Would you trade Stoudemire for Garnett now?

During the offseason talks of the past Summer most of us discussed about a possible trade bringing Kevin Garnett to Phoenix.

Before KG being dealt to Boston on July 31st for a bunch of more or less promising young players - and a lifetime beer supply from Danny Ainge to old pal Kevin McHale - the Suns made a real attempt to bring him to the Valley.

More or less, from what we know now, the Suns were offering, in a three-team deal, Shawn Marion and some draft picks for Garnett while Minnesota was asking for Stoudemire.

Steve Kerr basically refused to include one of the best young center in the League, STAT, in any talk with the Timberwolves. Most of us, included myself on this same blog, agreed with Kerr's point of view.

Now, after two months of the season I am not so sure anymore.

Kevin Garnett (6-11, 31-year-old) 18.9 PPG, 10.5 RPG, 3.6 APG, +26.56 EFF

KG has changed the face of the Celtics. Garnett plays all-out every night, he's shooting well (.545) and playing the best defense in the league. NBA MVP so far this season.

Amaré Stoudemire (6-10, 25-year-old) 21.5 PPG, 8.70 RPG, 1.2 APG, +24.89 EFF

STAT is playing one of the best, if not the best, season of his career on offense (shooting .584) while showing all his well-known limits on defense.

It all come down to this I believe: STAT means future (5-7 more years at this level) and offense while KG means present and a better overall game. Since Steve Nash is 33, Grant Hill is 35 , Shawn Marion is 29, the best chance the Suns have to win it all is NOW (this and possibly next season).

If I had a choice now I would trade STAT for KG. I feel Steve Kerr would do the same....now. But that's just speculation.

Go Suns !

Merry Christmas to the Suns Nation !

Dear Santa,

all I am asking you for Christmas is a nice win on Chirstmas Day on National TV (Abc, 3 PM) against Kobe and the Lakers.

Thanks


Yours truly, Steve Fan

Believers or Doubters

Five Reasons to Believe

1. The Suns are 19-8 (11-4 on the road) and have the second best record in the West.
2. Grant Hill is actually better than everyone thought (16 ppg and 4.6 rpg), looks young and has started all 27 games.
3. Amaré is shooting .567, a career high so far.
4. Nash is leading the league with 12.4 assists per game (another career high so far).
5. Brian Skinner can play (12 minutes per game, .560 shooting).

Five Reasons to Doubt

1. The Suns have been inconsistent (especially on defense) often. During the same game we've seen good spans and awful periods. They are 3-4 over the last two weeks.
2. The Suns have been outrebounded badly the whole season: totals so far 1,261 for the opponents - 1,099 for Phoenix.
3. The Suns lost everytime they failed to score 100 points. Suns defense is not gonna win games anytime soon.
4. Amaré looks bad on defense too often, how many times have you seen Stoudemire defending with his arms down or being late in rotations?
5. Players development. D.J. has appeared in six games, Tucker in three and both too often failed to appear in games, even with the Suns up by 20 while Marcus Banks is not the needed back up to Steve Nash, at least that's what the coaching staff believes. His positive performance during the pre-season is long forgotten.

Go Suns!

What's going on in Dallas?

At 17-7, writing after the loss in New Orleans, the Suns now head to Texas to face the two best team in the West (not calling Arizona home): San Antonio (18-5) and Dallas (16-9).

While the Spurs are playing well, despite Tim Duncan missing a few games (he's back...don't worry), one of the toughest question in the NBA right now is what's going on in Dallas?

It's such an interesting issue (check the excellent Mavsblog on the Dallas Morning News), even for non-Mavs fans, because it's a perfect example of the thin equilibrium NBA teams are living on, day in and day out, as the key is both technical and psychological.

The Mavs are very good at home (10-2) not so good on the road (6-7) but look like a team in search of its soul on most nights.

Compare it to what they have in San Antonio. The Spurs know where they are, trust their skills, know what to do, who should get the ball when it matters; a classic case of winners' confidence.

The Mavs have possibly the best roster in the NBA and for sure some of the game's most talented players: Nowitzki, Howard, Terry, Harris plus some very good players off bench in Stackhouse, Bass, Diop, Barea. Only the Suns' top six players could match the Mavs talent wise.

They have an excellent coaching staff too, led by one the game's brightest young coach, and an Owner ready to pay what's needed to win.

Yet, despite this they are still looking for certainties. I believe it all comes down to Confidence and Collective Intelligence.

On a basketball court it means that you're expecting the best (a win) in every game because you know the TEAM can find solutions that a single player wouldn't be able to create (unless he's MJ...but that's a different story). It means that a team can actually perform better than the sum of its single players.

Good attitude and good coaching can create some form of collective intelligence and the Mavs have both (like the Suns) but only winning can actually generate optimism and self-confidence and I believe Dallas has not recovered yet from last year's awful loss to the Warriors in the first round of the playoffs and - above all - the terrible loss (up 2-0 in the series with game three in control) to the Heat in the NBA Finals the year before. It won't be easy to get over those.

Imagine how the Mavs will feel when they start the playoffs next spring. The whole season will be a process of self-confidence building and I think Avery Johnson is primarily working on this side of his team. He needs a self-confident Nowitzki, above all.

While the Suns haven't experienced a "dramatic" loss, the way a first round exit is when you're supposed to win it all, Phoenix will somewhat experience the same kind of mental pressure in the Playoffs.

The next couple of games in San Antonio and Dallas should be very interesting.

Go Suns !

Are the Suns actually playing good defense?

The 5-game Eastern road trip ended with an unpredictable loss to the Timberwolves but still remained a success with Phoenix winning four (of five) and scoring at least 115 in each of those games. The Suns actually put 122 on the Wizards, 136 on the Raptors, 121 on the Pacers and only 115 on the Knicks. With last night exception against the T-Wolves the Suns have been the better team on the court every game.

Phoenix is 16-4, third highest total in the League behind the Spurs and the Celtics, and is basically winning games because the Suns are outplaying their opponents: Nash & Co. are running faster, passing the ball around and shooting better....sounds easy eh!?

The Suns are shooting an excellent .497 from the field (.373 from 3-point and .786 on FT), their opponents just .462 .361 .708.
The Suns are dishing an amazing 27.9 assists per game, seven more than their foes, not to mention more steals (8.2 vs 7.1), less turnovers (14.1 vs 15.8) and more blocked shots (5.5 vs 3.8) per game.

Are the Suns just better than their challengers or is there a case for the Suns defense as well? Not sure, when the Suns are able to impose their high-speed rhythm to the games they become effective in chasing the ball, getting deflections (a big key in Coach D'Antoni's system) and thus generating fastbreaks and points off turnovers: that's the key to the Suns defense.

The only apparent weakness being the rebounds as the Suns have been out-STATed 45.8 to 41.9. But that deficit on the boards has actually been the results of a few bad games:

• 54-34 vs LA Lakers
• 56-40 vs Atlanta
• 47-34 vs Houston
• 55-33 vs Minnesota

The Suns lost every time they scored less then 100 points this season (0-4) and on three of those they have been outrebounded badly.

The next few games should be very interesting to check where the Suns are now. After playing Miami (4-15) on Monday Phoenix has the biggest challenge of the season so far with games in New Orleans (13-7), San Antonio (17-3) and Dallas (13-8). Those two games in Texas should be very interesting to watch.

One quick note. I hadn't realized how much Steve Nash had improved his shooting over the years until I read this great (as usual) post on The Painted Area.

Finally, before leaving, remember to Ask Raja on YouTube !

Go Suns!

PG-SG Combo Power Ranking

Last night's game against the Magic showed how great Steve Nash and Raja Bell are as a PG-SG combination. So while I was watching the game I thought about where would I rank them in a ideal PG-SG (power) ranking.
I have tried to rank the ten best starting PG-SG combination right now. Starting (right now) means no Parker-Ginobili as long as Manu comes off the bench and no Gilbert Arenas or Mike Bibby as only active players have been taken into consideration. I have indeed included LeBron as he's just day-to-day.

Here's my PG-SG Combo Power Ranking. Each player is followed by his current avg. in points, rebounds and assists. (PPG, RPG, APG - NO DECIMALS). Stats as of Sunday, December 2nd, 2007.

