• Phoenix has a 23-13 record, currently good enough for 3rd in the Western Conference.  Although they opened the season 14-3 it’s difficult to be too disappointed with this record considering the gauntlet of road games played (a 14 of 19 road stretch was a blast) and the quality of opponents to this point- they play the Nets more times the rest of the season (2) than they play the Lakers, Celtics, Cavs, and Magic (1).
• On the flip side the record is just one game in front of their pace from last season – and you know how well that wound up for Terry Porter.  Obviously this isn’t to say they aren’t a better basketball team and the schedule has certainly been quite a bit more challenging but it is surprising.  I guess good team chemistry and a fun offensive system goes a long way towards defining your opinion on a particular record.
• The West is so strong this year that although the Suns are currently in 3rd they are just 3.5 games from being in 9th and just 6 games from being in 12th!  The usual suspects are all in playoff contention and have been joined by a feisty Oklahoma City team, a motivated Memphis, the Clippers, and even the Kings.  The only West team with absolutely zero shot at the playoffs is Minnesota (although Golden State is right there on death’s door).
• Speaking of playoff races – the Suns will obviously need to keep winning at a relatively high rate just to make it back to the party but if you’re talking about seeding I have a strong desire to avoid the following seeds:  4, 5, or 8.  The reason?  Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.  Obviously nobody wants to be the 8 seed but I want to stretch that even further – if it’s between the Suns getting the 6 seed and the 4 or 5 I’d prefer to have the 6.  The difference between 2-9 in the West is so minuscule that I’d actually take being the road team in the first round over a possible 2nd round matchup with the Lakers.  That being said I will root for the Suns to finish with the 2 or 3 seed.
• What more can be said about how good Steve Nash has been?  The guy is a 2-time NBA MVP and at 35 he’s still really fucking good.  He’s averaging 18.9 PPG, 11.3 APG and he’s shooting….well read this - he’s shooting nearly as well as anybody in NBA history.   But if you thought I couldn’t find a complaint in all the sunshine you don’t know me very well – Nash has the 2nd most turnovers in the league (Monta Ellis owns the crown) and his 3.9 average per game would be a career high.  Yes I am aware that is like complaining about winning a lottery for $10 million dollars instead of $15 million.
• As any Suns fan knows, this year is pretty big for Amar’e Stoudemire since he can opt out of his current contract at the end of the season.  It’s no secret that Amar’e is looking for a max contract but at his current level of play (which has been well above average and continues to improve) I think he’s worth right around what he makes now – $16.4 million.  Not to cop out of any actual analysis but I tend to agree with the conclusion of Phoenix Stan in his recent Amar’e trade column.  However as Amar’e has poured in 24 points or more in 5 straight games and is beginning to play with some of that pre-injury violence, I reserve the right to change my mind.  With dunks like the below from last night…who knows:
• Anyone familiar with my Suns opinions via tweet or post is aware of my love of the term “the Channing Coaster” – my way of describing the up and down play of Suns center Channing Frye.  When Channing is going good he’s going really really good – see Wednesday’s 22-9 (with 6 threes) against Houston.  Yet when it’s bad it tends to be really bad – see last Saturday night’s 2/13 performance against Memphis.  But to be perfectly clear on Channing – the guy has been an absolute steal.  For just a hair below $2 million dollars a season the Suns have picked up a starting center averaging 13-6 and flat out working his ass off.  Not just that but the guy can actually take over a game when he gets hot.  Sure he’s not exactly expert at creating his own shot but that’s what Steve Nash is for.  I suppose I’ll just sit back and enjoy my ride on the Coaster.
• After a pretty strong opening to the season Grant Hill has slowed in the past 10 games – averaging just 7.5 points per game and starting to take what I refer to as “thinking it’s 1996″ shots where he dribbles way too much and takes an ill-advised and contested baseline jumper.  Obviously it’s not just the points but it appears to my semi-trained eye that Hill is moving more slowly than last year.  Far be it for me to count out the 37 year-old but if this type of performance continues you have to wonder how long the Suns can continue to start him.
• I covered Jason Richardson’s recent struggles last week and after a couple more poor games (12 against Boston and 5 against Memphis) J-Rich has strung together consecutive 20 point outings and is starting to show some of the offensive burst he had prior to his wrist injury suffered in mid-December against the Nuggets.  What was particularly promising for me was how Richardson used Wednesday’s Rockets game to work his way back into the post and use his size and strength advantages to score points.  It’s definitely a matchup based thing but anytime J-Rich can get a smaller guard he should find his way to the block.
• The bench has been a pleasant surprise.  While Jared Dudley doesn’t appear as if he’s ever going to be a guy that creates his own shot he seems to have carved out a niche as a tough defender and a guy that can really knock down the open three.  How well has he knocked down threes to this point in the season?  Oh he just leads the NBA in three point shooting percentage at 50% (58/116).  The other big time bench surprise has been the development of Goran Dragic.  With a price tag of $1.8 million dollars most looked at Dragic’s rookie season as a major disappointment – yet this year he’s managed to play with more confidence and dare I say a bit of swagger.  The ankle injury suffered by Leandro Barbosa permitted Dragic to be paired with Steve Nash on the court for extended periods and seemed to help him make strides as a player.  He’s showing more than a few signs of being the quick, athletic point guard Steve Kerr was so high on.
• Speaking of Barbosa – it’s been tough to evaluate him considering the wrist and ankle injuries that have plagued him to this point in the year.  Alvin Gentry has started to work him into the rotation more and more but LB still appears far from 100%.  There’s no denying that the Suns are a much more dangerous team with a healthy LB.
• I want to see more of Robin Lopez.  The 2nd year center has struggled to get minutes since coming back from a foot injury in late November but as I see it there isn’t a player on the Suns roster that gives you the dimensions Lopez can provide.  He may not be the most graceful player on the planet, and he definitely has a temper but he can rebound and he blocks or changes a number of shots.  I like Lou Amundson enough to be a little used bench player but I really don’t see a reason he should be playing about 5 minutes per game more than Lopez (14.8 to 9.9).  At the very minimum the Suns invested a first round pick in Lopez – one for which they passed on guys like Al Thornton and Marrese Speights – they need to see what they have.

