a slashing, penetrating point guard who is a solid if not excellent defender. His weakness is his jumper at this point. He may be able to come over this year if he can get his main team to release him (he plays for three teams). If not, he has a buyout next year. The club sees him as the eventual replacement for Steve Nash. Hopefully he can make it over sooner than later to get some practice time against Nash, get familiar with the organization and get some D-League playing time if necessary.

Here's a couple of highlight vids from youtube. One with a rock soundtrack and another with hip hop stylings. Enjoy...

Phoenix Suns new coaching staff

2008-06-21T03:17:00.000-07:00

Head Coach: Terry Porter
Porter was the head coach in Milwaukee from 2003-2005. He was let go in what many saw as a raw deal. He was the lead assistant to Flip Saunders in Detroit the last two seasons. He played for Rick Adelman, Saunders, Pat Riley and Greg Popovich. Porter played with GM Steve Kerr under Popovich in San Antonio. He says his approach will be uptempo with an emphasis on defense. Porter was the starting point guard the Portland Trailblazers 1990 and 1992 NBA Finals teams.
Good info: One Two

Lead Assistant: Alvin Gentry
Gentry decided to stay in Phoenix rather than join Mike D'Antoni in New York. He reportedly loves Phoenix and the group of players the team has. From the Republic, "I really like our team. I still think we have a lot of winning to do. You can look back to the San Antonio (playoff Game 1) and if Tim Duncan misses the 3-pointer or if we finish it off. This team will come back as hungry as ever, and Terry will do a great job. Mike did a great job, and it'll be tough to follow his footsteps. Terry will demand respect."
Good info: One

Assistant Coach: Bill Cartwright
Cartwright will be a big presence on the bench. He was the starting center for the Chicago Bulls 91-93 Championship teams. He was an assistant coach for two more Bulls Championships. He coached the Bulls during their rebuilding years from 2001-2004. He was an assistant in New Jersey prior to joining the Suns. He'll work with the big men and his five rings should carry some weight. One of my middle school coaches played high school ball with Cartwright and remained friends with him. I've heard tons of positives about him since I was 12 years old.
Good info: One Two

Assistant Coach: Igor Kokoskov
Igor Kokoskov brings a lot of NBA and international experience to the table. He's previously worked with the Clippers and Pistons- including during their 2004 title run. He was an assistant coach of the Serbia and Montenegro team in the 2004 Olympics. He's been coaching since his early twenties after injuries from a car accident ended his playing career. His specialty is player development, which bodes well given how ready the young Pistons were in the playoffs.
Good info: One Two

Assistant Coach: Dan Majerle
Dan Majerle's first coaching job will be hands-on player development. He steps out of the broadcast booth and will teach a hard-nosed professional approach to our younger players. Majerle annually gives out a hustle award and hopefully we'll see some of the traits he brought to the Suns in players like DJ Strawberry, Alando Tucker and whomever we bring in this summer. Seeing Majerle's face on the Ring of Honor should carry some additional cred. Majerle started at guard for the 1993 Suns NBA Finals team. He played with Porter in Miami under Pat Riley.
Good info: One Two

Lakers lose in NBA Finals

2008-06-18T02:53:00.000-07:00

Congrats to Eddie House. Sun Devils everywhere are proud.

Now on to the draft!

Around the L (*Terry Porter notes at bottom)

2008-06-05T02:27:00.000-07:00

Been a while since I've written anything. Much like the Suns my offseason began a little early...

Yeah, so I'm not watching the Finals. Not due to any sort of personal boycott, I'm in Switzerland and I'd much rather sleep than stay up til 3 am to watch Lakers vs Celtics. The history aspect is cool but let's not kid ourselves. The battles of the 50's and 60's are ancient history. The 80's matchups were so loaded that we'll never see the likes of them again. In the 1987 Finals both teams brought All-Time greats off the bench in addition to arguably having the best starting fives EVER. The hype in this series is all about the jersey rather than the talent. Kobe is a monster and the new Big Three are interesting but it doesn't mean much to me personally. I started watching hoops in 1988. That Pistons/Lakers epic is still the best I've ever watched. Plus being here for the Euro Cup will dwarf anything late night hoops can provide...

So this coaching search is dragging on a bit. I'm kinda glad because some candidates Kerr is looking at were on playoff teams. I think Terry Porter is the guy. He got an ok team to overachieve and make the playoffs and got a raw deal when the Bucks fired him to move to Terry Stotts (um, yeah). The other finalists Elston Turner, Tyrone Corbin and Mike Budenholzer are all solid. Of that group Budenhozer is the wild card having been in San Antonio during all their title years. Kerr said of him, "He had a great vision for our future and our team, and it didn't surprise me. It's the reason we brought him in."

I think we'll have a new coach next week and from there the rest of the staff should take shape...

As far as the draft goes, I think we should pick up a wing player. I alluded to that in the previous post and I still think that way. The team is bringing in lottery-caliber guys as they are looking to move up similar to last year (to no avail). New York, Memphis and Seattlependinglawsuits are reportedly listening to offers and this may be the chance to move a vet like Diaw or Barbosa to a young team who isn't interested in prolonged rebuilding. If we stay in the 15 spot: Brandon Rush looks like an athletic Shane Battier, Joe Alexander is an athletic freak with upside and Chris Douglas-Roberts is a steal regardless of what the mock drafts say...

Have you listened to the Joe Dumars' press conference where he announces the firing of Flip Saunders? Wow. He puts his whole team on blast and the Pistons will not be the same. The best part is where a reporter mentions rebuilding. Dumars is like "as long as I'm in this seat, I expect us to always be good." I bring this up because I'm sick of fans saying this team needs to dump Nash or Amare now and save money for LeBron of Dwyane Wade. Give me a break. You don't build a culture of success by tanking and rebuilding. Dumars refers to Boston as a fluke because they got a former MVP without giving up any depth. Which is strangely true despite the 7 for 1 trade...

I think these Finals are a testament to shrewd front office moves continuing a trend since the 2006 Miami Heat. That team was a playoff surprise in '04, traded for Shaq and blew Game 7 of the ECF in '05, then overhauled the roster and Pat Riley coached them to a title in '06. Riley surrounded his stars with role players who flamed out as stars elsewhere and got a ring with his last great motivational job. Mitch Kupchak and Danny Ainge made good trades, drafted well and have the perfect role players for their stars. Additionally Ainge got the perfect assistant for Doc Rivers in Tom Thibodeau, the best defensive coach in the NBA. The Suns will make a good coaching hire but the details are in the draft, trades and free agency as they attempt to put a team on the floor built to win a title. The team's recent success has shown they have the talent but they've lacked the depth and approach to beat championship level teams. It's time to develop that approach now and when Nash and Shaq are ready to retire, the Suns can continue to compete at the elite level by adding another superstar in 2010...

A thought about football, proper football. The Euro Cup hasn't even started but I haven't seen the type of passion for a sport that I've seen here for the Euro Cup. There are flags flying everywhere. Heated debates over teams. My in-laws are Portuguese and the satellite television coverage of the national team is amazing. The rallies, the 'man on the street' interviews, the coverage of the teams departure, practices and coaching strategy. Cristiano Renaldo has had an awesome year with his clubs winning the English Premier League and the Champions League (why don't basketball teams do this). All eyes will be on him for the next few weeks as the Portuguese have a legit shot to avenge their flameout in 2004.

UPDATE: After reading Bill Simmons' preview of the Finals, I'm thinking twice about watching it. The games will be re-aired on tape delay here.

UPDATE 2: Terry Porter is the new coach of the Suns. There will be more news later as his staff comes together. A few thoughts...

There are concerns about Porter and Steve Kerr being tight but I think the positives outweigh the negative. Kerr knows Porter's strengths firsthand from playing with him and analyzing him on TV. It doesn't stink of the Michael Jordan nepotism and doesn't feel like a retread hire. Kerr trusts Porter to guide his team.

The Suns signed Porter before he even interviewed in Detroit. They gave him decent money, $7 million for three years. D'Antoni made more but got a raise in 2005 after the Suns exploded and another when GM duties were added. Detroit is an interesting situation because they are in many ways what Kerr wants the Suns want to be. Detroit was a one dimensional team (a championship level one) that has added more balance to their attack and managed to stay elite while developing younger players. This is what Porter has been selected to do. Alando Tucker and DJ Strawberry can contribute meaningful minutes to this team. Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash can be better team defenders. I think it's kinda absurd that PRACTICING is going to be something new for this team. Porter has a challenging job in a brutally competitive conference but he's been successful through hard work so I think it bodes well for the team.

Here's a link to a Porter interview that provides some insight as to his coaching experiences with the Pistons.

Horny

2008-05-12T23:15:00.000-07:00

What if Jeff Hornacek became the new coach of the Suns... with a staff of specialists... 3 HOF caliber veterans, an MVP candidate and hungry young players who don't defend... and the elite medical staff. He'd be scrutinized but hey he might be able to inspire some decent clutch performances. I like Kerr's chances with a coach he picked. We've listened to Steve Kerr's ideas on winning and execution on TV for years. I like Horny's chances with a staff of excellent specialists.

As for 7 Seconds or Less in New York... the Knicks will be the first team to use roller skates.

I think this team would be very successful as a roided-clone of the 1996-98 Utah Jazz. They need to force Amare to emulate Karl Malone rather than Penny Hardaway. Nash can dish in a medium pace game or bang with the bench if they'll all burners... The bench is supposed to stretch a lead... As long as the bench players can play with confidence and speed... The starters can grind it out.

The 15 pick should be a decent player... who can develop as an understudy to Grant Hill as a rookie. Learn how to lead from Shaq... How to practice from Nash... The desire to dominate from Amare... How to play dirty from Raja.

I think Kerr has a chance to really develop a basketball program in Phoenix. One that can produce a title with a perfect supporting cast for a spoiled star. He's won with Michael Jordan and Tim Duncan... He's seen the best and worst of it... For now I'm going keep the faith and see how the hire, the draft, trades and free agency go.

Perhaps it's time to care about the team more than ever. Perhaps it's time to win without a gimmick... To just beat people with skill, preparation and ferocity.

What now?

2008-04-30T11:07:00.000-07:00

One of the stranger seasons in Suns' history ended with yet another tough loss to San Antonio. Turnovers once again proved to be the killer as the Suns could not execute with their season on the line.

So what happens between now and training camp? The teams showed a lot of warts and flaws and the direction of the team isn't entirely clear.

The Grant Hill signing fizzled as he got hurt right before the playoffs.

The Shaquille O'Neal trade changed the team for the better (conventionally) but his awful free throw shooting cost the Suns in the three tight losses to the Spurs.

Amare Stoudemire still needs to be programmed for defense and rebounding.

Leandro Barbosa took a step backward this season.

Boris Diaw came alive in the playoffs, but where was he before that?

Steve Nash made some critical mistakes with games on the line and needs a quality backup more than ever.

Coach Mike D'Antoni appears to be on his way to New York or Chicago. Fuck making adjustments in PHX, time to fix bloated rosters with some run n' gun healing.

This is kind of a sad time for Suns fans. The team that really captured our imaginations (and hearts) a few years back is now fading away.

If you haven't read the Bill Simmons' article on the Suns, you should. He breaks down how all the things we've complained about since 2005 have brought us to now. It's kinda sad. Robert Sarver in his attempt to not lose money has blown a chance at dominating the NBA and getting a title. Why own a team if the goal isn't to win a title?

I'm not one to blame Steve Kerr. D'Antoni convinced Kerr the Shaq trade was a good idea. D'Antoni wanted Jay Humphries over Tom Thibodeau (the guy who helped the Rockets and now Celtics become top elite defensive squads). Sarver is responsible for giving away draft picks that have turned in players who could have help this team. Of course D'Antoni wouldn't play them anyway.

I have no idea what direction this team is going.

I will say this. I went to San Antonio twice during the series. San Antonio is a small market, especially compared to Houston and Dallas. The AT&T Center appears to be on an old military base. The place is kinda plain. There's a few things that definitely stand out. Four championship banners hang from the rafters. People pose and take pictures by the championship trophies in the trophy case. The team that no one likes on TV is loved in central Texas. And for good reason, the organization works to win CHAMPIONSHIPS. 'Go Spurs Go' is the most annoying chant ever though.

It'd be cool to experience that with the Suns. Now that possibility seems further away.

The Spurs Rules

2008-04-26T20:48:00.001-07:00

Ah, playoff time again. Nothing like watching a more talented team get demolished by good coaching and their own personal poor defensive play. It's all too familiar territory, any Suns fan will tell you about it, at length, just before they break down in tears. But what if, and this is purely speculation, the Suns were actually defensively prepared to stop the Spurs from getting any shot they wanted on the floor? Like I said, purely speculation, but if this were to happen, there would be certain adjustments to make on the defensive end. (For instance, no buying popcorn from vendors when the ball is in play.) Now, I think the Suns would be able to do this, were they to be given proper instruction on how to play defense against the Spurs. So, without further ado, the Spurs rules! These are the plays that the Suns have gotten burned on a million jillion times this season, and how to stop them...

- Always go under picks on Tony Parker. You would always rather have him take a 19-22 foot jump shot than get in the lane. Always. I don't care if he just hit a no loot around the back full court shot with 19 seconds left on the shot clock, just go under the pick. This allows Shaq to remain firmly anchored to the painted area, as he tends to be regardless, without giving Tony Parker the ability to get anywhere on the floor he wants while simultaneously giving him a passing lane to the roller.

- Unless Manu has hit at least two three pointers in the past 6 minutes, you go under the pick for the same exact reason you go under the pick with Parker. Manu is a streaky shooter who can hit that three pointer if you go under *sometimes*, but it's not within the flow of the offense and you want to make him take those shots more than you want to give Duncan a wide open lay up.

- When the guard can't get under the pick because Duncan or Kurt Thomas sets a moving pick (It happens a lot), the big can't play middle field. The big has to move to contest the shot. Usually when this happens, it leads to a wide open lay up by Fabricio Oberto when Duncan shovels it to him under the basket... but there's more to the plan! The SG or SF has to come over on the wing and pick up Oberto. Yes, you leave Michael Finley, Brent Barry or Bruce Bowen open from the wing or side, but it's better than a lay up. Always. There is roughly a 0.2% chance that Oberto will miss the wide open lay up, while there is roughly a 60% chance that one of those guys will miss the three point shot, and if everyone rotates back once the pass is made (That's what it's called when the big guy who stepped up to contest a shot goes back to his guy so the perimeter guys can cover their guys. It's a real part of defense, trust me on this one.), it will be a partially contested three point shot.

- This is only being run on Amare and Shaq, but primarily Amare and primarily with Michael Finley, but it's how Michael Finley has gotten basically every point he's had in the series. Finley will come off of a screen (or moving screen) from Kurt Thomas or Fabricio Oberto while Raja or Leandro chase valiantly through the screen. The problem with this is that Amare doesn't flash help. At all. He stares blankly at the guy he's guarding. If Amare gives a quick show once Finley gets the ball, Oberto or Thomas will make a move to roll to the basket. Amare's job is to flash the help then run back to Thomas/Oberto and make sure they aren't able to catch a lob pass from Finley.(Amare should be able to do this just fine...) This allows the jump shot to be at least mildly contest if Finley pulls up straight away and allows the wing guy time to get back in front of Finley if he doesn't pull up straight away.

I was pondering making some pictures illustrating these points in vivid detail, with bright shiny colors to keep the attention of the viewers, but it seemed like an awful lot of work for something that wasn't going to get used... so I'm content with putting these in word form. Hopefully the Suns manage a win tomorrow morning, and then we'll see about getting Mikey D a link to this.

Revenge

2008-04-17T23:39:00.000-07:00

The regular season kinda sucks after a while. Fans much like players start looking forward to the playoffs. I can't remember a year where I've wanted the playoffs to come so quickly. The ultra-competitive Western Conference has been like the playoffs for the last month. No one could afford a slump or even a loss to the teams close to them in the standings.

So here's a few things we've learned about the Suns from the regular season.

1. The team is at it's best when efficient rather than fast.

2. Turnovers are the barometer for losses.

3. Amare is ready to own the playoffs.

4. Gordan Giricek was a better fit for this team than Brent Barry.

5. The Shaq trade made the team better and more versatile, but...

The series against the Spurs is the real test. We know the Suns can beat San Antonio, but we have to experience it. We have to experience it right away. The looming matchups all seem to pale in comparison. Sure we didn't matchup well with the Hornets or Lakers during the regular season. But how many of those games featured Shaquille O'Neal- one apiece.

How many of the games against the Spurs featured Shaq? Two, both of which we won in tough decisive fashion. However things change with the season on the line. The Spurs are still looking for their repeat title, PHX is looking for their first. The trash talk has already started around the office. I've got my pictures of Nash on my computer and Shaq and Amare dunking on people up in my cubicle.

I know part of you has been waiting for this since last summer. A stupid flagrant foul ruined one of the best series this team would be involved in. We seemed to have turned the corner as foils. As the team that loses, folds or choked on opportunities. The team that got an injury at the wrong time, blew home court advantage or just couldn't beat the glamour franchise. One dumb foul ruined our vision of seeing a fast-breaking and fun-to-watch team win the title.

Now we got Shaq.

Now I want to watch Bruce Bowen fight through a Shaq screen.

We can play both ways now. We can mix it up and beat teams with precision or we can turn up the pressure with solid rebounding and defense.

The regular season wins were impressive but now is where we set the tone. Now is when we see if this team can truly make a run a title. First up, it's the defending champs. They have homecourt advantage. They have a big three that has won together and plays sparing minutes in the regular season. They've got history on their side. And Tim Duncan.

We have more talent. We have 2 former MVPs. We have the memory and a pissed off fanbase.

It's time for revenge. I'll drink my beer and the commissioner's.

I'll be at Game 1. The drunk dude in the KJ jersey

Patience Paying Off

2008-03-19T11:07:00.000-07:00

Are you liking the Shaq trade now?

The Suns have strung together five straight wins and are showing the versatility we were hoping the trade would bring. Things started to turn in the loss to Utah. That loss really was the last straw because the bad defense hit bottom giving up 41 in the fourth quarter to blow the game.

The national TV game against the Sp*rs was awesome. I live in Texas so I catch crap from Spurs fans all the time. It was nice to hear them whine about the refs for once. The Suns where gritty and shutdown the Spurs in crunch time. The intensity and desperation were awesome. The highlight we all remember is Shaq diving into the stands for a loose ball.

The blowouts against nonplayoff teams are nice but the win against Golden State was impressive. The Warriors were hot and jumped out early but the Suns eventually played some defense and out-executed the Warriors. I liked all the technical fouls, the team is edgy and tougher now. It showed the team wanted the game more. Shaq was limited with fouls but the team played like the Suns of old and were much quicker with their cuts, dribble attacks and didn't hesitate on good looks in the second half.

The Seattle game tonight should be over early. The Rockets, Pistons and Celtics are next up on the schedule. The team is getting hot at the right time and the tough opponents make for entertaining basketball because no one in the West can afford to lose. It's bananas how tight the West is. The Spurs have lost four straight games are only 2 games back of first. The Suns win tonight and Saturday, they could be in first. The seeds don't matter but matchups do. So it's encouraging that the team is coming together and getting some nice wins. The playoffs are going to be brutal.

Things I'm noticing
1. We regularly outrebound opponents now.
2. Turnovers. They've been lower during this run but that has to remain a focus (BORIS!!!).
3. Gordan Giricek was a good find.
4. Raja finally looks like himself.
5. Beast may not be a strong enough word to describe Amare. The lame MVP talk stories floating around totally take his recent comments out of context. He was asked how he felt about not being included in MVP talk after winning the Player of the Week award.

"I don't know what it is," Stoudemire said. "I hear everybody's name mentioned as far as the top players in the league. My name is never up there. It definitely hurts because I put in the work and the time and the effort to be an elite player. But my thing is just to keep improving. Whether they notice it or not, my teammates notice it, my coaching staff notices it, and we're winning ballgames."

Coming into the season, I committed to supporting Amare after being critical in the past. The guy brings it every night and should be 1st team All NBA again. He probably won't because he's no longer considered a center and KG has been awesome in Boston. Whether or not he gets MVP recognition, he becoming a great player and continues to improve year to year. The people comparing him to Marion are dead wrong. Answering a question honestly is different than constantly complaining about a lack of recognition. Reporters ask this stuff to get good quotes and then craft those quotes into a story. Amare is damn good and we all know it. Whether he gets the pub or not, he'll go all out to get a championship and that's all that matters to me as a fan. Finals MVP is the award to get Amare.

Suns Pursuing (Player Name)

2008-03-02T06:07:00.000-08:00

The Phoenix Suns are reportedly pursuing (Player) who was recently waived by the (City) (Team) in an attempt to add depth to their bench. Steve Kerr is said to have personally visited (Player)'s house and bribed him with large sums of candy and prescription pain killers. The Suns need a player like (Player) who can add (shooting/rebounding/toughness/defense) coming off the bench.

