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 !