Pressed to come up with an answer I’d say the Suns will win 52 games and come up with the 5 seed – but you’ve seen how my predictions usually turn out.  Bottom line is that this is a above-average basketball game that can hang with or beat anybody on any given night…but they can also lose games by 25 to the Grizzlies at home.  Weird but fun team.

Suns 126 Grizzlies 111 – Although Memphis came into the game having won 4/5, the wins were against the T’Wolves, Clippers, Sixers, and Kings – not exactly a murderers row of opponents.  Thus streaking or not the Suns had one job on Wednesday night – win against a team that is not as good as they are.  Fortunately for myself and the rest of the Suns fans, Amar’e and the boys did their best Bachman-Turner Overdrive impression in a blowout win. 

In the spirit of Thanksgiving the Suns basically played with the Grizz for a while as Memphis held a 43-41 lead as late as the 4:54 mark of the second quarter.  A well placed Alvin Gentry timeout changed all that as the Suns exploded to a 60-49 halftime lead.  The third quarter was much of the same as the Suns hit their first TWELVE shots and shot a blistering 85% from the field to take a 21 point lead into the fourth.  That ended the competitive portion of the game and kicked off  the Alando Tucker party. Ama’re Stoudemire continued to round into dominant form as he put up 28 points on 13/18 shooting including a three possession basketball lesson for Grizzlies big man Hasheem Thabeet in which Thabeet was twice shot right over like he was 6’5 instead of 7’3, and once taken to the basket.  The Canadian fellow with a few MVP’s to his credit had 16 assists in just 30 minutes of playing time.  Any game where Steve Nash can play limited minutes is a good thing.  Other notes from a pre-Turkey day victory:

• 6 players scored in double figures – each of the starters and Leandro Barbosa.
• Jarron Collins didn’t get off the bench in the blowout.  With Robin Lopez probably coming back from injury on Friday against Minnesota it is entirely possible that we’ve seen the last of Collins in a Suns uniform.  If that’s the case it’s an absolute shame – Collins has brought nothing but toughness and big man experience to the team.  I’ll remember his 6-3-3 game against the Rockets for an awful long while.
• Zach Randolph may really suck at defense, be a bad teammate, and make bad decisions – but boy can he score and rebound.  He scored 24 against the Suns in his first trip back to US Airways Center since this incident with Lou Amundson – and grabbed 10 OFFENSIVe rebounds (13 overall).  But he also plays ugly and walks like a duck.  Take that Zach.

In the second reminder of the season that the NBA hates the Suns – the boys are embarking on another stretch where they will play 6/7 on the road.  Minnesota is up first tomorrow and they’ve won one entire game…that’s one you’ve got to win.

Suns 117 Pistons 91 – I’ve never been much for Pistons fans.  Sure they aren’t as bad as Celtics fans and they certainly aren’t the scourge of the earth like Laker fans – but they’ve always seemed to annoy me quite effectively.  Maybe it was the dude I went to grad school with who wouldn’t shut up about them, maybe it was having to sit through the Spurs-Pistons 2005 NBA Finals, or maybe it’s the guy at Pistons games who screams “DETROIT BASKETBALL” – no matter what way you slice it I enjoyed the Suns blasting Detroit on Sunday night.

