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2010PlayoffsRound1. What happened to Steve Nash? He struggled all night, didn’t look like himself at all. It was a strange to see him ineffective for the most part. The real story is how the Suns handled a subpar performance from its two time MVP. From valleyofthesuns.com:

“There was a time not so long ago, earlier this season even, that the Phoenix Suns’ fortunes paralleled the performance of their two-time MVP. But the Suns have evolved, particularly this season. They have evolved into a team that thrives when Nash is on, yet still finds a way to win when he’s off. Thursday’s Game 6 elimination of the Portland Trail Blazers was pristine evidence of this evolved group and their ability to get the job done “without” their biggest veteran leader. Nash, in some aspects, may as well have sat in the locker room during this game. In the first quarter, Nash scored ZERO points and handed out four assists. To top it off he racked up SIX turnovers. That the Suns were able to keep it together and find a way to win without a significant contribution from one of their star players is a testament to the well-rounded nature of the 2009-2010 Phoenix Suns. Moreover, it is an important departure from the Suns teams of old that leaned heavily on Nash’s efforts to carry them in crucial moments.”

Not only did the bench step but the other starters took up the slack as well. Grant Hill had a great game. The old man would not be denied. He had 12 rebounds, two steals and a insane block of  Jerryd Bayless. It was simply awesome. Jason Richardson was the star of the game, as well as the star of the series. From nba.com:

“Richardson — who scored 71 points to lead Phoenix victories in Games 2 and 3 — stole the lead story line against Thursday, going for 28 points and seven rebounds. The 6-6 shooting guard was 10-for-16 from the field and 5-for-8 from 3-point range. He was lights out early, scoring 14 points in the first seven minutes while going 3-for-3 on treys. The Blazers “made the decision to use their length and zone up and take the paint away, and Jason made a lot of jump shots for us, some big threes,” Nash said. “His shooting was pivotal. He made them pay for deciding to guard us that way.”

Its been awhile. Ian Kennedy gets his first win in like 2 1/2 years. Did I read that right? Thats a long time to taste victory. From azcentral.com:

“Kennedy (1-1) allowed only one run in the first seven innings as the Diamondbacks built a 13-1 lead before giving up Kosuke Fukudome’s grand slam in the eighth. He ended up allowing six hits, one walk and four earned runs while striking out six. Once a top New York Yankees prospect, Kennedy hadn’t won since he beat Tampa Bay in his big league debut on Sept. 1, 2007. The right-hander’s next two seasons were filled with ineffectiveness and injuries – including an aneurysm near his right shoulder that required surgery last May.”

The bats were alive today. Adam LaRoche hit two homers, while Kelly Johnson hit his ninth home run which BTW leads the National League. I’m thinking we just need to add some middle relief or another closer and we’ll be fine for the rest of the season. How about this kid?

Lots going on this week. Saturday is jammed packed with stuff to do. Kentucky Derby, My friends Cinko Drinko party. I think I will be hung Sunday morning. Something a little more family friendly is the Card’s Fan Fest 2010 this Saturday the 1st of May. This is a great opportunity to see the team practice. for kids it’s really fun, an autograph session starts at 10:00 for rug rats under 12. It will be a good chance to see some of the new players like Pro Bowler Alan Faneca. From raisingzona.com:

“Offensive lineman Alan Faneca is an Arizona Cardinal. I never thought I would hear myself say those words, but that is exactly the case after Arizona jumped on his availability when the New York Jets released him.  He signed a one-year $2.5 million contract.  By signing the not very long free agent, it immediately makes up for not drafting an offensive lineman this past weekend in the draft.  This may end up being the best off-season pickup by the Cardinals yet.”

Now he is not the same player he was maybe 6 years ago, but he is still a great pickup for a offensive line that is going to need all the help it can get. He’s definently happy to be a Cardinal. Faneca is reunited with offensive line coach Russ Grimm, who he credits with making him a Pro Bowler during their time with the Steelers.

