At this point in the season there is a rare opportunity to pick up a former MVP and league scoring champ.  It is a risky proposition but Allen Iverson is sitting at home waiting for a call.  Could an organization like the Suns handle AI well enough so that he would not be a distraction?  Is AI now willing to be the back up point, 6TH man, instant offense guy that the Suns need?  Surely he and his agent have gotten the message that he will have to adjust his expectations if he would like to catch on with an NBA team.  This man is very much in need of a friend and an organization like the Suns.

I think the Suns organization is strong enough and Alvin Gentry is patient enough to handle Allen and turn him into a wonderful asset for the team.  He can probably be added for about a million dollar salary.

Before the season started I think few people expected a very hopeful beginning. What is the problem? The main problem is that people start to want unreasonable goals. At first people were happy with achieving the PO. However, after a 10-2 people believe that we can compete against the best teams and when the first unexpected defeat comes we came down and begin the criticism.

One of the major problems of the Suns for long time has been the lack of rebound. What can we do? The answer is simple: signing a specialist. But who? And by whom?

One name comes to my mind, Noah. He isn’t only a good rebounder, he is in one way or another a complete player; no a great player, no a superstar, but a complete player. He can run, score, rebound, defend ....

Whom do we place on the other side of the scale?

If we want to make a trade this player must to be Amare.

Let’s see the statistics:

What is more important: to score or rebound? I think rebounding is more important because there are many scorers on the team but not good rebounders.

Moreover Noah could play center while Frye would play power forward, which is his more natural position. Noah can defend big men better than Frye.

I talk about defense because defense is one of the main factors for a contender team; of course, also the talent, chemistry, etc.. are.

Celtics, Spurs and even Lakers can score 85-90 points in a game and win. The Suns NO. That's because a good defense.

Damn, I'm extending more than I thought. Well, I finish.

Why the Bulls would want Amare if they already have Noah? I don’t know, but you can put any other name where I wrote Noah.

Henry, a close friend of San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker, patted the ball down like a basketball player before remembering to use his feet.

Anywhere I go, I cannot get away from the Sp*rs.  I suppose that's my lot in life. 

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The suns are looking like themselves again and are playing the best basketball in the league at the moment

but, we need to address one major isssue early if they are going to keep this pace all year.

steve nash is 35 and getting older everyday, goran has been great but he hasnt got the experience to carry a lead for more then 5 minutes.

Luke ridnour is only 28 and would be a true backup that this team needs. sure he is making 6 mill or something this year but under the guidance of nash he could possibly be worth the money. 

the way brandon jennings is playing, im sure they are already are looking for suiters.

thoughts?

Even though I consider myself a great Suns fan, so much that I'm pretty sure I bleed purple and orange (seriously, I just cut myself and that surely doesn't look red to me. Well, at least it's not purple and gold. That much I'm sure about), my first really vivid memory of the Suns is a highlight reel of a Phoenix-Memphis game of the 2005 NBA playoffs. The upbeat notes of "Winter in the Hamptons" by Josh Rouse were blaring in the background, as Steve Nash was sending a perfect pass down court for an easy Shawn Marion dunk in transition.

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A year ago when the Suns traded Boris and Bell for Dudley and Jrich, most of this site, and Suns fans were upset about the trade, thinking the Suns got the worse of the deal. Also multiple announcers would make comments regarding how the Suns made the trade thinking they would be under Terry Porter, and if they had it to do over knowing they would still SSOL they wouldn't have made the trade... WHAT?!

Well my stance is the same it was when the trade was made last year. We got the most talented player in the trade, someone that fits the RUNNING GAME perfectly, he can spread the floor, shoot, create for himself, post up, finish, and run the floor. Clearly a skill set that puts him head and shoulders above Boris and Raja. Most saw Jrich as the replacement for Raja, I disagreed at the time, and even more so, do now. Jrich replaced Boris offensively. Defensively most thought Jrich was a downgrade compared to Bell. Again, same stance as when the trade happened. Bell was overrated defender, as much as I loved him, his rise to mainstream was from grit, and more or less his clothesline on Kobe. Which we all loved. But it certainly made him appear as a better defender than he actually brought to the table. He didn't rebound his position well, he had no offensive game in the paint or off the dribble, he couldn't run the floor in space and finish at the basket. Comparisons of Raja to Jrich are embarrassing.

So, at the time not even knowing too much about Dudley, if we traded Boris and Bell for Jrich we had gotten the better deal. This was by far the best move Kerr has made. The production from Dudley offensively and defensively this season makes him a better player than Bell.

Teske 1 Bright Side of the Sun Readers 0

So what do you guys think was the best part of the loss to LA. Was it the highlight dunks by Shannon Brown or maybe the Lake show getting a taste of thier own medicine in their loss to the ThugNugs. My peronal favorite was Lou Amundson personnaly taking away free tacos away from the entire city of Los Angeles and giving them to Phoenix. That is my opinon, but you all tell what you think.