1. Detroit - C. Billups (16, 2, 7), R. Hamilton (16, 3, 4)

2. Dallas - D. Harris (15, 3, 5), J. Terry (17, 2, 3)

3. Milwaukee - M. Williams (14, 3, 7), M. Redd (23, 5, 3)

4. Chicago - K. Heinrich (10, 2, 5), B. Gordon (19, 4, 2)

5. New Jersey - J. Kidd (11, 8, 10), V. Carter (18, 5, 4)

6. LA Lakers - K. Bryant (27, 6, 4), D. Fisher (11, 2, 3)

7. Golden State - M. Ellis (16, 3, 2) B. Davis (23, 5, 8)

8. Cleveland - D. Gibson (12, 2, 3), L. James (30, 7, 8)

9. Phoenix - S. Nash (18, 3, 11), R. Bell (10, 3, 2). Great Combination of defense, playmaking and shooting...if you could combine the offensive side of Nash with the defensive side of Bell you would make the greatest guard to ever play the game

10. Miami - J. Williams (9, 2, 5), D. Wade (19, 3, 4)

11. Charlotte - J. Richardson (17, 5, 2), R. Felton (16, 3, 7)
12. Houston - T. McGrady (25, 5, 5), R. Alston (8, 3, 4)

13. New York - S. Marbury (14, 2, 5), J. Crawford (16, 2, 4)
14. Denver - A. Iverson (23, 3, 7), A. Carter (7, 3, 5)

15. Utah - R. Brewer (13, 2, 2), D. Williams (19, 3, 8)

16. San Antonio - T. Parker (20, 3, 7), M. Finley (7, 2, 1). With Manu Ginobili (19, 4, 4) starting the Spurs' duo would be in the top five.

17. Indiana - M. Dunleavy (16, 5, 2), J. Tinsley (14, 4, 8)

18. New Orleans - C. Paul (19, 4, 10), M. Peterson (9, 3, 1)

19. Boston - R. Rondo (8, 3, 5), R. Allen (20, 4, 3)

20. Toronto - J. Calderon (9, 2, 7) or TJ Ford (13, 2, 7) and A. Parker (11, 4, 1)

21. Seattle - K. Durant (19, 4, 2), D West (7, 2, 3) or Watson (7, 2, 6).
22. Memphis - D. Staudamire (7, 2, 4), M. Miller (14, 7, 3)

23. LA Clippers - C. Maggette (20, 6, 2), B. Knight (4, 1, 4). Not much better if you count S. Cassell (13, 2, 4) at PG

24. Atlanta - A. Johnson (4, 2, 3), J. Johnson (22, 3, 5)

25. Philadelphia - A. Miller (14, 4, 4), W. Green (11, 3, 2)

26. Orlando - J. Nelson (12, 4, 5), K. Bogans (9, 4, 1)

27. Portland - S. Blake (5, 2, 5), B. Roy (16, 3, 4)

28. Sacramento - B. Udrich (14, 3, 4) K. Martin (24, 5, 2)

29. Minnesota - S. Telfair (9, 2, 4), C. Brewer (4, 2, 1). Not much better with Marko Jaric in the line-up.

30. Washington - A. Daniels (7, 3, 4), D. Stevenson (7, 3, 2).They're missing G. Arenas (22, 4, 5) a lot.

Go Suns !

Sorry Marbury! You're not welcome anymore

A Sons of Steve Nash internet poll confirmed that Suns fans have had enough of Coney Island's Finest.

So, this very democratic blog won't lobby to bring Stephon back to Arizona.

Of the 17 total votes received 6 of you (a huge 35%) chose "No thanks enough already" while only 3 expressed their favour for a return. The second-most voted option was "Please get serious !"

Thanks a lot for voting !

Go Suns !

I just don't agree with the move.

Phoenix assigns Alando Tucker to Albuquerque of the D-League. NBA transactions from Thursday Nov. 29th.

I just don't agree with the move.

Alando played four years in college, he's not gonna get any better in Albuquerque where the level of the game is not that high. He needs to play in the NBA to improve. Give Alando and Strawberry five-six minutes a game, not during garbage time, give them a chance to play, only a few minutes...but a chance, to play with two or three starters still in the game. Tucker will become much better playing with Marion and Nash 3 minutes a night than playing 35 minutes in the D-League.

Despite the fact that we know - and was quite clear to everyone before the draft - that Tucker is not a shooter and never will be, Suns Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin said in the Arizona Republic: "What we've asked them to do with Alando is focus on his two (shooting guard) and three (small forward) game, his outside shooting".

Why draft an athletic (but underside) non-shooting small forward when the Suns were looking for a shooter? Because he was possibly the best player available...so give him a real chance to improve, put him in games...NBA games.

Go Doe ! Go Suns !

It'll be either the Suns, the Spurs or the Mavs...

Former Sun Jalen Rose, now an ESPN Analyst, makes a bold prediction on the Western Conference: you wouldn't believe he's picking either the Suns, the Mavs or the Spurs to win the West...even following a Monday loss by each one of them. Other than the easy pick, Jalen is actually making some interesting comments on those three teams, from a guy who used to play with those same guys he's now watching; the best: "Phoenix, the team I finished my playing career with last season, is one whose style can make an opponent look its worst on a given night".

Don't forget to read the best recent portrait of Steve Nash, it's "Not to Get Too Mystical About It" on NY Times Play Magazine. What can you say about the man anymore...

Go Suns !

Have a Suns Thanksgiving !

On this occasion there are a few things I would like to be grateful:

I am thankful for the pure pleasure of watching Steve Nash run the floor and getting ready to dish yet another magical pass for an open dunk.

I am thankful for Leandrinho being so fast. He's so fast you sometimes forget he does all of it while actually handling the ball.

I am thankful for Raja because he cares and never quits!

I am thankful for Shawn Marion never feeling appreciated by the Suns' front office and still giving 110 percent every night.

I am thankful for Grant Hill in a Suns uniform.

I am thankful for STAT. Just keep jumping !

I am thankful for the Suns scoring 47 points in one single quarter.

I am thankful for Coach D'Antoni because as a kid I hated him as a player (he used to kill my favourite team every time) and now I wouldn't change him for any other coach in the World.

I am thankful because this season will be a journey we'll never forget, whatever happens.

I am thankful...just for being a Suns' Fan. And you should too.

Go Suns !

Why Rankings are better than Standings

I really love rankings, they don't count since it's not the NCAA but they're so much more enjoyable than checking the standings: 8-2 is great, we all know the Suns are great and getting better with each game, but how great? are they better than the Mavs (7-2) or the Spurs (8-2)? Are the Magic (10-2) better than the Celtics (8-1)?
That's what rankings are all about...they do the same we, the fans, do all the time, guess!
Experts, Analysts, Fans: everyone can rank NBA teams, and almost everyone can make a point or two to support his decision. That's why I love them. Here's a round-up of my favourite five:

NBA.com Power Ranking has the Suns 2nd while the Celtics lost to the Magic and got back to no. 1.
ESPN.com John Hollinger Ranking has the Celtics and the Magic at one and two while the Suns are in 7th place !!! (behind the Lakers and the Nuggets...oh please!)
ESPN.com Mark Stein Power Ranking has the Suns on top of the list ahead of the Mavs and the Spurs. Magic an Celtics following.
CBS Sportsline Power Ranking has the Suns on top as well, followed by Boston and Dallas.
Sports Illustrated Power Ranking has the Suns on second, with Boston leading the way.

I am looking forward to next week's rankings as I expect the Suns to lead all of them. In the meantime, could someone please explain the difference between a Ranking and a Power Ranking?

Go Suns!

Eight games played already ! Suns at 6-2

After eight games already played, not many but still almost one-tenth of the NBA season, the Suns are 6-2, including 4-1 on the road and the usual domination of the Eastern Conference so far. Some of the doubts about the Suns' attitude have been answered over the last few games, especially during the recent Southeast road trip when our guys came out ready to fight more often than not.