Nice . I like it when a plan comes together. A.J. Hinch needed to do something to put a fire under the Arizona Diamondbacks and I think his ejection did the trick. From mlb.com:

“With the bases loaded and one out in the top of the ninth, Arizona catcher John Hester hit a grounder to Ian Stewart at third. Stewart threw toward the plate to try to force out Mark Reynolds. His throw was high and catcher Miguel Olivo stretched for it. Whether Olivo was able to keep his foot on the plate was a point of contention. Home-plate umpire Marvin Hudson ruled that he did and Reynolds was therefore out. That brought an immediate and impassioned argument from Arizona manager A.J. Hinch, who was ejected when he twice used a hand gesture to show just how far off the ground he thought Olivo was when he caught the ball.”

When ever I get thrown out of a bar, I am doing it for benefit of my friends. Its my way of letting them know they need to step it up. Great motivational tool kids. So how did we finish this one up? Well the bullpen has been… well, decent of late. From azsnakepit.com:

“Bob Howry, coming off a 19-pitch eighth, retired the side with ease in the ninth to send the game into extras. And there, Kelly Johnson crushed a pitch into the seats in right for what ended up being the winning run. Juan Gutierrez cleaned up in the bottom of the 10th pretty easily to end up with his first save of the season, and there it was. A win. A series win. A relatively heart-attack-free finish. A decent outing from bullpen members not named “Leo.” And our second straight series win after dropping three in a row.”

What difference does the ranking make in April? Amirite? It would be nice to be number 1 and there is always a chance we could be at the top of the table again before the post season. Lets see who is number 1 in June. From azcentral.com:

“Texas jumped ahead of Arizona State for No. 1 in the USA Today/ESPN coaches baseball poll Monday. The Longhorns (34-7) were No. 2 last week, a spot behind ASU (33-5), which had a 2-2 week including a non-conference loss to Arizona. Texas has 23 first-place votes and 765 points with No. 2 ASU still getting seven first-place votes/738. Virginia, Georgia Tech and UCLA complete the top five.”

Ignore it. Lets move on and take care of the business at hand. Like jumping all over San Francisco 21-3 and sweeping the series. From statepress.com:

“If the old baseball cliché that hitting is contagious rings true, the ASU baseball time had a bout of the flu on Wednesday night. The No. 2 Sun Devils completed a two-game sweep of visiting San Francisco, throttling the Dons 21-3. ASU (35-5) racked up 23 hits off seven USF pitchers, with nine different players recording a multi-hit game. Sophomore infielder Riccio Torrez led the charge with his second straight four-hit night with three runs driven in. The offensive onslaught was highlighted by an eight-run seventh that featured back-to-back home runs by sophomores Zach Wilson and Johnny Ruettiger that each left the yard.”

Well the Red Wings came out aggressive and assertive and the Coyotes came out, in my opinion, conservative. The power play disappeared  again, we went 0-5. The Red Wings are like a machine, it seemed like the entire first period was played at our end of the ice. The Red Wings had 55 shots on goal, compared to the Coyotes 33. It meant the Coyotes would once again exit in the first round of the playoffs. From sportingnews.com:

“With Tuesday’s 6-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings, the Coyotes are 0-6 in the first round since moving to Arizona for the 1996-97 season. During that time they’ve scored one goal in three Game 7s. The franchise, which started at the Winnipeg Jets, hasn’t won a series since 1987. So it was another first-round exit for a team which started the season with no owner or coach, played much of the year in a half-empty home arena but still won a franchise record 50 games and finished with the fourth most points in the NHL.”

