When nothing is good

The 2006 NBA draft was very memorable for the Suns. It's not too tough to remember nothing. That's exatly what the Suns got in the draft. In fact, the Suns left the draft with one less player than they had before the draft, despite having two picks in the first round.
Why am I not complaining?
Because that's exactly what the Suns needed to do. The Suns didn't need to waste money on some players that wouldn't play or get sent to the NBDL. By trading their draft picks for cash, they will have money to sign Tim Thomas, and maybe even get contract extensions for Leandro Barbosa and Boris Diaw (lets not get ahead of ourselves yet).
By getting rid of Brian Grant (and his salary) the Suns freed up some more money to possibly go after someone in the free agent market (Backup point guard, anyone?).
As it is the Suns' roster shapes up like this:

Steve Nash
Shawn Marion
Amare Stoudemire
Kurt Thomas
Boris Diaw
Raja Bell
Leandro Barbosa
James Jones
Pat Burke
Dijon Thompson
Tim Thomas (hopefully)


If the Suns can get a quality backup PG (Bobby Jackson?) they really would have no holes. As it is currently, this team is a championship contender. Add Amare Stoudemire to a team that was 2 wins from the Finals? That's better than any trade or draft pick a team could ask for.
Well, we'll see what happens the rest of the summer. I'm already excited for the 06-07 season.

Damn Rumors

Well...another offseason...another round of Shawn Marion trade rumors.
This year there is talk of The Matrix going everywhere from Chicago to Seattle. There are a couple of other rumors as well.
Marion has been the heart & soul of the Suns organization for the past 6 years. He has suffered through the awful Stephon Marbury experiment. He has played with 3 different point guards, 4 different coaches, but has been able to put up big numbers every year throughout his career.
I don't get it. Marion scores. Marion rebounds. Marion defends. There's NOBODY in the NBA that can provide the things he can. Sure, someone may be a better scorer. Someone may be a better defender. Someone may be a better rebounder. But there is NOBODY in the league that has the combination of things that Marion brings to the table.
If he is traded I will be extremely dissapointed.
As a Suns fan, it's hard to root for a team that completely changes its core each and every year. I can't imagine, after being so close to an appearance in the Finals, that this team would take people away.
If you add Amare Stoudemire to this core, how can this team NOT be the favorite to win the championship?
I'll post next after the draft on Wednesday night.
We shall see.

The Ride Comes to an End.

The magic carpet ride that was the 2006 NBA Playoffs has ended for the Phoenix Suns. I had hoped that I would be posting about a game 7 here today, but instead I must take a step back and reflect on what truly was a magical season for the Suns.
After losing Quentin Richardson and Joe Johnson there were lots of question marks about this team. When Amare Stoudemire went down, the question marks became doubts about even making the playoffs from many people including myself. This team fought all year and overcame whatever challenges were put in front of them and made an incredible journey that included a second straight Pacific Division title, a second straight MVP award for Steve Nash, and a memorable playoff run that ended with one more win than last year's.


I gotta take my hat off to Dallas for winning a tough series. In the end they were able to out play the Suns when it mattered, overcoming an 18 point Suns lead to close out with a victory.
All the injuries and fatigue finally caught up to the Suns, and they just weren't able to hold on in the second half. Congrads to Dallas and their fans and good luck in the Finals.

There are a number of decisions to be made this summer for the Suns, most notably the free agency of Tim Thomas. Tim has said he'd take less money to remain a Sun, but sometimes the NBA's salary cap makes personnel decisions for teams. I'd like to see him in the purple & orange next year, but we'll see how this plays out.
I feel one of the Suns biggest needs is a backup point guard. Eddie House is definately NOT an option. Leandro Barbosa is much better in a scoring role. I want to see someone that can come in and run the offense, allowing Nash to get some rest.
I'll update this blog when things happen this summer, or when the rumors become rampant. Feel free to leave comments on the blog or anything Suns related, or you can email me at: kobesucks@cox.net

Here we go again

THIS WAS A FOUL ON STEVE NASH?

Well once again the Suns are facing elimination. It seems they only can play well when their backs are against the wall. Or when the officials aren't wearing Dallas jerseys.

Game 5 was a good game until about midway through the fourth quarter. That's when Danny Crawford, Jack Neis, and Kenny Mauer decided to take this game into their own hands. On paper it looked like Dirk scored 50 points and led Dallas to a 16 point victory. On paper it looked like the Suns blew a 7 point third quarter lead. Games aren't played on paper. Let's look at what REALLY happened.

Suns up by 7. Shawn Marion is called for a phantom foul which happened to be his fourth. He goes to the bench...Dallas goes on a 10-0 run. Then things really got bad for the Suns. Dallas had a one point lead and Raja Bell was kicked by no talent Josh Howard, and Raja gets a technical foul. Mike D'Antoni voiced his displeasure with the call and was T'd up as well. From that point on, Dirk was allowed to do anything he wanted and whenever he missed a shot a foul was called on the Suns. It was a fuckshow.

How does the softest player in the HISTORY of the NBA get to the line 18 times? Dirk = 18 free throw attempts. The Suns TEAM = 20 free throw attempts. Suns lose by 16...hmmm...

Dirk does nothing but take fadeaway jumpers and three pointers. How the hell does a jump shooter get to the line 18 times? Insane.

Danny Crawford should turn in his whistle after that performance.