Amare Stoudemire is getting his act together after last year’s injury plagued season and getting back into the form that has made him one heck of an offensive ballplayer playing in an offensive system. When you have Steve Nash at point guard you can put up the points.

This is Amare Stoudemire’s 8th year and he has been pretty consistently around 20 points and 9 rebounds per year. This season Amare is playing the power forward position now that Channing Frye is at center and this only creates a bigger mismatch at that position.

Amare Stoudemire is helping the Suns to hold back the Lakers

The Suns and Stoudemire are holding a half game lead over the NBA finals favorite Los Angeles Lakers and are sharing the best record in the NBA with Orlando and Atlanta.

Their latest victims were the tired offense only Pistons.

Phoenix Suns 117 Detroit Pistons 91

Now in fairness to the Pistons, they were on their 4th game in 5 nights and still do not have Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince in the lineup which leaves them with a lot of young guys on the court.

The Suns didn’t care, because when you are trying to stay ahead of the Lakers, every game counts, so they went ahead and pounded the Pistons relentlessly.

Phoenix regained a share of the NBA’s best record (11-3) Sunday, starting better by making its first eight shots in a perpetually moving offense that clicked consistently in 3-point shooting (11 for 18), shooting (season-best 57.5 percent), tempo (season-best 24 fast-break points) and defense (Detroit shot 42.7 percent).

“They pretty much had their way with us,” said Detroit guard Ben Gordon, who had his lowest-scoring game (10 points) against Phoenix since he was a rookie in 2004.
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The Suns are one of the bigger surprises in the NBA this year. You knew they would be good, but not this good and Amare Stoudemire is one of the reasons why they are this good!

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Shawn Marion is known as the Matrix and he can do it all on a hoop court. For years he operated in near anonymity in Phoenix. It got so bad that Shawn threatened to leave just so he could be the man on some other team instead of third banana behind Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire on the Suns. Finally the Suns gave him his wish and dealt him to the Heat for the Shaq. The Heat were not very good and needed a big man, so Matrix was dealt to Toronto and from there he was dealt to Dallas.

Dirk Nowitzki will join Shawn Marion to go for the NBA title!

In Dallas, Shawn will never be the man. That label belongs to Dirk Nowitzki the perennial All Star and offensive power house. But the overall game and relentless movement on offense from Shawn has brought an extra dimension to the Mavericks that will only serve to enhance the play of Nowitzki.

“He’s pretty amazing, I got to admit,” Nowitzki said. “Playing against him all these years, you don’t really know all the little things he does. I really like playing with him. He doesn’t demand the ball, he just gets his points on the go.”

And he also sees the big picture. Marion’s do-it-all game should make life simpler for Nowitzki.

“I really think, especially on the break, that’s going to open up my shots on transition,” he said. “And we can get some baskets where we don’t have to work extra, extra hard.”
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The Mavericks will now face the Western Division with 3 solid but aging stars in Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki, and Shawn Marion. If they stay healthy it could be the same formula the Boston Celtics used to win the NBA title a few years ago.

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The center position in basketball just ain’t what it used to be. It used to be you started with a center and then you found a point guard to lead the way. You had to have that big guy in the middle or you were toast. That was then and this is now. Now a day, there are some up tempo teams that would rather not play a true center. They would rather have a fast mobile power forward. Phoenix with Amare Stoudemire comes to mind.

Still for your intrepid author it is great to see the big guys play whether it is the Shaq, Ewing, Wilt, Russell, Kareem, or even big bad Dwight Superman Howard. They just bring a different element to the game.

The Ball Don’t Lie has his version of the top 10 centers of the last decade, so let us take a look.

10. Alonzo Mourning – Alonzo once beat my Pistons all by himself. He was just so much bigger and stronger than anyone on the court or in the stands that he could not be stopped and prevented anybody from entering the lane.

9. David Robinson – The Admiral came to Michigan State University when he played for Navy in college. You could see then that he was just too tall and too smooth to be stopped.

8. Yao Ming – the man that reminds us there are tall Chinese people in the world may soon exit from the basketball stage if his ankles and feet don’t hold up. When he is healthy there are few better than him in today’s game.

7. Amare Stoudemire – there is that power forward again. Amare just oozes with talent and you wonder what would happen if he played next to a dominant center.