When asked for a comment, Suns general manager Steve Kerr said, "Yeah, any time you can get a guy like (Player), a guy who brings (shooting/rebounding/toughness/defense) to the table, not to mention his playoff experience and high character, it's really a no brainer to at least tell people you're interested in him."

When Mike D'Antoni was asked about the rumors, he gave his trademark smile and said "I hope we do get (Player). I'm sure he'll love sitting next to Sean Marks and Eric Piatkowski while wondering why he's not getting any playing time."

Rewriting the future

2008-02-27T19:28:00.000-08:00

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.

Open Letter to Brent Barry

2008-02-27T13:28:00.000-08:00

Brent,

I understand this must be a tough time for you. The San Antonio Spurs traded you to Seattle to retool in their quest for a repeat and fifth NBA title. It's gotta hurt. Not only did they feel they could get there without you, now they are dangling money to come back as if nothing happened. A couple girls used me the same way but that's a painful story for another day.

Don't look back Brent. There's a great story in the Bible about Sodom and Gomorra. The lone instruction given to Lot's family was don't look back. His woman took a long gander and turned to salt. The Spurs' championship chances will soon be destroyed like fire raining down from the heavens. Why not rain down a few threes and snuff out your old team in Phoenix? Don't let your game dry up and turn to salt on their bench.

Brent, Phoenix is about rebirth. Veteran players strive in our system and in our community. Our medical staff has helped Grant Hill turn his career around. His bionic ankle is no longer a burden. Shaquille O'Neal is already showing signs and he's hungry for a fifth ring. We know you still have some flash left in your game. Dude, you won the Slam Dunk title. I know you would love to get back out on the wing and take a dish from Nash for a dunk. It's in you Brent, let the monkey out.

You're an open court player Brent. You're a Pac-10 guy. You have a chance to be part of something special in Phoenix- our first championship. Your championship experience combined with Shaq's four rings will energize this team and your skills will fit right in. The Spurs don't value you. They were willing to trade you two years ago for JR Smith. Dude... JR Smith can't even get off the bench in Denver.

It's time Brent. Call up Steve Kerr and sign on the dotted line. Your future is in Phoenix. A third ring is your destiny.

Sincerely,
Hersey
The Rising Suns

Detroit Basketball...

2008-02-24T13:10:00.000-08:00

Detroit is the best team in the league. Their continuity and versatility is impressive and they put on a clinic Sunday afternoon.

Suns overpower Celtics

2008-02-23T00:24:00.000-08:00

This is the type of game that the Suns got Shaquille O'Neal for. The grinders. How would the Suns respond when someone tried to muck it up and push them around with Shaq in the lineup? We got a decent idea Friday night. The Suns broke out early and matched the Celtics intensity throughout in a 85-77 victory.

The Suns were sloppy and without Leandro Barbosa, after losing him to a bloody cut and head injury early in the game. However Boston could not capitalize on the turnovers and the Suns defense was solid. The Celtics couldn't hit a shot and the Suns completely controlled the boards. The Suns hit the Celtics with quick 15-0 run and set the tone.

Then it turned into a playoff game. Garnett and Amare started going at each other full on. Elbows, trash talk, tight defense and the occasional basket. I personally thought Amare was afraid of Garnett in the past because Garnett tries to intimidate opponents and I've seen Amare shrink into poor games against him. Not in this game.

I think we're seeing Amare (28 pts, 6 reb, 3 blk) transform into an MVP caliber player. Shaq (4 pts, 14 reb, 2 blk) is building his confidence and creating openings for him on both ends of the floor. When Shaq moves through the middle, players hesitate and Amare is getting a ton of open looks, driving lanes and blocks. Amare played excellent defense against Garnett (without fouling) and I'm glad he got a tech for shoving him after the big dunk. This is a different team and this is just the beginning.

What more can I say about Grant Hill. Hill (14 pts) nabbed 13 boards and attacked the rim. DJ Strawberry brought the rookie energy tonight with extended minutes as well. He made plays on defense and created some turnovers. The kid just has to find a few points in those minutes and he'll be a solid rotation contributor. Ray Allen (11 pts, 3-12 FG) and Paul Pierce (8 pts, 2-13 FG) never got it going and a lot of the credit has to go to the perimeter defense.

I thought Boris (10 pts, 5 reb, 2 ast) was impressive in extended fourth quarter minutes as well. He is STILL passing up too many good shots though. Diaw can't do that against teams with strong principles like the Celtics. The Suns only squeezed off 11 threes and most of those were in transition or shot-clock desperation heaves. Layups and free throws are the key to beating good defensive teams and Boris has the ability to create those opportunities. He'd cut his turnovers if he simply attacked them rim instead of constantly kicking out.

At his best, Nash controls the tempo of the game. There are only a few players in the league who can do that. The bigs like Duncan and Garnett do it on the defensive end and Nash on offense. When it was clear this was going to be a defensive struggle and Shaq and Amare had it under control, Nash (18 pts, 7 reb, 5 ast) turned into Chauncey Billups in the fourth quarter with two huge threes.

This game was ugly but fun as hell to watch. The 24 turnovers were due to poor spacing and facing the best defensive team in the league. The Suns were the aggressor though. The attempt to be physical just got the Celtics into foul trouble and they dug a hole they couldn't get out of. I think the Suns exposed a weakness as well- little interior scoring. When the jumpers weren't falling, the Celtics relied on defense to come back. It helped but the Suns still put a few runs on them and never trailed in the game.

The Suns know they can score and now are finding they can rebound and defend better with an eraser in the middle. We got a glimpse of their newfound versatility against elite competition. Detroit promises to be just as fun and probably just as nasty.

First to 125 wins

2008-02-20T23:41:00.001-08:00

"When we do get used to each other, we'll be the most dangerous team ever created." Shaquille O'Neal

The doubters, naysayers and Lakers fans will start chirping right away but the first game of the NASH/SHAQ campaign was intriguing. I had to watch this game Frankenstein style. I rocked a little ESPN360 until it died. I followed the gamecast play by play. Then I decided to watch the 2nd half at a sports bar. Sierra Nevada kept me loose as the Lakers broke our Shaq cherry with a loss.

Plenty of stuff caught my attention. The Lakers put 3 dudes 6'10" or bigger on the floor to start the game. They got a ton of layups off the pick n' roll and Kobe got hot early. Recipe for disaster normally but the Suns can still score at will by putting guys in perfect positions- basically give it to Steve Nash.

The lulls in playmaking were largely due to Boris Diaw. He was too busy partying and came to the game in cat mode. Hey Bo, when you look like a cat playing with a ball of yarn on defense- second units go on big runs... and take a big step in from the three point in the first quarter. Get warmed up before launching threes copain.

So I've been saying that Amare is the star and needed the training wheels taken off before he'd turn in a dominant player. With no Marion around, we have to see him do some dirty work and keep the energy to score at will. Tonight (37 pts, 15 reb, 3 blk) he showed the ability to do it but the pace and wanting to avoid foul trouble still led to a lot of easy baskets.

Fuck Pau Gasol. I hate you.

Getting no points from Raja hurts because his offense keeps Kobe honest. DJ Strawberry showed the ability to be in a Kobe highlight. He played him tight but when he's hot, get him to drive into the big guys and give up the ball. What do I know though- if had a solution for Kobe I'd be McCain's running mate.

Before anyone says anything about the 3-1 record against the Lakers- this is not the same team and neither are the Lakers. In fact the Suns are facing the leagues two best defensive teams in their next two games. We'll see the difference Shaq will make in the grinders. The Big Upgrade (15 pts, 9 reb, 2 blk, 3 ast) will make plays in the shootout games. Notice how he seemed to be everywhere in the fourth quarter.

There are plenty of plays to be made in a game that depends on execution. As accustomed as we've gotten to the Suns run n gun ways, the high shooting percentages are a result of picking the best opportunities to score. The opportunities will change now that Shaq is in the middle on both ends. This team will peak at the right time.

Mos def would have liked to have won this game but the Lakers are hot and the Suns have work to do. Should we face them again this postseason- it'll be fun. I'm pumped for Boston.

We root for Shaq now

2008-02-07T20:35:00.000-08:00

Ok, we've had a few days to take this all in. Let's look at the trade for Shaquille O'Neal.

1. We actually have a center now. Think about that for a second. The Suns are now a power team. All of Shaq's title teams have feasted on points in the paint and behind the line because defenses double and sag. The Suns were already an efficient offensive team now we have Shaq in the middle.

2. Shaq always believes his team is a contender and isn't afraid to say it. F*ck the doubters, he demands optimism. The guy has won just as much as Duncan and has been to the Finals six times and wants to get back. I want him to back it up. He's wants a fifth ring and I him to get it.

3. Summer of 2010. I'll be at the World Cup in South Africa. The major issue is who will be signing a free agent contract with the Suns. Both Shaq and Nash will come off the books and the core of Amare, Boris and LB will be 27 and hopefully have a ring or two. Dwyane Wade and LeBron James will be unrestricted free agents if they opt out. Both players took shorter extentions and by opting out that summer will have the ability to get paid and be part of a contender. Steve Kerr was thinking about the future with this trade too.

4. D'Antoni has to play at least one rookie now. Strawberry and Tucker need to get a look because we'll need athleticism on the floor. The team just got older so the rookie energy will be useful and on some nights a necessity.

5. Don't bank on a number 1 seed. This team is building for the playoffs. The team has to build an attack that incorporates Shaq's strengths as he gets into Phoenix Suns shape. There will be some losses and there might be an ugly night or two in this transition. But when the game slows down- we have a huge big man whose won 4 titles, another big who can score at will, the best point guard in the game and a supporting cast that knows how to score. I like our chances.

All this depends on health of course. Any of our veterans get hurt- we're done.

Hoops comes into focus

2008-02-04T15:01:00.000-08:00

So I've finally gotten out of bed and have begun to cope with my beloved Patriots losing Superbowl 42. For me it's on par with the 1997 Rose Bowl, Game 6 of the 2002 World Series and Game 5 against the Sp*rs last year. When our teams lose it sucks, especially with a title on the line. Sports is the best form of entertainment with real drama rather than scripted twists and turns. When your team loses and the season is over the whole community feels it and you try not to dwell on it until the next season starts.

I mention all this because I haven't been following the Suns as closely as I would like because I've been obsessed with football for obvious reasons. The Suns can however help me move on... to more heartache. This season is quite possibly a final judgement on this group of Suns players. While my football team's recent success makes it a little easier to handle a playoff loss, my other teams never win. The San Francisco Giants have been the World Series twice in my lifetime and haven't won. The Suns have been to the Finals once and ran into the Jordan buzzsaw. You think 'we were so close we just need to make a move and just grow up a bit and we'll get back.'

Oh if it was only that simple. The chemistry has been iffy this year as Marion, Stoudemire and Nash have taken turns complaining. The front office says they are sticking with this core group and for all intents and purposes, this 2nd half stretch and playoff run could be the last we see of this team as it is.

The country is now turning it's focus to basketball as the NBA starts national coverage and the college hoop drama gets us warmed up for the playoffs. There are good stories. The resurgence in Boston (pray for no playoff upsets- Boston vs Detroit must happen). The surprising rise of the Hornets and Blazers. Then there's the totally unexplainable genius of Mitch Kupchak.

How the f*ck do you trade Kwame Brown for Pau Gasol? Sure the other pieces are nice but that gives the (healthy) Lakers a huge and talented starting lineup- to go with their awesome bench. Before the Bynum injury, I thought the Lakers were better than the Suns. Now the Suns have to fight to win their division. It looks like at least two teams above .500 will MISS the playoffs in the West. Seeding is probably more important than ever and given the few games separating the top teams, a couple bad loses can drop a team from 1st to 6th.

While there a ton of obstacles in the Suns path to the Finals, seeing if this team can break through will be nerve wracking and fun. This team will have to be on the same page because their salaries prevent the team from seriously retooling and require that they simply get better to be an elite team. The way the Suns have played so far, it seems this team has a ceiling. Their lack of consistent defense, height and depth makes it hard to see this team getting any deeper than the previous three years. The West might be the best it's ever been and the Suns will have to show us more if they're gonna win it. We'll been watching living and dying with every play.

Time to figure it out

2008-01-06T21:49:00.000-08:00

So the buzz word about Suns fans is we're whiners. We're obsessed with almosts. It's been 40 years with tons of talent and no title. A fan who can stay committed even through a fraction of that time (Danny Manning's knee, Mario Elie's corner 3, McDyess goes back to Denver, Kidd for Marbury, Joe Johnson's face, Raja's calf, Robert Horry) becomes a sharp observer of their team. Despite the team's 23-10 record, the team doesn't look right.

The Suns got a healthy dose of crappy teams after the loss to the Lakers and Amare Stoudemire backed up some strong words about defense and his own play with some excellent numbers against some decent big men. The result was four straight Suns wins and a temporary hold on the number one seed in the West.

@ Clippers: 30 pts, 15 reb, 4 blk
vs Clippers: 28 pts, 10 reb, 3 blk- clutch baskets clinch win
@ Sacramento: 31 pts, 17 reb, blk
vs Seattle: 34 pts, 11 reb, 3 blk

Then Saturday versus New Orleans, the team plays poorly in the fourth and ends up losing a game they had control of. Stoudemire wasn't in the flow offensively and despite a decent night (17 pts, 8 reb, 5 blk) wasn't a factor and got exposed in the pick n roll. The team was missing Raja Bell so the guard rotation was a little different but the team looked disjointed in the second half. Shawn Marion was a nonfactor as well. Strange but the team can't seem to close against good opponents.

There's a piece in the AZ Republic about chemistry issues on the team. Sure there have been plenty of teams that have lulls and struggle but when it happens on a team expected to contend, it's troublesome. Especially in the wake of the report earlier this week that the team will make no roster moves this season.

Toss in the fact Amare missed practice Sunday and showed some frustration in his postgame comments for the 2nd straight time after a loss- I think we all know there's a backlash coming. The numbers don't lie though, when the Suns feed the beast, they win. When Amare gets touches on offense, he plays harder on defense and posts huge games. I used to think he was a potential cancer but now I just want the guy to dominate because the team is obviously flawed and his big games give them the best chance to win.

Looking at how the good Sacramento teams faded away and how Dallas panicked and let Nash go, they never could find a counter for Shaq or Tim Duncan. That doesn't mean a guy to shut those players down (doesn't happen- even Russell never really shutdown Wilt) but a guy to match the essential interior production. In this offense with so many good shooters and a great point guard- Stoudemire should be leading the league in scoring.

It seems strange but this team has all the conventional basketball talent necessary to contend but seems reluctant to win with things like depth, defense and feeding the post consistently. As the team repeatedly gets exposed, the second guessing starts. Every time Boris Diaw gives up a layup passing out for a three... Tall guys watching as the teams gives up yet another offensive rebound... Marcus Banks, Alando Tucker and DJ Strawberry not even sniffing the floor unless it's a blowout...

Is the so-called "brain trust" butting heads? Robert Sarver has handcuffed Steve Kerr because of the luxury tax but Kerr won three of his five titles on teams with arguably the best role players in the modern era. However the role players the Suns are overpaying, D'Antoni doesn't play.

So what is wrong with this team? The front office, coaching staff and players all seem to have a different agenda. The league has taken notice and teams are pouncing on their weaknesses. It's the fans who have to sit back and watch and hope these Suns aren't flaming out.

A little...No, very concerned

2007-12-25T20:54:00.000-08:00

The Suns have faced several good teams lately and the tougher competition has given fans and NBA heads a better idea of how good this team actually is. Uneven efforts are going to be there early in the season and teams lose some games they shouldn't lose- that's acceptable. What becoming clearer, the more I listen to Jeff Van Gundy critique the team while they lose on national TV- this team is not as good as last year.

The same can be said for several teams who have awful records (Miami, Chicago) but the Suns' record is good but their play is frustratingly inconsistent. They beat Utah at home, then can't convert in the clutch against New Orleans. They play great defense and get clutch buckets against the Spurs and then spot Dallas 37 points in the 1st quarter of a game they lose by three. They get a balanced effort against Toronto then get worked by the Lakers, who are a better team at this point.

The team just isn't putting together a solid 48 minutes. A major reason (beside starters admittedly not playing hard, poor chemistry and injuries) is the awful bench play. Some games the bench is weakened by LB starting due to Raja's mounting injury issues. Overall though, the bench rarely builds a lead and often treads water until Nash returns to the game- especially against good teams. Similar to football, the formula for success isn't just star players it's an abundance of capable role players. When Coach D'Antoni turns to the bench he gets points from Barbosa, rebounds and blocks from SKinner and whatever from Diaw. In the West, all the teams are deep and right now it looks like the Suns don't have enough versatility for the tougher match-ups.

Watching the team play, it seems they are revealing who they really are after a East-heavy start. The team feasted on the East last year as well but their 12-2 record against the East is the bulk of the "elite" record at this point. In many games the team is playing to the level of the competition and failing to bring consistent energy on defense. Meanwhile, Golden State plays small ball better than PHX and with more athleticism. The Lakers have a stellar bench that scores and defends in relief of Kobe. Just looking at these teams within the division who've handled the Suns to this point is cause for concern. It's becoming obvious it's time for a trade.

They have to bolster their bench or at least give some guys minutes to earn their money. I too have begun to feel as dumbfounded as other fans who don't get how a team can make moves to save money yet play the shortest rotation in the league. Either stop wasting money on practice players or make a move to get some help. Marcus Banks either needs to play or be bought out. Watching Boris Diaw go through the motions makes me sick considering he makes more than players like Marcus Camby and Hedo Turkoglu and about the same as Tayshaun Prince. LB continues to be a great scorer but he isn't a point guard and the 2nd unit offense just stagnates when his shot is off.

Of course with a team over the luxury tax, it's easier said than done but it's obvious on the court that this team is missing something. The team only plays defense when they're down 10 or more. The Suns nastiness seems to primarily reside with Raja Bell. After watching the Lakers highlight reel on Christmas day- the team should be embarrassed with their defense. This is no longer the powerhouse team that came into your arena, lit you up and rolled out with a win. The Suns have a bulls-eye on their back but now they often fold after taking a team's best shot.

I think at this point a personnel move is the way to go. Their role players have bad contracts but they do have a bargaining chip in Atlanta's draft pick. Even if it's a backup point who can actually run an uptempo team and create shots or another shooter, something has to be done because the gap has been closed in the division and the conference. The Suns weaknesses will not go away without a roster move. I'm optimistic the team can improve internally but it will require a far more consistent effort than they've put forth in recent weeks. No matter how good Coach D'Antoni says they are- pathetic defensive efforts like the one against LA are fuel for his critics and proof this roster can't seriously challenge for a title.

1st Quarter

2007-12-09T18:49:00.000-08:00

The 07-08 season is in full swing. Let's discuss...

Record
16-5 (6-2 Home, 10-3 Road)
The good start is welcome after slow starts the last two years. The team has also had a customary early season winning streaks with a 8 gamer and a 5 gamer that were both ended with sluggish road losses.

Starters
Steve Nash (17.9 PPG, 12.3 APG, 46% 3FG) remains a nightmare to guard and gameplan for. Raja Bell (12.0 PPG, 40% 3FG) has found his shot after some injury trouble. Shawn Marion (16.1 PPG, 11 RPG, 2.24 SPG, 1.62 BPG) has let his play silence his offseason trade demand. Grant Hill (15.7 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 3.8 APG) has reminded everyone how deadly this team is with a slasher who has midrange game. Amare Stoudemire (21.1 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 1.78 BPG, 58% FG) has been brilliant but his constant foul trouble translates into an average of 29 minutes a game.

The team boasts the best starting five in the league. With all the injury problems, Nash, Marion and Hill have been the rocks. Nash carried the team early on and as Grant Hill has gotten into 'Phoenix Suns shape' he's proven to be a valuable addition. Even though LB is a tremendous slasher, he a weapon when he comes off the bench. Grant gives the team what they had with Joe Johnson, another playmaker who can score and defend (he's better on D than JJ). Amare has had some monster games but he's a target for opposing defenses. He still picks up silly fouls and takes himself out of games and his rebounding numbers have to be much better. Marion remains one of the leagues best rebounders and glue guys. His shooting numbers haven't been as good and his scoring continues to decline but he is still has a major impact in every game.

Bench
Leandro Barbosa (17.8 PPG, 2.9 APG, 34% 3FG) has been great off the bench and in the starting lineup. Boris Diaw (7.3 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 3.8 APG) continues to be an enigma but does make plays. Brian Skinner (3.9 PPG, 4 RPG, 1.29 BPG) has been another solid addition with good defense and timely offense. Sean Marks, Eric Piatkowski, DJ Strawberry and Alando Tucker have mostly seen blowout minutes.

