Phoenix Suns Blog [Category - Dan Hilton]

The Reason I Watch Sports

Wed, 13 Aug 08 16:30:00 UT

It seems that someone is always asking me the question, “Why do you watch so many sporting events?”

When I go to my parent's house, my mom doesn’t mind all of the sports we watch but she does ask me why we always have an urgent need to watch a game all the time. My wife, despite being the most supportive “sports wife” in history, sometimes wonders why I can’t help but turn to a sporting event when I see it on TV. Whether it’s basketball, baseball, football, golf, NASCAR, ping pong, volleyball, cricket or anything else - if it has a winner and a loser, I’ll watch it.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been reminded about the reasons I watch sports. Watching the ESPY’s (yes, I watch the ESPY’s – they deal with sports, don’t they?) reminded me of one reason. While watching the Best Play category and seeing replays of Eli Manning work his way out of a tackle and then chuck the football downfield to David Tyree who made an unbelievable catch to help the Giants win the Super Bowl, I got goose bumps. Sure, the play was exciting – even watching it several months after the fact. But because I watched the game live, I remembered the events surrounding the miracle catch – that the Patriots were undefeated and that the Giants looked like they might lose the game until that catch. And those memories made watching the play again that much more special.

Every Thursday and Friday of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, I’m reminded of why I watch sports. For as long as I can remember, I have taken those two days off of work to watch as many tournament games as possible. For the past several years, I have travelled to the games with my brother and dad. There’s nothing better than sitting in a seat that is just a little too small, eating semi-warm hot dogs and nachos and watching basketball for 12 hours a day. It’s something I look forward to every year and it’s created a lot of memories I can look back on with fondness.

On Sunday night, I was reminded once again why I watch sports. The United States 4x100 meter relay team was racing in the finals that night and France had already been talking about how they were going to “smash” the Americans. After three of the four swimmers had finished, it certainly looked like that was going to be the case. France had nearly a whole body length lead on the Americans with only 100 meters left. Yet somehow, the Americans came back to win the race by eight ONE HUNDREDTHS of a second. The absolute joy on the swimmers’ faces was amazing. And the next day, that’s all people were talking about on the radio. It brought everyone together despite all of the other differences they may have had before the race – even if it was just for a few minutes.

I think I got the love of sports from my dad – who in turn was taught his love of sports from his parents. Grandma and Grandpa Hilton were charter season ticket holders of the Utah Jazz. They hardly missed a game through all of the years they had the tickets. They often took me to games when we were visiting them in Salt Lake City. Every time I arrived at my Grandparents’ house, my Grandma would make sure to put up even more Jazz paraphernalia around the house just for me – a huge Phoenix Suns fan. The beds my kids stayed in had Utah Jazz comforters, they also ended up with Utah Jazz bags to put their clothes in by the time we left and Grandma was always trying to convince me that the Jazz were a better team than the Suns because they had John Stockton and Karl Malone while all Suns had was Charles Barkley.

Grandma Hilton's love of sports is something Dan will always remember - despite her being a Jazz fan.

We didn’t live near my Grandparents while growing up and I was always a little jealous of my cousins. They were so close to Grandma and Grandpa while I seemed to have to reacquaint myself with them every time we visited. But the one thing I found I always had in common with my Grandparents was NBA Basketball. When the Suns would play the Jazz, I would often call Grandma after every quarter. If the Suns were winning, she would try to convince me that the Jazz were just letting the Suns feel good about themselves for a few quarters. If the Jazz were winning, she was sure the Suns would be crushed by the end of the game. And on the rare occasion when the Jazz beat the Suns, I knew I could expect a gloating phone call from Grandma soon after. It was something that brought us together despite the miles that separated us.

My Grandmother died last Tuesday. We drove up to Utah to attend the funeral at the end of the week. As we walked into the viewing, we saw a table covered with memories about my Grandparents. And front and center on that table was an array of Jazz paraphernalia. I saw that and I couldn’t be sad. It reminded me of all of the good memories I had. Of talking to my Grandma on the phone during a game, her trying to get me to wear a Jazz shirt that had gotten too big for Grandpa and of Grandma always talking about how handsome Patrick Ewing was. She thought he was the most handsome man ever to play in the NBA. Maybe her eyesight was going long before the rest of her body did…

The moral of the story? There is definitely a reason I watch sports and it’s not just to waste time when I don’t have anything else to do. It’s because it connects me with other people. It’s something that draws people together who have nothing else in common. And it’s something that brings people together despite the fact that they live miles and miles apart. It’s something I’ll always remember fondly about my Grandparents – even if they did root for the Jazz.

Life with Lopez as a Phoenix Sun

Fri, 27 Jun 08 21:45:00 UT

Robin Lopez had his first press conference as a Phoenix Sun on Friday and topics during the press conference ranged from why he was glad he was in Phoenix to how being a twin helped him in his life to what types of movies he likes. One thing we can be assured of, life with Lopez won't be boring.

Robin Lopez' mother, Debbie Ledford, is excited he was chosen by the Suns.
(Jeramie McPeek/Suns.com)

After the press conference, I caught up with Robin's mother, Debbie Ledford, and his brother, Alexander Lopez. Alexander is twelve years Robin's senior and two inches shorter but his mother gives him and their other brother, Christopher, partial credit for the work ethic both twins have on the court. "The (older brothers) taught them a lot and they showed no mercy," she explained. Alexander continued, "We were pretty tough on them. But they got tough on both of us when they were able to."

Obviously Robin was tough enough on his brothers that an NBA team thought he would be a good fit for them. Everyone in the family was ecstatic when Lopez was picked by Phoenix. Debbie pointed out that Robin loved the Suns from the very beginning and when he knew the team was interested in him, he stopped working out for any other team so they wouldn't know how good he was. "This is the perfect fit for him. It's the perfect thing for him and the best thing for the team."

I asked what his family thought fans would want to know about him that they don't already know. His brother said that Robin isn't shy about being in media now that he has experience in the limelight so fans already know a lot about him. His mom commented that "he's a gentle giant. He's so good around kids, like his niece. He has a big heart. He treats children very well."

One of the things Robin is known for is his hair. I asked how he decided to take on that hairstyle. She said both twins would get their haircut and they would look about the same up until about high school. At that point, Robin decided that he didn't want to get a haircut and she let him grow it out because "it's his head." But when it gets too long, his brother Christopher may come and trim it a bit.

His mother also commented on how much the Lopez twins love Disneyland. "When they were younger, we went maybe once a year. But as they got older we would go five or six times a year. In fact, our family vacation this August is to Disneyworld." Alexander added, "Their creative match is Disney. That's the thing that sparks their imagination when they're off the court." According to his mother, Robin started drawing when he was a toddler. While Brook was out shooting baskets, he would be inside drawing, reading and writing. That obviously changed as he got older.

After speaking with two members of his family I can say one thing for sure: We don't have to worry about Robin's support system. His mother and brother are very supportive, are both already very savvy with the media and should be able to help Robin as he makes the transition from college to the NBA. His mom told me their plans for the next couple of months regarding getting things situated for Lopez in Phoenix, finding housing accomodations and getting him integrated into the city. He should have no problem fitting in here.

If Robin's enthusiasm for basketball and life in general translate over into basketball skills, I don't think fans should doubt anything about his ability to fit in on the Suns team either. He's sure to be a fan favorite by the end of the upcoming season.

What are your thoughts about Lopez as the Suns' draft pick? Is there anything you would like me to ask him the next time I speak with him? Feel free to leave comments below or e-mail your questions to blog@suns.com.

Phoenix Suns Draft Night Blog

Fri, 27 Jun 08 01:30:00 UT

Join Suns.com's Dan Hilton as he experiences his first draft night as a Phoenix Suns employee while it unfolds at US Airways Center.

4:15 pm – I’ve been here for nearly eight hours and my night is just getting started. I started my day out on the zero level of the arena waiting for the circus to get over so we could do a “green screen” shoot with the circus animals, clowns and acrobats. The next part of my day moves to the 2nd and 3rd floor of the arena and is a different kind of circus. Draft night was an exciting night for me even when I didn’t work for the Suns. It’s even better now. There’s a kind of electricity in the building. The executives and coaches are on the 4th floor in the war room, the Suns.com team is headquartered on the 3rd floor in the newsroom but is scattered throughout the arena and at the draft parties in nearby restaurants and the press is on the 2nd floor waiting for the draft to start. The Suns have the 15th and the 48th picks to start out the night. The draft projections are all over the place so it’s hard to say who the Suns will get. But it should be an interesting night.

4:25 pm – Five minutes before the first pick and we’re experiencing the calm before the storm. Only three guys are left in the newsroom at the moment and things seem pretty calm. But I imagine it will pick up pretty soon.

4:29 pm – ESPN keeps showing outtakes of the top draft prospects telling us we’re watching the 2008 NBA Draft. I sure hope these guys can play better than they can remember a script.

4:32 pm – David Stern just came out to give a speech and open the draft. Some fans started yelling things as soon as they knew they were on TV and Stern acknowledged them by commenting on the wonderful fans at Madison Square Garden. The Bulls are on the clock.

4:37 pm – I asked the question, “Why does the first team in the draft get five minutes?” They’ve had several weeks to make this decision. Suns.com Web Content Coordinator Stefan Swiat made a good point. A diamond is made by both time and pressure. The first team has made their decision already but now they get five minutes to think about whether this pick is really the player they want to make the face of their franchise. Plus, it gives other teams five minutes to offer their entire roster to the Bulls for the number 1 pick.

Robin Lopez was selected by the Suns with the 15th pick.
(Rob Ericson/Stanford Athletics)

4:40 pm – The draft is officially under way. Derrick Rose is the first pick in the draft. Congratulations to Derrick and his family.

4:45 pm – Now that the draft has started, I’m ready for the Suns to make their pick. Only 13 teams to go!

5:00 pm – Twenty minutes into the draft, four picks have been made, there hasn’t even been a peep of a potential trade and all four top draft picks have had good looking suits. What’s going on? Is the world coming to an end?

5:08 pm – Sixth pick is in and I haven’t heard the words “upside” or “character.” Again, what is going on in this draft?

5:35 pm – We just had the first bowtie sighting of the night when Brook Lopez was picked by the New Jersey Nets with the 10th pick. Only 4 picks to go before the Suns make their selection.

6:00 pm – The Suns selected Robin Lopez with the 15th pick the NBA draft. Adding to the circus of my day, I get to go down to the Van Arsdale Room on the 2nd floor and run the microphone back and forth during the press conference right after the pick. As soon as that was over, I was back up in the newsroom sending out the text. More information on Robin Lopez later. But I wanted to give everyone a blog post to comment on now that the pick has been made. The next pick the Suns officially have is the 48th. But check back frequently to see if the Suns make any draft night trades.

9:25 pm – From the time I submitted the first part of this blog until now, I don’t really remember what times everything occurred. So instead of listing it by time, I’ll put the rest of the blog entry in categories.

Microphone Duty – This was probably the most fun yet most frustrating part of the day. The room we were in for the press conferences was too small for speakers so the microphones only directed the sound through to the cameras instead of out loud. That meant that the cameras would not get the sound of the people asking questions unless I got the microphone over to the person in time. The problem was that no one wanted to wait for me to get to them. So I was practically crawling on the floor back and forth across the room.

Runner – I spent some of the night acting as a “runner” for the newsroom. I’m a numbers guy at heart. Interviewing people, writing real news stories and taking pictures/video isn’t something I’m talented at. So on nights like tonight where there is a lot of news, I volunteer myself as the office gopher. I get to run up and down the stairs getting batteries, water, asking questions like “When is Robin Lopez going to be on the phone for the conference call?” and running back and forth between Jeramie’s office and the newsroom.

Eating – I ate way too much. They had these kettle chips and a roasted garlic spinach dip that I couldn’t stay away from. That’s part of the reason I kept offering to be the runner!

Waiting/Rushing – Lots and lots of waiting. The Suns had the 15th and the 48th pick. In the first round teams have five minutes to make their selection (as we discussed above). In the second round teams have two minutes. That meant we had to wait for 70 minutes before the first pick, then we rushed to the press conference, listened to Steve Kerr and Terry Porter, had fun playing microphone guy, ran upstairs to send out a text alert, posted on the blog, harassed the Stanford media guy until he sent me some pictures of Robin Lopez and then waited for another 109 minutes until the Suns made their second pick. Steve Kerr told us there may be a trade but he couldn’t tell us yet and we waited for a bit longer. Finally, we heard that the Suns traded their 48th pick to San Antonio for Goran Dragic. And now we are rushing around again.

Overall, I think the Suns had a pretty good draft. According to Steve Kerr, the Suns got the guys they wanted to get. Robin Lopez is the type of big guy the Suns will need in the next few years. He’ll be able to learn from Shaq and hopefully will become a good part of the Suns rotation.

What do you guys think about the draft? Do you see potential for the two draft picks? Is there someone you wish the Suns would have selected instead?

He's Still Got the Touch

Mon, 23 Jun 08 18:30:00 UT

"Thunder" Dan Majerle has spent the past several years as a Phoenix Suns broadcaster. But one thing he hasn't lost during the time spent sitting in the broadcast booth is his shooting touch.

Dan Majerle still has the shooting touch.
(Daniel Banks/Suns.com)

You may recall the Suns Gametime clip on Majerle's pregame half-court shot. Even ESPN's show "Pardon the Interruption" discussed the pregame ritual.

On Monday morning, several of the assistant coaches were working out a draft entrant and Majerle decided to take a few shots while there was some downtime. Suns GM Steve Kerr, SVP of Basketball Operations David Griffin, Head Coach Terry Porter and others were sitting on the other side of the court discussing something when they saw Majerle start shooting. Of course, they couldn't let him take shots at the basket without getting in a few "shots" of their own.

Someone shouted to new Assistant Coach Igor Kokoskov, "Let's see Dan shoot off the dribble!" And the official ribbing began. Majerle kept shooting the ball as various people shouted comments, including "He's only worth a minimum contract" and "Minimum contract? Maybe a 10-day, non-guaranteed contract at best!"

