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The Suns News GM was introduced yesterday. Lance Blanks is happy and excited to be with the Suns organization. I think he has arrived at a great time in this franchises’ history. I really believe the Suns are going to build on the success they had last season. From azcentral.com

“There’s a great infrastructure in place to have success,” Blanks said. “So part of my job will be staying out of the way and not messing things up.” New Suns President Lon Babby hired Blanks three weeks ago to be his “basketball genius.” Babby cited Blanks’ acumen for the game, locker-room presence as an ex-player and his front-office work with successful teams, including the past five years as Cleveland’s assistant GM. “I know (coach) Alvin (Gentry) has started to institute defense around here,” Blanks said. “They’re saying it a lot more. I love the way this team and this organization has played, even over the years. Getting up and down the floor is an exciting brand of basketball and very entertaining. I know that it’s been extremely successful. This team is a lot closer to winning and being successful than it is not being successful. I’m not so sure that there’s a lot to be tweaked.”

I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks we are as good as we were last year. Maybe even better if you could imagine that! Alvin Gentry sure thinks this team is better than last years squad. Holla!! From sportingnews.com

On the whole, Gentry feels the Suns replaced Stoudemire adequately. And maybe more. “Yeah, I think we have a chance to be better than we were last year,” he said of his team, which finished with 54 wins and reached the conference finals last season. “You can’t just replace a guy like Amare. But you can bring in guys who raise your overall talent level. I think we have done that. I think we will be better at some positions, and our bench, which was pretty good last year, remember, will be better.”

With the players we have, we are more versatile then ever before. Can you image the lineup possibility’s? How about a lineup of all forwards? Crazy Man! Crazy! From valleyofthesuns.com

It’s become something of a running joke that the Suns are just collecting an army of small forwards to unleash on the league. In fact if they really wanted to they could probably field a “small forward lineup” to go with all the other versatile lineups Schmitz described last week. Such a small forward lineup could put Hedo Turkoglu at the point, Josh Childress at the two, Grant Hill at his natural three, Jared Dudley at the four and Earl Clark at the five, and that’s not even including a guy like Hakim Warrick, who has been known as a three for some of his NBA career but will obviously be a four with these Suns.

Maybe Grant Hill should take a crack at the economy. Its bad and seems to be getting worse. I think having a President who can play basketball is awesome, and the fact that he would play a game against NBA players is cool. It would be a lot cooler if the country wasn’t in such a cluster-fuck right now. Still, I’m glad Grant Hill got the invite. How do you make this team? From azcentral.com

Hill was part of President Barack Obama’s basketball-and-barbecue birthday bash Aug. 8 in Washington, D.C., along with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant (spectator only) and other current and past pros. “It was great to be in the presence of the president and play ball with him,” Hill said. “We were not playing too hard but it was still competitive. It was kind of what you’d expect from NBA players playing pickup ball in early August. I wasn’t running the court like I run the wing here in Phoenix.” Hill’s squad, one of four, with Chauncey Billups, Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah and two amateurs lost to Obama’s team on a game-winning shot by the president at Fort McNair. “He’s pretty good, better than I thought,” Hill said. “I was asking guys, ‘What do you do if he comes to the lane? Do you block his shot?’ Before we started, he pulled everyone to the middle of the court and said, ‘Look at those men over there (pointing at Secret Service). They have guns.’ “

I am going to enjoy watching Grant Hill for another season as much as I am going to miss Lou Amundson. It looks like he is going to be playing for another team next season, he just hasn’t decided which one. From brightsideofthesun.com

According to Marc Stein of ESPN, our fan favorite Louis Amundson will soon chose a new home. Apparently, the choices on his plate are non-playoff teams who still need a big man, have open roster spots and still have a little room under the luxury tax threshold. The Suns have Lou’s “early Bird rights”, meaning they can sign him for any money up to the MLE (nearly $6 million a year). This also means they can sign-and-trade him for anything up to that level. It’s possible (if not probable) that the team who wants Lou will include the Suns in a sign-and-trade deal. I’m not talking a big asset here. Maybe a future second-round draft pick and a TPE. A great number of free agent signings this summer turned out to be sign-and-trades from the original team.