The Usual Suspects on the Suns' roster have performed well overall: Stoudemire, Hill, Nash, Marion and Barbosa have played well so far with Leandrinho being the most impressive over the last couple of games.
Grant Hill have been all we had hoped so far, even if he tends to take more 3-point shots than he actually should. Amaré is recovering well from knee surgery and other than the Miami game, when he got ejected early in the second half, has been excellent. Marion has probably been the most consistent Sun so far: scoring, playing solid defense and rebounding very well. Raja Bell is having trouble with his ankle, he should sit out until completely healed, but he'll be fine.

Point-center Diaw has been the biggest question mark so far. Boris has played a couple of good games (vs Cleveland and at Charlotte), even filling in for STAT at center, not to mention guarding Shaq for half a game.He is always hustling and playing hard but sometimes it seems like he's still looking for his place on the court. He's very versatile on a basketball court but possibly because he is often asked to play so many different positions he looks a bit tentative at times and never really comfortable.

Checking the rest of the Suns' roster there's not much to report really. Coach D'Antoni should use his bench more especially so early in the year. It will make a difference in May, when the best players will have something left in the tank for the Playoffs.
Skinner, Banks, Marks, Tucker and Strawberry are good player. Of course they're not as good as the starters...that's why they're on the bench ! Banks will never be Steve Nash nor Tucker will become better than Marion anytime soon, but they could contribute right now.
Of course D'Antoni sees those guys on a daily basis and knows, much better than anyone else, what they can do on a basketball court, but I hate to see the starters (or just 6-7 Suns), playing 35 minutes each even with comfortable leads late in games. Nash is averaging 34 minutes a night, Marion 37, Hill and Raja 35 while Banks and Skinner only 11 while Tucker made only one appearance. Check the Suns' stats if you're interested.

Over the next few days the Suns will play the Bulls, the Clippers and the Kings (twice on consecutive nights) but the game I'll be looking at with great attention is next Saturday's vs the Rockets in Houston, first game against one of Texas' big three.

Go Suns !

It's never too early to analyse things

It's too early to panic but it's never to early to analyse things, even after only a few games in the new season. I am writing these notes before Friday Night game in Miami and since it's early in the year things could change quickly.

The Suns don't look like last year's perfect machine, maybe just not yet, and on most nights have been outplayed especially on the boards and running the floor. There are a lot of potential explanations for the slow start: Amaré's injury, Barbosa and Bell playing on sore ankles, Diaw having spent most of the games at center and so on. If it's just a physical problem, it'll be solved in a few weeks. The Suns could be back in shape in time for December, a month that is possibly the toughest of the entire season with 10 of 14 games on the road including trips to Dallas, San Antonio and the Christmas' date with the Lakers.

There's only one thing that really could sound a bit alarming: the hypotheis that the Suns are not finding the "correct" motivations for regular season games, those needed to compete on any of those 82 nights. The basketball world has been talking that these Suns are "built to win the championship", talking about the "window of opportunity closing quickly" and how the season will depend on the playoffs on a rematch with the Spurs and so on.
Mike D'Antoni was probably already bit worried about it during training camp as on a couple of occasions he told the Suns needed to enjoy the journey and not focus on the Conference Finals in November.

Go Suns !

Some quick notes around the NBA

Here's some quick notes on the NBA season so far...1 to 20 in no particular order:

1. Undefeated teams in the NBA so far: Clippers, Pacers, Hornets, Celtics and Pistons. Schedule has a key influence in teams being undefeated so early in the season.
2. Biggest disappointment so far: the Bulls and the Warriors at 0-4. They're much better than that. Golden State needs to start playing some (just a little) defense. the Bulls, I just don't have a clue, as they actually played some teams they should have beaten easily (Nets, Sixers, Bucks and Clippers). I am sure they'll bounce back.
3. The Western Conference, despite some top talent going East, seems even better than last year. Early on the best teams in the Conference look even better.
4. There are no easy games in the West.
5. The Suns are not in game shape yet, but will eventually get there. They're so good that at half speed they'll win against almost every team in the East and half of their Conference as well.
6. I am bit worried by Amaré Stoudemire's right knee. I hope he'll get enough rest not to risk worse injury.
7. Coach D'Antoni should use his bench more, even if that means losing a few games here and there. It won't matter if the Suns win 55 or 65 games...the Suns' destiny will be decided somewhere in Texas in late May. You can't think to have guys ready to compete in the playoffs if you don't play them in the winter. Suns need to get to May with at least 9 players ready to play in the playoffs.
8. Phoenix is Steve Nash's team. No big news here.
9. Those three teams in Texas look very impressive. Houston, San Antonio and Dallas, the Suns will have to deal with a couple of those to win the Conference.
10. The Mavs will have the best record in the NBA in the end of the regular season but the Rockets look like the toughest team in playoffs-perspective. Yao and T-Mac (if they stay healthy) will be a force, T-Mac is playing with great enthusiasm and Yao seems to be even a little bit "more" aggressive on the court. I think I saw Yao argue with a referee...
11. How great is the Jazz offense? Utah plays the best half court offense in the League and that Williams to Boozer pick and roll is the best I have seen in a long time...possibly since the Stockton to Malone era.
12. The Atlantic Division looks like one of the toughest in the League as at least 3 teams will fight to the end for the Division title. Looking forward to see those teams play some of the Big Boys in the West.
13. Kevin Garnett is good, actually great. On Opening night at the Garden the atmosphere was like it used to be in the old glory days. Boston is a special place to be a winner. Celtics fan will start chanting "MVP" to their no. 5 before December.
14. Kobe, who won't get traded, is unhappy but this on-going tension is turning into a positive force (must be some kind of Zen Master's truck involved here) as his teammates have raised their games and the Lakers look like a much better and more balanced team than last year's version.
15. Despite that, Kobe is still leading the League in scoring. In all the mess on trade rumors it's easy to forget he's possibly the best player in the NBA.
16. This is probably the deepest rookie class of the last 10 years...do I hear 1984 ? And we won't see Oden play any time soon.
17. Kevin Durant is the best pure talent coming in the League in a long time. Check a Sonics game if you have a chance, he's a real natural and seems born to play this game.
18. D. Wade and R. Hamilton's injuries are killing my Fantasy team....so far
19. Please keep the Sonics in Seattle.

...and finally

20. Go Suns !

Suns 1-1. What to think now?

Watching the first couple of games of the year it's quite easy to feel like it's going to be a long season. Thursday's night 106-99 win in Seattle and last night awful home loss 119-98 to the Lakers just seems to suggest that.

The game in Seattle was not a great overall performance as the Suns would have normally blown away those Sonics (despite the fact that they have great young talent and Kevin Durant is a real pleasure to watch) but the Suns were able to stay focused, play well when it mattered, make plays in the end and eventually take home the W.

By the way, please keep the Sonics in Seattle ! The Supersonics belong in the Pacific Northwest, If Mr. Bennett doesn't like his arena deal, just move yourself out of Seattle, not the Sonics.

The home opener was just a nightmare from tip-off as the Lakers looked like the Suns and outplayed our Phoenix team in every aspect of the game. Lazy defense, poor passing, lack of overall effort...you get the idea. It was really bad. If you didn't see the game, trust what you're reading, don't watch it. When was the last time Steve Nash had 3 assists (and 5 TO) in the whole game? (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

The home crowd booed the Suns and Phil Jackson called a much needed timeout with the Lakers up 111-78 with 4:55 left to play...must be some Basketball Zen we'll never fully get.

Of course expectations are high as never before, but booing the Suns on the first night of the season seems too much and sorry, I just don't buy into the "I pay therefore I boo" philosophy. Suns are not expected to win 82 games but are expected to put a solid effort on the floor every night.

Were the Suns not ready? Was it just a night off? Are the Lakers so good? Probably it was one of those nights but let's just hope all this "cruise through the season, get-ready for the Playoffs since all we care is the NBA Championship" doesn't mean the Suns won't be ready to put on a fight every night.

It's way too early to get into the alarm mode (dont' forget last year's start), but the next few games will be a good indication as after the Cavs on Sunday at home the Suns will play four consecutive road games in the Southeast with the games in Florida looking like a good test.