6. Zydrunas Ilgauskas – Not really an Ilgauskas fan myself, but when he is in the game it is always a tough matchup.

5. Jermaine O’Neal – Another one of those power forward types playing center. My lasting memory of Jermaine is the fact that Rasheed Wallace played with him in Portland before he went to Indiana. Jermaine was just a kid back then. When Indiana played against the Pistons in the playoffs, Rasheed was able to shut Jermaine down game after game. For that matter why isn’t Rasheed Wallace on this list? Geez, “The ball don’t lie” was one of his favorite sayings. You can argue he was a power forward, but he played center after Ben left all the time.

LeBron wonders why Rasheed Wallace is not on the list?

4. Ben Wallace – The other Wallace combined with Rasheed to shut down every player on the planet and get a NBA title for the Pistons. How did Ben do it? He was only 6′ 8″ tall, but when he went up for a board with all those muscles and the wild Fro, it just looked like he was 7 foot tall. Fear the Fro!

3. Dwight Howard – Truly Superman, Dwight Howard just grows better as a player each year. He was scoring in his first two season without really even having any moves!

2. Shaquille O’Neal – Shaq is truly bigger than life whether he is rapping, acting, or playing center. Shazam! Shaq has won titles in L.A. with Kobe and in Miami with Wade. He is often doing more talking than playing, but for years the NBA rules allowed Shaq to use his rather large rear end to back into the paint and jam the ball down. Unstoppable!

1. Tim Duncan – Mr. Fundamental.

Duncan won’t blow you away. Shaq seems scarier, and the “power forward” designation might throw you, but don’t get shook.

Tim guards the low post (guards everything, really), and works from the low post while his “center” teammate (David Robinson, Nazr Mohammad, Fabricio Oberto(notes), Matt Bonner(notes)) works anywhere from the high post (D-Rob, Nazr), the baseline (Fab), or the 3-point line (Red Rocket).

In the meantime, Duncan has destroyed teams defensively, drawn trillions of double teams, scored efficiently and generally acted as what we’d hoped Bill Walton would have turned into.

source

That is why San Antonio is in the thick of things every year.

Now here is my question. Where is Kevin Garnett?
Photo source Newscom

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Ok, no surprise here in the NBA.com Power Rankings.
Yes, it is the Los Angeles Lakers number 1 as they should be, but maybe you should take a look, because they added Ron Artest. If handled correctly he can be a force. And Lamar Odom? They resigned him and he is a difference maker.

There was little doubt that fans in Cleveland, Boston, Orlando, San Antonio and other cities were holding out hope that Lamar Odom(notes) would just sign with Miami instead of returning to the Lakers.

As it turned out, Odom never really intended to leave the Lakers—and he wound up taking less money than Lakers owner Jerry Buss initially offered him upon the opening of free agency to return. Odom signed a four-year deal worth $33 million—if the Lakers pick up a fourth-year team option.

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Scanning further down the list to the seventh spot you find the Denver Nuggets. Hey, didn’t they kind of pass all of the West teams except for the Lakers? And all they get are a seventh place ranking? Whoa, that is tough! That may cause Chauncey Billups to shrug his shoulders and say something strong like “We’ll see.”

Chauncey Billups may shrug

Wait a minute; Portland and Washington are rated 8th and 9th? When did this happen? Agent Zero returns and the Wizards and going to play great ball? Andre Miller moves to Portland and they are going to play great ball? Why don’t you ask Utah, Atlanta, and Philly about that?

Oh wow, Phoenix Suns in 15th and belonging there. That is hard to believe with a healthy Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash, but it is probably right.

Minnesota Timberwolves and New York Knicks after about 425 player deals sit 27th and 28th. Ouch!

Rounding out the 30th spot are the Sacramento Kings and your intrepid author defies you to name one single King player. They earned that spot.

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It was discussed so what happened? Phoenix thought Amare Stoudemire would be sent packing to Golden State with other players and considerations and in return Golden State would ship back Stephen Curry with other players and considerations. You know how that stuff works.

The secret part of the deal that may not have been discussed from Golden State’s point of view was that Golden State was sure Curry would be off the board by pick number 7. When he was there, they did not want to part with him.

Amare Stoudemire will be a reach for the Warriors without Curry in the deal

So is the Stoudemire trade off the board?