LB is again leading the team in shots attempted and his big scoring nights prompt people to say he should start. That's precisely the reason Manu Ginobili doesn't start. He brings a change-up and terrorizes other teams 2nd units. Boris is tough to figure out. There are some shots he takes without any hesitation but the creativity he used to show in the post has become a slew of unnecessary passes and turnovers. It shows in the stat sheet in a different way: the +/-. Boris has a +/- of +6 on the season. Compare that with playmakers Nash (+184) Hill (+161) and LB (+72). LB comes off the bench and has an impact, the same can't be said for Boris most nights. This ultimately keeps the rotation short because the team has had trouble stretching leads without Nash on the floor.

Thoughts
The good start is very welcome and we've grown accustomed to the Suns smacking teams once they get into shape. There are few teams with a solid game plans who can beat the Suns straight up without the assistance of injury or a grueling schedule. The upcoming schedule will get tougher and the boys will be rolling out to my backyard to visit the Spurs and Mavs. As Grant Hill has pointed out, the team isn't ultimately concerned about beating teams like New York- or even Atlanta or Minnesota for that matter. It's Dallas and San Antonio that are the real tests for the roster and coaches.

The team has won in different ways including clutch victories and scoring showcases. The blueprint to beating this team however remains to hold them under 100 and pound them inside. The story is there in their losses. The Lakers loss was a fluke. The Atlanta frontline controlled the game (shit the entire team is 6'7" or taller) with STAT out. Golden State relentlessly attacked the rim and outgunned the Suns. Yao finally controlled a game against PHX. Minnesota caught PHX on a back-to-back and got a monster game from Al Jefferson in the post and on the boards. (On a side note, why is Al Jefferson so hard to like as a player. He's destined to be a career loser, which doesn't make me sad.) While that loss was embarrassing the team still shutdown the T'pups in the 4th but couldn't shoot well enough to rally. The key component is the interior. The interior attack lead to easy buckets, offensive rebounds, fouls and free throws. When those numbers pile up, the Suns struggle.

The season long question will be how will the Suns address their weaknesses and cope with defenses that find a way to slow them down. Enter Grant Hill. It's evident at this point why the staff is so high on the guy. Grant is 6'8" and he provides a legit solution to both issues. I've already mentioned the offensive aspects but the defense is key. The Suns are running more double teams and traps at the post to force teams to shoot jump shots. They bank on guys taking the first open bad shot rather than making the extra pass. When doubling, Grant is similar to Marion in that he deflects a lot of balls plus he gives great help and takes charges. The team can switch almost every pick n roll and minimize the mismatches.

The team looks good but they have a long way to go as far as peaking as a unit. The team defense is by far the biggest concern because the team is more geared toward small ball than ever. We'll look at these subjects again in about 20 games.

Definitive Obstructions

2007-11-30T21:40:00.000-08:00

Photo by Barry Gossage via Getty Images

Everyone knows they're favorite players strong points. They know how D-Wade loves to pull up for the mid-range jumper when guys are playing them too loose, just to keep them honest. They know all about how any time Dwight Howard catches a ball near the hoop there's the distinct possibility that the ball will be hitting the ground before he lets go of the rim. They know that regardless of how many people are on Kobe and how highly contested that turnaround-fall-away with three people on him is, he can still make it, and quite often does. It's those things that people pay attention to, the smooth offensive plays and unstoppable power jams that garner the most attention from the fans.

Most people don't realize, however, the limitations of the players they love so dearly. Oh sure, they know all about how Kobe has a tendency to shoot instead of pass, and they know plenty about how Dwight Howard has no business shooting outside of six feet from the basket. Who hasn't heard about how Dirk tends to shy away from contact? Anybody? Most people do realize these things. The not-so-subtle reminders from the players that they are flawed and that, a lot of the time, they don't fully recognize their limitations. For the die hard fans of a certain team, however, one finds out exactly what certain players can and can not do. The plays that the kind of fan who watches all 3936 minutes of the season, plus whatever overtime sessions happen to take place, starts groaning about as soon as they see it developing. The pet peeves that national broadcasters never mention and local broadcasters never bother to mention, for the most part. Considering the fact that I'm that type of fan for the Phoenix Suns, and the whole point of coming to this place is some sort of insight into the game that one wouldn't normally find elsewhere... let's make a list for some of the major players for the Suns.

Steve Nash
It's really hard to pick apart anything that Nash does that is so egregiously wrong from a basketball standpoint that one rips out hair from the roots... except for one nagging problem Nash displays. You won't catch it unless you tend to watch the game off-the-ball a lot, but it just so happens that the most annoying thing that Nash does happens exclusively off the ball. Sometimes you might watch the game and notice, "Hey, Nash doesn't play absolutely awful man to man defense like everyone says. Matter of fact, considering the fact that he's not actually very athletic, that's about as well as you could hope for him to play [insert point guard here]." But then you look at the box score and notice that Francisco Garcia had 31 points or Sasha Vujacic had 12 points in 14 minutes. If you watch those games, it's like "Hey, it doesn't look like Nash is playing bad defense!" until you watch him when those players don't have the ball in their hand. When the ball is on the opposite side of the court, Nash just kind of wanders off into the lane and sometimes, even worse, towards the perimeter in the middle. Now I know what you're thinking... "But Nash needs to be in the lane, he's our shot blocker, our intimidator!"

... Oh wait, he's not? Then why in the world does he wander off his man and let them get wide open shots? Not sure. He draws the occasional charge but, generally speaking, it's not in situations like that. It's on the break, or when the guy he's defending isn't a good shooter. So next time you watch a Suns game, agonize with me in unison as Nash plays eight seconds of excellent defense and then wanders away aimlessly like a 4th grader with ADD in a recreation league.

Raja Bell
What? Our beloved Raja has flaws? Sounds like nonsense, right? Okay... maybe not. But this is the one that sticks out in my mind the most, and every time it happens I nearly crumple into a heap and cry myself to sleep. (Okay, once again, maybe not. It's more of a "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" shouting sort of ordeal.) Raja Bell, bless his heart, thinks he can dribble. I'm not sure what gave him this idea, but he well and truly thinks he's an adept dribbler and will often careen several feet towards the lane for no apparent reason and with no plan in mind. Never mind that he's an outright poor finisher at the hoop and that he's not a good passer (minus entry passes), he's going to pump fake and dribble around for a little while. This is most evident in the open court because, if he gets a rebound, he's taking it all the way up court. Dribbling around his back and through defenders, commonly ending with a turnover as those adept at this "defense" thing I keep hearing about realize that he has no business doing so. Fearless as always, Raja remains undaunted as he dribbles to fifteen feet after a pump fake, goes to the opposite side of the court, backs up a little bit and gives the ball to Steve or Leandro. It gives me indigestion just thinking about it.

Grant Hill
We're still in the honeymoon phase of this free agency signing aren't we? Not quite? Allowed to start nagging? Well, oddly enough, Grant Hill is probably the hardest guy to see any amazing and outstandingly annoying things about, thus far. Maybe it's because he's only been playing for my team for less than 15 games, that's a distinct possibility, but the only thing about Grant's game that I'm really having a hard time dealing with is that he's on the floor almost as much as Manu Ginobili. (But for different reasons usually.) If he attached one of the mop things to the back of his jersey he could help out the kids on both sides of the court quite a bit, they would barely have to go out there to clean up wet spots. I mean, I love that he goes to the basket fearlessly, that's really the best thing about his game... but I think 19 is a bit too young to be developing heart problems because every time you hit the floor my chest stops working for a second. As a key acquisition with serious injury problems, I have a hard time dealing with the fact that no less than nine times a game I think you may have gotten injured, based on the fact that you just fell down at rather accelerated speeds.

While I'm on the subject: Grant Hill is a very good defender, better than advertised for sure. I didn't realize it in the Orlando days, because... well... he was gimpy. Not so gimpy any more though! Gotta love the Phoenix training staff.

Shawn Marion
Shawn is the one that spawned the idea to write this article. Shawn's game is, as always, unique... The one facet of his game that you can always be sure of is that you will never have any idea what in the world he is doing. In fact, you may not always know where he even is while he's in the game. (Which is how he scores quite a few of his points, I'll note.) The one thing that you can always rely on with Shawn? The two dribble rule. Shawn gets two dribbles. If Shawn dribbles more than twice in any half court play, it's not going to end well. Pay close attention, any time he doesn't dribble or dribbles once, it's a high percentage shot. Any time he dribbles twice, there's a good chance that he's going to throw up a 15 foot floater of some sort. Any time he dribbles three times or more, the play ends in a bad shot. A good example would be when Shawn Marion got posted up against the Warriors, I believe it was against Kelenna Azubuike. He got the entry pass, dribbled, tried to create space, dribbled, tried to create space, dribbled... dribbled... threw up a jump hook which had literally zero chance of going in. Or perhaps Shawn will give a fake, get his man in the air... two dribbles, someone steps in front of him, so instead of taking off and going for the foul, he'll cross over a couple times and either take a semi-fade-away from 16-18 feet out or pass the ball out to one of the guards (for aforementioned reasons, hopefully not Raja) and the entire possession's momentum is killed.

That's why I'm hoping D'Antoni reads this and forces Shawn to abide by the two dribble rule. Make it the Two Dribble Law, Mike!

Amare Stoudemire
Foul trouble. That's it. Stop hitting people, Amare. Especially when the Suns have the ball. This isn't really a little known fact or anything, but it's the most frustrating thing about watching the Suns. Watching Amare invariably get a foul or two in the first three minutes is almost enough to reduce the entire city of Phoenix to tears.

That's it for the starting line up. I'll probably end up doing the key contributors off the bench in the future (Namely, Leandro and Boris. Haven't seen enough of Brian Skinner or whoever else is rotting on the bench to really be able to develop pet peeves for them... but I can always make assumptions based on small sample size. Might be the best way to get a job for ESPN or something, come to think of it...

Agree with me? Disagree with me? Thinking of things that I missed? Inebriated and seeking something to do with your time that is generally unproductive? Shoot me an email or leave a comment!

Suns stay hot, doubters get fuel

2007-11-25T20:59:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.

So if you read NBA previews, a lot of people picked the Suns to nab the number one seed in the West and picked the Spurs to repeat. A lot of people knocked the Suns for letting Kurt Thomas go and poo-pooed the Grant Hill signing. A lot of people think this team is entertaining but ultimately won't win in the playoffs. So the whole 82 game regular season is waste and no matter what we should bank on watching someone else raise the trophy.

Meanwhile the Suns are hot right now. They took a back to back set from the Kings. In the first game, they built a built a big lead only to let it melt away in the fourth. Amare Stoudemire (26 pts, 13 reb, 4 blk, 1 stl) was killing the Kings and I had a feeling he would make a decisive play. After clanging two crucial free throws, he blocked a jumper at the buzzer to ice the 100-98 win.

The next night was classic Suns basketball. The Suns came out gunning and put up 47 in the first quarter and 80 in the first half. Nash (20 pts) was aggressive with his shot and dished 15 assists in the 127-111 blowout win.

The short-handed LA Clippers rolled into town on Black Friday and Sam Cassell (26 pts, 18 in 1st half) had it going early. The Suns took control in the second half with better defense and better play from the frontline. Shawn Marion (21 pts, 17 reb, 5 stl, 2 blk) dominated the game, Amare (29 pts, 11 reb, 2 stl) had the offensive touch and Grant Hill (19 pts, 5 reb, 3 ast) made some nice plays including a big follow dunk. The Clippers couldn't hang and lost 113-94.

Thoughts
As far as injuries and playing time, there were a few minute developments this week. Raja Bell did return to the lineup in the Clippers game and while the shot wasn't there, he did make plays in the fourth to help the Suns pull away. Marcus Banks got some good minutes in the second Kings game and played with a lot of confidence. Nash's minutes are down a bit but Marion and Hill are playing big minutes. Nash has become the league leader in assists with 10+ in seven straight games and 15 in three of the last six.

So the winning streak is at eight. Optimists will say the team has played few games at full strength, they are winning ugly games and Hill and Brian Skinner have been very good additions. The doubters aren't impressed by winning streaks, they'll point out that we've played teams missing players and they'll point to Amare's knee surgeries as evidence he's the second coming of Bill Walton.

The question for me is- are these people really Suns fans? I'm questioning their fanhood. EIther you like the team or you don't. Fans root for the guys on the floor and hope for the best. We don't know what'll happen in the regular season nor the playoffs. Injuries, suspensions and clutch performances are dramatic and heart breaking because they are unexpected. Why focus on that now? Just enjoy the process of getting there. This Suns team has exciting players, interesting personalities, and a legit chance to win every time they play. To me this is something to get behind. I could be wrong, maybe people just chase championship teams or sure things and real fanhood is dead.

Suns warming up

2007-11-18T21:55:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of updates Suns fans. I've been a little busy and some games I'm catching on radio (free NBA Audio League Pass FTW) or other means. This past week brought some dysfunctional Eastern conference teams to PHX.

The Knicks came to town with Stephon Marbury. Apparently Isiah Thomas told him he was getting yanked from the starting lineup. Then according to varying accounts, Marbury threatened to blackmail Thomas and possibly tried to fight him. After the summer the Knicks had, kinda makes sense.

Grant Hill had a terrific game, scoring 21 on 8 shots only missing once. Four starters scored over 20 points in the 113-102 win.

I had to listen to this game on internet radio and it was great to hear Al McCoy calling the action. Another strange note after this game. The Suns lead by as many as 21 in the fourth and Knicks bench rallied to cut the lead to 10. Apparently the crowd wasn't too into the game and Coach D'Antoni called out the team's effort and the weak crowd support as well.

The floundering Chicago Bulls limped into PHX to start their annual circus road trip. The only thing interesting about the team has been off the court. The Kobe Bryant trade rumors, Deng and Gordon rejected low ball contract offers and scrubs are calling team meetings about their awful play.

The Suns kept them reeling with a 112-102 win. Grant had another solid game with 24 points, 17 in the first half. The Bulls rallied late behind some hot shooting and a slew of fouls called on Amare Stoudemire. When Amare left the game, Boris Diaw took over.

After an awful start, Boris (10 pts, 7 reb, 5 TO) scored on three straight possessions including a nice AND1 on a give n go with Steve Nash. The team showed a lot of poise as Chicago tightened their defense and started to hit some jumpers. The Suns defense picked up and Phoenix had too many scoring options for Chicago to deal with. Nash (10 pts, 15 ast) found Hill and Marion (21 pts, 9 reb, 2 stl, 2 blk) going to the rim and Barbosa (25 pts, 5-7 3FG) was on fire yet again.

The Suns then went to Houston to face the suddenly cooling Rockets. Tracy McGrady (elbow) is hurt again and the team had dropped 3 straight heading into the matchup. The Rockets improved their bench in the offseason and brought in Rick Adelman to reshape the team into an offensive power to go with their strong defense.

The defense was missing for the Rockets in this one. The Suns came out scorching and dropped 69 in the first half on over 70% shooting. The Suns held off a late Houston rally to win 115-105.

All five starters hit double figure led by Amare and LB with 21 apiece. Amare (8-8 FG, 13 reb, 2 blk) and Shawn Marion (18 pts, 11 reb, 4 blk, 1 stl) combined to shut down Yao Ming (12 pts, 4-17 FG). The Suns shot 62% for the game but wasn't all pretty. The team had 25 turnovers and went 19-29 from the free-throw line to continue the poor early season shooting. The team was missing Raja Bell (ankle). Coach D'Antoni went 8 deep on the bench, getting a couple of threes from the Polish Rifle in a brief stint.

Thoughts
The team is winning despite not playing all that well for long stretches during games. The good record is nothing to complain about though because the West is too strong to fall off the pace. Consider the prospect of being a 3 seed and having to play a six seed like Houston or Denver, a two seed like Dallas and then face the one seed San Antonio. That's just to get to the Finals where Detroit or Boston could be waiting.

I'm surprised by the vast amount of complaining about the team. D'Antoni's comment about the crowd is rather bold to me because I've felt for years the Suns have no homecourt advantage. The crowd is only fired up when the team is front running and popular road teams still draw large contigents in the USAC. The crowd may feed off the team but it seems like whenever the team doesn't play well or even wins ugly, it's a travesty. TIcket prices are expensive though, maybe it is a travesty when you drop a couple grand and the team looks sluggish.

Sure the playoffs left a bad taste in everyone's mouth but getting back there is a six month process. The team has injuries and new personnel to absorb into the Suns culture. So far the results are mixed but they are finding ways to win games. The regular season does matter. Chicago dropped their last game of the season last year and gave Cleveland an easy road to the Eastern Conference Finals and got Miami and Detroit in the first two rounds. We want to see this team peaking in April but they will have to win at a consistent clip to get the 1 or 2 seed in the West.

I'm liking Grant Hill more as he finds his niche with the team. He's taking fewer threes and he's taking them in the corners. He's been putting up good scoring nights on few shots. He's playing big minutes though and D'Antoni needs to cut them back for the long haul. Sidenote on Grant. I watched the Oprah episode he shot between the games with New York and Chicago. He said some stuff about being a father to daughters that I felt was really powerful. It's to see our favorite team has real character guys on the roster.

The scoring outputs are increasing and efforts have been promising given that the team has played few games at full strength. I personally would like to see more bench minutes but the team has to do a better job of stretching leads. The schedule is light on elite teams and the team has 4 out of 6 at home before the next big Eastern swing. There's a good chance to stretch this win streak as guys continue to get healthy.

Suns' Week in Pictures

2007-11-10T11:08:00.000-08:00

* The pics that mention scores link to box scores.

A Season In Review

2007-11-05T21:56:00.000-08:00

How far are we into the season? Three games? It's practically over, right? Okay. Then it's time to review the performance of our players, clearly.

Thus far, in 2/3rds of our games (That's 67%!) the Suns have beat a team that they should have no problem beating. So far, in 3/3rds of our games (That's 100%!) we have failed to show up to play through the first 30 minutes of the game. In 1/3rd of the games (That's 33%!), the Suns flat out failed to come alive for those last 18 minutes and continued to play like garbage until garbage time, when, oddly enough, they played quite well.

Now, I'm not overly concerned, the season just started, after all. Everyone knows the Suns have talent, a good system, and enough firepower to win 60 games. The problem in all this? The Suns themselves don't seem overly concerned. That's a big problem. We as fans know this, but the players, the coaching staff... they have to work as hard as possible to keep that status as an elite team. If they don't wake up and start playing in the first half, it could cause problems. We are talented enough to beat teams with middling-to-low levels of talent. (Like Cleveland or Seattle, and honestly, we still could have won in L.A. if they didn't play like crap in the 3rd quarter.) We can't let elite teams blow us out in the first half and then just go ahead and come back though, against elite teams we would have thrown all three games away.

It's clear that the Suns aren't completely healthy. Amare's knee seemed to bug him in L.A, Raja might as well not be playing (And yet, he's barely leaving the game. Odd), Leandro's elbow is clearly still bugging him, along with the rib thing.

In other news, D'Antoni is still overplaying his starters. Against Cleveland, Grant Hill (the guy who's minutes need to be limited) played 40 minutes and 8 seconds. Shawn played 45 minutes and 42 seconds. Raja played an agonizing 40 minutes and 29 seconds of poor offense and mediocre defense. (First part is fine, he'll get his rhythm, the defense part is absolutely awful though. That's why he's on the team. He's got tendonitis right now, for Christ's sakes. That doesn't mean play him for the majority of the game, that means take it easy.) All in all, my biggest criticism is that here, early in the season, the time to give bench guys chances to prove what they can do, D'Antoni is running his starters straight into the ground. It seems unnecessary, especially considering how banged up some of the major rotation guys are.

Will these problems be solved shortly? Will the team wake up in the first half? Will the Suns go on a team hunting trip and develop an eternal sense of conviviality that lasts through the years, then accidentally shoot Sean Marks with a crossbow?

Only time will tell.

Win for the Godfather

2007-11-04T22:14:00.000-08:00

Sunday's night game is definitely one I would have loved to have been at. While the Suns play was uneven, the halftime festivities were special as Jerry Colangelo was added to the Ring of Honor. The Suns responded by making a run and put away the Cavaliers in the second half 103-92

I was happy the NBATV feed showed the ceremony because KJ and Thunder Dan gave emotional speeches and it was cool to see all the Suns legends (except the seriously ill Connie Hawkins) all together to honor Colangelo. The man is one of the fixtures in the American basketball and he helped turn Phoenix into the sports hub it is today. While some fans may balk at that idea, Phoenix has all four major sports, spring training, two college bowls, another Superbowl next year, major NASCAR and PGA tour stops and Colangelo had a direct or residual influence on a lot of it.