It's way to early to panic ! so just Go Suns ! (say it louder this time)

Nash Equilibrium

"In game theory, the Nash equilibrium is a solution concept of a game involving two or more players, in which no player has anything to gain by changing only his or her own strategy unilaterally. If each player has chosen a strategy and no player can benefit by changing his or her strategy while the other players keep theirs unchanged, then the current set of strategy choices and the corresponding payoffs constitute a Nash equilibrium". (Nash Equilibrium definition, Wikipedia)

Sounds a lot like the 2007/08 Phoenix Suns ! The Suns begin their quest for the title tonight in Seattle (7.30 PM) riding their usual up-tempo style of play trying to outrun, outshoot, outplay, out-everything each opponent until next June.

There's been a lot of discussion about wheather the Suns' style of play will ever be good enough to win in the playoffs when everything gets tougher, games become slower, the Spurs keep posting up Tim Duncan, Referees - even non gambling ones - are allowing more contacts and so on.

I was even discussing lately the irony of the fact that Mike D'Antoni the player was possibly the opposite of D'Antoni the coach. Mike was a great defender, pass first point guard, then I realized the two sides of Mike have something deep in common: they belong to the most intelligent man in the arena. The player and the coach always played in such a way to give his team the best chance to win: same with the Suns. D'Antoni will not try to impose his theories on players, he will ride their abilities, just like he used to do guiding the great Milan team of the 80's to Italian and European glory.

The 2007/08 version will be the best Suns team of the last 10 years and will play the only way they know: at full speed. It's their DNA, it's the way they have been assembled and success will ultimately rely on the thin equilibrium this team has been built on. The Suns are a perfect machine guided on the field by the best quarterback in the League and on the bench by the best possible coach. This Nash-D'Antoni combination is what this equilibrium is built on and everyone else will follow, trying to adjust, trying to find his role and his place and adapt to the ever changing flow of the game. That's also why basketball intelligence is what could eventually lead the Suns to the NBA title and that's also why Grant Hill is such a great addition.

This will never be Amaré's team nor Marion's (and it has nothing to do with their All Stars basketball skills) because the Suns have been built as a group with one inspiring philosophy: follow Mike D'Antoni and Steve Nash's Beautiful Mind. Will it be good to win it all? not sure but it'll be by far the best show you'll ever witness on a basketball court these days and I just plan to enjoy every minute of it.

Go Suns !

PS Don't forget it's Steve Nash Day on The Bright Side of the Sun. Make sure to check the You Tube highlights, Steve's amazing !!!

How the West will be won...or Western Conference Preview

The pro sports world is not what it used to be: Massachusetts and Indiana used to be Basketball States, while Texas has always been Football Country. Now, Indianapolis and New England are winning Superbowls, while Texas has possibly the best three teams (not calling Phoenix home) in the NBA...not to mention that they are not supposed to be playing baseball in Colorado in October.

The Western Conference is So Damn Good that the 7th or 8th best team would be good enough to win the East. Just put the Lakers or the Nuggets out there and see. The big question in the Conference is that there are at least 4 teams with a real chance of winning it all, those being the Texas Trio and yours Suns and 3-4 more with a chance of being very competitive in Golden State, Denver, Utah and Kobe's bunch.

Anyway, here's a quick roundup and some predictions: Division Champs and other divisional notes

Northwest: Utah. The Jazz are good, possibly not that good to repeat last year playoffs' run but with a core of Deron Williams, Kirilienko and Boozer they'll contend. Denver is also a very interesting team and a full season of A.I. and Melo playing together could make the difference as they'll give the Jazz a tough run for the division title. Don't forget they won 16 of their last 22 regular season games last year. The big rebuilding projects up in the Northwest will have to wait a couple more years, the loss of Greg Oden will slow the Blazers' development process while the Sonics will ride Kevin Durant and his huge talent and build from there. Don't expect much this season anyway. Hey ! what are the Boston Celtics doing here? no...wait a minute they're the Timberwolves now. Minnesota has talent but they won't go anywhere for 2-3 more years, the key will be to see if coach Wittman can develop a "real" team and create a consistent improvement plan that could make them contenders in a few seasons.

Pacific: Suns. The Suns are so much better than the rest of the division they'll literally run away with it. I'll deal with the Suns in depth in a few days but let's just say they have everything: best point guard in the game, great coach, talent everywhere. The rest of the division is not even close. I expect a surprise season by the Warriors riding their great playoffs' run of last season. They have talent (Ellis, Davis, Belinelli, Jackson) and leadership on the floor (Davis again) to reach the playoffs. The Clippers are a good team but will have their best player (Elton Brand) out until at least February; plenty of good and talented players in the backcourt and a star in the making in Livingston won't be enough to contend. The Lakers are Kobe's team, period. He's so good that could make them a playoff team on any given year especially with a good supporting cast like he has now: Fisher will answer last year's biggest headache at the point while Walton and Bynum should keep getting better. I have to mention the Kings, just for the sake of it. Sacramento is not going anywhere and will win some games because Bibby, Martin and Artest are good players.

Southwest: Dallas. This is Texas, baby. Nothing comes easy and you better be ready to shoot! The Mavs on an 82-game season are better then San Antonio and Houston but to win the Division Dirk and the Cubans (they could sign for next season of American Idol as a pop band) will have to forget the Golden State series and got back to what they can do on any given night. The Mavs have possible the best starting five (Harris, Terry, Howard, MVP Nowitzki, Dampier) in the League and are good on both side of the ball. The Spurs are the reigning NBA Champions and they bring back everyone. They're well coached and know how to win games, when it counts, with the best center in the game (Tim Duncan) and Finals MVP Tony Parker at the PG.

Houston is very intriguing and could challenge the Mavs and the Spurs for the title. Scola will be a great addition but the key will be their health; if McGrady and Yao are fine the whole year they could be very very dangerous. They carry one of the best frontline in the League. Coach Adelman is very consistent, so keep a close eye on the Rockets this year. New Orleans could flirt with .500 record this time and will try to ride one the best young PG in the game to have a shot at the post season. Memphis has a few good players and could improve as I expect a very good job by new coach (former Suns' assistant) Mike Iavaroni. I am sure he'll make Paul Gasol a real All-Star.

So, after all...here's what's going to happen:

Playoff Teams: Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, Utah, Denver, Golden State, Lakers

Best Team: Suns in a close call over the Mavs.

Worst Team: I expect Portland to have the worst record in the League comes April. Now imagine they get next season first pick...and get Mayo to play with Oden in 2008/09. Could get a real challenge by the Kings especially of Artest or Bibby get traded to a contender during the season.

Western Conference MVP: Steve Nash. Who else? This could be the year Yao Ming makes a run ath MVP. If he stays healthy and the Rockets win 60-something games, you never know.

Western Conference Rookie of the Year: Kevin Durant. His biggest competitor is out for the year. He'll put up huge numbers on a losing efforts most nights.

Western Conference Champs: I expect the Suns to win the West. They're ready. They were just a flagrant foul and a stupid suspension from winning it all last year.

Go Suns !

The West is the best, but the East is getting better....or Eastern Conference Preview

The East is getting better. Some teams are actually improving in the Eastern Conference. I am not predicting a team from the right side of the map will win the title anytime soon, but they're actually getting better, at least some of them. Here's a quick roundup and some predictions:

Division Champs and other divisional notes

Atlantic: New Jersey. I still think they'll be better day in and day out than Boston and Toronto unless of course they trade Jason Kidd sometime before in February. Of course, Boston has the Big Three and nothing else (but it could be enough to win a playoff series or two) while the Raptors have a very good team in the making, possibly a year or two away from title contention. The Knicks should be very interesting to watch as they have two of the best post-up players in the League in Curry and Randolph and a point guard who's not gonna give them the ball, the one and only Coney Island's Finest, aka Marbury. Philadelphia will have to settle for a few highlights from the jumping Iguodala.

Central: Chicago. This is a very good team with talent (a lot), balance and depth. They could reach the Finals and should win the toughest division in the East. Of course Detroit will be very good (but not great) and Cleveland is still all about LeBron which could prove once again to be enough to reach the Finals; but it won't happen this time. Milwaukee has some talent (i.e. Michael Redd) but too many question marks to contend, including the big Chinese project. Indiana has a very good point guard - center combination (Tinsley and O'Neil) that could even be enough to make the post season in the East but in order to do that a few other players need to raise their games and Tinsley needs to show up every night at his best.

