The Mavericks will play the Suns on their second night of a back to back so it's safe to say that Phoenix will win this game, right? I mean, The Suns will even play at home.

The above statements are the ones who I'd love to use in a non-sarcastic tone of voice when talking about the Suns. We all know they can lay an egg any given night no matter who they play against or under what circumstances. It will be a great test for this squad to play against one of the best teams in the Western Conference.

The Dallas Mavericks and Steve Nash have a history; expect to hear that like a thousand times during tonight's broadcast. Steve and Dirk are best friends, we know that too. One thing I can tell you though is that playing basketball against your long time buddy is a really cool experience.

This wouldn't be a P-Sun game preview if it didn't include one of my stories so guys bear with me. And you ladies out there bare with me. I love this so called English language.

When I was in the States in elementary school I fell in love with basketball. I became so obsessed with it that I wouldn't sleep at night only to practice my dribble in my bedroom. At one point my dad was so pissed that he hid my basketball for a week. I do not remember ever crying as much as I did during that whole week. You see, my dad always wanted me to play soccer. Before I was born, he was on his way to play in Brazil in a semi pro league when he busted his knee so I guess he was trying to live his dream through me. Big mistake, I couldn't kick a soccer ball even if my life depended on it and besides I just hated the sport. When we came back to Panama he realized I was really good at basketball and reluctantly started to come to my games. And this is where I met my best friend (at the time) Luis. Both of us were 14 years old, we had similar skills but always played for the same team. Same high school, same Panama National Team at the age of 16. We pushed each other to our basketball limits. If he trained 3 hours I would train 4. If he made 25 free throws in a row I would have to make 30.

Luis, being born in Panama but with Costa Rican parents had a double nationality and chose to play for Costa Rica once he was called by their coach who had previously shown interest in him. He moved with his parents to San Jose and we tried to keep in touch but eventually didn't.

Why would he go to a significantly weaker team? To be the man? To play against me at some point?  He was granted both wishes 7 months later. We played in an exhibition match that was everything but friendly. I played my heart out; I wanted to beat him so bad.

I was pissed that he had left to play somewhere else and wanted to show him we didn't need him. That I didn't need him. We both played well but he played better. They beat us and I felt miserable. At the same time I was happy for him, he had found a place where he could shine and run the team. It was a strange mix of feelings.

I have to agree with Michael Jordan here, playing with your friends is not nearly as fun as playing against them. You want to beat those guys, not play on the same team with them. Playing against them brings the beast best out of you.  

Enough of my stories! Let's talk Mavs Vs Suns after the jump!

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5 game winning streak. The Suns are taking care of business and having fun while doing it. It wasn't pretty at first but they pulled out the win.

It was a tale of two halves with the Suns playing ugly and I mean ugly basketball in the first quarter. They missed 8 consecutive shots in the paint, had 8 turnovers and shot 35 percent from the field.

The bench came in in the 2nd quarter to clean up the mess. Goran Dragic, Marcin Gortat, Jared Dudley turned up the defense and offense cutting the lead to one after trailing by eleven. The Wizards were in the penalty early in the quarter and the Suns started to go to the line with almost seven minutes left to play in the half. But the Wizards wouldn't go away. The answered every single time the good guys were close to finally getting that elusive lead.

Nick Young was hitting from everywhere on the court. This kid is something special. Vince Carter was getting smoked with Young showing no mercy scorching him and the Suns defense with 20 points at the half.

I've criticised Gentry for not making good in-game adjustments but I felt this was one of the best coached games of the season. He put Hill on Young in the second half and BAMF completely shut him down. Young only scored 5 points in the second half.

Channing Frye was raining threes. He scored from everywhere on the floor. His shot was a thing of beauty today. Back to back to back threes form him helped the Suns finally get a comfortable lead.

The Suns have gotten in trouble in the 3rd quarter before but not today. Great defense and collective rebounding as well as a flowing offense helped the Suns put the Wizards away. They outscored Washington 31-18.

Vince Carter had missed his first 7 shots but finally came alive in the second half, hitting his outside shot and even dunking with authority. He finished the game with 12 points but grabbed 10 rebounds. I like that last stat.

