My unadultered, somewhat misguided, and certainly geographically tainted hatred for the San Antonio Spurs had dissipated over the last few years.

Certainly, the Phoenix Suns' clean sweep of the aging Spurs in the 2010 playoffs played a part in my transformation. Even when the Spurs beat the Suns easily over the past two seasons, it wasn't the same. The Suns have been noncompetitive as a team, rather than simply against the mighty Spurs. Even Spurs PG Tony Parker knew the jig was up. He said openly last spring that the Spurs were done winning championships.

Even this season, as the Spurs were inexplicably winning games like crazy again, my ire didn't get rankled. I watched the struggling Suns come close a few times, which in my mind meant that the Spurs were just squeaking by and likely would be exposed by younger, more-talented teams in the playoffs.

My hatred shifted to the pompous Lakers and Kobe Bryant's life long attempt to wash the 2006 playoffs from his mind by blasting the Suns in every game since. But you can never forget 2006, Kobe. It's always going to be there. And so my hatred for the Spurs faded, even partially replaced with a modicum of respect.

Then last night happened.

Continue reading this post »

Just in case you were wondering about the venerable and somewhat vulnerable Grant Hill, we can thank Stefan Swiat of www.suns.com for giving us some answers today.

1: Grant Hill is not retiring

Although he'll turn 40 during next fall's training camp, Hill has zero plans to end his career while on the mend.

2: Grant Hill loves the Phoenix Suns training staff

One of the few Suns who hasn't skipped town this offseason, Hill has been a consistent visitor of the the team's training and weight rooms throughout the week.

"I'm just focusing on being healthy," the veteran small forward said. "One of the exciting things of being able to spend most of my time here this summer is that I could work with our training staff and get myself right and ready for next season."

3: Grant Hill is a BAMF

Sure, he could still leave for another team after working with the Suns training staff through June. But this doesn't sound like a guy with one foot out the door. It doesn't sound like a guy pandering to NBA GMs. He has spoken only to a Suns reporter while working out at the facilities, rather than passing rumors through agents and friends.

This is a straight up guy. And I would be more shocked than Lon Babby if Grant didn't end up back in purple and orange next fall, right where he belongs.

There are a number of point guards available as either unrestricted or restricted free agents this summer with varying degrees of experience and pedigree. If the Suns are forced (or choose) to move on without Steve Nash next season, many options exist to take over the starting duties for the Suns.

Let's get a couple things out of the way first:

• Steve Nash is the best free agent point guard on the market, but we're not talking about him in this article
• Sebastian Telfair will return to the Suns next season, but is no one's Plan A as the Suns' starting point guard
• Aaron Brooks will likely not return, but who knows. I don't think the Suns want him back though, because they are leaning toward defensive talent lately and Brooks has none.

Assuming the Suns have to move on, which free agent point guard is best equipped to lead an Alvin Gentry-for-now-but-probably-eventually-Elston-Turner-or-some-other-defensive-minded-head-coach team. Once Nash is gone, the Suns have the opportunity to completely change the way they play the game.

However, many of the returning parts (and signed somewhat long-term) around Nash are pick-and-roll type players. Marcin Gortat is really good at setting picks and rolling to the basket, but otherwise his offensive bag of tricks is limited. Channing Frye is a really good three-point shooter as long as he's wide open as an outlet off the pick-and-roll. Jared Dudley is expanding his game, but has proven value in the same offensive role as Channing Frye. None of the Suns are prolific scorers in their own right.

With that consideration, it is easiest to pick up a point guard who can run the show, feed some pick-and-roll and - to match the Suns' latest leanings - play some defense. Ideally, if the Suns sign a point guard in free agency it would be a younger player with upside and long-term starting potential.

Two such players come to mind: unrestricted free agent Goran Dragic and restricted free agent Jeremy Lin. I delve further into each player after the jump. Dragic has ties to the Suns and really stepped into his own this past season with Houston, but will likely leave Houston for a starting gig. Lin fits the Suns' style and has a big upside, but his pedigree is really small. Both are young (Lin is 23, Dragic is 25), justifying an affordable, long-term deal.