Soon after the workout ended, I spoke with Kerr and Griffin about Majerle's shooting. Specifically, I asked who shot better while playing in the NBA: Dan or Steve. Kerr actually took a couple of steps back and said, "What kind of question is that?!" Griffin answered for Kerr when he commented, "Dan was to Steve as a shooter as Steve was to Dan as a defender."

I caught up with Majerle a few minutes later and asked him about his shooting practice and whether he thought he could still compete in the NBA if he only had to shoot. "Shooting never goes away," he said. "If I didn't have to run or play defense, I could probably be an All-Star. It's all of the other skills that go away when you get up in age."

Jeramie McPeek, VP of Interactive Services, proposed a shooting contest between Majerle, Kerr and Porter while we were watching the workout. I brought this idea up to Dan. He said, "That would be a fun contest. We should put that together before the end of the season." I asked him to let Suns.com know if they ever did something like that so we could film it and the results could be part of Phoenix Suns lore. He assured me he would.

So here's the question to you, Suns fans: Who do you think would win in a contest between Dan Majerle, Steve Kerr and Terry Porter? Why?

A Different Angle on Suns Coach Terry Porter

Mon, 09 Jun 08 22:00:00 UT

It’s official. Terry Porter is the new Phoenix Suns coach. During the press conference, a lot of the questions you would expect were asked and you could probably rattle off what most of the answers were, as well. That’s just what happens in a "presser".

New Suns coach Terry Porter answers questions in a media huddle after the June 9th press conference.
(NBAE Photos)

But I wanted to get our blog readers something a little different. You can go to other parts of Suns.com and get all of the “official” quotes about Terry Porter, what he’s going to bring to the organization, pictures of his playing and coaching career, why Suns GM Steve Kerr decided on Porter, etc. Reporters were all around the Suns' top officials like Porter, Kerr, Senior VP of Basketball Operations David Griffin, VP of Player Programs Mark West, play-by-play man Al McCoy and color commentator Dan Majerle. But I wanted something different. So I went to Coach Porter’s family.

The Porter family has five members: Coach Porter, his wife Susie and his three kids – Brianna, Franklin and Malcolm. I sat in the media huddle with the coach and heard everything he had to say about the new job and what his plans are for the Phoenix Suns. Then I decided to get the juicy details about him, and I started peppering his family with questions.

Well, I guess “peppering” isn’t exactly the right word. First of all, Susie Porter is a very composed and well-spoken woman. With my interviewing skills, probably much better described as lack of interviewing skills, there was no way I was going to get her to say something controversial – even if I had really wanted to.

But I did ask her what qualities her husband had that made him a good husband and father, but that would also help him be a good coach. “He’s very patient and understanding,” Susie answered. “He has a calmness about him but he can also be stern. I call him the ‘flatliner’ because no matter the situation, it doesn’t faze him.”

The kids had a different take on it. 15-year-old Brianna responded, “He always looks so serious on the bench but he’s actually a lot of fun. He always makes time for us even though he is really busy.” Malcolm (who made sure to point out that he’s 10, but turning 11 next month) pointed out that Coach Porter “likes to have fun with the players” even when he is pushing them hard in practice.

The entire family had the same take regarding living in Phoenix. Mrs. Porter told me she definitely “wouldn’t miss the (snow) shovel in the middle of December.” The kids also seemed excited to be in Phoenix. Brianna said she enjoyed being a coach’s daughter because they get to move around so much and meet new people. “We have friends all over the country. We’ve had to learn how to be good friends because when we move, we have to keep in touch with them all.” Regarding the benefits of having a dad as an NBA coach, 12-year-old Franklin mentioned the fact that he and Malcolm get to visit NBA practices and meet the NBA players as a high point.

Regarding what their favorite place to live was (besides Phoenix), everyone had different answers: Susie loved Portland because of the history they had there with both the team and personally. The two boys had a hard time deciding but finally mentioned Milwaukee, and Brianna liked Detroit because of the school and the area they lived in.

I didn’t want to take up a lot of time with Coach Porter’s family since they probably hoped to spend most of their time in the background, but they were all gracious with me and my fumbling questions. They are a great family and based on the little amount of time I spent with them this afternoon, I think they’ll fit in great while in Phoenix. Welcome again to the entire Porter family. We’re excited to have you here!

Changes to the Phoenix Suns Blog

Wed, 04 Jun 08 19:00:00 UT

Change is inevitable. It happens everywhere. It's even happening with the Suns team right now as the search for a new coach continues. And change is happening with the Official Phoenix Suns Blog as well.

You probably haven't noticed the changes that happened today but I wanted to explain what they were because I think they'll help you get more out of this blog.

If you're a frequent visitor to the blog, you've probably stopped looking at the left-hand side of the screen on the blog front page and on each blog post where there is a list of all of the contributors on the site. If you look over there right now you'll see a list of 29 different RSS feeds you can subscribe to. Those RSS feeds have recently changed. So if you are subscribed to the old feeds that looked like this: http://suns.marqui.com/blog/rss/default.xml you will want to change your RSS reader to the new feeds that look like this: http://feeds.feedburner.com/PhoenixSunsBlog.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, there are plenty of places you can go to learn more about RSS feeds. I'm addicted to them. Most sites I am interested in reading on a daily basis have RSS feeds. They make it easier to look at new content for multiple sites all at once. There are a lot of feed readers but some online readers include Google Reader, Bloglines, Rojo, NewsGator and NetVibes. I personally use NetVibes but I don't know that it is especially better than any of the others. It's just what I'm used to.

If you're interested in reading all of the content on the blog, you'll want to subscribe to the "All" RSS feed. That will give you everything that goes up on the blog. If you are only interested in a specific person, you can subscribe to their specific blog by clicking on the RSS link next to their name.

We are also going to be making some larger changes on the blog over the next few months. We have some pretty good ideas of what changes we want to make already but I wanted to open it up to the readers of the blog as well to get your thoughts. Have ideas of a running topic you want to see, visual changes to the blog, changes to how the blog is set up, or anything else? Feel free to leave comments below or e-mail me at blog@suns.com. I'm anxious to hear from you and get your thoughts.

Enjoy your summer, keep checking back at Suns.com for updated news on the coaching changes and GO SUNS!

With Two Games Left, Playoff Opponent Still Unknown

Mon, 14 Apr 08 20:00:00 UT

It seems that in the past few season, the Phoenix Suns have known well in advance of the playoffs who their first round opponent would be. Such is not the case this season.

The current standings show the Suns with the 6th seed where they are slated to play the San Antonio Spurs. But there are still several games left and the Lakers, Hornets and Spurs are all within 1.5 games of each other. Any one of them could move to the 3rd seed before the season is over.

On the other hand, the Suns are a game behind the Houston Rockets. The Rockets have two games left against the Jazz and the Clippers. Phoenix plays Monday against Golden State and Wednesday against Portland. In order to take over the 5th seed, the Suns will need to win both of their games and wait for Houston to lose both of theirs. Because the Rockets have a better conference record than the Suns, they will take the tie breaker if the teams have the same record (they played to a 2-2 tie in their four games this season).

We've already discussed who we think the Suns would match up with the best so I don't think that would be a good discussion again. We've also already talked about whether you think the Suns starters should rest or keep playing these last couple of games. And until we know who our opponent is going to be, it doesn't do any good to talk potential matchups.

So I thought I would change it up a bit and maybe get some Suns-watching plans started. What do you guys do during playoff games? Do you like to get a huge group together at someone's house, go all-out with the food and watch the games? Or do you watch the game by yourself so no one sees you cry if the Suns happen to lose?

The past several years I would be traveling during the playoffs so I ended up watching the games in a hotel room with a room service meal scattered in front of me. I would order a few extra rolls so I would have something to throw at the wall when I disagreed with a call. Last year, during the game 5 loss I started banging the back of my head against the wall as the Suns' lead slowly slipped away in the last few minutes. I tried not to yell too loudly when watching games at the hotel but I'm sure the people in the rooms next to me thought I was a little nuts.

Let me know what you guys do during the playoffs and maybe it will give some of the other readers good ideas for what they can do as well.

How Important Is Going Out With a Bang?

Fri, 11 Apr 08 22:15:00 UT

The Phoenix Suns have three games left in their season: against the Houston Rockets tonight, Golden State Warriors on Monday and Portland Trailblazers on Wednesday. By Thursday, we'll know who our first opponent is and when the first round of the playoffs starts for Phoenix.

So my question to you for a weekend discussion is this: How important is it to win these last three games? If they win tonight and for some reason can't move up or down in the rankings after tonight's game, would you sit the starters and rest them for the playoffs? Would you only play them 20 minutes and then rest them just so they don't get rusty? Or would you try to win the games despite not being able to change your seeding?

I've always been of the opinion that each game is important. It seems that if you let yourself go for a game or two and aren't really trying, it would be hard to get that intensity back for the first - and maybe the second - game of the playoffs. That could put you in a pretty deep hole with the way the West is stacked this season.

I don't have any numbers for you today. But I did want to get some opinions on what you think the team should do for the last three games.

Leave your comments below. I don't know that there is any right or wrong answer to this so keep your comments about the questions and hopefully not about the other commenters!

Have a great weekend. GO SUNS!

Suns Win Over Spurs Bucks All Trends

Thu, 10 Apr 08 21:15:00 UT

Over the past week, we've discussed several different topics: back-to-backs, the Spurs record over the Suns, the way San Antonio has held Phoenix to the 2nd fewest points of the season. Yet all of those trends were kicked to the ground last night.

Back-to-Backs - As you may have read, the Suns are exceptionally good at winning the first game of a back-to-back series. For the season, they are 16-1 - a 94% winning percentage. But in the 2nd game of the season, they were only at .500 until last night's game. And they not only won the game, they won it handily. That brought them up to a .529 winning percentage.

Spurs record over Suns - The Suns have had a hard time beating the Spurs in years past. This year they are 3-1 against the 2007 Champions. The Spurs wanted the game pretty bad. They certainly didn't want to give up any mental edge to the Suns. But with Phoenix winning 75% of the games this season. The only loss was an 84-81 game where the Suns lead most of the game until the last few minutes.

Non-scoring against San Antonio - This wasn't a huge change from the other games but it was still 5 points over their average from the first three games against the Spurs. Phoenix scored 100 in their first game in San Antonio. They scored 96 last night.

Overall, I was very pleased with the Suns' performance. They kept their heads in the game, they were able to fend off some of the rough play that the Spurs tried to get into and even gave some of it back. They took a close game and blew it wide open in the 4th quarter - enough that Coach Popovich put the scrubs in with about 4 minutes left in the game.

What did you think of the game? Does this change your predictions of where we'll end up in the standings and how we'll fare in the playoffs? Leave your comments below.

Suns Beat Memphis, Head to San Antonio

Wed, 09 Apr 08 20:00:00 UT

As we discussed yesterday, the Suns did well again in the first game of their last back-to-back series of the season. Now it's on to San Antonio where they will face a more formidable opponent.

Playing the Spurs is always an interesting experience - especially when it is this close to the playoffs. Emotions seem to run a little higher and fans of both teams are on edge (check out the comments under Bob Adlhoch's blog if you need proof). But this is the most fun part of the year, I think.

This season the Suns have won two out of the three games they've played against the Spurs. But their stats don't look so hot:

They averaged 43.7% shooting against the Spurs this season
Shot 26.4% from the three-point line
Averaged 91.7 points per game (the only team who that held the Suns lower is Boston)

But there are a few bright spots as well:

They averaged 42.7 rebounds per game
Averaged 21.3 assists per game

We're still not sure if Shaq will be playing tonight. It will be a game time decision. If Shaq plays, I think it's important to win or at least stay very close to the Spurs. Despite my thoughts that the Suns are better than the Spurs this season, I'm still afraid of a mental block when it comes to playing them in a 7-game series. If Shaq does not play and the Suns either win or stay close, I think that will help them get over that mental barrier.

What are your thoughts on tonight's game?

Monkey on Their Back (to Back)

Tue, 08 Apr 08 18:15:00 UT

The Phoenix Suns' games on Tuesday and Wednesday are the last back-to-back games of the season. After looking at the numbers in those games, I am very glad there are no back-to-back's in the playoffs.

The team has played a total of 16 back-to-back series so far this season (not included the Memphis/San Antonio series starting tonight). The numbers for the first game of a back-to-back are impressive:

Record: 15-1
Points Scored: 113.7
Points Allowed: 103.2
Rebounds: 43.9

Not too shabby, right? I think any team would take a 94% winning percentage. But let's take a moment to look at the second game of a back-to-back series:

Record: 8-8
Points Scored: 107.7
Points Allowed: 108.3
Rebounds: 39

It's still a 50% winning percentage but I think the team expects better of themselves. With the 2nd of the back-to-back Wednesday against San Antonio (in San Antonio) it's important for the Suns to get a big lead tonight so they can rest their players. The game against Memphis just got a little harder after it was announced that Shaq will sit out tonight's game due to a hip bruise. But he should be back for the game against San Antonio.

My question to you: Why do you think the Suns do so poorly on the 2nd game of a back-to-back series? Is it just as simple as being tired? Do they feel good after a win the night before and let up on their intensity a bit? Are there other reasons you can think of? Let's discuss it in the comments below.

Who Would You Rather Face?

Mon, 07 Apr 08 22:15:00 UT

There are 5 games left in the season and the Phoenix Suns are currently the 6th seed in the Western Conference. If the playoffs started today, they would play the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round.

Most likely, the Suns are going to be either the 5th seed and will face the Utah Jazz or will stay in the 6th seed and play the Lakers. My question to you today is: Who would you rather face?

With every team in the West as strong as it is this season, is there a "good" matchup for the Suns? Is there a team you would rather see Phoenix play in the first round? I don't know that I have a preference between the Lakers and the Jazz. They are both tough teams. Here is a breakdown of some numbers for both teams.

