Anyone nervous about December?

by tptman on Nov 22, 2009 1:46 AM MST

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.

We get Cleveland and the Lake-Show twice, Dallas, Orlando, Denver, San Antonio, Portland and Boston to cap off the month. We play a total of 16 games in December, and the combined winning percentage of the teams we face is 56%. 10 of those games are against the league's elite - those 10 games represent teams that are a combined 72 wins and 32 losses. That includes the Spurs, who bring the whole average down with their current 5 and 6 record while they battle injuries.

There is one particular stretch where we play:

Cleveland - (Sacramento) - Lakers - Dallas - Orlando - Denver - Spurs - Portland.

That stretch ends Dec. 17th, and I think at that point we'll have a good idea of what these Suns are really capable of. That's also the 26th game of the season, so when Gentry talks about not making any judgments on the team until 25 games in, I wonder if he was specifically looking at this stretch of games.

Poll

Today the Suns are 10-3 for a winning percentage of .769. By the end of December, what will the Suns winning % be?

.909 (30-3: we've learned from the NOH loss and won't lose again)

10 votes

.75 or higher (We'd need to be 25-8 or better, or 15-5 between now and the end of the year)

62 votes

.660 or better (22-11 is .667)

44 votes

.600 or better (20-13 is .606)

25 votes

.500 or better (17-16 is .515)

1 votes

Below .500 (we're about to go on a losing streak)

9 votes

151 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

well

at least well be in for some exciting games. hopefully by that point our guys are confident enough that they dont give these teams too much respect like we did to the lakers earlier. lets see this as a fun challenge and play some ball

by yanyanman2 on Nov 22, 2009 9:29 AM MST reply actions

Hmm..

I really don’t think 15-5 is that much of a stretch to finish 2009 off.

by bangbang240 on Nov 22, 2009 11:02 AM MST reply actions

Ouch.

Yikes, that’s a REALLY taxing schedule to say the least…

On the bright side, if we come out with a decent record after this then this team is definitely on to some great things, not to mention that difficult stretches like that are going to build up exactly the kind of mental toughness we’ll need to slog it out with the best come playoff time.

by DukeNukeco on Nov 22, 2009 11:02 AM MST reply actions

I think it is great

There is no question we will find out what type of team this is. This is a great measuring point. Hopefully Lopez will be back to see how he fits into the rotation.
I am looking forward to it, either way successful or not. This will be a guage for the season.

by Grockcubs on Nov 22, 2009 11:11 PM MST reply actions

Interesting post

I noticed the difficult December schedule when I was doing research for a fanpost I plan to write soon. When I write my post you’ll see that the Cavaliers, Lakers and Nuggets games in December are all on the 2nd night of back-to-back. If it wasn’t hard enough already to beat these elite teams, you can almost chalk those games up as loses when they are the second night of B2B on the road. Yes, December is brutal. Maybe it is wishful thinking, but I’d like to maintain the lead in the Pacific Division until the Lakers start their long road stretch. At that point we might be able to pick up a couple of games in the standings.

by Jack Frost on Nov 23, 2009 12:52 AM MST reply actions

Well, yeah

this does look horrifying. however, cleveland just isn’t gelling and lebron is not looking like himself lately (not statistically, I mean the way he’s playing). portland can either beat anyone or simply lose in a laughable way. and it would be beautiful if all the bedgers came over here to see their team lose. seriously, I used to like portland but those guys are taking it away game after game reading their blog. san antonio… i would rather not talk about it. time and time again when we thought we had the upper hand our dreams were crushed by those evil beings. as for the lakers, nuggets, magic and celtics: yeah they look like the elite teams of the nba. well, so do we. I believe in this team. maybe not 15-5, but 14-6 is still possible.

Libertarianism is just Anarchy for rich people

by Murcy on Nov 23, 2009 3:41 AM MST reply actions

Shaq

Shaq is messing up the Cavs like he messed us up.

April 29, 2008 Total Eclipse of the Sun. Is the sky falling?

by Hawk42 on Nov 23, 2009 9:59 AM MST up reply actions

It is a brutal month...

I am hoping we win the remaining games in November and win at least half the games in December. That would give us a record of 22-11 to end the year, a .667 average. Considering the level of competition we have to face in December, I think that would be an acceptable outcome. Obviously, not great if you consider our hot start. But, I saw signs to be concerned about in our 3 losses. The one good thing we have is that Lopez should be back by then; hopefully for the first week. That will help us with some of the bigger teams. By the end of the year, we should have a pretty good picture how good we are and if we can hang with the other elite teams in the league.

