What are you guys gonna do tomorrow night?

Should you back down, cuz the commish and media think you'll hurt Lebron's feelings?

Should you fan up like a Miami fan, and show up late, play with your cellphone for an hour, and leave 30 minutes before the game?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR7N9YGTtq0

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Now I know you all in Cleveland got the shaft, and didn't deserve to have a self absorbed coward rip your hearts out. In case you're wondering who I am, well I am a Phoenix Suns fan, who thought I would share my two cents. As a fellow fan who was disgusted by Lebron's antics, I thought I'd give you guys some suggestions and ammo, in case you didn't already have it, for the night of December 2nd. 

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Has anyone noticed all the slo-mo, black and white commercials, highlighting the Spurs and Lakers, with the Suns being on the losing end? Almost all of those commercials have had the Suns on losing end. It's bad enough David Stern screwed us over two years ago, but why continue to kick a man or team in this case, when they're down. God forbid they show any positive highlights from the Suns the past few years in the playoffs, I'm sure they could dig up a few if they wanted to find some good ones.

 

 

 

 

Now, I hope the Suns can make the playoffs, mainly because I believe they have the potential beat the Lakers in the West and go on a serious run. But if they miss out, which seems highly likely now, and they go into the lottery and miraculously win it, which is less likely than me winning a $100 million in the lottery, who would you pick? In my opinion, there are 3 options here: Blake Griffin, Hasheem Thabeet, Ricky Rubio, or sell the pick. Sorry I forgot about the popular 4th option.

Blake Griffin, is arguably the best power forward to come out of college in years, and could certainly give us insurance in case Amare's eye never heals, or if Amare leaves town as a free agent. According to nbadraft.net,he compares similarly to Charles Barkley and Boozer.

Hasheem Thabeet, is the best shot blocker to come out of college in years, and could give us a defensive anchor that we havent had since maybe, ever. He may be the second coming of Dikembe Mutombo, and though he may be offensively limited, but he could certainly help lead our fast break, and be the long term replacement to Shaq.

Ricky Rubio, is probably the best international player right now. He is the top point guard prospect, and gives the Suns, potentially its next great point guard for the next several years. Granted you have Goran Dragic, as possibly an emerging player, but he's still young and uncertain. Nevertheless, what's wrong stock piling point guards, remember our 97-98 Suns team : http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketball/fantasy/nba/phoenix-suns/team/roster/98/21/1. According to nbadraft.net, he compares similarly to Steve Nash and Walt Frazier!

Or we sell/trade the pick to an up and coming team, and watch the guy blossom elsewhere. I think that elite fraternity of Luol Deng, Rajon Rondo, Nate Robinson, Rudy Fernandez, Sergio Rodriguez, etc. wouldn't mind welcoming another guy to their group.

 

 

Poll

Who would you pick?

48%

Blake Griffin

59 votes

10%

Hasheem Thabeet

13 votes

23%

Ricky Rubio

29 votes

7%

Pick Jordan Hill or James Harden, because you're a homer

9 votes

9%

Continue with recent tradition with selling/trading the pick

12 votes

122 votes | Poll has closed

Everyone put your heads together and come up with the best possible way to get rid of Jason Richardson. Let's face it, this was a bad trade, I never understood it the moment it happened, but a lot of people around here and elsewhere didn't seem to mind.

It's not just the DUI's, but his play. The guy never plays defense, that's why Roger Rabbit, I mean Mason, beat us on Christmas Day. He models his game after the current Michael Finley, not even the old Michael Finley, who the Suns once drafted, and became a star for the Mavs. His contract is not expiring, so therefore he provides no value to the Suns. There is still a few days to get rid of him. Who's with me?

Ok, let's help our GM, the great fraud, Steve Kerr make his next decision, if it's not trading Amare and company.

My list has a few defensive minded coaches (JVG, Slavery, Riley) and a few offensive minded coaches as well (Jordan, Iavaroni), and who knows what Dan Majerle is thinking, but I figured if Vinny Del Negro can be a coach, why not Majerle, haha. 

