It's the tenth game of the season, and it's a real doozy. Suns in a nationally televised game. I admit that I'm pretty nervous as a fan going into this game. I can't say the same about my mood before the game in Boston, since this one is against the reigning NBA champion and long time Pacific Division arch-nemesis Los Angeles Lakers.
It's still a young season. Coach Gentry is doing his best to temper his team's and its fans' enthusiasm, but we haven't been this elated since the Suns led the hated San Antonio Spurs with 18.5 seconds to go in a justice-infused game four of the Western Cofnerence Semi-finals. A tenth of a second later, two years of misery ensued. Forgive us, Coach, if those of us not in uniform tonight are all a little excited.
This game has to be nerve racking for the most die hard Suns fan with a memory. In an 82-game season, 1 game has little meaning (forget the implications for potential playoff seeding - our job is to live in the moment). But each game so far has given us more insight into the Gentry-Nash era of Suns basketball, and we have plenty of reason for optimism regarding the current regular season.
What have the Suns shown us so far this season?
Opening night taught us that the Suns can fight against a bigger team, as well as the significance of coaching and team identity.
We learned against the Warriors that the Suns are still the premiere offensive team in the league.
Against the Timberwolves, we learned that the Suns are no longer the fluke whipping boy of bottom feeders. They will win the games that they are supposed to win.
Collectively, the next five games showed that the Suns are a durable road team with a heart to be reckoned with.
The Suns book-ended the trip by fighting back in the fourth quarter against the Heat and Sixers, the former telling is that even superstars aren't immune to the Suns tenacity, the latter showing that there is no Q-U-I-T in S-U-N-S. That Philadelphia game also cemented Alvin Gentry as a man who can make adjustments and inspire a road-weary team to victory.
Orlando demonstrated that the Suns are not in elite company, yet.
Boston suggested otherwise. Also, we learned that our Suns can play the front runner against a championship caliber team for 48 minutes. There is a lot of pride in that.
We learned in Washington that the Suns can overcome a shaky start and impose their will at the drop of a hat.
Comeing home, The Suns proved that, not only can they play the front runner, they have the wherewithall to put their collective foot down and build upon a first half blowout to cruise to easy victory.
What will tonight's game show us?
Well, if the Suns win, we can accept the mantle of dragon slayer and solidify our place among the top teams in the NBA...at least until the team makes its second trip around the league. Then we would see if the Suns can overcome in-season adjustments from their opponents.
If they lose, then it will validate Nash's and Gentry's tempered enthusiasm, as well as remind us that our team still has a long way to go with plenty to learn.
Either way, this meaningless early season Divisional match up will tell us something new about our favorite team - OUR Phoenix Suns.
BEAT LA!!!
November 12, 2009
Dear Amar'e
I am not sorry. I've never really considered myself a fan of yours. You spent your career talking your game without walking it, except on the offensive end when you were rattling the rim.
How many times did you fail to get back defensively for arguing no-calls with the officials? How many times did you sit sulking on the bench when other team mates received the fourth quarter touches you felt were rightfully yours? How often did you stand flat-footed as your man spun around you or shot a 15-foot jumper in your grill? Where were you during the mystical 2005-06 season when your Suns brethren, decimated by injuries and deficient in size, fought their way to the sixth game of the Conference Finals?
Every summer you told us that you were coming back the next season meaner, tougher, and committed to defense - that you had been working hard and watching film to come into the season better prepared, only to morph slowly from the Duncan-killing Conference Finals beast into the league's biggest and leanest small forward. Every season you regressed further from your true form and further from the basket.
Sure, you had a month-long stretch between December 2006 and January 2007 when you averaged three blocked shots per game, but that quickly faded as tensions between you and Shawn Marion began to rip apart the chemistry of the team (for this, I lay blame on both of you equally, since neither of you put the team before yourself).
Last December, you averaged more than twelve rebounds over ten games. You showed us pieces of the complete player puzzle that you proclaimed yourself to be, but you left them scattered on the table as you found your role less glamorous than it was your first season under Mike D'Antoni. You said the right things, but you never fulfilled your promises. The incongruity between your words and your actions over the years was a legitimate cause for criticism.
So you'll forgive me if I showed no mercy during the twenty seven months after the League suspended you for leaving the bench with only eighteen seconds to play. I believe in my heart that I was justified in starting the Trade Amare Express two years ago. I only abandoned that train after Steve Kerr's arrogance exiled Boris Diaw to the Siberian Bobcats, where he flourished as that team's sole high post player. I insisted that we traded the wrong forward, and I was right, given the circumstances. Our only hope was that you would finally keep your perpetual promise to improve yourself.
Why should I ever have believed you when, once again, the Stoudemire record skipped? How could I ever again take seriously a man-child more concerned with nicknames and apostrophes than team chemistry?
