The AP reports: Phoenix Suns forward Grant Hill underwent an appendectomy on Wednesday and is expected to be sidelined for two to three weeks. Hill felt ill after arriving at the US Airways Center for Wednesday morning’s shootaround. At first, the Suns assumed he had the same flu that teammate Raja Bell recently had. But after being taken to see a physician, it was determined to be more serious.
Category: Phoenix Suns Blog
Suns blog – Phoenix Suns blog, on Suns basketball news, rumors and more
Suns assign D.J. Strawberry to D-League
The Phoenix Suns have assigned rookie D.J. Strawberry to their NBA Development League affiliate, the Albuquerque Thunderbirds, it was announced today by Suns President of Basketball Operations and General Manager, Steve Kerr. Strawberry is the 21st NBA assignment to a D-League affiliate this season. Before last night’s game against the San Antonio Spurs, the Suns recalled rookie Alando Tucker from the Thunderbirds.
Strawberry, a 6-5, 201-pound guard, was selected by Phoenix in the second round (59th overall) of the 2007 NBA Draft and signed with the team on Aug. 28, 2007. In six games with the Suns, Strawberry averaged 2.0 points, 0.7 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 6.2 minutes.
The New York City native played four season for the University of Maryland (2003-07) and averaged 10.1 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 111 contests for the Terrapins. He is the first player from Maryland to be drafted in the NBA since 2003 (Steve Blake, Washington Wizards).
Phoenix recalled forward Tucker Monday, the day he was named the D-League’s Performer of the Week. The 6-6, 205-pound rookie was assigned to the Thunderbirds on Nov. 28, 2007 and averaged 28.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 39.0 minutes over five contests with the Thunderbirds.
Jamison speaks about the Suns
Here’s Washington Wizards forward Antawn Jamison:
Antawn Jamison on the challenge Phoenix presents: “You know what they do offensively. This is a team that has led the league in scoring for the last couple of years, has had the MVP (Steve Nash) for the last two out of three years, and has a great supporting cast. You can’t afford to take a night off when you’re playing this team. This team really plays great basketball at home, and they also try and have one of the best road records in the league as well.”
Antawn Jamison on the Phoenix Suns style of play: “They really like to set the tone from start to finish, so we can’t afford to have the start that we had last year. I think it really all boils down to trying to contain and maintain the pick-and-roll. You’re not going to be able to stop it for 48 minutes at all – you just have to do a good job as far as containing it.”
Antawn Jamison on their awareness in terms of field goal percentage: “With Gilbert (Arenas) gone, offensively you have to take quality shots and better shots – no first side shots, no quick shots – and defensively, you really have to key in. We can’t afford to neglect on the defensive end because we’re missing so much offensively with Gil gone. We need for (Antonio Daniels) to continue to stay in front of his man and help us out in that way. We need guys like Brendan (Haywood) to continue to control the paint, block and alter shots. If we continue to do those things and improve on both ends of the floor, especially defensively, it would really put us in a great situation to really be able to win a lot of games and get some distance from the other teams who are around us.”
Celtics, Magic, Spurs and Suns in rare air
NBA News – Boston (15-2), Orlando (16-4), San Antonio (16-3) and Phoenix (15-4) each have a chance of winning at least 20 of their first 25 games. The last time four teams started the season with at least 20 wins in their first 25 games was 1996: Chicago (22-3), Houston (21-4), Detroit (20-5) and Utah (20-5). The last time three teams established the feat was 2004: San Antonio (20-5), Phoenix (22-3) and Seattle (20-5).
Suns assign Alando Tucker to D-League
The Phoenix Suns have assigned rookie forward Alando Tucker to their NBA Development League affiliate Albuquerque Thunderbirds, it was announced today by Suns President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Steve Kerr.
The 29th overall selection in the 2007 NBA Draft, Tucker has made appearances in two games for Phoenix this season, averaging 6.0 points and 1.0 rebounds in 8.0 minutes of action. A product of the University of Wisconsin, Tucker finished his college career as the all-time leading scorer with 2,217 points, averaging 16.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 134 games. During his senior season he earned Big Ten Player of the Year and was named First-Team All-American by the Associated Press.
Tucker is the record-setting 12th NBA player assigned to the D-League this season. On this date last year there had been a total of three players assigned to the D-League, while in 2005-06 there were eight players assigned to the NBA Development League at this point.
Tucker joins an Albuquerque squad with a 2-1 record on the season, coached by 1984 NBA All-Star Jeff Ruland and features 2004 NBA champion Darvin Ham.
Phoenix to host 2009 All-Star weekend
Phoenix has been selected as the site of NBA All-Star 2009, NBA Commissioner David Stern announced today. The 58th All-Star Game will be played at the US Airways Center, home of the NBA’s Suns and 2007 WNBA Champion Mercury, on Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009. A worldwide television audience spanning over 200 countries will view the events. Fans in the United States will watch the action on TNT. Phoenix also hosted All-Star in 1975 and 1995.