Alando Tucker played 25 minutes and scored 10 points in the Suns win over the Blazers on Wednesday. (NBAE Photos)

To be honest, I was getting a little winded towards the end after playing the whole second half, but it just felt so good to be out there, I didn’t even think about taking a breather. That’s what you work all season for, opportunities like that. All in all, I felt like I could’ve played a lot better, but I know I played hard and I know there are some adjustments I’ll be looking to make. It was also nice getting the chance to show some of the adjustments I have made throughout the course of this rookie season. I played some good perimeter defense against both their point guards and power forwards and was glad I got to show some versatility on that end of the floor. Offensively, I think I did exactly what the coaches are looking for, using a couple of dribbles to get into the lane and if need be, kick it out to a teammate for an open shot.

We’ve had some fun today ribbing Brian Skinner about his ejection. He’s been told if he gets kicked out of another game, he’ll have to shave the beard to shed his image. Some of the guys even offered to sign him up for anger management classes. All kidding aside, it was unfortunate seeing Brian ejected last night, but he’s having fun with it.

Although we were minus Brian, it was great being out there with DJ Strawberry, Sean Marks and all the guys I’ve been practicing with this season. Still, you’re definitely not going to hear me complaining if I’m on the court with anyone on this team. The key is to just be out there playing hard, and I love any opportunity I receive.
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The current standings show the Suns with the 6th seed where they are slated to play the San Antonio Spurs. But there are still several games left and the Lakers, Hornets and Spurs are all within 1.5 games of each other. Any one of them could move to the 3rd seed before the season is over.

On the other hand, the Suns are a game behind the Houston Rockets. The Rockets have two games left against the Jazz and the Clippers. Phoenix plays Monday against Golden State and Wednesday against Portland. In order to take over the 5th seed, the Suns will need to win both of their games and wait for Houston to lose both of theirs. Because the Rockets have a better conference record than the Suns, they will take the tie breaker if the teams have the same record (they played to a 2-2 tie in their four games this season).

We’ve already discussed who we think the Suns would match up with the best so I don’t think that would be a good discussion again. We’ve also already talked about whether you think the Suns starters should rest or keep playing these last couple of games. And until we know who our opponent is going to be, it doesn’t do any good to talk potential matchups.

So I thought I would change it up a bit and maybe get some Suns-watching plans started. What do you guys do during playoff games? Do you like to get a huge group together at someone’s house, go all-out with the food and watch the games? Or do you watch the game by yourself so no one sees you cry if the Suns happen to lose?

The past several years I would be traveling during the playoffs so I ended up watching the games in a hotel room with a room service meal scattered in front of me. I would order a few extra rolls so I would have something to throw at the wall when I disagreed with a call. Last year, during the game 5 loss I started banging the back of my head against the wall as the Suns’ lead slowly slipped away in the last few minutes. I tried not to yell too loudly when watching games at the hotel but I’m sure the people in the rooms next to me thought I was a little nuts.

Let me know what you guys do during the playoffs and maybe it will give some of the other readers good ideas for what they can do as well.

Go, Suns, go! Grow, beard, grow!

It’s a superstition and a sign of focus: Nothing other than the team matters. Chores such as shaving can wait for another day when the important work of winning a title is completed, one way or the other (I’m assuming showering remains a priority, but I’m not getting close enough to any of those guys to ask them). In the NHL, where the playoffs last even longer than in the NBA, if you can believe that, you wind up with some pretty scraggly looking guys. They don’t care how they look. It’s all about the team, and if they bring home the trophy, then every stray chin follicle was worth it.

In the spirit of that level of commitment, I’ve decided to grow a Phoenix Suns 2008 Playoff Beard. The regular season ends Wednesday night. Thus, Wednesday morning will be the last day I shave until the Suns are eliminated from the playoffs or are crowned champions. I’ll be documenting my journey periodically with photos so you can see how it’s coming along. Attached to this blog will be the first photo – me, clean-shaven except for my short mustache and beard (which I ain’t shaving so I can start clean – I’ve had this thing for fifteen years and it’s not going anywhere…except that it’s going to get longer, obviously).

I’ve recently started a new job. I’m seeing someone. And in the next week, I’ll be going to two Passover seders. In short, now’s probably a time for me to be pretty concerned about my appearance. But these are the playoffs, these are the Suns, and I’m going to do whatever it takes to support them. If the Suns extend their run into June, I could start looking like a replacement guitarist for ZZ Top. Fine. It’s about the team.