Detroit was finishing a Western Conference road trip that saw them lose 4 games in 6 nights, including a Saturday night OT loss to the Jazz, but with the schedule the Suns have faced in the early going I’m not going to lose any sleep worrying about the Pistons plight.  Even without Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince, Detroit held a 24-22 lead with 1:50 to go in the first quarter – but following a Steve Nash three-pointer the Suns took a lead they would never relinquish.  The Pistons did close the gap to 4 with 4:51 left in the first half but didn’t score a point the remainder of the half as the Suns opened up a 16 point lead.  The second half was not really a competition as much as it was the systematic running out of a 24 minutes clock and the Suns won by 26.

From a statistical standpoint – no Suns player played more than 30 minutes (Amar’e Stoudemire played 30 on the nose) or scored over 21 points (Amar’e again).  It was a nice consistent effort in which the starters got to rest for the majority of the 4th quarter and I got to be reminded of why the Suns did not pick up Alando Tucker’s option.  Nash had 20/9 for the Suns while Amar’e had his 21, Jason Richardson had 17, and Goran Dragic had 13 (and a +19 rating…that I’ll take).  Perhaps feeling shy after his 4/15 shooting performance against the Hornets, Channing Frye scored 10 points but did so on just 4 shots.  For as much as I like to bitch about Frye I don’t want to see the one Hornets game effect his confidence…ah the perils of the Channing Coaster.  As a team the Suns shot 57.5% – pretty impressive whwen you take into account that Detroit is 9th in the league in FG shooting percentage against at 44.3%.

All in all it was a good win.  The Suns were coming off their first bad loss of the season against New Orleans – knew they had to take care of business, and did so.  In the words of Steve Nash, “We did our job tonight.”  I believe that says it best…that and “Suck it Robocop”  (that one is mine).

The beautiful HD highlights:

Suns 111 Rockets 105 – This really is getting fun for everyone isn’t it?  This was not a win in which the Suns had their best stuff, but yet again they found a way in the end and are the first team in the NBA to 10 wins.  After trailing by as many as 15 in the 2nd quarter, the Suns used a late first half rally to draw the game closer before both teams basically traded baskets throughout the second half.  The hero of the game was…as expected…Jarron Collins.  Yes that’s right, Jarron Collins.  The Robin Lopez fill-in came off the bench with Channing Frye in foul trouble to score 6 points, grab 6 rebounds, and block 3 shots in just 13 minutes of playing time.

Amar’e Stoudemire continues to get closer and closer to his old self – scoring 23 points on a combination of dunks, jumpers, and layups (I suppose that is every way to score).  Although Steve Nash struggled to a 2/10 shooting night, he dished out 16 assists and still managed to score 12 points with the help of several late free throws.  One of the more encouraging facts from the win was the rebounding effort.  Against the Rockets last night – 5 players had 5 or more rebounds (Stoudemire, Richardson, Collins, Hill, and Dudley) and the Suns fell in the rebounding battle by just 4 (44-40).  When you don’t have a rebounding force you need to find a way to not get crushed on the boards and the Suns are doing just that with their rebounding by committee.

With the CP3-less Hornets, Pistons, Grizzlies, Wolves, and Raptors up in the next 5 there’s a real chance that the Suns could close out November with a 15-2 or 14-3 record.  Did I just jinx them?  Probably.  Yet for this pessimistic fan it’s basically all about the Suns racking up wins.  After last years debacle I root against every Western Conference team on a nightly basis and don’t take even the 8 seed for granted.

Other game notes:

• Thanks to our crack research team (E. Honda and I) we know that this was just the 5th game the Suns have won where Steve Nash shot 20% or less from the field since Nash returned to the Suns in 2004.  It was also just the 2nd such win in which Nash shot 20% or less and attempted 10 or more shots (2/22/06 win over the Celtics in which Nash went 2/13 from the field).
• Goran Dragic rebounded from his Sunday benching to score 6 points in his 11 minutes.
• The Channing Coaster (all rights reserved) was in full effect last night as Frye followed up his incredibly clutch 4th quarter 3 pointer by fouling out on the next play.  It’s also worth noting that Channing has now made and attempted more three pointers this season (35/76) than he has in the rest of his 4 NBA seasons combined (20/70).  Only 70 games to go…
• As a reminder – the Suns now sit just 21 wins away from topping the prediction of 30 wins by TheBigLead.  However TBL is not yet ready to concede that they were wrong about Phoenix as “the early season schedule has been favorable.”  Can’t say I’m sure what universe 8/12 on the road is favorable but I’m fine with them continuing to be wrong.
• Leandro Barbosa had the most exciting play of the night as he chased down former U of A star Chase Budinger to swat his layup.  Check the 1:39 point of the highlight package below and I’ll leave you with that:

The Suns are Dishing out the Abuse So Far

Going into the 2009-2010 season I’d been of the impression that the Suns would probably win around 50 games and head back to the playoffs with a lower seed (I’d predicted 6th).  These predictions were inherently predicated on the fact that the Suns would struggle to float above .500 in the first month of the season with 15 of their first 22 games coming on the road – but that they’d turn it on late when the schedule started to soften.  Even under those opinions I’d thought the Suns would basically exist as my little secret.  Yet after a 7-1 start – including an impressive 4-1 road trip with wins over the Celtics and Heat – the Suns have again become the subject of all sorts of idle chatter around the league.  Do I think this means they are actually better than the 50 wins and a 6 seed I predicted?  Maybe.  Should expectations be adjusted Valley-wide?  Probably not.  Let’s just go with guarded optimism and I think we’ll all be happy.  With that here are a few thoughts and feelings that I’ve accumulated during the tail-end of the road trip:

• Not that it really needs to be said – but if Steve Nash plays like he’s been playing, the Suns can cause some serious damage out West.  The 18.3 PPG along with 12.9 APG (also 52.5% shooting and 48.6% from three) are in the exact same neighborhood as the two MVP years.  I suppose whether Nash can keep up this kind of pace is only one of many questions facing the Suns this season.
• One of the pleasant surprises through the first 8 has been the performance of the Junkyard Dog and twitter king- Jared Dudley.  JYD might not give you a 15/10 every night but depending on what you need in any individual game, he’ll bring it.  Never was this more evident than his performance against the Sixers when he scored 18 points on 6/7 shooting – including 2 clutch fourth quarter three’s – to help the Suns to an impressive comeback win.
• Jason Richardson has been an interesting case since he arrived from Charlotte in the Diaw/Bell trade.  As previously referenced, he has a larger price tag ($13.33 million) and is a very good scorer.  Yet last year he struggled a bit getting into the Suns system and becoming consistent.  After a big fat goose egg against Orlando it appeared that we were again going to get a lot of ups and downs from J-Rich – yet in his last three he’s scored 34, 22, and 29,  while hitting 16 of his 22 three point attempts.  Someone please sign me up for that version.  Does anyone else think it really bothers him that most of the Suns advertising centers around Amar’e, Nash, and G-Hill?   Maybe he doesn’t care about that sort of thing but I’d notice.  Perhaps it gives him something to prove.
• This just in – Channing Frye still drives me nuts.  I realize that he is usually the open guy thus he should shoot…but it still doesn’t stop me from rolling my eyes.  After his scalding hot first three games from three – he shot just 30% (from three) and 37% overall on the 5 game road swing.  I’m probably picking on Channing a little too much – but whatever the NBA record is for “most perceived three pointers attempted that end up being really long two pointers” I think he’ll have it by the end of the year.  Not to be all negative, he does spread the floor well and draw a big guy out of the paint.  Can’t complain about that.
• The Monday night win over Philly was just flat out impressive.  Though its been repeated again and again on the radio, on TV, and in print – they could have easily rolled over and died in what was the final game of an already successful road trip.  Instead they rallied from 16 points down for a gritty victory (can you call a 119-115 game gritty?  I think I just did).  This team clearly has quite a bit of mental toughness.
• I’m not sure exactly how Alvin Gentry is going to manage the rotation when Robin Lopez gets back from his injury – but it’s clear to me that he will be able to add some value in the way of defense and rebounding.  Fortunately the Suns can afford to bring him back slowly.
• The education of Goran Dragic continues to be an exciting subplot for the ’09-10 Suns.  Excusing the Philly game – Dragic has been a different guy this season than last.  He’s got a confidence in both handling the ball and taking shots that we hadn’t previously seen.  I’m not saying the guy is ever going to be an All-Star or anything, but if he keeps getting better at this type of rate he could be a very solid starting point guard in the NBA.
• Amar’e Stoudemire is averaging 19 points and 8.5 rebounds in the early going – pretty solid numbers for STAT.  Yet I don’t think he’s anywhere near what he’s capable of yet.  He’s had flashes – like his dunks becoming more violent, or his game saving block against the Celtics – but it seems he’s really just playing himself back into a rhythm.
• For perspective-sake on the 7-1 start – only two teams opened last season with a 7-1 mark:  the Celtics and the Lakers.  Both those teams ended up OK.

Can the Suns keep up a 70 win pace?  Of course not.  In order not to get too carried away, the disaster that was the 2008-2009 Suns actually opened the season with an 8-3 record and beat three playoff teams (Spurs, Pistons, Blazers) in the process.  However the difference is that this years edition has great team chemistry and is actually fun to watch again.

J-Rich Helped to Overcome a Tough Miami Defense

The last time the Suns made the Florida road swing we were already 9 games deep (sporting a 6-3 record) into the Alvin Gentry era and coming off of a strong win over the Lakers. Even with a banged up team and no Amar’e Stoudemire, things were certainly looking up for a Suns playoff berth. Going into a rough 6 games stretch of games against playoff teams (4 of which on the road), the Suns basically needed to stay afloat and after carrying a three point lead into the 4th quarter of game 1 of the stretch against the Magic it seemed like the Suns were going to be able to do just that.  What followed was a blowout fourth quarter and 6 straight losses that did serious damage to the Phoenix playoff dreams.

