Category: Phoenix Suns Blog

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Oct 29: Suns 103, Spurs 98

The AP reports: Amare Stoudemire scored 22 points—11 coming on 5-of-5 shooting in the fourth quarter—and four other Phoenix players scored in double figures to help the Suns beat the San Antonio Spurs 103-98 in the regular-season opener for both teams Wednesday night… Tim Duncan and Tony Parker each scored 32 points for the Spurs, who were playing without guard Manu Ginobili who is out until December after ankle surgery. Nash added 13 points and 13 assists for the Suns. Leandro Barbosa had 18 points, Shaquille O’Neal 15, and Grant Hill 13.

Curry and D’Antoni talk it out

The Bergen Record (Steve Adamek) reports: Eddy Curry and Mike D’Antoni, meanwhile, spoke Wednesday morning and said they’re fine now. But D’Antoni also offered this about his non-rotation, former franchise player center: “This is not going to be easy, where we all have lollipops. There’s going to be a lot of tears and yelling and screaming, but there’s going to be certain standards. “It’s easy for me to go, ‘Yeah, OK, let’s let him do what he does so he doesn’t get made.’ But we have standards and we will keep them and expect everybody will.”

Shaq is The Big Shogun

The Arizona Republic (Paul Coro) reports: Shaquille O’Neal can talk the topic of supremacy, having climbed the NBA mountaintop four times and believing that he still sits above all centers. “Because I’ve done the most,” O’Neal said. “I’m not worried about guys winning dunk contests and doing stuff like that. You still have to outdo the shogun to become the shogun. When I leave, it’ll be because my time is up, not because someone is outplaying me or someone has done more than me. The only one who has even done close, and I don’t really consider him a center, is Mr. (Tim) Duncan. Any other center, the things that they have done, I invented.”

Good and bad of Suns

The East Valley Tribune (Jerry Brown) reports on the Suns: Reasons to be excited: Depth. The Suns have their top seven players back from last season and have added Barnes, Dragic and Lopez to the rotation. The Suns have plenty of available fouls up front and several ball-handlers to soak up the responsibilities when Nash is on the bench. Porter plans to play nine players a night, but 10 or 11 should be involved when injuries and fouls are factored in. Reasons to be worried: The already loaded Western Conference got even better over the summer. Andrew Bynum is healthy for the Lakers in Los Angeles. James Posey is coming off the bench in New Orleans. Ron Artest has joined forces with Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady in Houston. Greg Oden and Rudy Fernandez are the latest to join a young and talented Portland team. And we haven’t mentioned the Spurs, Mavericks and Nuggets. A very good team won’t make the playoffs. Will the Suns find a chair when the music stops?

NBA opening night rosters

The NBA’s opening day rosters are official, and now posted on InsideHoops.com.

This evening was the deadline for NBA teams to trim their rosters down to 15 players or less.

The 2008-09 regular season starts Tuesday, October 28. InsideHoops is your online basketball home. We’re pumping out more content this season than ever.

Enjoy the season!

Rockets waive DJ Strawberry

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has waived guard D.J. Strawberry.

Strawberry (6-5, 201, Maryland) averaged 8.2 points and 1.0 steals in five preseason games this year. Strawberry was acquired by the Rockets from the Phoenix Suns on August 25, 2008 after a rookie campaign with the Suns in which he averaged 2.2 points on .315 (29-92) shooting in 33 games.

The Rockets roster now stands at 14 players.

Barnes to start at SF for Suns

The East Valley Tribune (Jerry Brown) reports: In a move that was anticipated a month ago but dragged through the entire training camp, Porter named Matt Barnes the starter at small forward over Grant Hill. The move makes sense for several reasons. Barnes brings defense, athleticism and more 3-point shooting range to help with spacing the floor for the starters. And Hill brings experience and ball-handling ability to the second unit when rookie Goran Dragic is manning the point guard spot. “Grant brings calmness to that second unit and he can help Goran — who has made a lot of strides by is still very experienced — as another person who can handle the ball. Matt fits well with the first unit as a spacer, while Grant will allow Goran and L.B. (Leandro Barbosa) to do the same thing with that second group.”

Oct 23: Suns 102, Thunder 93

The AP reports: Amare Stoudemire scored 17 points before dislocating his left pinky and the Phoenix Suns, with their regulars together for the first time, beat the short-handed Oklahoma City Thunder 102-93 on Thursday night … Steve Nash, returning after missing three games because of a sprained right ankle, scored 15 points for the Suns. Leandro Barbosa also had 15 points, Shaquille O’Neal added 13, and Matt Barnes had 12. Rookie Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with 22 points. Kevin Durant, last season’s Rookie of the Year, added 19, Johan Petro had 17 and Jeff Green 12.

Suns exercise option on Alando Tucker

The Phoenix Suns today exercised the team’s option on swingman Alando Tucker for the 2009-10 season.

The 6-6, 205-pound Tucker enters his second season with the Suns after originally being selected by Phoenix with the 29th overall pick in the first round of the 2007 NBA Draft.  In his rookie campaign last season, Tucker split time between the Suns and the club’s then-NBA Development League affiliate in Albuquerque.  In 21 games (19 starts) in the D-League, Tucker averaged 27.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists and was named the D-League.com Performer of the Week for the week of Dec. 10.  Tucker averaged 3.7 points and 1.3 rebounds in six games with the Suns in 2007-08.

Despite missing three games, Tucker is the Suns’ third-leading scorer this preseason, posting averages of 12.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists while shooting 45.2 percent from the field.

A native of Lockport, Ill., Tucker played five seasons at the University of Wisconsin after receiving a medical redshirt, where he averaged 16.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 134 collegiate games from 2002-07.  Tucker finished as the Badgers’ all-time leading scorer and was named a consensus All-American and the Big 10 Player of the Year in his senior season.  Tucker was also one of four finalists for the Naismith Trophy given to the national player of the year in 2007.