Positives
Steve Nash (30 pts, 10 ast) took over the game in the second half. He killed Cleveland's bigs on switches. The defensive rotations were also much sharper in the second half as the team trapped and doubled to force tough shots.

Concerns
Big starters minutes even though the team was a man down. (The +/- bears out the starters were very effective). The shooting from the field and the line is pretty bad so far.

Thoughts
This is a game you gotta win. It's almost like homecoming. While the Cavaliers are no pushover, you can't lose in front of all the legends (or a 2nd straight at home for that matter). Perhaps this motivation and a few coaching adjustments sparked the second half run.

Since it's still so early, I'm looking for things to pick out of every game. The more I watch Grant Hill, the more I like him as a Sun. I think he's still thinking on the offensive end but he makes a lot of smart plays. If he commits a turnover, he immediately looks for a way to get it back- be it a steal or catching a big not looking and taking a charge. I really love how he slashes to the rim and creates contact.

Eastern road swing this week. The Bobcats and Hawks have looked decent early so the competition will be good and we'll see if Amare is ready to go after sitting out Sunday. All the teams they'll face have good young big men (and of course Shaq) so this small lineup will need a defensive effort like the second half of this game to avoid getting pounded inside.

Time to get in shape

2007-11-03T13:18:00.000-07:00

Here's ten things I thought about during last night's loss.

1. Even people who don't watch basketball want to know if Kobe is getting traded. Some dude at the gas station asked me about it. I think he was a terrorist.

2. Tons of people complimented me on my KJ jersey yesterday. One Spurs fan at work yelled Phoenix sucks! F-cking guys on the Back Office team. KJ will be in Phoenix when Jerry Colangelo gets added to the ring of honor Sunday.

3. Raja is off. Doesn't have his legs yet.

4. The team got in at 4 am from Seattle. The early season can be tough for good teams because they play lot of TV games and they have home/road back-to-backs.

5. The defense was awful. Once the Laker bench got hot, there was no way PHX was coming back.

6. Kobe hates playing against PHX despite his big scoring nights. When his teammates play well, he's told to be a distributor and he goes cold. As he misses shots trying to heat up and stretch a lead, the Suns comeback. Didn't happen last night because his teammates were so ridiculously hot they didn't need his offense.

7. DJ Strawberry does look like an NBA player. He moves really well and he has a ton of energy. If he can learn from Grant and Marion, he could be a real steal.

8. Sasha Vujacic needs to be bitch slapped.

9. Coach D'Antoni talking shit to Phil Jackson is awesome. People forget dude was a legend in Italy. He's probably fought a guy or two in the discotheques of Milan.

10. It'll be a good 15-20 games before we know what kind of team this is. I look forward to seeing how they gel over the 1st quarter of the season.

Suns beat Sonics in season opener

2007-11-01T23:20:00.000-07:00

Suns take the season opener 106-99 over the Seattle Supersonics.

Not gonna write much of a recap because it's kinda late and I watched the game on DVR. We've got the Lakers tonight though so that should be fun. Feel free to talk it out in the comments. Just as a heads up, I usually write about every game and write a quarterly recap every 20 games or so.

Positives
Amare Stoudemire (23 pts, 11 reb, 1 blk) looked very good offensively and avoided foul trouble in the second half. Marcus Banks' personal 9-0 run snatched momentum away from the Sonics late in the third quarter.

Concerns
Shawn Marion had a decent night but had stretches were he was seemingly going through the motions. Grant Hill (4-5 twos, 1-7 threes) is finding his way in the offense but should stick with the slashing and midrange game for now. Boris!!! He had the best +/- of the night but still was too passive.

Thoughts
It was so nice to actually watch this team play. I wasn't able to catch any of the preseason stuff and while opening week is always pretty sketchy quality wise, I like the win. Marcus Banks played with confidence and after hitting a three to answer an open shot he gave up to Wally World- he waved off D'Antoni who was on his case. He was key off the bench and it's good to see him play well with LB and Raja a little banged up.

I don't think Grant really needs to add the three from all angles to his game. I do like him shooting in the corner because the Suns have set plays designed to get corner threes. The corner three is the shortest three but it is also a fastbreak starter for the opposing team. Bad corner threes are coach killers, good ones are the Suns' bread and butter. Even when Boris added the shot to his arsenal last year, it was always in the corner. I think there is a chapter in one of Phil Jackson's books about corner threes.

It was sloppy but it's nice to take the opener for the first time in three years. I think as the team gets healthy and Grant finds his game within the system- it'll be pretty basketball to watch. The early season slate is pretty light on good teams so it'd be nice to see the team get off to a good start and keep 9-10 guys in the rotation and even get the rookies some blowout minutes. I'm curious to see the lineups that will play best together and develop that chemistry we're looking for.

Being Steve Nash: 07-08 Phoenix Suns Preview

2007-10-30T18:53:00.001-07:00

The end to last season sucked. (As I type this the Sp*rs are getting their rings.) We've heard plenty of whining, complaining, conspiracy theories and trade rumors to try and cope with that fact. The new season is here.

We've taken time this summer to look at how the returning players on our favorite team could improve this summer. Amare wants revenge, Marcus Banks wants playing time, Shawn Marion wants $60 million dollars, the front office wants to stay away from the luxury tax. What does Steve Nash want? He wants a ring.

Last season's Steve Nash was the culmination of two years of hype and his rise into the NBA upper crust. Nash is now a guy people will pay to see play. Nash played with an edge last season and his focus on winning a title produced some great basketball. However but we've read comments from Coach D'Antoni that the team was too stressed out by expectations and it hurt their chemistry late in the year before all the drama of the Sp*rs series.

So what can we expect from the NBA's best teammate this year? How can Nash improve? What can he do to bring the Finals and the chance at the trophy back to PHX? Make it work.

Suns fans aren't the only people interested in Nash. He's been on magazine covers, interviewed by Charlie Rose, profiled in the NY Times and had a major charity event in China with Yao Ming. Steve Nash the conscious celebrity has been busy but what about the baller.

Nash is a true point guard so his teammates, their psyches and skill sets are all part of his success. Guys need to be ready to play when Nash is on the court. Looking at the roster, I can't help but be excited for the season.

The Suns kept their core intact and that feat alone may prove to be more significant than the seemingly bad trades made by newbie GM Steve Kerr. The roster the Suns will put on the floor opening night will be small and probably more suited to Coach D'Antoni's style than any other roster he has had. Nash has plenty of weapons.

Amare Stoudemire is a legit MVP candidate. Perhaps he will make the step defensively to being a truly dominant player but he'll need the easy shots Nash creates to save some energy for defense.

Adding Grant Hill does make the Suns a better team. His skill set even after the injuries fits perfect in this system and his character only serves to amplify the vibe Nash has tried to use to lead this team.

Shawn Marion does not owe his career to Steve Nash. He has been fortunate however to have played with Jason Kidd, Stephon Marbury and now Nash. Marion makes the point guards look good with his finishing ability and he does the dirty work to keep the team successful. Nash keeps Marion on Sportscenter.

Boris Diaw has reported to camp in shape and with some aggressiveness. This is a welcome change after Nash was very obvious and pointed with criticism of Diaw's timid play last season. Coach D'Antoni shuffled Boris in the lineup but never criticized him. He'll need to bring a solid effort in his reserve role which will require playmaking and banging with bigs.

Leandro Barbosa seems ready for a bust out year or perhaps some regression as injuries seem to be mounting for the speedster. I'd expect a slow start and furious finish from LB.

Raja Bell has continued his rise to stardom and hopefully has recovered from off season knee surgery. His defense and shooting are invaluable against the dynamic wing players.

Last year's bench busts Sean Marks and Marcus Banks had some impressive moments in the preseason and perhaps might nab some minutes in the regular rotation. Marks will compete with newcomer Brian Skinner for the big man minutes.

The team has rookies for the first time in a while and DJ Strawberry looked very impressive from all accounts in the preseason. Alando Tucker may not be ready for prime time just yet but hopefully he'll be a player that D'Antoni develops.

So that's the roster, what do I think about the season? Here's what I know:

1. The season is too long. Adding in the the international tuneups for the Olympics, players are playing basketball year round and will be forced to pick their spots during the season. The Suns have three key players who played this summer.

2. The West is as brutal as ever. The Mavs will be just as fired up as the Suns feeling their best chance at a title ended prematurely. The Spurs have everything in place to attempt to repeat, except Tim Donaghy. The Rockets added a new coach and good players. The Nuggets are (somewhat) healthy and have Iverson for a full season. Even the bad teams have promising rookies who may spark an upset or two.

3. The East is actually League Pass worthy. The Celtics will be fun to watch, especially when the inevitable fight with the Knicks breaks out. All the good teams in the East have major flaws which may make for entertaining basketball and a competitive regular season. But we still want Atlanta to suck because we get their pick regardless next summer. OJ Mayo or Michael Beasley in a Suns uniform would be nice.

Here's what I don't know:
1. 60 wins seems like fools gold. The sheer number of shit teams makes for plenty of easy nights. But the push for homecourt advantage or the rhythm of winning streaks makes for plenty of nights where guys don't want to give an inch. There will be plenty of times this season where Coach D'Antoni will have to make the choice to let a few games go or go a little bit longer with the rookies. What impact will it have on the win total?

2. Is Marion really all that unhappy? Two thoughts. 1, there are plenty of third bananas who piled up rings. James Worthy, Horace Grant, Robert Parish, the list goes on. Who cares how much credit you get if you have a legit chance to win? 2, Marion plays well with a chip on his shoulder and he might have to carry the Suns to a title if he thinks he's worth $20 million. Marion will be fine. It'll be a shame to see him go next summer. Gilbert Arenas will look good in purple though.

3. Is Grant Hill the missing piece? Part of me has flashbacks to the Sprite commercials (He's a Cowboy), the dunks and even the Duke highlights and I hope he gets the Gary Payton championship. Sure he's a little worn down but he'll make plays and even win a game or two himself. The other part of me thinks about his injury history and I want him to travel everywhere by Segway and hope that D'Antoni sits him during back to backs. More than anything, he's the slasher and midrange player the Suns have been missing. This might be the most complete offensive team we'll ever see play. The overhyped D'Antoni "style" (you know passing and shooting when open) may breakthrough because no defense can account for all the options.

The Suns are a year older and have learned from being at the center of controversy during probably the worst NBA season ever (unless you count 1999 when the Sp*rs won the lockout title). They have a chip and it will translate into playoff success. The Sp*rs are just a year older. They are a target than can be beaten and that will be beaten without the aid of 1990's rules or crooked referees.

While the whispers about Amare being 2005 good, Grant Hill being 1995 good and Marion being a distraction may be season-long storylines- most of the focus will be on Nash. He's the NBA's best leader and while this group is very talented, they'll need some guidance, great performances and good chemistry to win it all.

The playoffs are a loooooong way away though. Personally I'd much rather see a 10 man rotation, starters minutes in the low 30s and a bench who stretches leads more than 60+ wins. (Both would nice though.) How the Suns approach the regular season will be a major part of their overall success this year. It's time to run.

Phoenix Suns - 07-08 Season Preview

2007-10-20T19:36:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again, preseason is finishing up and regular season is approaching as rapidly as someone doing 25 MPH in a 65 MPH zone. (Slowly. Very slowly.) To prepare you, the fan, for the upcoming season... here is what you can expect out of the Suns upcoming season. The facts, the various tidbits, and all that other juicy stuff that you wish you knew and I like to act like I know.

Also: Sorry for the sparing updates. Brian seems to be busy, Hersey has crap to do and apparently I've got this work and college thing to do. So my apologies go out to all the readers (Current Approximate Reader Count: 2.7 people.) who like to get their Suns info from the good folks here at The Rising Suns.

Roster

Name	Position	Height	WT	School	Years Pro
Marcus Banks	PG	6'2	212	Nevada-Las Vegas	4
Leandro Barbosa	PG/SG	6'3	202	Brazil	4
Raja Bell	SG	6'5	215	Florida International	7
Boris Diaw	G-F-C	6'8	235	France	4
Richie Frahm	SG	6'6	202	Gonzaga	3
Grant Hill	SG/SF	6'8	225	Duke	12
Shawn Marion	SF/PF	6'6	230	UNLV	8
Sean Marks	PF/C	6'10	250	California	7
Steve Nash	PG	6'3	178	Santa Clara	11
Eric Piatkowski	SG/SF	6'7	215	Nebraska	13
Brian Skinner	PF/C	6'9	255	Baylor	9
Amare Stoudemire	PF/C	6'10	249	Cypress Creek (Orlando, FL)	5
D.J. Strawberry	PG/SG/SF	6'5	201	Maryland	R
Alando Tucker	SG/SF	6'6	205	Wisconsin	R

Things to look out for:
Don't expect Richie Frahm to last past the preseason. If he's still on the roster, it will be because he really showed something good to D'Antoni (unlikely, despite his nice shooting nights against the Clippers), but other than that, the roster is pretty much set in stone short of an unforeseen trade.

Position	Starter	Back Up	Reserves
PG	Steve Nash	Leandro Barbosa	Marcus Banks
SG	Raja Bell	Leandro Barbosa	Alando Tucker, DJ Strawberry, Eric Piatkoski
SF	Grant Hill	Alando Tucker	DJ Strawberry, Eric Piatkowski
PF	Shawn Marion	Boris Diaw	Brian Skinner, Sean Marks
C	Amare Stoudemire	Boris Diaw	Brian Skinner, Sean Marks

Player	Projected MPG
Steve Nash	32
Raja Bell	34
Grant Hill	28
Shawn Marion	36
Amare Stoudemire	34
Leandro Barbosa	30
Boris Diaw	28
Alando Tucker	4
Marcus Banks	4
DJ Strawberry	4
Brian Skinner	6
Everyone else	Negligible

When all is said and done, those are the minutes I expect out of D'Antoni. Now, I'm hoping for less minutes from all of the starters and a bit more time out of Alando Tucker, Marcus Banks, DJ Strawberry and Brian Skinner, but I'll not be expecting any miracles. As is well documented, D'Antoni likes to play a short rotation and the one listed has 11 people on it. (4 over what he wants, 3 over what he expects to play.) I'm very interested to see our young players (DJ, Marcus, Alando) go out there and play some quality minutes, and as always, I'm rooting for Leandro to continue his growth as a player and I pray in earnest that Boris decides that him shooting on occasion would be a good idea. (Another long shot, I know.)

All in all, over the last three years I have been one game off on my prediction every year... and this is the year I intend to hit it on the nose. Expect 60 wins out of the Suns this year... because I'm predicting 61.

Bonus: Scouting reports on key players for the Suns, minus the rookies. Haven't seen enough of the rookies to do a proper scouting report yet. Hey, who wants to hire a basketball scout? I'm totally available.

Steve Nash
One of the most complete offensive players in the league, equally adept with his left and right hand, both finishing and off the dribble. Better shooting off the dribble than as a set shooter, though you don't see him getting an awful lot of set shots. Shoots and insane percentage from the field, primarily from jump shots, has one of the purest shots in the league. Gets a decent amount of rebounds for a PG. Arguably the best passer in the league, and the only argument for someone other than Nash would be Jason Kidd. Isn't as bad defensively as his reputation would say, finds himself in the right position on the court most of the time, but tends to wander off of his man. (This is especially evident when he's guarding a set shooter, as they get a lot of corner threes.) Draws a lot of charges in the process. Not very good man-to-man defense against quicker guards, but doesn't do a bad job on big, strong guards. Is pass first, shoot later, almost to a fault sometimes. Plays the pick and roll game as well as anyone in the league, as he can shoot if the defender sags off, hit his man if they trap and can push the ball straight to the hoop if they don't attack the pick. Looks for his own shot in the final seconds, and generally hits it.

Raja Bell
Very good spot up shooter. Goes through hot and cold streaks with his shot though, can have a great quarter and go completely cold or be completely cold and all the sudden hit four in a row. Can't finish around the basket. Decent ball handler in the open court, but basically useless as a ball handler in the half court, though he will give a pump fake and put the ball on the floor for a quick jumper or try to make a pass if the defense does collapse. Does, however, throw good entry passes into the post. Tenacious defender, but isn't as physically gifted as most of the premier defenders or people he's guarding in the league. Makes up for lack of athleticism and wingspan through pure energy. (Drinks a pot of coffee and has an energy drink before every game.) One of the most notorious floppers in the league, and does a great job of drawing his man into a physical match up and then making the ref notice when his man starts pushing back. Very good understanding of defensive positioning and team defense, makes good rotations. Very competitive, one of those "Can't stand to lose" players that every team loves. Can be severely limited offensively if you just stay on him at the three point line, as he doesn't take many mid range jumpers and can't finish around the rim.

Grant Hill
At one time was considered a premier player in the league, and still has the same skills and intangibles that made him such a great player, but lacks the athleticism to dominate like he used to. Excellent midrange game, both off of set shots and off the dribble. One of the best finishers in the league around the rim, uses the backboard very well and does a good job of finishing with contact. A step slower than he used to be, and his defense has suffered for it, despite being a very heady defensive player who does a good job with rotations and covering most wing players. Has apparently been working on his three point range in the offseason, and has shot fairly well from beyond the arc in the preseason. Very high basketball IQ, understand the game and does a good job making the opposition make quick decisions. Good passer for a wing man. Extremely injury prone over the last few years... will the Suns training staff, noted for staving off injuries despite long minutes and a fast pace, be able to keep him healthy? (Not the safest bet...)

Shawn Marion
A legit 25-12 player for stretches of the season, and at other times a 10-5 type of player. Not inconsistent game-by-game or quarter by quarter, but instead goes through stretches of time where he is playing great or playing poorly. Gets more plays run for him than most people would realize, though most of them are back door cuts and drawn up lob plays. Great finisher around the basket if he doesn't get hit or doesn't have someone big contesting it, though seems to rush lay ups around the hoop if a big man is breathing down his neck. Gets a lot of garbage buckets and hustles 100% of the time on the floor. Relies a lot on the defense losing track of him for his points, a disciplined defensive team that plays man-to-man without much switching gives him fits. Excellent man to man defender and an excellent team defender. Capable of averaging 2 steals and 2 blocks over the course of a season, though it hasn't happened yet and isn't necessarily a safe bet. Excellent rebounder, though he doesn't actually do a lot of boxing out, relies on his athleticism and speed to just beat guys to the spot and grab it before they can. Has without a doubt the quickest second jump in the league, can jump, come down and jump again without losing any vertical in the process. Shaky jumper, can hit them if he's wide open but you won't see him hit many contested shots. Not a very good passer, but doesn't often have the ball in his hands unless he's finishing a play or grabbing a rebound. One of the best guys in the league at grabbing a rebound and pushing the ball up the floor or making a quick outlet pass, every time he gets a board and there's an opportunity, it's a fast break. Very poor ball handler, generally the only time he's handling the ball is in the open floor. If the defender closes out on the shot fast enough, Shawn generally gives a ball fake and dribbles to his left. Will only take it all the way to the hoop on the rare occasion that there is no rotation so he has a free lane, otherwise will dribble a couple times and pass the ball out or take a quick floater from around 10-15 feet out.

Amare Stoudemire
Probably the best finisher around the basket in the league, not just dunks but has a great touch around the rim with lay ups, finishing after contact, drawing contact, and using the backboard. Perhaps the best big in the league right now at running the pick and roll, does an incredible job of creating angles when moving off the ball. (Yes, it's not just Nash throwing great passes, Amare creates angles with his movement and does so extremely well.) Will catch any pass that's remotely catchable, has wide receiver type of hands and makes passers look good with his unlikely catches. (He is the anti-Kwame Brown.) Very reliable shot out to 18 feet and has reportedly been working tirelessly in the offseason to extend his shot to NBA 3PT range. (Shot a couple in the Olympics, going 2/3. Hit a couple in last year's playoffs as well.) Has an incredible face up game, as he is faster and more explosive than most guys his size and is stronger than the bigs that are able to match his quickness. Has a decent back to the basket game which is almost never utilized in the half court. (Reliable fade away jumper, baseline spin move and a floater in the lane. I can't recall him ever shooting a hook shot in his entire career.) Despite his freakish athleticism, isn't a good defender in the post. Man to man in the post tends to use his upper body entirely too much and picks up a lot of ticky tack fouls. Is a good weak side help defender and can definitely block shots, has good timing on his shot blocking too, but goes after fakes too much and gets burned a lot. Has showed more discipline defensively with each passing year, but defense is still far from his strong suit. One of the better offensive rebounders in the league, and hits the defensive glass fairly well, though he doesn't always do very well positioning wise, he has a knack for going after the ball. Gets to the foul line constantly, and shoots a good percentage. Doesn't pass an awful lot. Once he gets the ball, chances are he's going to take the shot.

