Phoenix Suns Blog – Page 65 – NBA Blog

NBA fines Amare Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler and Rasheed Wallace

Phoenix Suns forward Amar’e Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler of the Charlotte Bobcats and Boston’s Rasheed Wallace have been fined, it was announced today by NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations Stu Jackson.

Stoudemire and Chandler were each fined $7,500 for the posting of messages on their Twitter accounts during games, in violation of NBA rules. On Wednesday, November 25, messages were posted on Stoudemire’s Twitter account during the Suns 126-111 victory over Memphis in Phoenix and on Chandler’s account during the Bobcats 116-81 win in Charlotte over the Raptors.

Boston Celtics forward Rasheed Wallace has been fined $30,000 for public criticism of the officials following the Celtics 116-103 win over Toronto on Friday, November 27 in Boston.

Leandro Barbosa out at least two games

Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic reports:

Suns guard Leandro Barbosa will sit out for at least the remainder of this road trip, which continues Tuesday in New York and Wednesday in Cleveland.Barbosa sprained his left ankle in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 113-94 victory at Toronto.

Barbosa was fouled from the side by Toronto’s Marco Belinelli as he made a jump shot but his left foot landed on the foot of Toronto’s Andrea Bargnani, who was in front of him.

Channing Frye now a three-point shooting threat

New Phoenix Suns center Channing Frye began his NBA career in 2005-06 with the New York Knicks.

His rookie year was solid. Playing 24.2 minutes per game, Frye averaged 12.3 points and 5.8 rebounds on good shooting, looking versatiel and talented.

Frye stayed with the Knicks for his second season, then spent two years with the Portland Trail Blazers. But of his first four seasons, his rookie year stood out the most.

Now with the Suns, something crazy has happened. The 6-11, 245-pound big-man has become a huge threat from three-point range.

In his first four seasons, Frye’s three-point shooting totals were: 3-of-9, 3-of-18, 3-of-10, and 11-of-33.

This season, in the six games Phoenix has played, Frye has fired 33 three-pointers and hit 16 of them; a 48.5% clip.

The team, meanwhile, is off to a great 6-1 start.

Playing a faster style of basketball now that Shaquille O’Neal is gone, the Suns are playing fun, winning basketball and are worth watching. Steve Nash is playing great. The fans are entertained. And Frye has been a great surprise.

Have an opinion? Share it in this forum topic.

Chris Dudley to run for governor

The AP reports:

Chris Dudley’s free throw shots were always iffy propositions. Now the former Phoenix Sun and Portland Trail Blazer is in a new arena taking aim at a governor’s chair – and Oregon’s Republicans think he can score.

Dudley hasn’t formally announced a bid for the post, but he filed paperwork last week to create a campaign committee.

“I’ll make a decision soon and report back. One way or another, I intend to help change Oregon for the better,” he said in a statement.

Dudley, 44, wouldn’t be the first professional athlete to make the transition into politics. The late Congressman Jack Kemp of New York was an NFL quarterback, and former Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey was an NBA standout for years.

Suns exercise options on Jared Dudley, Robin Lopez

The Phoenix Suns today announced that the club has exercised the team options on the contracts of third-year forward Jared Dudley and second-year center Robin Lopez for the 2010-11 season. The Suns have declined the 2010-11 team option on the contract of third-year swingman Alando Tucker.

Dudley, 24, enters his first full season with the Suns and third career campaign after being acquired along with Jason Richardson and a 2010 second-round pick for Raja Bell, Boris Diaw and Sean Singletary on Dec. 10, 2008. The Boston College product appeared in 48 games for Phoenix in 2008-09, including 30 of 31 games following the All-Star break when he became one of the Suns’ most consistent reserves. Dudley, who averaged 7.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.03 steals after the break, shot a career-high 39.4 percent from three-point range after joining the Suns. The 6-7 forward made 26 three-pointers in 48 games with Phoenix after making a total of 12 in his first 93 career games with Charlotte.

The 7-0, 255-pound Lopez was the Suns’ first-round selection in the 2008 NBA Draft (15th overall). A two-year collegiate standout at Stanford, Lopez averaged 3.2 points, 2.0 rebounds, 0.68 blocks and 10.2 minutes in 60 appearances (seven starts) for the Suns last season. His 51.8-percent field goal accuracy as a rookie would have been third-best among rookies and 17th-highest in the league overall if he’d tallied enough attempts to qualify (min. 300 field goals made). Lopez, who averaged 11.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.0 blocks for the Suns’ 2009 Las Vegas Summer League entry, is currently recovering from a broken fifth metatarsal in his left foot, suffered during this season’s training camp.

Originally selected by the Suns with the 29th overall pick in the first round of the 2007 NBA Draft, Tucker is a two-year pro who has appeared in 36 career games with Phoenix. The 6-6, 205-pound forward, who saw action in 30 games last season, owns career averages of 4.4 points and 1.1 rebounds.