Suns vs Los Angeles Lakers in 2007-08
Record: 1-3
Field Goal Percentage: 48%
Rebounds: 41
Points per Game: 111

Suns vs Utah Jazz in 2007-08
Record: 1-2
Field Goal Percentage: 44%
Rebounds: 40
Points per Game: 102

Based on those stats, maybe it would be better to face the Lakers? The teams only faced each other once with their current lineups. The Suns have greatly improved since that last game. But then again, so have the Lakers.

Give me your thoughts on a potential matchup below. But explain your reasoning! I'm curious to see what Suns fans think about potential matchups.

STAT's stats

Fri, 04 Apr 08 16:30:00 UT

We've all seen the gaudy numbers Amare Stoudemire has put up the past few games. He's been nothing short of incredible. Many experts have credited the presence of Shaquille O'Neal with the surge. I thought we might look at the numbers to see just how much The Big Cactus has helped.

First, let's look at Amare's statistics before Shaq came to town:

21.29 points per game
8.63 rebounds per game
1.1 assists per game
31.4 minutes per game
3.7 fouls per game

That's not too shabby by any means. Averaging 21 points and over 8.5 rebounds is something I think any team would take.

Now Amare's statistics after the Shaq trade (these include only the games when Shaq started playing):

30 points per game
9.1 rebounds per game
2.2 assists per game
37 minutes per game
3.7 fouls per game

Or, looking at this using Doug Collins-speak, since Shaq was traded to the Phoenix Suns, Amare Stoudemire is:

+8.71 points per game
+.47 rebounds per game
+1.1 assists per game
+5.6 minutes per game

Now let's get into the "why" on the increase in numbers. Here are my ideas:

Amare doesnt have to play centers the entire game and doesn't get as tired
Shaq is taking the double teams Stoudemire used to get
Because Amare isn't as tired, he is able to play more minutes and that translates into more points/rebounds

Are there any other reasons you can think of for the improvement Amare has shown after the All-Star break?

Shaq's Honda Ride Confirmed

Thu, 03 Apr 08 22:15:00 UT

A few weeks ago (March 10 to be exact), Suns.com linked to some pictures on InsideHoops.com showing Shaq getting a ride from a guy with a Honda.

Today, the same web site confirmed the story was true. Editor Jeff Lenchiner spoke with Shaq and has a short interview about the ride on the web site.

It's a pretty good story and something I'm sure the guy will repeat to his friends for years to come.

Anyone else have a "freak encounter" with a Suns players this season?

Links:

Suns.com Mention - http://www.nba.com/suns/news/reporters_notebook.html#honda
InsideHoops.com Interview - http://www.insidehoops.com/shaq-in-honda-040108.shtml

Shaq and the Free Throw

Thu, 03 Apr 08 16:30:00 UT

Much has been said about Shaq’s free throw shooting since he has come to the Suns. I figured with several games under his belt, it would be a good time to look at the numbers.

The first thing I need to point out is that none of the free throw statistics this year (improvement or otherwise) is really statistically significant in the grand scheme of things. Shaq has averaged 647 free throws per season over his career. He has shot over 10,300 free throws in that time. Through April 1, only 131 of those were while he was in Phoenix. That represents only 1.3% of the total free throws in O’Neal’s career.

Why does that matter? Here's one example: Before Tuesday’s game in Denver, he was shooting 52.5% from the free throw line (64-122) since coming to Phoenix. On Tuesday, he shot 2-9 from the line (a 22% night) which dropped him from 52.5% to 50.4%. If you look at his career free throw numbers, before Tuesday’s game he averaged 52.5% (5,423-10,338) and after the 22% night on Tuesday he now averages 52.4%. What does that all mean? Any good night will move O'Neal's average up dramatically while any poor shooting night will drop it just as quickly. If he happens to go 10-10 from the line on Friday night against Minnesota, his average would go from 50.4% to 54%. If he went 0-10 it would drop from 50.4% to 46.8%.

That being said, before Tuesday's performance Shaq was shooting at a 66.7% rate in the previous 5 games. If you include Tuesday, he is averaging 56.4% in the past 6 games. That is a major improvement over the past few seasons. Shaq's best free throw shooting season was the 2002-03 season he was with the Lakers. He shot 62.2% that season.

I don’t want my geeky statistical writing above to make anyone disappointed about the possible improvement of Shaq’s free throw shooting. There are things that he could be doing that really do show that he is getting better. While he’s been working on his free throws here, he has been using techniques I don’t think he has used anywhere else. If that improves his free throw shooting form and technique, that can only give him more confidence when he goes up to the line during a game. I just wanted to point out that we should be looking for improvement over the long term and not necessarily over just a few games.

What are your thoughts on Shaq’s free throw shooting? Do you think he’s getting better? Worse? And why?

By the Numbers: Phoenix Suns vs Denver Nuggets, Part 2

Wed, 02 Apr 08 16:45:00 UT

I was anxious for the second game of the Suns/Nuggets home-and-home series to see what Denver would bring and how Phoenix would react. I wasn’t disappointed.

For the second night in a row, Phoenix and Denver played an exciting game that featured lots of scoring. The Suns averaged 126 in the two games; the Nuggets weren’t too far behind with 121.5. Other interesting tidbits about the two games:

The team that had the lowest shooting percentage won both games (Denver shot 52.7% on Monday, Phoenix shot 52.8% on Tuesday)
Poor free throw shooting could have made the difference. The Nuggets missed 11 free throws on Monday; the Suns missed 12 free throws on Tuesday
The Suns had 6 more turnovers on Tuesday night that turned into 10 points for the Nuggets. That is 7 less points than in Monday’s game but 6 turnovers could translate into as much as 18 missed points in the event that all 6 possessions resulted in three-point plays.
The Suns had 4 technical fouls for the 2nd game in a row and are averaging 3.6 per game over the past 3 games. The team has received at least 1 technical foul in 9 of the past 15 games.

The next game is on Friday against Minnesota. The Suns are still fighting for 1st place in the Pacific Division so each game is important.

Let me know your thoughts on the game and any trends you might have seen over the past few games.

By the Numbers - Phoenix Suns vs Denver Nuggets, Part 1

Tue, 01 Apr 08 16:00:00 UT

Be honest. How many of you who watched the game on Monday changed the channel at halftime thinking the Suns had no chance to win?

I know I did. Of course, I can’t stay away long even if the Suns are losing so I changed the channel back when halftime was over and watched the Suns wage a miraculous comeback against the Denver Nuggets. And the most fun part about the game last night? We get to do it again tonight!

Yesterday, I wrote about a few of the trends I’ve seen in the numbers. Well, the Suns obviously didn’t keep the Nuggets to under 100 points. Denver scored 70 in the first half! But Phoenix did grab 50 rebounds – well over the threshold of 40 we discussed yesterday. That is 60.2% of the total rebounds in the game. The only game where the Suns have had a higher percentage of the total rebounds is against Boston on February 22 when they got 61 percent.

Turnovers were also kept to a minimum (11 as a team) and points off those turnovers were also held fairly low (17 total points). Seventeen may not seem too low but considering that in the two losses on the road trip the team allowed 25 points off of turnovers, 17 is an improvement.

With the second of a back-to-back game this evening, tonight’s game should be an interesting one. Phoenix is 8-7 on the back end of back-to-back games this season and they have allowed an average of107 points in those games while also scoring an average of 107 points per game. The Suns are 23-14 on the road while the Nuggets are 30-7 at home. Denver is currently the odd man out in regards to the playoffs so they will be working hard to win tonight’s game.

Let me know your thoughts on what will happen with the game tonight and check back here tomorrow for a review of the game’s numbers.

Excitement Building as Season Comes to a Close

Mon, 31 Mar 08 19:00:00 UT

It's the last day of March and your Phoenix Suns have just 9 games left in the regular season. I don't want to reminisce too much at this point since we still have 11% of the season left (I can’t seem to get away from doing these dorky calculations now), but this season sure has been fun!

With the great start to the season (winning 16 out of the first 20 games), the Shaquille O’Neal trade and the trials that came with integrating him into the team and now the final end run where the Suns could easily end up anywhere from 1st place to 6th place in the conference, I would consider the 2007-2008 season to be one of the best seasons in recent memory.

This season I wanted to keep track of the numbers and see if I could find any trends that could predict whether the Suns would win or lose a game. Things like:

The Suns do better when they have more rest between games
You can almost guarantee a win if the Suns keep their opponents under 100 points (25-2 through March 29th – a 93% winning percentage)
Phoenix wins 80% of their games when they get 40 rebounds or more (35-9 through March 29th)

The last nine games should be just as exciting as the previous 73 as the Suns head into the home stretch and towards the playoffs. Enjoy the game tonight!

By the Numbers: The Shaquille O'Neal Effect

Thu, 13 Mar 08 18:42:00 UT

Ever since the second season of the Steve Nash Era, I have told anyone who would listen that you need to give the team nine games to get into a groove.

It's taken a few games but Nash and O'Neal are starting to learn how to play together now.
(NBAE Photos)

For some reason, it takes Steve that many games to figure out where his fellow teammates like to catch passes and his teammates the same number of games to remember they need to have their hands always ready when they are running into the lane.

In the four years since Nash has been back, the team has gone 21-15 if you add up the first nine games of each of those seasons. That’s not too bad of a record. It's a 58% winning percentage. But in the 9 games after (games 10 through 18 of each season), the team is cumulatively 33-3.

When the Suns pulled the trigger on the Shaquille O’Neal trade, I tried to tell everyone I could not to judge the success or failure of the trade based on the first nine games. Based on previous seasons, the team would be getting to know each other all over again. It would be like starting a new season with new players. Except that most of the rest of the teams the Suns were playing were in mid-season shape.

Needless to say, I wasn’t surprised that the Suns went 3-6 in the first nine games with Shaq. Nor was I surprised that they won their next two games. But I still see the pitfalls the team faces. Unlike starting a normal season, the teams the Suns are playing now aren’t on a level playing field. Most of them didn’t just replace a major spoke in a wheel that likes to travel 90 mph. The Suns schedule for the rest of the month is: Golden State, Sacramento, Portland, Houston, Detroit, Boston, Philadelphia, New Jersey and Denver. But if any team can pick up the pace in mid-season and go on a winning streak despite the challenges, it’s this team.

Here are some other numbers you might find interesting about the past 10 games with Shaq:

In wins, opponents’ field goal percentage has gone from 43.5% to 40.4%.
Opponent 3-point field goal percentage has decreased from 31.4% to 29.2% when the Suns win.
In losses, total Suns rebounds haven’t changed much but in wins total rebounds have increased by nearly 6 rebounds per game.
Percentage of total rebounds increased in both wins and losses; from 48% to 56% in wins and from 45% to 49% in losses.
Turnovers have increased in both wins and losses.
In Suns wins, O’Neal averages 8 points per game. In losses, he averages 13 points per game.

Have you noticed any other O'Neal Effect in the past 10 games? Are there any other numbers you're curious about but just don't want to look up yourself? E-mail me at blog@suns.com.

GO SUNS!

A Brief History of Franchise Centers

Fri, 29 Feb 08 16:30:00 UT

With the Suns' acquisition of Shaquille O'Neal earlier this month, they acquired something never before seen in a Phoenix uniform in the team’s long, and generally successful, history - A bona-fide franchise center.

The Suns finally have a bona-fide franchise center. Will he lead the team to its first ring?
(NBAE Photos)

Sure, maybe not a bona-fide franchise center at the peak of his powers, but the Suns have never, ever, had a pivotman the caliber of Shaquille O’Neal. And we’re talking forty years here. They’ve had good centers (Neal Walk, Mark West), and great players playing out of position (Alvan Adams, Amare Stoudemire), but never a guy who commands the attention, whose very presence alters a game, like Shaq.

Every year on draft day, whenever a franchise center was coming out of college or high school, the Suns were like kids at some other child’s birthday party. It’s only so much fun to watch them open their gaudy new presents, knowing you’re maybe going home with a party hat or, if you’re lucky, a noisemaker.

Here, let’s hop in my trusty Suns Way-Back Machine and trace the course of Phoenix’s tangled history with franchise centers. As you’ll see, it’s been a trail of “just misses” and of being too good to merit picking high enough to grab a superduperstar.

1968: In their inaugural year, the Suns are given a middle-round draft slot by the league, keeping them from taking famous oak stump Wes Unseld, who’d go on to win the Rookie of the Year and the Most Valuable Player award.

1969: Everyone knows this one. Lew Alcindor, coming out of UCLA and headed for the most famous name-change in basketball history (sorry, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf), is the target for both the Suns and expansion brothers Milwaukee. Milwaukee wins the coin flip, and the Suns take Neal Walk and then win the rights to Connie Hawkins. Both of whom, while not adding up to one Abdul-Jabbar, nevertheless help make the Suns good enough to miss out on…

1970: …Bob Lanier. And Dave Cowens. Sigh.

1974: Having passed the peak years of Neal Walk’s career, the Suns would have loved to land a franchise center in this draft. However, they weren’t quite stinky enough, and could only watch division rivals Portland snap up Bill Walton. It’s Portland’s second number one overall pick in three years, by the way. Good for them. Couldn’t happen to a lovelier city. No, really, we’re happy for you.

1975: The Suns fill their center void with future Rookie of the Year, future All-Star, and future Ring of Honor member Alvan Adams. A sensation his first year because of his versatility, quickness and the matchup problems he provided opposing centers, foes soon turned the tables, and Alvan would come to have just as much trouble with them as they did with him. Essentially playing out of position his entire career, today Alvan would likely be a small forward…or a big guard (he was that good a ballhandler, shooter and passer).

1976: With Alvan manning the post, the Suns don’t feel the need to trade up to go after some kid from a school called Centenary named Robert Parish, preferring to stay two spots behind and pick up Ronnie Lee. The Suns may not have gotten a franchise center, but they unquestionably got the better Afro.

1980: Hype surrounds the professional debut of Purdue center Joe Barry Carroll, the consensus top pick and purported next great middle man. The Suns aren’t players in this draft, having no first-round pick, but they’d have the great joy of seeing Mr. Carroll in a purple and orange uniform some years later, after he spectacularly flamed out in a blaze of wasted potential. He didn’t rediscover that potential in Phoenix, either, and Suns fans saw up close how he earned his nickname, “Joe Barely Cares.”

