Phoenix Suns	vs.	Atlanta Hawks
0-0		0-0
4:00 PM Pacific / 7:00 PM Eastern
TV: NONE
Probable starters:
Steve Nash	PG	Mike Bibby
Raja Bell	SG	Joe Johnson
Grant Hill(?)	SF	Marvin Williams
Boris Diaw	PF	Josh Smith
Shaq	C	Al Horford

Pre-season game 4 against the Hawks. Again. Same thoughts apply as last time except I won't be able to provide a post-game recap since I am not in Atlanta and there's no TV.

The most important aspect of this pre-season game is....

...that there is a game being played. The first actual basketball game for our new Suns team!

I am VERY excited to see the team on the floor playing against guys in different color jerseys. Not that I expect to learn that much about the Suns and their rotations or the new system. It is after all just the first preseason game.

It doesn't matter though. There is basketball FINALLY being played. It has been a long HOT (busy) summer.

A lot of the fun is that everything Suns related is new. So taking past preseasons as a guide is risky. But taking past preseasons as a guide, I will be ignoring what the vets do all together. We aren't going to learn anything about Nash or Hill by watching them in a game like this.

What makes these games fun and (all that much more so this year) is the opportunity to see new players for the first time and watching young players to see how their games have developed over the summer.

So here's the first edition of

Phoenix Stan's Profound Sayings To Observe During the Execution of the Contest

1. Most of you won't see this game since it's not on TV. I, however will be there enjoying it and promise to share anything important or inane that I come away with
2. Tucker, Dragic, Lopez, Sean and Pony Boy. I really don't care how Hill or Shaq look in a game like this and (don't shoot me for saying it) but am not going to miss having Amare or Barbosa on the floor. This season will be made or broken in large part by how much the new guys can contribute.
   
3. Individual over team. The Suns aren't going to run all their plays or even have all their plays learned yet. This is a game to get to know those young guys and understand what types of players they are. What they bring. How they might be able to help.
4. Ignore it all. I came away from last year's preseason CONVINCED that there was a big role for Sean Marks to play. 
5. Did I mention that what makes this fun is the new players, the new coach, the new system. Pretty much a new Suns team in the same uniforms with the same starting 7 players. That doesn't happen every day.