Nash finished the game with 17 points and 14 assists. He got some rest tonight thanks to Goran who had a solid game and was part of that second unit who cut the lead.

The Suns were having fun after they took control of the game, the bench and the players on the court enjoying themselves good play after good play. They didn't let the Wizards back in the game and did what they were supposed to do... beat a young team.

Be sure to come back for more post game info and enjoy this win. We saw encouraging signs tonight. Go Suns!

Can you say ugly?

41.5% shooting - 13 turnovers

Second half means business.

Go Suns!

There was a time when I got really upset if the Suns lost a game. I couldn't sleep, repeating the game in my head like a screwed up DVR, over and over again. I figured it was not healthy to let a basketball team affect my mood that much and that at some point I had to put everything in perspective and realize it was just a game.

I've been able to do it. I don't punch walls or kick dogs anymore. I still rant on twitter and facebook but I no longer lose sleep. Not even after losing to the Lakers last year when the Suns were two games away from going to the Finals. But the truth is that no matter how many disappointing games previous Suns teams had, I never stopped believing in those teams. Not one night. And that's what has been different this year.

It's been a tough season to watch. I don't get to see a lot of games in HD. I mostly rely on several websites to watch the Suns play. It feels like the Suns have lost every game I've seen on TV. I don't remember turning the damn thing off (on previous years) while the Suns were playing in the 3rd Quarter. I've done it four times this year.

I was ready to give up on the season, supporting Nash trade proposals and getting ready to rebuild but The Suns are alive and kicking now, riding a 4 game winning streak with a great opportunity to make it a 5 game winning streak when they meet the Wizards in DC.

The Suns were losing to good and bad teams so to me, the winning streak is legit. Does that mean that all of our prayers have been answered and that this team has finally turned the corner? Too early to say that. Is the winning streak fools gold? Too early to say that too. It's certainly a step in the right direction which has allowed the team to relax and just play and have fun.

There are areas of concern of course. The team has reverted to the "Oh shit, Steve Nash needs to rest" days. Teams are licking their chops when they see him sit. Goran Dragic's play has not been consistent. I'm not a fan of this stat but he has the team's worst plus-minus rating. Sure, blame doesn't go to him only, it's a team effort and the Suns have yet to find the right combination of players who can step up and play hard when Nash sits.

The Wizards, on the other hand, have their on share of problems. Flip Saunders is getting a lot of criticism from the media and fans, questioning his in-game decisions and adjustments. Confusing substitutions patterns and managing minutes are a cause of concern.

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There's nothing better than staying up really late only to watch your team lose against the team and player you dislike the most. What's even worse is forcing yourself to root for another player you dislike because he happens to be wearing a Sunsjersey. The new guys were missing in action tonight and while Marcin Gortat got praise for calling out his teammates days ago, I would look at my stat sheet and overall performance tonight before I make such bold statements again.

I wrote on the game preview this morning that we could not afford the Lakers bench to play well. That's exactly what they did. Matt Barnes, that Brown guy with the girl name and Steve Blakewere able to spark the Lakers during important stretches of the game. Phil Jackson was able to rest Kobe to set up what would be the Suns 3rd quarter collapse that would prove to be too much to overcome.

The Suns played hard, they competed and seemed like they wanted it but that's not enough to beat the current champs. Again the Lakers do what they do best when they play us: expose our lack of size, rebounding and showing the world in national tv how bad our defense really is.

The Suns seem to have fallen in a trend where they only play 3 quarters in no particular order. They try to fight back but can't get stops and rebounds in crunch time. There's nothing worse than an offensive rebound late in the game. It's like a kick in the nuts and it just takes the air out of you. The Suns played good enough defense to force bad shots but loose balls seemed to fall in Lakers hands all the time.

Let's talk after the jump.

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Recap will be up shortly.

Discuss game here.

Bench brought the energy.

Dudley shooting lights out.

Two full quarters to play. Let's do this!

It's funny when people ask me about the Suns nowadays. People at work, relatives, friends. I hate the grin on their faces when they ask this question but do you know what that grin means? It means "I told you so". Once Amar'e left I was positive that the FO would figure a way to replace him, we would go through an adjustment period and then we would start rolling like we usually do. Well, I guess the rolling part is not here yet.