1983: Ralph Sampson! Everybody wanted this guy. Seven-feet-, four-inches tall, with a guard’s ballhandling abilities and limitless athleticism. Alas, the Suns didn’t have a first rounder this year either, but it’s just as well – their center position was in the good hands of James (Buddha) Edwards, who never took a shot when he wasn’t fading away from the basket, never averaged more than 8.5 rebounds per game in a season, and was most famous for being the last player to convincingly wear a Fu Manchu mustache.

1984: Houston gets a little of that Portland luck, getting the first pick all over again, and getting themselves a second franchise center in two years, Akeem (I’d Like To Buy An H, Pat) Olajuwon. Keep track of these Houston franchise centers. There’s more to come.

1985: Patrick Ewing just happens to be available in the first year of the NBA draft lottery! So where do the Suns find themselves? Picking just outside the lottery at number ten.

1986: Brad Daugherty? Who needs him?! The Suns, picking sixth, draft a bona fide, big-time, franchise-potential center named…William Bedford. Here’s my William Bedford story: One afternoon shortly after the draft, I’m shooting baskets at the old Phoenix Jewish Community Center. In walks Suns Assistant Coach Al Bianchi with Suns star forward Larry Nance and young master Bedford. Bianchi watches them play one-on-one to assess the magnitude of the Suns’ newest megatalent. After Nance has flattened Bedford’s soft scalp with a series of dunks, poor Mr. Bianchi punches himself in the eye seventeen straight times (figuratively speaking, of course). Bedford winds up in Detroit where, naturally, he wins a championship ring as a benchwarmer.

1987: The Suns have their highest pick since they year of Almost-Lew…and it’s still not quite high enough to snag David Robinson. But it’s not all bad…Picking second, the Suns still managed to wind up with Armon Gilliam! Why aren’t you smiling?

1992: We have to wait a while for the next batch of franchise centers, and two of them turn up this year – Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning. But the Suns are smack in the middle of a great run, anchored by the legendary Chambers-KJ-Majerle nucleus, and hey, they’ve just picked up Charles Barkley besides. So there’s no way the Suns are bad enough to qualify for either of the above super prospects. Nevertheless, the Suns manage to land a center loaded with potential near the end of the first round: Oliver Miller. Unfortunately, the Big O was also loaded with about sixty extra pounds. There’s no telling how far Oliver might have gone in his career had he stayed in shape – but that’s because he ate the road in front of him.

1997: San Antonio snags the top pick and the right to select Tim Duncan, which is only fair because, hey, it’s only been ten years since they selected their last franchise big man. The Suns sit out the first round entirely, possibly in protest of the injustice of it all.

1998: Michael Olowokandi. Okay, sometimes it’s all right not to have the first pick overall.

2001: Kwame Brown. See 1998.

2002: Remember when I said to watch this space for another Houston sighting? Well, here comes Yao Ming. That makes three franchise centers in fewer than 20 years! Anyone want to join me in a good primal scream?

2004: Dwight Howard. Sigh. Can’t you picture him playing alongside Amare Stoudemire, reducing opponents’ arenas to rubble every night? Why do we have to be so freaking good all the time that we miss out on players like this?! (I’m not really angry about it – I’m thrilled we’ve had a team of such consistent high quality to root for, but still…Rrrgh!)

2007: Well, welcome back, Portland. We were worried you’d led Houston and San Antonio keep having all the fun. Here, have a Greg Oden.

So there you have it. After all these years, the Suns finally have one of the guys mentioned above in uniform, in a position where he really might be able to get the franchise over the hump. Here in Los Angeles, there’s been lots of gleeful hysteria over how the Shaq trade “just isn’t working out, and boy, is Phoenix in trouble!” Which, seeing as how we’re five games into the Shaq era, is a little like reviewing War and Peace after the first nine words. You don’t add a Shaquille O’Neal to an established club in mid-season and have everything flow perfectly right away. And as I’ve said before, this trade was made with April and May in mind, not February. Besides, as anyone who’s seen the Suns since the trade can tell you, while Shaq may not be Shaq circa 1994, he’s a far cry from being William Bedford. Thank goodness.

After all this analysis, I still don’t know if Shaq will help carry the Suns to their first championship and break the franchise’s “center jinx,” but my hopes are as high as they were the day of the trade. I only know one thing for certain: If another franchise, superstar center emerges from the draft…Houston, San Antonio or Portland will likely be there to greet him. Which is only fair.

By the Numbers: Phoenix Suns vs Los Angeles Lakers

Thu, 21 Feb 08 04:52:00 UT

Everything I can say to introduce the latest "By the Numbers" has already been said in the two weeks since the Shaquille O’Neal trade. It's the beginning of a new era. Things are going to be different for the Suns now. The team is going to play differently.

I've decided to let everyone else talk about what they think is going to happen with the team over the next few weeks and months and instead, I’m going to take a look back at what the Suns did numbers-wise pre-Shaq. Then as we get more into the post-Shaq era, we’ll have a good base to build off of.

The Suns played 53 games before Shaq stepped onto the court and won 37 of them – a 70% winning percentage. Assuming they kept that percentage up for the rest of the season, they would have won 57 games. The team also lost 16 games before the Big Cactus put on the uniform. By the end of the season (if percentages stayed the same), they would have lost 25 games. So what was the difference between the wins and the losses?

I averaged the numbers in the wins and losses to see what trends I could find and most of the numbers are very obvious (the Suns score more in wins than in losses), some are fairly obvious (they shoot a higher percentage in wins than in losses) and some not so obvious (they average nearly the same number of offensive rebounds – 7.8 vs 7.1 - in wins and losses).

But there are some stats that I would not have predicted before I ran the numbers:

When the Suns win, their opponents average 42.3 rebounds per game. When they lose opponents average 41.8 rebounds. So there’s not too much difference in the actual number of rebounds the Suns’ opponents get per game. What matters instead is the plus/minus of rebounds the Suns get in wins and losses. In wins, the Suns only average 3.7 rebounds less than their opponents. In losses, Phoenix is averages 9.6 less. That is a huge difference and is one that hopefully Shaq will be able to help the Suns overcome. Another stat regarding rebounds is the percentage of total rebounds the Suns get. They average 44% of the total rebounds in the game when they win while they only average 38% of the total rebounds when they lose.

A few additional statistics that I found interesting are:

Phoenix averages more steals in losses (8.1) than in wins (7.0) and the number of turnovers
The Suns average the same number of turnovers (12.4) in wins and losses
They average the same number of fouls in wins and losses (17.8)

While the Suns weren’t able to pull out the win tonight, they did improve in the rebounding category. As the Suns get more comfortable with Shaq in the lineup, the wins will hopefully start coming as well.

What are your thoughts on the stats above? Is there something I’m missing? Something you’d like me to research further? If so, e-mail me at blog@suns.com.

By the Numbers: Phoenix Suns vs San Antonio Spurs

Fri, 01 Feb 08 07:00:00 UT

Welcome to the first “By the Numbers” of 2008.

It’s been exactly a month since I last had a blog entry but I promise it’s for a good reason. My wife had a baby boy halfway through the month and I’ve been trying to keep up with three kids instead of two! Needless to say, I’ve been adding things over the past few weeks – but instead of counting points, rebounds and blocked shots, I have been counting dirty diapers, how many hours between feedings and the number of times I wake up in the middle of the night. Now that the baby is a couple of weeks old, I feel like I can get back into keeping track of Phoenix Suns numbers again.

If I told you the following, you would probably think the Suns were guaranteed a spot in the playoffs and would most likely end up with at least a three or a four seed come playoff time:

1st in the Pacific Division (3.5 games ahead of the Lakers)
1st in the Western Conference (tied with the New Orleans Hornets)
3rd best record in the NBA

But if you look at the rest of the standings in the Western Conference, things look a little scarier:

The top eight teams in the Western Conference are within 5.5 games of each other (as opposed to a 17 game difference in the Eastern Conference)
Portland is only 1.5 games out of first place in their division and if the playoffs started today, they would not be playing
Golden State is nine games over .500 and is in the 8th position in the conference. By comparison, New Jersey is seven games under .500 and holds in the 8th position in the Eastern Conference. If Golden State were in the Eastern Conference, they would have the 4th best record.

What does all of this mean? Mostly it shows how good the teams are that Phoenix has to play on a regular basis. And it shows how any given team could take over the lead spot in the Western Conference with a good run at the end of the season. Who ever would have thought at the beginning of the season that San Antonio and Dallas would be on a possible crash course to play each other in the first round of the playoffs?

I’ll get more into the Suns’ numbers through the rest of the season and playoffs. I have several questions that people have sent over the past few months and I’ll be working on those as well. If you have any kind of stats questions you would like me to research, feel free to e-mail me at blog@suns.com.

GO SUNS!!

Are the Suns "Finals-worthy"?

Mon, 31 Dec 07 16:43:00 UT

Several people have been writing about how the Suns don't match up to “Finals-worthy” teams like the Spurs. I just didn’t get what everyone was complaining about so I decided to do a little number-crunching to find out what I was missing.

Are the Suns "Finals-worthy"?
(NBAE Photos)

Without naming the team, which numbers would you rather have:

Team One

0-3 on the road in December
7-2 at home in December
3.41 blocks per game in December
43% shooting percentage in December
5-5 in the past 10 games
3-3 in the past 6 games

Team Two

7-4 on the road in December
3-1 at home in December
7.8 blocks per game in December
50% shooting percentage in December
6-4 in the past 10 games
4-2 in the past 6 games

Since this is a Suns blog, you probably already know that Team Two is the Suns. But my point is this: Phoenix played 11 games on the road in December and only 4 at home. In December, they had two fairly long road trips, the most home games they had in a row was two, they played 3 more games than the Spurs and still had a 67% winning percentage.

Sure, there are improvements the team can make. They can still improve their rotation on defense and they can pick up the pace on offense a bit. But if they keep winning the way they have in the past 30 games, they’ll end up with 54 wins and should take the Pacific Division title again. The Suns are good enough that they don’t really have to worry about making the playoffs. They’re like the other elite teams in the league that use the regular season to tweak their lineups, test out new things and get ready for the playoffs. And while they’re doing that, they are still pretty darn entertaining.

I’ve said this before but I would like to say it again: Let’s enjoy the ride! There aren’t too many teams in the NBA that are as entertaining and as successful as the Suns are.

Oh, and one last thing, Happy New Year!!

All I Want for Christmas is Two L.A. Wins

Mon, 24 Dec 07 14:41:00 UT

As most of you probably know, the Phoenix Suns are playing the Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas Day.

And as Steve Kerr so eloquently explained, the Suns organization is doing a great job of making the game as comfortable as possible for the players and their families. Hopefully it will make playing the game a little easier and the Suns can come out with a win!

After the Lakers game, the team stays in LA to play the Clippers on Thursday night. Same building, different floor. Both games are against division rivals yet because the Lakers are so close to the Suns in the standings (only two games behind Phoenix in the Pacific Division and 6th in the Western Conference) that game seems to be the one on everyone’s mind right now. Well, that and it’s a nationally televised game. If the Suns win the game, they go three games up on the Lakers and then go into a back-to-back with the Clippers on Thursday and Friday while the Lakers then have to face Utah and Boston. The Clippers have been struggling so far this season and are currently eight games under .500. and 9.5 games out of first place in the Pacific Division so those games are a good chance for the Suns to try and build a larger lead in their division. Obviously, nothing is certain in the NBA and the Suns will have to play hard to beat the Clippers but I like the Suns’ chances.

If the Lakers win, all of the sudden they are just a game behind the Suns in the standings and are on a roll while having 4 consecutive games at home. LA has won eight out of their past 10 games. Only Boston has a better record over the past 10 games. So that makes the Suns/Lakers game that much more important.

So what are your thoughts on the Christmas game? Will you be watching? Are you planning your day around the game or will you try to catch it if the timing is right with the rest of your day? For my family, we’ll be getting our festivities done early and we’ll be heading over to my parents’ house to watch the game. This time of year is all about enjoying your family and friends and there’s hardly a better way to do that than by watching the Suns win the game against the Lakers and then follow that up by beating the Clippers two days later.

Merry Christmas, everyone! Enjoy the game.

By the Numbers: Phoenix Suns vs San Antonio Spurs

Tue, 18 Dec 07 15:51:00 UT

If I hadn’t watched the last two games and you asked me to look at the stats and tell you which game I thought the Suns won, it would have been the New Orleans game.

Grant Hill and the Suns blocked San Antonio's home winning streak on Monday.
(NBAE Photos)

The Suns did everything they should have to win that game (stats-wise) and couldn’t pull it out. On the other hand, many of the box score indicators for a win in the San Antonio game weren’t there and the Suns scraped by with a W.

Phoenix shot a higher percentage against New Orleans – 47.5% as opposed to 46.8%. They allowed a much lower shooting percentage against the Hornets – 40.7% vs. 45.9%. The Suns also shot better in both three-point field goals and free throws. Additionally, they had more rebounds, a higher percentage of the total rebounds, more assists and a better assist/turnover ratio against the Hornets. Yet it was the San Antonio game that Phoenix won. What happened?

Actually, there were several things that happened in the San Antonio game – some of them seemingly small, yet statistically relevant. For instance, Phoenix lost by 3 points to the Hornets and had one less offensive rebound in that game. Just one extra offensive rebound could have led to a two or even a four point turnaround that would have changed the outcome of the game. They also had one less turnover against the Spurs.

Phoenix increased the number of steals and the difference in steals against the Spurs. In the Hornets game, the men in purple only had one more steal than the Hornets. Against San Antonio the Suns had 5 more steals. That creates more scoring opportunities for the Suns and less for the Spurs.