This year presents a similar situation in which the Florida swing begins a tough stretch of 7 games in which the Suns will play 6 on the road (including 5 in 7 days on the east coast) and 6 against playoff teams.  Yet after last night’s hard-fought 104-96 win over Miami it seems things just might be a little different.

• Very nice to see the Suns fight back in a game in which they surrendered Miami runs of 17-1 and 11-0.  It seemed that every time that Phoenix would gain any traction, Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra would call a timeout and change the entire complexion of the game.  Until the 4th quarter Spoelstra was basically a maestro of timeout calling.
• The Suns didn’t really seem to have an offensive rhythm for most of the game yet through a combination of Steve Nash’s greatness and some surprisingly tough defense they hung in until they took over with a 29-15 fourth quarter.  The offense is definitely still a work in progress.
• Oh and on the subject of Steve Nash – 30 points on 11/15 shooting (25 points in the second half) and 8 assists.  Do I need to add anything here?  I suppose it’s worth noting that he passed Dan Majerle (or as Martha Lee calls him “Thundering Don”) for first place on the Suns all-time three pointers made list.  It’s easy to rave about Nash’s shooting – but his no-look pass to Jason Richardson to extend the Suns fourth quarter lead to 7 was a thing of beauty (1:50 mark of the video below)
• Amar’e didn’t take the number of shots he probably should be taking as a superstar – but the way he hit the boards was encouraging (he pulled down 11) and he did hit 6 of the 9 shots he took.  Other positive signs for Amar’e were his powerful first quarter slam over Miami center Joel Anthony and the clear leadership role he is taking when he plays with the 2nd team.  It’s apparent that he defers to Nash/Hill with the starters but he becomes a different guy once out there with Dragic/Amundson/Dudley – good to see.
• Grant Hill and Channing Frye weren’t as impressive as they’d been in the opening three games but Hill still produced a double-double (10 points, 12 rebounds) and Frye hit a big 4th quarter jumper.  The Channing Coaster rolls on.
• J-Rich and Jared Dudley did a great job on Dwayne Wade.  Sure Wade scored 23 points, but it was a quiet 23 and it took him 18 shots to get there.  Wade’s frustration was clear as the game wore on.
• Jarron Collins received his first meaningful minutes, playing 8 in the end of the third/beginning of the 4th – and to be honest he performed far better than his box score line may indicate.  He didn’t score, he didn’t shoot, and he had only 2 rebounds, but he took a charge on Wade and drew a couple other fouls to help the Suns cause.  He also recorded a +/-  of +10 (tied for the lead on the team).
• Don’t look now but the Suns AGAIN won the rebounding battle (43-42).  I won’t be expecting this against either Orlando or Boston but it’s nice that they can outrebound someone.  However the 12 offensive rebounds surrendered (including 6 by Quentin Richardson) are unacceptable and if Miami had actually been hitting shots in the 4th quarter at all it could have made a real difference.
• I like Lou Amundson’s game – he’s a scrappy hustle player and he again had a nice performance with 10 points and 5 rebounds in his 22 minutes.  I also know he has a new jump shooting stroke that really isn’t half bad – yet I’m going to go ahead and draw a firm line in the sand at him shooting 15 footers in big moments (as he did in the late stages of the 3rd when the Suns were down 7).
• If you still want to shit on Goran Dragic I’m going to go ahead and give you a couple more chances to stop before it just ends up looking ridiculous.  The young Slovenian point guard again played with confidence – drilling a three pointer, and weaving through the lane for an impressive 4th quarter lay-up to provide the Suns with a minimal drop-off at point guard when he was in the game.  The development of Goran’s game is coming…and it seems to be coming faster and faster.  It’s enough for me to wonder what Dragic would be doing on a team that actually needed him to play big minutes.
• Did anyone else hear Scott Williams use the term “jersey chasers” to describe poor defense?  Maybe that’s just a generational thing but I laughed out loud.
• This is the third time in franchise history the Suns have opened 4-0.  The first two were in 2004-2005 – where they finished 62-20 – and 1984-85 when they went on to finish just 36-46.  The ’04-05 version lost their 5th game, while the ’84-85 squad won their 5th but lost in game number 6.

The pace is now set for the next 6.  Stay afloat and the Suns should be fine.  Enjoy the highlights below.

First the highlights – including Steve Nash’s game winning layup at 1:20:

And next an alternate…and slightly more morbid account of the game:

Clipper Basketball:  Is it better than being dead? (Marketing can thank me later)

Have a great Thursday sports fans.