And thats important to remember. I didn’t even think we would have a team much less make it into the playoffs. The fans couldn’t be happier with the performance of this team. They were the underdog all season, not getting any respect from the national hockey media. However the Phoenix fans knew all season the Coyotes were one of the best teams in the NHL. From fiveforhowling.com:

“First, and foremost, I want to just say how proud I am of the Phoenix Coyotes and their fans.  At the end of last night’s debacle game 7, at least 13,000 stayed until the final horn while standing, cheering and chanting “Let’s Go Co-yotes”  It was heart-wrenching to experience, but that scene to the left just shows you what it was like, and why there is nothing that any Coyotes fan is going to be upset about when looking back on the 2009-2010 season.”

The only person I felt sorry for was captain Shane Doan. He has been injured since game 3 and had to watch the series unfold from the bench. That must have been painful. From azcentral.com:

“Doan was injured in Game 3, a shoulder separation that was so severe, coach Dave Tippett said Tuesday night, that at least three or four weeks recovery was recommended. Not that Doan didn’t try to convince his coach otherwise. When asked if he could articulate how it felt to sit out, Doan looked to the floor. “No. No. You’d give anything to be out there and help your teammates. . . . It was tough.” The decision to sit out was made Monday, Tippett said, after the two had a heart-to-heart and agreed staying off the ice was best for the team.”

Thank you Phoenix Coyotes.

That was just an old fashioned butt kicking. It was ugly. Poor Edwin Jackson, he got the start and by the third inning the game was basically over. From arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com:

“Indeed, the Rockies scored early and often against Edwin Jackson as they cruised to a 12-1 win over the D-backs on Tuesday night in front of 24,112 at Coors Field. The Rockies never let Jackson (1-2) get settled in. They scored three times in the first, four in the second and four in the third to grab an 11-0 lead. Of those 11 runs, 10 were charged to Jackson, the most he has allowed in a game in his career. The right-hander’s previous career high was eight, which he allowed in a five-inning stint Oct. 2, 2009.”

“Like I said it was over by the third inning. The Dbacks were facing Rockies pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez. The guy threw a no hitter against Atlanta earlier in the month. He’s kinda good. From sportingnews.com:

“Carlos Gonzalez finished a home run shy of hitting for the cycle. Even he was in awe of teammate Ubaldo Jimenez. “He’s one of the most dominating pitchers in baseball right now,” Gonzalez said. Jimenez extended his scoreless streak to 22 1-3 innings with six shutout innings and the Colorado Rockies routed the Arizona Diamondbacks 12-1 on Tuesday night. Jimenez’s scoreless innings streak is the longest in franchise history by a starter. The previous record was 20 set by Denny Neagle in 2002, and matched by Franklin Morales in 2007. He has not allowed a run in his last three outings, starting with his no-hitter against Atlanta on April 17, the first in club history.”

2010PlayoffsRound1. The pace of the game and rebounding, those two factors really went our way. Our three wins this series have been by at least 19 points. Keep the game wide open and flowing, and we have a great chance at winning. The Phoenix Suns out rebounded Portland 41-29. And none of this half court bullshit. Take quick shots before the defense sets, run the ball up as often as possible. The Suns bench did all that and more. Our reserves simply dominated the game. From azcentral.com:

“First, there was Jared Dudley, who emerged from a series-long slumber to score a career playoff-high 19 points, hitting five of nine 3-pointers. He also played his usual dogged defense and energized the sellout crowd. Then there was Channing Frye, who also racked up a career postseason best with 20 points along with eight rebounds. Frye hit three of five 3-pointers. Backup point guard Goran Dragic came off the bench in the second quarter and began attacking the basket. It got him three consecutive trips to the free-throw line and helped set a tone for the game. In all, the Suns bench outscored Portland’s reserves 55-23.”

Alvin Gentry finished the game with the bench, thats awesome. I think Gentry’s trust in his bench is what is going to make the difference in this playoff run. I can’t remember a Suns team that could bring 5 off the bench then keep and build on leads on a regular basis. Other than the first quarter, the Trail Blazers looked a step slower all game. It looked like the teams switched personalities from the game before. Brandon Roy had no positive effect on this game what so ever. Roy may have hurt his teams chances. From sportsillustrated.cnn.com:

“Roy, who over the weekend came back unexpectedly from surgery to repair his meniscus, was neither effective himself nor helped take pressure off his teammates. Roy, who is clearly not 100 percent healthy, had three fouls in his first six minutes and finished with just five points and four fouls in 19 minutes.”