It takes a lot to take the names of Jan Brewer and Joe Arpaio out of the local headlines. In the last few days Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver has done just that. Sarver has become the bad guy, with fans begging him to sell the team to some one who will spend the money. From azcentral.com:

The drama is becoming ridiculous. This is not to pick at old wounds, how the Suns owner once incensed Joe Johnson, how he wanted to low-ball Alvin Gentry, or how he asked Grant Hill to take a pay cut after playing 82 games for the first time in his life. He has blown through three coaches and three general managers in six years. The culture of ownership clearly is a problem, and why Sarver needs to fade into the background, giving his staff necessary room to breathe and funds to operate. Courtside is too close for an NBA owner. Robert Sarver needs to back off. And if he can’t afford the Suns, he needs to sell the team.

I thought that the only thing we were going to be talking about his summer was where Amare Stoudemire was going to be playing. Was it going to be with the Suns or somewhere else? Now everything seems to be in doubt. It makes Suns fans very uneasy. This has become a stressful summer for Planet Orange. From brightsideofthesun.com:

Hello? Bob? You there? Listen, I’ll be honest, you aren’t looking so good right now. We don’t really trust you and we have no idea what comes next. What are your motives? You can understand us being nervous, right? I mean, are you trying to fund a villa in Nice, or a yacht bigger than most of our homes, or are you trying to get the Suns franchise over the hump and into championship contention? Doesn’t sound like the latter to me. In fact, it kind of seems like every time we have reason to believe we’re going in the right direction as a franchise, you make Negative Nancys out of us.

Small ball is the key. Offensively it is the answer, but defensively its a liability. And thats the problem. We have found out a way to score against this Tall Lakers lineup, we just can’t defend against it. The small line up has the speed and shooting ability to light up anybody. From valleyofthesuns.com:

“The Suns then came out strong to start the second half and ended up playing their best basketball of the series in the final 7:22 of the third when Jared Dudley replaced Robin Lopez to give the Suns a small ball lineup of Nash-Richardson-Dudley-Hill-Amare. This is not a lineup the Suns used much during the regular season, often favoring a second big and just one of Hill/Dudley, but it sure worked tonight. That unit outscored the Lakers by nine the rest of the quarter to leave things tied up at 90 at the end of three. Dudley did a decent job on Kobe and despite playing so small Phoenix limited Los Angeles to just 25 points, its lowest scoring quarter of the series. On the other end, Hill hopped in his hot tub time machine and went for 14 in the quarter off a dizzying array of mid-range jumpers and J-Rich chipped in with 12. The Suns had five shooters on the floor and played their only sustained period of excellent basketball of the series aside from the quick 11-0 bench run in the second.”

The defense is another story. Kobe is.. Kobe. However we should be able to defend against the rest of the players. These guys are not unstoppable, it just takes some fundamental defense to slow these guys down and give us a shot at a win. Don’t front Gasol, better rotation to defend against the three, no penetration into the lane. I have yet to see us put together a solid game, or even a solid half for that matter. Maybe we will put it together for game 3.

Western Conference Finals 2010. The national media, or to quote caribou barbie, “lame stream media, believe the Lakers are destined to reach the Finals. Most Suns fans know and believe we can win this series. I think we match up pretty well with Lakers, especially with Robin Lopez in the lineup. Steve Nash is a thousand times better than Derek Fisher. Both suck at defense, but offensively Nash is the better player by far. I think the Suns have more weapons then the Lakers. Our Bench is the best in the NBA. Most of the time they play BETTER than the starters! Lopez and Bynum is a push, but thats what it needs to be. They cancel each other out. The same can be said for Pau Gasol and Amare Stoudemire. Nobody can stop Kobe but it shouldn’t have to come down to the “black mamba” to win it on a last second shot. We need keep doing the two things that got us this far. Team defense and rebounding. azcentral.com:

“It feels like the Super Bowl week,” Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. “I’m very anxious,” Suns guard Jason Richardson said. “I’m tired of playing against my teammates. We’re tired of beating each other up. It almost feels like preseason again where you go through that week where you’re just practicing hard, going at it. You’re waiting for that first exhibition game just to get away from your teammates and play somebody else. “It kind of feels like our season is starting all over.” “The team is focused but confident,” Hill said. “We’re loose and relaxed at the same time. We learned a lot about ourselves in the last two series. I like us playing the Lakers now as opposed to playing them in Round 1. Obviously, they’re playing better too but I think it’s more the mentality for us. We’re confident. We feel like we can win.”