Continue reading this post »

As we anticipate the free agent frenzy that engulfs the lives of players, front offices and fans throughout the NBA, we fall in love with player A or player B on another team while discounting the guy we saw play nearly every minute of the prior season.

We look at player A and say "I just love ____ part of player A's game! If this guy just gets better at ______, he could be awesome with the Suns!" We all assume that player A will fit in perfectly with the Suns, and that he will be just as interested in improving ______ as we are.

The Suns need more scoring and playmaking from the perimeter. Even Steve Nash, at the end of the season in context of what needs to improve for him to return next season, mentioned the real need for playmakers. He understands that the Suns offense stagnates when he is resting or playing off the ball or being trapped and forced to give the ball up to the mismatch.

With Shannon Brown a unrestricted free agent and Jared Dudley truly being more of a swingman than a pure shooting guard, the Suns have an obvious opening or two at the shooting guard spot.

One early ranking of overall free agents mentions nearly a dozen shooting guards, but only a few match the Suns' desire for youth and "value", having no intention to overpay a free agent this summer if at all possible. To fit the criteria of young prospects, all of these guys are restricted free agents who have yet to reach their prime years.

Continue reading this post »

Grant Hill represents everything the Phoenix Suns stand for. Or at least, what they want to represent on and off the basketball court.

He is classy, team-oriented, and willing to do whatever it takes to improve the team's chances of winning. Somehow, he has transmorgrified himself into a defensive stopper of sorts in the late stages of his career as a way to keep himself relevant despite an inability to consistently make open 3-point jump shots - a staple of the Nash-led Phoenix Suns.

In his postseason "Lunch with Lon" press conference last month, the Suns' head personnel honcho Lon Babby gave a strong indication that Grant Hill will be back with the Suns if he decides he's healthy enough to continue playing.

"I don't want to speak for him, but I can't imagine he'd want to play anywhere else ... I would be extremely disappointed if he played somewhere else."

Coming off two knee surgeries in the last 9 months and carrying the mantle of the second-oldest player in the NBA (40 years old next season), Grant Hill will not be breaking any banks this summer. Truly, he will just have to decide how big a role he wants to play in the NBA next season.

Continue reading this post »

Both LA teams were taken to the brink, but found a way to win their respective Game 7s and move on to the second round to face much tougher opponents.

On the other side of the coin, overachieving Utah and injury-affected Memphis lost their magic in the end and now the offseason planning starts. Each team must answer some organizational questions, and their moves may impact the Suns and therefore the Suns fans.

Continue reading this post »

Here at Bright Side of the Sun we take the words TOTAL COVERAGE pretty dang seriously.

While our beloved Suns are off taking nice vacations, we are still slaving away, attempting to provide you all with first class Suns coverage.

So friends, without further adieu, we present you with the Phoenix Suns Season in Review, 2011-12.

Up for discussion today is Shannon Brown.

Last offseason, the Phoenix Suns looked for a shooting guard who would accept a one-year deal to compete for a starting job. The "one-year-deal" part limited the Suns' chances at real star power. The 2011-12 season was a "bridge" year - a year to tide the team and fans over until enough contracts expired to allow the Suns to start over. One-year deals were the only deals being offered.

The Suns set their sights lower, and positioned the opportunity as a perfect one for a player who wanted to step out of someone else's shadow and prove himself worthy of a bigger role in future seasons, and a bigger contract to go with it.

Enter Shannon Brown.

As Brown said to Paul Coro, beat writer for the Arizona Republic and azcentral.com: "I know one of the things about me they were saying this (past) summer, 'Aw, he can't play out of the (Lakers') triangle. The triangle made him. He can't play out of the triangle.'"

Brown wanted to prove he could do more than dunk in transition and carry Kobe Bryant's water bottle. He is young and freakishly athletic, but hadn't proven to the league's evaluators that he could do more than exhibit a little flash and dash for 10 minutes a game when Kobe rested.