Dan Haren was in top form, striking out 10 batters, the most strikeouts he has had this season. The Arizona Diamondbacks got a 5-3 win despite a 9th inning rally by the Rockies. From azcentral.com:

“Carlos Gonzalez homered and drove in both runs for the Rockies, who nearly rallied in the ninth off closer Chad Qualls. With two outs Ian Stewart drove in Todd Helton from second, but Qualls struck out pinch-hitter Jason Giambi with two on for his fifth save in seven chances.”

Nice to see Haren come out and dominate like that after allowing 7 runs in his last start against the St Louis Cardinals. From sportingnews.com:

“Haren (3-1) gave up five hits and walked two in eight innings and was in control all night. He retired 15 of 16 batters in one stretch. After Stewart’s one-out single in the second he didn’t allow a hit until Eric Young Jr. drove a pinch-hit double into right field with one out in the eighth.”

So do you think Amare Stoudemire is still going to be here next year? His agent is still wheeling and dealing. I suppose thats what agents do. Amare for one says he will wait till the end of the season before he discusses anything concerning trades or contracts. From azcentral.com:

“Suns General Manager Steve Kerr said Saturday that talks never really ceased once they were opened in mid-February with an exchange of proposals. He declined to say whether he and Stoudemire’s agent, Happy Walters, were getting closer to a deal. Walters could not be reached for comment. Stoudemire must decide by June 30 whether to exercise his option to remain with the Suns for a $16.6 million salary, the final year on his contract. If he does not sign an extension and opts out of the contract, Stoudemire would be an unrestricted free agent in July.”

I never know what the hell Steve Kerr is thinking. I think he says the exact opposite 0f what he really believes. I don’t know what his long term plans are concerning salary cap, keeping the team together, making a playoff run, or starting over and rebuilding. I would think if Stoudemire keeps playing well and we make it out of the first round, STAT will get the max, but who knows. What I do know, is that Stoudemire might have a future in hollywood. He is going to be on the big screen this summer! From fanster.com:

“Sources confirm that the Phoenix Suns big man will appear as a gentlemen’s club patron in “MacGruber,” the movie based on the “Saturday Night Live” sketch. In theaters May 21, the comedy follows Will Forte’s bumbling, mullet-rocking title character — a former Green Beret, Navy SEAL and Army Ranger, by the way — as he comes out of problem-solving retirement to battle his sworn enemy, Dieter Von Cunth (Val Kilmer). At some point, we’re told, MacGruber hits up a strip joint, where he’ll throw a bottle at Stoudemire, leading to the five-time All-Star’s only line: “Son of a b—-!”…[ESPN]“

We just won a 3 game series against the defending NL Champs. And it was a come from behind victory to boot. Impressive. The Dbacks were down 2-0 but rallied in the fifth inning and had a 8-6 lead by the ninth inning. From azsnakepit.com:

“There we found outselves, two run lead, going into the ninth inning- and Chad Qualls comes in to close.  As we all reached for our antacids, Qualls handled it well.  Ground ball, strike out, strike out, and the Diamondbacks had won the game and the series.  Not without some worry and concern, of course, but a win is a win. So, a good game from our offense- fifteen hits and six walks, with every starter except Upton with a hit.  The bullpen gave us three scoreless innings, and that’s just what we needed.  Leo Rosales picked up the win for his nerve-wracking eighth, and Chad Qualls got his fourth save on the season.  It was noted that Qualls seemed to be keeping his pitches down in the zone better, so maybe we’ve got room to be optimistic about him.”