The teams will continue talking about how a trade involving Stoudemire could be worked out but it is now just among several conversations the Suns are having. Such a deal is far less likely without Curry and Golden State’s unwillingness to part with forward Anthony Randolph.
source

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Shawn Marion shows off his Matrix WWE move with the knee smash from up high

Shawn Marion is an amazing player and if you have ever watched him play for the Phoenix Suns or the Miami Heat, you would have been amazed. Just how does he do what he does? And that jump shot or whatever you want to call it, just where did that come from and how come no coach ever made him change it? Maybe because it goes down even from long range?

Anyway, Matrix wanted out of Phoenix. It was simple math really. Steve Nash was the man and when his time was done, Amare Stoudemire was to be the man. Even Shaq got more pub in his brief stay in Phoenix. Of course, when did Shaq not get max pub?

Matrix took his game to Miami and Shaq went to Phoenix to save the Suns. It did not work out for either of them.

Shaq is old and not quite the force he used to be and Matrix, once again, seems under appreciated. Shawn Marion wants to be the man, instead he is trade bait.

The problem now is that Marion doesn’t appear to have a long-term future in Miami. The team is going through a rebuilding process with Dwyane Wade and rookie Michael Beasley as the cornerstones. Marion, who turns 31 at the end of the season and plays the same position as Beasley, doesn’t appear to be a great fit.

He has been dangled to the Lakers and Jazz, and more recently the Heat tried to work out something with the Bulls that would have brought them Ben Gordon and others.
source

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Mike D’Antoni says “it was the Spurs, come on. Whoever beats them in the NBA playoffs?”

Image details: Phoenix Suns v Los Angeles Lakers served by picapp.com

Basketball owners amaze me. They seem to be hands off until you least expect it.

This year in the playoffs, it is easy to see that the teams that play the best half court defense will win, assuming the teams are somewhat equal teams.

Do only owners wake up to this after their team is knocked out of the playoffs?

We saw Avery Johnson fired after the Mavericks lost to the Hornets. They played very little defense.

Now the Suns may fire their coach Mike D’Antoni, although Steve Kerr, the GM, is denying it.

Despite averaging 58 regular-season wins the past four seasons, Mike D’Antoni might be out as Phoenix Suns coach.

A SI.com report on Tuesday night said the coach will not return after his team was eliminated by the San Antonio Spurs in five games in their best-of-7 first-round playoff series. D’Antoni has two years and $8.5 million left on his contract.

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It seems odd to think of firing D’Antoni when losing to the Spurs. After all, it was Steve Kerr that brought in Shaq, got rid of the Matrix, to supplement the running game of Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire. Shouldn’t Steve Kerr’s job be on the line?

NBA Basketball special comment Phoenix has now lost to San Antonio 3 times in the last four years in the NBA playoffs.

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It was a truly a miracle as Tim Duncan made his first 3 of the season to send the game into double overtime.

Manu Ginobili finished the game off with a driving baseline layup with 1.8 seconds left.

San Antonio Spurs 117 Phoenix Suns 115

Shaq was upset and talked about it.

We had a lot of opportunities to win,” O’Neal said. “You can’t make mistakes against a team like that especially here in this building.”

But O’Neal wasn’t completely contrite.

“I just wanted to play aggressive, but the floppers prevailed today. Amare and myself are going to continue to play aggressive,” O’Neal said of his foul trouble. “Hopefully those guys will compete rather than just fall down.”

Stoudemire, who fouled out with 12 seconds left in the first overtime, led the Suns with 33 points. O’Neal scored 11 points.

source

Back to the Game

Steve Nash drilled a 3 to tie the game at 115 and that is when Manu Ginobili stepped in.

With 15 seconds left, the Suns went to sharp shooter Nash. Nearly falling out of bounds in the corner, he hit a 3 that made it 115-all.

Then Ginobili drove the lane against Raja Bell and got to the hoop, as he often does, almost at will, and his layup fell.

“What I knew, before taking it to the rim, is that Shaq and Amare (Stoudemire) were not there,” Ginobili said. “So, I knew if I had the opportunity to go get in there, get some legs into the shot, I had an opportunity to finish.”

Tony Parker added 26 points for the Spurs and Ginobili had 24.

This game had the playoff fever and looks to be a thriller to the end. The team that wins this game will lose a lot of energy and that could cost them in the next series.

