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How have the Suns been doing in the FIBA World Championships? Well, Goran Dragic had a good start to the tournament but didn’t have enough to carry Slovenia to a win against team USA. From valleyofthesuns.com

Dragic was Slovenia’s second-leading scorer, finishing with 14 points, four assists and four rebounds. Dragic shot 5-for-10 from the field, contributing to Slovenia’s 55.4 percent shooting percentage. However, The Dragon also committed a team-high five turnovers. Dragic seemed comfortable running the offense and confident in his ability to lead it. As an individual though, Dragic is still working to hone his offensive skills when it comes to moving with the ball (hence five turnovers) and passing. Ultimately, if Dragic can keep contributing the amount of scoring he did and direct the offense with such efficiency, it should bode well for Slovenia and the Suns.

Mean while, Hedo Turkoglu is still not shooting the ball well. I hope he gets out of this shooting slump before the season starts. From valleyofthesuns.com

Although Turkoglu helped keep host country Turkey undefeated with a 76-65 victory over Greece on Tuesday, he struggled with his shot once again, nailing only two of his 12 shot attempts and tallying only eight points in a game-high 33 minutes. But the fact is, Turkoglu is still shooting 23.5 percent against mostly non-NBA talent and hasn’t looked like he’s in the greatest shape in the world. Suns fans should hope this isn’t the Hedo they’ll be getting come Oct. 26 when the 2010-11 season tips off.

The bench, the reserves, our Saviour’s, what ever you want to call them, they came through big time! The Phoenix Suns bench out scored the Lakers bench 54-20. And that was the game. Once again our All Stars were sitting on the bench in crunch time as the Suns reserves put on another great show! From azcentral.com:

“The Suns bench outscored the Lakers reserves by 34 points. “We believe in our bench and although they weren’t scoring (earlier in the series), I thought they played well,” Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. “I thought they were better defensively than they were offensively – and they were great offensively.” Channing Frye snapped his rut of 18 consecutive misses and hit four 3-pointers for a 14-point, six-rebound game. Jared Dudley hit three more 3s and added a 3-point play that burned Bryant in his 11-point, six-rebound game. Goran Dragic (eight points, eight assists) and Leandro Barbosa (14 points in 17 minutes) brought too much speed for the Lakers and Louis Amundson (seven points, seven rebounds) had more energy than the Lakers’ frontline.”

How about Channing Frye. I was so happy to see him hit his first three pointer of the series. The crowd went wild, like it was a game winning three! Our bench is wild! It’s crazy to think the starters didn’t come back into the game until there was like 3 minutes left. In the first minutes of the fourth the Suns Bench went on a 18-3 run! And that was against the Lakers starters for the most part! It has got to be disheartening for Lakers fans to watch our bench win the game for us. It is no secret that is the strength of this team. From ktar.com:

“Amare Stoudemire led Phoenix with 21 points. Nash, playing with a broken nose, made just 3-of-11 shots but had 15 points and eight assists. But it was the backups who stole the show, making 20-of-32 shots, including 9-of-20 3s. “We believe in those guys and they really believe in themselves,” Gentry said. “I thought they were much better defensively than they were offensively, and they were great offensively.”

Its a series now. We’ll see how far this zone defense takes us. We need to take this confidence back to LA and win another on Thursday! Oh BTW Goran Dragic had the play of the series. DRAGON!!

That was a scrimmage right? NOW we’re ready for game 1 against the Lakers. Wow, the Suns didn’t even show up. I Don’t know who those guys were on the floor last night. We didn’t come in with  a killer attitude. The Lakers never take a game lightly. I think the Suns took this game lightly, did they expect the Lakers to lay down? From azcentral.com:

“It’s only one game. Yet by the end of the first quarter, the Suns’ growing swagger was gone. Midway through the third quarter, one of the NBA’s great sportsmen (Grant Hill) was assessed a technical foul. And with six minutes left in the game, the crowd at Staples Center broke out a strange chant: “We want Boston! We want Boston!” This game was the sum of all fears. The Suns were manhandled on offense and eviscerated on defense. Their vaunted bench was outscored by the Lakers’ reserves. The hosts scored 56 points in the paint. Odom had 19 rebounds off the bench, or 16 more rebounds than Amar’e Stoudemire, whose passivity was puzzling, alarming and not at all befitting a player yearning for a maximum contract.”