Continue reading this post »

There are a few statements that must be remembered this year in any conversation about changing the team going into next season.

Amnesty can only be used on guys who were under contract on your roster BEFORE the new CBA was signed.

The Suns are only under the salary cap for $23+ million if they renounce their cap holds on expired contracts, which means they would have no leverage over any other team to re-sign their own free agents.

And finally, for the first time since Steve Nash returned in 2004, the Suns can take on lopsided trades. For years, Suns fans have been forced to think of trades in terms of dollar-for-dollar exchanges. Or, outgoing salary dumps to teams with cap space.

In other words, the word "trade" is kind of a 4-letter word to Suns' fans thinking because its nearly impossible to outright WIN a dollar-for-dollar trade.

Well, those days are over (as long as the Suns renounce cap holds on Nash and Hill). The Suns now CAN take on bigtime salary, as well as accepting draft picks for the privilege to eat someone's big contract. The Suns can now take on a Kurt Thomas-like contract from a cap-hurt team, and get a draft pick or two for their troubles.

Do not discount this possibility in your planning for future greatness.

Continue reading this post »

Not only is Amare Stoudemire suffering from a brain fart, he's already being written out of the Knicks future in some circles.

"It's been pretty firmly established this season that Anthony and Stoudemire cannot play well together," Neil Paine of Basketball-Reference.com writes for Insider today. "Offensively, Carmelo shoots much better without Amare because he is given more freedom to create for himself, particularly in areas of the floor where both players' repertoires overlap. Further, Stoudemire's presence on the floor requires an increase in ball movement, which clashes with Anthony's preferred style of play. In short, neither player is equipped to accentuate the other's gifts; instead, they just end up stifling each other. ..."

This rumors article on espn.com goes on to make a trade suggestion. My jaw dropped.

So what teams might be interested in Stoudemire? One that immediately comes to mind is Phoenix, where Stoudemire grew up in the league and became a bright young star next to Steve Nash. It might seem like an unlikely scenario going back to the Valley of the Sun, but Stoudemire has the star power the franchise so desperately needs. Putting Stoudemire in the frontcourt next to emerging center Marcin Gortat could allow both to thrive.

In addition, the Suns have tradeable pieces in Channing Frye, Josh Childress and Hakim Warrick who would save the Knicks just over $15 million over the next three seasons.

I don't know what to say to this. There are so many possible angles to take. It's obvious that Amare's best days were as a Phoenix Sun (7 years in Phoenix vs. 3 good months in NY as well). Amare and Carmelo cannot play winning basketball together. Steve Nash needs his Robin back. Suns with Amare would be a contender again.

But to actually consider this would be, and is, quite mind-boggling.

When a player becomes a free agent, their current team retains "Bird Rights" that translate into an inflated cap hold that counts against the team's salary cap. "Bird Rights" were named after Larry Bird as a way for teams to keep their players despite being over the salary cap. The cap hold was added to make it so teams can't sign new players and THEN re-sign their existing ones. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

In general, "Bird Rights" give the advantage to the player's current team. A team with "Bird Rights" on a player can offer one more year (5 vs. 4) and higher raises (7.5% vs. 4.5%) than any other NBA team. In the new CBA, even sign-and-trades must now be at the lower numbers rather than the higher. Only 4 years with 4.5% raises on sign-and-trades now.

In Steve Nash's case, "Bird Rights" are likely a non-issue. Nash's last contract, when he was a young 35, went for 3 years with a DECLINING salary. Going forward, he is asking for a 3-year deal and, with presumably diminishing skills, there is no reason to expect Nash's next contract to include raises either.

Under those parameters, "Bird Rights" mean nothing to the Suns or Nash.

Continue reading this post »

Phoenix Suns fans tried to show some real class tonight. The crowd chanted "WE WANT STEVE! WE WANT STEVE!" so loud at the 5-minute mark of the 4th quarter that when ESPN went to commercial, we all assumed Nash would come back in. He didn't. And the Suns promptly lost the lead. Finally, after another timeout at 3:57, Nash re-entered to raucous cheers. And then turned the ball over. And then was taken right back out of the game.