Leandro Barbosa
Is in the short running for fastest player in the league, and is without a doubt in my mind the fastest player with the ball in his hands in the league, can run as fast with the ball as without it. Very pure shot, even with the goofy shooting mechanics. Will drain threes all game long if you leave him. Good finisher around the hoop, though he does have a tendency to miss some shots he should make due to the speed at which he plays. Uses the glass very well, and will generally look for angles off of the glass rather than the direct approach. Has an underutilized midrange game that would help him tremendously if he used it more, as most of his shots come from either 22 feet and out or 5 feet and in, very little in between. (Has reportedly been working on his pull up jumper extensively in the offseason, and it looked good during the FIBA tournament.) Explosive score-first combo guard who can run an offense but isn't quite as comfortable running an offense as he is scoring. Decent passer, can hit the open man and can drive-and-dish quite well if the defense collapses on him. Fairly good rebounder, especially at his size. Freakishly long arms, 6'10 wingspan on the pre-draft measurements, and he has actually grown since then. (Could realistically be around 6'4 with a 6'11 wingspan now.) Stronger than his frame would indicate. Is a so-so defender, puts effort into it but seems to lack a lot of the basic defensive instincts that would help him out tremendously on that end. Plays very physical on defense, but wild, and picks up a lot of fouls that he didn't need to pick up. Draws quite a few charges nonetheless, due to his quickness. Plays the passing lanes extremely well, quite the ball hawk if the opposing team is getting lazy. Tends to get exploited by bigger, scoring two guards who can post up. (Such as Jerry Stackhouse.) Prefers to go drive to his left, but generally finishes with his right hand. Hasn't shown much consistency finishing with his left hand. Is an exceptional ball handler, ball hounds won't get many turnovers unless it's in the passing lanes.

Boris Diaw
One of the most well rounded players in the league, can do a little bit of everything. Can realistically play any position on the floor except shooting guard. (Most people list him as being able to play any position... but he can't play shooting guard.) Very athletic, though it isn't very apparent by how he plays. (He won a dunk contest in France. Did you see the free throw line dunk?) Has a nice set of post moves, and actually plays in the post with his back to the basket more often than Amare does. Has a nice little jump hoot in the lane, a floater, and likes to take the ball to the right side of the hoop and go glass. Plays in the high post a lot too. Would be well served to play more aggressively, sometimes it's like playing 4-on-5 when Boris is refusing to shoot. Is a very good passer, but passes entirely too often... he passes up nearly uncontested lay ups to dish it out to the perimeter all the time. Has range out to about 18 feet, and will take the occasional corner three. Very good ball handler for his size, and can guard most point guards without much problem. Plays good post defense, but shies away from physical contact a lot, much to his disadvantage. Is strong enough to guard most big men, and quick enough to stay in front of most guards. Generally seems to lack intensity when he's out on the court, despite his talent level. (Which isn't to say he doesn't try, it's just that he's not a high energy guy.) When he's playing aggressively he gets all the other facets of his game going accordingly, and is a legit triple double threat. When he's not playing aggressively, he is basically a secondary ball handler so that Barbosa doesn't have to set up the offense. Hasn't seemed to mesh very well on-court with Amare Stoudemire, defying all odds by having a pass-first guy have a hard time meshing with a finish-at-all-costs guy.

I might do the scouting reports for Brian Skinner, Sean Marks, Marcus Banks, Alando Tucker and DJ Strawberry at a later date, depending on if... well, if D'Antoni actually plays them enough for me to realistically give an accurate depiction of their game.

Questions? Comments? Critiques? Post in the comments section or email me about it!

From Start To Finish

2007-10-13T12:44:00.000-07:00

While watching the first game of the preseason, something struck me as peculiar towards the end of the third quarter and into the fourth quarter. We went through a stretch of the game where the most consistent outside shooter on the floor for the Suns was Marcus Banks... which means a couple things. One, Marcus Banks' shot looks much better than it did before, I no longer cringe and hope for a long rebound as opposed to expecting the shot to go in when he gets an open look. That's definitely an upgrade. But it also means something else, which is both fascinating and funny, given the team that had done it.

The Suns came out with a line up including Marcus Banks, DJ Strawberry, Alando Tucker, Boris Diaw and Sean Marks for a period of time... and the Suns pulled away. They didn't do it through the usual array of irrepressible scoring prowess, flinging three after three at the hoop in a barrage that made the opposition hang their heads in shame... nope... they played defense. Excellent defense. And, following that, put their head down and went to the rack, clawing desperately at a chance for a lay up, dunk, or free throw. It's not something that Suns fans are used to seeing, outside of the occasional Amare isolation play.

Through this stretch, DJ Strawberry played outstanding man and team defense, Marcus Banks pressured his man all the way up the court, Boris Diaw denied the ball in the post, Alando Tucker stuck his man through screens, and Sean Marks made a legitimate attempt to block every shot that came at him. (He still wasn't actually playing good defense, but he made an effort to do so.)

The Kings second (and part of it's third) unit scored 9 points in the 6-7 minutes from where Barbosa left the game to when Barbosa had to come back in after Marks somehow managed to foul out. Now, I'm about the biggest Barbosa fan out there, and in no way am demeaning his game... but the Suns can now field a legitimate five man unit that is all about defense and can still score. Substitute Sean Marks with Brian Skinner, and you've got a legit interior defender, and only one man in the starting 7 of the rotation involved (Diaw).

The new look of athletic finishers who play gritty, hard nosed defense could find the Suns starters resting easy as the Suns have a line up available where, once they have taken the lead, they ought to be able to keep it, and even get some opposing players in foul trouble when things are clicking properly, something that was never available before and something which always seemed to push D'Antoni into having to keep his starters in well after they should have gotten some rest. Garbage time has a new meaning in Phoenix... but does it have to be garbage time?

An eight point lead leading late into the 3rd quarter, a unit to bring in when the opposing team is making a run on the oft-beleaguered defense of the starting unit, perhaps a unit that will find it's way permanently into D'Antoni's game plan. It may be a lot to ask, but hey... sometimes, dreams come true.

Added bonus:

Watching Grant Hill with a Suns uniform was a thing of absolute beauty. The Suns have plenty of players who will shoot the open three or dish it off to the next player for their attempt at a three... but with Grant Hill, the Suns have someone who will force the issue, take the mid range jumper, take it to the basket (and finish), and force defenders to make a decision on how they want to get beat. I love it.

More Surgery

2007-10-01T21:00:00.000-07:00

Arizona Republic

Suns All-Star center Amaré Stoudemire did not get on the team bus to Tucson today because he is scheduled to undergo an arthroscopy on his right knee Tuesday morning.

It will be Stoudemire's third knee surgery in two years but it is not the knee that undwent the microfracture procedure two years ago, when he left the Suns' last training camp in Tucson for an exploratory scope. That scope showed a lesion requiring a microfracture procedure to repair.

All I can say is: Let's hope it's just loose debris. If he ends up with another serious surgery, I think I'm going to cry.

Carousel of the Sun

2007-09-28T00:41:00.000-07:00

The Suns have had a long history of being a team that will "make the deal". This theoretical deal, of course, is the deal where they will make a big trade in order to get better, or to fix the team. From the deal sending Jeff Hornacek, Tim Perry and Andrew Lang to Philly for the off beat yet supremely talented Charles Barkley, to not so heralded deals like Danny Manning, Pat Garrity and two first round draft picks being thrown at Orlando for the not-quite-the-same-any-more version of Penny Hardaway. Anybody else remember Steve Nash to the Dallas Mavericks for Martin Muursepp and Bubba Wells, the draft rights to forward Pat Garrity and a 1999 first-round draft pick. (The pick eventually becoming the player who seems to be giving people in Phoenix headaches of late.)

But for much different reasons, the Suns were also more than willing to trade off Jason Kidd as soon as Jason "The" Kidd started having some legal issues, Brian Colangelo didn't hesitate to trade him off for Stephon Marbury. And as soon as the Suns felt that they had gone as far as they could with Stephon Marbury, Brian sent him right out to clear up cap space for another series of aggressive moves to get back in contention.

And after the 04-05 season, with the Suns recording a monstrous 62-20 season, taking the league by storm. After redefining the fast break game once again and injecting some energy into the league, Brian went right about dismantling it once more. Joe Johnson, gone. Quentin Richardson's tenure ended up being a one year tenure, new starters Boris Diaw and Raja Bell are brought in... and not only that, but even through the Suns losing Amare Stoudemire, they managed an impressive 54-28 record.

But now? Where have all the Colangelo's gone? (Not into new "Oreo's Colangelo's 'N Cream", to my most immediate knowledge.) They are no where to be found. Interim GM Mike D'Antoni made some minor moves, picking up bench players who he didn't seem to want to play. And now, we've got our apparent heir to Brian Colangelo, Steve Kerr...

As much of a fan of Steve Kerr's game as I am, and as much as I love his commentating style, is this really the move a team who is contending for a title *RIGHT NOW* wants to do? It's very clear that Steve knows what he's talking about and has a ton of NBA experience, but he's never served in this capacity before and, thus far, has been used for primarily for cap clearing maneuvers. (Which I didn't like... which is a bit of an understatement, but no use crying over spilled milk.) At this point, I would have been begging Jerry Colangelo to step in as interim GM for however long they could manage to keep him here, not bring in a brand new GM into a very delicate situation where he will take heat for basically anything he does, with an owner who doesn't have the money to actually splurge on the team he's investing in.

Which begs the point... will this off season be yet another carousel? With Brian Colangelo gone, will the Suns still be willing to make the big move to make the team better ... or the big move that has to be done simply because the team won't function properly without a move being made? Or will a brand new GM find himself under the gun and hoping that all of his players are on their best behavior, for fear of actually making a move to fix the problem.

The Suns have always been willing to make the big move, sign the big player, or move a key piece if it would help them to maintain their quest for a title. But with a new look in the Suns front office... will the Suns make the big move, the right move for the right now... or will they hope that the gash in the team's chemistry will heal up without a scar.

What if the cut gets infected? Remember the 04-05 Timberwolves? Sometimes, you have to make the decision on whether to amputate the foot or risk losing the entire leg.

Marion wants out

2007-09-25T23:26:00.000-07:00

Shawn Marion has asked to be traded and has gone public with his feelings. He's sick of the trade rumors and wants to end it with an actual...trade.

EDIT: Marion wants to go to the Lakers.

According to Suns beat writer Paul Coro, well publicized talks with Utah for AK47 as well as the Lakers dangling Lamar Odom are the only known offers at this point.

Here's a few thoughts:

Shawn complains that they tried to force his hand to Boston. So rather than play with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, he squashes the KG deal and now WANTS to be traded?

There is no way you trade him to the f-ing Lakers unless we get Kobe in return (yeah right). You don't ever make your rival better.

I only like the deal for AK47, if we get Paul MIllsap too.

While I love Marion because he's an awesome player on my favorite team, he's not a victim. He wants superstar recognition and he's been enjoying superstar spoils. Like Zei illustrated in his last post, Marion has everything most NBA players want and he plays for a team players want to play for. He's the highest paid player on a team with two 1st team All NBA players. Even the Suns role players are international stars. Being overshadowed would seemingly be secondary to getting a ring. Athletes have fragile egos I suppose and Marion's has been chronicled in books, magazines, and local PHX newsprint long enough for us to see this coming.

It's amazing how we've been calling this all summer. This is almost better than the Joe Johnson situation because at least Marion made his feelings known before his contract year. I guess it's time to fire up the trade machine.

The Marion Paradox

2007-09-21T22:24:00.000-07:00

Everyone who follows the NBA knows about the Suns by now. They know about the Suns style, they know about the Suns players. They know about the run and the gun, they know about the Steve Nash alley oops and the Amare dunks, the three point barrages, the ups and downs the Suns go through over the course of the game. They know all about how Nash can hit the three and use both hands, which has undoubtedly led to quite a few sportscasters having to look up the definition of "Ambidextrous". Everybody knows about Amare's fearsome dunks, the pick and roll, the microfracture surgery, about the resurgence to being a premier player in the league... if only so they could retain hope for the future of players like Greg Oden and Kenyon Martin.

And yet... what about the third cog in the Suns machine? How many people know that Shawn catches more alley-oops than anybody else in the league? How many people know that there are a grand total of two plays the Suns actually ever run for Shawn? Who remembers the Marion offensive rebound that led to the game tying three by Nash, and if you do remember it, do you ever put more emphasis on that than the shot?

A man who is generally toted as one of the uniquely talented players in the league, a superstar in his own right and yet not a true superstar. A man who is a legit 20 PPG scorer, yet has no on ball moves. A man who can go off for 35 points and 20 rebounds one night, and get 10 points and 3 rebounds the next. A walking double double who is far too small to be counted on consistently for that kind of production. A pure hustle role player who puts up superstar types of numbers. A man who can be counted on to guard the opposing point guard and the opposing center in the same game, and do so well enough that he's actually helping the team by taking on such tough assignments.

Marion runs through every game, never stopping, and yet, never seems to fatigue. He bounces up and down through the entire game and yet never seems to get injured the way most people who pogo-stick through games somehow manage. A slasher who can't get to the free throw line... Even Shawn's shot form seems to aimlessly defy common sense, as if for no better reason than because nothing can ever make sense in Shawn's game.

All this seems to pose one question: For someone who is so uniquely talented, why isn't his name plastered everywhere? Why is Shawn brought up in every trade talk that vaguely involves Phoenix in any way? Why is he so sought after but generally devalued?

It's an interesting set of questions and raises even more interesting contradictions concerning Shawn. Shawn is extremely personable and well liked in general, always a smiling face and an interesting quip... and yet, he seems to lack the charisma to pull off his own image. Much like he plays the game, he rushes straight on through his conversations with whoever is interviewing him, who is invariably baffled by how fast he talks and his sense of urgency to not be talking anymore. Would Shawn be considered a true superstar if he were more charismatic? Who knows. He still gets his TV ads, both local and national... and is put right next to bona fide superstars in the process. There he stands, walking side by side with the best players in the league... Kobe, LeBron and Nash all among the people in the oft-watch "Second Coming" commercials... and he was given the same type of spotlight as them.

And yet, you ask people "Paul Pierce or Shawn Marion?" (both are in that video), a good majority of those people will probably say Pierce. (Unless you are talking with just Suns fans. Then it might be a different story.) Even myself, I can't think of any reason that you would rather have Shawn Marion than, say... Chris Paul. Why? I really don't know. It's yet another example of the intractable nature of his game.

Nobody in Phoenix really wants to get rid of him... yet, if he did go... would there really be an outcry? There would if Amare were to get traded. If the Suns had indeed sent one of the packages for Garnett up to Wolvesland, most Suns fans would gladly trade Marion instead of Amare. Would you have rather seen Amare and Kurt Thomas head to the Wolves for KG, or Marion and Kurt Thomas? And imagine the fervent cries of "KILL SARVER!" were the Suns to trade Nash this offseason.

Why, then, would the third man in our big three... the man who was #4 in scoring, #1 in rebounding, #1 in steals, #1 in blocks, #1 in minutes played, #4 in FG%, and missed a grand total of two games this season... why would the outcry be so much smaller?

Is it the frustration Shawn causes amidst his brilliance? The thrill of him losing his man and throwing down a poorly thrown alley-oop which he still somehow managed to catch followed by him inexplicably missing a wide open lay up the next play down? The thrill of him hitting a big three pointer when we need it most, followed by him somehow rocketing the ball up into the stands on a botched dunk attempt? The feeling overwhelming admiration when he comes from behind to reject someone five inches taller than himself, grab the rebound, and then the feeling of despair when he throws the ball away directly after?

Or is it something far simpler... the fact that he can't score without someone giving him the ball in a position to do it. Whether that means on a pass or an offensive rebound, or even him just scooping the ball up after a loose ball. Perhaps it's the fact that any time he starts dribbling, the only time he will ever get to the hoop is if the guy guarding him is so much slower than him that he has no business guarding him in the first place.

Or maybe it's that, through all of this... through being the highest paid player on the team, being named to the all star team, getting lucrative advertising deals, being one of the top vote getters for defensive player of the year... he still finds time to claim that he's unappreciated. Perhaps it's the potential for him to destroy the team's chemistry with a me-first attitude in a system that calls for selflessness. And all this while embodying the idea of a team player. Someone who will do what he does irregardless of his teammate's accomplishments... Someone who can win games through hard work and desire.

So why is his game so appealing while managing to be appalling?

Just another contradiction in the world of Shawn Marion.

Edit: Big thanks to TrueHoop, FreeDarko, Golden State of Mind, and everyone else who I'm forgetting for all the link-love.

Amare Stoudemire - Chris Bosh

2007-09-07T22:02:00.000-07:00

Boshosaurus Rex and STAT, respectively.

I wrote this elsewhere (in a forum) in a discussion as to whether or not you would rather have Amare Stoudemire or Chris Bosh on your team. I found that this practically wrote itself, as there's so much to talk about on both subjects, so I imagine I will be writing a few of these on some hot topics. Feel free to discuss amongst yourselves the merits of both in the comments, make inflammatory remarks about my writing, etc. Copy+Paste time!
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I'll try to lend an objective opinion on the various aspects of their game, and let you guys decide. Clearly a lot of people here do not watch an awful lot of Bosh, and clearly some of the people here do not watch an awful lot of Amare. Here's a comparative analysis on both of their games, on the main discussion points that are being thrown out there, many of which are misguided.

First, lets start with offense.

Back to the basket, Bosh has a bit of an edge depending on who the defender is. Bosh is listed at 230 but... I think he might be 230 when he's completely soaking wet and carrying some dumbbells (Which he doesn't seem to use). When Bosh plays against physically imposing players with a good idea of actual post defense (as opposed to people who are just shot blockers), he has an awful time. People like PJ Brown, Kurt Thomas, Marcus Camby, and even someone like Reggie Evans who is no where near as tall as he ought to be to guard someone like Bosh, they all play him extremely well because he simply doesn't have the upper body strength to get any kind of position, and Bosh is much less effective if he's shooting 15-20 foot jumpers than if he's shooting 3-8 foot post shots. That said, against undisciplined defenders, people who are solely shot blockers, and people who aren't particularly physical, Bosh is hard to stop. He's very savvy in the post, is very good about giving ball fakes, and possesses very good footwork, to go along with a soft touch under the basket. Against undisciplined players like Steven Hunter, Darko Milicic, and pretty much anyone else who will jump at any opportunity for a block, Bosh dominates.

On the flip side, Amare actually seems to play better against the very players that Bosh struggles with, down in the post, as a lot of his post game is face up. (Much to the ire of the general populace here on the board. Nothing wrong with a face up game, fellas. High efficiency shots are high efficiency shots.) Amare's underutilized back-to-the-basket game is more refined than one would be led to believe by watching highlights... in fact, for people who don't watch a lot of Suns games, you probably wouldn't even know he *has* a back to the basket game. Truth be told, he has a sick fall away jumper and is very good about showing the ball but keeping it in check on ball fakes. The Phoenix offense doesn't really run with him playing back to the basket (the only player who gets posted up on the whole team is Boris Diaw, because he has trouble scoring any other way), but his face up game is nothing short of phenomenal and he may very well be the best face up big man in the league. (Zach Randolph and Kevin Garnett would be the other options, off the top of my head.) He gets high percentage looks, draws a lot of fouls, and can hit the 15-18 foot jumper with no trouble at all... and he's been working on a three point shot in the off season, which I can't say I'm thrilled about, but it's another dimension to his game. Moderation is all I have to say about that. I'd rather he not turn into Sheed. Amare is one of the best finishers, if not the best finisher, around the basket, in the league. The man can make any shot within four feet of the basket, and gets more and one plays off of shots that he has no business making than any other big man in the league, and you combine that with the fact that he has hands like a wide receiver (he was being scouted as a wide out in high school, but went with basketball), and catches basically anything that is thrown in his direction, you've got a rather strong chance of getting him a bucket or a foul any time you throw a pass in his general direction.

Where Bosh really separates himself from Amare is passing. To be blunt, Amare pretty much doesn't pass. He'll make the occasional flashy pass that could fool a few people into thinking that he is/ought to be a great passer... but he's not. Every time they run him as a passer in the high post, it ends up being a hand-off play to someone behind him. Bosh, however, has proven that he can pass out of the post very well,and has a good head for finding the open team mate. As his career progresses, I think that we ought to be seeing him put up 3.5-4.5 APG for a couple years, which is a hell of a number for a big man.

Aaaaand on defense. This is where a lot of the arguments have come in. The difference, however, isn't as large as one would be led to imagine. Chris Bosh is a more disciplined defender, you'll him leave his man on a bad rotation on occasion (not as much as Amare), and you'll see him give up less lay-ups from over aggression than Amare... but if you see him intimidate a slasher under the basket, you've caught a somewhat rare occasion, and should celebrate. Bosh is a weak side shot blocker, and simply does not have the strength under the hoop to even give the hard foul properly, when he needs to. It's a good thing he's playing PF in Toronto, because they desperately need another big man down there to stop the penetration from succeeding every time. On the flip side, you'll never mistake Amare for Alonzo, but when you do see Amare step up, it's a disheartening event. A good for-instance would be in the Laker series last year when Amare ripped the ball out of Lamar Odom's hands on an easy lay up attempt. Not only did he kill the shot, he killed Laker momentum and he proved that it you outright challenge him, you will have to pay the price.