On the other hand, if you watched the two games and didn’t look at the box scores, you probably would have picked the San Antonio game as the one Phoenix won. They seemed to be playing with more intensity and a lot more enthusiasm. Here’s another interesting statistic: in the New Orleans loss, the Phoenix starters had 21 fouls during the game. In the San Antonio win, they had 14. The starters also played 10% less minutes in the Spurs game than in the Hornets game (167 vs 183). Both Boris Diaw and Leandro Barbosa played about 33% more minutes on Monday night than they did on Saturday.

Overall, the Suns win in San Antonio was a good one. It showed that the team does know how to play together. There were some problems that the team can still improve on but that is the reason they play 82 regular season games. If teams were perfect right out of the gate, they could just go right to the playoffs.

What are your thoughts on the game?

By the Numbers: Phoenix Suns vs New Orleans Hornets

Mon, 17 Dec 07 18:26:00 UT

The Suns have lost 3 out of their last 4 games and they have to play San Antonio on Monday and Dallas on Wednesday. If you read the message boards or most newspaper articles, you may think Phoenix is on its way to the draft lottery.

Despite all of the doomsday talk around town, the Phoenix Suns still have the third-best record in the league despite being tied for the most road games played so far this season. The two teams ahead of them in the standings (San Antonio and Boston) have played 4 less road games.

Of course, no one would argue the team has looked especially good over the past week. During the past four games the Suns have lost to Minnesota (3-19), Miami (6-17) and New Orleans (15-9). Over the next three games, they play San Antonio (18-5), Dallas (16-9) and Toronto (14-11). Phoenix still hasn’t won a game when they score under 100 points. San Antonio allows 93 ppg, Dallas allows 98 ppg and Toronto allows 95 ppg. Of course, Phoenix usually scores more than their opponent’s average. Needless to say, the next three games should be interesting.

Other trends in the Phoenix Suns’ world:

They are 11-3 when they get more blocks than their opponents
The Suns have out-blocked their opponents 149-87 this season
The Suns are 16-2 when they get over 42% of the total rebounds in the game. They are 0-5 when they get 42% or less of the total rebounds.

What do you think about the Suns so far this season? What trends have you noticed that we haven’t discussed yet? Feel free to leave the comments below or to e-mail blog@suns.com.

By the Numbers: Phoenix Suns vs Toronto Raptors

Thu, 06 Dec 07 16:22:00 UT

The Suns are on a 4 game win streak and have averaged 120 points during those 4 games. They have shot 54% while allowing 49% shooting.

Individual players have also stepped up their game during this current streak. For instance:

Raja Bell had been averaging 9.9 points per game through the first 15 games of the season (he didn’t play all of those games due to injuries). Over the 4-game win streak, he has averaged over 16 points per game.
Steve Nash averaged 10.6 assists per game in the first 15 games. He has averaged 16 in the winning streak
Amare Stoudemire averaged 8.25 rebounds before the current streak and 10.25 rebounds during the 4-game streak.

And despite “common knowledge” that seems to be floating around the message boards during this streak, the minutes for the starters have not gone up during this current streak. In fact, except for Amare Stoudemire, who increased 7 minutes per game during this streak, Steve Nash is the only other starter who increased minutes at all (less than one minute).

This leads me directly into the next analysis that I have done regarding the league. I have heard from friends and read on blogs and message boards that the Suns are playing their starters a lot more minutes than most teams and that Coach D’Antoni’s rotation is much more limited than most of the teams in the league. I finally decided to do some analysis on this to try and settle it once and for all. There are two steps that I am doing in this analysis. The first part will be today when I look at all of the teams in the league and determine where the Suns stand in number of “regular players” and total minutes for the top 5 players on the team. After Friday’s game, I will show an analysis of just the playoff teams from the 2006-2007 season to determine what the best teams in the league did regarding their lineups and where Phoenix was ranked in that group.

First, I need to explain how I came up with these numbers. After thinking about it for awhile, I figured that to count a player as a “regular”, he would need to play in at least two-thirds of his team’s games. To make things go a little quicker, I counted both DNP-Coach’s Decision and DNP-Injury as a non-played game. So players that dressed and just didn’t play are counted the same as players who didn’t dress (like Dwayne Wade because of injury or Stephen Jackson because of suspension).

I also decided that a player would need to average at least 12 minutes per game to be counted as a regular player. If he only averages 3 minutes per game, that doesn’t allow the player to make a significant contribution to the team’s win or loss so I didn’t count him as a “regular.” So if a team played 18 games, a player on that team would have needed to average 12 minutes or more in at least 12 of the games to be counted as a “regular player” in this analysis.

Here’s what I found:

6 regulars – 2 teams
7 regulars – 3 teams
8 regulars – 10 teams
9 regulars – 12 teams
10 regulars – 3 teams

Just off the top of your head after looking at this breakdown, where do you think the Suns stand in the list? From what I have heard and read lately, it seems like most people would think the Suns are in the 7 regulars section. Actually, they fall in the 8 regulars section.

The next thing I did was add up the minutes of the top 5 players on each team. This could be either starters or non-starters. It’s really just the 5 players on the team who get the most minutes. So if a team started a certain player because he was tall and always got the jump ball but only played him 13 minutes per game, he would not be counted in the total. On the other hand, if a 6th man played 40 minutes per game and he was in the top 5 minutes played on his team, he would be counted. I did this to find out where in the 10 teams the Suns ranked. I figured if the top 5 players played more minutes, that would leave less minutes for the other regulars.

Of the 10 teams that had 8 regulars, the Suns top 5 played more minutes than 8 of them. So in my analysis, the Suns are in the bottom third of the teams regarding rotations and the distribution of minutes between players. But what does this all mean? Does playing more players give you a better chance of winning the championship? Does distributing the minutes better allow a team get further in the playoffs?

I’ll have more on that in Friday’s ‘By the Numbers.’ Until then, enjoy the Suns’ 4 game win streak and feel free to e-mail me at blog@suns.com or leave a comment below if you disagree with how I did the analysis or if you have any suggestions on how I can look at these numbers better.

By the Numbers: Phoenix Suns vs Houston Rockets

Thu, 29 Nov 07 17:41:00 UT

Another loss and some fans are ready to call this a lost season. And now that people know I work for the Suns, I seem to discuss the team a lot more than before. But that's ok. I like to talk about the team even if it's to convince people we're not at the end of the Suns' world quite yet.

Hey, I’ll be the first one to admit that a Suns loss is frustrating. As a fan, I want the bragging rights of my team going on a 15-game winning streak. I like the ability to rub it in to my non-Suns-fan friends that my team just beat theirs by 25 points. And I like to go to bed after a win knowing my team is in first place.

But guess what? Even after 2 straight losses, the team you root for (I assume you’re rooting for them if you’re visiting Suns.com) has the 4th best record in the league. They have the 2nd best record in the Western Conference. And they are 2.5 games up on the 2nd place team in their division. All of that and they've also recorded the longest winning streak in the league so far this season.

In the past 10 games, the team has won 80% of their games. Over the season, they’ve won 73%. If that continues for the season, Phoenix would end with a 60-win season. Not too shabby, I’d say.

Of course, they still have 67 games to play and a lot can happen in that time. Teams aren’t going to just roll over and let Steve Nash and gang win. So let’s look at some trends in the numbers and see what we can find:

When the Suns allow their opponent to score 100 or more points, they are 5-4.
When Phoenix doesn’t score 100 points in a game, they are 0-3.
The team is 0-3 when they shoot under 42% from the field
When allowing their opponent to shoot 46% or higher from the three-point line, Phoenix is 0-3
The Suns are 0-2 when they grab 37 rebounds or less in a game
They are 9-2 when getting 40 or more rebounds per game. And they are 8-1 when securing 41 or more.

Looking at the percentages and numbers that are cropping up after each loss, it seems like the team doesn’t really need to make a lot of big changes to turn these losses into wins. The numbers are all correlated in some way. For instance, scoring 100 points or more and shooting more than 42% usually go hand-in-hand with the Suns. And shooting percentages are something fixable – especially with the group Phoenix has right now.

The other two numbers are more defensive-minded than offensive. Playing at such a fast pace, Phoenix isn’t going to have a lot of guys that grab 15-20 rebounds each game. But if they just grab a few more rebounds per game that may make the difference. Why do just a few rebounds seem to make a difference? Think about what the maximum point differential that can happen with just one extra rebound. If the opponent shoots and then gets an offensive rebound, the worst thing that could happen is a three-point play (either with a made basket and a foul/free throw or with a three-point shot). If an opponent shoots and Phoenix grabs the rebound, the best thing that could happen is a three-point play on the other end of the court. That’s a possible six point difference on just one rebound. Usually, it would be less - four points or even two points - but those three to four extra rebounds a game could potentially add up to an 18 or even a 24 point difference for the Suns.

Bottom line: In my opinion, the "problems" we’re seeing with the team right now are easily fixable. It just takes inching the shooting percentage up a point or two and grabbing a few more rebounds. Even if the team keeps winning at the percentage they have so far this season, I think I would be perfectly happy with that as well. The regular season is to get the team ready for the playoffs. Maybe we should stop asking "Are we there yet?" so often and try to enjoy the ride a little more.

By the Numbers: Phoenix Suns vs Golden State Warriors

Tue, 27 Nov 07 17:43:00 UT

For those of you who stayed up to watch the entire Suns/Warriors game on Monday, you probably went to bed trying to figure out where the Suns went wrong. I know I did.

At times I was upset with the refs for being biased against the Suns (they weren't - see below), upset with the Suns for not shooting well (also incorrect -see below), upset with the Warriors for shooting too well and upset with myself for not turning off the TV to help my blood pressure.

But in looking at the statistics, I realized there wasn’t any reason to be upset at the refs or the Suns’ shooting. If you’re looking at just fouls and free throws, the Suns had one less foul than the Warriors did and shot seven more free throws. Phoenix also shot 49% from the field and 42% from the three-point line - usually a good indicator that they'll win (7-1 when they shoot 49% or better and 4-1 when they shoot 42% or better from the three-point line). Unfortunately, the Warriors shot an amazing 46% from the three-point line (making 5 more thee-point shots than the Suns and scoring 15 more points – which just happens to be the difference in the final score.

Despite the loss, there were some interesting things that came out of the game. There is one statistic in the box score that shows exactly what happened in the game. If you took that statistic out of the box score and looked at everything else left, you might actually believe the Suns had won the game. Unfortunately, you can’t take out the turnovers and points-off turnovers. The discrepancy between the two teams in that statistic was enormous. Golden State scored 37 points off of 20 Phoenix turnovers. The Suns only scored 7 points off of 11 Warriors turnovers. The guys in purple lost by 15 points so if they would have been able to cut down on turnovers – or at least stop the Warriors from scoring on those turnovers – they would have had a chance in the game.

If you look at all of the other statistics, the Suns did what they normally do to win:

They had well over 42% of the total rebounds in the game (now 11-1 when that happens)
They had over 40 total rebounds (now 9-2 when they do that)
Phoenix has only allowed their opponent to shoot better than 50% in a game twice (both losses)
The team scored over 100 points (after Monday’s game, the Suns are 11-1 when scoring 100 or more)
The loss against the Warriors was the first time the team has lost this year on a non back-to-back game

Other interesting statistics (that probably don’t have any bearing on the game but that are interesting):

When Grant Hill has 1 or less fouls in a game, the Suns are 2-3
When Shawn Marion scores 10 points or less, Phoenix is 1-1
When Marion has zero assists, the team is 1-2
Monday’s game against the Warriors was the first game in which Leandro Barbosa did not have a rebound

Have you noticed any other trends in the numbers that I’ve missed? Feel free to leave them in the comments below or e-mail blog@suns.com.

By the Numbers: Phoenix Suns vs New York Knicks

Wed, 14 Nov 07 16:49:00 UT

The Suns have now won three in a row and six out of eight. They are in first place in their division, tied for second best record in their conference and tied for the third best record in the league. Not too shabby for a team that was 3-5 at this point last year.

Amaré Stoudemire had season highs in both points and rebounds against the Knicks.
(NBAE Photos)

Phoenix didn’t get 40 rebounds last night but still won the game. It is only the second time this season that they didn’t reach 40 rebounds and the team is now 1-1 when that happens. However, on a good note, they did get more rebounds than the Knicks did – the first time this year that they’ve won the rebounding match. So I guess you can say the Suns are 1-0 when they get more rebounds than their opponent.

They also have won every game this season where they’ve scored 100 or more points. When allowing their opponent to get 102 points or less, Phoenix is also 6-0.

The team shot 56.2% on Tuesday – the highest shooting percentage of the season. They have only allowed 1 of their opponents to shoot more than 50% in a game – the LA Lakers.

Shawn Marion, Amare Stoudemire and Grant Hill all had season high’s in points while Steve Nash had a season low in points (5) and a season high of assists (12).

Nine players have played in at least half of the Suns games this season. Shawn Marion is averaging the most minutes per game at 37.1. He is followed by Raja Bell, Grant Hill and Steve Nash. It may sound scary to have Grant Hill and Steve Nash in the top 4 of minutes on the team but when you look at the average minutes per game for the entire league, Shawn Marion ranks #26, Raja Bell is #45, Grant Hill comes in at #55 and Steve Nash doesn’t show up until #70. That’s right behind Jason Richardson and right ahead of Francisco Garcia.

I’m finishing up my first mailbag so if you have any questions you want to be added, feel free to ask the in the comments below or e-mail me directly at blog@suns.com.