During that one minute of game time, the Suns went from a 6-point lead to a 7-point deficit. Just like that. The Spurs reacted to being dissed by going on a 13-0 run while the Suns were acting like it was prom night. Game over.

Sigh.

I don't understand what happened there. Why put Nash in for one play? Either give in to the very distracting crowd, or don't. But the way it was handled, the Suns lost focus long enough for a D-League team to go on a 13-0 run.

Continue reading this post »

Somehow, the Suns gave up 32 second-quarter points to the back end of the Spurs bench PLUS two guys they just brought in from D-league.

So much for leaving Steve Nash with a loving memory of this season.

Now that the Suns have been eliminated from the 2012 NBA playoff race - amazingly not until the second-to-last game for a team with no stars - the Suns have to at least consider making tomorrow more important than today.

At the moment, the Suns sit in the 13th position in the lottery for the NBA draft. If this position seems familiar, it is. The Suns have earned the dreaded 13th position twice once in the last three years: 2011 (Markieff Morris) . They even came close in 2008, drafting Robin Lopez at 15th and in 2009, drafting Earl Clark at 14th.

But if the Suns lose tonight to the Spurs and Houston beats New Orleans in their finale tomorrow, the Suns would improve their draft position to 12th overall! Not a big move, but that's one less team who can take your favorite mid-first-round sleeper before your turn comes up.

On the other hand, beating the Spurs tonight would leave a better lasting memory of 2012 in our, and the players', collective minds. And, it would ensure a winning record, a remarkable feat considering the curcumstances of the season.

So, really the Suns are in a win-win situation tonight. Win, and start the offseason on a higher note. Lose, and possibly improve your chance to get the sleeper you want in the draft.

Of course, if Houston loses to New Orleans tomorrow, the Suns are stuck in the 13th slot no matter what they do against the Spurs.

The Spurs, for their part, have sewn up the #1 seed in the West but need at least one more win to earn the #1 overall seed in the playoffs. Having home court advantage through the NBA Finals would be ideal for any team, so don't expect the Spurs to give away their last two games. All "Big 3" made the trip to Phoenix, so expect at least 2 of them to play tonight.

Continue reading this post »

The Phoenix Suns and the Utah Jazz are similar in some ways and polar opposites in many others.

While the Utah Jazz boast the league's most prolific front line, they give up as much as they score and their backcourt play is generally below average. Utah's front line is 1st in the league in points per game (65.4), 3rd in rebounding (35), 3rd in steals (4.9), 7th in blocks (4.7) and 8th in free throw attempts (15.9).

Yet as good as the Jazz are on the front line, they are barely above .500 as a team and needed overtime to beat a Magic team whose tallest front-line player is 6-foot-8 Glen Davis. The Jazz's prolific front-line gives up a lot of points, and their backcourt scores the league's 4th fewest points per game while giving up the 3rd-most backcourt points per game.

This plays right into the Phoenix Suns' hands, despite the injuries to Grant Hill and Channing Frye. The Suns live on the perimeter. While the Suns are only 18th in frontcourt scoring and efficiency, they are 5th in the league overall in backcourt play. Steve Nash, Sebastian Telfair, Shannon Brown and Michael Redd should have a field day.

When you look at Phoenix and Utah in totality, though, their results are very similar. Their total team offenses are pretty good overall (top ten), while their total defenses are below average (bottom ten).

For the Suns, the key to Tuesday's "play-in" game against Utah will be to win the perimeter matchup by more than they lose the frontcourt matchup.

Let's take a closer look at the two earlier games against the Jazz, both won by Phoenix.