On the offensive side of the ball Amare Stoudemire needs room to work, and that is only going to come about if we can draw the defense out by hitting our three’s. Our guards should be able to get to the basket. Drive and dish or drive and score. The offense needs to be more fluid. Speed and a high pace tempo can only help us. This series is far from over, but it could be over pretty quick if we don’t start playing “Suns” basketball. No reason to panic. Leandro Barbosa and Goran Dragic looked effective, Robin Lopez looked good, a little overwhelmed, but put in some quality minutes.

2010PlayOffs 2ndRound. He’s called the Big Fundamental but can’t shoot a free throw to save his life. That doesn’t make sense to me. Especially for a player like Tim Duncan who is going to have a lot of appearances at the line at home. Has his free throw shooting become such a liability that we need to take advantage of it by intentionally fouling him? I don’t know if I am 100% cool using the Spurs tactics but in this bizarre, topsy-turvy series it just might work. From azcentral.com:

“Duncan missed 7 of 12 free throws in Friday’s loss. He is 13 for 27 from the line in the series, the primary offender on a team that has made only 65.4 percent of its 81 foul shots in the series. After making 271 of 374 free throws during the regular season, a respectable 72.5 percent, Duncan has made only 30 of 62 foul shots in nine playoff games, a 48 percent figure that is embarrassing to him.”

With Goran Dragic playing so well, Steve Nash might play till he is 40! I saw this and it made me wonder what the future might hold for the Phoenix Suns. From espn.go.com:

“Yes, I know we’ve seen that one before. Yes, I know, it doesn’t appear as if Dirk Nowitzki is going to opt out of his contract, and if he does, it’s unlikely he’ll leave the Mavs. But a guy can dream, can’t he? Nothing against Dallas, but for a while there, Dirk and Steve Nash were the most exciting tandem in the NBA. And they were winning. Free agency split them too soon. I can’t help but wonder whether free agency could bring them back together. I spoke with a handful of NBA execs, and to a man, they said that if those two had stayed together, they likely would’ve won a ring. The execs also said that if the players were reunited, provided they had a good supporting cast in Phoenix, they still could”

2010PlayOffs 2ndRound. Wow, That had to be one of the most impressive fourth quarter performances in NBA playoff history. Goran Dragic single handedly took over the fourth quarter and gave the Suns a 110-96 win over the Spurs. It was amazing to watch. I was at sports bar and feel sorry for my friend sitting next to me because each time Dragic made a basket, I grabbed him and shook him like a rag doll. It was crazy! nba.com:

“One day after celebrating his 24th birthday, a career playoff night from Goran Dragic Friday has the Suns one win away from advancing to the Western Conference Finals, after Phoenix’s come-from-behind 110-96 victory in Game 3. The backup point guard tallied 26 points in the second half, with 23 of them coming in the final frame to push the Suns to a 3-0 lead in their best-of-seven series vs. San Antonio. Held scoreless on five attempts in Wednesday’s Game 2, the Slovenian was 10-of-13 from the field 48 hours later, including a perfect 5-for-5 from three-point range to go along with three rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal in 17 minutes. “At halftime,” Dragic said, “Coach (Alvin) Gentry told me I needed to be more aggressive on the court, and I just did it. I got hot. I wanted the ball and to play a bigger role. Coach said, ‘If you feel it, shoot it.’ I just tried to penetrate and score.”

Unbelievable. That three pointer he got fouled on sent the bar I was in into choas, strangers giving high-fives to each other, hollering and screaming! It was kind of a miricle ending. Our star players on the bench, and our reserves on the court winning it. Dragic and Leandro Barbosa were simply to fast, the Spurs couldn’t keep up. Barbosa had 14 points and 4 rebounds. It was strange seeing Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire and Jason Richardson jumping up and down, cheering from the bench as the Sun won 110-96 and put the Spurs on the verge of elimination. From valleyofthesuns.com:

“The most shocking part about this victory might be the fact that when the Suns made their decisive run, Nash, Amare and J-Rich didn’t have anything more to do with it than you or I did. They were handsomely-paid cheerleaders, as Nash didn’t enter until the 3:19 mark with Phoenix up 11 and Stoudemire and Richardson didn’t make an appearance at all, although J-Rich still scored 21 through three as Phoenix improved to 31-4 when he goes for 20. But that’s OK with this team. On some teams, stars would probably mope about the fact that it wasn’t about them — and frankly younger Amare probably mopes — but this squad is really all about the team. Those stars weren’t merely watching, they were engaged in the action, whooping it up like you probably were at home, and then they engulfed Goran Dragic in celebration as he sauntered off the court when the final horn sounded.”