By The Numbers: Phoenix Suns vs. Orlando Magic

Sun, 11 Nov 07 03:32:00 UT

Welcome to the weekend edition of By the Numbers. I hope everyone was able to enjoy the past two Phoenix Suns wins. They made it an exciting game against the winless Miami Heat and decided to make it a little less nerve-wracking against the Orlando Magic. Now on to the numbers:

Leandro Barbosa scored a career-high 39 points against the Orlando Magic on Saturday.
(NBAE Photos)

The Suns are 5-0 when they do the following:

Score 103 points or more
Allow 101 points or less
Shoot 43% or more
Allow 53 rebounds or less

They are 5-1 when the following happens:

The team get 40 rebounds or more

Other points of note:

The Suns have scored 106 points 3 times in the past 7 games. They are averaging 104.2 points per game while allowing 99.2 points per game
Leandro Barbosa scored a career-high 39 points against Orlando on Saturday night

The reason I pointed out the 40 rebounds or more number above is because I did a lot of analysis on last season’s rebounds over the past week. Here are some interesting points to note about last season:

When getting 40 or more rebounds, the Suns are 37-5
When getting out-rebounded by 12 or more, the team is 7-5
When out-rebounding their opponent, the Suns are 28-1
When getting out-rebounded by their opponent, Phoenix is 32-21
When getting out-rebounded by their opponent but still getting more than 40 rebounds themselves, the Suns are 13-4
When getting 39 or less rebounds, the team is 24-16
When getting 40 rebounds or more, the Suns out-rebounded their opponents 25 out of 42 times
When getting 39 rebounds or less, the Suns out-rebounded their opponents only 5 out of 40 times

So what does all of this mean? Well, first of all, it seems fairly obvious that we should be rooting for our team to get 40 or more rebounds. When they do that, they have an 88% win percentage. That’s not too shabby.

Second, if the Suns can possibly out-rebound their opponent, it almost guarantees a victory. They had a 96.5% winning percentage last season when that happened.

Finally, if Phoenix can’t outrebound their opponent, they should still try to get to that 40 rebound mark. The team still won 76% of their games last season.

I think there are a couple of reason for this. First, when the Suns rebound the ball, it is probably a little easier for them to run. I haven’t been able to find the numbers to back this up but I would think that the Suns have a higher shooting percentage after a rebound than after an opponent’s made shot.

Second, the more rebounds Phoenix gets, the less that are available for their opponents. If they get an offensive rebound, it gives them another chance at making a basket. If they get a defensive rebound, it takes away a chance to score for the team they are playing against. Even if the Suns get an extra 5 defensive rebounds per game, that means 5 less scoring chances for their opponent.

What do you think about all of this? Noticed anything else that gives the Suns a good chance of winning? Email me at blog@suns.com. Several of you have e-mailed me and I appreciate your comments and questions. I’m hoping to answer those questions in a mailbag post sometime in the next couple of weeks so keep the questions coming!

By the Numbers: Phoenix Suns vs Atlanta Hawks

Thu, 08 Nov 07 05:10:00 UT

There are definitely some trends that are popping up in the numbers but so far the things I'm pointing out are probably fairly obvious to anyone who is looking at the box scores. The Suns lost their second game of the season on Wednesday and again it is on the second of a back-to-back series.

Shawn Marion dunks in a losing effort to the Atlanta Hawks.
(NBAE Photos)

It doesn’t take a lot of high level analysis to see that the team is more tired on that second game. The Suns have only played two back-to-back series so far this season but the following trends happened in the second game:

The team scored less than 100 points
They allowed more than 100 points
The Suns shot less than 45%
They allowed a shooting percentage of more than 45%
The team had 30 defensive rebounds or less
The Suns allowed more than 54 total rebounds
Their opponent is +15 or more in rebounds

The only two games the team has lost are those 2nd games of a back-to-back series. It certainly seems obvious that the team just doesn’t have as much energy in that game. For instance, in the 12 quarters of the three wins this season, the Suns only had one quarter where they scored under 20 points. In the 2 losses (8 quarters), the Suns had 4 quarters where they scored under 20 points. Put a different way, if the Suns score less than 20 points in more than 2 quarters during a game, they’ll most likely lose that game. If they score 20 or more points per quarter for the entire game, they have a good chance of winning the game.

All of this seems fairly obvious. But what also seems fairly obvious is that the Suns will eventually get their legs under them in that second game. In the 2005-2006 and the 2006-2007 seasons, the Suns needed nine games before they went on a long win streak. In 05-06, after the ninth game the Suns went on a nine game winning streak. In 06-07, the team went on a 15 game win streak after the ninth game. No matter how much a player works out during the off-season, there is nothing like playing in a real game with your teammates. It seems like the team needs nine games to both get into shape and gel with their teammates.

So while the loss to the Hawks is definitely disappointing there seems to be some cause for optimism as the season goes on. What do you think? Do you have any other numbers you think make a difference? Do you have any questions about the numbers above? If so, e-mail me at blog@suns.com or leave a comment below.

By The Numbers: Phoenix Suns vs Cleveland Cavaliers

Mon, 05 Nov 07 06:30:00 UT

Wow, what a night. Unfortunately, the box score for tonight won’t show that the team honored Jerry Colangelo. It was a great night with many former players showing up to participate in the festivities. Before I get to the numbers, I wanted to comment a bit on the ceremony.

Shawn Marion has been the most consistent player on the Suns in this young season.
(NBAE Photos)

It was great to be standing in the Suns suite watching former players walk in. They all seemed really happy to be there to honor Mr. Colangelo. Seeing Charles Barkley, Paul Westphal, Kevin Johnson, Tom Chambers, Dan Majerle, and all the rest of the players on one court was pretty cool. If you have a chance, you should take a look at the video that should be up on the site soon. Now on to the numbers.

The Phoenix Suns are 2-0 when:

Scoring over 100 points
Holding their opponent to under 100 points
Shooting 45% or better
Holding their opponents to under 45% shooting
Getting more than 40 total rebounds
Hill plays more than 30 minutes
Marion has 11 or more rebounds
Bell plays more than 32 minutes
Nash has 10 or more assists
Barbosa has 2 or more rebounds
Skinner scores 4 or more points

One thing I wanted to point out about these numbers. Obviously not all of the bullets above are causes of the win. Do I really think Leandro Barbosa having 2 rebounds is going to cause a win? No, not really. But I’m just pointing out some trends that I’m seeing over the two wins. I’m sure we’ll be removing some of the bullets throughout the next 4-5 games and adding others. It should be interesting to see what develops.

Individual Statistics:

Steve Nash is leading the team in both points per game (22) and assists per game (8).
Shawn Marion has been the most consistent player on the team. He’s ranged between 14-23 points per game, between 10-12 rebounds, between 0-1 assists, 34 to 46 minutes and between 1-2 fouls per game.

Team Statistics:

The team has not shot over 50% in a game yet this season.
The Suns caused 5 more turnovers against the Cavaliers on Sunday than they averaged against Cleveland last season

Finally, several of you have suggested some numbers you want me to run and I appreciate that! Over the next few days and weeks I will be trying to run those numbers for you and report what I find on the blog. I imagine there are others of you who have questions but who don’t want to post publicly. In that case, feel free to e-mail me at blog@suns.com. The e-mail will come directly to me. Even if it’s not numbers related but you just have questions or comments about the blog, feel free to e-mail me as well.

Phoenix Suns By The Numbers: Game 2

Sat, 03 Nov 07 05:20:00 UT

Did I say in my previous post that I couldn’t use any excuses for the Suns if it didn’t show up in the box score? Dang. Well then, I guess I’ll just break down the game by the numbers.

The Suns are 0-1 when the following happens:

They allow their opponent to score more than 115 points
Their opponent shots over 57% from the field
Their opponent shoots over 66% from the three-point line
They get outrebounded by more than 20
They shoot less than 40% from the field
They make less than 70% of their free throws
Steve Nash has less than 5 assists

Individual Statistics:

DJ Strawberry will remember this game for more than just the margin of victory for the Lakers. It also was the first NBA game he played in.
Leandro Barbosa shot 8-11 for the game and scored 18 points. This is an improvement over the first game where he shot 3-7 and had 9 points.
Boris Diaw and Marcus Banks both had more assists than Steve Nash

Team Statistics:

The Suns averaged only 45% shooting against the Lakers in the 2006-2007 season. In Friday night’s game, they averaged 43%. The difference in that game was not the percentage that Suns shot but in the percentage they allowed the Lakers to shoot.
Despite the way the Suns lost on Friday, there are some bright points. Brian Skinner had 5 blocks in the game. Kurt Thomas had no blocks against the Lakers in the 2006-2007 season. Thomas also averaged about 6 rebounds per game against the Lakers last year. Skinner had 8 for the game.

Also a disclaimer: I know the analysis above is still a little weak at this point. I'm hoping to get better analysis going once the team has a few games under its belt. Only 2 games into the season, it's hard to recognize any possible trends. But that being said, if you see anything, please feel free to let me know in the comments!

Phoenix Suns By The Numbers - Game 1

Fri, 02 Nov 07 20:16:00 UT

Being the Web Analytics Coordinator for the Phoenix Suns, I’m surrounded by numbers every day. Most of the time I’m looking at numbers regarding the Suns.com web site. But now that it’s my job to watch the games, I figured I would try something new as well.

This season I’m going to try and write about the trends I see after each game.

The difference between this and other analysis you may find on fan blogs is that I’ll be doing all of my trend analysis only by the box score. There are both pros and cons to doing this.

First the pros:

My trend analysis won’t be skewed by what I hoped the team would do – it will only be on what the team actually did.
I won’t be able to let my favorite players off the hook just because they looked like they were trying hard. If the box score doesn’t show it, I can’t put it in my trends.
The “common knowledge” about the Suns (that they don’t play defense and don’t rebound well) can be proved or disproved by the numbers – not by just watching the game and seeing what I want to see.

And the cons:

The box score obviously doesn’t show everything. There are many times, for example, when a player comes over on help defense and doesn’t get a stat in the box score despite the fact that he was the one who stopped the opponent from scoring.
I won’t get use the excuse of how the Suns played hard but were playing the 4th game in 5 nights. I can analyze how the Suns did on the 2nd of a back-to-back game but can’t use the excuse that they were tired for the reason they lost a game.
The “common knowledge” about the Suns (that they don’t play defense and don’t rebound well) can be proved or disproved by the numbers – not just watching the game and seeing what I want to see.

If you’ll notice, I put #3 in both the pros and cons. I figure this can go either way. I tend to think that the “common knowledge” of the Suns is usually incorrect. The Suns kept the Sonics under 100 points last night and yet SportsCenter was talking about the “defensively-challenged Suns”. So what do the Suns have to do? Keep their opponents under 50 for the game? Twenty-four teams have played a game so far this young season. And 13 of those 24 teams have allowed more point than she Suns. It’s a trend I’ll be following throughout the season to see who’s right: the experts or me? This could get scary.

Now onto the numbers (the season is only one game old so pretty much anything goes at this point):

The Suns are 1-0 when the following happens:

They hold opponents under 100 points
They score more points than their opponent (thanks to Dan Banks for pointing out this stat to me. I never would have realized this otherwise)
With the starting lineup of Hill, Marion, Stoudemire, Bell, and Nash
Amare Stoudemire scores over 20 points
The starters score more than 70 points combined
Shawn Marion and Stoudemire get over 10 rebounds each
Steve Nash has 12 or more assists

Individual Statistics:

Grant Hill made two three point shots on 12 attempts last season. In his first game with the Suns, Grant Hill made one shot on seven attempts. At this rate he’ll average 574 attempts for the season. The most Hill has attempted in one season in his career is 98. He made 34 of those attempts that year – a 35% shooting percentage
Amare Stoudemire also attempted a three-point shot last night. He attempted three all of last season. Is this a trend that will continue?

Team Statistics:

When playing the Seattle Supersonics in the 2006-2007 season the Suns:

Averaged 40% three-point shooting. In last night’s game, they averaged 33%
Averaged 81% free-throw shooting. Last night they shot 65%
Averaged 20 fouls per game. In Thursday’s contest, they had 14.

Have any other stats to add to the list? Is there anything you would like me to track throughout the season? Leave them in the comments below! Oh, and GO SUNS!!

In Tucson with the Phoenix Suns

Sun, 07 Oct 07 07:34:00 UT

I didn't exactly know what I would be asked to do while I was in Tucson for the team's public scrimmage Saturday night. But I never would have guessed it would involve driving a legend around town or playing a role in the game itself.

Boris Diaw dunks the ball during Saturday night's scrimmage.
(NBAE Photos)

The team hotel is about 25 minutes away from the McKale Center, so a number of the employees have been carpooling back and forth all week. But to my surprise, I was asked to give Al McCoy a lift to the game.

As you may remember from a previous blog post, Al is one of the first people who comes to mind when I think of Phoenix Suns basketball, so you can imagine how thrilled and honored I was to share a ride with the Voice. We didn’t really discuss anything important on the way. Just normal things like his kids, my kids, where we live, the Diamondbacks (Congrats, D-Backs!) and the ASU game. But to be discussing normal things with Al McCoy in my car was a surreal experience to say the least.

At the game, I was planning on keeping statistics for another blog post I am working on. But as seems to happen a lot at this job, my plans changed quickly when I heard the scorer’s table needed someone to run the 24-second shot clock. Obviously, this isn’t something I have ever done before, nor is it something I ever thought I would get the chance to do – even if it was only for a Suns vs. Suns scrimmage.

“How hard can it be to run the shot clock,” I asked myself. “Everyone knows how to do that. You just restart it every time the ball hits the rim!” Little did I know that was just the beginning of the job. Now I’m not here to say that running the shot clock is rocket science, but it does take a lot more concentration than I realized. And in a real-game situation, where an extra second means a possible extra shot, I’ve got to think it can be a little stressful.

For instance, without looking at the rulebook (it’s obviously all outlined there but I didn’t have that luxury at the time), try to answer the following questions that came up during the scrimmage:

When a basket is made, when do you reset the shot clock: after the ball goes through the hoop, when the player who is passing it inbounds touches the ball or when the player who is inbounds catches the ball?
When a player shoots and misses, and there is a scuffle for the ball, when do you reset the shot clock: at the point the ball hits the rim or when someone finally gets possession of the ball?
If a player shoots a ball and it circles the rim a couple of times, when do you reset the shot clock: at the point the ball touches the rim or at the point it falls off the rim?
Does the clock get reset to 14 seconds anytime the ball goes out of bounds and there is less than 14 seconds on the clock? If not, what are the situations in which it does get reset?
What happens on a jump ball?