Continue reading this post »

For the first 49 games of the season, the Phoenix Suns had lost the fewest player-games to injury (4) in the entire league. Now Channing Frye is hurt while Grant Hill remains out as the Suns fight for their playoff lives. The Suns starting five of Gortat-Nash-Hill-Frye-Dudley boasted the league BEST scoring differential (+/-) in the entire league, but they have not played together since March 25, 2012 - 15 games ago.

The NBA offseason lockout left players to fend for themselves for six months and then, without warning, the league threw all players jam-packed an abbreviated training camp and 66 regular-season games into 4 months after a new Collective Bargaining Agreement was signed.

Despite their health, the Suns played poorly before the all-star break. Channing Frye has reportedly commented he expected the whole season to be cancelled. As a group, the team was unprepared to play the season. The team, held back mostly by their unproductive second unit, started 12-19 with a handful of egregious losses on the docket (14-20 at the all-star break). Eventually, the second unit began to gel and the Suns started winning games. Since the all-star break, the Suns have gone 19-11 without losing a single game that they were supposed to win while chalking up several wins they were supposed to lose.

But the injury bug is starting to take its toll.

Continue reading this post »

The Phoenix Suns begin today with a firm hold on 8th place in the NBA's Western Conference. If the Suns win 2 of their last 3 games, with one of those being Utah on Tuesday, then the Suns will have won the right to extend their season into the playoffs.

Yet, the "playoff predictors" have the Jazz overtaking the Suns by virtue of an easier schedule. The Suns own the tiebreaker, so the Jazz HAVE to finish with a better record. The Jazz play 3 home games to close out their season - hosting the Howard-less Magic, the Suns and then the Trailblazers.

If the Suns finish 3-0, they're in.

If the Jazz finish 3-0, they're in because that means the Suns could do no better than 2-1.

If the Suns finish 2-1, they're in as long as the Jazz go 2-1 as well. The simplest way to accomplish this is to beat the Jazz on Tuesday. But even if the Suns lose to the Jazz, as long as the Jazz lose to either the Magic or Blazers and the Suns beat the Nuggets and Spurs, then the Suns still make the playoffs.

You've heard all this before.

For maximum comfort level, the Suns should just go ahead and beat Denver today while the Jazz lose to the Magic. And then when the Suns beat the Jazz on Tuesday night, the suspense will be over.

Sound good?

Continue reading this post »

Somehow, the Phoenix Suns won this game against the Los Angeles Clippers tonight. Not exactly sure how, but they did it. The Suns' final 4 points came on free throws on two 50-50 calls that in LA would likely have gone the other way.

The Suns are back into the 8th spot in the playoff picture after Houston lost to Eric Gordon's New Orleans Hornets. And that's all that matters. The Suns' playoff hopes are alive.

But I digress. Back to the Suns beating the Clippers for the third time in four tries this season.

The key to the game? Sebastian Telfair's defense in the last 2:21 on Chris Paul. Sure, Paul scored the Clippers' last 6 points (4 on free throws) but Telfair was in Paul's grill the whole time, grinding the Clippers' offensive flow to a halt. And, of course, he blocked Paul's last shot right out of bounds. Boo yah!

The Suns bigs rebounded nicely from the other night. Marcin Gortat scored 14 points on 6 of 11 shooting, along with 14 rebounds and 2 assists. Channing Frye had 16 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists, while Robin Lopez made his presence known in the paint and Markieff Morris contributed 5 points and 7 boards on his own. The biggest thing was that each big man fought for every rebound and made their presence known in the paint.

Continue reading this post »

YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Continue reading this post »

Suns by 1 at halftime.

Let's go!!!

Continue reading this post »

Tonight the Phoenix Suns have to bounce back from a tough loss at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder by beating the even hotter Los Angeles Clippers.

The best thing about the Clippers -- from the Suns' perspective -- is that they don't have James Harden on their roster. Harden, of the only-two-career-30-point-games-before-last-night's-40 Hardens. At the middle of the 4th, Harden had made 20-of-27 shots (9-of-13 3-pointers) and 20-of-21 free throws for 70 points in his last two games against the Suns. Ugh.

But enough about last night's game.