Nice, a timely win right before a monster road trip. A game like that puts a little confidence in the old bullpen. From arizona.diamondbacks.com:

“This is huge,” right fielder Justin Upton said. “A good ballclub like that comes in and you take two out of three from them, this is the type of win that can propel a team.” The D-backs will take any added momentum they can get as they departed on a three-city, 11-game road trip to Colorado, Chicago and Houston following the game.”

And because of that win I am going to give something back to my readers. Because thats what I am, a giver. Enjoy.

Who doesn’t love must win games? When your ass is on the line, its amazing what a difference some perseverance can make. The Coyotes converted 3 out of 6 power play opportunities on their way to a 5-2 win in Detroit. Having Taylor Pyatt park himself in front of the net really gave Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard problems all day. From sportsillustrated.cnn.com:

“The Yotes also got a monster performance out of Taylor Pyatt. The massive winger set up residence in front of Howard, clearly unsettling the goalie on two of Phoenix’s power-play goals before deflecting a Derek Morris slapper into the net himself to send the Joe Louis faithless packing at 5:25 of the third. “We’ve been tinkering [with the power play] and I thought he did a great job in front of the net,” Tippett said. “He finds loose pucks. He had an excellent game for us.”

You can’t say enough about goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. He was a brick wall with 31 saves. From azcentral.com:

“It was a helluva pressure,” said Bryzgalov, who made 31 saves. “They got 5-on-3 power play; it was all about our penalty-killing, it was outstanding, and we scored a goal that gave us a boost. “I saw the puck pretty well. It’s my ‘D’ and my other players who were in front of me to help me see the shots. If you don’t see the puck, you can’t stop it.”

Now its back to Glendale for game 7. Game 7 with chicks and guns and fire trucks and hookers and drugs and booze!! Jobing.com Arena is going to be INSANE!! From (great title for the post) fiveforhowling.com:

“Make no mistake,  Tuesday at Jobing.com Arena will be beyond electric.  Hell, it may be downright rowdy.  But if you’ve ever wanted to see what it’s like to scream at the top of your lungs for 3-4 hours straight, this is the time to do it.  The Coyotes don’t want their season to end, and Judgement Day is upon us.  The Coyotes have shown they can compete with anyone, and everyone.   I’d be surprised if an injured Shane Doan sits this one out.  He’d show up with his limbs dangling from his carcass, as Coyotes fans know.  The physical presence will be reassessed. So now is the time to ask….  Are YOU ready?  The Coyotes sure look like they are.  When the chips are down, sometimes it’s best to just let it all hang out.  So Coyotes fans, after years of punishment, now is your time to shine.  Shine on, babies..  Shine on.”

2010PlayoffsRound1. I guess we could talk about how Brandon Roy’s emotional return was the difference in this game. Not expected to play in this series, Roy entered the game to a roar from the crowd. From valleyofthesuns.com:

“The crowd cheered his every move, exploding when Roy got up to check in midway through the first with Phoenix leading 17-10. Before he could even get into the game the Blazers scored eight unanswered off that emotional high capped by a Nic Batum three for the lead. The Blazers rode the emotional surge delivered by Roy’s return to this victory. Roy, originally ruled out for the series, was a shell of the All-Star who averaged 21.5 ppg, but you can’t quantify what it means for Portland to get its major general back”

Yeah, yeah. Big deal. The numbers tell the real story. We shot 26.1% from three point range, got beat on the boards, 45-39. And Steve Nash had only 8 assists. Look, Portland wanted it more. They played harder. We look a step slower all day, we didn’t have any sense of urgency. From azcentral.com:

“The Suns should be ashamed of themselves. You want particulars? Steve Nash played one of his worst playoff games in memory. Channing Frye never once looked comfortable in Portland, a city where he once toiled. Players took turns standing around the perimeter, as the point guard dribbled and dribbled and dribbled. A flustered coach abandoned his normal rotation. And in the end, Jarron Collins’ point total (4) equaled the team’s fast-break production, a sure sign of disaster. “They wanted it more,” Suns forward Grant Hill said. “That’s just unacceptable on our parts.”

