Here Come the Suns
This could be the year I have been waiting for. My Phoenix Suns is scorching the opposition in a frenetic pace. At the time of writing, Phoenix is at 28-4 win-loss record, it's best franchise start. Only three teams in the past had better records after 32 games, the most recent was the 1996 Chicago Bulls who went on to set an NBA record of 72 wins and 10 losses for the entire season. Those three teams eventually won the championship.
Whether the Suns end up in the same championshop experience remains to be seen. But it reminds me of 1993 when Phoenix barged into the NBA Finals where it lost to Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and John Paxson (now Chicago Bulls General Manager) who threw the title-clinching three pointer. That was the year when Charles Barkley came to town after a trade for Jeff Hornacek, Andrew Lang and Tim Perry to Philadelphia. Ably supporting Barkley were Kevin Johnson, Dan Majerle and Danny Ainge under the tutelage of coach Paul Westpahl.
I know Phoenix inflicted one of the losses in Chicago's incredible 72-10 record.
While years passed by, players came and went through without a better chance of making to the Finals again. Jason Kidd, Tom Gugliotta, Danny Manning, Wayman Tisdale (now a musician!), Oliver Miller, Cedric Ceballos, Michael Finley, A.C. Green, Robert Horry, Sam Cassell, Rex Chapman, Cliff Robinson, Antonio McDyess, George McCloud, Rodney Rogers, Tony Delk, Anfernee Hardaway and Stephon Marbury wore Suns uniforms in a season or another but making not much success.
This season's lineup may break that spell. With Amare Stoudemire, Shawn Marion, Joe Johnson, new recruit Quentin Richardson and returning Steve Nash averaging more than 13 points each, the Suns lead the league in points scored and second in field goal percentage. Nash is leading the assists department while Stoudemire is fourth in scoring, Marion is fifth in rebounding (the shortest and lightest in top 20 rebounders), Johnson is fifth in 3-point percentage. The starting lineup scores 84% of team points which may become a problem once one of them falls into injury. While the bench is not something I can boast, it has a solid point guard backup in Leandro Barbosa (JJ also does the point). Casey Jacobsen can shoot the three and Steve Hunter can defend opposing big men.
While Amare was reluctant to be called a center and insists he is a natural four, his newly-found position made mismatches: he is second to Shaquille O'neal (league-wide) in total dunks made so far in the season, attributed to his distinct speed advantage over defense men in the paint. In his third year as a prep-to-pro talent, his stats exceed those of Kobe Bryant, Moses Malone and Kevin Garnett on their third year in the league.
Steve Nash was drafted by Phoenix half a decade ago and returns to be the quarterback of NBA's youngest team and is often singled out to be the reason for the team's turnaround.
One proof I was monitoring the team through the years:
http://www.basketballdraft.com/inside_game/jack_mccallum/news/2001/12/14/nba_mailbag/
Hopefully they'll continue to entertain the league while piling up wins and hopefully an NBA title by June 2005!
Whether the Suns end up in the same championshop experience remains to be seen. But it reminds me of 1993 when Phoenix barged into the NBA Finals where it lost to Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and John Paxson (now Chicago Bulls General Manager) who threw the title-clinching three pointer. That was the year when Charles Barkley came to town after a trade for Jeff Hornacek, Andrew Lang and Tim Perry to Philadelphia. Ably supporting Barkley were Kevin Johnson, Dan Majerle and Danny Ainge under the tutelage of coach Paul Westpahl.
I know Phoenix inflicted one of the losses in Chicago's incredible 72-10 record.
While years passed by, players came and went through without a better chance of making to the Finals again. Jason Kidd, Tom Gugliotta, Danny Manning, Wayman Tisdale (now a musician!), Oliver Miller, Cedric Ceballos, Michael Finley, A.C. Green, Robert Horry, Sam Cassell, Rex Chapman, Cliff Robinson, Antonio McDyess, George McCloud, Rodney Rogers, Tony Delk, Anfernee Hardaway and Stephon Marbury wore Suns uniforms in a season or another but making not much success.
This season's lineup may break that spell. With Amare Stoudemire, Shawn Marion, Joe Johnson, new recruit Quentin Richardson and returning Steve Nash averaging more than 13 points each, the Suns lead the league in points scored and second in field goal percentage. Nash is leading the assists department while Stoudemire is fourth in scoring, Marion is fifth in rebounding (the shortest and lightest in top 20 rebounders), Johnson is fifth in 3-point percentage. The starting lineup scores 84% of team points which may become a problem once one of them falls into injury. While the bench is not something I can boast, it has a solid point guard backup in Leandro Barbosa (JJ also does the point). Casey Jacobsen can shoot the three and Steve Hunter can defend opposing big men.
While Amare was reluctant to be called a center and insists he is a natural four, his newly-found position made mismatches: he is second to Shaquille O'neal (league-wide) in total dunks made so far in the season, attributed to his distinct speed advantage over defense men in the paint. In his third year as a prep-to-pro talent, his stats exceed those of Kobe Bryant, Moses Malone and Kevin Garnett on their third year in the league.
Steve Nash was drafted by Phoenix half a decade ago and returns to be the quarterback of NBA's youngest team and is often singled out to be the reason for the team's turnaround.
One proof I was monitoring the team through the years:
http://www.basketballdraft.com/inside_game/jack_mccallum/news/2001/12/14/nba_mailbag/
Hopefully they'll continue to entertain the league while piling up wins and hopefully an NBA title by June 2005!
posted by Unknown at
10:13 PM
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