Steve Nash - Phoenix Suns

Poor Phoenix Suns’ fans.

They have to see their team struggling for Playoffs berth. No, it’s not their fault. No, it’s not Shaq’s fault. No, it’s never been Nash’ fault, even Amare.

In my opinion, the Suns’ behind the curtain team are the one to blame. Let’s get back to this later.

But first… where’s the Suns right now?

Sitting pretty on 9th in Western Conference with 3 games behind Dallas and 13 games over the Warriors, the 34-28 Suns is on the brink of NBA season failure.

Their .548 record is not bad at all, but not good enough in the West. Their 3 recent losses in a row are not a good sign of improvement, either.

Shaq performs quite OK lately, but not enough to help the Suns shine brighter. Amare Stoudamire’s rebounding has been disappointing all season, with 8.1 rebound a game – partly, ‘thanks’ to Shaq’s 8.8 rebound a game.

Steve Nash is a bit too old for the game, despite his always-stellar dime counts at 9.7 assists per game this season. Grant Hill is also too tired for the game.

Hmm – Shaq, Nash, and Hill… The Suns aren’t quick at all – you simply can’t beat your body clock. OK – Shaq is successfully exchanging his quickness to brute force pretty well (remember when he slam Detroit’s Stuckey to the hardcourt with his sheer power?), but not with Nash and Hill.

Having J Rich doesn’t really help the Suns, either…

Matt Barnes’ recent burst of good performance, thanks to the departure of Boris Diaw, can’t lift the Suns to overcome their problems this season; The problems are far more greater than simply team talent.

The Coach Porter firing and Amare’s unknown future are just the tip of the iceberg. A series of trade that bring Shaq and J Rich in is not helping the Suns to be, at least, .600 record. Shaq, honestly, slows down the game, while one J Rich is not as good as Boris Diaw and Raja Bell combined – J Rich brings flair, but Diaw brought versatility and Bell brought perimeter defense – do the math.

What was Suns’ Management thinking, with all that bad decision?

Can the Suns drive past the Mavs? In my opinion, no. the Mavs are too ‘stable’ for the Suns, and eventually, stability wins games.

All I can say is good luck, and hopefully you can do well in the 2009-2010 NBA Draft.