Jazz Use Strong Finish to Send Suns to Third Straight Home Loss

Carlos Boozer scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half, and the Jazz handed the Suns their third consecutive home loss, 126-118 on Friday.

Suns Revolve Around Dominant Stoudemire, Shaq to Burn Rockets

Amare Stoudemire scored 38 points, Shaquille O’Neal 23 and the two Suns big men split 26 rebounds as Phoenix bumped off the Rockets 122-113 on Saturday.

Rockets’ Alston Stars During 19-Game Winning Streak

One of the keys to the Houston Rockets’ 19-game winning streak has been the play of point guard Rafer Alston, who wasn’t so sure he was going to be part of the rotation when training camp began but is playing the best basketball of his career.

Stoudemire, Nash Lead Suns to Sixth Straight Win

Steve Nash scored 23 points, Amare Stoudemire dominated inside with 26 points and the Phoenix Suns overcame a season-high 27 turnovers to beat the Seattle SuperSonics 110-98 on Wednesday night.

Stoudemire, Shaq Lead Suns Past Blazers

Amare Stoudemire scored 25 points, Shaquille O’Neal had 16 points and 14 rebounds, and the Phoenix Suns cruised to their fifth straight win, 111-98 over the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night.

Suns Seeking Unprecedented Wins

In the ARIZONA REPUBLIC, Paul Coro writes “the Suns are going where no other NBA team has had success this season. Phoenix opens a four-game, six-day road trip with Eastern Conference powers Detroit and Boston. Six other teams have faced the Pistons and Celtics consecutively this season, and none beat both. Chicago and Dallas were the only teams to go to Detroit and Boston successively and come away winless, with Dallas averaging 83.5 points in the games. If the Suns still are the NBA’s hottest team after Monday’s game at Detroit and Wednesday’s visit to Boston, they surely will have earned the tag.?

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.

Suns Under the Stars I

With the Suns scheduled to play the second outdoor game in their history tonight, there was the predictable search through the memory banks to dredge up hazy recollections of the first one 36 years ago. Saturday’s exhibition vs. the Denver Nuggets will be played under the lights at the plush Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, Calif., while Outdoor I was played on September 24, 1972 in no-frills Hiram Bithorn Baseball Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Late Push Past Spurs Helps Suns Avoid Fourth Straight Home Loss

Steve Nash 19 points and 14 assists, helping the Suns to a rugged 94-87 victory over the Spurs on Sunday.

Legends of Their Game

By John Fontana

“Old-timer” use to describe a single day event reserved to honor storied athletes of season’s past.  Now, it could just as easily define tonight’s pitching duel or next year’s Tour de France champion.  Why the change?

In professional sports, retirement is a four-letter word. It’s the end of a rewarding relationship with the game, teammates and fans.  When a once-in-a-generation athlete hangs up his cleats (or high tops, skates, racing shoes, etc), the moment is necessarily cathartic – the fall comes when an athlete must admit that they’re no longer the powerhouse of past seasons, but a mere human whose talent has been eroded by the grindstone of time.

When it was time to hang up lucky No. 7 after 16 years in the pocket, John Elway broke into tears.  In stark contrast, former Green Bay Packers QB Brett Favre (who turns 39 in October) didn’t think football looked very good from the couch.  Everyone knows what happened there. Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong (now 37), retired three years ago to Austin, Texas, but is now living and training in the high country and plotting his return to the big French race next summer.

Clearly the competitive beast that dwells within these “old-timers” doesn’t retire when they hang up their jerseys. Others aren’t even bothering to do the retirement flip-flop.

Major League Baseball pitchers – some well past their best fastballs and change-ups – routinely stay on the mound past their prime. Jamie Moyer (45), Mike Mussina (40), and Trevor Hoffman (40) – for example.

Fans, the reason for any of these athletes existence in the spotlight, love watching these transcendents. Parents highlight faded but performing athletes as links to their own childhood and pass along that passion to their sons and daughters. The players of their youth are now old-timers.  Love ‘em or hate ‘em, history is still fun to watch.

Modern medicine may be responsible for keeping an athlete functioning at a professional level. But these athletes posses a fire deep within that fuels their drive to compete. Of course, the hoopla, fans, competition, camaraderie and pageantry are nearly impossible to pass up. Who will cross over next?

Michael Strahan has turned down the New York Giants once, but as the season progresses and his old teammates make another run at glory, he could get itchy feet. Daunte Culpepper seems a lock to strap on his helmet again.  One wonders if Shaq will rescind his 735-day retirement countdown just to prove he’s the baddest old-timer of them all?

Who do you think will be the next “old-timer” to return from retirement for another season or two?