SB Nation User Blog: gorillagame

Don't Trade Amare

gorillagame — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:29:51 -0000

For the last few months I have been going back and forth on my opinion about what this team should do. At last years trade deadline i was sick to my stomach from the trade rumors of Stoudemire for a couple bodies with mediocre talent. The only trade that I have felt good about was the proposed Golden State trade if it included Curry, but even then a feeling of relief came over me when that trade apparently died. In conclusion i have made up my mind. We need to build around Stoudemire. There isn't enough talent available and teams wont be willing to give up the talent that could make up for his absence. Golden State fans have been getting on this blog and blogging on their own blog about how they don't want Amare if it means giving up Curry. Why? I love the kid but he hasn't played a single game in the NBA. My guess is that he will be good but who knows? Stoudemire is already a proven player. Sure he lacks defensively but the guy is a beast. He has the ability to play defense and who knows, maybe he steps it up and proves everyone wrong. My point is, I would rather take the risk of keeping Stoudemire than the risk of losing him. If we trade him away for a bunch of mediocre talent it would have the potential as being one of the worst trades in history and would haunt this franchise for years to come. With the luck this franchise has had the last few years if we trade Stoudemire he would probably end up being the MVP of the league. I understand the reasoning behind people wanting to get rid of Amare but what's the rush? Why not keep him for one more year, giving him a full year under gentry while healthy and hopefully playing with an active center (Chandler) that wont take up the whole key on offense. If it doesn't work out, then we don't resign him next year and we use the money that we would have used on him to sign another big name. We need to be able to compete next year. If Im not mistaken, we dont even have a first round pick next year so not making the playoffs would be even more devastating (could you imagine not making the playoffs and winning the lottery?!!! i dont even want to think about it) Even if we are in rebuilding mode we need something strong to build around. As of right now the strongest thing available is Stoudemire. Kerr, please, just decide what you are going to do and hopefully have it involve the suns keeping Stoudemire. All this speculation about what the team is going to do is getting old.

a whole season summed up in one game

gorillagame — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 07:52:09 -0000

The best way I can describe the way I felt as I left the Energy Solutions Center play is emotionally drained. The last two games i have gone to watch the Suns play the Jazz in Utah have resulted in blow outs. From the looks of things at the beginning of the game I thought this game would end up the same way. Then we fought back. It was great seeing the players, especially Dudley, step up and come back from such a large deficit on the road. With about two minutes left in the game I was feeling pretty good, thinking to myself "wow, we are going to win this! Finally these Jazz fans will shut up." Little did I know that Matt Barnes is scared to hold the ball when we are up by two with the shot clock turned off. I have never seen anything like that in the NBA. never. And let me tell you, there is nothing worse than being in a stadium of Jazz fans, let alone when they beat you. Going into overtime the suns didn't have a chance. Deron Williams had been asleep for most the game until the end of regulation and you knew he would carry that momentum into overtime. I started the game feeling optimistic, feeling that we would come in after losing so bad to Portland and actually win, then as the first quarter went on I realized it just wasn't going to happen. My hopes got up as they came back even to the point where I thought there was no way we would lose, but of course these hopes were shattered. This pretty much sums up the whole 2008-2009 NBA season. When the season started I was optimistic about Terry Porter bringing defense to the suns while maintaining the offense. Things looked pretty good at the beginning with the offense clicking, Amare even had a great game against Indiana leading me to believe he would start where he left off last season. As the season went on reality came crashing down and it became apparent that we weren't that good, or I should say we weren't that good under Porter's system. Then Gentry came in. Hope was back. 140+ for 3 straight games! Then Amare got hurt. Then Nash got hurt. Then we beat the Lakers. Then we lost 6 in a row. Playoffs seemed out of teh picture. But then we won 6 in a row including one against the Jazz, hope was back! And so it has been all season. One day the Suns give you hope and the next day they shatter it. How many times has this happened this season? Tomorrow is a big game(s) with the suns and also the mavs playing. I am "hopeful" but wouldn't be surprised if i get let down. I guess I'm getting used to it.

other notes from the game:

-I dont know if they showed this in any highlights but before the game started Shaq and Gentry went over and shook the hand of the owner of the Jazz Larry Miller's (who recently passed away) wife. The crowd gave them a standing ovation and all the jazz fans around me talked about how it showed a lot of class.