On a side note, I would really hate to see Jeff Van Gundy coach again, because he is really good on TV, as an analyst.

Poll

If the Suns fire Terry Porter, who should they hire?

22%

Avery Johnson

9 votes

15%

Jeff Van Gundy

6 votes

10%

Eddie Jordan

4 votes

0%

Sam Mitchell

0 votes

5%

Reggie Theus

2 votes

5%

Pat Riley

2 votes

22%

Marc Iavaroni

9 votes

15%

Alvin Gentry

6 votes

5%

Dan Majerle

2 votes

40 votes | Poll has closed

Let's face it, Porter is in a no win situation. I think he would be a great coach for a young rebuilding team, but this is not his place. Now of course it's not his fault, that he is surrounded with a lot of talent that doesn't mesh well together.

So let's go get the "Little General" Slavery, j/k,  I mean Avery Johnson. He will certainly be a demanding coach, who will let the offense play to its strengths, but also bring a tough defensive mindset and approach that this group of individuals is missing. He may have some flaws, but I can't think of any other coach out there, who is available, that is as good as Avery. And please don't say Pat Riley. We don't need any more dinosaurs then what we already have in Phoenix.

It doesn't help when your GM is a moron, and came to town preaching "defense," but traded away the four best defensive players (Matrix, Kurt Thomas, Raja, and Diaw). Let's face it, when Grant Hill is your best defensive player, and it's 10 years after 1999, we have issues. 

But with that said, Avery did a great job with the Mavericks, as he should have won a ring, if he wasn't surrounded by a bunch of chokers. The Suns have some clutch players in Nash, Hill, Shaq (except w/ Free Throws). Tell me what do you guys think.

Can I say W T F? Obviously something happened here, because on Jan 8th, Bowen only had 509,593 votes, and was ranked 7th among all Western Conference Forwards.

Vote Tally on January 8th:

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/01/08/010809allstarreturns/index.html

Forwards
Player	Votes
Tim Duncan (SA)	1,454,918
Carmelo Anthony (Den)	905,121
Amare Stoudemire (Pho)	894,690
Ron Artest (Hou)	890,992
Dirk Nowitzki (Dal)	837,482
Pau Gasol (LAL)	618,943
Bruce Bowen (SA)	509,593
Shane Battier (Hou)	482,724
Luis Scola (Hou)	281,372
Josh Howard (Dal)	255,698
LaMarcus Aldridge (Por)	212,651

Final Vote Tally:

Forwards
Player	Votes
Tim Duncan (SA)	2,578,168
Amare Stoudemire (Pho)	1,460,429
Bruce Bowen (SA)	1,392,398
Ron Artest (Hou)	1,362,565
Carmelo Anthony (Den)	1,337,519
Dirk Nowitzki (Dal)	1,107,926
Pau Gasol (LAL)	948,301
Shane Battier (Hou)	694,112
LaMarcus Aldridge (Por)	497,550
Luis Scola (Hou)	405,851
Josh Howard (Dal)	298,810
Guards
Player	Votes
Kobe Bryant (LAL)	2,805,397
Chris Paul (NO)	2,134,798
Tracy McGrady (Hou)	1,678,516
Manu Ginobili (SA)	1,642,350
Tony Parker (SA)	1,084,361
Steve Nash (Pho)	677,211
Jamal Crawford (GS)	665,038
Rafer Alston (Hou)	550,199
Jason Kidd (Dal)	477,792
Brandon Roy (Por)	468,688
Chauncey Billups (Den)	466,073

I thought I would root for the Celtics initially versus the Lakers, but then I remembered something, they probably don't make it to the Finals without assistance from David Spurn, in the Atlanta series. Remember it was after game 4, with the series headed back to Boston, tied 2-2. Boston of course, never won a game in Atlanta.

