This is How it Should Be

Could this year's post season bracket be more tailor made for our team? Could this be the year that the Phoenix Suns bring it home? Could the set up be more perfect?

Let's assume that records hold, and everything plays out the way we hope. Here is what we have to look forward to over the next two months of our Suns loving lives.

1. A first round match up with our hated rival and arch enemy, the Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant. And who leads them? None other than Phil Jackson - the head of the snake that envenomed Suns fans 14 years ago. These two teams had a memorable series last year, and this year's version should be twice as satisfying for us, and twice as ugly for them. Beat L.A.

2. Like their namesake, San Antonio has been the motivation for the Suns' current rise to elite status -- spurring the team to improve, to fight, to win. Two years ago, they denied us a chance at immortality. Amare Stoudemire became the highest scoring first time Western Conference Finals participant in the history of the league, crushing Lew Alcindor's record with 37 points per game against the best defensive big man in the game today. Despite last season, the Spurs are the reigning champion in the Suns' eyes, and the dragon to be slayed on their path to the holiest of grails.

3. The new rivals. Best friends and former team mates who have played to a draw in the Steve Nash Suns era. The Mavericks dispacthed an injury ravaged Suns team a season ago, and many say that they got off lucky -- that if Amare, Kurt, and Raja were in the mix, the Suns would be defending NBA champions. But we live in a world determined by what is, not 'what if', and the Suns are out to prove once again that Mark Cuban made a fatal error in letting Nash walk so easily. Best friends who should now be bitter enemies, like two men vying for the affections of the same beautiful woman (and we've seen the kind of woman Nash got).

4. The former champion, or the current champion, it doesn't matter. The Suns can prove that Dallas' massive choke job against the Miami Heat last year was no fluke. The better team truly won. The Suns have shown their mastery at removing major players from big games, and their relative youth and stamina should have the Suns running rings - yes RINGS - around an aging, plodding Miami team. The true challenge (and more likely one) will be the Pistons. They've been there, done that, and want to go there and do it again. But this time, they will be there without the NFL-like defense that won the title in 2004. This time, they'll have to run. They'll have to score. Will Chauncey Billups expose Nash's defensive deficiencies? Of course he will. And this will be the toughest test of all for Phoenix.

After fighting their way through an elite Western Conference, they'll be facing a rested Eastern Champion hungry to prove itself as a member of the league's elite. Dallas, Phoenix, San Antonio -- no mention of Detroit or Miami. They have something to prove, but so do the Suns.

Run-and-gun won't win a championship.

The Suns don't play defense.

The Suns can't play a half court game.

The Suns rotation is too short.

The Suns are too small.

The Suns will wear down

This post season bracket has been fitted by Armani himself for a historic Suns run.

Beat the rival. Beat the champion. Beat the best enemy. Beat the east. Bring home the trophy.