NBA Basketball special comment You would think these two teams would meet in the finals, but it is just that kind of year. San Antonio has to be one of the favorites for the NBA Championship, but Shaq has changed the chemistry of the Suns. Anything could happen.

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Shaq and Nash discuss defense

Steve Nash was hot with 19 points and 14 assists and the Shaq is back.

In the Wild Wild West, sometimes it is the short guy and sometimes it is the tall guy.

Today it was both.

Phoenix 94, San Antonio 87

This is the reason the Suns traded the Matrix for Shaq. Sooner or later you face Tim Duncan. What are you going to do?

Oh, they did not stop Tim. He got his points and rebounds, but he had to work for them and a lot of others were stopped.

Three days past his 36th birthday, in his 10th game with Phoenix, O’Neal scored 14 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to help the Suns beat their nemesis, the San Antonio Spurs, 94-87 on Sunday. source

At one point, Shaq was seen flying into the first row of seats to retrieve a loose ball. He scooped it back to the wrong team, but the effort was noticed.

Countless times in the game a Spur would go inside only to meet the Shaq. It usually ended up in Shaq’s favor. This is the defense on the interior that the Sun’s were seeking.

“There’s a lot of teams with size in the West,” Steve Nash said. “We added size … a guy with championship experience. One win isn’t going to say we’re a finished product, but we’re on our way, I think, to improving and getting to a place where we’re going to feel confident once the playoffs come around.”

NBA Basketball Shaquille O’Neal factoid – O’Neal’s two blocked shots made him the third player in NBA history to have 26,000 points, 11,500 rebounds and 2,500 blocks. The others are Kareem-Abdul Jabaar and Hakeem Olajuwon.

The big fell ended the game with 16 rebounds and 14 points, but more than that the Suns for the first time in a long time had an inside defensive presence that is needed in the playoffs.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Can Shaq keep up his aggressive play?

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The Utah Jazz used a 41 point quarter to blow out the Phoenix Suns.

This is the 3rd straight home loss for the Suns, in spite of Amare Stoudemire’s 37 points.

– Carlos Boozer scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half, including a tough eight-foot bank shot with 31.1 seconds to play, and the Utah Jazz handed the Phoenix Suns their third consecutive home loss, 126-118 on Friday night.

Deron Williams had 25 points and 15 assists and Mehmet Okur had 25 points, including 4-of-6 3-pointers, and grabbed 14 rebounds to give the Jazz their fourth win in a row and just their 14th in 33 games on the road this season. source

Utah 126 Phoenix 118

The questions on the Miami Heat to Phoenix Suns trade of Shaq for the Matrix are getting louder. Is Shaq relevant? Can he fit into a full court running team?

Mark D’Antoni, the Suns Coach, is excited about changing the team’s face with the addition of Shaq.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt,” D’Antoni said. “Not play-wise, but on paper and what we see. We can be a better team than we could ever be with the little guys running all over the place. We may not be as pretty, but we’re going to be much more efficient.”

He said defensive improvement will determine whether Phoenix reaches its goal of becoming a championship contender. O’Neal has been what the Suns expected. source

Right now that defense was not apparent in the 4th quarter of the Jazz game.

The Kyle Korver pick up by the Jazz actually looks better on the court right now than the Shaq trade.

Shaq time

But you have to give this time. The Suns are a team trying to trade their stripes in the heat of battle.

“It’s going to take a toughness, and we sometimes don’t have it,” D’Antoni said. “Maybe that’s because the last three years, we haven’t had it because we didn’t need it. Now we need it, so it might take a little bit.” source

The Suns have been plagued with turnovers and poor perimeter defense since the addition of Shaq. The game itself has changed with the big guy in the middle. Shawn Marion was often on the perimeter or slashing through the land. Shaq remains at the post.

“All of that I believe is a byproduct of just guys trying to get accustomed to what we’re doing now, the different personnel and different spacing on the court,” Bell said. “You know Shawn was a guy who was definitely a spacer. That allowed Steve (Nash) and the guys who make a lot of plays to have a lot of room to make those plays. When you add a big body like Shaq, plus his defender, that space that was wide open isn’t there.” source

In the end, the Suns will be there with a better opportunity to play the half court game needed in the playoffs.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Will the Suns turn it around with Shaq and start winning?

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