As far as man to man low post defense go, both are borderline atrocious. Amare has gotten better than before, but it's still very bad... and Bosh simply isn't strong enough. The strength issue continually plagues Bosh and, I think, if he had another 15-20 pounds on him, he would probably be the undisputed better player out of himself, Amare and Dwight. He'd be strong enough to finish with contact under the hoop. He could actually establish position on the block. He could step up and intimidate on defense. He would not get hunched on any rebound attempt against a guy who boxes out properly.

One last tidbit: In every playoff series Amare has ever been in, excepting his rookie year, he was the most efficient, productive player in that entire round. And he was also the most productive player in the entire playoffs on both occasions. He's proven that he rises to the occasion when his team needs it.

In short, I'd pick Amare to build a team around. It would be easier to build a team around a player like Amare than a player like Bosh. That said, it would be much easier to plug Bosh into most teams than it would to plug Amare into most teams. Amare's ego could cause issues with a lot of players around the league. Hard to fault him though, as it's one of the things that makes him a special player as well.

Being Amare Stoudemire

2007-08-26T01:23:00.000-07:00

This is the man who wants revenge.

Amare seems to respond best when people question his ability to accomplish something. So here are a few questions for Amare.

You've said you want to be Most Improved Player and Finals MVP this season, will that improvement be on defense?
You've mentioned adding a three-point shot and playmaking skills to your arsenal, do you want to play like Dirk?
Are you aware that many of the Celtics title teams were running teams and their MVP was a dominant defender?
Why are your assist numbers so bad on a team that leads the league in scoring?
Would the Suns have won the title if you didn't leave the bench during Game 4?
How seriously do you take leadership on a team where you aren't a captain?
How does the First Team All NBA center not start on the US National Team?
Would you rather be known as a dominant player or a winner?
Do you realize how good this Suns team was without you?
Did the loss to the Spurs motivate you to do whatever it takes to win a title?

Being Raja Bell

2007-07-29T20:11:00.000-07:00

If there is one player who wants another shot at the Finals, it's Raja Bell. Raja got a chance as a rookie to run with the Sixers and ended up guarding Kobe Bryant in their 2001 NBA Finals loss. He's come a long way as a player . Raja turned his buzz-worthy '06 postseason into a great '07 season that came with First team All Defense honors.

Raja's competitive fire makes one of the more hated Suns and makes him the heart and soul of the team as well. While Amare and Boris wandered away from the bench to do whatever they were doing, Raja caught an elbow in the face going after Robert Horry. Raja is the player a lot of fans would like to be on the court. The guy who doesn't take a possesion off. He makes a player like Kobe Bryant work on both ends of the court. Fighting a scorer for position, reaching, flopping, jawing- while his shot total increases and his percentage drops. Raja then runs the floor hard and doesn't miss when he's wide open.

Some of the best theater in the NBA is when Raja is called for a foul. He picks himself up. He gets in the ref's ear with smiling complaints. He walks over the scorers' table wipes his feet for more stickum. Then he returns to battle. Raja is a pro. He's the player every title team needs. The guy who gets dirty and fights for the extra inch. He calls himself the poor man's Bruce Bowen.

There's not much Raja needs to work on this offseason other than healing from a recent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. Raja was banged up at times last season and hopefully this procedure will help out. Raja logs major minutes for this team due to his defense and shooting. It'd be nice to see his minutes scaled back a bit in the regular season now that it looks like DJ Strawberry will make the roster. Having two guards (possibly three if Banks gets more minutes) to sic on opposiing wing scorers would be nice. The development of the young wing players will help depth and give veterans like Raja more in the tank for the grueling Western Conference playoffs.

Revenge for Raja would be another chance to perform on the highest level. The Suns' season slipped away due to stuff that had nothing to with actual basketball. Those things eat at veterans and fuel their fire. Raja will have plenty of fire for 07-08.

Being Leandro Barbosa

2007-07-18T18:47:00.000-07:00

The long summer continues as we wait for the Suns to bounce back and get Revenge. Next up is Leandro Barbosa. LB had a terrific season in 06-07. He won the Sixth Man of the Year Award, he gained some nationwide popularity and he became yet another star in the Suns' lineup. Barbosa emerged as one of the Suns most important players and is fan favorite.

LB was a rock off the bench and played better in that role than his occasional starts. LB improved his scoring (18.1 ppg) and playmaking (4 ast) and become a consistent matchup nightmare. In fact, every career high game stat (points, assists, etc) for LB was posted this season. His speed and accurate jumper led to several scoring binges against hapless defenses. He also provided one of the best Suns' highlights of the season with a buzzer beater in the comeback win in Chicago.

Just as fast as Barbosa's growth has been, his popularity has exploded as well. Henry Abbott at True Hoop has been running a great series of stories about his entry to the US and the NBA. A great read. LB is a team guy and the team loves him. Reading the book Seven Seconds or Less really provides a great perspective of how much his teammates love LB. All the stories seem to establish that LB is great guy who really enjoys this team and playing basketball in Phoenix. The amazing fact is LB is probably underpaid for his skill level, but in terms of value- he's right there with the All Stars.

The areas where LB can improve are pretty clear. He's been working on his defense but he has trouble with bigger guards who post up. In games against Dallas, Stackhouse starts licking his lips when he gets matched up with LB. He can't grow but he can work on technique and recognizing players' pet moves. Finishing at the basket was a huge issue early in the season and remains a lingering issue. LB rarely finishes with his left hand and often accelerates past the basket instead of jumping into the rim. His great touch off the glass often saves him but it's a fundamental thing that can be easily addressed.

LB had a rough end to his season. He struggled badly in the playoff loss to the Spurs and had trouble with his elbow that required surgery. After a season where he was the third leading scorer, his struggles against the Spurs hurt the team's chances. Barbosa is one of the Suns' best 1-on-1 players and spot-up shooters. Without his offense (and Shawn Marion's for that matter) in the open floor, the focus shifts squarely to the pick n roll with Nash and Amare- and taking away options is the goal of the Spurs defense.

Revenge for LB would be winning a title. LB has had big playoff performances and it seems the next step in his evolution as a player is to have big performances in the later rounds and the Finals. Although he's had his struggles in clutch moments, it seems he's likely to be the player who makes a shot that PHX fans will always remember.

Being Boris Diaw

2007-07-11T23:40:00.000-07:00

Once again, returning to Amare Stoudemire's suggestion that the theme for the 07-08 season should be 'Revenge,' let's take another look at a player returning next season. While there was plenty of discussion about what Marcus Banks could have done last season, Boris Diaw had a letdown after winning the Most Improved Player Award in 05-06.

Rather than focus on his numbers, which were mostly down with a strange exception of three-point shooting, I want to focus on his role. Boris was the number three option in 05-06. What he brought to the table every night was a major part of the offense and the bulk of his points were in the paint. After Kurt Thomas' season ended, Diaw had a much larger role and showed improvement in his first playoff action even sonning Dallas in the two Suns wins in that WCF.

With a healthy Amare and Kurt Thomas returning, this past season figured to be bolstered by Diaw's versatility. It was assumed by yours truly that his playmaking would get better because he'd get plenty of easy baskets off of Amare and vice versa. Lest we forget that we are dealing with men and men have egos. Ego in sports is often tied to contract and with a breakout year heading into free agency, Mr. Diaw got an extention. Boris got $9 million dollars and once again, the Suns had another fourth star. Boris was a throw-in in a awkward trade for our previous fourth star Joe Johnson and now he was almost making the trade look lopsided. Boris was on the cover of the NBA Live video game in France. He even did motion capture. Boris was getting big.

After putting on weight after doing nothing after the world championships, Boris showed up to training camp in Italy out of shape. On the court, through the preseason and in the beginning of the year, Boris looked to pass more even though Amare clearly was not ready to contribute a lot of minutes nor points. His aggressiveness fluctuated throughout season. He often drew the ire of Steve Nash. Either in newspaper quotes or screaming about Boris to the bench during games, Nash didn't hide his frustration with Diaw passing up easy shots.

We all know and love the Suns offensive attack but the are subtle things we can miss in the flowing beauty of it all. When they primarily played small ball in 05-06, they relied on the three pointer far more than they needed to with last season's roster. Diaw passing up a layup for three would get a shooter going and provide an opportunity for him to get one of his array of floaters later in the game. This new Boris however continued to pass up shots. Then we started to hear excuses that Boris and Amare needed to operate in the same areas on the floor. A lot of versatility that Boris brought to the table was seemingly wasted but the cause was never clear.

Boris' attitude rubs many as aloof but he may in fact be very internal and a perfectionist. His pal Laker Ronny Turiaf made as much clear in interviews saying Boris felt he was letting the team down somehow. While he always talked about making the right play, Boris' mercurial attitude was a sharp contrast to Steve Nash's. It was clear from day one that Nash was committed to winning a title last season and the edge he played with kept him and the Suns on the lips of NBA heads all year. There was no doubt the team had enough talent to win, it was a matter of commitment and toughness once the regular season wins stopped piling up and the playoffs began.

To be fair to Boris, he was injured late in the year and his attempt to be a glue guy worked really well during long stretches of the season. The inconsistent aggressiveness though hurt this team and gradually exposed their biggest flaw: Star treatment. Role players got very small windows of opportunity on a team that had fun while playing. When a star player is struggling and gets shuffled in the lineup it affects chemistry. Part of the problem is guys bitching about shots. Boris was the player willing to give up his shot. Why? Because Amare Stoudemire doesn't kick out to three point shooters. Then how do you motivate a guy who is clearly not the same player? Mike D'Antoni refused to criticize Diaw and seemed to ridicule the fans who would scream at the arena (and at our TVs) when Diaw would give up easy baskets to pass. However in an attempt to properly utilize Diaw's playmaking, D'Antoni started James Jones, who had his own shooting woes. Diaw's struggles created a hole in a t-shirt worthy starting five.

OK, here's one number. Boris played in 73 regular season games and 17 times he played 20+ minutes and scored four points or fewer. Boris rarely used mismatches to score. He had trouble guarding bigger players and many times looked like a cat playing with yarn while trying to guard smaller ones. Diaw looked so bad after earning a bigger deal than the explosive Leandro Barbosa, he became the player several fans seemed most willing to wave goodbye to.

If we attribute the porous Diaw performance last season to his unclear role, then we can find a roadmap to improvement a lot easier. As the Spurs series showed, there is a premium on easy baskets in the playoffs. Boris has the ability and handle to get good shots for himself and others. It's key he gets them for himself. The midrange game is lacking in the Suns offense. If Boris gets back to providing points and assists within the 8-15 range, the offense can utilize a little more one-on-one. Stagnant isolation offense dominates the NBA but the quick passing Suns need a little bit more for the tough nights and Boris can provide it.

It is imperative that Boris get in shape. He obviously kept on extra pounds because he knew he'd have to bang with bigger players because Marion whines about it and Amare is a terrible defender. This was a factor with his back injury and he'll need to pay a lot more attention to his training regimen. The Diaw we saw in the playoffs was a ghost of the previous year. The only impact he had was being part of the infamous suspension. F*ck the Sp*rs.

With the Grant Hill signing, it's clear Boris' role is a bench role. Hopefully knowing he has major role as a playmaker off the bench will make it easier to showcase his talents in a way that improves depth. Seeing how smoothly Diaw developed chemistry with Shawn Marion (resulting in some of the prettiest oop dunks ever) is encouraging as we entertain the thought of this team having an actual second unit. While the team has done a great job of stockpiling stars, the bench has been sorely lacking. Maybe this former budding star can rediscover his game as a reserve and help the guys at the end of the bench soar when they hit the floor. Revenge for Boris would be shoving a croissant in the mouths of his critics and earning his salary by running this team smoothly and creating a lethal second unit.

Suns sign Grant Hill

2007-07-05T11:16:00.001-07:00

The State of Affairs

2007-07-05T02:09:00.000-07:00

What, another Zei post? "Chances are it will be about something super important!" you all undoubtedly mutter as you get ready to tune out the numbers.

First things first, aside from being rather disgruntled about us not taking Tiago Splitter at the #24, in the end it will prove to be a valuable move if we can utilize it properly. The deal as everyone seems to understand it is the #24 pick (Rudy Fernandez) for $3 million cash and James Jones ($2,904,000 this year.) "Gibberish! What does it all mean!?" you shout, partially incoherently at me? Well.

First off, it means that we have $2.9 million off the cap, straight up. It also means that we don't have to pay $2.9 million in luxury tax, as well as acquiring $3 million from Portland's owner, who makes most rich people look poor and can definitely spare the change.

The direct effects of this is that we are basically getting $9 million out of this, plus what we would be saving on the salary for the #24 pick. ($873,200) A solid $9.5 million dollars in Sarver and the rest of the Suns investors... but what does it mean for the fans?

Well, it means we have a legitimate reason to expect that we will be using at least part of our mid-level exception. (Which is around $5.5 million.) We can offer that to a valuable player and have a legit chance at landing him, except that I'm sure the front office isn't going to be giving out any long term contracts, which is a wise course of action in my opinion. Instead, we will be seeking veterans who want to win, which the Suns have shown by actively pursuing Grant Hill. (Who won't even take up any of that mid-level exception, as he'd be taking the veteran minimum.) I like the Hill signing, though he's rather brittle... he'd be making as much as Jumaine Jones, Jalen Rose and Eric Piatkowski made last year, and they didn't play at all, so any time Grant Hill is in the rotation we are getting rather good value out of him. Grant Hill can bring a lot to this team as a secondary playmaker who can create his own shot, create shots for others, and plays very smart basketball. (He was also relatively healthy last year, playing 65 games.)

So what should we do with this great mid-level exception we have? Well, there are some options out there, but one sticks out in my mind well beyond everyone else. That player would be Brevin Knight, who just got bought out by the Bobcats so they could save about $3 million... this will prove to be a mistake for the Bobcats, one that I hope the Suns can capitalize on. Brevin Knight is one of the best decision makers in the league, as well as being the best pure passer that nobody ever hears about. Last year he put up 6.6 APG (2.1 TOPG) in just 28.3 MPG, the year before that he put up 8.8 APG (2.38 TOPG) in 34.1 MPG. The year before that, he managed 9.0 APG (2.23 TOPG) in 29.5 MPG. The man is an absolutely ridiculous passer, who always seems to make the right decision and always puts the pass where it needs to go. He's got a mildly accurate mid-range shot, and is a very good on-ball and team defender at the point guard spot, and forces a whole lot of turnovers. (06-07: 1.5 SPG in 28.3 MPG, 05-06: 2.3 SPG in 34.1 MPG, 04-05: 2.0 SPG in 29.5 MPG) He is a true, pure point guard. He runs the break, he plays perimeter defense, forces steals, sets up his teammates, and will always rather get his man the easy bucket than try to take it upon himself to make a tough shot.

In the end, Brevin Knight solves all of our back up point guard problems, gives Leandro another playmaker to play beside and learn from, and gives us a true point guard to back up Nash instead of someone who is, for all intensive purposes, a SG, and will never be a tremendous playmaker so much as a scorer who can draw defenders to him and occasionally throw set up a team mate. (I'm the biggest Barbosa fan around, but he's not a point guard.)

All this combined with the fact that Brevin Knight is a veteran, and he wants to win. If he were to come to a team to win, Phoenix would be a hell of an option, assuming D'Antoni hasn't scared off all of the free agents to be from signing with Phoenix with his 7 man rotations and not playing any of our free agent signings, . (You can make a case for not playing a few people, but Jumaine Jones and Marcus Banks really needed to have some time made for them. There's no excuse for not giving these guys consistent minutes in the regular season.) All things told, Brevin Knight provides a perfect solution to a problem we've had since we've had Nash: Being able to take him out of the game without a massive drop in playmaking and overall production out of anyone not named Leandro or Amare, who are coincidentally the only two people on our team that can create their own shot. Oh wait, that's not a coincidence.

So, in conclusion... Phoenix needs to make a hell of a recruiting pitch to Brevin Knight.

Other players to look at with the MLE (Or part of it):
Steve Blake, Morris Peterson, Chuck Hayes, Charlie Bell, James Posey

Players to look at for the minimum:
Travis Diener, Dajuan Wagner, Kareem Rush... PAT BURKE!

Players to look at if they'll take the minimum, but probably want more:
Scot Pollard, Dahntay Jones, Chris Mihm

Oh... and as a bonus... I've got my own website up, not basketball related, but... it's got (supposedly) funny stuff there.
http://www.every-little-thing.com

Thoughts on the Draft

2007-06-30T15:44:00.000-07:00

So the iPhone came out yesterday. I'm on the iPhone team at Apple and it was a pretty fun night. In between calls, we'd read about the lines all over the country and the folks on the East coast trying to cash in on ebay and Craigslist. It was an energetic night that all of us had been looking forward to. After work, I drove over to my local Apple store about 10 minutes before it closed. No line, just a few wired employees, a couple customers playing with Apple gear and a couple of friendly yet massive security guards. I nabbed my iPhone and went home.

My experience with the iPhone was similar to the Suns draft. With all the hype and rumors swirling around, what's easily lost is that the Suns are a very good team. They met their match in the Sp*rs and were forced to play out of character and eventually shorthanded in their playoff loss. We all agreed the team had to improve defensively and possibly make a roster move to get more scoring that's not totally dependent on Steve Nash.

So with KG and Kobe wanting to come to PHX and the possibility to nab Noah, Brewer or Jeff Green- it seemed the team was about to make a dramatic move to maintain their elite status and make up ground on the Spurs. While Alando Tucker and DJ Strawberry may not satisfy a lot of fans, I think it's a good draft. They've managed (so far) to keep the core intact for what has to be the last run at the title.

They added two long, athletic players who played four years of big time college ball. They'll be hungry for minutes and opportunity which helps depth. The one flaw in putting together the league's best offensive team- the bench players are getting torched on a daily basis. Then they have to run the offensive sets. Maybe a few more stoppers will even things out. Tucker is a great guy from all accounts and he's very good. Strawberry is a tough kid and a winner, hopefully he gets a decent shot at the roster. James Jones is gone so there is a role to be filled.

Now comes the same lame thing we hear every summer, we need a solid veteran to take less money to play here to try and go for a title. (the Sp*rs sign those guys every year) Grant Hill and PJ Brown may be on the wishlist- but will either take pocket change to run with the Suns? I hope so. I'm gonna play with my iPhone while Kerr and $arver figure it out.

NOTE: If any readers are in Vegas and plan on checking out summer league games, please let us know. Thanks.

First Summer in Texas

2007-06-26T22:01:00.000-07:00

Being Marcus Banks

2007-06-22T05:54:00.000-07:00

So Amare suggests the motto for the 2007-08 season should be 'Revenge.' To regroup, run through the league and topple the Spurs- the Suns have to get better. The effort may or may not include Kevin Garnett but as the summer moves on I'm going to write about Suns who are likely returning next season.

We start with Marcus Banks. Last year's offseason was a bust. The team traded away their draft picks. No free agent signing played a significant role for the team. The worst signing of the bunch seems to have been Marcus Banks. When he was signed to a five-year $21 million contract last year, here's what the Republic had to say:

'Banks' arrival provides backcourt relief and defensive pressure. Banks said he has the speed to defend 94 feet, pestering ballhandlers enough to disrupt an opponent's offense. Suns Managing Partner Robert Sarver said a Minnesota assistant coach told the Suns: "We know you think Leandro (Barbosa) is the quickest player in the NBA, but I'm going to tell you, we think Marcus is faster."'

This season Banks played in 45 games and a lot of those minutes were mop up time in blowouts. There were stretches during the season where he was inactive and wasn't even behind the bench with other highly paid spectators. Banks averaged 4.9 points, 1.3 assists, and shot 43% from the field and 17% from distance- in 11 minutes.

The numbers aren't great but watching him play was another thing. Banks at no point seemed to have a place with this team. In the dramatic win at Chicago, he was used to pester Ben Gordon (who had 41 pts that night) in a second half stint. It was assumed he'd be used like that all season but the team didn't reveal a commitment to defense until the San Antonio series.

So how can Marcus Banks improve this summer. It was proposed that he participate in the Suns summer league. Banks is considering it but he's also a fourth year pro. What can be accomplished by running with rookies and free agents? Gaining some confidence from the coaching staff might be one thing.