And I know for sure that there is no way that at least 27 other teams in the NBA, would get away with guys coming on to the court, and have their star player (KG) push a ref, and not be penalized. We Suns fans will always be bitter for what happened last year, when Amare & Doris, were suspended for coming to the aide of their leader, Steve Nash, for essentially the same thing the Celtics got away with in the 1st round. Only differences were, that nobody on the Hawks leveled one of the best players, and nobody on the Suns, pushed a ref.

And to second that, I found myself, like many of you to be rather happy with the lesser of two evils prevailing, with the Lakers beating the Spurs. Nevertheless, I still hate the Lakers. I want to root for the Celtics, but I'm not sure they make it to the Finals without sheer ignorance from the NBA. I at least know that the Lakers earned their way to the Finals, granted they received a gift in the most sided trade in years, with Pau Gasol. And if not for the Gasol trade, maybe we don't trade for Shaq. Also KG, should be a Sun, and not be in Boston. That pains me too.

Nonetheless, this is a dream come true for the league, ABC, and many basketball fans, who grew up watching the great Lakers/Celtics rivalry. The Bandwagons are loading up. It's the return of the blue bloods. Regardless, I know that this will atleast be a better NBA FInals series, as opposed to the one where only 37 people outside of Cleveland and San Antonio watched last year.

 think it's safe to say that the Utah Jazz have the worst fans. Yes, they may be loud, but to boo Derek Fisher, that's just classless.  They booed him in the regular season, and they booed him again tonight.

Now, I hate the Lakers with a passion as much as any Suns fan, but to boo Derek Fisher is just senseless.  He did what any sane parent would do for their child. I guess in the land of polygamy, with big families, losing a kid or two won't hurt, since you have so many offsprings anyways. I hope this is not the thinking of the people there. I'm sure it's just the Laker jersey, but in this case you gotta be respectful.

Regardless, I hope the Jazz get swept, the people there deserve it. Now, if only we could have them lose in similar fashion as the Suns did the past two years.

P.S. I would also love to see the Spurs and Lakers find lose like that too.

 

How true it is about the end of the Suns era.  What could have been, if better decisions using common sense had been applied in the front office. 

 Here's Bill's solace to the Suns/Spurs rivalry:

"Maybe the Suns didn't win a championship, but we'll remember them 100 times more fondly than the brutally efficient and hopelessly bland Spurs, who taught everyone over the years that the regular season doesn't matter, transformed the NBA Playoffs into a flopathon, revived the vile and fan-unfriendly Hack-A-Shaq strategy and did everything short of sending Bruce Bowen out on the court with a chain saw and a taser. If the Spurs were the Team of the Decade, no wonder ratings dwindled until the league's big comeback this season.

The real shame is that all the mugging, acting, eye-rolling, flopping, rule-bending and hysterical shrugging obscured what should have been remembered as a throwback sports team, a shrewdly assembled roster of well-coached guys who played beautifully together, didn't care about credit and revolved around the best power forward who ever played. Instead, we'll remember them as the team that turned the NBA Playoffs into the World Cup. Congratulations, fellas."

[Note by Phoenix Stan, 05/03/08 6:25 PM PDT ]

A couple days late, but I finally worked up the courage to read this article. There's no news here and yet seeing it all splayed out is just too depressing for words...

All teams have their "what if" moments (Sam Bowie ) but I think going back to their earliest days, the Suns have to be right up there with any other sport organization ever...ugh

 

why nobody was suspended from the Hawks/Celtics series after an altercation in Game 4. It basically the same crap where guys jumped off the bench, but not only that no punishment for KG pushing a ref. I know the Celtics are Stern's mealticket out of the East come on now. 

Now, they finally punished someone in the playoffs, in Darius Songailia, for barely slapping LeBron, after he was trying to free his hand. What's up with that? I swear, David Stern has got to go. There are more double standards in the NBA, than any other league. We need a fair commish, not a hypocrite/backstabber in David Stern.

28 out of 30 owners including the Suns Robert Sarver voted to let the douchebags Clay Bennett & his boy David Stern, move the Sonics to Jokelahoma. Props to Mark Cuban and Paul Allen for sticking up for what's right, even though their peers were gutless or retarded or both.