Just to recap, two of the new acquisitions are in Gentry's dog house right now while the other was shipped to Orlando (along with our leading scorer). So much for the Childress and Warrick hype huh?

But this is old news and the Suns are trying to integrate Marcin Gortat, Mickael Pietrus and Vince Carter and it has not been an easy transition. There are fans that have seen progress and that can take positives from games the Suns have lost. Good for them. To me, you have to be able to close out games. Playing three quarters of good basketball is not good enough in this league. That's like my dad saving money for me to go to law school and being happy that I made it to 3^rd year before dropping out. I can't imagine him telling my mom: "But honey, don't be mad. He made it to 3^rd year. You should be proud he made it that far!"

There's really no way to downplay the Suns issues at this point. Even the most optimist and positive fan can't deny the fact the Suns might not turn this season around. They have reached rock bottom and hopefully that's as low as they can go.

They have the pieces to be a good team and that's the most frustrating part. At some point you have to put some blame on Gentry and I've never been the type of fan or player that uses a coach as the scapegoat. Gentry's in-game decisions have been suspect, his lineups sometimes don't make sense and it allows other teams to use mismatches. Plays out of timeouts are sloppy and look as if they were improvised, concentration and focus during crunch time has been awful. All of the above goes on the coach.

Now, the Suns will play the Lakers and Gentry faces yet another dilemma.

Let's get down to business. See you after the jump. 

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Let's vent.

You'll feel better.

I miss Earl Clark.

The day is finally here. The new look Suns will take the court against the Heat and we'll have a chance to see what the new guys can do for us. Or maybe not. You see, sometimes we tend to forget that these are actual human beings playing and that the NBA is like a video game where your team's level just goes up (filling the bar almost to the top) after making a trade.

Truth is that it will take time for us to really see what these new players can do for the team. The good news is that it's still December and Steve Nash and the Suns have plenty of time to figure things out.

Initially, I didn't like the trade. I think I made that clear in Twitter and FB. The fact that I had to root for Vince Carter made me cringe. I've never been a fan of his game; I've always considered him soft. I guess I'm used to see players playing through pain, bleeding with cuts and stitches -eyes swollen shut and stuff-  and leaving it all on the floor and -let's face it- that's not who Vince Carter is. But that doesn't mean he can't contribute.

The Suns were looking to get better defensively and they seem to have done it, at least on paper. Marcin Gortat will have a chance to show his skills and toughness. He seemed genuinely excited to come to Phoenix. There's nothing more frustrating than sitting on the bench when you feel you have the skills and mindset to play and help your team. When you are playing under restricted minutes there's only one thing on your mind: "How much time do I have left?" this causes two types of reactions on a player.

The first one is to try as hard as you can and take advantage of the time on the court and the second one is, after you try the first one, to lose focus because no matter what you do, you aren't getting any more minutes. Well, here's your chance Polish Hammer.

Gortat's presence will also help Robin. Both will be competing for the starting spot and that's a good thing for the team.

Let's not forget about Mickael Pietrus who can provide a good perimeter defense and 3 point shooting. He's defense will be needed in this game since I'm sure he'll have to deal with Lebron and D-Wade at some point.

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Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this is PanamaSun reporting back for blogger duties here at Bright side of the Sun.

I'd like to apologize for not posting much in a while. I've been really busy working and getting in shape to play at a very important corporate league. But the regular season is right around the corner and here at - your favorite Suns' blog- we eat our vegetables and take our traditions very seriously. Like every year we do our Season Preview Series to get you pumped up (or depressed) for the new season and as always... some things never change:

1) Suns making off-season moves that make us really nervous - check

2) The media reporting that Suns championship window is completely shut, they will never make the playoffs, Steve Nash better retires and becomes an actor - check

3) Suns pre-season sucking so much we want to puke, almost validating media reports mentioned above - check

4) Mike Lisboa making his yearly come back after claiming he was done blogging - check (we are like heroin, Mike, you can't quit on us that easily)

So, Suns basketball is here! Buckle up and let's take a look at our Point Guards and Wing players. With Amar'e in the big apple, these are the Suns players that will make you jump from your seat.