This is where the big boys play. The Suns need to suck it up and finish this series strong. The Suns have had this problem all year. A strong performance and win followed by a lackadaisical , apathetic loss. Its been an endless cycle and it needs to stop or the season will be over real soon.

This really is the first complete look fans and the media get of the ASU football team. A lot of work has to be done to get the finished product so the game is really a measuring stick. And the offense didn’t measure up. From azcentral.com:

“The offense had made so much progress over 14 spring practices, and in the grand finale, the Sun Devils sputtered, particularly quarterbacks Brock Osweiler and Steven Threet. It was an opportunity for one of them to emerge and neither one of them emerged,” Erickson said. “Over four quarters, the offense scored only one touchdown, a 5-yard pass from Osweiler to George Bell. Thomas Weber rebounded from a miserable scrimmage last week to kick field goals of 41, 47 and 45 yards. Otherwise, the offense struggled.”

I heard from a fan who was in attendance that Osweiler was the better of the two. Osweiler went 17 of 33 for 151 yards, while Steven Threet was 9 of 27 for 117 yards and 3 interceptions. So the offense needs some work. We knew that going into this season, so thats not news. I had hoped we would have made a little more progress up till this point. We still got some time. And the defense? Another thing we knew, was that the defense was going to be awesome. From fanster.com:

“But this day was really all about the defense. That side of the ball produced five turnovers, all on interceptions, including one returned 39 yards for a touchdown by junior safety Clint Floyd. Anthony Jones, Eddie Elder, Ronald Kennedy and Mike Callaghan also had picks for ASU. The Sun Devil ‘D’ also produced five quarterback sacks. Defensive lineman Toa Tuitea, Bo Moos, William Sutton and Lawrence Guy along with linebacker Jamarr Robinson each got to the quarterback. Erickson singled out the performance of his secondary. “Our corners played well but I thought our safeties played really well. They’ve done that all spring. They’ve emerged. They’re playing the run good. I couldn’t be happier with [the defensive backs].”

On Friday night the Arizona Diamondbacks got a win behind some impressive hitting. The Dbacks hit 5 home runs and got a good outing from Kris Benson for a 7-4 win over the Phillies.  Fridays game was like a mini vacay, a little trip up North for the day to get away from the heat and frustration/disappointment of valley life. Well Saturday it was back to reality. Back to the Suck. The Diamondbacks fell to Phillies 3-2 thanks to the bullpen. Poor Ian Kennedy, he had one of his best starts ever, retiring 15 and pitching all the way into the eighth inning. From diamondbacks.mlb.com:

“I’m not much on moral victories. I want real victories,” manager A.J. Hinch said after watching the best game of Kennedy’s Major League career spoiled by Jayson Werth. “I was out there a long time; you don’t really feel how long until it’s over,” Kennedy said. “I gave us a chance to win, and that was my job. Then hand it over to the bullpen. I’m pretty confident when [Juan] Gutierrez goes out there.” But with two outs in the ninth, Gutierrez got the same treatment from Werth as Kennedy had seven innings earlier: home run — a deep home run — to center field.”

How bad is this bullpen? How much worse can it get? I really thought we would have learned our lesson last season. From azsnakepit.com:

“The horrible bullpen numbers that are sure to be floating around the articles tomorrow aren’t very pretty. Mentioned during the broadcast: in the past 13 2/3 innings pitched by the Diamondbacks bullpen, they’ve allowed 23 hits, 20 runs, and 8 home runs. Including tonight, the Diamondbacks have been outscored 22-7 in the 8th and 9th innings this season; 19 of those runs have come in the 9th inning for an inning ERA of 13.50. I don’t know if Arizona still ranks below Kansas City Royals and Washington Nationals in bullpen ERA, but tonight is just one more game (for a total of 7, I believe) that the bullpen lost for the team. Everyone here wants change, and we can only dream that after this week’s performances, change has to be coming.”