Now the only ways the Sonics have a chance at staying in Seattle, is if Mr. Starbucks is able to win his lawsuit, claiming that Bennett didn't purchase under good faith to keep the team in Seattle. But since the justice system blows, I put no stock in this happening.

The only other chance that the Sonics stay, is if they can make Bennett hold true to their lease for another 2 years. And in that time, hopefully Kevin Durant blows up and turns into a LeBron or Kobe level player, who becomes the face of the franchise. It wouldn't hurt if Jeff Green becomes a player too. You also have to hope that they take a stand against Bennett, and say "if you move the team, we (I'll) leave." When LeBron came to the NBA, the value of the Cavs franchise virtually doubled. If he were to go ahead and move the team anyways, and let Durant walk, they might just turn into the Montreal Expos.

When you think of "Iron Men," you think of Cal Ripken, Lou Gehrig, and Brett Favre. Well in the NBA the current "Iron Man" is Bruce Bowen, who last night somehow played his 500th consecutive game.

I'm sure if he wasn't a San Antonio Snore, and Stern wasn't the commish, that streak would have ended a long time ago.

Anyways here is that jackass from last night's game kicking CP3.

Let's face it, Mike D'Antoni is the Mike Martz of the NBA.

-Both guys are considered offensive geniuses
-Both guys have coached the highest scoring offenses in their respective leagues.
-Both guys coached the most entertaining teams to watch in their time.
-Both guys coached teams with suspect defenses.
-Both guys have an enormous ego when it comes to coaching decisions, where they go to the well one too many times, and are too stubborn to adapt:
--->Martz is notorious for wanting to pass more, run less, and leave minimum protection for his QBs, who ultimately get killed. Regardless of the Spygate scandal, if he had run Marshall Faulk more in the Super Bowl vs. the Patriots, they would have won that game, despite the spying.
--->D'Antoni is notorious for wanting to run, run, run (which is fine with me), but he refuses to utilize his bench, so his teams always lack the depth that other teams have, like those who win championships. I thought D'Antoni blew it last year when he only played 6 players in Game 5 against the Spurs when Amare & Diaw were suspended. Yes, they were screwed over by the league, and yes they played hard and inspired, but they ran out of gas, and ultimately lost.

Sometimes I wonder why people open their mouth. Now I know Amare is a terrific athlete, but I'm not too sure he's doing himself a favor here with a senseless statement like this:

"From a marketing standpoint, I haven't reached my full potential. With my personality and aura and swagger, I have a good chance to be marketed. Lots of companies adore me."

The Amare section is below the benching of Jason Kidd segment, which I also find to be senseless.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/7852542/Why-wasn't-Kidd-on-court-in-crunch-time?

Now I'm sure many of you have seen this already. My friends that are Spurs and Lakers fans love this video.

And I'm not sure if it was posted on this site, but for those that haven't seen it, well here you go....

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Let's hope this video is proven to be wrong, and that the Suns overcome all odds to win a title.

[Thanks for breaking the news, AF. For the record, I still think the Hawks would have made the playoffs anyway due to the overall level of awfulness in the East, but this makes it that much more likely. -TexSUN]

Looks like the Kings are about to send Mike Bibby to the Hawks for some expiring contracts. So look for them to be big players in free agency this off season, and even worse, this now makes the Hawks playoff contenders, and certainly squanders any chance the Suns draft pick will fall in the lottery.

http://www.sacbee.com/kings/story/717681.html
 

Here's Suns legend and the most entertaining sports personality, weighing in politically, with Wolf Blitzer on CNN.

