O’Neal Dealt to Suns for Marion

Shaquille O’Neal, one of the greatest centers in N.B.A. history, was traded Wednesday by the Miami Heat to the Phoenix Suns.

San Antonio’s Bruce Bowen Suspended for One Game

Bruce Bowen of the San Antonio Spurs has been suspended one game without pay for striking Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets with his leg, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

NBA Rules to Let Marion, Bibby into Heat-Hawks’ 51.9-Second Do-Over

Shaquille O’Neal is no longer around, but Mike Bibby and Shawn Marion will be able to suit up for Saturday’s do-over between the Hawks and Heat, who must complete the final 51.9 seconds of their Dec. 19 overtime game.

Underrated & Overrated Child Performances

Everybody loves a good child performance. This might start with parents parading their children out to sing songs at dinner parties or the endless school plays parents are forced to attend,

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Love Making Good Early Impression With Wolves

In USA TODAY, Jon Krawczynski writes “Timberwolves coach Randy Wittman has already started to see impressive fundaments from Kevin Love, pointing to his basketball instincts that distinguish him from most 20-year-olds. ‘What he brings on to the floor, it’s hard to teach,’ Wittman said. ‘Being at the right spot at the right time, those types of things. He has a knack for those things.’”

Phoenix Suns Season Preview

My NBA Pacific Division preview continues with the Phoenix Suns:

 Phoenix Suns

2007-08 Standings 55 – 27, 6^th Western Conference

2008-09 Predicted Record 48 – 34, 2^nd Pacific Division, 7^th Western Conference

Projected Starting Five:  Shaquille O’Neal, Amare Stoudemire, Grant Hill, Raja Bell, Steve Nash

Sixth Man:  Leandro Barbosa

The incomparable Steve Nash will need to have another MVP calibre season to propel the Suns into the upper echelon of the Western Conference.

Last season the Phoenix Suns made arguably the biggest gamble of the season when they traded Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to the Miami Heat for future Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal. It totally changed the dynamic of the team. No longer were they perfectly suited to run Mike D’Antoni’s 7 second or less style of basketball, instead they became this odd hybrid. Yet Shaq is an awesome force, the owner of four championship rings and there was hope that he could put the Suns over the top.

It didn’t work, they were beaten in five games by the San Antonio Spurs and ultimately D’Antoni lost his job. The task of designing a game plan to put the Suns back on top rests with Terry Porter however it remains to be seen how effective he will be.

The Suns will benefit from a full season with Shaq however will it be the dynamic Shaq of old or will it be the increasingly aged Shaq, hampered by injuries and the sheer weight of his body? Whatever the case Shaq still remains a powerful force in the league, his sheer presence forces other teams to react to him and this should free up room for the Suns shooters.

The Suns still have two of the best players in the NBA, former two time MVP Steve Nash and the ultra explosive Amare Stoudemire. Their talents are perfectly suited to each other. Nash is the crafty point guard, able to weave and create through the smallest of spaces while Stoudemire is super powerful with range on his jump shot. While its doubtful that Nash can continue to play at an All NBA level for much longer he still remains one of the league’s best point guards.

Phoenix also possesses a game changing bench. Brazilian Leandro Barbosa is the ideal spark plug, capable of changing a game with his speed and shooting. Boris Diaw needs to recapture the form that he displayed when he first arrived in Phoenix when Stoudemire was injured. When he is firing the Suns can be unstoppable. If he doesn’t the Suns signed Matt Barnes who is capable of playing a game changing quarter or two. Robin Lopez is set to back up Shaq and he should be able to run with the Suns quicks.

While the Suns will once again make the playoffs there is a sense that their best days have passed. They have too many senior citizens on the roster and if Grant Hill and Raja Bell slip backwards along with Nash and O’Neal then the Suns will be in trouble.

Coach:

Terry Porter was a capable NBA player but he has shown nothing in his NBA coaching career so far, compiling a 43% winning record with the Milwaukee Bucks. While the Suns are undoubtedly more accomplished and loaded than the Bucks it remains to be seen what effect Porter will have on them.

Bench:

Leandro Barbosa is one of the best sixth men in the League and should once again be up for the Sixth Man award. Diaw, Barnes and Lopez are all capable of providing an impetus from the bench. Probably the biggest concern is the lack of a back up for Steve Nash. Barbosa is incapable of running an offence and the burden will mostly fall on rookie Goran Dragic.

Star Player:

For a long time Shaquille O’Neal was the most dominant force in the NBA. Steve Nash is a two time MVP and a perennial All Star. But the true star of the Suns is Amare Stoudemire. Seemingly fully recovered from his knee surgeries Stoudemire is almost unstoppable.

Team MVP:

How much does Shaq still have left? Can he summon it for one final campaign? If he can the Suns will go far, if he can’t then the big gamble was a failure.

Final Prognosis:

The Suns are good enough to make the playoffs in the loaded West but they don’t have enough to challenge for the Championship.

 

You can find an index of past Previews here.

TNT Extends Multi-Year Agreement With Charles Barkley

TNT NBA studio analyst Charles Barkley, who provides analysis on the Emmy-Award winning Inside the NBA studio show alongside Emmy-winning host Ernie Johnson and co-analyst Kenny ?The Jet’ Smith, has agreed to a multi-year contract extension. As part of the agreement Barkley will continue to work exclusively for the network on TNT NBA Thursdays, TNT’s 40 games. 40 night’s playoff schedule, NBA All-Star Weekend and the network’s exclusive Conference Finals coverage. With the new agreement, which begins with the 2008-09 NBA season, the 2006 Basketball Hall of Famer inductee will also make a number of appearances on the jointly managed NBA TV and on Turner’s broadband channel TNT NBA OverTime on NBA.com.

Pacers’ Danny Granger Suspended One Game

Indiana Pacers forward Danny Granger has been suspended for one game without pay for striking the Chicago Bulls’ Andres Nocioni in the face, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President Basketball Operations.

1990’s All Team First Rounder, Western Conference

Round 1:1) Lakers vs. HornetsThe combo of Alonzo and Larry Johnson is no match for Magic, Kobe and Shaq! Lakers win in 4.2) Blazers vs. 7) SonicsThe Sonics put out one hell of a defensive backcourt, effectively shutting down Porter and Drexler for most of the series. But Rasheed in his Blazers incarnation from the year they got owned by L.A.? Kemp has nothing on that. Cliff and Co. on the Blazers bench outscore the Sonics bench, which is also more defensively oriented. Blazers in 4.3) Suns vs. 6) WarriorsKidd and KJ and “Thunder” against Run TMC? Matchup for the ages. But Barkley keeps Webber in foul trouble, forcing an aging the Warriors to guard Chuck by committee. Nothing they throw together works, so they just try to outscore them. It works once. Suns in 5.4) Rockets vs. 5) SpursHakeem and Otis are fully neutralized, and Barkley gets thrown out of the second game and is suspended for the third game. Coming into game 4 down 2-1, the Rockets rally, knocking down their threes and Francis comes up big. This one goes to 7 games, but in the end Duncan outshines the rest of the game with his fundamentally sound passes and pivots. Spurs in 7.

Celtics Defeat Suns for First Time in Six Tries

Kevin Garnett scored 30 points, sinking the final two to an “M-V-P!” chant echoing through the new Boston Garden, and Paul Pierce had 12 of his 27 in the fourth quarter to lead the Celtics to a 117-97 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night.