Last night and all day today I have heard the same word. Proud. Fans, teammates, and coaching staff could not be more proud of Goran Dragic. How could you not love this team?

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.”

I love beating the Spurs. It just feels good. Like watching a baby smile or seeing a beautiful sunset. It makes you believe everything is alright in this crazy mixed up world of ours. The defensive intensity was high even without Robin Lopez in the lineup. Its hard to believe we beat the Spurs with defense. From valleyofthesuns.com;

“The Suns outplayed the Spurs on defense (it’s really weird to say that) and forced them to make mistakes. The Spurs committed 19 turnovers for 26 Suns points. Clearly not the Spurs team that won four NBA championships. “We really wanted this game tonight and it showed on the defensive end,” Suns guard Jason Richardson said after the game.”

This Spurs team doesn’t seem anywhere near as formidable as the Spurs teams of the past. This Phoenix Suns team is unlike any that have came before it. The fact that Steve Nash was able to sit the entire fourth quarter and watch Goran Dragic put on a defensive show is a testament to the incredible play of the bench. Nashty couldn’t be happier. From brightsideofthesun.com;

“Steve Nash (on Gentry’s rotations): “Alvin’s been ballsy that way lately and it’s been great… One, it’s important to give those guys confidence and, two, it gives us some rest.”

Oh yeah, Steve is all about balls. I heard some talk on the radio about the possibilty of facing the Spurs in the playoffs. As Grant Hill said, more than half the Suns team wasn’t around for that notorious Spurs/Suns series. Its all in the past. The Suns are the better team. Bring it on!!

I remember people saying that Pacers game felt like a playoff game. Well, it kinda was. The Western conference is crazy competitive, the standings changing nightly. While on their mini vaca the Phoenix Suns dropped from 5th to 6th place. From azcentral.com;

“We’ve got a tall order” Suns playmaker Steve Nash said. “The West is incredibly tight, incredibly efficient. Teams are winning all their games. “For me, these 17 games are playoff-like games,” Nash said. “I think (Friday is) a big game for us, and hopefully we can overcome the five days off and get off to a good start.” “It’s a situation where there are 17 games left and nothing has been decided, not even first place,” Gentry said. “Now that Dallas is playing the way they are, conceivably, I think, they feel like they can catch the Lakers.”

We need all hands on deck for the remainder of the season. Leandro Barbosa is back, so is Goran Dragic. Steve Nash says he is better but I have a feeling he is not 100% just yet. You know who is healthy and playing awesome? Amare Stoudemire. STAT is playing great basketball at just the right time. And to think we were trying to trade him a few weeks ago. From valleyofthesuns.com;

“For a man who overcame the death of his father at age 12, the jail time of his mother as a teen, six different high schools in four years, and ultimately two major knee surgeries and a vision-threatening eye surgery, bouncing back from adversity is nothing new. In the six games between his benching and the Feb. 17 trade deadline, Stoudemire posted four double-doubles, while averaging 26 points and 11.3 rebounds per game. During that time the Suns went 5-1, with all five wins coming on the road. STAT has been an absolute monster, and his increase in boards is a huge reason for the Suns’ recent success. In February STAT averaged 25.3 points and 10.1 rebounds. Four games into March Amare has upped the ante, averaging 27.3 points and 9.3 rebounds. But those averages don’t even tell how ridiculous he’s been during the last month and a half.”

That is one thing I have always said about Stoudemire, he is a fighter. A fighter who fights best when he is cornered. He is at his best when coming back from or facing adversity. I hope he can focus on getting us to the playoffs, we can’t make it without him at his best.

Not this again. The Phoenix Suns blew a double digit lead in the fourth quarter. Jason Williams went crazy and scored 13 points in the fourth quarter alone, the Jazz out scored the Suns 41-22 in the fourth. This would have been a nice quality win. From azcentral.com;

“The Suns had the NBA’s top-shooting team looking like as though they were shooting into a square rim for most of the night, but Utah made 13 of 19 fourth-quarter shots to storm back to victory. Phoenix is 6-10 in the second games of back-to-back sets. This was Phoenix’s fourth game in five nights against a Utah team that had not played since Monday. The Suns have lost five leads entering the fourth quarter all season with two coming to Utah. “I really think we ran out of gas there at the end,” Suns coach Alvin Gentry said after his team was outscored 41-22 in giving up its highest opponent fourth-quarter of the season.”