Southeast: Miami. Still like the Heat (Wade has no match in the Conference) better than Charlotte and the Magic, both teams should be much better anyway. Orlando could be good with Howard and new signing Lewis (very good player but definetely overpaid) . The Bobcats lost May for the year before playing a game and that will cost them a chance at the Division; they could be solid anyway. The Wizards have one of the best players in the game, Gilbert Arenas, but basically nothing else is up to the challenge of trying to win the Division.

So, after all...here's what's going to happen:

Playoff Teams: New Jersey, Boston, Toronto, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Miami, Orlando.

Best Team: Chicago. They'll be good, very very good.

Worst Team: Atlanta. They're so consistent in tha dept. I don't feel like going against the odds. They had a very good draft and should improve from last year anyway. They could get a serious challenge by the Sixers this year.

Eastern Conference MVP: Kevin Garnett. He'll score, rebounds and plays in Boston. Should get more votes than LeBron. He's a great player and trade to the East has made him the best player in the Conference.

Eastern Conference Rookie of the East: Al Horford, Atlanta

Celtics record (I think it's worth mentioning since everyone is talking green now): Boston was 24-58 last year but comparing that team with the 2007/08 edition is meaningless. Everyone's new in town. Boston should win 50 games behind the big three.

Eastern Conference Champs: The Chicago Bulls will eventually gain the right to lose to the best team in the West. We all know who we're talking about, aren't we?

Whatever, the West is still (by far) the best..

Go Suns !

Looking for Fantasy Owners

Someone out there on Planet Orange willing to play Fantasy basketball? Here it is !
I have just created an NBA Fantasy Basketball League on Yahoo! You don't need to be a Suns fan but it could actually help ;-)
The League is called Sons of Steve Nash Fantabasket ID 104261 it's a classic 12 team head to head league, just to have some fun. Password is "steve" if you're interested.
I'll just have to check if there's a way in the Commish tools to block any KG trade.

Go Suns !

Listen to Paul Coro's Suns preview on AzSportsHub.com

This time of the year we all start making predictions for the new season as tip off is just a couple of weeks away. Previewing the Suns' 2007/08 season will be somewhat easy: they're good, actually very good, possibly the best team in the League but the Suns season will be judged entirely by the 2008 Playoffs. That's it. Reach the Finals: great year, fail to do so: bad year...yes, is that simple.

Of course how the season ends will be the key, but as coach D'Antoni said recentely to ESPN's Marc Stein it's important the Suns actually enjoy the journey, which is possible even more important than reaching your destination. Thinking about a long journey is often more fun than actually reaching the dreamed destination.

To start enjoying the journey there's nothing better than hear the best Phoenix Sports Journalist, tha Arizona Republic Paul Coro, talk about the 2007/08 Suns. The great interview is avalibale at AzSportsHub.com, aka Arizona's Destination for Sports.

Go Suns !

Have you ever heard of PER?

Basketball has been well behind other sports in the field of stats analysis despite the facts that the game has a long history of score keeping. It's very easy to score points, rebounds and so on, what is very tough, almost impossible I should say, is try to judge players' performance indipendently by their teams.
In other word, the goal is trying to isolate a player's performance from its context and get an advantage from possible market inefficiencies as they say, or in other words things nobody else actually know but you. That's Moneyball ! which by the way is a wonderful book by Michael Lewis.
From Bill James to Billy Beane this has become (more or less) a "common" practice in baseball with quite a few ball clubs actually getting full advantage of it while it's quite new in the NBA. The first club really into it are the Houston Rockets, who named Daryl Morey as their GM. Morey was/is a computer science/stats expert and an MIT alumni...not your everyday former player getting to the upper floor.


Speaking of analytical approach to the game, ESPN insider and basketball analyst John Hollinger has come up, a few years ago, with this PER index. It was discussed in the Pro Basketball Forecast, an excellent publication from a few years ago. I think the last available was about the 2005/06 season.
The Player Efficiency Rating (PER) is a rating of a player's per-minute productivity and measure with plenty of statistical adjustments. Now the always analytical Hollinger has come up with predictions about the upcoming season.

Yao Ming, Wade and LeBron are 1-2-3 in the rankings while the first Sun is Amaré Stoudemire at no. 12. Steve Nash will be the 3rd best PER point guard in the game and 19th overall.
Of course we all know he's by far the best in the League and makes everyone around him so much better...that's what Steve's stats will never get.
I guess it's no surprise that almost every basketball analyst on the net is predicting the Rockets to win the West.

By the way, Suns beat Kings, 110-99 in the first game of the preseason. A convincing meaningless win.

Go Suns !

Preseason opens tonight at Sacramento

Tonight at 7.00 PM the Phoenix Suns will finally play an almost REAL game of basketball against the Kings in Sacramento. It's just a little preseason exhibition game but finally it'll be a real game !
The game will be available for free on NBA League Pass.
The Suns will of course be without Amaré, who's getting well quickly and could be ready by opening day, which would be great news. Since Brian Skinner will be out as well our questions about the Suns' big men won't be answered anytime soon.

Enjoy the first game of the year !

Go Suns !

Respect ?! Come on Marion !

According to various - reliable - sources Shawn Marion has officially requested a trade from the Suns. "It's time to move on" he declared to the Republic.

It's always about respect, never about money and the Suns refusing to talk about a contract extension is only part of the problem.

Marion wants some respect? How about "respecting" a contract paying some 16 million $$$ a year for a couplemore seasons on one the best franchise in the league?
Why should the Suns extend contract that has TWO more years to go? Why? because at 31 Marion could test the free agent market? come on, get serious.

"I'm tired of hearing my name in trade rumors", Hello ! It's pro basketball. Marion's name had been made in connection with a possible KG trade, unless you're counting Utah trying to get rid of Kirilenko as real trade talk, which I don't.
What's wrong with the Suns trying to trade Marion to another team to get a better player? KG is a better player than Marion. What a surprise, Shawn...it's not about respect.

If a player wants out I believe a team should trade him, but not at any cost. Only fair value should do it.

I love Marion, he gives 100 percent every nigth, plays great defense, can run and he's a very good overall player. Wanna try to win a championship in Phoenix? you're welcome !
Tired of Phoenix? Enjoy L.A. or better yet, have some fun in Utah.

Whatever, Go Suns !

it's 38 days, 10 hours, 15 minutes and counting

I am tired of waiting, can't stand any more surfing the net looking for news, any news "that's fit to print" as the say at the NY Times. I need games ! but I might settle for training camp or anything that includes someone in a Suns uniform shooting a basketball; I even miss the Summer League.
With this feeling, by far, the most useful site on the web is the Fox Sports Suns Site featuring a nice clock counting down time to the next game...it's 38 days, 10 hours, 21 minutes and 20 seconds until tip off with the Sonics.

The Suns are still looking to sign a big man, while others are actually signing them, just check the NBA transaction notes as Michael Ruffin signed with the Bucks and Elton Brown was grabbed by the Lakers. It seems the Suns will be bring Brian Skinner to camp and it seems a roster spot could be his to lose.

Camp opens in Arizona in a few days and the Suns roster seems basically settled with the inclusion of this year's rookie class as both Tucker and Strawberry should compete for minutes. It could be very interesting to see how Coach D'Antoni will shape players' rotation for the new season...another reason to count the days till opening days.

In the meantime I am trying to get ready for the 2007/08 Fantasy Basketball season. Both Yahoo! and NBA.com have already launched the new season.
Can you believe NBA.com has Gilbert Arenas ranked ahead of Steve Nash at PG and Barbosa ranked no. 9 in that department as well? In the overall ranking KG is no. 1 just above our own Shawn Marion at no. 2. As a tradition I'll have the whole Suns starting five on top of my players ranking which will allow me to have at least one Sun on the roster and more often than not ending in the bottom of my league...

Go Suns !

PS it's 38 days, 10 hours, 15 minutes and 30 seconds.

Got an e-mail this morning about a Nash interview

It came from Sport Business Radio blogger Brian and it included a link of a recent Steve Nash Interview recorded in China last week during the Yao-Nash Charity Chinese Trip.
Can't say enough about Steve...I mean I dedicated a blog to him, but it's always a pleasure to hear the man.