Shaq still pursuing law-enforcement work

Mark Puente of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports (via blog):

Predators lurking for local children on the Internet could soon be talking to a 7-foot-1 undercover deputy.

The Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy is reviewing paperwork to determine whether Cavaliers center Shaquille O’Neal is eligible to carry a gun and a sheriff’s five-point badge.

Cuyahoga County Sheriff Bob Reid last week notified the state agency, which determines officers’ eligibility, that he intends to deputize O’Neal if approved by the state, according to records obtained by The Plain Dealer. O’Neal held law-enforcement commissions in Arizona, Virginia and Florida. Reid declined to comment until the process is complete.

If O’Neal is approved, he would need to complete 36 hours of police training within six months and take the Ohio police examination to maintain the appointment, said Holly Hollingsworth, spokeswoman for the Attorney General. He would also have to pass a test on a shooting range.

This is one of the few things Shaq appears to take pretty seriously. He’s pursued it for a long time. But I still doubt he does it full-time after his NBA basketball career wraps up in a few years. Helping the law will probably be a side-hobby for the big fella.

Suns get rights to Jarron Collins

The Phoenix Suns today announced that the club has been awarded the rights to center Jarron Collins. Collins, who spent the preseason with the Portland Trail Blazers, became available after being waived October 22, 2009.

The 6-11, 249-pound Collins is an eight-year NBA veteran who has spent every career regular season with the Utah Jazz. The 30-year-old owns career averages of 4.3 points and 3.1 rebounds in 16.9 minutes in 480 games (206 starts). Collins, who has averaged 8.8 rebounds per 48 minutes over the course of his NBA career, is a durable post player who has appeared in 70 or more games in five of his eight NBA seasons.

Collins was a four-year performer at Stanford where he helped lead the Cardinal to the 1998 Final Four. He is one of 10 players in Stanford history with 1,000 points and 700 rebounds.

Jarron is the younger twin brother of Hawks center Jason Collins. He joins teammates Robin Lopez (New Jersey’s Brook) and Taylor Griffin (L.A. Clippers’ Blake) as Suns players with brothers in the NBA. Phoenix now has a member of three of the NBA’s five active brother pairings.

NBA tells bench players stay seated so fans can see

Good NBA seats are expensive. Fans shelling out big money to sit near the court should expect a good view of the action.

But what about when players get off the bench and remain standing for a while? On the one hand, it’s nice to see guys cheer their teammates. On the other, these giants prevent fans from seeing what they paid to see.

The Cavs are one team with players who remained standing a lot, and now the league office has reportedly taken action.

Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:

The NBA has issued a memo to its teams directing players on the bench to remain seated during games. Game officials will be keeping a closer eye and will issue faster warnings and possible technical fouls if not followed. Players are permitted to cheer, but standing during regular-game action and blocking the fans’ views apparently isn’t going to be allowed.

That goes for Tuesday night’s first preseason game at The Q, where the Cavs will host the Charlotte Bobcats in the first of eight practice games before the season opener.

The Cavs weren’t exactly thrilled that their custom has been legislated.

“It is hard to take that out of the game,” LeBron James said. “Part of the game is emotions, your teammates are all you have. That was part of the reason we played great basketball, because we cheered each other.”

I support the league protecting the paying fan’s view.

Robin Lopez out 6-8 weeks

Phoenix Suns center Robin Lopez will undergo surgery to repair a broken fifth metatarsal in his left foot, the club announced today. Lopez suffered the injury in the second half of the team’s intrasquad scrimmage Saturday in San Diego.

The procedure to insert a screw will be performed tomorrow, Tuesday, Oct. 6, by Dr. Gus Armendariz at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix. Lopez is expected to miss between six and eight weeks.

As a rookie in 2008-09, the Stanford product averaged 3.2 points and 2.0 rebounds while appearing in 60 games.

The Suns open exhibition play tomorrow, Tuesday, Oct. 6, hosting Euroleague club Partizan Belgrade at US Airways Center at 7 p.m.

Suns to run again

The Phoenix Suns were a fun, super-fast, run-and-gun team back in the not-so-distant past. Then they made a bunch of trades, added Shaquille O’Neal, and became a regular squad that fast-breaked about as much as anyone else.

Now, Shaq is gone and Steve Nash has guys like Jason Richardson, Amar’e Stoudemire and Leandro Barbosa to toss the rock to. Guys with quickness and athletic ability.

What this means is, the fun Suns may reappear.

The AP reports:

The Suns begin training camp with “a clear vision of how we’re going to play,” Steve Nash said at the team’s media day on Monday.

That would be fast and furious, just like in the days when Mike D’Antoni was coach.

“This year I think it’s going to be much clearer as to who we are and how we’re going to play,” Nash said, “and that’s going to allow us to build a chemistry and believe in one another.”

It’ll be interesting to see how aging Steve Nash performs in 2009-10.