Grant Hill had a good game, playing the point guard position with Goran Dragic sitting this one out. Hill finished with 17 points. And Amare Stoudemire had another 30 point game. The Suns turned the ball over 19 times. Really hard to win turning the ball over that much. Steve Nash had 7 turnovers , need to get him healthy. After Saturdays game we have 5 days off, thank goodness. Good night, its been a long one.

Nice turn around after losing a heart breaker the night before. I am beginning to like these games when our opponent only scores 80 something points. I find I’m not chopping down on my fingernails as much. The Phoenix Suns bench played awesome and really was the decisive factor in the win. They combined for 37 points. From azcentral.com;

“Phoenix has beaten Denver 10 consecutive times at home, all since Steve Nash returned. But Nash’s backup, Goran Dragic, and his benchmates Louis Amundson and Channing Frye had more to do with this one than Nash or his usual co-star Amar’e Stoudemire. Amundson’s boundless energy infused the Suns and the crowd while Dragic got out on breaks for two slams and Frye punched Denver from inside and outside.”

Wow, a big win on a back to back. This is the time of the year when thoughts of sitting poolside and the smell of suntan lotion start creeping in. The “warm” weather and playoffs will be here before you know it.

With Steve Nash at home resting (abs/back) Alvin Gentry gave the keys to Goran Dragic. The kid is having a great season and he didn’t disappoint. Dragic finished with 16 points and 10 assists. The Phoenix Suns won 104-102 even though they blew a 15 point lead. The Suns team defense kept them in this game and gave them an opportunity to win. Jason Richardson came thru in the clutch with a ten foot floater that sealed the deal. From azcentral.com;

“But nothing seems to indicate victory better than a 20-point game from Richardson, who reached 20 on the game winner that Gentry designed for him with isolation. Phoenix is 17-2 this season when Richardson scores 20. He also led the team with 13 rebounds.” “He (Sefolosha) took a reach, and I was like, ‘OK, I’ve got to go to the hole,’ and as soon as I released it I knew it was going in,” said Richardson, who thought he had not taken a game-winning shot since he played for Golden State three seasons ago. “It’s an incredible win.”

I love it when a plan comes together. Amare Stoudemire had another monster game with 30 points and 9 rebounds. Along with playing better defense, this Suns team is getting wins by pounding the boards. The Suns out rebounded the Thunder 45-35. Nice win guys. I hope Nashty is feeling better. He should, Suns win and so did Canada hockey.

I’m glad the Suns didn’t make a trade aren’t you?

This team is driving me crazy. The Trail Blazers are missing all their star players. All of them. And they still whooped our asses on our home court. If this team doesn’t come out with intensity and focus they don’t have a chance. Defense doesn’t come naturally for this team. If they don’t commit to it they can’t stop anybody. And if a team we can’t stop is able to defend against our three point shooting we really don’t stand a chance. This 108-101 loss to the Blazers was ugly, frustrating and embarrassing. From brightsideofthesun.com;

“The defense in the first half of that game was as bad as I’ve seen it all year. And I’ve watched every game of the 2nd to worst defensive team in the league so I think that’s saying something. Sure, Portland was hitting their shots, but it is a lot easier for them to hit shots when they are getting wide open shots. Anywhere. Anytime. Open shots. Come one, come all. Get your open shots here. Free. Wide. Open. Shots.”

Seth Pollack goes on to commentt on Amare Stoudemire’s attitude after the game in the locker room;

“At least Amare wasn’t too upset about the whole thing. Call me Dr. Phil but I got a weird vibe from him in the locker room. Like he was too relaxed and non-pulsed by the loss which hasn’t been like him at all this season. He answered the questions. Gave routine responses. But his mood was just…different to me.”

Maybe Stoudemire knows the Suns Are going to offer him an extension and he is going to take it. That’s probably wishfull thinking on my part. I saw Amare, Jason Richardson and Goran Dragic at American Junkie in Scottsdale last night. Amare was the only one people seemed to recognize and he seemed in a laid back good mood. Jason Richardson didn’t look to happy. And nobody even recognized Goran Dragic.  I saw Dragic near the exit and he looked like he was ready to get the hell out of there. So Amare is walking around like he doesn’t have a care in the world.

