If we know anything from recent history:

[1] Day Games: Bad
[2] Nationally Televised Games: Bad
[3] Versus the Spurs?  Triple Bad!

The good news: I don't expect much from this game.  I guess it's nice that we can cut our new team's teeth on serious competition to get them in shape.  It's better to have a clear sense of how far the goal is than to have a false sense of worth, which is what I think the suns fans and some players may have had before the trade for Shaq.  Obviously, the brain trust did not have that false sense of security, or else they wouldn't have taken the huge risk.

The bad news: I don't expect much from this game.  In the past, each time I have expected SUNS glory.  I'm I turning into a clipper fan like SRP, sustained by the hopes of next year, draft picks and rookies?  

Nah - I just think we are a new team going against a team at the top of their game.  This game is an interesting matchup of two very aged teams, perhaps the oldest two teams in the NBA.  But the colossal difference is that one that has played together forever, and one has not.  The Suns have been like trying to tune-up a indy car while it races around the track at 250mph. In one sense, it's amazing what the accomplish in their early seasons - as noted on some of the other diaries.

Notably, of players that play for the Spurs, only Tony Parker (25) is younger than 30.  (I may be  +/- 1 year on some of the ages.)  The only other two 20-somethings are Bonner (27) and rookie Ian Mahinmi (21).  Then you have:

Horry (38)
Bowen (36)
Barry (36)*
Finley (35)
Thomas (35)
Stoudamire (34)
Vaughn (33)

and the guys in their late primes:
Duncan (31)
Manu (30)
Udoka (30)

The Suns on the other hand, have effectively two teams: The over-30 team and the 25-and-under team.  Excluding 10-day contract guy LJ, there is no one on the team in their "primes" (27-30).

Over-30 Team:
Shaq (36)
Hill (35)
Nash (34)
Bell (31)
Skinner (31)
G-Squared (30)

You could argue Bell, Skinner and G^2 are in their late primes as well.

Then our important trio of 25-year-olds:

PAD-STAT (25)
Barby (25)
3D (25)

plus some rookies:
Rookie DJ (23)
Rookie Tucker (22)

Notably, if you believe last year's O'Brien trophy was almost ours, then we lost because of youthful indiscretion.  In other words, we depended on a pair of 24/25-year-olds and that's why we lost.  Then again, we might have lost anyway.

Perhaps the Suns talent arsenal, split by the huge generation gap, is possibly a factor in our ability to compete.  By the time the 25-year-olds really come into their own, the sun will have already set on Shaq, Nash and Hill.