2010PlayOffs 2ndRound. Holla! That was a great game. The Suns are finding new ways to win. Rebounding. Defense. The incredible bench. These things are so foreign to Suns fans. We shot the ball horribly (42.4%), Steve Nash only had 6 assists. A year ago those two stats would have spelled a loss. The difference this year is the bench. An amazing group of players that add grit and determination to this Suns team. All year we have seen games where a bench player has stepped it up with hustle and perseverance and really changed the outcome of a game. Last night it was Jared Dudley, at one point the Suns were down 30-21 in the first quarter, Dudley stepped it up in a big way and kept the Suns in this crucial game. From azcentral.com:

“But Dudley, in his first playoffs, lassoed the Spurs when they were trying to ride away from Phoenix with a split. He and his fellow reserves slowed San Antonio’s scoring and would not let the Suns go scoreless when they could not shoot straight, with Dudley crashing the offensive boards and finding his way to the basket for scores as he was fouled. “Jared Dudley changed the whole game,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. “He came in, and he was a monster. He was committed to the boards, and it was infectious. For that period, they really got after us on the boards, and that changed it for the first half.”

Jared Dudley wasn’t the only bench player to provide a spark. Channing Fyre came out of hiding and hit 5-6 from three point range. Thank God! I have been watching this guy pass up shots all series. I’m glad he is taking them now. And how about Grant Hill guarding Manu Ginobili? Outstanding! From ktar.com:

“Manu Ginobili, guarded mainly by Hill, was 2 of 8 from the field, including just 1 of 2 in the second half, but had 11 assists for San Antonio. Hill also made two big shots down the stretch. “Grant Hill never ceases to amaze me,” Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry said. “There’s a 37-year-old – he hates when I say that. Here’s a guy who plays on our team that’s been in the league for a long, long time. He just does a good job. Everything we ask him to do, never complains. He’s always on the best perimeter player. He never complains. He just plays. He’ll forever be my favorite player. He really will.”

It really seems like the teams have switched personalities. The Suns are winning the way the Spurs have won in the past. Rebounding. Defense. Sprinkle in some clutch three pointers and you have got a team that is very difficult to beat.

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.”

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.

2010PlayoffsRound1. The Suns really took it to them in game 2. The Suns controlled the tempo, a fast pace tempo that had the Trail Blazers on their heels all night. Amare Stoudemire only had 18 points and 7 rebounds but he did manage to go 8-8 from the free-throw line. Steve Nash had a great game scoring 13 points and dropping 16 dimes. Nash played just under 30 minutes which is awesome considering this was a must win. Jason Richardson was on fire. Richardson went 4-5 from behind the line and scored 29 points. He was playing like a man possessed. From azcentral.com;

“Nash was often setting up Richardson, who scored more points in Tuesday’s first quarter (15) than he had in Game 1 (14) when he was only 4 of 12 from the field. The well-known Richardson mark of success for the Suns came before halftime with Richardson getting his 20 points. He finished with 29, one off his playoff career high, hitting four of five 3-pointers and getting back to the curling drives that the Blazers denied in Game 1. Phoenix is 27-4 this season when Richardson scores 20.”

That perimeter shooting was the difference in this game. The Suns went 8-20 (40%) from three point range. They really didn’t respect our 3 point shooting in the first game and tonight we made them pay for it. Grant Hill played like he had found the fountain of youth. Hill scored 20 points and just as important, kept Andre Miller in check. Miller only had 15 points. From valleyofthesuns.com;

“Right from the start, Hill made his 37-year-old presence felt on both ends of the floor in 24 minutes of play. Hill finished 10-of-11 for 20 points and eight rebounds and one of the best defensive efforts of any player in the game. Switching up defensive assignments (and thus freeing up Jason Richardson to go off for 29 points and six rebounds), Hill took on the daunting task of guarding Portland’s Andre Miller, who went for 31 points and eight assists in game 1. Hill made it look easy, holding Miller to just 12 points and three assists. Whether it was getting in Miller’s face, forcing him to settle for bad shots or getting physical with the 6-foot 2-inch point guard, Hill made life quite difficult.”