Okay....I'm not saying the Suns are the best team in the league.  What I'm saying is that right now, the Suns are playing the best basketball in the league.  They're outscoring everyone, blowing teams away with their up-tempo basketball, a plethora of three's, and their ageless field general Steve Nash who is making some incredible passes and getting everyone involved in the game.   He is putting on a clinic out there.  And I like how Dragic is playing as well, because it allows Nash to get his rest minutes in.  This will be big for us down the stretch.

What I'm really impressed with is the chemistry this team has.  It's a thing of beauty to watch!  It's amazing how one team can look so different from one season to the next.  They are exciting to watch and look like they're having fun playing.  And, I agree with Coach Gentry's assessment.  Amar'e's game is going to get better as he gets in better basketball shape.  He's already looking pretty darn good.  And, the team will continue to learn to play great together.  It looks like J-Rich is looking to fill his role as the second leading scorer on the team.  But hey, he might end up the first.  The really nice thing about this team is that on any given night, there's about five or six guys that can score over twenty points.  As a matter of fact, we've had at least two players with more than twenty points a game already several times this season. 

But what I really think is the reason why we're winning and playing so well together is that the entire team, including the bench, is playing hard and making contributions.  The whole team has bought into the idea of playing hard and hustling to make shots and rebound the ball.  And that translates into wins.  We can outscore anyone in the league, but now we're also at least hanging in there defensively and scrapping for the ball.  This is something new for this team. One final point, Barbosa is obviously not 100%, and Lopez hasn't been able to play with his foot injury.  Just imagine how much better our bench will be if and when we get these two guys back healthy!  Right now, it look's like the sky's the limit for this team.

All praise Steve Kerr:  Genius not Moron!

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First I must apologize for my English as I am from the opposite half of the globe.

I’ve been keeping track of the offensive plays the suns used in the D’antoni, Porter, Gentry w/Shaq, and finally this year’s Gentry w/o Shaq era. A lot can be said in the different plays preferred by the coaches, but let’s look at how they come together and lead to our current early success.

Many of us don’t want to recall our failed experiment last year, may be especially the players who suffered a lot mentally. However, things don’t just happen without leaving any footprints, and in this case, I think it’s a positive one.

In the D’antoni era we seldom see players doing post-up offense, except maybe Diaw and STAT (whom I think is not really good at that). Mismatch is emphasized only if the defending teams switch pick and rolls on Nash and STAT, and Nash will either drive or shoot over the bigger defender.

If the Suns do a group offense it will first start with a side pick and Nash driving to the middle, then another cutter curves in from the opposite side and Nash pass to him. Then a third "curver" will come in from the original side and receive the ball and drive or the ball is kicked out to the wide open Diaw shooting 20ft jumper from top of key because all defenders will be drawn into the paint.

In the Shaq era, there are several plays being emphasized:
1) the forever-present mismatch of Shaq, and there should be a lot of drills on how to space the shooters on the floor and cut in when he got double-teamed.
2) Mismatch is also emphasized when PG (Nash) picks and rolls with SG or SF (Hill or JRich) on wing situation, and the SG or SF would be posting up the PG of the other team.

3) The most successful play, top-of-the-key pick-n-roll of Nash and STAT, is only used in key situations like at the end of the quarter or in clutch time. The side effect of these is Nash assist numbers go down, because there were a lot more 1-on-1 plays.

4) There was a special play which had made a strong impression. Shaq posts up and Nash dribbles on top of the key. JRich or LB, standing near baseline behind Shaq, curves around Shaq from outside to cut to the middle and catch the pass from Nash near the FT line and drives for layup. They were quite successful with the play during last season.

How has AG changed the offense?

On fast-breaks:

First, AG is NOT doing 7-secs-or-less, unlike what many analyses are saying (by-default) out there. The main difference between D’antoni and Gentry fast breaks is that D’antoni focuses a lot of transition 3s. At that time we have Bell, LB, Nash, and even Diaw to run the transition 3. But this year, we only nash and LB who can shoot transition 3s stably. Frye is not as athletic in running up the floor, and Hill was not as accurate from downtown. Also, Gentry prefers a more traditional layup attack with higher accuracy, especially with Shaq in line-up. Second, last year after Porter was dumped, many other players threw fastbreak outlets from baseline or after getting rebound (mostly Nash, Shaq, and Barnes). But this year the ball has to go through the PG to make the decision.

On half court:

Gentry brought back the top-of-the-key pick-n-roll as the default execution, but this year Nash has the luxury of Channing Frye rolling out to 3s. All left is the PG reading the defense and improvising and finding open shooters.

Gentry kept the JRich and LB curve in middle from behind play from Porter. And somehow the Suns learned to how to make use of the mismatches by posting up JRich or Hill. This play helps to get the team going when it is a bit sluggish, which can be seen in first half playing Wizards and 76ers.

The beneficiaries:

Nash definitely benefitted the most from this system because he is more of the key of offense than in Porter / Shaq era. He makes more decisions and directs the ball to the open guys and that’s why he is now the leader of assists in the league.

The whole team learned a few more tricks from Porter which helped them a lot this year as well, especially on moving the ball to find open shooters, and that accounts a lot for the many 3s made.