Tonight's opponent is no easier. Since scuffling a few weeks ago, the Los Angeles Clippers have righted their ship by winning 13 of their last 15 games to hold onto 4th place in the West, including a 92-77 win over the Thunder three nights ago (Harden was 1-of-11 in that game, by the way) and a 104-98 win over Denver last night. Chris Paul is possibly the best PG in the league, and Blake Griffin is a dunking, double-double, highlight machine.

Continue reading this post »

The Phoenix Suns just finished a really tough 15-game stretch in which 12 of those games were on the road, a paltry three of 15 were against teams with losing records and only one of those "easy" games was at home.

In fact, going into that 15-game stretch, the 23-22 9th-place Suns were projected by www.basketball-reference.com to drop to 12th place, winning only eight more games the rest of the way to finish 31-35, with only an 11 percent chance of making the playoffs in 5,000 simulations. And that was assuming a healthy Steve Nash and Grant Hill in their lineup the whole time. Alas, Grant Hill needed knee surgery and missed nine of those 15 games. Then Nash tweaked a hip and struggled through the last three, barely playing against San Antonio.

Uh-oh. So much for that optimistic 11 percent chance of making the playoffs, right?

But these are Alvin Gentry's Suns, who always play better in the second half. These are the Suns who fight and claw and craft their way to wins they weren't supposed to get. These are the Suns with only two guys in their entire rotation who was a starter on his team immediately preceding his stint with the Suns (Nash and Redd), and one of those had a "career ending" injury.

What ACTUALLY happened in that 15-game gauntlet was a Suns renaissance. Despite injuries to Nash and Hill, the Suns pulled out eight big wins out of 15 (18-9 since the All-Star break overall) and now have the playoffs in their hands after a beat-down of the once-scary-but-now-tanking Trailblazers.

These Suns, with a 39-year old All-Star and 10 role players, own the 8th seed in the West with four of their last five games at home. Given the tiebreakers and ending schedules for all relevant teams, all it takes is a 3-2 finish (with one of those over Utah) to claim a playoff spot.

Let's take a closer look at how we got here, because in retrospect it is a special story.

Continue reading this post »

It's Friday the 13th! Don't be scared, but I'd watch my back if I were you ...

Nothing scary to report on the playoff standings this morning, at least, as only the higher and lower seeds played last night. Memphis followed up it's big win over Phoenix with a loss to San Antonio, the Clippers beat Minny and Dallas beat Golden State.

Here's the standings today:

The Suns are still two games back of anything, but this weekend will tell a whole lot about the Suns' future. While the Suns are playing tough roadies, the other teams bunched around the Suns will play some tough games as well.

Suns face Houston, while Utah faces New Orleans (with Gordon) and Denver faces the Lakers. Hope for good news tonight.

Highlighted in the Suns two most recent losses has been the starters' inability to close out the game. They did not score in the final 3 minutes against Denver, and hardly scored in the final 6 minutes against Memphis. Overall the Suns were outscored 29-12 in Nash's last 12 minutes in those two losses. Ouch.

At the same time, Sebastian Telfair's second unit has been a revelation in the 2nd and 4th quarters, to the point that I find myself hoping Gentry leaves them in longer and longer. Often, the benchies turn a lead over to the starters in the 4th, who seem to flub that lead more often than not.

Amiright?

So what's going on? Has the loss of Steve Nash's right-hand man, Grant Hill, for the last 9 games made Nash's task much more difficult in the 4th quarter?

Let's take a look at the Suns last 21 games, in which they went 14-7.

Continue reading this post »

Is Sebastian Telfair one of the best backup point guards to Steve Nash since Nash returned to the Suns in 2004?

He certainly has played well recently, most notably in big wins this past week over the Jazz (9 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and a block), Lakers (13 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals) and Timberwolves (14 points, 7 assists, 2 steals and a block), all in about 20 minutes a game.

Telfair is one of the Suns' most improved players since the All-Star break, producing more points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks each game while shooting at a higher percentage in those all-important minutes when Nash is resting.