I’m leading with my chin.

So my question to you for a weekend discussion is this:  How important is it to win these last three games?  If they win tonight and for some reason can’t move up or down in the rankings after tonight’s game, would you sit the starters and rest them for the playoffs? Would you only play them 20 minutes and then rest them just so they don’t get rusty?  Or would you try to win the games despite not being able to change your seeding?

I’ve always been of the opinion that each game is important.  It seems that if you let yourself go for a game or two and aren’t really trying, it would be hard to get that intensity back for the first – and maybe the second – game of the playoffs.  That could put you in a pretty deep hole with the way the West is stacked this season.

I don’t have any numbers for you today.  But I did want to get some opinions on what you think the team should do for the last three games.

Leave your comments below.  I don’t know that there is any right or wrong answer to this so keep your comments about the questions and hopefully not about the other commenters!

Have a great weekend.  GO SUNS!

Back-to-Backs – As you may have read, the Suns are exceptionally good at winning the first game of a back-to-back series.  For the season, they are 16-1 – a 94% winning percentage.  But in the 2nd game of the season, they were only at .500 until last night’s game.  And they not only won the game, they won it handily.  That brought them up to a .529 winning percentage.

Spurs record over Suns – The Suns have had a hard time beating the Spurs in years past.  This year they are 3-1 against the 2007 Champions.  The Spurs wanted the game pretty bad.  They certainly didn’t want to give up any mental edge to the Suns.  But with Phoenix winning 75% of the games this season.  The only loss was an 84-81 game where the Suns lead most of the game until the last few minutes.

Non-scoring against San Antonio – This wasn’t a huge change from the other games but it was still 5 points over their average from the first three games against the Spurs.  Phoenix scored 100 in their first game in San Antonio.  They scored 96 last night.

Overall, I was very pleased with the Suns’ performance.  They kept their heads in the game, they were able to fend off some of the rough play that the Spurs tried to get into and even gave some of it back.  They took a close game and blew it wide open in the 4th quarter – enough that Coach Popovich put the scrubs in with about 4 minutes left in the game.

What did you think of the game?  Does this change your predictions of where we’ll end up in the standings and how we’ll fare in the playoffs?  Leave your comments below.

As discussed yesterday, the Suns did well again in the first game of their last back-to-back series of the season. Now it’s on to San Antonio where they will face a more formidable opponent.

Playing the Spurs is always an interesting experience – especially when it is this close to the playoffs. Emotions seem to run a little higher and fans of both teams are on edge (check out the comments under Bob Adlhoch’s blog if you need proof). But this is the most fun part of the year, I think.

This season the Suns have won two out of the three games they’ve played against the Spurs. But their stats don’t look so hot:

They averaged 43.7% shooting against the Spurs this season
Shot 26.4% from the three-point line
Averaged 91.7 points per game (the only team who that held the Suns lower is Boston)

But there are a few bright spots as well:

They averaged 42.7 rebounds per game
Averaged 21.3 assists per game

We’re still not sure if Shaq will be playing tonight. It will be a game time decision. If Shaq plays, I think it’s important to win or at least stay very close to the Spurs. Despite my thoughts that the Suns are better than the Spurs this season, I’m still afraid of a mental block when it comes to playing them in a 7-game series. If Shaq does not play and the Suns either win or stay close, I think that will help them get over that mental barrier.

What are your thoughts on tonight’s game?

The team has played a total of 16 back-to-back series so far this season (not included the Memphis/San Antonio series starting tonight). The numbers for the first game of a back-to-back are impressive:

Record: 15-1
Points Scored: 113.7
Points Allowed: 103.2
Rebounds: 43.9

Not too shabby, right? I think any team would take a 94% winning percentage. But let’s take a moment to look at the second game of a back-to-back series:

Record: 8-8
Points Scored: 107.7
Points Allowed: 108.3
Rebounds: 39

It’s still a 50% winning percentage but I think the team expects better of themselves. With the 2nd of the back-to-back Wednesday against San Antonio (in San Antonio) it’s important for the Suns to get a big lead tonight so they can rest their players. The game against Memphis just got a little harder after it was announced that Shaq will sit out tonight’s game due to a hip bruise. But he should be back for the game against San Antonio.