Dunks are Neat

A few days ago a co-worker of mine in the salt mines asked me why I hadn’t yet posted anything about the Suns so far this preseason – my answer was because I hadn’t yet seen them either live or on TV.  Now that I finally got to see a game I find it only fitting that I post the first in what promises to be a series of NBA Nightcaps over the next several months.  For those of you who didn’t read SoD way back in June (all of you), I made a habit of posting a daily recap of playoff games throughout the postseason.  I’ll dig it out here and there but in honor of said co-worker having his 4th child and first girl here come some hard-hitting Suns-76ers preseason thoughts:

Suns 115 Sixers 113 -there’s going to be some serious overlap with my pals Michael Schwartz at VotS and Phoenix Stan at BSotS but we can all deal with that.  I look forward to your lawsuits.

• Does anything else really matter besides the fact that the starters played well?  Steve Nash recorded a +30 and no other starter was less than +14 as the first team staked the Suns to an 18 point fourth quarter lead.  What happened with that lead you ask?  Well future South Korean league all-stars Dan Dickau and Carlos Powell helped to blow that as the Suns even trailed at one point in the fourth until Dickau saved it with his magical six free throw run.  I think all of us in attendance will never forget the bravery he showed in hitting those free throws.
• Amar’e Stoudemire pulled down 10 rebounds.  I’d like for that sentence to stand alone in order to honor it’s significance.  The Suns were again out-rebounded (55-43) – a sentence you can get used to reading a lot this year – so anytime Sun Tzu can pull down double digit rebounds I’ll take it.
• It was my first look at Channing Frye and I obviously liked what I saw as he scored (all of his) 17 points in the first half.  I’m not sure what it is about Frye but I love the guy – even though it is awfully strange to see your starting center pull down a grand total of one rebound in 25 minutes of action.  If he can make jump shots and run the floor well it might not matter.
• How can you not love Jared Dudley?  The twitter king played 20 minutes, scored 11 points (including a pair of threes) and came up with 5 of the Suns’ 8 steals.    He’s the type of bench player I wish the Suns had on the roster during the contender years (but Mike D probably wouldn’t have played him).
• Goran Dragic missed all seven of his shot attempts but had 5 assists to just one turnover in his 20 minutes.  Just to attempt to offset everything provided by Nash he also recorded a impressive -28.  I’ve become accustomed to such bipolar play from Dragic – and don’t expect anything less this season – but it would be nice if he could provide slightly less drop-off.  Thanks in advance Goran.
• You know what wasn’t fun?  Watching Sixers power forward Marresse Speights in person.  If you can remember all the way back to the 2008 NBA Draft the Suns had a group that included Robin Lopez and Speights in for a workout.  The Suns picked Lopez at 15 while  Speights dropped to the Sixers one pick later.  Here is the stat comparison for their respective rookie years:
  • Robin Lopez – 10.2 MPG, 3.2 PPG, 2 RPG, .68 blocks per game (per 36 – 11.1 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 2.4 BPG)
  • Marresse Speights - 16.0 MPG, 7.7 PPG, 3.3 RPG, .71 blocks per game (per 36 – 17.3 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 1.6 BPG)
  • I wanted Speights then and I still want Speights now after he scored 32 points in his 32 minutes.  I don’t think the ceilings of the two players are even comparable.
• Barring some sort of explosion from Speights I feel pretty confident in my August prediction that the Sixers will miss the playoffs.  They lost Andre Miller to Portland and even for preseason looked genuinely unimpressive.
• New Sixer Jason Kapono is wearing number 72 this year.  For those of you not used to seeing a weird number that isn’t on the back of someone who is batshit crazy (see Artest, Ron and Rodman, Dennis) - here is the explanation.  It’s math.
• Not to get all fashion week on you, but the Sixers new uniforms are terrible.  I love the switch back to the classic Sixer logo (and love this move in general) but the new jerseys are a big ol’ epic failure in an attempt to “improve” on the classics.  (Doing my best Paul Lukas impression) – You can see here that the old jerseys actually had outlines on the word “Sixers” and the number while the new ones (as seen here) don’t have outlines and basically look like high school jerseys.  Might want to fix that fellas.
• I think there were roughly 4 people in my entire section.  Made for an intimate little atmosphere.  One of my favorite moments was when a Mercury highlight montage was shown and one of the guys next to me said rather loudly “who cares” – the women in front of us flipped around and yelled at him.  The highest of high comedy.  Take that random guy.

Bottom line – the starters looked good and the bench needs to improve.  I don’t care whether they won or lost and neither should you.

MVP! MVP!

If you haven’t been following the NBA this off-season, Balls Don’t Lie (a Yahoo Sports Blog) has been putting together a best of the decade series over the past couple months or so.  They’ve covered all the predictable top 10 lists like best player, best team, best team not to win it all and so on and so forth, some of the material has been a bit objectionable but for the most part it is generally great drunken bar conversation.  The latest edition presented the top 10 point guards of the decade – and I will admit while reading this I was just waiting for it NOT to be Steve Nash so I could write something up about it….and to my joy pleasure pain I’m not sure non-surprise the diminutive Canadian point guard checked in at second on the list to another former Sun, Jason Kidd.

