Suns begin 2006-07 Championship Run
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by user Manny Stiles
Big whiff in..... Ahhhhh.... It's the end of October. The smell of candy is wafting through the air, the Cardinals are irrelevant again (football AND baseball) and the NBA basketball season is upon us!
LET THE HYPERBOLE BEGIN!!!!
I'm going to chronicle this whole season, so come along for the ride!!!
The road to the trophy begins tonight with one stomping on a (supposed) rival... the Lose Angeles Lakers... yes, the Fakers think they have reasons to be optimistic this year, I have reasons to believe they will be fishing in mid-April.
The Suns are being chosen to win the Pacific Division by many, the Western Conference by several and picked to win it all by the REAL geniuses of the sports analysis world (Oh sh!t! SI picked 'em too? Oh well...the Sun(s) shines on a dog's ass everytime it wags it's tail, right?)
Let's preview why this WILL be the season the Suns take it all:
- Steve Nash - THREE time MVP? (I don't think he will be due to less minutes, but this is the encore season)
You know what? That's all we (yes, I said WE) need!!! Nash is the driver of the Suns machine... an extension of Coach D'Antoni and his "play basketball the way it's meant to be played" system.
WHO CARES about Amare's knees right now? I don't... I've seen him play and he looks like he'll be fine. He'll be ready to go by April, I know that much... MORE importantly than Amare's knees is Nash's back. The Suns went VERY far last year without Amare, but they wouldn't do the same thing with a healthy Amare and a hurt Nash...
Kurt Thomas looks GREAT!!! Yes, I said it! He is in shape and ready to run... don't discount the fact that Krazy Eyes Kurt WANTS to be a Sun as opposed to sniveling bitch (post-game spread wasn't to his liking) he was last year... perspective, baby, perspective... A Championship beats a Championship buffet spread after the games EVERY TIME!!! Of course, Kurt was brought to the Suns to rebound, defend and spread the middle for Amare and can 15 footers. Oh yeah, he plays against Tim Duncan very well...
Boris Diaw is the guy no one seems to appreciate properly! Young buck is one of THE best all around talents in the league... a walking triple double, thus the nickname 3D (also a play on his number 3 and his last initial D). He can play all 5 positions and lock 'em down on D. Oh yeah, the Suns locked him up to a long term deal... this roster is SET!
Leandro Barbosa is the fastest dude in the league and has such long arms that he doesn't bend over when he ties his shoes... 6th Man of the Year award in the making, friends...
Shawn Marion is still the inch-for-inch baddest dude in rebounding... and don't blame the Suns system for Marion's rebounds, he's running back on D as soon as the shot is let go... blame him for being the Human Pogo Stick. He has the fastest second jump in the league. And he gets up higher on a second jump than anyone I've ever seen.
Raja Bell is the Suns heart. He has galvanized this team with his grit. Kobe will get a full dose of Mamba Anti-Venom tonight! You do know that the Suns brought Raja in for one specific purpose - to silence Manu Ginobili. Manu and Raja have the same agent and Manu was pissed when he found out Raja signed with the rival Suns... Raja plays Manu VERY well and gets into his head... turns out, Raja gets into EVERYONE'S head!!!
Then the bench: Marcus Banks will lend some D to the backcourt and dude is fast as hell; once he learns how to pass and get the ball to the open man, he will be a STEAL for the deal they signed him at... James Jones is a quality shooter from the bench, Jumaine Jones will bring the full gamut to the bench, Eric Piatkowski could shoot better than 50% from 3-point land this year and Pat Burke should get plenty of garbage time minutes with all of the blowouts to come... Plus there's Australian big man Sean Marks who has spent some time learning the secrets of the Spurs to boot...
All in all, the Suns have 5 VERY unique and polished talents to throw at you that no one else can match up with (Nash's court vision, Shawn Marion's athleticism, Amare's freeky abilities, Boris Diaw does it ALL, and the Brazilian Blur matches his speed with a nice shooting touch (even if it's a little ugly)
It all comes down to one thing and one thing only... getting these 82 games out of the way and coming out healthy...
Maybe someday, I'll write an article explaining why Phoenix sucks as a sports town... There should be Suns mania all over, but most people don't even know there's a game tonight!!! Fewer are buying into the excitement that is promised this season. I think people here are so tired of being burned by the Cardinals and completely disappointed by the D-Backs and absolutely distraught by the Coyotes that they figure all will go wrong with the Suns, too... There was some excitement before last year, but then Amare and the knee problems and everyone was like "Here we go again..." I never gave up and last year ended up being GREAT because Diaw and Barbosa developed, Raja brought heart and soul to the team and they learned how to live without Amare... now this year, Krazy Eyes is looking like he's ready to play Suns ball and Amare is thrilled to come off the bench and do whatever it takes!!!
This team was built to run yet even more importantly - to beat the Spurs.
This season will be a blast! We have all the pieces, and we're ready to make the leap. Bring on the seemingly always-in-the-way Spurs, let's whoop them up once and for all... I'm NOT scared of the Mavs, Clippers or any other team out west NO ONE will run with us! Other teams are trying the Suns style of play (including the Lakers) but they won't beat us at Coach D's game!!!
So I'm getting ready for the All-Star game in Vegas (a 4 hour drive from home) and enjoying the Championship parade with Mrs. Stiles (a HUGE Suns fan ) and the little Stiles' (HUGE fans of the Suns' Gorilla)...
More importantly, this is just year ONE of a multi-title run!!! Everyone is locked up, they like each other, they're ALL quality individuals off the court as well, LET THEM RUN!!!! LET THEM RUN!!! Go SUNS!!!
Now pardon me as I go kick off this Championship Season by defending my pumpkin pie eating title in one hour!!! Back-to Back!!!
Update: Of course I won! Two in a row, and this time I left NO room for controversy!!!