The interview of course is focused on the business side of the game, in this case about Steve's humanitarian efforts but also about China, Soccer and so on. Nothing new, but always articulate and funny.

If you're interested just click on the link above and go to 32:46 mark of the show.

Thanks Brian and of course, Go Suns !

Mr. Brown, area code is 602. Just in case...

Still waiting on P.J. Brown' call to Steve Kerr, the Suns are currently holding auditions, or simply looking around, for that missing big man off the bench. According the the Republic the Suns are evaluating Michael Ruffin, Vitaly Potapenko, Brian Skinner and Elton Brown among others.
Elton Brown (a 6-9 forward) has the best name and possibly the most upside, coming off a nice D-League season (13.3 ppg and 10.5 rpg) has just signed with the Lakers yesterday.
I am not much a fan of Potapenko but he could be the best of the remaining contenders. He's a much more complete player then Ruffin, as he can shoot and play some defense.
Since the Suns are sitting on the Luxury Tax threshold, any signing will mean they'll basically have to pay double the player's salary, I am afraid Steve Kerr could answer P.J.'s call with a "Thanks, we're not interested anymore. Sorry man, good luck in Miami".

One final note. Would you really have traded Marion for Kirilenko? Well, me neither.
The always "up to date" Paul Coro reported that the trade rumor was more than fantasy basketball talk.
I have had a chance to watch AK 47 play at the European Championship last week, actually leading Russia to an impressive upset of Spain (playing at home, by the way) and he has lots of talent and can do a lot of things on the court. He's younger than Marion but other than that he's a worse offensive player and a worse defender. Do I need to say more?

Whatever...strange things could happen on Planet Orange

Go Suns !

A special day in september

There's always a special day for every fan, possibly second only to Opening Day (which is basically a Sports' Fan Christmas), it's the day preview magazines hit the stands.
That special day over here comes a bit later than in the US, but it's getting closer by the day and each year I am looking forward to see who is on the cover of the regional edition.
This time of the year I start surfing around The Sporting News, Athlon Sport, Street and Smith (that recentely merged with TSN) and so on and finally today I found this. It means we're getting closer !!!

Guess who's on the cover of The Sporting News NBA 2007/08 Preview (Arizona and co. version) ? You got it right ! Our very own.


Go Suns !

Nash is ready to go...Wait a minute. "He's fired up!"

According to the Republic Steve Nash is not just ready to go...HE'S FIRED UP ! (Thanks to the Republic for this great photo !)

Steve, new Sun Grant Hill and the two rookies - Alando and D.J. - are already working out getting ready for training camp I presume. The fact the three new players on the Suns' roster are having "voluntary" workouts with SN#13 is a strong confirmation this is Steve's team.

The Suns are heading into the new season with great attitude: STAT hasn't missed a chance to tell the World he's looking forward to the season, Grant Hill signed with Phoenix to have a shot at the Title, Steve won't play forever (actually I am not sure gods can retire) and he's fired up indeed. I hope Coach D'Antoni will keep this team positive without burning out their desire too early. You have to play with focus and passion from day one, but we all know the NBA season is more a marathon than a sprint race and the Suns will need 100% of their mental strenght comes May 2008.

Enough with talks and chats. I need some real games....SOON !

Go Suns !

A (No big) News roundup

Desperately trying to get some relevant news on the Suns these days, here's what I came up with. It's a little roundup as there aren't really big news to report, even if just by checking around you start sensing the season is getting near. Once the NFL has kicked off this weekend we should start getting some decent basketball coverage.

In case you didn't already know it: The Suns remains the cream of the Pacific Division. SI.com just gave us a much-needed confirmation.

Amarè, who is probably the Sun who had the busiest on court off-season, is looking forward to the new season (from the Republic). He's coming off from a very good 2007 FIBA Americas where he played his solid part for Team USA.

Leandrinho, off to a mixed feelings FIBA tournament - 21.8 PPG for an unsucesseful Brazil squad - is nontheless eager to start the season. The Republic is full with positives Suns these days.

The Summer of Steve was just great as he played soccer in Central Park, had his traditional Charity game in July and lately we have been informed he's working with Yao Ming helping orphan kids in China. The Man is just awesome. Just keep doin' it Steve.

Boris Diaw (photo above...) is currently playing for France in the European Championship in Spain. France won its first two games and Boris did quite good scoring 10 (vs. Poland) and 9 (vs. Italy) along with a few boards.

The Tournament is much better and much more fun than the FIBA Americas as there are really solid teams with some good NBA talent (Parker, Diaw, Kirilenko, Bargnani, Belinelli, Gasol, Jasikevicius and the great Dirk Nowitzki just to mention a few). All games are close and the quality of basketball is quite high. Check a few games if you have a chance.

The great Al McCoy will be inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA - where it all began - tomorrow receiving the Curt Gowdy Media Award (the equivalent of an Hall of Fame induction for Hoop announcers). SHAZAM ! Always a pleasure to hear you Al !

Finally, if you have HD TV and some schedule flexibility you could check all 82 Suns games on TV in 2007/08. As I don't have any of the above, I am in for a long winter I suppose...

Go Suns !

Book Review. Can I Keep My Jersey?

A few hours of my recent Summer vacation were spent reading Paul Shirley's latest literary effort "Can I Keep My Jersey? 11 Teams, 5 Countries and 4 Years in My Life as a Basketball Vagabond" (Villard, New York, 16.25$ on Amazon.com)

Basketball has never had the great literature other sports, baseball above all, have experienced. For that reason I am always interested when a Basketball book gets published and seems to be of some relevance or simply interesting, and this is certainly both. One of the world's tallest mechanical engineer became famous as an author writing a very entertaining blog while on the Suns' playoffs roster in 2005.

It is basically a 4-year diary, sometimes it tends to be too much of it actually as it get into the day-by-day details (you know, like...had dinner, got back to the hotel with Mike, went to sleep, woke up, back to the Arena... and so on), but it seems very honest, open and quite frankly very far from your basic "all common place" basketball stars' stuff. I am sure Shirley could have gone much more in depth, but I am afraid he was possibly trying to not sound too rude or making fun of people he'll end up playing with in the future. I mean, the guy's making a living in pro basketball...

The book includes some nice "insider" considerations about life as a pro player, especially one always struggling to make an NBA roster. He played the grand total of 18 games in the NBA, not much one could say...but many more than 5,999,750,000 other people in the world. Great are also the comments on some of today's NBA superstars: as you know most of them don't have a clue on real life...The only drawback of the diary is the constant (too much anyway) complaining about the disadvantages of travelling the World playing hoops. On a more personal note I think I could live with that.

As a Suns fan, you also have to be pleased by the fact that Shirley really loved his days with the Suns and adds some very pleasing comments on Coach D'Antoni, the Suns Organization and on Steve Nash although the funniest part was probably the recall of Shirley's days somewhere in Russia sleeping in creepy hotels, in cold weather along with some funny characters.

Overall I found the book entertaining and a nice read. If you're a basketball fan and like to see how the world look from the eyes of a pro player, I think it's worth reading.

In case you're interested he's currently on the Spanish League's Menorca Basket 2007/08 Roster where last season played 34 games, averaging 13.4 points and 7 rebounds per game. I am afraid he seems to be on IR right know. Get well soon Paul!

I almost forgot...Go Suns !

A really (really) great Steve Nash interview

Every Suns and basketball fan should check this great interview with our own Steve Nash on the Charlie Rose Show. The host did a great job (as usual) and the interview is really great (much better than Steve's shirt...).
It was really Steve at his best, talking about the game, the players and some more.
You're great Steve !

Go Suns !

Summer Vacation !

Dear Readers, fellow Suns' fans,

it's time for a summer vacation just to re-charge batteries, study some stats and get ready for next season.

I leave you with a picture of two of the greatest players ever to call Arizona home: Steve Nash and DBacks legend Randy Johnson. I found a picture of those guys hanging out together. Thought you might like it.

Go Suns !