My question to you: Why do you think the Suns do so poorly on the 2nd game of a back-to-back series? Is it just as simple as being tired? Do they feel good after a win the night before and let up on their intensity a bit? Are there other reasons you can think of? Let’s discuss it in the comments below.

Most likely, the Suns are going to be either the 5th seed and will face the PMah Jazz or will stay in the 6th seed and play the Lakers. My question to you today is: Who would you rather face?

With every team in the West as strong as it is this season, is there a “good” matchup for the Suns? Is there a team you would rather see Phoenix play in the first round? I don’t know that I have a preference between the Lakers and the Jazz. They are both tough teams. Here is a breakdown of some numbers for both teams.

Suns vs Los Angeles Lakers in 2007-08
Record: 1-3
Field Goal Percentage: 48%
Rebounds: 41
Points per Game: 111

Suns vs PMah Jazz in 2007-08
Record: 1-2
Field Goal Percentage: 44%
Rebounds: 40
Points per Game: 102

Based on those stats, maybe it would be better to face the Lakers? The teams only faced each other once with their current lineups. The Suns have greatly improved since that last game. But then again, so have the Lakers.

Give me your thoughts on a potential matchup below. But explain your reasoning! I’m curious to see what Suns fans think about potential matchups.

No matter what you may have heard, the Suns did NOT shoot
themselves in the foot in the fourth period Sunday.

Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki greet each other before the Suns hosted Dallas on Sunday. (NBAE Photos)

I’m not saying they didn’t try, mind you. But the way they were shooting, they couldn’t have hit the FLOOR, let alone the foot. And of course, anything higher than foot or floor, like the basket, was even further out of the question.

In case you’re not catching my drift, let me put it another way. If the Suns had been shooting darts in that period several spectators in the front rows, and even a couple in the upper level, would have needed treatments for wounds.

And if you prefer numbers to rambling rhetoric, the second highest scoring team in the NBA hit only 3 of 19 shots from the field, went more than seven minutes without a point, and managed only 9 in those final 12 minutes. It also went oh-for-five on threes and had four times as many turnovers as assists.

Thus, even though the Mavs weren’t exactly shooting the lights out themselves, they were able to climb out of a 14-point hole and pull away in the closing minutes, thereby washing three of the most solid periods of basketball the Suns have played all year right down the drain.

One theory for this reversal of fortunes was that the Mavs were simply more desperate for this win — and maybe they were. But while they may not have been as downright desperate, the Suns were at least sorely in need of it themselves.

Coach Mike wasn’t sure whether the meltdown was due more to Dallas “D” or Suns “O”, and even threw in a “whatever” to cover all the bases. Steve Nash called it an “anomaly”, and Amare Stoudemire said, “We just didn’t score. It’s that simple.”

Amare had another huge game with 31 points, but even he had trouble locating the hoop in that frigid fourth, hitting only 2 of 6 shots. But Nash had even more trouble, going zero for six, and was only 4 of 17 for the game, with only one fewer turnover (5) than the entire Dallas team.

And if that’s not an anomaly then God really didn’t make little green apples and it don’t rain in Indianapolis in the summer time.

And speaking of anomalies, although the Suns lead the league in blocked shots, Jason Kidd had one more (4) than the entire Phoenix team. He also had had as many steals (4) as the Suns, and had 7 assists and only 1 turnover in a brilliant all-around performance.

Dirk Nowitzki had 12 of his 32 points in that fourth period, and also had 12 rebounds, an effort that seemed as gutsy as it was great given that at times he still seemed to be bothered by the ankle injury that sidelined him for some two weeks.

Even as myopic as they were, the Suns might have still managed to somehow survive if they hadn’t put the Mavs in the bonus less than four minutes into the final period, a circumstance that ultimately led to 13 trips to the free throw line and 11 points for them. The Suns also took an 18-7 hammering on the boards in the final period.

How you look at this one depends a lot on which half of the glass you are prone to focus on — the empty half or the full half.

If the latter, you take considerable comfort in the how good the Suns looked in the first three periods, and shrug off the fourth as indeed just one of those things (i.e. — a n anomaly).

If the former, you’re so bummed out by the fourth quarter you don’t even remember the first three, and refuse to be cheered up.