More after the jump.

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Try to remember what you were doing last year on May 23^rd. I've tried, but I can't recall. What I'm sure of is that I wasn't writing a game preview for the Phoenix Suns. Maybe I wasn't even thinking about the Suns or basketball.

No matter what happens and how bitter, upset and depressed you might feel, keep in mind that The Suns were not even picked by the so-called "experts" to even be in the playoffs. We have witnessed how The Suns got an improbable 3^rd seed in a very tough Western Conference. We saw them beat an inspired team in the first round who truly believed they could beat them. We jumped up and down in our living rooms every time The Suns would hit clutch shot after clutch shot whenever San Antonio made a run. We saw them sweep the Spurs and realized how hard it is to hate that team after listening to all their players give credit to our team and wish us luck. I've had a blast during this ride, but thankfully it's not over.

We are here. Granted, we are down 0-2 but we are here. If you are a glass-half-full type of guy, you might say that The Lakers did what they were supposed to do. They are the defending champs and there's no way you are going to let an underdog team beat you at home. Your job is to make sure you send a message. The message was delivered to the Suns and it's up to them to man up and rise to the challenge.

Unfortunately, I don't have experience in a 7-game series. Back in my playing days with the Panama National Team, it was win or go home. We didn't have the luxury to adjust strategies after getting beat. This is not a win or go home situation for the Sun,s since mathematically they would not be eliminated, but we all know that going down 3-0 against the champs would be disastrous. 

So how do players and coaches prepare for these types of games? What will the Suns need to do to win this game and get back on the winning track?

I think I can answer those questions from a player's perspective. I'll focus on the mental aspect of the game that's constantly overlooked.

Join me after the jump.

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There's a reason why I always ask to preview and recap most of the games The Suns play against The Spurs. Truth is that I see them play almost as much as my beloved team. I live behind enemy lines and... I don't live in Texas. It's even worse than that since I actually sleep with the enemy.

Having your significant other root for the team you hate is an awful and unique thing. God's ultimate joke, like a friend likes to call it. So the next time your girlfriend/wife asks you to do stuff together like watching a chick flick, go shopping with her, go to a play, or pick tiles for your bathroom, think about me. Her idea of doing things together is watching SA play and actually pretend to care. I have to put up with comments like "Parker is a great player; no one can stop his penetration. And he's so handsome, Eva is so lucky" or "What! That was a foul! Why didn't they call that?" referring to Ginobili's clear flop.

All that time that I've spent watching them has helped me understand that no matter how bad they look, they are always a dangerous team. You can never count them out. Never.

So let's take a look at what the Suns need to do to win this game. Of course...easier said than done.

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Ed Note: This was originally published two years ago but it is worth re-visiting..

Basketball does not build character…it reveals it.

Whoever said that it’s right on target. I’ve seen and played enough basketball in my life to know it’s true. This game really shows you who you REALLY are, which is great, but sometimes there are things that are better left unknown.

Allow me to elaborate on that.

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The Suns were looking to extend their 6 game road winning streak against the "new look" Dallas Mavericks in what turned out to be a roller coaster game (shocker) that had a little bit of everything. The spot light was on Amar'e Stoudemire who could have been playing his last game in a Phoenix Suns uniform. Right before the game we found out that Cleveland was no longer interested in the Sun's PF as they pulled the trigger on Jamison. You might think that all of this drama surrounding a basketball player would affect his game and maybe make him lose his focus but Amar'e did what he does best...play like a beast on a basketball court.

Many negative things have been said about Stoudemire, that he's lazy on the defensive end, that he should rebound the ball better and that he needs to be a better closer if he ever wants to be considered among the Kobes and Wades. And although you might agree with those remarks, you can't deny the fact that he's a professional and that he has handled this trade circus better than anyone I've seen in this business. If he gets to stay -which is most likely what will happen- I'm sure that he will continue to play at the same level and will do his best to make this team better and that alone makes me glad that he stayed.  

Game notes after the jump.