He is feisty on defense, creating havoc for the ball-handler and producing steals at a high rate. And now he is being more aggressive each game, making his presence known in the second and fourth quarters. As a unit, the Suns second team has begun to produce winning results, staking the starters to a 4th-quarter lead in nearly every game lately against stiff competition.

Building on a lead is important for the second unit, considering Nash and Co. don't always come back as fresh in the second and fourth quarters as when they started each half. Telfair's unit has helped the Suns in the win column as well, contributing to the 18-8 run since just before the All-Star break.

But where does Bassy rank in terms of Nash's other backups these last few years? Hit the jump to find out.

Continue reading this post »

The Phoenix Suns are playing well. Better than they've played all season long. It took this team a while to gel, but now they are winning games they should win and hitting their stride when the games matter the most.

Does this sound familiar to anyone?

It should. Since Alvin Gentry took over as the Phoenix Suns coach a little more than three seasons ago, his teams have played better and won more games in the second half than in the first half.

2009-10, Gentry's first full season as head coach

In 2009-2010, the Suns finished on a 28-7 run to vault all the way to 3rd in the West after starting the season only 26-21 despite featuring 2 all-stars, league-leading 3-shooting and a former dunk champion in their lineup. That season featured what turned out to be 3 different teams. The one that started 14-3 did it with smoke, mirrors and a great offense hiding a horrible, horrible defense. The poor defense and rebounding caught up with them, resulting in a 12-18 midseason stretch. I remember our vaunted blog leader writing an article in January that showed these two stretches, concluding that the latter was longer and therefore more indicative of the team's future.

Gentry, Nash and Hill preached patience during the bad stretch, saying they just needed to find that right combination in the lineup. The bench was playing poorly. Soon after that, Gentry found it by moving Robin Lopez into the starting lineup and Channing Frye to the bench. Suddenly, the starting unit had defense and the bench had offense.

On January 28, 2010, the team as a whole ramped up their games for the stretch run and ran out to a 28-7 finish that included offense, defense and rebounding.

2010-2011

That season was a struggle, highlighted by a big midseason trade of half the lineup. But Gentry found a sweet spot once again with a 10-man rotation that vaulted the Suns to a 17-7 record from January 12 - March 4.

This run could legitimately have lasted through the end of the season and into the playoffs, but Channing Frye inexplicably separated his own shoulder in a game against Oklahoma City (Durant was in the vicinity but no foul was called) and the Suns' season was effectively over. They just didn't have the horses to finish the job without a healthy Frye in the lineup.

2011-12

Here we are again. It should be no surprise that Gentry has found the sweet spot in the Suns rotation. After starting the season a paltry 12-19, the Suns are currently on a 16-7 run since February 19, 2012. With 12 games to go, the Suns are in a dogfight for a playoff spot.

If you factor in the late start to the season, the point in time at which the Suns started to gel if eerily close to the prior 2 seasons under Gentry.

So why does it take so long for Gentry's teams to gel? You can blame roster turnover for part of it, but not all. This year, the Suns returned the same starting lineup from the end of last season. Fully 8 guys are in at least their second year with the Suns, if not a lot longer: Steve Nash (8 years), Grant Hill (5), Robin Lopez (4), Jared Dudley (4), Channing Frye (3), Marcin Gortat (2), Hakim Warrick (2), Josh Childress (2).

That's all 5 of the starting lineup, 1 regular rotation player and 2 bit players. The coaching staff is a veteran one as well. Gentry has been here 8 years total (4.5 as an assistant), while everyone other than Elston Turner is in their 4th.

The key here is the bench. In his 3 full seasons as Suns coach, Gentry has stubbornly stuck with a minimum 10-man rotation in every single game. Sometimes he plays 11 or 12 guys, even. That means he needs to find 5-7 guys who can predictably play well every night.

