Since it is Christmas, and the present-opening orgy is over, I'm just hanging around waiting for the game to start. I was reading an article about the Nuggets where Hollinger mentioned that at the beginning of the season, Coach Karl did some math to show how many more points per game they would score if everyone shot at their career high FT%. So I did some math to see how a similar feat would affect the Suns. Results after the jump...

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I'm just as excited as anyone else about the great start of the season with many tough victories on the road, several come from behind, gritty wins, and a surprisingly slower but more efficient Suns team. And while the seven cities in ten days start was tough, December looks brutal.

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With Jason Williams being waived by the Clips (article), I began to reminisce about the many Kings and Heat games I watched where Jason matured from an "And 1 Mix Tape" type entertainer on the court to a solid point guard that helped lead the Heat to their championship with Shaq.

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Chris Broussard of ESPN.com is reporting that Cleveland and Phoenix have finally finalized the deal they almost made at the all star break, sending Shaq to Cleveland for the retiring Big Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovich. Unfortunately, it looks like a straight salary dump with no Wally Z. included. I've got to admit that I rooted for Cleveland to lose to Orlando so that they'd make this deal, but now I'm a little sad and waxing nostalgic about the Big Cactus and the fun he brought, at least off the court.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4285489

So this sucks. Amare is out 8 weeks. Everyone is saying that now we might as well just tank the season get draft picks. By my math, though, eight weeks from Wednesday is April 15th. The last game of the season is April 15th. If Amare heals well, we get him back just in time for the playoffs. Now, of course having someone sit for eight weeks, you don't just jump right back in, your effectiveness is lower, etc. But is getting Amare back just in time for the playoffs the same as saying we don't have a shot in the playoffs?

I don't think so.

Amar'e got a lot of press a few weeks ago for saying he wanted to be the man in Pheonix; hoops commentators like the Chuckster and Kenny on TNT wryly commented that he needed to stop talking about it and start doing it, that he needed to control the game in more ways than dunking on people's heads and nailing the J, etc.

Amar'e responded by playing better D, grabbing more boards, and looking like a much more rounded player.

in the last two games facing both the mighty Spurs and the lowly Thunder, coach TP has given Amar'e a chance to put his money where his mouth is, essentially saying "ok, it's clutch time in the fourth quarter Amar'e, go be the man".

We all know the result against the Spurs: three straight possesions where Amar'e was bested by the shut down defense of five-foul-plagued Timmy.

Maybe TP was hoping to give Amar'e a chance to grow into the clutch time go to guy that he has the talent to be. But would Suns fans have ended up with a merrier Christmas if we had chosen to move those three crunch time possesions through Shaq instead of Amar'e? Could we have gotten Bonner and Timmy to switch? Was it more important to try to foul out Timmy than to put points up?

Then last night against the thunder, TP gave Amar'e another shot. Unfortunatley, Jeff Green's athleticism got the better of Amar'e and his three possesions in "da man" probation time netted him one highlight reel Amaredunk, but also two turnovers, including his sixth foul.

Once Amar'e had fouled out, the Suns went into the diesel, and the game quickly calmed down. Deisel played extremely well, consistently scoring or making good veteran plays involving the rest of the team.

And so I have to ask the question: who should be da man on the Suns? Amar'e, the highlight reel sensation who two games in a row has failed to deliver when called upon, or the Diesel, the proven veteran who consistently makes opponents' defenses pay?

My hope is that, just like Amar'e stepped it up on D and rebounds when he was called out, that his clutch time fizzles in the last two games will inspire him to step up in this area. Hopefully this is another step in Amare's steady rise to being the first teamer he has the talent to be.

But I'm an optimist.

KTAR is reporting that Dee Brown won the Phoenix Suns "Point Guard Idol" contest. From what my sources tell me, Dan Majerle played the role of Paula, all gushy and happy with all six (he said Damon's shooting "made him fall in love all over again"), David Griffin was Randy Jackson (Yo, check this out dawg, your J is looking a little pitchy, but other than that it was aiight"), and Steve Kerr played the role of Simon, telling them they all were over rated, but he had to sign someone.

If my math is correct, at 24, Dee Brown brings the Suns average age down from 28.4 to 28 even.