Another idea is working on his jumpshot. The Suns roster is currently loaded with shooters and if Banks wants to emulate Nash- he's gotta be money when left open. Banks is not a shooter and he showed very questionable shot selection in games when he got significant minutes. He showed some ability to get to the rim and he's built like a brick. Banks doesn't necessarily need three point range, a reliable midrange jumper would be good too. His quickness combined with a jumper would make him a better player and a weapon when combined with Leandro Barbosa.

The key element is desire. Marcus Banks has gotten big minutes on bad teams and was the forgotten man on a good team. How will he bounce back when he was panned as the worst free agent signing of 2006-07 and nearly everyone would like to see him leave town. The guy made an effort to be part of the Phoenix community and playing with Nash is very important to him. Will Banks put in the work to improve? Will he have that extra fire to give himself and the team a competitive edge?

Banks' contract is pretty much untradable so I think that he's at a professional crossroads. He has to produce to earn his contract, earn his spot on this team or showcase his talent for a trade. It's all on Marcus. Revenge for him would be shutting up the critics and showing this organization he belongs.

Ball Club Shirts (Instant Throwback)

2007-06-19T00:06:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: The shirts are now sold out. Thanks for the support!

Trade Marion?

2007-06-11T23:10:00.000-07:00

OK, it's all over the internet (like every summer) and it's all over our comments too.

Should the Suns trade Shawn Marion?

A few posts down, Zei breaks down the team's financial situation. They need to figure out a solution for the potential luxury tax bill by the trade deadline next season. The upcoming draft is loaded with talent, the Suns have three picks and an All Star utility man with a huge contract.

Is the answer to trade Shawn Marion?

In many ways, his play defines the Suns' success... and their shortcomings. However, there's a certain Frenchman who's gotten a little fat and happy... and more tentative.

Personally, I go back and forth on it. However Marion in Chicago and Nocioni and Gordon in Phoenix sounds pretty good. Fact is the Spurs are about to have another parade down the road from me. Shedding salary without getting better is counterprodcutive. This team's title window is now. I want a good reason to come back to PHX next summer.

What's the best move?

UPDATE: Joe Dumars alludes to PHX asking for two starters and both their first round draft picks for Marion. That sounds totally ridiculous. Dumars may be exaggerating but he says the deal is there if he wants it. Perhaps the Suns have set the price very high to lure a nice deal or to chase away legit contenders. Check the link and you can listen to the interview with Dumars, who is one of the best in the business.

Raja and Kobe

2007-05-30T23:53:00.000-07:00

I've been in the car all day so I missed shockwave sent through the NBA with Kobe Bryant demanding a trade...before being chilled out by Phil Jackson. Kobe may be openly loathed but I doubt there is any basketball fan who wouldn't want the guy on their team. The thought of a Kobe/Nash backcourt could start a seizure.
Sidenote: Remember when Kobe and Ray Allen had beef a few years back. It all stemmed from Ray Allen saying that Kobe forced the team to trade Shaq so he could be the man and when the team struggled he would ask for a trade. Kobe is apparently very sensistive about that accusation.

Kobe's ~~nemesis~~ respected foe, Raja Bell is nominated for PETA's Sexiest Vegetarian and they wrote Ra to pass on the opportunity to VOTE for the Suns' guard. I am a vegetarian personally and I'm all about repping the Suns- but how can you not vote for Mos Def?

I live in Austin, Texas now and during the drive out I noticed some interesting billboards. Manu Ginobili is pushing broadband services with a 'Go for 3' (cable, internet, phone) slogan. I saw another with David Robinson in street clothes in what appeared to be an ad for water heaters. I guess that's consistent with the image of the Spurs- fundamentals. If I see Tony Parker hawking coat hangers, I'm convinced.

UPDATE: I'm stealing wireless internet in the Apple parking lot so I might as well blog. Steve Kerr is now running the front office in PHX. He was the best color guy on TV and now he takes over our Suns. David Griffin is staying to work under Kerr and continue the push for a championship. Kerr is a champion and he knows the current class franchise of the NBA (San Antonio) very well having won two rings there. He was somewhat critical of Shawn Marion during the Spurs series and we'll see shortly how he intends to handle the money, the talent and fragile egos of NBA stars. Two former Spurs guys (Danny Ferry and Mike Brown) got Cleveland to the Finals let's see if another can tweak the Suns to get them over the hump.

Kicked in the lottery balls

2007-05-22T18:50:00.000-07:00

So the Portland Trailblazers won the Greg Oden sweepstakes and fans in Boston, Memphis and Phoenix all looked on in disappointment. Atlanta got the three pick and Memphis and Boston fell to 4 and 5 respectively. The Suns won't get the Hawks lottery pick but on the bright side it will be unprotected next year. Since ATL won't get Oden or Durant there is still a good chance they might still suck and the pick might produce something useful in the future.

But f*ck the future, fans want to win now while this team is still among the league's best. We now know two things.

1. San Antonio is still the team to beat. The club thought they did enough by bringing in Kurt Thomas and Raja Bell but Duncan, Parker and Ginobili still went off and the Suns lost. Defense and rebounding is the glaring need and it will remain so even with a luxury tax bill.

2. The help won't come cheap. The best thing about a lottery pick is cheap help. Lottery picks have a set salary so even a budding superstar has to work hard to earn that first big contract. Whatever the Suns can fetch at 24 and 29 will help fill out the roster and may prove fruitful if D'Antoni takes the time to develop a young player (like LB).

This may also mean that a trade becomes more likely. If the Suns brass is so anxious to cut salary, the lack of a lottery pick means a trade would simply be a cost cutting move. Coach D'Antoni was hoping the draft would bring in a talented player that they wouldn't have to spend big money and avoid the free agent market. This is the worst time to have a cheap owner because the club has needs that have to be met by spending money. This will be an interesting summer.

Upcoming Offseason

2007-05-19T22:35:00.000-07:00

Well... I know I'm not the only one who thinks the offseason came entirely too soon. I didn't want to have to be writing this post until late June... but here it is, in the middle of May, that the Suns season ends and 07-08 starts.

The first order of business, the order of business that dictates quite a few of the Suns plans for the upcoming season... the draft. The lottery will be run on Tuesday (May 22nd) to determine who gets what draft pick. The actual process of drawing who gets to pick, and where, is a little bit more complicated than it necessarily ought to be, but the order looks like this. The Grizzlies have the highest chance of getting the #1 pick, followed by the Boston Celtics, the Milwaukee Bucks, the Atlanta Hawks, the Supersonics, the Portland Trailblazers, the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Charlotte Bobcats. (Everyone else has basically no chance of getting the #1 pick.) Then once the first pick is selected, they select the #2 pick based on the same probability: The worse your record the higher your chances.

"Why should I care, the Suns had the 2nd best record in the regular season. We aren't even in the lottery!" you yell loudly at me in between sobbing and thoughts of suicide. (Don't do it!) Well, before Bryan "Big Pimpin'" Colangelo left us, he ensured that we'd have quite a few options this upcoming year by acquiring a top 3 protected pick from Atlanta. Bryan figured that we needed the pick more than the Hawks, who would undoubtedly draft a young and raw athletic small forward with it, so we might as well take it off their hands. So... we have the Atlanta Hawks pick as long as it's not the #1, #2, or #3 pick. They are currently seeded #4 in the lottery pull, so they are pretty much perfectly situated to give us the exact pick we want them to get... the #4 pick. However, the lottery rarely works out like the ping pong balls would dictate, and the Hawks have a very good chance of landing in the 1-3 range picks, and also have a good chance of landing in the 4-6 range of picks. We want that #4 pick, a whole bunch, because if the Hawks get a top 3 pick in this particular draft, chances are they won't suck so bad next year, and will end up giving us a high lottery pick next year as a best case scenario. (Next year the pick is completely unprotected, as a note.)

From there, we have a few salary issues coming to play. Our owner is relatively poor, as NBA owners go, and he is forced to be fiscally responsible. (He is also a big fan and has done basically everything he could to make us very good team, from a financial aspect, going out there and spending money that he didn't have to.) Our biggest problem is... Pat Burke... his contract is done. And... *sniff*... he may not be coming back. I encourage the Suns to resign him though, as for a minimum player he's a great locker room and practice guy, and the fans love him. And, on a more serious note, with all our draft pick contracts to sign, along with the extensions that are kicking in, we are looking at paying $12,000,000+ in luxury tax, while still having two roster spots to fill (assuming we don't pick up our 2nd rounder). The financial difficulties, along with the fact that the Suns are a bit flawed as a team (sad as it may be), we have some holes to fill and some financial problems to fix, which means we should expect a couple big moves in the upcoming offseason.

Our first problem? Luxury tax... which has to get dealt with, unfortunately. There are some interesting trade scenarios to throw out there, but a couple things should be known:
1) Nash and Stoudemire are basically untouchable, mostly due to the fact that nobody will be willing to throw an offer at the Suns that the Suns will be willing to snatch up. Nash and Stoudemire's value are both much higher in this system than they would be in most teams systems and it's unlikely that anyone will be able to put forth an offer that the front office will snatch up.
2) The two people we extended last offseason, Leandro Barbosa and Boris Diaw, are unlikely to be traded. In Leandro's case, it's because we landed a great player with a great attitude and a great upside who is also great for our system for bargain bin prices on his long-term extension, so it's unlikely that the Suns will be willing to part with him. Boris Diaw, however, will be hard to move for the exact opposite reason... the entirety of last year he stunk it up, put up one game worth mentioning the entire season/postseason. (Vs. Golden State, when he had a triple double... I went to that game. The Suns ought to look into having me attend all home games so Boris Diaw can have a triple double every night.) I'm sure management will throw Diaw's name into deals to see if we can get rid of that awful deal, but I doubt anyone will bite. $9,000,000 a year for the next 5 years doesn't sound too enticing for a guy who averaged 9.7 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 4.8 APG in 31.1 MPG.

Okay... so here are some feasible trade scenarios that the Suns may or may not look into. In all trade scenarios both teams must come within 25% of each other when all the combined salaries are shown, with a $100,000 chunk of leeway.

#1) Paul Pierce ($16,360,095) for Shawn Marion ($16,440,000) and James Jones ($2,904,000, player option for 08/09) and the #24 pick (Cleveland's pick, by way of Boston). The Celtics get a player who can rebound (a bit of a problem for them), shoot (a problem for them...), play defense (A problem...), moves well off the ball (A pattern seems to have emerged here, as this is also a problem...), and doesn't need to dominate the ball to be effective. They also get an athletic swing man in James Jones who can shoot and play good team defense, both glaring weaknesses for the Celtics, plus a 1st round pick in an extremely deep draft. The Suns get a wing player who can actually create his own shots, is a decent rebounder at the SG/SF spot, is a good shooter and isn't a defensive liability. They also clear up a bit of the luxury tax issue we'll be facing next year.

#2) Kevin Garnett ($22,000,000, player option for 08/09) and Eddie Griffin's contract ($2,900,000, he has already been bought out of this contract but it's still on the books and can be traded for) for Shawn Marion ($16,440,000) and Boris Diaw ($9,000,000), the #4 pick, and/or the #24/#29 picks. If they don't want Boris Diaw it would be possible to package James Jones and Marcus Banks with similar impact. There's a good chance that the Suns may catch Kevin McHale on one of the rare days that he's competent and they may want to unload an unsavory long term contract (such as Mark Madsen, $2,420,000 through 09/10, or Trenton Hassell, $4,350,000 through 09/10, maybe even Mark Blount, $6,737,500 through 09/10. If I were Suns management, I wouldn't touch the Marko Jaric or Mike James contracts with a 40 foot pole.) This deal is unlikely, but everyone in the league is probably making bids for Garnett, so this is the most likely one that we'll see. Garnett is probably the most talented all-around player in the game, able to play both ends and has no real weaknesses to his game... I'd take him on the Suns in a heart beat. He wouldn't even be forced into being the #1 option, which is a great thing for him as he's a bit too passive to be a true #1 option, despite really being able to score at will with those insane fall away jumpers that he hits, which are impossible to guard by the way.

#3) Marcus Camby ($8,000,000 through 09/10) and Eduardo Najera ($4,952,382, next year is a player option which he'll probably end up taking, expires after next season) for Kurt Thomas ($8,091,187, next year is a player option that he'll probably take, expires the year after.), Erick Piatkowski ($1,219,590, expires next season) and James Jones ($2,904,000 through 08/09) and the #24 and/or #29 pick. This trade gives the Suns a monster interior shotblocking and rebounding presence, which we desperately desperately need, who can hit the midrange jumper and won't interrupt the flow of the offense, and Eduardo Najera, a guy who plays presentable defense, is a decent shooter, and can finish at the hoop, and his contract expires next year. The Nuggets get an expiring contract in Kurt Thomas, who is a downgrade from Marcus Camby, but is a better man-to-man post defender and has a lot of playoff experience. They also get James Jones, a proficient outside shooter, which the Nuggets desperately need, who also plays good team defense and can block shots, which the Nuggets also need. They also get Erick Piatkowski in the deal, who is a veteran presence on a somewhat immature team who can hit the outside jumper, which the Nuggets are desperately looking for and desperately need. They also no longer have to worry about Marcus Camby's long, long, long list of injuries, and won't have to worry about having an $8 million dollar man riding the pine. It's a risk/reward situation for the Suns that I'd be willing to take.

#4) Sign and trade for Rashard Lewis (Unsure, as he'll be testing the free agent market next year and has already expressed his desire to opt out of his contract next year with his player option. Chances are he'll command at least a $12,000,000/5 year contract, but very few teams have that kind of cap and he will probably have a sign-and-trade situation going on so the Sonics don't lose 'Shard for nothing.) Johan Petro ($1,077,120, team option after next year) and Luke Ridnour ($6,500,000 through 09/10) in exchange we send Marion ($16,440,000) and Boris Diaw ($9,000,000 through 11/12). The Suns save quite a bit of cap on the deal, and the Sonics get two proven players in Marion and Diaw instead of losing Shard for nothing. If they were just going to straight out lose 'Shard to free agency, it would be the same as Luke Ridnour and Johan Petro for Marion and Diaw, so I can definitely see how they would be winners in this deal as well. Rashard Lewis provides a 6'10 wing player who can shoot, create off the dribble, has a very refined post game, and isn't horrendous at defense. (He's not good... but he's not a liability, mostly due to his length and speed.)

Those are some of the deals that make the most sense and are feasible as the players are actually available. (Not sure on Marcus Camby's availability, come to think of it, but he's not *off* the market so I imagine the Nuggets would move him for the right package.) Any interesting trade ideas? Offseason moves? (Like making Iavaroni the head coach and letting D'Antoni run the front office?) Opinions on the state of the Suns in general? Well... throw them in the comments, I promise I'll read them... can't promise that the Suns front office will read them though, but maybe that's a bit too much to ask. Maybe.

Fade to Black (SAS wins 4-2)

2007-05-19T06:45:00.000-07:00

First, I had fun writing on this site and connecting with more fans and the writers.

The Spurs ended the Suns' season 114-106.

I didn't see the game but I did hear it on the radio while driving to Austin where I'm writing this post. I was tempted to swing by the arena and see if I could get a ticket but with my destination only 70 miles away- I drove on. The Spurs radio crew described the action and I listened as the Suns' promising season faded into a second-round loss.

The big question now is 'what's next?' While everyone knew the series was ruined and pretty much over after the suspensions, we held out hope the Suns could recover and force an even strength Game 7. That didn't happen and I am officially done watching basketball this season. While I had fun blogging and following my team, this has to be one of the worst NBA seasons on record, regardless of how the playoffs turn out.

The two best teams had nightmare playoff runs, the defending champ was a trainwreck, the league's poster boy coasted through the season and yet his team got one of the easiest playoff draws ever, the most interesting player was hurt in the last month of the regular season, the refs seemed to get worse, defense is just flopping and the commissioner has now fully transformed into an evil emperor.

I would like to write something substantial about this season but it would be a waste of words. I had to get NBA League Pass to watch my team play this year because I moved 99 miles away from PHX. Watching well over 200 basketball games has soured me on the NBA and the annoying end to the Suns/Spurs series was the icing on the shit cake.

So what do the Suns do now? We'll never know if they could have beaten the Spurs straight up because they didn't have the chance. The fact is the team is over the luxury tax number and they have big money tied up in their frontline. They potentially have three first round picks in the upcoming draft. The draft lottery drawing on Tuesday will be closely watched by the organization and fans and that pick could play a key role in the club's future plans.

This current roster has really only had one shot at it because Amare Stoudemire was out last year. However, Nash and Marion have had three chances and it is highly possible that we hear plenty of trade talk this off-season as the high speed attack hasn't stayed healthy or gotten the breaks needed to win a championship. The question the front office must answer is do they want to be an entertaining, profitable team who doesn't win in the post season or do they want to pay for a championship by loading their roster with stars?

We'll hear about Kevin Garnett, Rashard Lewis, mid-level exceptions and all the stuff that comes up in the off-season. The team is flawed and they need more size, guys who can create their own shot and depth that Coach D'Antoni actually trusts. For whatever reason, none of the free agent signings contributed anything this season regardless of how talented they may have been. More executives and coaches will continue to leave the organization this offseason and I find it hard to believe that D'Antoni won't become the sole target of deserved criticism for burning out his players. While he wasn't outcoached in this series, he was outcoached this season by Greg Popovich. The Spurs rested their stars all year and got supreme effort from throwaway role players. When the Suns cranked up the defense, the Spurs stars took it to another level, the battle tested role players stepped up and the Spurs beat them. This pattern can't continue for too much longer in the 'win now' NBA. Let's hope this team doesn't follow the trajectory of the Sacramento Kings.

Great season Phoenix Suns, but you cannot save the NBA.

* (SAS 3-2)

2007-05-17T02:02:00.000-07:00

Not much to say. Close game, somewhat expected result. Great shot by Bowen. On to Game 6.

Thuggery Wins, Fans lose

2007-05-15T16:20:00.000-07:00

Amare and Boris out a game, Horry out two.

2-2

2007-05-14T21:53:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: What was Game 4?
Was it the key win? Was it a season or roster defining win?

We'll only know as this epic series delivers it's fantastic finish.

Something happened in the fourth quarter of Game 4. The Suns became the team we've grown to love... and want them to be.

They got stops. Marion was everywhere.

They hit shots. Would you want anyone other than Nash leading a comeback when a game gets wild?

They won in San Antonio. The end of that game has given the NBA the biggest crisis they've faced this decade.

Do they suspend a 1st Team All NBA player for a pivotal game of a playoff series because he walked toward an MVP teammate who was slammed into the scorers' table.

Regardless of how you see it, you have to admit the NBA is at fault for this dilemma. The 'leaving the bench rule' was created for the Knicks guard Greg Anthony's (now annoying nightly on ESPN) brawl-inducing attack on Suns guard Kevin Johnson (while Anthony was in street clothes). Four seasons later the Knicks would lose a playoff series they lead 3-1 due to multiple suspensions from a Game 5 brawl where Charlie Ward was bodyslammed into the crowd.

The NBA just went through this three years ago where Richard Jeffferson (Nets) and Ron Artest (Indiana) got different results when leaving the bench during altercations. Fact is, the NBA will lose fans if they suspend Diaw and Stoudemire and the Suns suffer a stiffer penalty than San Antonio. An excessive hard foul has created a controversy in their showcase series.

If you only read hoops blogs, you know this has become the DVR series. Not only because it is possibly the best matchup we'll see- everyone is rewatching the game and plays to look for fouls that aren't being called. Everyone has turned into Mark Cuban.

All the Cubanites felt some vindication when Joey Crawford got Sterned and had to miss the playoffs for making himself the star of a Sunday afternoon showdown. He tossed Duncan for glaring and laughing and sent a message to the world hasn't gotten til now. Duncan is refereed on a level beyond any other player in the NBA because he is so active in both ends of the floor. Yet he still tries to intimidate officials. So now there's a potential beef with the Spurs and the refs because of Crawford's heavy suspension.

For all the snide comments from fans, Stoudemire stirred the pot by saying the Spurs played dirty. It called attention to the guy who has the highest profile job in this series- Bruce Bowen, who is guarding Steve Nash.

So now you have millions of people testing out the slow-motion on the remote. You have sports writers talking about whining and chippyness. You have the Phoenix Suns trying to keep their cool only to see the hoarse Mike D'Antoni watching the scoreboard- hoping the refs can keep up. You have the San Antonio Spurs trying to slow down one of the best offenses in the last 10 years and trying to work the officials for a little more leeway.

In the ebb and flow of Game 4, the Suns found a way. We saw the Steve Nash that wouldn't let the team lose, like the classic in Dallas. We saw the Shawn Marion that makes a play in every frame of crunch time. We saw the Amare Stoudemire that can't settle on a nickname because he's breaking people off like leprosy.

We saw Robert Horry cross the line.