Some of that is keeping the minutes down for their best players: Steve Nash and Grant Hill. The backup PG and SF are going to get minutes. And some of that is a roster full of different, but equally middling talent after those two. Marcin Gortat, their third best player, is really good but is he that much better than an energetic Lopez? Channing Frye is good but doesn't always bring his A-game on offense, which makes him interchangeable with rookie Markieff Morris. And so on down the line.

So Gentry has to spend half a season to find the sweet spot on his bench each year - the best combination of players and minutes for 5 of 8 guys sitting there next to him after the opening tip. Only one of who turned out to be the "best 5" this year was on the team a year ago.

We need to give Gentry credit for finding a winning combination every season, despite turnover on his roster and less-than-stellar talent.

28-7 finish in 2010

17-7 run in 2011 before Frye's devastating injury

16-7 this season, with 12 games to go.

Let's keep this ball rolling, and give Gentry credit for making it happen!

Are you not entertained!?!??!

The Phoenix Suns are on a roll, going 16-7 in their last 23 games and facing their playoff competition every night through the end of the season. The Suns control their destiny. If they win most of their remaining games, the playoffs will be theirs. And Suns fans can start debating the merits of each potential opponent.

After beating the Utah Jazz last night, the Suns are in 9th place in the West, only ONE game behind the 7th and 8th seeds (Denver and Houston). Plus, the Suns are only 2.5 games back of Memphis and Dallas, who are currently tied for 5th. Any of those last 4 seeds are reachable. Remember that the Suns were 2.5 games back of 8th just a few days ago.

First things first: Denver and Houston.

The Suns play Denver twice more this season - once in Denver on Friday night, and once more in Phoenix in a couple weeks. They also play Houston once more, in Houston.

If the Suns beat Denver on Friday night and the Rockets lose to the Lakers, the Suns will be in ...

drum roll please ...

7th place!

9th place... tied with Denver and Houston, but currently losing the first tiebreak with them).

But hey, only one more Suns win and Denver and Houston losses from 7th!

(you can take brian13 for bursting my morning bubble on the 7th place idea)

Hit the jump for the standings and some more analysis on each team's upcoming schedule.

Continue reading this post »

What a game of runs. Suns go up 10, then the Jazz come all the way back, then Suns up again, then the Jazz come back, then ... the roller coaster went all the way to the last minute when the Jazz pulled even yet again before the Suns squeaked one out.

C.J. Miles almost gave the Jazz the lead with a little over a minute left, and that's as close as it got. Then Frye hit a no-look, turn-around, fallaway 3, followed by Millsap making a layup and getting a steal from Nash with 34.8 seconds left. A frustrated Nash clear-path fouled Millsap, setting up yet another heart-stopping end. Millsap made one of two, pulling the Jazz to within two, and then Jefferson tied it on a long jumper.

Steve Nash grabbed the lead back on a baseline J with 14 seconds left, then Jefferson laid it in to tie the game once again with 9.4 seconds left. Again with the heart palpitations.

Then the Suns almost lost the darn the ball on their final possession until Nash grabbed it and made a leaning runner with 1.7 seconds left to take the lead again! Nash wants this game, yessiree!

The Jazz jacked up a corner 3-pointer that fell short, but Paul Millsap was there for the putback. Fortunately, he was too late as the ball didn't leave his hands before the lights went off and the buzzer sounded. Suns win!

Oh My! This was the best finish I've seen in a long time! YESSSSS!

While Nash and Frye hit the necessary daggers, the Suns' bench mob won this game by building big leads in the second and fourth quarters, only to see the starters give it up when they came back in.

Michael Redd scored 19, while the bench as a whole gave the Suns 46 points, 17 rebounds, 7 assists, 6 steals and 5 blocks. WOW! Now THAT'S a bench performance, ladies and gentlemen.

Jump for the standings. Suns in 9th!

Continue reading this post »

Make some free throws, Suns!

(oh, and do that without stopping anything else you're already doing well, k??

Dig deep, ye ol' oranj n purp! Kick them arses!

Suns vs Jazz coverage

Suns vs Jazz preview

SLC Dunk