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/FsjLPH23uEc&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param></object>

After a couple days since the trade was announced, I have gone from laughing it off, then when I heard it was serious gonna go down, I became bitter and sick to my stomach. Yesterday, I had all my buddies and co-workers who are Spurs fans, or fans of other teams, mock the trade. And I was badmouthing the trade as well. However, when you have Shaq, you have "Shaq fans." I'm sure you know several people who are "bandwagoners" or "glory hunters" who became Heat fans overnight, when Shaq went to Miami. They claim to just follow Shaq wherever he goes. Good news for me at work, I have a handful of co-workers, and few of my other friends who instantaneously became Suns fans yesterday. At the same time, I was thinking you guys are retarded. Just like the retarded Kidd for Marbury trade.  Why didn't we just let Marion walk at the end of the season, and use his cap space to pick up someone else?

The Suns traded away one of the best athletes, arguably the most versatile player in the NBA, and one of the greatest Suns players ever (an almost certain future member of the "Ring of Honor"), for a costly, past his prime, once mighty has-been, old and broken down beast. The Suns were gonna go from the exciting up tempo, fun-n-gun team, to a slow and boring half court team over night. This made no sense philosophically and financially. I was thinking to myself, "Hey Kerr! while we're at it, may as well go get Scottie Pippen, Charles Oakley, and Jim Jackson! And we rename the Suns, to the Dinosaurs!"

But after reading and listening to others, I am slowly starting to come around, and am willing to drink the kool-aid. And part of that is the realization that the Suns are too small, and there are no other big guys out there that the Suns could have got. I honestly didn't see this team winning it all, with Amare being the lone big guy.

But, probably the main reason I see hope in this working, is the Suns medical/training staff. I thought the Suns were morons for paying $65 million over 5 years, to a guy with a bad back, and who looked like he was on the verge of breaking down 4 years ago in Steve Nash. 2 MVPs (should be 3) later, I'm glad and I'm sure many of you who thought the same as me, are glad we were wrong.

Then the following season, Amare went down with a microfracture knee surgery. After seeing how Chris Webber had digressed, as a player, I feared the same could happen to Amare. Luckily, Amare has been just fine.

When Grant Hill was a free agent, I thought he should have come to PHX, if for nothing else, he would be cheap, and the medical staff could resurrect his career, and he would have a shot at a title, but not by joining a team that had already won one, like Horry and Finley did when they joined the Spurs, but be able to help a team on the verge of winning, get over the hump. And Hill has already done more in half a season then he did in 6 years in Orlando.

Now, we have Shaq. Atleast now, I can say we aren't the second coming of the Kings. The Suns have gone all in.
http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/story/2008/2/1/215758/9790
Sorry, I had to plug my own blog.

I have been a Shaq hater all my life. But, at the same time, I've always thought he was great, but I just hated to see a cocky big guy dominate and beat the Suns and everyone else. For years, the only thing I liked about Shaq was his free throw shooting. And then there was his comment after he played a bad game, "I played like Erick Dampier tonight," which is one of my favorite quotes ever. Now he's a Sun. If the greatest medical/training staff in the NBA, can bring this guy back to what he once was a few years ago, and help bring this team a title, I will forever hail "Shaq! Ahhhhhhhhhh! the greatest of the universe." And Steve Kerr to be the greatest gambler and GM ever. And of course the medical/training staff to be the best ever in any sport.

I was just coming to post about this and saw your's so I bumped it...-srp

I'm sure this is all BS, but if the Suns are actually considering a slow, injured, and washed up Shaq................................................................................................ ..............................................

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3232862

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/7764252

Update [2008-2-5 21:16:50 by srp]:

I am going to add some thoughts of my own but first from the original source of the rumor:

The Heat has told center Shaquille O'Neal's representation that it is talking about trading him and he should be prepared for the possibility of a deal, according to two officials close to the situation. Phoenix has discussed sending forward Shawn Marion and point guard Marcus Banks to the Heat in return for O'Neal.

Asked for confirmation, one of O'Neal's representatives said O'Neal has been made aware that discussions with Phoenix are serious and ongoing, but that a deal was not definite.

I first got this rumor via text message alert from ESPN and KTAR about 5:10pm MST while standing in line to pick up Chinese food. I got home and mentioned it to my wife who said "that's stupid" which pretty much sums up my reaction as well.