All the complaining would be seen as normal whining without that foul. Stoudemire's quote wouldn't be so annoyingly prophetic without that foul. All the chippy plays would be seen as great playoff basketball without that foul. The Suns steal a win in San Antonio without that foul.

Now Game 4 becomes something else. The web, talk radio, youtube. The fallout from a few seconds of the most pivotal 2.5 hours of the season could become a nightmare that ruins a series that showcases the BEST things about basketball. Instead it could just become another instance of the NBA putting it's foot down and squashing something that is a byproduct of inconsistent officiating. Somewhere Joey Crawford is glaring at a bowl of ice cream then laughing at it.

UPDATE 2: Steve Kerr and video confirm Tim Duncan and Bruce Bowen left the bench when Francisco Elson tangled with James Jones after a dunk. How many players will get suspended? The buildup to Game 5 might make a lot of fans sick.

Spurs win slugfest (SAS 2-1)

2007-05-13T13:09:00.000-07:00

With the long buildup between games and all the talk about dirty play, it was clear Game 3 would set the tone for the rest of the series. In a physical game, the Spurs got big performances from their big three and wore down the Suns in 108-101 victory.

The Suns started well. After Amare Stoudemire picked up his second late in the first quarter, the Suns got a boost from Boris Diaw off the bench. Boris looked to score and found some success inside. Raja Bell got a couple good looks from three. Leandro Barbosa bounced back from a couple bad plays with an and1 to end the quarter and the Suns hit 30 and had a five point lead.

The Suns pushed the lead up to 10 in the second as the Spurs continued to shoot poorly and Raja Bell stayed hot. However that lead was in spite of Nash not hitting a shot, Stoudemire sitting in foul trouble, Kurt Thomas struggling on offense and Leandro Barbosa looking rattled. The Spurs despite missing jumpers, had Tim Duncan dominating and Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili getting warm with drives to the basket. As the Spurs turned up the intensity, the Suns began to fade. Nash was trapped every time he penetrated into the lane and he was goaded into turnovers. The Spurs ended the second on a 16-5 run and took a two-point lead into halftime.

In the third, the Spurs surged ahead and the officials lost control. Stoudemire picked up two cheap fouls on a seemingly clean block and a flop by Oberto away from the ball. Nash was kneed in the balls by Bowen. In a key sequence, Spurs hit three straight three-pointers to turn a four-point deficit into a five-point lead. The first came when Raja Bell gave some quick help defense and Brent Barry fired a quick, long three. Marion fumbles away a sure dunk. Bowen hits a corner three. Nash rattles out a three. Marion blocks a Parker layup. Duncan clearly fouls Marion on a layup, no call. Bowen hits a corner three.

The Suns would cut the lead to one but then Manu Ginobili took over. After getting hit in the eye by Shawn Marion on a no call, he briefly left to get the bleeding stopped. Ginobili scored the last 10 points of the quarter to put the Spurs up 80-72.

In the fourth, the Suns could get no closer than six thanks to Duncan (33 pts, 19 reb, 4 blk). He hit bank shot after bank shot facing single coverage, scoring 13 in the fourth. In a key sequence with the Suns down six with 90 seconds to go, the Spurs brought back Finley. To me on my couch, the play is to lure a help defender off of Finley, who has (as I've written numerous time in this webspace) become a standstill jumpshooter. Parker drives at full speed, Nash helps off Finley, corner three. Ball game.

Positives
A little more balance from Marion (26 pts, 7 reb, 4 blk, 2 stl), who held Parker to two points in the second half.

Concerns
Raja Bell (12 pts) did not attempt a shot in the second half. Single coverage on Tim Duncan doesn't work. 18-27 Free throw shooting.

Thoughts
I really don't like to complain about officiating but as expected the Spurs got some homecooking. Their consistent physical style makes it hard officials to call every foul but some obvious calls were missed. With all the chatter and cheap shots on both sides, the officials clearly lost control of this game. Duncan should have fouled out in the third quarter. He committed three clear fouls during the pivotal 10-0 run. 1. On the fastbreak after Marion's block of Tony Parker, he bodies and hits Marion across the arms on a layup, no call. 2. Nash has position on help defense takes clear charge, the exact same play as a charge called in Game 2, blocking foul on Nash. 3. Nash drives in for layup, Duncan pushed him in the back, no call and Tony Parker grabs the net with the ball still on the rim.

The Spurs bodied Nash on the perimeter and slapped at the ball whenever he entered the lane. Anyone who's watched Dwyane Wade play knows, those are fouls. Why is it however that the 2-time MVP and highest profile point guard doesn't get those calls? Thinking about it is frustrating because the Spurs don't adjust and the referees don't adjust. 5 on 8 means it's the Phoenix Suns who have to adjust. Some possible adjustments:

1. Tim Duncan. Yes he laughed at the thought of this being a physical series. It's not physical for him, no hard fouls on him and he's getting away with murder inside. Single coverage isn't working and he's scoring 30 a game.

2. Speed. STAT, LB and Marion have a speed advantage and they all need easy buckets. The quick ball movement has given way to Nash creating all the half court offense. With the traps the Spurs are using, an extra pass will produce a good shot.

3. Find a way. Last season this team thrilled fans by finding a way to win again bigger, more physical teams. They showed heart and hit numerous clutch shots when the team was labeled as a finesse team that didn't play defense. After a great season, the Spurs stand in the way. If the championship is the goal, they have to find a way to beat a team that is what they want to be.

4. Run

Enjoy

2007-05-10T02:52:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: Amare calls Spurs dirty after a couple plays in Game 2. The most blatant is Bruce Bowen kicking him on a dunk.

Suns Pull Away, 101-81 (Series Tied, 1-1)

2007-05-08T22:28:00.000-07:00

An anonymous zombie-witch hybrid screams at the officials.

I'm sure everyone out there is thinking "Hey, I wonder what Zei thinks about the game tonight!", and I'll not disappoint! ... Nobody is wondering? Nobody? Okay... but I'm still going to tell you. The Suns played with energy and really wanted the game... so, the final result was that they beat the Spurs. All the problems we had in game one got turned around and made into strengths. In the end, that's the problem with the Suns in nearly any loss: They just stop playing part way through the game. Not tonight. Even when the baskets weren't falling, which included the entire first quarter, the Suns managed to stay in the game and keep their focus. Even after they took over the game, they kept it up, which has been a serious problem in the past. Mental lapses are the reason the Suns don't do this every night, but tonight... no mental lapses. (From a purely talent-based perspective, it's hard to make a case for any other team being as flat out gifted as the Suns, which is why they stop playing so much... because even when they aren't trying they can still beat teams.)

Kurt made life difficult for Duncan all night.

First things first... my personal choice for player of the game... Kurt Thomas! Kurt Thomas! I can't say this enough, Kurt Thomas! He was the real difference maker in the game, playing Duncan tough and forcing him into tough shots and, more importantly, allowing the Suns to play him with single coverage. (And equally important, allowing Amare to stay out of foul trouble.) On top of which, he kept Duncan from hitting the boards and provided much needed hustle the entire game. As an added bonus, Kurt's mid-range shot was automatic, and the Spurs kept giving the shot to him. He finished the game with 12 points (6/7 shooting), 4 rebounds, 3 steals, and most importantly... 28 minutes! In those 28 minutes he made Tim Duncan's life miserable, and for this, he's my choice for player of the game.

After a slow start, Amare went nuts.

The 'Official' player of the game shows up big time, yet again. Amare started slow, having trouble getting his shots to fall. (Which was aided by him taking shots that he really shouldn't be taking unless it's late in the shot clock.) Then in the third quarter, he really stepped into his comfort zone. He started moving without the ball more, worked for position, and finished strong, through the contact, whether a foul was called or not, and put the ball in the hoop. A few monster jams and good moves in the post put him in a rhythm, and he never got out of it. (Though, to be fair, he didn't barely even play in the 4th quarter, but he hit the shot he got in the 4th.) He finished with an impressive 27 points (10/16 FG, 7/8 FT), 9 rebounds, and 2 steals in 35 minutes. Also, his presence on the boards was felt a whole lot more than the 9 rebounds in the box score would suggest, as he was doing a good job boxing out and in the first quarter he was grabbing basically everything that bounced off the rim. Great game Amare... But you're 10 points off of your average from two years ago. Shoot for the stars! Hit Duncan where it really hurts... and you can take that literally or figuratively, I don't care.

Through all this, it's really easy to lose sight of Steve Nash, as he just brings absolute excellence with every game, and this was no different. On every possession he made the right decision, he forced the defense to guard one thing and he'd do something else. There's no way to guard the man. The 6'8 and incredibly physical Bruce Bowen just couldn't do anything with him. He's quick, he's smart, he's an incredible ball handler, and he's stronger than a lot of point guards (That's something you don't hear much about, but he can flat out push around a lot of PG's in the league.) Nash finished with a dazzling 20 points (7/17 FG), 16 assists with just 3 turnovers. Nash took over the game through the end of the second quarter to the end of the 3rd quarter. The M-V-P chants are more than well deserved... too bad the trophy will probably end up going to Dirk. I wonder where they will be presenting him with the trophy anyway... I think game 3 in the Jazz-Warriors series in Oakland would be an appropriate place.

On to the supporting cast in tonight's game. First of all... Boris! Hallelujah, Boris isn't playing like he forgot everything he knows about basketball. Over the last few games he's gradually gotten better and better and, tonight, I was legitimately impressed. He made two passes that very few people in the entire league could set up tonight, and reminded the Suns a bit of what he was doing last year. He finished with 6 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and a block and, perhaps most importantly, he didn't play like he was scared to be on the floor. Shawn Marion, though his offensive impact was limited, did exactly what I said he needed to do to limit Tony Parker- play up on him. He's quick enough to stay with Parker most of the time, and the rare time that Tony can blast by him he'll still be right there, ready to swat the shot, and bare minimum giving him a long target to shoot over. If he's getting screens set on him at the 13-15 foot mark, there's no time for him to recover and Tony has a free lane to the basket. I'm glad the Suns made the adjustments, because Marion's biggest achievement tonight was Tony Parker's stat line... or the lack thereof, if you want to get technical. Tony finished with just 13 points (5/14 FG, 3/6 FT), 2 rebounds and 3 assists, with 4 turnovers in 36 minutes. Marion himself put up 5 points (2/4 FG), 10 rebounds, 3 blocks and a steal. A lot of the time when Marion isn't getting his touches he tends to be a lot less active out there, but not tonight, and the Suns benefited from his

tremendous defense.

Leandro keeps on proving he's faster than Tony Parker.

Raja Bell came out firing tonight, hitting good shots, getting in the lane, and providing tough defense on whoever he was guarding. (Especially Manu Ginobili, who is being shut down in this series.) Raja finished with 18 points (6/9 FG, 5/6 FT), 3 rebounds and a steal. And Leandro, once again providing a spark off the bench, albeit not as big as we've become accustomed to of late, here in the playoffs. Leandro hit some tough shots and pushed the pace when other players started looking sluggish out there, and he had a good impact out there on the floor, most notably playing some good defense on Tony Parker. Leandro finished with 13 points (6/13 FG), 3 rebounds, 3 assists and a block.

No Doubting Thomas

2007-05-08T19:30:00.000-07:00

I'm paying special attention to the Kurt Thomas effort tonight. My observations will be in the comments.

UPDATE: KT was awesome. Great move Coach.

Spurs steal Game 1 (SAS 1-0)

2007-05-07T18:11:00.000-07:00

Winning on the road is a necessity on the playoffs. I watched this game on the road, in Reno on my way home from my grandmother's funeral. The Spurs outexecuted the Suns down the stretch and earned a 111-106 to steal homecourt advantage.

This recap will be short because I need sleep after all the driving.

The Suns looked good in the first half but Tony Parker started hot and continued drive and hit jumpers the whole game. A turning point came late in the half when Amare Stoudemire picked up his third foul on terrible call after a stop with six point lead. The Spurs finished with a spurt and the Suns were up two at the half. The Suns inexplicably came out flat in the third and the Spurs took an eight-point lead.

The Suns rallied behind Leandro Barbosa (18 pts) at the end the third to setup a fourth quarter slugfest. There were 11 lead changes in the fourth quarter alone as neither team seemed to flinch. Parker (32 pts) continued to slice up the Suns' defense. Shawn Marion got his shot going with a few easy pick n' roll buckets and big three. This was looking like the battle of elites we were expecting and hoping the Suns could pull away and win.

The Suns defense which had been ok, started to lose shooters because of Parker and Duncan (33 pts, 16 reb, 3 blk). Horry and Finley hit a couple threes and it was clear the Spurs had all their weapons locked in. The key play of the fourth quarter happened with 2:53 left. Nash reached for Parker's dribble and their heads collided. (Of course the foul is called after he motions that he is hurt.) Nash by far got the worst of it, with a large cut on his nose. Suns trainer Aaron tried to stop the bleeding without stiches with very little success. The cut continued to bleed and even though Nash was able to return to hit a game-tying three, he had to sit out a few crucial possessions where the Suns were unable to score in the final minutes. Leandro Barbosa and Amare Stoudemire looked a little tight and couldn't convert plays with the game on the line. Stoudemire misses two shots at the rim and LB commited two bad fouls. As the Suns unraveled, the Spurs pulled out the win.

Positives
Nash (31 pts, 8 ast) set the tone and took what the defense gave him.

Concerns
Inability to make plays with the game on the line. Uneven energy and effort. Marion and Stoudemire seemingly forgot dunk attempts are better than floaters at the rim.

Thoughts
It may have been the sound in the sports book where I was watching but it seems like the Suns have a quiet crowd. It doesn't help when the team starts the third with no energy against a team that capitalizes on mistakes. I was in Oakland when the Warriors upset the Mavericks and that crowd was a huge advantage. Sure the team had been bad for a long time but those fans made sure the team had energetic support. Even the people I was watching with were yelling at the TV.

The Suns fans seemed to be like the gamblers I was watching with in the casino. The ones who bet on the Suns had taken the over and the point spread. So they needed the Suns to win by five and for both teams to score over 100. The response to Suns baskets was celebratory but nothing close to passionate- even with money on the line. That's how the Suns crowd seems to me. Unless the team is up by 25, they just aren't a factor. Losing home-court advantage in this matchup may not be a big deal because the Spurs crowd might be worse. They have the same sober, methodical approach as their team- we'll turn it on down the stretch.

This loss doesn't mean the series is over but it highlights the importance of winning on the road. The Suns have to win a game in San Antonio if they are going to win this series. They have to put someone on Tony Parker who won't concede numerous layups and has the quickness to stay with him and some strength to foul him hard (Marcus Banks?). Parker has killed the Suns this year with the drive and his jumper. Perhaps guarding like Shaq (different looks, using fouls) will help because Parker isn't a playmaker, he's a scorer.

This Spurs team is more reliant on their stars than their title teams. While Ginobili was held in check, Duncan and Parker had their way. Michael Finley has become a standstill jumpshooter but he was repeatedly left open. Defensive adjustments are necessary because the Suns need swarming defense to make the game chaotic and to setup chances to attack the Spurs in transition.

The Spurs are built upon executing against all attacks. Much like Dallas, they can play any way but they don't have the athleticism to match the Suns in a full-court game. While Game 1 was high scoring, the Suns didn't have the pace advantage nor the three-point shooting advantage they normally have. The Spurs lull teams to sleep by hanging around and then turning into a basketball clockwork orange in the final two minutes. The Suns didn't have their leader on the court for much of crunch time. The Spurs smelled blood and pulled out the win.

Closing Out the Series - 119-110 Suns (Series 4-1, Suns)

2007-05-03T14:55:00.000-07:00

Game 5, and the Suns showed up to play. I expected them to play a bit lazy, I expected them to come out a bit slow... but not so much. The game started with a four point play from James Jones and a quick 8 points from Raja. The Lakers fought hard the whole game, but the Suns really just put them down and kept them down the whole time. Only three players came to play for the Lakers, and Jordan Farmar really isn't talented enough that him coming to play really made a big impact. The Suns had it clicking from nearly all angles, even with Nash having an off game.

Spirit fingers!

First, let's start with the player of the game: Amare. Amare really forced the Lakers to respect him, and even when the pulled up on him, he was still killing them. He wasn't finishing as good as he normally does, his jumper was a bit shaky... but none of it mattered, because the Lakers simply couldn't contain him. Amare went off for 27 points (6/16 FG, 15/21 FT) and 16 rebounds (4 offensive), along with two steals. (Something that Amare has really been getting after of late, actually. You look at nearly any box score and Amare has at least one steal, and quite often he ends up with 3-4.) Once again, Amare crashed the boards, played fairly good defense (until he got into foul trouble and let Ronny Turiaf school him), and most importantly got the entire Lakers front line into foul trouble. (Luke Walton: 6 fouls, Lamar Odom: 6 fouls, Ronny Turiaf: 4 fouls, Brian Cook: 4 fouls, Kwame Brown: 3 fouls (in 20 minutes, Philly J pretty much pulled him after he got 3 quick fouls because he was playing like crap.)) Overall, Amare cemented his status as a big time playoff performer, carrying over from two years ago.

Amare with the monster cram straight around, over, and through Ronny Turiaf.

And speaking of playoff performers, Leandro Barbosa! 18 points (6/12 FG, 3/7 3PT, 3/4 FT) off the bench, and a *ton* of headaches for the Lakers. His impact went well beyond the 18 points he had. When he got buckets, they were demoralizing and debilitating. Four Lakers are back on defense, Nash just chucks the ball up court and expects Leandro to run past them and get it. And he did, too, he got the ball and got the bucket. There's nothing anybody could do about it either, and that clearly upset the Lakers who were starting to make a run. He opened up the floor, forced the defense to collapse on him, and drew superstar type of attention whenever he made moves to get to the bucket, opening up the floor for Diaw to get the ball wide open at the 18 foot mark, dribble around for a couple seconds and throw the ball somewhere else (As he's very prone to do.), which doesn't sound good, but the ball movement and floor spacing made it so that everyone on the floor could get a good look nearly at will. I can't stress enough how big Leandro has been this series, and I expect him to continue with the big performances, we'll definitely need them against the Spurs.

Kobe being a good sport, a few words of encouragement for Leandro.

Speaking of people we'll need against the Spurs, how about Shawn Marion? (How do you like that segue, eh? Good stuff right there.) Once again, he showed up in Matrix form instead of Marion form, and the whole team benefited. Shawn's off-ball movement caused headaches for the Lakers all night, and he was also part of the most impressive series of events from game 5 when he caught two consecutive alley-oops from Nash. The crowd went nuts, and everyone watching at home presumably went nuts. (I know I did.) An impresesive line with 26 points (11/21 FG), 10 rebounds (3 offensive), 3 steals, 2 blocks, and a three whole bags of hustle. (You can only buy hustle in bags, by the by. If someone tries to sell you a case of hustle, it's fake.) Keep it up, Shawn. We can't beat the Spurs without you.

Shawn glides in for the dunk. But... what is Odom doing?

Oddly enough, Nash really wasn't in sync the whole game, which is why it's so surprising that we were in control the whole game. Nash finished with 17 points (5/15 FG, 7/8 FT), 10 assists, and an unusual 7 turnovers. Nash made some uncharacteristic mistakes and didn't seem to be all there mentally for periods of the game, so I'm glad we could pull the game out with Nash being a bit off. The Suns have definitely matured in that aspect, and a lot of that is thanks to Amare being out there and dictating the offensive flow with his aggressive moves in the post. Because of Amare and Leandro, Nash can have an off game and the Suns aren't doomed in the process, it's very refreshing.

I can't make this one any funnier...

On the Lakers end, Kobe and Lamar both had exceptional games. Kobe finished with 34 points (13/33 FG, 2/8 3PT, 6/7 FT), 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 6 turnovers. Kobe had a very good first half, but in the second half he was just harassed by double and triple teams. He got trapped and collapsed on every time he put the ball on the floor, and that's really all you can hope for is to contain him. 34 points (13/33 FG, 2/8 3PT, 6/7 FT), 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 6 turnovers. Kobe had a very good first half, but in the second half he was just harassed by double and triple teams. He got trapped and collapsed on every time he put the ball on the floor, and that's really all you can hope for is to contain him. Lamar Odom had a monster game with 33 points (13/21 FG, 6/9 FT), 10 rebounds (6 offensive), 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block. The whole series I've been yelling at the TV "FORCE HIM RIGHT! FORCE HIM RIGHT!" They did so once today, and then they didn't box him out after he missed (He'll never make it going right!!) so he got the offensive rebound and put it back up. If the Suns organization is interested, I'll do the scouting reports for them. I'll do it for very little money and the personal satisfaction of knowing that I'd be helping the Suns organization. ... What? Nobody from the Suns organization reads this blog? Total jip.

So here's to a good series from the Lakers. They definitely made it interesting, and they definitely made it entertaining.