Sitting here calmly at my computer, I’m able to come up with what I think are fairly good answers. But at the time when I had sweaty palms and was worried one of the assistant coaches or players was going to come storming over to me complaining that I wasn’t doing the shot clock correctly the above questions were swirling around my head without any real answers. (The answers, as far as I understand them now, are at the bottom of this blog post.)

Thankfully, everyone at the scorer’s table was really great about the whole thing. I had about three minutes to learn how to run the machine before the game started and then we were off! The guy running the game clock (I asked his name twice, but now can’t remember it again) was really, really great. He was patient with me as I learned the ropes during the first quarter and would prompt me to reset it if I forgot.

You’re probably asking yourself, “How in the world could he forget to reset the clock?” Well, when you’re a huge fan, it’s easy to get caught up in the game and forget what your role is at said game. Luckily, by the middle of the second quarter I got the hang of watching and enjoying the game while still performing my shot clock duties.

The lead referee was also very helpful. He came over to me after the first quarter and told me I was doing a good job. Then he pointed out that it was better to be slow on the trigger rather than quick (something the game clock guy was also trying to drill into my head). In his words, “In this case, it’s better to give them 26 seconds as opposed to 20 seconds.” But never once did I feel like they were wondering why they ever asked me to help.

If you’ve ever listened to Al during his post-game wrap-up, you know he always spends three or four minutes breaking down the key statistics. It usually sounds something like, “Steve Nash had 15 points and 9 assists tonight. Shawn Marion had a very good shooting game – hitting 14-of-18 and scoring 30 points. And Brian Skinner and Sean Marks each had 11 rebounds to help the Suns win 97 to 91 tonight.” Well, on our way back to the hotel, I got my own personal post-game show, as Al offered his expert analysis to his audience of one. It was exactly like taking Al McCoy out of my car speakers and buckling him into the passenger seat of my car!

After I dropped Al off at the hotel and headed to my room, I called my wife and told her I was glad it was dark in the car, because I had grin from ear to ear the entire way back. It was quite a night.
By the way, the answers to the questions above (if I understand them correctly) are:

When the player who is inbounds touches the ball.
When someone finally gets possession of the ball.
At the point it falls off of the rim.
There are specific points when the ball can be reset to 14 seconds: (a) Personal foul by the defense where ball is being in-bounded in frontcourt, (b) Defensive three-second violation,(c) Technical fouls and/or delay-of-game warnings on the defensive team, (d) Kicked or punched ball by the defensive team with the ball being inbounded in the offensive team's front-court, (e) Infection control, (f) Jump balls retained by the offensive team as the result of a held ball caused by the defense, (g) All flagrant and punching fouls.
The shot clock is reset to 14 if the defense causes the jump ball (a held ball by both teams) and the offensive team retains the ball on the jump. Otherwise, it is reset to 24.

Training Camp Means It's Finally Fall

Sat, 06 Oct 07 00:48:00 UT

For many people October means the start of fall and Major League Baseball playoffs. (Go Diamondbacks!) But ever since I was 12 years old, the only thing October has meant to me is Phoenix Suns training camp. Until training camp starts, I really can't get it into my head that fall is finally here.

For the past several years, during the first week of October, the first thing I would do each morning was go to Suns.com to see what was new on the site. The pictures and videos of practice, the stories about the new players and the team’s goals for the season were the thing I most looked forward to during that week each year. And now I’m actually sitting here at training camp watching it all live.

I didn’t attend the entire camp. I had numbers things I had to work on (being the Web Analytics Coordinator means I have to do more than just watch practices unfortunately). But on Thursday, I was able to get in the car and head to camp. The drive down to Tucson was uneventful although I realized as I got closer to my destination that I really didn’t know where I was going. I’ve been to Tucson several times and I’ve been to the McKale Center a couple of times for the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournaments but I had never driven there by myself. Luckily, I found my way to the arena, found a place to park and then tried to look like I belonged as I walked to the lower level and onto the court.

I’ve attended a couple of practices now and if there is one thing that impresses me the most it’s how hard these guys work when they practice. Both the players and the coaches really work hard at what they do. As Stefan Swiat pointed out in a previous blog entry, Coach D’Antoni doesn’t push his guys as hard as some coaches during training camp. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t working hard. It’s just that they’ve been working on their games over the summer and most of them are trying to fine-tune their chemistry on the court as opposed to trying to get in shape. Despite not having practices that are as intense as other teams, I’m not sure any normal person would consider them a “walk in the park.” I’ve heard several people talk about how they would love to be the 12th man on the bench on an NBA team because they would just have to sit and watch games and not do a lot. But after watching just one practice I can say that there is no way most of those people would last through even one workout with the team.

Phoenix Suns players work hard during practice.
(Dan Banks/Suns Photos)

The practice on Thursday afternoon started out with some light shooting. Then Coach D’Antoni brought everyone together and talked to them for a few minutes before the real drills began. In this specific practice, the team worked on a lot of fast break drills. They held a three-on-three drill for several minutes followed by a five-on-five drill. This consisted of almost constant running. After about 30 minutes that, the team moved onto a rotating fast-break drill where three players would run as fast as they could down the court with the middle person dribbling a few times and then passing to a wing player. The wing player would move to the middle and shoot the ball while someone would pass balls to the two other players running down the court to shoot. So three balls were going to the basket at the same time. Then those three players would then move off the court while someone would get the rebound from the ball the middle guy shot and would start the drill all over again going to the other end of the court. I thought the guys were going full-speed on that drill until Coach D’Antoni started yelling from the sideline to speed it up. Pretty soon the guys were really moving and you could see that some of the younger players were really starting to get winded.

But training camp isn’t all about running and shooting either. At least in Coach D’Antoni’s camp, it’s as much about building chemistry as it is about getting in shape for the regular season. On Thursday night there was a dinner for players and coaches. The Suns.com team was lucky enough to sit at a table in the same restaurant where we could see the action from our seats.

Part of the Suns.com team enjoys the antics of the rookies during the players/coaches dinner.
(Dan Banks/Suns Photos)

The players all seemed to enjoy themselves and toward the end of dinner, the rookies got a little “introduction” to the team. You really haven’t experienced NBA life until you’ve seen three really tall guys skip around a restaurant singing, “I’m so pretty, I’m so pretty.” Since Suns.com was there, you can see pictures of the evening and even watch the video of the rookies’ performance at the restaurant.

Most of the players left the restaurant around 9:30 and since the Suns.com guys immediately went back to their room to start working on the site, I’m not really sure what the players did the rest of the night. But on Friday morning while I was sitting outside on a public patio reading the newspaper and enjoying the nice weather, all of the players and coaches walked by between 8:00 and 8:20 so I know they were up early and ready to go again.

The Suns vs. Suns scrimmage is on Saturday at 6:00 pm and it should be a good chance to get our first glimpse at the team as they play a game. Of course, it won’t be anything like when the regular season starts but when the Suns scrimmage on the first Saturday night in October, it finally feels like fall in my mind.

The fun thing for me is that watching training camp in person hasn’t diminished the excitement I have for the new season. I was afraid that watching all of the “nuts and bolts” of practices and training would make the games feel just a little bit less cool. But the exact opposite has happened. By watching these guys work out, it made me realize how much work really does go into the entertaining 48 minutes that happen during the game.

Steve Nash: More Than Just a Basketball Star

Fri, 14 Sep 07 21:07:00 UT

Here’s a quick game for you: If you’re a Phoenix Suns fan, raise your hand. Now, if you think Steve Nash helped bring hope back to Suns fans when he signed with the team three years ago, lower your hand. I would imagine no one reading this still has their hand raised.

Steve Nash drives to the basket in a charity game held in Beijing.
(NBAE Photos)

If you’ve watched even a portion of a game Phoenix has played, you know Nash leads the team by inspiring them, giving the team direction, taking responsibility when the need arises and by always finding a way to deliver the ball to the player who can do the most with it at that exact moment. And that gives Suns fans hope for a championship.

What some people may not realize is when Nash isn’t playing basketball he’s bringing that same leadership and hope to people around the world by delivering just what they need at that exact point in time. Earlier this summer, he was in Vancouver for his annual Steve Nash Charity Classic basketball game, which featured a number of NBA players including fellow Suns Leandro Barbosa, Alando Tucker and DJ Strawberry. He also helped open a new sports club, which not only helps those in Vancouver maintain a healthy lifestyle but it was also built to be as “eco-friendly” as possible.

For most players, holding a charity event, organizing a game with other NBA stars and opening a sports club may be enough for one offseason. But for the Suns’ MVP, it was just the beginning. This week he teamed up with Yao Ming to hold a charity auction and play a charity game in Beijing. According to one article about the event, “all proceeds will be used to set up Project Hope primary schools for poor children in western China, help Uygur girls attend school in the Kizilsu Kirghiz Prefecture of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, upgrade teaching facilities of schools for mentally disabled children in western China and promote the Special Olympics.”

The idea all started after a Suns-Rockets game this past season. Nash found Ming after the game and discussed the possibility of a charity game in China this summer. Since both players are represented by the same agency they were able to use those resources to bring the idea to fruition. Nash, Ming and several other NBA players traveled to China this week to participate. There was an auction and dinner the day before the charity game. And the game itself was completely sold out. According to several reports, the event raised seven million yuan (about $1 million). And it was the combined star power of both Yao and Steve that brought the people out to the event.

“I was talking with a friend of mine about the difficulties the children face there,” Nash told Suns.com. “I feel really fortunate that I am in a position where I was able to go to Yao Ming and ask him if he was interested in doing something over there. It’s an exciting opportunity to go to China and hopefully give thousands of kids an opportunity for an education that right now doesn’t exist.”

So in a few weeks when you’re reading about training camp, watching the public scrimmage and watching Steve Nash deliver exactly what the team needs during the game, remember that he not only brings hope of a championship to Phoenix. He does something even more important by bringing hope of a better life to people all over the world.

Mercury's Finals Run Encourages Suns Fan

Fri, 14 Sep 07 04:27:00 UT

I probably shouldn't admit this, but tonight's Game 4 of the Phoenix Mercury vs. Detroit Shock Finals series was the first WNBA game I've ever gone to. And while I'm admitting things, I may as well admit that I didn't expect it to be as entertaining as a Phoenix Suns game. But I was wrong!

The D'Antoni's attended both Phoenix Mercury home games in the WNBA Finals.
(NBAE Photos)

With a 5:30 pm start time, the bulk of the Mercury fans didn’t start showing up until a little before tip-off. But by the time the National Anthem was sung, the arena had filled nicely and I thought to myself, “This is louder than I expected.” To my surprise, I hadn’t heard anything yet. I spent a couple of minutes after the anthem in an elevator and finally exited on the 3rd floor of the arena, which gave me a cool bird’s eye view of the crowd and the starting lineups. The crowd was really into the game from the very beginning and you could feel the electricity in the air.

The Finals atmosphere was great. With every loose ball the crowd was screaming. At every Shock free throw the fans on the Detroit side of the arena were making as much noise and causing as much distraction as possible, and you could just tell that the Mercury players were encouraged by the fans. In fact, it reminded me a lot of the Suns playoff games I have attended: the crowd was intense, there was a lot of electricity in the air and there were several local celebrities who attended the game.

Speaking of local celebrities, Mike D'Antoni was courtside for the second straight game, as was Dan Majerle, who is apparently a big-time fan. “I’ve watched the team all year,” he told me. “What impresses me most is they play consistently and they play together. The way they play is very effective and I’m really happy for them. They’ve done a good job.”

And while I was watching the Mercury win Game 4 by one point, it got me thinking about how great it will be when the Suns get to the NBA Finals this season (yes, I’m already making the prediction). The game itself will be a little faster and there will be a lot more dunks, but I’m not sure it will be any more physical than this one was! If you didn’t see the game, you probably think I’m exaggerating. But I’m telling you, there were flying elbows and flying bodies all over the court, all night long.

Phoenix Suns training camp starts in about two and a half weeks. If you’re anything like me, you’re counting down the days. But if you’re looking for some entertaining basketball to tide you over until the Suns season starts, I would encourage you to check out the Mercury game on Sunday at 1:30 pm on ESPN2. I can promise you won’t be disappointed.

An Interview with My Broadcasting Hero

Fri, 07 Sep 07 23:04:00 UT

Imagine you're sitting at your job on a Friday morning, quietly working away, when your boss sends you an instant message: "How would you like to interview Al McCoy about receiving the 2007 Curt Gowdy Media award from the Hall of Fame and then write a blog about it?"

Al McCoy interviewing Tom Chambers.
(NBAE Photos)

I’m not sure what you would do but after I picked myself up off the floor, I said the first thing that came to mind: “I haven’t ever interviewed anyone before. I’m not sure that would be such a good idea.” But while he was typing his response, I quickly shook off any doubts I had about being a sub-par interviewer and realized that I would have a chance to actually speak with someone who I have watched and listened to for over 20 years. So after my boss sent some encouraging words through instant message, I told him I would do it.

Any kid who grew up playing basketball in the Valley has shot baskets by himself imitating McCoy: “There are only eight seconds left in the game and the Suns are down by one. Hilton brings the ball up the court and is looking for an open man. His teammates are all too heavily guarded and he’s going to have to take the shot himself. The clock is ticking down. Five, four, three, two, one. He shoots! SHAZAM! Zing go the strings! The Suns win! The Suns win the championship!” Or when your brother misses a shot as you’re playing one-on-one: “Oh! He misses by a long shot! Heartbreak hotel!!”

So I took a few minutes to write down the questions I wanted to ask, took some deep breaths to calm my nerves and then called Al. Since he was in Massachusetts at the time, we spoke over the phone instead of in person. That’s probably better so he didn’t see me sweating or my hands shaking as I took notes.