That's why.
I wasn't skeptical that you had finally changed. I simply did not believe you. I had no reason to, just as I have no reason to apologize for being the one to lead the charge to get you the hell out of Phoenix. But I will say this...
I am so damned proud of you, Amar'e. Some people will attribute your play to your contract, but, though yours may be the words of a man looking to impress another club, the demeanor with which you speak and your genuine tone express more than any word you've uttered thus far this season.
I'll be honest...your performance that first game against the Clippers had me doubting once again, but I sucked it up when I saw that you made ten trips to the free throw line. I decided to give you until Christmas to show me something. Since that game, all you've done is hustle your ass off, encourage your team mates, and attack the glass. The rebounding may not be double-digits, but the effect of your presence is noteworthy as your fellow starters are averaging a combined 21.5 rebounds per game. (For perspective - that's three more than Kevin Garnett's team mates and nearly ten more than Tim Duncan's.)
The one thing that has impressed me the most, though - the image that sticks in my mind when I think of Amar'e Stoudemire this season - is your growth into the roll of team captain. Not to rehash old criticisms, but your last appointment to captainship was both puzzling and ill-conceived. You complained like a diva at every call that went against you, and every call you simply didn't get. You had alienated your team mates and coach, as you did your fans and me. You were exactly opposite of what you are now.
You no longer bark and sneer at the refs for missing calls. You talk to them professional to professional - man to man - and you state your case without pleading. You acknowledge their feedback and show your understanding to the demands of their jobs.
You encourage and congratulate your team mates. You salute the veterans in the stands. You show humility commensurate with your talent, which is a rarity in a league dominated by star players and multi-million dollar egos. And I can't praise you enough for the maturity and focus you have displayed for Suns fans during these first two weeks of the season. You're having fun again, and the enthusiasm bleeds through the screen and into my heart as I pump my fists with every rebound, every dunk, and every defensive stand you make.
I won't apologize for my beliefs. I will, however, admit that I was wrong. You did have it in you, and now you have let it out for the entire basketball-loving world to see. I've been wanting to say this for so many years now - I am so proud of Amar'e Stoudemire.
The step is back.
The dunks are back.
The system is back.
I am back.
Great job, Amar'e. I believe in you.
Sincerely,
Your new fan, Jey.
(Somewhere in Chandler, Adam is smiling.)
How many times did you fail to get back defensively for arguing no-calls with the officials? How many times did you sit sulking on the bench when other team mates received the fourth quarter touches you felt were rightfully yours? How often did you stand flat-footed as your man spun around you or shot a 15-foot jumper in your grill? Where were you during the mystical 2005-06 season when your Suns brethren, decimated by injuries and deficient in size, fought their way to the sixth game of the Conference Finals?
Every summer you told us that you were coming back the next season meaner, tougher, and committed to defense - that you had been working hard and watching film to come into the season better prepared, only to morph slowly from the Duncan-killing Conference Finals beast into the league's biggest and leanest small forward. Every season you regressed further from your true form and further from the basket.
Sure, you had a month-long stretch between December 2006 and January 2007 when you averaged three blocked shots per game, but that quickly faded as tensions between you and Shawn Marion began to rip apart the chemistry of the team (for this, I lay blame on both of you equally, since neither of you put the team before yourself).
Last December, you averaged more than twelve rebounds over ten games. You showed us pieces of the complete player puzzle that you proclaimed yourself to be, but you left them scattered on the table as you found your role less glamorous than it was your first season under Mike D'Antoni. You said the right things, but you never fulfilled your promises. The incongruity between your words and your actions over the years was a legitimate cause for criticism.
So you'll forgive me if I showed no mercy during the twenty seven months after the League suspended you for leaving the bench with only eighteen seconds to play. I believe in my heart that I was justified in starting the Trade Amare Express two years ago. I only abandoned that train after Steve Kerr's arrogance exiled Boris Diaw to the Siberian Bobcats, where he flourished as that team's sole high post player. I insisted that we traded the wrong forward, and I was right, given the circumstances. Our only hope was that you would finally keep your perpetual promise to improve yourself.
Why should I ever have believed you when, once again, the Stoudemire record skipped? How could I ever again take seriously a man-child more concerned with nicknames and apostrophes than team chemistry?
That's why.
I wasn't skeptical that you had finally changed. I simply did not believe you. I had no reason to, just as I have no reason to apologize for being the one to lead the charge to get you the hell out of Phoenix. But I will say this...
I am so damned proud of you, Amar'e. Some people will attribute your play to your contract, but, though yours may be the words of a man looking to impress another club, the demeanor with which you speak and your genuine tone express more than any word you've uttered thus far this season.
