Hey fans, just wanted to make sure I check back in with you before this 2008-09 season comes to an end. You know, it’s kind of tough to swallow, having all of the talent we have here and to still be going home in a couple of days. I know the team is frustrated but right now our focus is on finishing the season strong. We owe that to our fans and want to be able to give the young guys a little bit of time to play. [Read more...]
J-Rich and I are headed back to our former stomping grounds.
(Glenn James/NBAE/Getty Images)
Tomorrow I am going back to Golden State for the first time since I signed with Phoenix. I’m excited because I had a lot of fun playing there, I’m originally from around that area and I’m going to have a lot of friends and family at the game. [Read more...]
You may want to listen up, I went 4-0 this past week.
(Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
With the playoffs going on, everyone in our locker room has been talking football. J-Rich and Amar’e like to give me their predictions and Shaq wants to bet anybody on anything. He always bets the opposite team that I’m betting on, so I just take money from him. When I’m back at home, me and my friends will get together and watch the games together. But we really start getting into it once the playoffs start. [Read more...]
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Hey, Suns fans. I had some time in between ballgames today and just wanted to check in following a tough loss last night in Los Angeles. We were obviously short-handed for the contest following the trade and while I’m not somebody who really believes in moral victories, I was glad to see us out there fighting hard to the end. The bottom line is we still came up a little bit short, but we again showed improvement and I definitely think we’re continuing to take steps in the right direction.
(Barry Gossage/NBAE/ Getty Images)
So, the mercifully short pre-season preparation for the regular season is over, and the interminably long regular season preparation for the post-season will officially get underway in San Antonio this Wednesday.
And frankly, I can hardly wait. For the post-season, I mean. I say this because we won’t know for sure until then whether Year One of going back to thinking INSIDE the box after four years of exhilarating – albeit ultimately somewhat unfulfilling – thinking outside the box, will work or not. [Read more...]
In the wake of the coaching merry-go-round that spun Coach Mike off to New York, both General Manager Steve Kerr and Coach Terry Porter vowed these Suns would be different. And one of the few things we could get out of last night’s game was that that promise is being kept.
These Suns are indeed “different”. [Read more...]
Barry Gossage / NBAE Photos
The Suns had an all-employee meeting this morning in the Casino Arizona Pavilion at US Airways Center. It’s something they usually do a few weeks before the season starts. With employees spread out through the entire arena, it’s hard to fathom how many people actually work for the team. But when we are all there together, you realize how many people it takes to keep an arena, 3 teams and many other events going on a daily basis.
Team President, Rick Welts, usually speaks to the employees and lets them know how the business is going, what the goals for the upcoming season are, etc. That still happened and it was great to hear his vision of the next year. After Welts spoke, we had several other people talk about the upcoming season including the All-Star Game that is coming to Phoenix in February 2009. We had some discussion of what that would bring to Phoenix and to US Airways Center. Then because of all of the changes that happened in the off-season, we also had some special guests. [Read more...]
We had our intra-squad scrimmage tonight. It was a little sloppy, but that’s to be expected with the first real scrimmage. It was good to get out there and try to work all the kinks out, and it was fun to get out there and play in front of a crowd. I think the fans had a good time and hopefully you enjoyed the game if you watched it online.
Speaking of having a good time, we had a team dinner last night which was cool. It was nice to sit down and just relax together after working hard all week. We initiated the rookies, too, making them do some embarrassing things.
So I just returned from two days in Tucson and here are some early impressions of training camp:
School was in session Tuesday at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Admittedly, that shouldn’t be much of a surprise. It is a college, after all.
But the only classroom the Suns were concerned with was situated on the McKale Center hardwood, where the team officially tipped off training camp.
With their first test slated for their season opener in San Antonio on October 29, that gives Phoenix just under a month to gear up for the new NBA year.
That’s not to say the Suns need a ton of instruction (remember, they have had some level of success over the last few years), but they do need to be brought up to speed on the Terry Porter way. While a lot of preseason pundits have predicted a new focus on defense this upcoming season, consider this. After the team’s initial “1-2-3 Suns” chant to break practice Tuesday, the new Suns head coach prompted a verbal addendum, “1-2-3 Defense.” [Read more...]