On STAT, P.J. and the new Dancers

Lots of nice comments on the internet today about our own Amaré Stoudemire. Here's a short list:

1. Today is: Amaré Day on the Bright Side of the Suns,


2. There's a very nice article on the Republic on STAT. It's great to know he really likes the Phoenix community and lives there in the off-season as well,


3. Amaré will help opening the new Suns.com Newsroom at U.S. Airways Center later in the day (Aug. 9 at 1.30). Catch it live on KTR 620. It should be interesting as Coach D'Antoni will be there as well.

Still waiting on P.J. Brown's answer to the Suns proposal. Let's hope P.J. will play for the Suns next year. He should be really helpful in the Suns' quest for the Championship. He's a great defensive player, a solid pro and possibly one of the best options at guarding Tim Duncan and co.

Finally, the news everyone was waiting for: the Suns unveiled the new Suns Dancers squad for the 20007-08 season. You can check it at Suns.com

Go Suns !

The 2007-08 schedule is out ! Suns play on Christmas Day

The 2007-08 NBA schedule was finally released yesterday. It's always a great day when the schedule for the new season is released, it's just so full of anticipation and excitement. Check it yourself on the Suns homepage.
The Suns will open the season against Kurt Thomas and Kevin Durant in Seattle on Nov. 1st before playing host to the Lakers on opening night in Phoenix (on Nov. 2nd) and the Cavs a couple of days later. It's a very enterteining way to open the season, since the Suns will play Durant, Kobe and Lebron in the first three games before going East for a 4-game road trip.

Here's some of the highlights of the schedule:

• Opening game: November 1st at Seattle
• Home opener: November 2nd vs the Lakers
• First Spurs game: December 17th in S.A.
• First (and of course only) KG visit: February 22nd
• Final game: April 16th vs Portland
• Longest Home stand: 6 games beginning with Atlanta on January 29th
• Longest Road trip: 5 games beginning with a visit at MSG on December 2nd
• Toughest month: December, the Suns will play 11 road games (out of 15)
• Toughest home stand or Happy Valentine's Day: How about the 4-game stand from February 14th to the 24th when the Suns play Dallas, the Lakers, Boston and Detroit
• First Steve Nash - Dirk Nowitzki reunion: December 19th in Dallas
• Biggest game of the Year (on paper): It has to be that Lakers game on Christmas day on National TV. It's better to have an early lunch thius year, tip off is at 3.00 PM
• One final note: the Suns be better play as well as they did last year on the road since of the last 15 games, 10 will be on the road.

There's one more great reason to wait for Christmas this year. By the way, start counting...it's 89 days to opening day.

Go Suns !

So KG is a Celtic...Can we have our schedule now?

NBA 2007-08 schedule was supposed to be released today, but since David Stern knows when to "use a good news" - and he needs some "real" game news lately - the schedule will be relaesed later in the week. That's because there was a big news to report already. In a League where trade talks remain "just talks" most of the time an All-star going to one of the oldest and most prestigious franchise -not to mention one the country's biggest media market - is definetly a "Big Ticket" news.

As you all know by now, Kevin Garnett is a Celtic and a good guess is that his no. 5 jersey will be the top seller in the League comes November.
On the Celtics website you're greeted by a smiling KG under the words "Now we have the Big Ticket ... click here for Celtics tickets". They know their marketing up in the Northeast.

The move put Boston back on the basketball map: with Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and KG they are possibly the, favourite to win the Atlantic with a real chance of fighting the Bulls, the Pistons and the Cavs for a place in the Finals.
Not to mention that basketball BUZZ is back in Beantown. I am sure the Commish loves this move.

The Timberwolves acquired forwards Al Jefferson, Gerald Green and Ryan Gomes, guard Sebastian Telfair and center Theo Ratliff, along with two first-round draft picks and cash considerations from the Boston Celtics in exchange for Garnett. They'll try to rebuild around Jefferson, Green, Foye and their top pick from this year's Draft, Corey Brewer. All things considered, I can't see how someone could even think this being an even trade. Minnesota got a couple of prospects and not much more for one of the best five players in the NBA. If I had just renewed my T-Wolves season ticket I think I'll ask for some money back!

Of all the comments I read over the last 24 hours, I think Marc Stein got it perfectly in his latest ESPN.com column blaming it on Minnesota owner Glen Taylor. Almost everyone (laugh with Bill Simmons about it "The tale of two Kevin" on ESPN Page two) agrees this was one of Kevin McHale greatest plays in an already great Celtics career!

To Suns fans this causes mixed feelings: we'll never see KG running the field along Steve Nash in a Suns uniform (that the bad part of it) nor we'll see him play with Kobe Bryant in a Lakers shirt (that's the good part). Above all I like the fact that he's going East.

In other Suns news, former Suns’ guard Jay Humphries has been named as an assistant coach and you can read his first one on one interview on Suns.com. He seems like a nice basketball man and I am sure he'll be of great help to Coach D'Antoni trying to replace Marc Iavaroni.

One last note...if you don't mind nice girls dancing on a basketball court yelling "Go Suns" you should check the official audition video for 2007-08 Suns Dancers.

All this said...Dear Mr. Stern, could we please have our 2007-08 schedule?

Go Suns !

Just a few notes (once again) and get well Raja !

Not much to report over the last few days. It's Summer, it's hot, people is on vacation...it's the off-season in full bloom. Anyway, here's some little things I found on the net.

Raja Bell had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee a couple of days ago. As usual the surgery went well and he's expected back soon in 4-6 weeks. That means he'll be ready when the season starts. Good News as Bell has become a real key to this Suns team. Have a great recovery Raja !

STAT played well (or practiced well I should say as it was an intra-squad game) for Team USA that is seeking qualification for next Summer Olympics in China. Team USA will play again at the end of August in the real tournament.

There's a little controversy going on between the Suns and the French Basketball Federation over Boris Diaw playing at the European Championships next month in Spain. Of course the problem is insurance to protect the Suns from any injury Boris might experience while playing for Les Blues. In a similar case last year, if I remember it right Dirk Nowitzki ended up paying for his own insurance to play in the Worlds.

Not much more to report, it's just golfing season so I found a nice POLL on the Arizona Republic asking its readers "Which Valley coach would you most like to share a round of golf with?" of course Coach D'Antoni is leading with 45% of the preferences and leading by a wide margin over the Great One at just 25%. I guess the poll started from a nice story from Dan Bickley a few days before about Coach D playing a round of golf with new Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt.

That's all folks. It's about time a make a run at the fridge for a cold one.

Go Suns !

The Summer of Steve

Just a few notes on this hot Summer week starting with a lovely interview of Steve Nash on ESPN.com.
Among the things Steve said to Marc Stein the most interesting were:
"I think [Hill] does make us better, but we've still got a lot of work to do on the court"
"I think we can keep getting smarter"
"I love Kevin. I'd love to play with him [someday]. But I love my team, so I don't really think about it" and my favourite: "I feel great right now".
Overall, he sounded ready to go again and very positive about the upcoming season.
Check the video part of the interview as well, as Steve talks about the Spurs, the suspensions and his good friend Dirk Nowitzki.
Over the last few weeks Nash opened a new Health Club in Vancouver and played his annual Charity Classic game which brought us some "refreshing" news in the wake of the recent betting scandal and proved he's a sort of divinity in Canada.

A very funny note. The Late Show with Dave Letterman last night presented a Top Ten Signs a Referee is Fixing Games. At number 9: When talking about the Spurs, he says "we". You can check it yourself on the Late Show website.

Just in case...auditions for the 2007-08 Suns dancer will be held in Phoenix this coming Saturday. You have just 24 hours to get in shape and start dancing ! Hey, it's Summer, have some fun !

Go Suns !

Basketball sense vs Economic sense

Basketball sense vs Economic sense or in other words:
(a) is it correct to trade Kurt Thomas to save some money against the luxury tax ?
(b) is it correct to trade a first round pick for 3 million $ ?
As fans, quite frankly, I feel we shouldn't care too much about the net operating profit of an already very rich man who happens to own OUR NBA franchise. Our Suns are actually owned by someone else who has all the right in the world to make decisions based on his return. I don't wanna sound too much pathetic on that but that's the point.

