Apparently, everyone and his brother has been throwing Porter under the bus -- Nash, Amare, Kerr.  Tonight, at the beginning of the fourth period, Ced tried to juice up the crowd by asking, "How do you like these changes now, Suns fans?!"

My friend from high school (and then "reunited" in law school like a cheesy Oxygen-Channel made-for-TV-movie) was in town and I took him to the game.  In exchange, he took me to Seamus McCaffrey's beforehand.  I told him what to expect from the various players, and he was pleasantly surprised.

When you watch these guys long enough, you kind of get to know what they're going to do.  By the end of the night, he:

1.  Started calling Goran Dragic "Goran Tragic" for his terrible handle.

2.  Was chanting Loooooooo

3.  Laughed hysterically when Lou passed the ball to the other team on an inbound after a made hoop late in the fourth quarter (I told him Lou would be good for one bricked free throw, two stupid fouls and one stolen outlet pass -- Lou, thanks for making that pass).

4.  Pleaded with Barnes not to take contested 3s early in the shot clock, from the first on he jacked up.

5.  Was impressed with Barbosa's numbers as a starter.

6.  Fell out of his chair when Fropez ran the floor nicely and forget to use two hands on the dunk to "put it down with authority" thus resulting in a clank off the bank rim.

Let's not have a re-do of the SacTown fools' gold.  I kind of don't think we will, mainly because the beleaugered Clips are going to be even thinner without Randolph.  Speaking of ...

I didn't see the whole thing since it happened behind the play, but I joined it where Lou was fighting his way back to a standing position (Randolph wasn't making it easy to get up) and then chest-bumping.  I'll tell you what, Randolph landed that blow.  I could hear land from my seat in the upper level.  Lou barely flinched.  That is one tough dude.

Despite the nickname, Goran played pretty well.  He moved the ball around, hit shots when left unguarded, and made some nice assists.  4 turnovers was the problem.

Again, turnovers were a problem.  22 in all.  Only 8 by the starters, but that's still a lot.  The Suns had 8 by halftime -- a half in which the starters logged starter-like minutes.  That's still too many.  Fortunately, the only Clipper (who wasn't thrown out) that had any game was rookie Eric Gordon. 

Who was that #3 guy?  He wasn't in the program.  Is Sterling pulling citizens of the Clipper Nation onto the court.

I'd really like to see Barbosa starting.  He plays well as a starter and he plays well alongside Steve Nash.  I've been sayin he should start since last season (in place of Bell).  It is unfortunate that I got an orange Richardson jersey for Christmas (before the DUI became news) and I haven't been able to wear it since.  It's also unfortunate that he is now one of my son's favorite players (for the similarity in names).  He should be traded or be coming off the bench.  He's got a big contract, maybe that can be moved for cap reasons.

It was a great atmosphere, reminiscent of the SSOL days.  Can it work?  I don't know, but it's definitely more fun.  I mentioned in a comment that Gentry returning to the SSOL is kind of like Robert Plant going solo.  I kind of felt like I was at the Page/Plant reunion tour.  Not as good as it used to be, but a helluva lot better than Coverdale-Page.