I'll be honest...your performance that first game against the Clippers had me doubting once again, but I sucked it up when I saw that you made ten trips to the free throw line. I decided to give you until Christmas to show me something. Since that game, all you've done is hustle your ass off, encourage your team mates, and attack the glass. The rebounding may not be double-digits, but the effect of your presence is noteworthy as your fellow starters are averaging a combined 21.5 rebounds per game. (For perspective - that's three more than Kevin Garnett's team mates and nearly ten more than Tim Duncan's.)
The one thing that has impressed me the most, though - the image that sticks in my mind when I think of Amar'e Stoudemire this season - is your growth into the roll of team captain. Not to rehash old criticisms, but your last appointment to captainship was both puzzling and ill-conceived. You complained like a diva at every call that went against you, and every call you simply didn't get. You had alienated your team mates and coach, as you did your fans and me. You were exactly opposite of what you are now.
You no longer bark and sneer at the refs for missing calls. You talk to them professional to professional - man to man - and you state your case without pleading. You acknowledge their feedback and show your understanding to the demands of their jobs.
You encourage and congratulate your team mates. You salute the veterans in the stands. You show humility commensurate with your talent, which is a rarity in a league dominated by star players and multi-million dollar egos. And I can't praise you enough for the maturity and focus you have displayed for Suns fans during these first two weeks of the season. You're having fun again, and the enthusiasm bleeds through the screen and into my heart as I pump my fists with every rebound, every dunk, and every defensive stand you make.
I won't apologize for my beliefs. I will, however, admit that I was wrong. You did have it in you, and now you have let it out for the entire basketball-loving world to see. I've been wanting to say this for so many years now - I am so proud of Amar'e Stoudemire.
The step is back.
The dunks are back.
The system is back.
I am back.
Great job, Amar'e. I believe in you.
Sincerely,
Your new fan, Jey.
(Somewhere in Chandler, Adam is smiling.)
November 1, 2009
Three Down, Ninety Five to Go
Photo by Rob Schumacher/The Arizona Republic
1. The team chemistry is amazing from top to bottom.
2. Hill and Nash are showing great leadership with their play.
3. I'm impressed with Amare's play on both ends of the floor and his effort on the boards. He's not getting them all, but he's going after them. Also happy to see him attacking the lane again. Once his legs get back, he's going to be a holy terror again.
4. Lou needs to start making those offensive rebound tip-ins, but I'll never complain if he misses them. He looks comfortable and in control out there.
5. Dudley. Excellent move by Kerr in demanding he be involved in the trade.
6. Did I mention the team chemistry? Holy shit, it's the best I've ever seen. It's even better than 05-06 when Amare was out.
7. Amare is not only saying the right things (as usual), he's backing up his words with his play and body language. He and Frye need to start hanging out more to get their mojos in sync, but they're a perfect match.
8. Lou and Dudley seem to have had a positive impact in Amare. They all are challenging the inbounds pass in the back court, and they're dogging their man the whole way. I mentioned chemistry, right?
9. Goran keeps having Nash moments in the lane. If he keeps it up, no team is going to get a breather when Nash sits.
10. Richardson looks comfortable finally. It's only one game, but it's a huge step in the right direction for him. He's the team's offensive wild card right now. If he keeps his nose clean and his head on straight, he'll make the Suns offense unstoppable.
11. Frye. I'll just reference coach Gentry in the post-game article written by Bob Young:
He got up 10 3s, and he probably should have gotten up 15, to be honest with you. It's an adjustment for him. It's hard for a guy to keep firing away. If he goes six for 10, I'll let him take five more, I'll tell you that. One thing I try to emphasize to him is that we did not bring him here to be a passer.I said Friday that the team just needs to get its three-point shooters rolling, and they'll be badass. He's got them on the right track.
12. The defensive effort is there from everybody. This is new territory for this team, so I'll forgive them if their effort doesn't always pay off. What they're doing is all I've ever asked of them, and it's going to get there.
13. Caveat: Clippers, Warriors, T-Wolves. I don't care. The only game that could have gone the other way was against LA, and they're a huge team. Still, they've handled the teams they are supposed to, which was always a question mark last season. This is not midseason, so we can't know for sure exactly what the Suns are capable of accomplishing. These things are for certain, though - the chemistry is there, the effort is there, and the right personnel are in place. I'm loving what I'm seing so far.
January 22, 2009
(Clever Play on Words)
GOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING, PHOENIX FAAAAAAAANS!!!
I'm Jey again. My apologies for the ego indulgence, but I needed a vacation from myself for a while. I hadn't been myself the previous 17 months or so due to my very first kidney stone I received for my birthday in 2007 and the complications that followed. I was on prescription narcotics for a very long time, and it took even longer to rid myself of its effects. I had a very odd year (+).