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The Suns have lost four games in a row. Eleven out of twelve on the road and eighteen straight games on TNT.  I think I've had to recap all of those games, so it's safe to say I'm linked to the curse too. You can call it the Panama/TNT curse. Truth is that it's not fun to be embarrassed on National TV and after watching the Suns play tonight, all that's left to say is that we are in trouble. As simple as that.

But the sky is not falling, not yet. People will come up with trade scenarios, they will go after Gentry's head, and they will even suggest that the Suns need to trade Nash. If you are one of those fans I respect your opinion and I understand where you are coming from but teams go through slumps and just as quick they can ride a winning streak and make us forget about all this.

I'm not a glass half full type of guy. You can ask Jason and Stan. I'm the first one to panic and get upset. But we have all seen how good this team can be and that gives me hope. At least for now.

 Let's move on to the Game Notes.

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Remember those 14-3 Suns? The ones that didn't let any team come back after a big lead and the ones who played very good defense to close out games? They were back tonight and with a vengeance.

It sounds cliché but there's only one way to describe this team. They are the basketball equivalent of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. After losing to the Golden State Warriors (playing no defense at all) everyone was left wondering if the Suns were going to be able to compete against elite teams. Suns fans were putting their heads down after looking at the schedule and thinking that December was going to get even worse. Alvin Gentry and The Suns had something to say about that.

The Suns had a different attitude in this game. They knew they were the underdogs, there was nothing to lose. Just go out there and have fun, play with confidence, enjoy the game. They were not tense like in the previous two meetings with the Lakers, they weren't looking at them and thinking "Damn, they are the champs and they have the best player in the league, how can we win this game?" They rose to the challenge just like they did against Boston, San Antonio and Orlando earlier this season.

But how did they do it? Let's take a look at the fun facts after the jump.

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The Phoenix Suns will play hosts of the San Antonio Spurs tonight as they seek to remain perfect at home. Playing the Spurs is always fun and painful at the same time. Whenever I see their uniforms I can't help but to remember all the times they have broken my heart.

I've been bitter for days because of them. I've punched the wall, yelled at my friends, fought with my significant other, fought with my Mother In Law for fighting with my significant other, screwed up reports at work, I've forgotten important appointments and I've even kicked my dog... and I love my dog.

Interesting enough, I don't have any bad feelings towards them. I've tried to hate them, I've tried to channel my anger and convince myself that they are the bad guys. Nothing. All I feel is respect and admiration. They are disciplined and deadly accurate when running plays on both ends of the floor and all you can do is just shake your head and wish your team would execute in crunch time just like they do.

But this year the Spurs are struggling. They have been playing better as of late but their season has not started the way everyone predicted. Their off season moves looked very good on paper but they have had a hard time adjusting to Pop's system.

I wanted to ask a few questions to the enemy so I contacted Austechspur, fellow blogger from our brother SBN Blog Pounding the Rock, and he was kind enough to answer my inquiries.

His responses after the jump!

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US Airways Center it's starting to become a dangerous place for opposing teams. The Phoenix Suns are the only team in the NBA yet to lose at home. They have won 17 straight games in the desert, dating to last season.

Some of us could say that tonight's game was fun, exciting and entertaining. Others could describe it as frustrating, nerve-wracking and bittersweet. What I'm certain about is that all of us went through a rollercoaster of emotions and that this game had so many WTF moments that you couldn't count them even if you tried really hard.

At the end of the day a win is a win and the Suns nailed some big shots down the stretch and got an offensive rebound that proved to be the defining play of the game. But let's not get ahead of ourselves and let's take a look at what happened before it came down to that exciting play.

1^st Half

The Suns were hot in the first quarter. They were hitting shots, moving the ball well and Steve Nash was finding wide open teammates with a variety of passes that made me jump from my seat on several occasions. They looked sharp and with a lot of energy. On the other hand, the Magic seemed tired and a step slower than the Suns. They were careless with the ball, having six turnovers and only scoring 9 points with three minutes to play in the quarter. Eventually their offense picked up and they managed to end the 17-0 run by the Suns with a run of their own. At the end of the quarter the score was Suns 33 and the Magic 22. Although they cut the lead to eleven, I had the feeling that Phoenix was in the driver's seat and that they would put the game away at any moment. Boy was I wrong.

