Tonight the Phoenix Suns clearly had their big boy pants on. They withstood the blood and hits and intimidation of the Sacramento Kings and won the bout of Western Conference light weights, 98-84.

The Suns put in an excellent defensive effort, limiting the Kings to 35% shooting on their home court. The defensive charge was led by Grant Hill, who made Tyreke Evans a non-factor, holding the 6-6 point guard to 4 points on 1-9 shooting.

Down in the trenches, Phoenix narrowly lost the overall rebounding battle 42-38, but 50% shooting and an excellent bench effort more than made up for it.

Jared Dudley led the Suns with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while a bloodied Steve Nash dished 15 assists. Channing Frye continued his improvement from the field, knocking down 6 of 12 for 17 points.

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The Suns are only 2.5 games out of the 8th seed and 3 games out of the 7th seed and with 40 games to go, there is obviously PLENTY of time to get into the playoffs.... however, the teams in 7th and 8th seed are the Blazers and Lakers and the teams in 8-10th place are Utah, Memphis, and Minnesota so now 2.5 games feels like 5.5 games

IDK how you guys feel but when the suns won, i get happy since wins are fun and i look into the playoff situation as only a couple of games out BUT then i look at the teams ahead and look into this years mock drafts and i just really want a top 5 pick....

I honestly think if we were to trade our valuables and tank the season for a top 5 pick, THIS WOULD BE THE YEAR, because everyone will remember this season as the lockout shortened season that messed up everybody rather then the one the suns screwed up on...

March 20-April 25 (end of season) schedule is BRUTAL!!! Check this out

• March 20 ... at Miami
• March 21 ... at Orlando
• March 23 ... at Indiana
• March 25 ... at Cleveland
• March 27 ... vs. San Antonio
• March 28 ... at LA Clippers
• April 1 ... vs. New Orleans
• April 3 ... at Sacramento
• April 4 ... at Utah
• April 6 ... at Denver
• April 7 ... vs. LA Lakers
• April 9 ... at Minnesota
• April 11 ... at Memphis
• April 13 ... at Houston
• April 14 ... at San Antonio
• April 16 ... vs. Portland
• April 18 ... vs. Oklahoma City
• April 19 ... vs. LA Clippers
• April 21 ... vs. Denver
• April 24 ... at Utah
• April 25 ... vs. San Antonio

I WANT YOUR GUYS OPINION?!?!?!

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What it says is the player evaluation and team building metrics in the NBA are worn out, predictable, conventional, monotonous and far too often they are executed by apparently dull witted executives and coaches stuck in a rut when evaluating players.

Kobe Bryant yesterday "“When a player is playing that well, he doesn’t come out of nowhere. It seems like he comes out of nowhere. Go back and take a look, and the skill level was probably there from the beginning; it’s just that we didn’t notice it.” NYT

LA Times:Jeremy Lin was there for the taking ...Lakers discussed signing the guard when he was a free agent, before he was signed and released by Houston. Mike Brown didn't know anything about Lin, who scored 38 points Friday night.....

Lin was compared to Steve Nash by the ESPN commentators and others this week, including Bynum. Lin is about the size of Steve, shoots well like Nash, penetrates well, has what one ESPN commentator said was 'court vision' which allows him to avoid traps and find good passing opportunities. He clearly has basketball smarts and has the basics down.Yet, no, he doesn't do tomahawk dunks.

Lin is not super-physically gifted. He cannot fly through the air, or hang for jumpers like a Derrick Rose. And yet, he is the first player in the NBA in 30 years to score 28 points or more, and 8 assists in his first game as a starter, against the Utah Jazz last Saturday. Isiah Thomas performed a similar feat in his debue in October, 1981.

Of course, we don't know how long Lin will last, but the Knicks aren't going to let him go like the Rockets or the Kings. Magic Johnson said last night at half-time in the NY-LA game that Lin 'was for real'. Magic doesn't say that about every rookie. We also know guys who get compared to Steve Nash don't come along every year. What we do know, is that one heck of a promising point guard was passed up in the NBA draft, was dropped from at least two teams, and almost by luck was given a chance to shine with the NY Knicks. Why was he passed up so often? Just because he was from the Ivy League, which has not had a player drafted since 1995? Just because he was Asian-American, and there are none playing guard in the NBA?

Or is it just because guys who can't two hand dunk, guys who are not big or gifted physically, are glossed over, even for the point guard position in the NBA? The fact that a lot of NBA point guards, like the SUNS Telfair, Brown and Price fit the physical ability specs OK, yet (1) can't shoot well or reliably (2) don't have the court vision to avoid dribbling into traps or hopeless walls of bodies (3) cannot run offenses effectively....does not keep teams like the SUNS from signing them up and suffering the consequences.

Although there is almost certainly no one with the potential of Jeremy LIn out there on a BB court somewhere right now, his experiences would seem to be a wake up call that the metrics for recruiting point guards should expand to include players who make up in BB basics, shooting, passing, court vision and smarts what they may lack in the realm of outstanding physical equipment. Young players like that can make a very big difference for a team, although the chance that they would outscore Kobe in a shootout their first game against the Lakers is a pretty steep hill to climb.

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The Sacramento Kings haven't had a winning season since 2005-06, when their team featured Mike Bibby, Peja Stojakovic and Ron Artest (AKA Metta World Whatever). This year's edition doesn't figure to reach .500 either, but the Kings do have some quality young talent in Tyreke Evans, DeMarcus Cousins and Isaiah Thomas, and have won 4 of their last 5 games, including a 106-101 win over the Thunder on Thursday night. They sit at 10-16 going into tonight's game against the Suns in Sacramento.

Thursday night wasn't as good for the Suns, as they dropped a winnable game to the Rockets and played their starters a lot of minutes in the process due to woeful bench play. If the game against the Rockets was a measuring stick to see how far the Suns can rise, this game could be seen as a measuring stick for how far they can fall. Last season, the Kings beat the Suns in 3 of their 4 meetings despite the fact that, let's be honest here, the Kings had a terrible team.

This year's version of the Kings looks to be slightly improved, as Evans and Cousins gain more experience and they're adjusting to new head coach Keith Smart, promoted from assistant after a 2-5 start and a near-mutiny under former Suns player and coach Paul Westphal.

It's tempting to look at this game on the schedule and think the Suns "should" win, but these are fairly evenly matched teams.

Read on for more........

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My Story:

I started liking the Suns when I was in 6th grade. Shaq had been traded to the Suns (or FA I forgot which one), and I liked Shaq alot because I did a third grade project about him. I kinda followed wherever Shaq went because I was not a big basketball fan. In sixth grade, I started loving the Suns, which brought me to the NBA. Since Then I have been a diehard Suns fan, loving Amar'e, Shaq, and later, Nash. I am obsessed with Nash right now, he has been an inspiration to all Suns fans. I know a lot about the NBA also, because I follow it intensly. All my friends all make fun of me because I'm a Suns fan, and I live in RedNation. I just tell them I've been one for a while and I will stick with this team no matter what happens.

Our Story:

Everyone who goes on this site is a true fan. All the other "win or nothing" fans already abandoned the Suns and went to a contending team. We are the real fans who stick with the Suns through tough times, even when we think there will never be light ahead, there always will be. The Sun never dies. (until a couple billion years)

I wrote this post to show how we need to stick with the Suns no matter what happens, all of us are disappointed in the Sun's performance this year, and we feel like Nash's talent is being wasted in Phoenix and hes not getting any younger. I feel that soon we will establish dominance again and we will eventually win a championship. That time may not be next year, but we should all still have hope, because the Suns are OUR team and the Sun will rise again.

Poll

What kind of Suns fan are you.

• Sticks through tough times and stays with the Suns no matter what.
• If we really suck the next few years, will abandon the Suns for a contending team.
• Going to leave the Suns if we don't make the playoffs this year.

  26 votes | Results

Hi Guys! My name's Lynton and I'm an exchange student studying here for the semester, in Miami. As a long time suns fans (Charles/KJ era originally) its always been my dream to go to a home game. Well as a gift from my girlfriend - IM COMING TO PHX to see the SUNS v the Lakers on april 7th. Anyway, the point of my post wasnt to gloat, I wanted to know if u guys have like pre game parties or anything like that? (im over 21). Also are there any particular bars which are best to go to before/after the game? I really wanna get amongst it! I haven't booked accomodation yet - anyone know of any cheap places near by the arena?? Hopefully i can meet some of u guys at the game!! Thanks guys!

"NO RETREAT! NO SURRENDER! THIS IS SPARTA LAW! And by Spartan law, we will stand and fight... and die."

"O-kay. We see where you're going with this. But hear us out. What if, like, instead of fighting to win, you like, lose some battles, so you're more effective later?"

"WHO ARE YOU?!? Who are these Cretins? Why aren't you dressed in battle armor?"

"Oh, we don't actually fight with you. We more like cheer from the sidelines. See those logs all tied up and webbed together beside the battlefield? We sit there and sort of tell you what you should do."

"THE PERSIANS ARE ALREADY HERE! We've made a giant wall out of boulders and their bodies! Why do you want us to not fight our hardest?"

"You see, there's some fine up and coming young fighters, and if you lose a lot, you would get first pick! So by strategically having some of your best warriors hide in that water tank over there part of the time, you could throw a few battles, BUT next year pick up some young stud who has a 7' wingspan!"

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