The Percocet seriously exacerbated my attention deficit disorder, and finally led me to get treatment for it. I'm excited. I get free prescription amphetamines. This could be fun. Not only was I forced to deal with my ADD, I also learned of another neat condition that explains me entirely. I had heard about Asperger's syndrome before, and someone actually suggested that it might be my personal Grail, but I never found enough information about it online until last spring, for some reason. All the tests I've taken to evaluate my mental state strongly suggest it, so I'm going with it. (Believe me...it explains EVUHRYTHING.)
I awaken from my 17 month haze to find the Suns looking like a team I should hate. Well...it is, and I do. After going over some old entries, I realise that it's time I make an effort to come back because, well...when you're right, you're right. And goddam it, I was RIGHT! This team has fallen apart, and it started with 'A'm'a'r'e' (seriously...what will be his next excuse to draw attention to himself? A Prince Albert? *graphic image alert*) eroding team chemistry with an unsubstantiated ego worthy of Benoit Benjamin, complete with the oblivious stupidity and laziness that made BB the most frustrating talent in NBA history...until now.
Anyone who's been following azacentral and planetorange is well aware of my stance on 'A'm'a'r'e' these days. Trade his stupid ass or put him on Adderall. At first, my opinion was met with much resistance, but it seems that the Trade Amare Express is gathering a full head of steam, and people around the league and in the front office are beginning to take notice.
It's about damn time. (It's not like I sent David Griffin a long ass e-mail regarding the team's and fans' chemistry and the perception shift amongst fans as to the direction of the franchise a year and a half ago. Thanks for the forward, Jeramie.)
Anyway...I'm not here to bitch about that. I'm here to make my presence known in the basketblog world again. I've gotten over the whole first round debacle of last year, and I'm ready to move on. Unfortunately for the organisation, though, my mission has changed. I may still be Jey, but my message is no longer, "It's OUR time!" It's now, "Your time is up."
Let's just hope I can manage my ADD enough to stick with it.
*fingers crossed, subversively flipping off Sarver, Kerr, and Griffin*
Edit (10-20-09): And wouldn't ya know it...as soon as I post this, I lose my internet. Gotta love the cosmos. Here's hoping that things work out.
I'm Jey again. My apologies for the ego indulgence, but I needed a vacation from myself for a while. I hadn't been myself the previous 17 months or so due to my very first kidney stone I received for my birthday in 2007 and the complications that followed. I was on prescription narcotics for a very long time, and it took even longer to rid myself of its effects. I had a very odd year (+).
The Percocet seriously exacerbated my attention deficit disorder, and finally led me to get treatment for it. I'm excited. I get free prescription amphetamines. This could be fun. Not only was I forced to deal with my ADD, I also learned of another neat condition that explains me entirely. I had heard about Asperger's syndrome before, and someone actually suggested that it might be my personal Grail, but I never found enough information about it online until last spring, for some reason. All the tests I've taken to evaluate my mental state strongly suggest it, so I'm going with it. (Believe me...it explains EVUHRYTHING.)
I awaken from my 17 month haze to find the Suns looking like a team I should hate. Well...it is, and I do. After going over some old entries, I realise that it's time I make an effort to come back because, well...when you're right, you're right. And goddam it, I was RIGHT! This team has fallen apart, and it started with 'A'm'a'r'e' (seriously...what will be his next excuse to draw attention to himself? A Prince Albert? *graphic image alert*) eroding team chemistry with an unsubstantiated ego worthy of Benoit Benjamin, complete with the oblivious stupidity and laziness that made BB the most frustrating talent in NBA history...until now.
Anyone who's been following azacentral and planetorange is well aware of my stance on 'A'm'a'r'e' these days. Trade his stupid ass or put him on Adderall. At first, my opinion was met with much resistance, but it seems that the Trade Amare Express is gathering a full head of steam, and people around the league and in the front office are beginning to take notice.
It's about damn time. (It's not like I sent David Griffin a long ass e-mail regarding the team's and fans' chemistry and the perception shift amongst fans as to the direction of the franchise a year and a half ago. Thanks for the forward, Jeramie.)
Anyway...I'm not here to bitch about that. I'm here to make my presence known in the basketblog world again. I've gotten over the whole first round debacle of last year, and I'm ready to move on. Unfortunately for the organisation, though, my mission has changed. I may still be Jey, but my message is no longer, "It's OUR time!" It's now, "Your time is up."
Let's just hope I can manage my ADD enough to stick with it.
*fingers crossed, subversively flipping off Sarver, Kerr, and Griffin*
Edit (10-20-09): And wouldn't ya know it...as soon as I post this, I lose my internet. Gotta love the cosmos. Here's hoping that things work out.
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