I would love to say this is too dumb to even be considered with all the other Marion rumors we have heard about over the years but there's something about the Heat telling Shaq about it that seems to make it feel more true. And more scary.

So here it is. WTF! Why on EARTH would the Suns do this. How does taking on a broken down Diesel with two years/$40m make a bit of sense! Forget about how you replace the best perimeter defender in the league with a geriatric Shaq or how the Suns could possibly still run with Shaq on the floor like a giant anchor tied to a speed boat. Or how you could think that this guy could provide $20m worth of value for TWO MORE YEARS let along the rest of this season. Its just too dumb for words.

I IM'd TexSun about it and of course she was totally skeptical too. She thought that perhaps the Suns could somehow get Shaq declared crippled for life and recoup his salary via insurance and free up the cap space. Is that even possible? Rosewood? Even so, then you have traded the Matrix and Banks for what. A lottery type pick from the Heat (also rumored to be in the deal) and cap space? What are we here - Memphis? That would be a total act of capitulation for this season from the team with the best record in the West.

No, there's just no way this deal happens. I refuse to believe it.

Update [2008-2-5 21:30:00 by TexSUN]:

Well first things first, this has to be a joke. At least it better be. To elaborate a bit on srp's note about the IM conversation, that was me trying to dream up some way, any way this trade could possibly make some semblance of sense from the Suns' perspective. Unless the Suns are planning to trade Mike D'Antoni for Pat Riley as part of the deal, I just can't see Shaq fitting into the Suns' system any way, any how. I think Scott Bordow of the East Valley Tribune said it best:

O’Neal is old and broken down. He would fit into Mike D’Antoni’s system about as well as a tank on the Autobahn. The trade doesn't even make sense from a financial standpoint, as Marion--even if he takes his option this summer--is only signed for one more season, while Shaq has two. Which brings me to the IM conversation with srp--the only possible way I can imagine this trade making an iota of sense from the Suns side of things (barring a complete upheaval of the run-and-gun system) is if Miami includes their own pick unprotected, and if Shaq's hip problem is so bad that it qualifies as a career ending injury, thereby allowing his salary to be picked up by insurance. I'm not even sure that's allowed with a traded player, and even if it is, I agree with srp that it would make it seem like the Suns had given up on winning the ring this season. So here are my thoughts:

1. This rumor is total bunk.
2. In the unlikely event this rumor is not total bunk, there's something more to this that we're just not seeing.

As it stands, I am waiting impatiently for Steve Kerr to channel Mark Cuban with a "step away from your crack dealer" type of remark. Or just to reiterate Robert Sarver's "flat out not getting traded" comment from a few weeks ago. Then again, perhaps something like this is so ludicrous that it doesn't even dignify a response?

Update [2008-2-6 0:58:12 by srp]:

I hate to say it friends but the worst is looking like it might happen:

Coro is reporting that Shaq is coming to town Wednesday for a physical. I guess the Suns have a geriatric specialist on retainer...there's still hope that Sarver will see the light or Shaq will fall and can't get up sometime between now and a press conference with The Big Daddy in Orange and Purple. The thought just makes me sick. Go on Spurs and Lakers fans. Gloat away....Kerr and Sarver may be doing what your teams can't - destroy the Suns hopes.

If that game Monday against the Bobcats turns out to be the last time I saw Marion in a Suns uni...too depressing for words. Good night.

Poll

If this deal happens:

15%

Shaq who?

8 votes

19%

I will cheer Shaq and bronze his size 23's

10 votes

65%

I will jump off the nearest building

34 votes

52 votes | Poll has closed

Did you hear that Burger King came out with a new Manu Ginobili burger?  ................................................      
................................................
................................................
................................................
................................................

It's called the Flopper!