Gentry decided to go with his bench to start the second quarter. Jared Dudley made a three pointer and Amar'e, who remained on the floor, got a nice feed from Dragic aka Frosty. This great play prompted Van Gundy to call a timeout as the Suns were pulling away and extending their lead to 19.

The Magic would not back down and they showed everyone why they are the best road team in the NBA, shooting accurately from the perimeter and fighting their way back in the game. At this point, Howard had been a non factor. The Suns were double teaming him as soon as he put the ball on the floor. The plan was working until Howard started to find open teammates who did what they do best...hit outside shots.

At the half, the Suns had shot 52% from the field while the Magic managed to stay close despite shooting 43%. Orlando had 13 turnovers and the Suns 6.

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There's a Suns game tonight! Yay!

The Phoenix Suns get a visit from the Memphis Grizzlies tonight, and look to remain perfect at home against a resurgent Grizzlies team that has won 4 of their last 5 games.

The Suns (11-3) looked dominant against Detroit, where they shot a season best 58% from the field. They burned the Pistons from behind the arc shooting 11-18 threes. This game against Detroit was not an anomaly. Our beloved team is tough to beat at home, there shouldn't be any doubts about that. They have won 14 consecutive games in this building (counting last season) and remain being one of the few teams who haven't lost in their home court this season.

The fact that Memphis (5-9) has been playing very well as of late makes this game really interesting. Their offense has been clutch and, during their last 5 game stretch, they have been holding opponents to 96.6 points per game.

The Grizz

On their last game against The Kings, Rudy Gay took over and destroyed Sacramento literally on his own. He leads the Grizz averaging 21.9 points per game.

Marc Gasol is having a good year on the defensive end, leading the team in blocks. He blocked 4 shots in that win against the Kings. The Suns will have their hands full keeping him off the boards.

This is a team that's running on momentum but they will start their road trip playing against one of the toughest teams in the West (God, It feels really good to type that). The keys for them to win the game is to continue to shoot very well from the field and defend the three point line, cross their fingers the Suns are not shooting lights out and capitalize on The Suns mistakes. Easier said than done.

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During this game, The Phoenix Suns were victims of a severe case of Amnesia. They forgot to not underestimate an opponent. They forgot that they need to earn every win. They forgot to do the little things that have led them to have a good record to start the season. They forgot that they still have a lot to prove.

The Suns went to New Orleans with a 10-2 record, tied for the best record in the NBA with The Atlanta Hawks and had a chance to improve to 11-2 facing a young team without their best player. Most of us thought this game was going to be easy for The Suns. There's nothing wrong with that. We are fans and after comparing their team to ours you can say it was a logical and educated guess. But Basketball is a crazy game and unlike fans...professional players can't afford to think like that. You actually have to play and earn it, because regardless of who you're facing, this is the NBA and any team can beat you. Any team.

Back when I was in High school, we were playing in a Tournament Finals against a team who was clearly inferior to ours. So we showed up to the game feeling good about ourselves and thinking that it was going to be piece of cake. We were relaxed and some might even say that we were cocky at times.

And so the game started and everything was going their way. Shots were raining, three point plays, fast breaks, steals. We couldn't by a bucket to save our lives but even under those circumstances we were thinking: "they can't stay this hot for a long time" or "our defense will get better" but none of those things happened and we ended up losing the game. We argued every single whistle that was called against us, our coach was thrown out of the gym and I fouled out of the game with still 10 minutes to play. My dad, who was watching from the bleachers, had to listen to me bitch about the refs on the way back home until he said the following:

"Jose, the refs didn't make you lose that game. You guys lost it. You didn't hustle, you didn't execute, and you didn't rebound the ball. It's like you were expecting them to suck at some point but it never happened. The fact that all of you, including your incompetent coach, were arguing calls throughout the whole game and blaming them for your misery just proves the fact that you are so arrogant that you can't even tell that you were beaten by the better team tonight and that it had nothing to do with the refs taking it away from you. Suck it up and learn from it"

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting the Suns were cocky tonight but it certainly looked like they were thinking (just like we did back then) "They can't stay this hot all night"

But they were wrong and just like me...they need to suck it up and learn from it.