I have heard that the Portland fans and the local media don’t really respect the Suns and expect to advance to the second round. Well, they got another thing coming. And this high light is for your mom.

Damn! Did you see that dunk Amare Stoudemire had tonight? It was the one of the filthiest dunks Stoudemire has ever had! STAT put the team on his back scoring 37 points to assure the Phoenix Suns a 133-131 win over the Warriors. It was a close all the way to the end, made even closer by Grant Hills inability to make any free throws. It was an exciting high scoring game like we expected from these two teams. From ktar.com;

“Amar’e Stoudemire gave Tolliver a Phoenix welcome Monday night, as the Suns forward put the word on the front of his jersey in Tolliver’s face after a fast-break dunk that became a 3-point play and sparked the Suns to a 133-131 victory at Oracle Arena. The NBA’s two highest-scoring teams could not get away from each other Monday night. Playing into each other’s hands, the Warriors and Suns exchanged points without a scoring lull. Neither team led by more than six points, but Golden State proved persistent, regaining the lead six times in the fourth quarter before Stoudemire’s relentless, unstoppable attack on Tolliver ultimately proved to be too much. Phoenix did not trail after the dunk, which came with 2:33 left.”

Jason Richardson added a season high 34 points. This team is definitely in playoff mode. I think I am to. Pacing in front of the TV and yelling obscenities, I am ready.

Uuggh. I hate losing to the Lakers. That 102-96 loss took the wind out of me. What an ugly loss. I felt like I got robbed on the street. Some real shitty calls in that one. Losing like that puts me in a bad mood, I am just now getting back to this blog, thats how sensitive I am. Well the Suns got it together Sunday with a 120-106 win against the Hornets. The west is tough and we made some headway, some. From valleyofthesuns.com;

“With the Western Conference as competitive as ever and only 15 games remaining for Phoenix, it is imperative that the Suns win games that they are supposed to, and tonight was one of those games. “It was a must-win since this is a team we’re supposed to beat at home,” said Suns forward Jared Dudley, who finished with 13 points and three steals. With the win the Suns leapfrogged the San Antonio Spurs to capture sole possession of the No. 6 seed in the West, and now trail the Oklahoma City Thunder (who defeated the Utah Jazz tonight) by one game for the No. 5 spot.”

Its going to be a dog fight. Last night was notable for a couple of reasons. First, old man Steve Nash played in his 1000th game. Congratulations Nashty. Second, Grant Hill took a spill in the game and busted his head. It was looked scary and dangerous. He was available for practice today. From brightsideofthesun.com;

“Grant Hill was present but was told he couldn’t practice/play for 24 hours following the injury but he said he’s feeling fine today with just a little neck pain, “I was on the ground. I was pissed off they didn’t call the foul really to be honest. That’s what I was mad about. By the time I was ready to get up Aaron (Nelson) came over and I think just because of the way I fell he was like, ‘don’t move, where are you, who you playing’ all those different questions and stuff. Once I pass that test he allowed me to get up.”

Does everybody have their March Madness brackets filled out? Duke looks good this year (as usual) they had some good teams back in the day didn’t they? I was sitting next to my dad when this happened. He said it was one of the greatest dunks he ever saw. Grant Hill’s elbow is as high as the backboard. Filthy

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.

This is getting annoying. Its like a bad dream. The Phoenix Suns went down to the Indiana Pacers last night 122-114. I don’t know exactly what to make of the phenomenon. The Suns kept the turnovers to a minimum, only 6. However the team shot 36.4% in the second half. The second half is killing us. From azcentral.com; “We’ve got to find some kind of resolve to come away with a win in these situations,” Suns Coach Alvin Gentry said. “We didn’t do a very good job of making it challenging. Some of our rotations were pretty questionable. They started to feel pretty good about themselves instead of us having a run to bury them. We just didn’t have the energy we needed to start the third.” Steve Nash scored 20 points and dished out 9 assists. Amare Stoudemire had 21 points and 5 rebounds. Speaking of Nash he kept his tradition of bleeding all over the court alive. Nashty took a Earl Watson elbow to the lip. Busted lip, Plenty of bleeding. Hastily applied oversized bandage. You get the picture. It’s a time honored tradition. From ktar.com; “Just stepped in to take a charge and took an elbow in the lip,” Nash said. “It spread open.” Nash was still bleeding after the game. “It’s not the worst thing in the world,” he said. The loss hurt Nash, too. “We let them get the momentum, and we couldn’t stop the bleeding,” he said. “They got their confidence up, and for some reason, our level of play drops. We gave up too many points in the third and fourth quarters. Can’t expect to win too many games that way.” I think it is time for a lineup change. Lets see. How about Grant Hill for Lou Amundson? Just for one game. lets try it out for fun and see what happens?????