Hey guess what? Thats right, we blew a lead and lost a game. 124-113 loss is all we have to show for our trip to Utah. It really sucks because Goran Dragic had another amazing game with a career high 32 points. From azcentral.com; “Last seen scoring 18 in Saturday’s fourth quarter, Dragic remained aggressive to set a career high for the second consecutive game before the first half ended. Dragic’s 24-point first half was a major part of the Suns’ 45-point second quarter, their season’s scoring quarter.” This guy is fearless and is developing a pretty complete game. Man I was watching that fourth quarter and thinking to myself “this Suns team cannot stop the ball.” It was amazing seeing the Jazz come down the court and seemingly score every possession. Fourth quarter defense needs to step up.

Suns are in a rut right now. Lots of questions on what this team is made out of, and what they are trying to accomplish. Nothing was really answered this weekend with one loss and one win. On Friday the Phoenix Suns went own to the Bulls 115-104. This game is going to be remembered for one thing and that is Derrick Rose’s insane dunk 0ver Goran Dragic. It was filthy. And that’s pretty much it. It was a loss set upon the gamble of denying the Bulls the lane and letting them shoot the ball all night long. From brightsideofthesun.com; “In a classic case of pick your poisen, Alvin Gentry’s game plan going in was to make the Bulls (a relatively poor shooting team) “beat us over the top”. That explains giving up 50% shooting to a Bulls team that’s 26th in the league but what about the #1 Suns offense only hitting on 38% of their attempts.” And that my friends is a recipe for a loss.

On Saturday night the Suns had an opportunity to redeem themselves against the Warriors. They rose to the challenge and won 112-103. It was back to normal with Steve Nash scoring 23 points and the bench chipped in 35 points. But the story of this game was Goran Dragic. It is amazing seeing him mature at such a fast rate. Dragic had a career high 23 points. From valleyofthesuns.com; Now Dragic is capable of winning games like he did tonight by going off for 18 points in the fourth quarter alone, a total he had reached only once in an entire game his whole career. These weren’t garbage points either. The Suns trailed entering the quarter and led by a single point with five minutes left. Dragic needed just six shots to reach that total, sinking four of them, three of which were long balls; he also knocked down seven free throws in eight attempts in the deciding period. In all he scored just five points less than the Warriors and 13 more points than the next closest Sun in the deciding quarter. “Tonight I felt great,” Dragic said. “I wasn’t rushing. … When Leandro is out I have to step up and just play hard.” This team just needs to string some wins together, get back some confidence and move up in the standings. We got plenty of time for all of that to happen.

It was nice getting back to back wins out of a tough game. The Phoenix Suns defeated the Houston Rockets 118-110 in a game that saw both teams build up and lose 16 point leads. And that was just in the first half. From ktar.com; “It’s as crazy a game as I’ve ever been in,” said Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry, a 30-year coaching veteran. “I looked at the stat sheet and we had a 16-point lead, then they had a 16-point lead. That’s a 32-point swing.”It was a fast and furious game marked by a series of remarkable runs. It was the second time this season the Suns had rallied from a 16-point deficit in back-to-back games, their only two wins in eight tries in back-to-backs.” The bench played great, their play is the deciding factor in close games. From brightsideofthesun.com; “The Suns bench answered the bell, with a collective effort that decided the game. Robin Lopez came up huge with 4 blocks and otherwise neutralized Carl Landry and Co., helping to force 8 turnovers in the quarter. Leandro Barbosa continued his wild, inconsistent play for most of the game, but managed to finish a layup and dropping a three pointer. Goran Dragic hit a three as did Jared Dudley. With 6.5 minutes left in the game, the Suns found themselves up 100-94 and the starters returned to seal the victory.” I likes it. Steve Nash had another high scoring game with 26 points and 12 assists. Speaking of Nashty he is among the leaders in All-Star voting. He is currently third behind Kobe and Tracy McGrady…Wait Tracy McGrady!!! Has he even played this year? I thought he retired? Do the Chinese have something to do with this? From yglesias.thinkprogress.org; “I think it’s fine if All-Star voting doesn’t rigorously track a player’s actual NBA skillz. Half the game, after all, is defense but that’s not what the All-Star game is all about. So bias toward scorers, bias toward guys who make cool plays, etc., I can live with it all. But Barry Petchesky observes that China is ruining everything in a way we really can’t live with. Right now, Tracy McGrady is scheduled to be voted in as a starting guard even though he hasn’t played at all this year: You see, the Chinese really like Yao Ming. And because of this, they really like the Rockets. So they’re punching their ballots in force for anyone who wears a Rocket jersey.” God bless them, there’s like 50 billion of them, if only a fraction have access to the internet they could possibly put the whole Rockets starting lineup in the All-Star Game. Jeeez