Boris Diaw or as I like to call him...Doris Meow, cuz he plays like a pussy. Now if they can't find anyone willing to trade for him, which I bet would be the case, then they should buy out his contract, cuz quite frankly he hasn't lived up to it. He's a one year wonder. He's one of those guys that will play big in a contract year like Erick Dampier or Tim Thomas. I know Sarver is cheap, but the Suns have little to no chance with this current roster to win a title, because they desperately need another big man to help out Amare. I doubt Sarver would do this, but buying out Doris will free up cap space, since he doesn't want to pay the luxury tax, and it would allow the Suns to sign or trade for a big man. This needs to happen very soon, before the window of opportunity is completely gone.  

I don't know if this has been brought up before, but this Suns team is very reminiscent of the Sacramento Kings of 5 to 6 years ago. Here are some examples:

-Both teams are/were exciting uptempo teams, that are/were very entertaining.

-Both teams drew fans all over the world to its bandwagon, that were against the front runner teams like the Lakers, Cowboys, Yankees, etc., because they wanted to see a team that could topple the status quo.

-Both coaches (Adelmen/D'Antoni) look similar, especially with the mustaches. (ok, maybe that's not so significant)

-Both teams are/were led by MVP caliber players that are/were great passers who made their teammates better. (Webber/Nash)

-Both teams beat Dallas in the playoffs at full strength, and both lost to the Mavs without one of their star players. (Webber going down with a knee injury in the 2003 playoffs, and the Suns without Amare for virtually all of 2006). Those are the seasons where both the Lakers (2003) and the Spurs (2006) were knocked out in the 2nd round of the playoffs, and if each team didn't have their star big man go down, who knows. They could have easily won the title those years. I think we're both cursed.

-Both teams have/had an arch rival, whom they failed to beat in the playoffs. (Lakers/Spurs)

-Both teams lost to the best big men of that era (Shaq/Duncan)

-Both teams have/had arguably their best defender playing shooting guard (Doug Christie/Raja Bell)
although many would argue that Marion is.

-Both teams got buried in Game 4 of a playoff series by "Cheap Shot Bob," albeit in different ways. Those two moments are probably what Horry will be remembered for the most. (I still wonder why his ass wasn't in the paint trying to get a rebound, instead he was camping out. And I wish he wasn't on the floor to hip check Nash).

-Both teams were royally screwed in the ass, by the refs/league in the playoffs versus their arch rivals. (We know what happened to us, and most of you know the Kings were screwed over in Game 6 of the Conference Finals in LA, which was a poorly officiated game, with the refs giving the Lakers 27 free-throw attempts in the 4th quarter. Of course the Kings later choked in Game 7. Many believe the game was fixed, which also saw Ralph Nader write a letter to the NBA about the screw job).

-Both teams let go or traded away key players to save money, who, well, have you scratching your head
(Kings: Jon Barry, Jim Jackson, Keon Clark, Gerald Wallace, and I'm sure I'm missing others; Suns: Joe Johnson (debatable), Luol Deng, Rajon Rondo, James Jones & Kurt Thomas)

-Both teams have/had All-Star wing players, with fragile mental psyche. (Peja/Matrix) Although C-Webb and Amare aren't the toughest SOB's either.

The Kings had a great run, but their window shut in a very disappointing and heartbreaking way. The Suns have certainly experienced much of the same, and unless this team comes together and toughens up, or unless a deal is made to bring in someone who will help this team win a ring, especially if cheapskate Robert Sarver is willing to throw down some money,it appears as though, our Suns are heading in the same direction. Let's not be the Kings.