Well first the good news. Let me congratulate Grant Hill for scoring the 6 points needed to give him 15,000 for his career. That’s a great accomplishment and believe me we need all 6 of those points in this one. SIGH. The Bucks went down 105-101 but they put up a good fight considering they were missing their star guard and head coach. Scott Skiles was hospitalized with an irregular heartbeat and Michael Redd is out for the season with a devastating knee injury. From ktar.com; “Without its coach and star guard, Milwaukee seemed lost in the first half as the Bucks found themselves down by 24 points to Phoenix before battling back and falling just short in a 105-101 loss to the Suns on Monday night. It was the Bucks’ 22nd straight loss in Phoenix.” We needed Steve Nash to put in 30 points , 11 assists , and 7 rebounds to pull this one out. The Phoenix Suns love making it interesting lately. Jason Richardson came strong as well with 23 points. However that blown 24 point lead is what we’ll remember from this game, and so many others this season. Alvin Gentry is getting tired of it. From brightsideofthesun.com; “Coach Gentry today on the sidelines was as animated and publicly critical of his players as I’ve ever seen him. Stopping around the court. Getting in guys faces. He was not hiding his feelings even the slightest bit and he didn’t care who saw it. We aren’t talking about Larry Brown or Stan Van Gundy here. Gentry is known as a players coach who is much more likely to use an encouraging word than a sharp one but tonight his patience was exhausted. “I don’t even know what to say to be honest with you…I’m disappointed. There’s a pattern that we’ve establish with ourselves and we have to find a way to work our way out of it. Other than that I don’t have a whole lot to say….Overall if we’re going to a be a good team we’re going to have to do a while lot better than that,” said an exasperated Gentry.” Who can blame him. we have a very talented team and this should not be happening over and over again. Especially against teams of this caliber.

Pretty much an all around complete game. The Phoenix Suns had a nice win against the Detroit Pistons 117-91, after a disappointing loss to the Hornets. Yep, this one looked easy. From brightsideofthesun.com; “Tonight, the Suns used a balanced, dominating attack to defeat the road weary Detroit Pistons.The Suns controlled the game in virtually every category tonight-they defended, they rebounded, they made shots, they even looked respectable from the free throw line. The Suns started hot, at one point shooting over 80% midway through the first quarter (9-11). Still, the Pistons hung around, keeping things close until the Suns bench took over in the second, extending the lead to 10.” Steve Nash was really looking to score in this game, with 20 points and 9 assists. Amare Stoudemire continues to play well putting up 21 points and 5 rebounds. From valleyofthesuns.com; “For the game Amare scored a game-high 21 points. He’s now recorded four straight 20-point outings since his stinker in Los Angeles, his longest such streak since pulling the trick 11 consecutive times Nov. 30-Dec. 25 of last year. Amare is averaging 24.3 points per game on 63.6 percent shooting the past four games and is starting to resemble the Amare of old. “Again, going seven months with no basketball is the longest I’ve ever went, so it’s slowly getting myself back into a rhythm out there, but it’s improving,” Amare said. Added Grant Hill: “I thought early on in the season he was settling for jump shots, and now he’s attacking. He’s getting to the rim, he’s getting to the free-throw line, he’s dunking on people. He’s mixing it up. Early on he was relying on his curveball. Now he’s mixing it up with his changeups, his curve, his fastball, and when he does that he’s hard to stop and we’re hard to stop as a team.” As usual the bench played great. I enjoy watching them as much as watching the starters. From Jared Dudleys hustle to Lou Amundson’s blocked shots, he had two sweet ones in this game, the bench is always impressive. Next up, the Grizzlies on Wednesday.