Geo

by Galvara1022 on Nov 23, 2009 9:55 AM MST reply actions

Yeah, I am nervous about December

They always start talking layoffs.

April 29, 2008 Total Eclipse of the Sun. Is the sky falling?

by Hawk42 on Nov 23, 2009 5:04 PM MST reply actions

I was nervous about November

so bring on December!

"Basketball doesn't build character. It reveals it"

by PanamaSun on Nov 23, 2009 7:03 PM MST reply actions

Tough month

As a life long Laker fan I am very suprised by the suns success. Not even the experts saw this coming. Dec. will be a real test for your team. The Suns are playing very well right now. Hey you beat Boston on the road. I really don’t want to comment on how good the suns are until they have to play the big boys in dec. I think if they play 500 ball they could be a serious contender. I think the Lakers are to long for the Suns to handle. They may be better than Cleveland, Atlanta and Miami but I don’t know about Orlando and Boston. I don,t think they could beat the Lakers, Boston or Orlando in a seven game series. Dec. will be a good test for them. If they do well they will be a real contender. I really think they are a player or 2 away from being an elite team. Smart move dumping Shaq.

by jdcrosier on Nov 23, 2009 7:51 PM MST reply actions

We know who you are now...

you don’t have to keep prefacing every comment with.. “well I’m a super purple and gold Laker fan 4 Life who loves his super duper Lakers team”…

But thanks for your enemy insight – keep it coming.

They say "don't swim with the sharks", but I'm faster than sharks so it's not a big deal...

by Eutychus on Nov 23, 2009 9:08 PM MST up reply actions

Just to throw some analysis back atcha.

It was surprising at the start of the season to see just how vunerable the lakers are this season.
Losing Gasol showed how big a hole he leaves when he’s off the court (think not just injured, but foul troubled games), and the start of the season showed how far Fisher has declined. Farmar is not a good enough backup, and as such, against a speedy PG, the Lakers suffer dramatically.
I think that come playoffs, depending on who you match up with, Deron Williams or Aaron Brooks style players could see LA with an early holiday. LA’s decision not to shop for a PG could spell their doom.

by Chucko on Nov 23, 2009 10:58 PM MST up reply actions

Funny things is., we won a championship last year with the same PG’s that you say will be our “Doom”

by SouthPhilly215 on Nov 25, 2009 11:38 PM MST up reply actions

You don't see the weakness?

You almost went down to a yao-less, tmac-less Rockets team because of Brooks, and you got lucky that Orlando had the Nelson injury and were starting Skip.
Skip’s a terrible player, but Fisher made him look like an adequate replacement for Nelson!

by Chucko on Nov 26, 2009 5:27 PM MST up reply actions

really, there is one thing I'd like to point out

these are great, elite teams. they are contenders, they have great players, coaches (well cleveland not so much), BUT! 14 games into the season we are tied for the best record in the league. we are a good team. a great team. so, not only they are very good – so are we. we might be one nash injury away from sinking into mediocrity – just the same for cleveland with lebron and to a lesser extent, other teams, as injuries to players like melo, kobe, roy and dwight howard would seriously hurt their team. so: not only phx fans have to fear the december schedule – other teams’ fans have to fear games against us.

Libertarianism is just Anarchy for rich people

by Murcy on Nov 24, 2009 3:56 AM MST reply actions

Fisher

You’re right about Fisher. Farmar is not the answer. I think that is the only weakness the Lakers have. How about lending us Nash for a year. He is still a great player. Will he ever slow down? Good move dumping Shaq!!

by jdcrosier on Nov 24, 2009 11:21 AM MST reply actions

I saw this earlier..thats a tough schedule…Very tough schedule

by Lebrontophx2010 on Nov 24, 2009 10:52 PM MST reply actions

December make or break

Lets wait until December is over to see if your surprising Suns can hang with the big boys. I really thought Denver would be the only bump in the road for the Lakers. The experts said the Spurs were the most improved team in the west. They were spot on with that one. Kudos to the Suns for their great start. I’m sure you Fans are enjoying this. I think in December you will get by everyone except Orlando and the Lakers. Where the heck did you come from. I know Richardson was a good pickup but 12-3 wow!

by jdcrosier on Nov 26, 2009 7:33 AM MST reply actions