All we need to care is that if you have a chance to make a run at the Championship, you have to, even if that means you'll have to pay out 8 million $ in luxury tax or risk paying 3 million $ over a couple of years to a first rounder that could end up playing 5 minutes a game.
The Suns are right now a perfect example of that situation as they have a great nucleus of players that seems so close to winning it all that every move could prove to be decisive unless of course the ownership is already thinking long term? Personally I would make a run, give it a try! But you have to understand that it could mean a few years like those suffered by the post MJ Bulls...after 2 or 3 years with losing records you inevitably start lo lose money.

The balance between the Game and the Economics of the game is what pro sport is all about. Unless you're the New York Yankees, today's GMs have to - above all - manage payrolls, salary cap, luxury tax, contract extensions, etc. so that "real" basketball people can try - under those conditions - to assemble the best possible team.

The Suns have some very good players (Amare, Marion, Leandro, Boris) and a great one (Steve Nash) that should have 2, hopefully 3, great years left in him. Possibly the perfect mix to win a championship during the next couple of years. All the winning teams in the NBA have had at least 2 great players, a few good ones and some role players like the '99 Spurs (Robinson and Duncan), the '00-'02 Lakers (Kobe and Shaq) or the '06 Heat (Wade and Shaq). Not to mention the '07 Spurs...with Duncan, Ginobili, Parker and Donaghy.
I feel Amare could become that second GREAT player and so the Suns could win it all without trading for KG or someone like him, but you need to have at least 8 players that can contribute. In that sense, the Grant Hill signing was just perfect and that is why trading Kurt Thomas doesn't make much sense to me, unless it's part of a bigger plan and that 8 million trade exception was needed. We'll have to wait and see which is so much sweeter when you just come off a 61 wins season.

GO SUNS !

Suns trade Kurt Thomas to Seattle

The Suns today traded center Kurt Thomas to the Sonics along with the 2008 and 2010 first round pick for basically a potential big saving on luxury tax and/or the 8 million $ trade exception (and a conditional second rounder in 2009).
This could mean two VERY different things: either the Suns are in saving mode, and this is just a way to get back under the luxury tax threshold (that could explain also the trade of the 29th pick in this year's Draft for 3million) or they are trying to have some room to manouvre fro some big trade. Remember you can use the 8million exception only in a trade and only fro one year. I feel like it's just saving, but you never know...in this NBA offseason I think we could still have some big surprise; Ok I have to admit I am still dreaming of KG in a Suns uniform.

Speaking of surprises, ESPN.com reports today that NBA referee Tim Donaghy is under investigation, by tha FBI, for a possible betting scandal on games he officiated. ESPN reports there may be some Mob connections. From bad to worse. If proved correct this could really hurt the game. Once you start to think there's something behind every bad call in a game....there goes most of the fun. Let's hope it's just an isolated case.

Whatever, Go Suns ! (coming in HD on TV next fall)

Just a few notes...and don't forget to Vote for Steve ! Again

ESPN.com Insider John Hollinger is making a list of winners and losers, so far, in the NBA off season. I am sure we could agree on his pick of the Suns as winners! He has the Suns third on his winners' list, mentioning the signing of Grant Hill and drafting Tucker as good moves. In case you're interested Hollinger has the Rockets and the Bobcats at 1 and 2.

It's time to vote again ! Steve Nash now faces a much tougher contender, LaDainian Tomlinson in round two of the Who's Now ESPN contest. Keep voting for Steve, I am sure we can make it even against the best RB in the NFL. If we can help Steve to the final round, He'll find a way to beat Tiger.

Speaking of Nash, The Steve Nash Charity Classic will be held in Vancouver next Saturday at GM Place. It should be fun and of course it's for a number of good causes as the event will benefit the Steve Nash Foundation. I believe a few Suns will be there. Once again, well done Steve !

Surfing the net I found a very interesting article "The man behind Suns rise" on John MacLeod, former long-time Suns coach in HoopsHype.com. It's a nice read. MacLeod was the Suns' coach in The Greatest Game Ever game 5 of the 1976 NBA Finals in Boston.

Go Suns !

Viva Las Vegas !

The NBA Summer League is over and I have to say it was interesting and I'll miss it. It was definitely much better than last year, probably because the talent level was much higher. I really think the 2007 NBA draft will be one day remembered as one of the greatest ever.

Speaking of the Suns, they ended the summer season with a 84-81 loss to the Timberwolves, you can check the boxscore yourself and see that the Suns played well in the last 3 quarters but did not complete the comeback from a 15 point deficit in the 1st qt. Not much to highlight in terms of single players' performances other than Hale's 19 points in 25 minutes, George's 12 boards and...D.J.'s 10 TO (along with 7 assists, 6 rebounds and 12 points). There's a nice photo gallery on Suns.com

I tried to analyse boxscores and stats and watched some of the games I haven't been able to catch earlier on NBA.com to find positives and negatives from the 2007 Summer Suns. Here's my list:

• Marcus Banks played ONE impressive game. It's difficult to get any indication, but what's important is that Marcus showed he's willing to improve and impress the coaches. Way to go Marcus !


• Alando Tucker is a solid player, he can run and I think will play comes november (10-15 minutes, maybe). I am a bit worried about his shooting. We knew he was not a high-percentage shooter...but .418 from the field and .182 from 3-point is a bit low. Another area where I believe Doe needs to improve is rebounding (2.4 playing over 32 minutes per game);


• D.J. Strawberry was probably the Summer Suns MVP. He played a lot, in part due to Banks' injury and showed he can play. He can play defense (he was drafted on this strenght) and he's a good passer, he's willing to gamble a bit on offense (which I believe is good especially in the summer games). Overall I think he's a much better offensive player than we thought at first;


• Otis George should fight for a place on the Suns roster in training camp. He was good for a double double more or less on any given night. He averaged 10.4 points and 9.4 boards per game.


• Pape Sow is athletic and can rebound. From what I have seen I don't think it'll be a enough to get a place on the Suns roster.

That's what I noticed from the Vegas games. Enjoy the summer everyone !

Go Suns !

D.J. can play

I think we are starting to get some (summer) certainties from Vegas and one is that D.J. Strawberry can play and I think has a solid chance to make the roster comes October.

In the Suns 85-89 loss to the Blazers the Straw scored 27 with 8 assists (along with 6 TO to be precise) and had more rebounds than Tucker (ok...that's 2-1 in favour of D.J.).
Speaking of boards I think Tucker could be much better, Alando has just 2.5 rebounds per game in the first 4 summer games while playing over 32 minutes a night. The other Summer Suns starting forward Otis George had 10 last night and is averaging 8.8 per game.

I think rebounding could be a big key, comes training camp, for those hoping to make the Suns roster for next season.

The last game of the Vegas campaign is tonight (Sunday) at 5 PM vs the Hornets. It should be live on NBA TV.

One last note, if you didn't have a chance to listen to Grant Hill introduction press conference, Just Do It ! The man is very entertaining and it's a funny 21 minutes and makes you count the days till Opening Day (it's more or less 150 days just in case)

Go Suns !

Nice win for the Suns

The third game of the summer league finally gave the Suns a (nice) win, 94-86 over the Hornets.
What I really like about the Summer Suns so far is that we're getting some positive signs from each game: Marcus Banks (in the first game), D.J. Strawberry, Alando Tucker, Otis George and now Ron Hale.

The best things out of yesterday game: Hale scoring 25 points off the bench, D.J. dishing 9 assists, George and Sow getting 8 boards including 4 on offense for Pape. The most satisfying thing to watch I think was the way D.J. plays the game and stays on the field. I think he will be a solid pro someday, although I am not sure it'll be with the Suns. You can read a short interview with the young Strawberry on the Suns homepage.

On the negative side, I would like to underline the poor overall shooting from Tucker and D.J. going a combined 9-33. While you really can't expect much offence from D.J., I think Tucker could do better than that (he's shooting .417 in three summer games so far) even if we already knew he's not a shooter.

Next game later today against the Blazers (10.30 ET) as you all know, We won't be able to take a look at Oden.

On a final note since it's summer and people generally have more time to relax and maybe read some book, I found a nice link on The Painted Area Blog, listing the best 25 basketball books of the last couple of years. It's a nice read itself and possibly could be a nice occasion to pick up one for an upcoming vacation or a weekend at the beach...or maybe, just read the wonderful Jack McCallum's Seven Seconds or Less once more.

Go Summer Suns!