The Suns: 28 Games Into The Season

I haven't written much about the Suns yet this year, for a couple of reasons.

1) The Suns are gonna do what they're going to do. They're a great team, they're gonna finish in the top half of teams in the West, and no matter how much we talk about them or dissect them, coach D'Antoni has proven he's not going to change what he does.

2) The other reason is, that despite the fact i love the Suns and have watched almost every game this year, i'm just not that interested in the regular season. And therein lies the problem. The Suns just don't seem that interested in the regular season either.

Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing has yet to be decided, but it's painfully obvious to me that this team is basically just going through the motions right now.

If nothing else, it's an interesting development along the path for the Phoenix Suns. To me, it is an imitation of the Spurs of the last few years. The Spurs don't care about the regular season. It doesn't matter if they finish 1st in the West or 4th. They know they're going to be in the playoffs, they know they're going to have home-court advantage for at least the first round, and they know it's stupid to over-extend themselves during the long, regular season.

Exhibit A for this argument would be the Dallas Mavericks from last year. They played every single game of the regular season as if it was a playoff game, rolled to 67 wins and the #1 seed in the West, and promptly lost in the first round of the playoffs. They ran out of gas, a product of too much energy spent over the course of a very long season. In my opinion, the Suns have evolved to a point where they realize that the difference between 65 wins and the #1 seed and 58 wins and the #3 seed isn't all that great. They're going to be in the playoffs regardless.

That being said, it doesn't mean there aren't some things about this team that concern me a little bit. First an foremost is Amare Stoudemire. The guy is a man among boys in almost every game he plays, but is inconsistent at best in playing like that. He has the potential to be the best player on this Suns team, which is saying a lot, but doesn't seem to give the effort night in and night out, or even quarter to quarter. Take the Dallas game the other night. At times in the first three quarters he seemed to disappear, then in the 4th quarter was all over the place, dunking on pick and rolls, blocking shots, and even making a couple of nice assists. If he played that hard every play, he would be nearly unstoppable.

Then there is the matter of his 'game'. Is it just me, or is he falling in love with taking 18-footers? Especially turn around, fall away 18-footers? This part of his game is really starting to frustrate me. He is 6'10 and 250lbs, and has a quick jump and long wingspan, resulting in the ability to make some fantastically explosive dunks. Those dunks can be game changing, getting the crowd into or out of it, depending on if they are home or away. They also have the ability to get Amare on the line, where he is a great free throw shooting. Yet Amare seems to shy away from those opportunities way more than he should be, instead using finger rolls and jumpers. And don't get me started on his refusal to use the glass...

The one other thing about this team that causes me concern, which has been an on-going problem under D'Antoni, is his stubbornness to not use his bench. Marcus Banks, at the beginning of the year when he was getting playing time, i thought played fairly well. His defense is great, he's quick with the ball, and has the ability to knock down some shots. Sean Marks, when he got in, played decent defense. Piatkowski was hitting the 3's.

I'm not saying we should be using them in a regular rotation. But is this team, as it appears, is basically running through the motions waiting to get to the playoffs, would it hurt them that much to get Banks 10-15 minutes a game? Or Marks and Piatkowski 6 or 7 minutes? Would it really kill us? We already have shown an inability to score or even run a basic offense through Barbosa when Nash is off the floor, would it hurt us that badly if our bench guys were on the floor?

Does it not concern anyone that Grant Hill, Mr. Injury Prone himself, is second on the team in minutes played at a shade under 35? And Steve Nash is right next to him, with the same average? You couldn't shave a few minutes off each of those guys for the bench, to keep our starters fresh and ready to go for the playoffs?

All that said, i still like this team. Despite what a lot of local and national media are saying, i think this Suns team may in fact be better than last year's squad. I absolutely love what Grant Hill brings to the team, and Brian Skinner is pretty much the same player as Kurt Thomas was last year, right? He plays solid defense, can rebound and shot-block, and hits the 15-footer regularly. Where's the difference? Boris Diaw, if he continues to be aggressive as he has been lately, is still a good player on this team. Barbosa's shot is coming around, and Raja is getting healthy and playing that tough-nosed defense he's known for. Marion does Marion things, which is perfect for this team.

All in all, i like this team and i like our chances. Let's just get to the playoffs already...