That's enough of my stories. Let's talk hoops now.

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That didn't go as expected, right? Kind of.

Watching this game was really painful. We saw a tired and timid Suns team just going through the motions. We saw a powerful and rested team in the Lakers, playing with confidence at home.

The Lakers are the current NBA champions, they are tough, I get that. But I feel that the Suns could have at least tried a little harder. They looked flat out scared, intimidated, overwhelmed by the Lakers inside presence. True, we couldn't buy a bucket but this is when you have to fight through it and find a way to remain relevant in the game. Grind it out and stuff. But that's just me.

More ugly details after the jump.

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Do you recognize that sound? Can you hear it? That's the sound of the Phoenix Suns Bandwagon filling up to it's capacity. Yes, just like 2004. Hey, there's still room, feel free to jump in!

Suns Basketball is officially back. Steve Nash is the best PG in the NBA, they are leading the League in scoring, three point shots are raining over opposing teams, nobody can stop the Nash - Amar'e pick and roll and the bench is freaking awesome. But wait, did I say bench? But that was not a part of Suns basketball before...

Indeed. The starters on this Suns team are not the only ones who can run and score, They are not the only ones who can make big shots and make the opposing defense work. The days of the 7 man rotation are long over. The Phoenix Suns have players coming off the bench who provide energy on the defensive end and can score in a variety of ways. They are the reason the Suns are buzzing in the news while winning games. If the bench continues to play like this all season... The Suns will be among the top 3 seeds.

But before we even think about that, there's an important challenge tonight, some people might even call it a measuring stick. The Suns are going against the defending NBA Champions. The Los Angeles Lakers.

But make no mistake, this is only one game. If the Suns beat the Lakers tonight it will feel really good, I'll give you that, but it will not mean that we are better than them. Not yet. There's a lot of season to be played and a lot of things need to happen before we come up with that conclusion. Now that we got that out of the way, let's focus on how the Suns can Beat LA!

Oh, and before I forget: To all of you doubters out there, I'm not ashamed to say I'm drinking the Suns Kool Aid... at least I'm not writing this kind of stuff at the beginning of the season.

More after the jump!

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The West is as competitive as its ever been. One has to wonder if the 2004 through 2007 Suns would have been a Top Three team in this competition. Was the Triumverate of Dominance (Mavs-Spurs-Suns) based on a lack of competition or just a ridiculously silly high level of play from those teams? Was the emperor -- and his two top generals -- naked? Was Eva naked with them?

In the West, we still have capitalism at its best -- the haves and have nots. JFK stole a line from Jesus and said that the poor are here to allow us to do good things. I guess that's the Robin Hood-esque theory behind the luxury tax. The Suns, Lakers, Mavs, Blazers and (for years) the Nuggets. I'm pretty sure the Spurs joined that list with the acquisition of Jefferson in their attempt to get the most out of the waning Duncan Years (a great strategy, btw). In typical socialist fashion, the NBA redistributes wealth and draft picks to the under-achieving lazy bums in Minnesota, Memphis and Clipper-land. Is there any way we can make the NBA and the D-Leauge like the European Football leagues? We could relegate the Wolves and Clippers to the D-League and give Courtney Sims a chance to take an elbow from Kobe Bryant.

I've got to mention Golden State. I can't be the first person to liken them to the Bad News Bears. Alcholic, manipulative coach? Check. Players willing to throw down? Check. Under-sized trouble-makers? Check. Unexpected contributions from tall, effeminate players? Check. Ability to hit the long ball at just the right time? Check. Able to pull out impressive wins but unable to sustain anything? Check. I put up a link to an article in the FanShots section that discussed the Curry-Ellis-Jackson-Stoudemire controversy in a little more depth. Being a Warriors fan has to be a lot like being a fan of Evil Knevil -- you're thrilled when they pull it off, but you're just as happy to see a miserable failure and mass destruction.

All jokes aside, let's look at our competition.

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It's nice to watch Basketball again. It was even nicer to watch Leandro Barbosa in a uniform running the point, getting steals and shooting lights out from the three point land (sorry rosewood). Leandro is by far my favorite player and watching him mature and develop into a complete basketball player has been a pleasure. The only problem for me today was that he was doing all of this against the Panama National Team.

