When oh when will the bleeding stop? The Suns are hemorraging badly.
Badly, Alex? Did you really need the word 'badly'? Is there any other kind of hemorraging?
Why yes there is! Thank you for asking. Preseason hemorraging is akin to a paper cut. It's annoying and painful in the short term, but gone within a day or two with not even a scar in its wake.
But guess what, my results-starved brethen?
If there were a single preseason game that promised to most resemble the regular season, tonight's game at home against Golden State would be the one.
Officially, there's only 2 more dress-rehersals before the Suns open the season on the road, at Portland on Oct 26 and then at Utah on October 28. Those games are followed immediately by hosting the Lakers on October 29.Wait a minute here... playing the Lakers on the back end of a back-to-back while they've been resting for 2 days? When has that happened before? Hmm... oh yeah, like every other time we play them. #$&#$&#(&)&!
But I digress. Back to the game preview.
As I was saying, if the Suns were to show us their true colors at any point this preseason, it's going to happen tonight.
- The opponent is not a playoff rival.
- The game is at home.
- The first and second units need some burn, and Gentry said he's going to play the starters about 30 minutes apiece.
- Only 2 dress-rehersals left - no more time to evaluate younguns!
- The Suns are shooting 25% on 3-ptrs. That lid has to come off the rim at some point. Once it does, no one's gonna want to leave the floor.
FWIW: I'll be at the game tonight, cheering on the Suns in person. When I get home, I'll bang out a first-hand recap to rival Seth's on SB Nation AZ.
Other links:
Unfortunately, we won't see our beloved Lou suit up tonight. He need finger surgery and will be out a while. Yet another Warrior who turned to paper as soon as he moved to the Bay Area.
Suns season preview, by lifelong Suns-lover (snigger) Charley RosenThe Suns won’t miss Amar’e Stoudemire’s selfish pouting, low basketball IQ and reluctance to either rebound or defend.
...(click the link for a lot more on individuals)...
Overall, the Suns lack rebounding and defense, yet will still light up the scoreboard as long as Nash has his finger on the trigger of the offense.
The roster is divided between guys who are too old and guys who are too young. At this point, the future belongs to Lopez, Dragic, Warrick, Dudley and whichever rookies prove they can play. Everybody else (including Nash) is a stopgap.
Which sleeper will shine this season in fantasy land?
Which sleeper would you rather have: Nicolas Batum, Leandro Barbosa, Josh Childress or Dorell Wright?
The panel's picks were all over the place, only 1 of them choosing Childress:
Steve Alexander, RotoWorld: I am really feeling Josh Childress here.
He's having a great preseason, fitting in very well with his new teammates and the Suns, and he's one of those guys that won't crush any category, but does enough of everything to be a nice glue guy at the end of a fantasy draft. He can score, hit threes, steal, rebound, shoot it (even though the shot is ugly) and is a great teammate. A hustle guy who won't hurt you anywhere, and is as excited as anyone to be running alongside Steve Nash. I really don't see a downside to him and had he been playing in the NBA for the last couple years he'd probably be going in Round 5 instead of 12. I'm also intrigued with Nicolas Batum, Leandro Barbosa and Dorell Wright, but Childress is the guy I'd rank at the top of that list right now. My guess is I'll be in the minority, with Batum leading the way from the panel, but I don't care.