Obviously there isn’t much of a case to be made for a player not named Kidd or Nash so let’s go ahead and do a little breakdown (what is the point of creatively coming up with my own subject matter anyway?).  Oh and yes I realize that it’s a fun and subjective list but I think we can all agree that arguing generally rocks.  Per Balls Don’t Lie list the stats are based on when “the words Y2K were around”, so we’re going from the ’99-00 season until last year.  My initial thought is that Nash has had the better decade but a closer look at the number is always warranted and frankly its pretty damn close:

It's a Close Race, Jason

Jason Kidd:

First the reasoning for his selection as the number one guy as brought to you by Balls Don’t Lie:

Put it all together – the stifling defense, the pinpoint passing, the burgeoning shooting acumen, the scoring touch in transition, in the paint, or his staunch rebounding abilities – and you nearly have the perfect point guard.

And the best point man of our era.

The off-court stuff, you might not like. The trade demands, the contract issues or the way he was probably pretty overrated during his last few years in New Jersey. Overall, it doesn’t matter much. Kidd averaged 13.8 points, 9.2 assists, 6.7 rebounds, two steals, three turnovers and absolutely killer defense for the better part of this decade.

All fair points listed above.  Kidd is a big, talented point guard who can do things that few men preceding him have been able to do at the position.  But how does he stack up statistically?  I’m not exactly certain how Balls Don’t Lie determined their statistics but…they are wrong (but actually under shot Kidd) – here are his numbers:

STATISTICS:

• 760 games played
• 14.0 PPG (10,649 points)
• 40.2% field goal shooting
• 34.7% three point shooting
• 81% free throw shooting
• 7.0 rebounds per game
• 9.25 assists per game
• 1.9 steals per game
• 3.1 turnovers per game

PERSONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

• 7-time NBA All-Star
• All-NBA First Team – 4 times
• All-NBA Second Team – 1 time
• All-Defensive Team – 4 times
• All-Defensive 2nd Team – 4 times

TEAM SUCCESS:

• 472-346 record (for his teams in the decade – Suns from 99-01, Nets from 01-07, Mavs from 07-present.  record was compiled based on when he was on the roster.  Did not take into account injuries)
• .577 winning percentage
• 2 NBA Finals appearances
• 10 total playoff appearances  – (3 first round losses, 5 second round losses)

Kidd Had Kerry Kittles in the Finals...I'm Impressed

THE CASE AGAINST:

First 5 years of the decade he threw up the following numbers:

• 1999-2000 (Suns)  – 14.3 PPG, 10.1 APG, 7.2 RPG
• 2000-2001 (Suns) – 16.9 PPG, 9.8 APG, 6.4 RPG
• 2001-2002 (Nets) – 14.7 PPG, 9.9 APG, 7.3 RPG
• 2002-2003 (Nets) – 18.7 PPG, 8.9 APG, 6.3 RPG
• 2003-2004 (Nets) – 15.5 PPG, 9.2 APG, 6.4 RPG

Then the slippage -

• 2004-2005 (Nets) – 14.4 PPG, 8.3 APG, 7.4 RPG
• 2005-2006 (Nets) – 13.3 PPG, 8.4 APG, 7.3 RPG
• 2006-2007 (Nets) – 13.0 PPG, 9.2 APG, 8.2 RPG
• 2007-2008 (Nets and Mavs) – 10.8 PPG, 10.1 APG, 7.5 RPG
• 2008-2009 (Mavs) – 9.0 PPG, 8.7 APG, 6.2 RPG

The stats there speak for themselves but in addition he made his final All-Defensive first team in ’05-06, his last All-NBA team in ’03-04 and currently can rarely if ever be trusted to guard the other teams starting point guard.

From a team perspective the squads spearheaded by Kidd had a .615 winning percentage during the first 5 years of the decade and accounted for both of his Finals appearances (with the Nets) in the frighteningly weak Eastern Conference.  In fact, his best year (as determined by wins) of the entire decade was the 53 win-Suns team from 1999-2000.  The second five years?  .539 winning percentage, and never escaping the second round.

Thus the primary case against Kidd is that while he has had one helluva career and is probably a lock Hall of Famer – he hasn’t really been all that great in the second half of the decade.

Yes Steve...You Have Two of Them

Steve Nash:

The Balls Don’t Lie reasoning for the reason he was 2nd on the list:

Ask me, ask anyone else you know who read this list, ask yourself who, exactly, you’d like to play alongside the most on this list, and the answer will invariably be “Steve Nash.”