There are 10 teams fighting for only 4 spots in World Championship that will take place at Turkey in 2010. Group A has: Uruguay, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico and Virgin Islands while Group B has: Brazil, Panama, Venezuela, Dominican Republic and Argentina. All of the games take place at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 

Brazil leads all teams by improving their record (4-0) today while beating what looked like a confused and depleted Panama team. Leandro was Brazil's leading scorer with 17 points while Varejao finished the game with 15. On behalf of Panama Danilo Pinnock had 24 points and Joel Muñoz had only 8.

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 I've been quiet this offseason. Really quiet. Truth is that I hate trade talks. I can't take them. It's hard for me to look at basketball like a business, maybe the fact that I played for my country for $200 bucks a month has something to do with that. Who knows?

I still believe that there's people who choose winning over money, I believe there's people who swallow their pride to play like a team and accomplish the desired goal. Call me naïve, I've heard it before. It still amazes me how good players go to awful teams just to get a big fat pay check. Where's their desire to win? How can they feel good about themselves after losing most of the games? When I ask these questions out loud, there's usually a friend who answers the following: "P-Sun, I guess it's easy to lose games when you go home driving a Ferrari and a super model wife/girlfriend is waiting for you in bed just wearing Victoria's Secret underwear". Yup, I guess he's right. When the Panama National Team lost I had to go back home in a bus in the middle of the night with two dollars in my wallet...so yeah, I guess that makes losing a little more difficult. So, on game days there was only one thing on my mind when I was bringing the ball down the court: Win. This. Game. Do whatever it takes, there's no way I'm making that ride back home harder than it already is. And this is how everyone should play the game.

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While visiting my parents last week, I went in my old room to look for a book I wanted to read. It had been a long time since I had stayed in that room for more than a minute and it was nice to see that nothing had been moved or changed. The desk where I used to sit for hours studying offensive and defensive plays was still there. This desk had always been my domain, neither mom or dad had ever set hand to it and the drawers were full of 8 years' worth of junk. But going through this junk was kind of cool, old letters which I had put aside to answer  but never did, what had once seemed so important now looking antique, postcards that I had bought but never mailed. I was getting ready to get up from my chair when I saw an old photo. It was 1999, 16 year old PanamaSun (skinny as hell) along with my team mates from the National Team. We were at a party after beating Puerto Rico in the Tournament Finals. I played for my country since I was 14 years old until I turned 20, and this team in the picture is, by far, the best one that I have been a part of. We weren't as talented as you may think. My scouting report probably said the following: P-Sun, average shooter, force him to his left hand, If he's double teamed he'll freak out,  very emotional, make sure to taunt him and he will lose his temper. Truth is that we were an average team and it's not like we held hands after each game either. As a matter of fact there were guys on the team that I didn't like. So what made us a good team?

Was it team chemistry? But I just mentioned we didn't like each other...

Does team chemistry exist? And most importantly, does it affect a teams performance?

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The Suns finish their road trip with a loss to the San Antonio Spurs. They finish this tough stretch 0-4 in what Shaq called the "I hate Shaq" road trip, playing against his former teams: Lakers, Miami and Orlando. It ended up looking like "I want to miss the playoffs and be a lottery team" road trip for the Suns.

This was a good opportunity (again) for them to beat a good team and feel good about themselves. Instead the only feelings remaining after this game are: disappointment, frustration and anger. Once again the Suns fail to close out a game. They fought back form a 13 point deficit only to let the game slip away in the 4^th quarter with their stellar defense. It seems like these games are scripted. Parker scores a bunch of points in the 4^th quarter, Duncan has his away against Shaq, Nash with the late turnovers, circus three point shots just to get our hopes up, more turnovers, Spurs getting the critical offensive rebounds to get second chance points, game over and the Suns lose.

Heck, I should have started to write the recap right after the preview. At least I would have saved time. But no, I wanted to believe that our players were going to snap out of it and play hard. I guess I was wrong.

More after the jump.

Box Score - Game Quotes

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