The results may be the same, but watching those Spurs teams was like watching paint dry. Whereas this team wins and makes it look exciting.

Instead of the Run & Gun or Fun & Gun – I’m calling it the Stun & Gun… we are seriously stunning teams with our defensive execution – watching Steve Nash contain Brooks (one of the fastest players in the league) in 4th quarter by moving and sliding his feet and getting the perfectly timed cut-off help from his forwards, and seeing Amare multiple times this season hold his own one-on-one on switches with great isolation players is stunning to me.

At times I find myself standing in my living room with my mouth wide open and shaking my head… not in dissapproval but in straight shock at how well we are locking down teams in the 4th quarter. It’s stunning. It’s the Stun & Gun era.

Our bench is playing so well for us and has been a critical factor in this great start the team is having. Just imagine how much more effective we will be once Lopez comes back. We’ll have more versatility and options on any given night. He can come off the bench or start, depending on who we’re playing. As a matter of fact, I now like our front court much more than before the start of the season. We have more options now. Besides Frye and Lopez, Amare can play center and be effective against some teams that don’t have the 7-footers like Houston (and be effective is the operative phrase). And, Collins has added depth and more versatility to our front court. At the very least, he is six extra fouls. At best, he will do some rebounding, put up a few points and do some dirty work. He will protect Frye and Lopez and allow them to get some rest. Finally, Clark and Amundson can help out as well. And, everyone’s been grabbing rebounds so that’s been a pleasant addition to this season’s team. I’d like to see how we fare against the Lakers once Lopez returns and we make some adjustments from the first game. December should be a good test for us and an early indicator whether we can make a run this year.

 in that picture. I mean, the dude is stone. Everyone else looks like they are doing the encouraging stance. Yeah they are focused, but mostly on team and communication and encouragement. Nash is stone. I wonder if this was right before he took some foul shots or what. All I know is if looks could kill..or win games…we would be undefeated.

Those two losses made me nervous, though. It’s not that they were losses; it’s that they were both blowouts. The Orlando loss suggests that a team with enough size in the paint can dominate the Suns. Since I heard from someone (here?—I don’t remember) that the Suns probably gave the Fakers too much respect, I am supposing that as mentally tough as these Suns are, the Fakers are tougher (and slimier, but that’s another issue), tough enough to laugh off the Suns—without Pau Gasol.

Weeellll…I guess if he wants to play the Spurs’ game—not try extremely hard during the regular season, because no one needs to win 82 games—that’s fine with me. I’m always thinking that a team that wins a championship from an eighth seed would be as good as an 82-0 team that swept every playoff opponent. Not that these Suns will probably get an eighth seed.

Dudley is rapidly becoming one of my favorite players,please in the name of all that is good and decent win the Pacific Div.,please

I’m not saying that we’re going to have a mid season meltdown or anything, but no team can stay AS hot as we are now. We’re rolling and taking advantage, which is great, but there will be times during the season when the championship caliburality of our team will be in question. It’s during those times that we need to see a team who isn’t willing to give up.

Personally, I look to Gentry’s 25-game benchmark to see how we are doing.

I’m along for the ride and I’m loving it so far.

p.s. still worried about Robin Lopez. I think he should be doing footwork drills and sprints ALL DAY. That guy is gonna have trouble keeping up, and moving fast enough on defense to get to the ball or get to a position.

The trust Gentry portrays with the bench is huge. Guys will make mistakes and Gentry rides out the players, doesn’t yank them at the first mistake on the floor.
 It also sounds that Gentry is being heard and the players are responding. Porter never had the ears and hearts of these players.
 I am anxious to see the Suns play the Spurs, Mav’s, Jazz and Trailblazers, then we will get a feel where this team fits in the West.
 This team reminds me of the 1976 squad, just a bunch of guys who had fun playing together, mix of youth and vets, lead by a great guard, Westphal/Nash.

sorry guys. This one sucked in the word sense…

just hope that we don’t let our guards down tmr against NO… they’ve beat Clippers without CP3!

Yes, we’ve come back and won games from double digit deficits multiple times, but we shouldn’t have been in that position in the first place, especially against inferior competition. Aside from Miami and Orlando, we do not have a win against a winning team(if I looked at the schedule correctly). To me, the fact that we trail in double digits and then come back isn’t something we should be ‘woohoo!’ about. We should be ‘woohoo!’ about the comeback, but “this is not good” about the fact that we fall behind to bad teams in the first place.

Secondly, that 05/06 team showed the most heart and resilience out of any Nash era team IMO. No Amare, no KT for the playoffs, no Raja for that series, plugged in new players and made it work, came back from 3-1, battled through two 7 game series….I don’t see how we can anoint this team yet when they’ve only played 12 games after the kind of season we saw that other Suns team go through.

Let’s not overlook our competition in the West. Portland just got done winning 4 out of 5
on the road. Granted, they played some subpar teams, but nonetheless, 4 out of 5 on the road is good anywhere, anytime. I don’t think this team is a fake however — the Boston and Philly wins convinced me of that. But I think we need to Win a couple of ROAD GAMES against this group: Lakers, Spurs or Mavs or Blazers for me to feel really good. You can throw Utah in there as well since they are so tough at home. If we can win 3 out of 5 against those squad on the road, (first meeting with each on road but 2nd meeting with LA) then I’ll be convinced. Needless to say, I think the most important team to beat is the LAKERS. I said it in my fanpost and stand by it — we need to do everything in our power to Win the Pacific Division. It has to be our driving force and motivation. Everything depends on that. I do not think this team will be able to go far in the postseason as a third, fourth or fifth seed — just my feeling. We have to establish ourselves as top flight in the regular season and then secure home court.

All this is not to say that would guarantee us anything, but, to have a legitimate chance we have to Win the West.