-Barnes hit some 3's but also missed 3 open layups. I don't think i have ever seen more missed layups (from both teams) in a NBA game

-I like Barnes but watching this game made me realize that he tries to shoot himself out of a slump too much. With a team that has as many scorers as the suns do you shouldn't have to shoot yourself out of a slump! YOU SHOULD PASS THE BALL unless you are wide open or you get the ball when you are up by 2 with the shot clock turned off.

-Lopez got some big minutes and played pretty good besides a missed layup. He looked comfortable and caused a couple turnovers during the comeback.

Shaq and Lopez

gorillagame — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:41:13 -0000

Does anyone have any information regarding the Shaq Lopez argument that happened in yesterdays game. I couldn't take watching anymore and turned the game off before it happened but I saw this on espn.com.

If anyone could find out what was said that would be great. I'll be at the game in Utah on Saturday and will try to find something out.

[Note by Phoenix Stan, 03/27/09 11:13 AM MST ]

I am sure we will learn more about this and I can ask when the Suns get back to town if not.

I love seeing this though. This is no different then what KG does and the way Shaq is playing he's certainly earned the right to have his say.

I like how he responded to Lopez talking back to him. In fact I liked that Lopez did talk back to him. Showed some fire.

I am reminded of a similar situation recently with my 17 year old son. I don't even remember what he said or what stupid thing it was about (taking out the trash perhaps) but he talked back in a very disrespectful manner and I got right up in his face and just as Shaq did and let him know firmly but without losing my cool that wasn't acceptable. He backed down as Lopez did and even thought I was mad at how he reacted I appreciated him showing some spine. It's part of the growing up process of becoming a man.

If your plan is to ruin us, sell the team!!!!

gorillagame — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 07:38:51 -0000

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=Akv7DuSB7ZrnNgYhqusVO128vLYF?slug=aw-sunstrades021109&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

If sarver wants to save some money he is in the wrong business. if you can't afford an NBA team then you should sell it. why would you ruin the team for the next 10 years? and i bet he wants to raise the price of tickets again, which would be great because who wouldnt want to pay more money to see a team that has been torn apart by their owner

another thing, did you read bill simmons new article about trade value? i dont think you can explain nash's situation in a better way

here is what bill simmons says about nash:

"23. Steve Nash
He's the Jennifer Aniston of the NBA: A sympathetic figure who brings a ton to the table and just wanted to have kids (or in Nash's case, win one title), only now his window is closing and he's considering the sperm donor route (or in Nash's case, a mercy trade to a contender with a better chance of winning, like Portland). By the way, Sarver is absolutely Angelina Jolie in this analogy -- he ruined everything and doesn't even feel bad about it. The Shaq trade equals the time Jennifer's wasting by dating John Mayer -- ultimately, it's a wasted year for her ovaries. Amare Stoudemire was Brad Pitt, the guy who should have made it happen and didn't. And I think Marc Stein was Us Weekly."

the analogy may be strange but Sarver is ruining everything and doesnt feel bad about it. i heard he's planning on selling the team in a few years anyway, why not sell it now to an owner that wants to win a championship and not save a buck or two?

would this have a chance at happening?

gorillagame — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 17:51:51 -0000

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=2166~1727~671~2177~1981~3032&teams=4~3~4~21~21~3&te=&cash=

I dont know if the hornets would be willing to part with west but this would solve our issues with a backup point guard and would give us an all-star that is a solid team player. i just hope these rumors about trading stoudemire to the bulls for some mediocre players (please not noah!!!) are just rumors. we've had a rough season but we could still put something together that would work and give us a chance