I think its time for Steve Kerr to take action and fire D'Antoni.  His decision making is very porous at times, such as last night's game where he played Nash for virtually the entire 3rd quarter, and sat him until there was less than 6 minutes left in the game. He also didn't foul late in the Laker game on X-mas day that could have extended the game, he also played his starters in the final regular season game last year against the Rockets, even though they had nothing to play for. I like D'Antoni's uptempo offense, but the Suns are not getting any younger, the door isn't gonna remain open for long, and the 7 or 8 guys who play aren't seeing their minutes trimmed either. Defense and rebounding is not as high of a priority to D'Antoni, as much as the tempo and style of play on offense. Look, I love the style that the Suns have played for the past 4 seasons, they are without question the most entertaining team to watch, and I do not want to see them quit doing what they do best. Every great coach makes adjustments to his players and the situations that occur in a game, but D'Antoni does not seem to do so. Time and time again, the Suns continue to get outrebounded, lose leads late in the game because of fatigue, and you see Stoudemire get into foul trouble, because he is the only big guy on the team. All great teams have depth, play great defense, and can get rebounds. They also manage minutes for their star players well. Those things don't apply to this team. Last year's team was good enough to win it all, but we all know about the screw job that occurred in the playoffs, regardless if D'Antoni had played more than 6 players in Game 5, the Suns could have easily won, and saved some energy for game 6. You don't see Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili playing 40+ minutes every night. Popovich saves them for big games and the playoffs. Yes, the loss of Kurt Thomas hurts this team this year, but Brian "The Anvil" Skinner has played really well and deserves more minutes. And so does Sean Marks, to preserve Amare's minutes and fouls. And Grant Hill has played really well, but his minutes need to be limited so he doesn't burn out before the playoffs. Remember he hasn't played a full season in 7 or 8 years. Barbosa continues to be explosive on offense, and but he also continues to be horrid on defense. Where is Marcus Banks, a great on the ball defender, he reminds me of Bobby Jackson back when he was in Sacramento. You don't think that would help this team at all? Watch Banks tear it up on another team whenever he leaves. Now some of this is Robert "Cheapskate" Sarver's fault for placing his #1 emphasis on the luxury tax and not a championship, but regardless, D'Antoni lacks common sense, he continues to make bad decision after bad decision, almost Bush-like time and time again. It's time for a change.

Did the Suns not even try to acquire Anderson Varejao? He's a high energy guy who can guard some big guys, get boards, and you know he'd love to run. I thought the Suns biggest weakness, is interior defense, and the lack of big guys. The f'n Bobcats just signed him. I know the Suns are over the cap, but could they have not worked out a sign and trade, such as Banks and a 2nd round pick or something like that. I think the Suns dropped the ball on this one, because, if they had talked to SideShow Bob, you can't think he would choose the Bobcats over the Suns. Let the fire sale begin next year, unless the Suns make a trade.

Now I'm not sure if this topic has been posted yet or not, but pardon me if it has, and I know this is kind of late, but Robert Sarver is really pissing me off. His penny pinching ways with the Kurt Thomas deal, to giving away every 1st round pick in recent history, and his lack of fortitude and appreciation to the fans has really gotten to me. Yes, he is an owner, and he has invested several million dollars into this team, and he deserves to see a profit. Now he has signed free agents, and paid some players here, but he has limited himself to the luxury tax. If the Suns were a bad or mediocre team, I would have no problem with him cutting back. If I were a Knicks fan, I would say get rid of every big contract and start over. But the Suns are legit contenders, and  many would say they probably could have and should won the championship this year, if not for some unfortunate circumstances. Now more than ever, the  Suns fans have never been more bitter, never been more hungrier, never been more passionate, and have been forced to accept that their team got screwed more ways than one the way they did 3 months ago. I feel like we're the Red Sox before 2004, except without a curse, or is there? We also have to accept the fact that the owner is not 100% committed to winning a title at his expense or his scapegoat the luxury tax. Yay! we signed Grant "used to be all-world 8 years ago" Hill for a cheap contract, woopty doo! I hope Hill can bring a lot to the team, but you let Kurt Thomas go, the one guy who gives Duncan fits, plays great D, knocks down midrange shots, and you pass up on drafting any big men or a backup point guard. The Maloof brothers in Sacramento held on to their team despite losing money, they went all-in just so they would have a shot at winning. Kings fans don't have to worry about having dedicated ownership, even though they suck now, also got screwed, and never won. Maybe Sarver feels as if the Suns can't win, and doesn't want to be like the Maloofs, and therefore he refuses to go all-in. Whatever the case is, no group of fans and team deserve to be undercutted by the league, by the refs, by some cheap players, and by some cheap gutless owner all at the same time.