We’d be wrong in that regard, of course. We’d be destroyed on defense, and we may have a little issue with turnovers. But we’d still want to play with him, in spite of a nagging suspicion that the second pick in this particular draft might be a bit better.

We play to win, I guess, but we’re also playing because it’s fun. Nobody says, “I’m going to go down to the Y later this afternoon to try and contribute to a winning cause.” We say, “I’m going to go play basketball,” a game, a game that’s fun. You’ve seen this dance before.

So, he’ll get burned on D. And at the end of the day, other players will have more points, rebounds, steals and assists, even. But man, isn’t his game something to behold?

Again some relatively good points – for all his talents Nash is in fact a pretty below average defender.  I’m not entirely certain it’s all that possible to be a great one-on-one defender from the point guard position but besides taking an occasional charge, Nash is a bit of a turnstile as a defender.  Now the statistical comparison:

STATISTICS:

• 753 games played
• 16.2 points per game (12,219 points)
• 49.4% field goal shooting
• 43.6% three point shooting
• 90.5% free throw shooting
• 3.2 rebounds per game
• 9.2 assists per game
• 0.82 steals per game
• 3.0 turnovers per game

PERSONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

• 2-time NBA MVP – I’m putting this in bold and red.  This is a big deal.  10 other guys have done this and here is the list – Abdul-Jabbar, Jordan, Russell, Pettit, K. Malone, Duncan, M. Malone, Bird, Magic Johnson, Chamberlain.  Pretty strong list.  Again.  BOLD.
• 6-time NBA All-Star
• All-NBA First Team – 3 times
• All-NBA Second Team – 1 time
• All-NBA Third Team – 2 times

TEAM SUCCESS:

• 540-280 record
• .659 winning percentage
• 0 NBA Finals appearances
• 8 playoff appearances -  (3 Western Conference Finals losses, 3 second round losses, 2 first round losses)

THE CASE AGAINST:

Games like this:

I didn’t really watch the whole video – I just put in “Steve Nash” and “defense” on YouTube and Iverson lighting up the Suns for 44 came up.  If Raja was guarding him most of that game then I apologize – but you generally get the point, he’s a bad defender. It also doesn’t do him any favors that he has never played in the NBA Finals.

FINAL ANALYSIS:

To put it simply – Nash is a bad defender with damn good numbers, teams that won A LOT (although they never broke through), and two MVP awards.  Kidd is the prototype triple double machine with two appearances in the NBA Finals but for me this entire argument comes down to two primary points -  (1) Have I mentioned that Steve Nash won two MVP awards?  Two of them.  Both of which were in this decade and (2) Nash hasn’t gone off a cliff in the latter half of the decade.  Take a look at his 5 and 5 split:

First 5 years :

• 1999-2000 (Mavs) – 8.6 PPG, 4.9 APG, 2.2 RPG  – (NOTE:  Nash was not yet a full-time starter, having started just 27 of his 56 games)
• 2000-2001 (Mavs) – 15.6 PPG, 7.3 APG, 3.2 RPG
• 2001-2002 (Mavs) – 17.9 PPG, 7.7 APG, 3.1 RPG
• 2002-2003 (Mavs) – 17.7 PPG, 7.3 APG, 2.9 RPG
• 2003-2004 (Mavs) – 14.5 PPG, 8.8 APG, 3.0 RPG

The second five:

• 2004-2005 (Suns) – 15.5 PPG, 11.5 APG, 3.3 RPG, 50.2% shooting, 43.1% from three  – NBA MVP
• 2005-2006 (Suns) – 18.8 PPG, 10.5 APG, 4.2 RPG, 51.2% shooting, 43.9% from three – NBA MVP
• 2006-2007 (Suns) – 18.6 PPG, 11.6 APG, 3.5 RPG, 53.2% shooting, 45.5% from three
• 2007-2008 (Suns) – 16.9 PPG, 11.1 APG, 3.5 RPG, 50.4% shooting, 47% from three
• 2008-2009 (Suns) – 15.7 PPG, 9.7 APG, 3.0 RPG, 50.3% shooting, 43.9% from three

Those were a pretty obscene 5 years.  I will admit that Nash’s beginning year of the decade was pretty unimpressive but he was not yet a full-time starter.  If you do in fact pull that year out – or even compile the stats solely based on games played in the 2000′s decade (thus eliminating the ’99 portion and including the beginning of this season), the spread would widen even more statistically.

Kidd was a hell of a point guard – he’s one of those guys who I’ll probably remember watching for the rest of my life, but although it is debatable, he hasn’t had the amount of success enjoyed by Nash in the 2000′s decade.  But at the end of the day can you really lose either way?  Go ahead, debate.

This Sumo already made some fun jokes about Shaq’s new show.  I assure you, if the much-less-gregarious Nash were the star, the show may not be as widely watched, but it would be way more funny.  For example: