Daily Links: No Panic Here...

I think we can add Kelly Dywer to the Suns TNT curse

Game to pay attention to: Suns vs. Knicks - Ball Don't Lie - NBA - Yahoo! Sports
This game will be fun, it's worth paying attention to; and if we get a close contest toward the end of one of the other five games on the schedule, than you'll just have to send me a strongly-worded letter. Or comment. I won't be able to read it, though, because I'll be watching the Knicks play the Suns.

But don't fret too much, the Suns weren't the only team to lose to an inferior Eastern Conf foe...and btw, if you want a reminder of what high expectations and sub-par performances can do to a fan base spend some time at Blazer's Edge where the pucker factor is through the roof!

Media Row Report: Blazers 100, Heat 107 - Blazersedge
Nate McMillan's Blazers just dropped their third straight game overall and second straight at home, a solid 107-100 thumping at the hands of the Miami Heat.

Goran has had a couple of bad shooting games coming on the heals of a pretty hot stretch. Raise your hand if you thought this second year player was going to be consistent this season?  Now go wash your mouth out for being a liar.

He's going to be up and down with his shot but as long as he's defending well, playing hard and staying aggressive then we can live with that and besides, I don't think we can blame this loss on the Suns bench

Hardwood Paroxysm " Blog Archive " Lion Face/Lemon Face: 12.2.09
Lemon Face: Goran Dragic Everyone loves to talk you up as one of the big reasons the Suns have started out so incredibly this season. And you’ve been really great and a nice surprise. Foreign point guards, especially backups, don’t usually get it this quickly without having been thrown into the fire as a rookie, which you weren’t last season. But against the Knicks of all teams, you can’t have an O-fer (0-6, 0-5 on threes) in 24 minutes with three turnovers and four personal fouls. I mean, you were going against Chris Duhon (or what’s left of him) and Nate Robinson. A scoreless night is not an option.

Here's some nice perspective. Getting beat by the Knicks isn't as bad as going to jail three times...

Basketbawful
I'm human man, somebody that bleeds, somebody that cries, somebody that makes mistakes. I'm real just like everybody else. I'm not perfect. I make mistakes along the way. I've been in jail three times. Well, the Suns are human, too. And the Knicks, they made a jail break on those guy in New York last night. Those teams went into that game with opposite records -- 14-3 for the Suns, 3-14 for the Knicks -- and the Suns had the best record in the league. People, they look at a situation like that and say, "Hey, the Suns should win easy." Well, the Suns are human. They aren't Superman. They aren't Jesus. They're human. Human beings have bad night. Human beings give up 23 points off 17 turnovers, let their opponent hit 14 threes, grab 19 offensive rebounds, stuff like that.

You've got to love how Nash responds to these things. One thing we know this season is that the team is taking these loses far worse then we are. That wasn't true last season and might not have been true even in the years prior. No happy talk this year just a determination to get better. Love it.

Steve Nash Q&A: Despite Fast Start, Suns Still Have
Q: Do you think this team is a legitimate title contender?

A: Not tonight. I think we have a lot of work to do. We were not picked to make the playoffs. So we have a lot of work to do.

and speaking of how great Steve Nash is...don't forget!

Announcing "Steve Nash Internet Day" - Bright Side Of The Sun
Only 7 days left until Nash Day! Don't let last night's loss in NY get your down either..

Other Links

• SBN Blogger NBA Power Rankings, Week 5: Living With The Lakers - SB Nation
  Suns ranked #2. That was before getting torched by the Knicks
  
• Nurse’s Notes: Great Start to the Season- Energy Hoopla – Iowa Energy Basketball Social Site
  We are back from our weekend trip out to Springfield and we are happy to have picked up a couple wins.
• Hardwood Paroxysm " Blog Archive " Courtney Sims And The Eternal Limbo
  Sims update...I wonder how much of his is due to his shin splint issues that kept him off the Hornets Summer League roster?

• Knicks Knation - NY Daily News
  Deep down, D'Antoni's heart has to be out West

• :07 or Less Suns in “The Book of Basketball” | Phoenix Suns Community Blog - Fanster.com - Do you bleed deep purple?
  I briefly thought about breaking this post in half (or even quarters) but as the book I’m discussing seems to be devoted as much to writing excess as to basketball, what the hell. You’re going to need more than a few minutes…

• NBA.com: Amar'e on goggles, the running Suns and young point guards
  Twenty-two hours a day, 10 long, incredibly boring days. That's how much time Amar'e Stoudemire logged face down -- face down! -- after having fluid drained from his right eye in July, the eye in which he endured surgery in February for a detached retina. It was as scary as it was tedious, giving the Phoenix Suns' still-young but injury-hampered power forward time to think. Ponder. And re-commit to his All-Star career, with its Hall of Fame potential and its lack of championship rings.

• Kobe Bryant has highest 'basketball IQ,' poll says - Ball Don't Lie - NBA - Yahoo! Sports
  According to NBA players and coaches at least one other point guard has a higher basketball IQ than Steve Nash...