Unfortunately, as soon as he answered in that unmistakable voice, my throat seized up and I broke out into a sweat. I finally choked out who I was and what I wanted and Al was gracious enough to give me a few minutes. I’m sure he could tell right away (from the voice that was an octave higher than it should be and the stuttering) that I was a rookie interviewer but you never could have told that from his voice or his answers. My first question: “Were you nervous while you were accepting the award?” Luckily, Al ignored the question that would lead to a one-word answer and gave me a very eloquent answer about the event:

“The first night of the Hall of Fame weekend is a banquet they call Reunion Night,” McCoy said. “It really is the most fun night of the entire weekend because you have all-time Hall of Fame ballplayers so it is kind of a reunion for them. There are two awards that are presented that night called the Curt Gowdy Media Awards. I was introduced. They gave highlights from my career, I was given an opportunity to respond and I was nervous. You just don’t quite know what to say, where to start, or how much time to take.” (I was thinking right then, “Boy, I know exactly what it feels like to not know what to say or where to start!”)

I asked him if he ever thought he would receive an award like this when he started his career. He answered an emphatic, “No, I never even imagined being given any awards by the Hall of Fame.” In fact, he said when he received the call from John Doleva, the president of the Basketball Hall of Fame, he couldn’t imagine what John would be calling about. McCoy pointed out that most of the broadcasters who have received this award in the past were national broadcasters and of those local broadcasters who have been awarded, there are very few from the West.

Then I got to the part of the interview that embarrasses me just a bit. I have followed the Suns for what seems like forever. I’ve read so many stories about Al McCoy, I can’t even number them. I know what the favorite moments of his career are by reading other interviews. And yet I just had to ask him myself. He proceeded to tell me about the only two triple-overtime games in NBA history and that he had had the opportunity to call both – the Suns against the Celtics in 1976 and against Chicago in 1993. He also mentioned that those would probably be the highlights of his career (along with receiving this award) until the Suns win the championship.

Next I asked how he comes up with the phrases and nicknames he uses during the games. Some of you have probably heard this story before but I think it is worth repeating here for any new Suns fans or those who haven’t heard the story yet.

“When the NBA came in with the three-point field goal,” he said, “I looked at it like a home run in baseball and wanted to come up with a phrase like announcers use for a home run. Something like ‘Going, going, gone’ or ‘It might be, it could be, it is!’ and I started thinking about what I could use for a three-point shot. I went back to the days when I was a kid and read Captain Marvel comic books. Captain Marvel is one of those guys that defeated all of the bad guys. The main character was a was a radio reporter who, when he wanted to become Captain Marvel, he said SHAZAM. That word came from the first letter of Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury. And when he said that, fireworks went off and lighting and thunder and all sorts of exciting things happened. And I thought, ‘Hey, this is going to be like the feeling in the arena when one of the Suns hits a three-point shot.’ Of course, initially I didn’t think there would be 20 of them in a game!”

We finished our conversation speaking about the Suns’ chances of winning a championship this season. I couldn’t say it any better than Al: “The window of opportunity is there. The Suns just have to jump through it.”

That was the end of my conversation with Al. I hung up the phone and breathed a sigh of relief. I had just finished my first interview and I think I managed to not make too much of a fool of myself. Sure the other guys in the office were laughing after every question I asked, but I’m sure they were laughing WITH me and not AT me. Right? Right?

Here’s hoping that Al will continue to call Suns games for many more years and that they can jump through that window of opportunity this year. It sure will be fun to hear Al’s call of the last few minutes of the Suns’ championship clinching game. “Put this one in the old deep freeze! Suns win! Suns win the championship!!” I can hear it already.

Congratulations again to Al McCoy on winning the Curt Gowdy award. It was an honor speaking with him for a few minutes and it is nice to know we have the best play-by-play announcer in the league calling the game for the Suns.

What are your favorite moments listening to or watching Al McCoy during a Suns broadcast? Is there anything that stands out as a memory you’ll never forget? If so, leave them in the comments.

Summer Pick-Up Games

Fri, 31 Aug 07 17:28:00 UT

Most of you know by now that I not only work for the Phoenix Suns, but I also am one of the team’s biggest fans. If you were anywhere in the East Valley and had your windows open during the playoffs last year, you could probably hear me yelling.

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Steve Nash has passing down but still is working out during the summer.
(NBAE Photos)

Whether it was because the Suns won or because they lost, I seemed to be doing a lot of yelling last post-season.

I happened to be traveling during Game 5 of the Suns/Spurs series and I watched the game in my hotel room. Most people would probably have gone to a sports bar to watch the game, but I am superstitious. I had to watch the last three games of the Suns/Lakers series the year before in a hotel room and they won all of those games, so I figured I’d keep the tradition going. If anyone was in the room next to mine, they probably wondered what the crazy guy next door was doing when I started banging my head against the wall as the Suns’ lead slowly began to fade in the 4th quarter.

A couple of years ago, the team had a promotion where you could submit a paragraph about why you were a Suns fan. I submitted something and about a month later heard from the team. They wanted to wrap my car in a “full-body” wrap to advertise for the Suns for the year. I jumped at the opportunity and loved driving around town with the coolest car around. I was devastated when I had to take it off once the season ended. Even now, there are people who wonder where my cool car went. (Maybe I can talk the team into doing that to my car again now that I work here…I’ll have to ask my boss about that!)

Anyway, the point of all this is to hopefully let you know just a little bit how I felt as I ventured down to the practice court Thursday morning just to see what was going on. As we went to the lower level of the arena and started getting closer to the court, we heard basketballs bouncing so I knew something was happening.

We tried to slip in without anyone noticing us but Mark West, Vice President of Player Programs, was sitting right by the door. We said “hi” and continued into the room where we could get a good view of the action on the court. I could see there was a game of 2-on-2 and immediately recognized Steve Nash and Grant Hill. After a minute, I recognized the two guys they were playing against – Alando Tucker and DJ Strawberry. So it was the veterans against the rookies.

We had come in about halfway through the game and watched the rest. It appeared the rookies won the first game by making several 3-point shots in a row. Want to know a huge difference between watching NBA players play 2-on-2 and just normal guys? The NBA players don’t miss. I’ve watched regular pick-up games go for 10 to 15 minutes or more, even if it was only the first team to seven points. These games went so quickly it was amazing. But when you make almost every shot you take, that tends to happen.

After the first game was over, the veterans stayed on the court and talked while the rookies sat down for a little rest. They only got about a two minute break before everyone was at it again. This time the MVP didn’t even shoot the ball unless it was as he was cutting to the basket and he caught a pass by Hill. He didn’t take any jump shots at all. But you could tell the wily veterans had some moves the rookies weren’t quite ready for and the Nash/Hill combo won the game easily.

While we were watching the second game, several more people entered the room to watch including our old friend, Kurt Thomas! Everyone was genuinely glad to see him, including Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations, David Griffin, and Suns assistant coaches Phil Weber and Dan D’Antoni – who were there watching the action as well.

We decided to leave soon after the second game so we didn’t outstay our welcome. I was getting ready to leave anyway because I just couldn’t hold my smile in any longer and didn’t really want to be sitting there grinning like a Cheshire cat. Sure, I’m on cloud nine even thinking about the opportunity to watch these pick-up games – but I don’t have to let everyone around here know that! Even three months ago, I couldn’t have imagined that I would be able to take a 15-minute break from my job and go watch a pick-up game between NBA players.

I’m sure there will be other instances like this that Suns fans would die for. And I hope to be your eyes and ears and blog about the experience throughout the season to give you the kind of behind-the-scenes look at the Suns you’ve never had before.

Steve Kerr on "The BS Report"

Fri, 24 Aug 07 17:21:00 UT

ESPN.com's Bill Simmons interviewed Phoenix Suns GM, Steve Kerr, on his aptly named podcast, "The BS Report," this week.

I know I said this about Amare Stoudemire and Mike D'Antoni in my rundown of the Suns.com Newsroom Grand Opening earlier this month, but Steve Kerr is a great interviewee. He has the best stories to share. And Simmons is a pretty good interviewer, too. Whether you love him or hate him, you have to admit that he asks the questions fans want to ask. That’s why I found this podcast so interesting. If you go to any Suns fan blog or discussion board, a lot of the questions people are bringing up these days are brought up by Simmons in this interview. Run-down of topics they discuss:

How Kerr found out that Larry Bird was going to retire
Kerr’s moving from announcing at TNT to the GM of the Suns
Why the Suns traded Kurt Thomas
Steve’s thoughts on the luxury tax
Are NBA general managers getting smarter?
How the Suns justified giving up two first-round picks in the Thomas trade
How getting rid of the hand-checking rules helped the Suns
Discussion of why Kerr should have been the MVP of the 1997 NBA Finals
What it was like to play with Michael Jordan
How the chemistry is between players on the Suns team
What Kerr learned when he played with the 2002 Trail Blazers
The difference between Jordan and Tim Duncan
The FIBA Americas games in Las Vegas
KG moving to the Celtics (you didn’t think Simmons would go the whole podcast without mentioning his beloved Celtics, did you?)
The 2007 playoffs and whether the Suns are still in angst over what happened
Why Boris Diaw is the sleeper pick in Fantasy Basketball this year

This is a good listen and it really gives you some insight you may not have had before in not only the Suns, but also into the type of person Kerr is and maybe even what type of a GM he’ll be. He has been on championship teams wherever he has gone in his career so I have high hopes for the 2007-08 team. What are your thoughts on the podcast?

Suns Players in the News

Thu, 23 Aug 07 22:18:00 UT

There have been a few good articles about Phoenix Suns players over the past few days that readers here might find interesting.

Amare Stoudemire has been featured in several articles this summer.
(NBAE Photos)

The first came out on ESPN.com by J.A. Adande on July 19 and is all about Amaré Stoudemire. Some excerpts:

"When I suggested it could be a compliment that the trade rumors meant he was equal to Garnett, [Stoudemire] said, ‘I guess you could look at it that way. But I'm not really trying to be equal to anybody. I think Kevin's a great player. But I'm trying to raise the stakes on my end.’"

Another Adande article quote:

"(Stoudemire) wants to get better. Suns assistant coach Phil Weber has set two goals for Stoudemire: win the Most Improved Player award and be named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player. I don't know how you can improve on being First Team All-NBA. First team All-NBA Ultra-Platinum Edition?"

And my personal favorite:

"When asked how far he can take this, he says, ‘If the sky's the limit, and the sky's clear, I guess you can figure it out from there.’"

The second and third articles are by Ian Thomsen from SI.com. First up from Thomsen is his All-Current Dream Team. Steve Nash obviously made this lineup as the point guard. Really, who else are you going to put in his place? Amaré Stoudemire also made Thomsen’s reserves list (behind Tim Duncan and Shaquille O’Neal). So according to Thomsen, the Suns have two of the best current NBA players in the league. Not too shabby!

Next from Thomsen is his All-Future Dream Team. In this list, Thomsen pictures Amaré moving back to power forward and overtaking everyone to become the best in the league. Considering he’s nearly overpowering everyone as a center, it’s not too far of a stretch to picture what he can do if he does move back to the forward position.

These are just a few articles to continue to whet your appetite for Phoenix Suns news while we’re in the dog days of summer. But don’t despair, Suns fans! We’re only 41 days from training camp!! Until then, feel free to discuss these articles (or suggest others if you find them) and to get excited about the Suns 2007-08 season!

Phoenix Suns' Preseason Nothing to Sneeze At

Wed, 15 Aug 07 16:43:00 UT

The Phoenix Suns are a busy bunch during this year's preseason - playing 8 games in 15 days.

The Suns' preseason includes a trip to Vancouver - where Steve Nash had a busy summer.
(NBAE Photos)

There are 3 games at US Airways Center where fans can get a first glance at the new team - Saturday, October 13 against New Orleans, Monday, October 15 vs Utah and Thursday, October 25 against Denver.

This preseason is loaded with potential "up-and-comers" in the Western Conference. After meetings against Sacramento and New Orleans to start off the preseason, the Suns meet up with the Utah Jazz on October 15. The Jazz made it to the Western Conference Finals last season and should be just as good this coming season with most of their team returning along with some off-season free agent signings.

The Suns then spend the next 4 days in Los Angeles where they will play 3 games in 4 nights. Up first in L.A. are the Clippers. After that game, the Suns will participate in the LA Shootout at the Staples Center which is somewhat like a mini-tournament between the Suns, L.A. Clippers, L.A. Lakers and the Charlotte Hornets.

After the LA Shootout, Phoenix will take on Denver but this time it's in Phoenix in October so there is no chance of the game getting snowed out.

The Suns wrap up their preseason in Vancouver against Seattle where they will meet a very different Sonics team. The Sonics added several pieces to their puzzle this offseason, including acquiring Kurt Thomas from the Suns. This will also be the first opportunity for the Suns to see the #2 draft pick, Kevin Durant.

Speaking of Vancouver, Steve Nash was busy there this summer. He held a charity game there in July where he met up with some current teammates, including Raja Bell. He also opened the Steve Nash Sports Club around that same time.

Getting back to the schedule, do you think this preseason schedule will help the Suns warm up for the regular season? Is it too many games in too few days? Just right? Is there anything you wish would be changed? Let me know in the comments below!

New Addition to the Hill Household

Mon, 13 Aug 07 22:02:00 UT

Congratulations to new Phoenix Suns player Grant Hill and his wife, Tamia, on the birth of their second daughter - Lael Rose Hill - on Thursday, August 9, 2007.

Grant Hill, who recently signed with the Phoenix Suns, and his wife just had their second baby.
(NBAE Photos)

She was born at 8 pounds, 6 ounces. There was no announcement on how tall she was. People.com reports that the couple also have a 5-year-old named Myla Grace and according to Grant, "Lael looks like Myla."

Lael was born in Orlando where the Hill's resided prior to Grant signing with the Phoenix Suns earlier this summer.

We wish the entire family well!

A Day In the Life Of...

Mon, 13 Aug 07 18:25:00 UT

The Suns.com Newsroom opening was a big deal around here. I wrote a "diary" post on Thursday but didn't get a chance to put it on the blog until today. It's basically a "Day In the Life Of" post from a fan who had the opportunity to experience the whole thing.

Amaré Stoudemire visited the Suns.com newsroom but didn't do this to any Suns.com team members.
(NBAE Photos)

Today, August 9, 2007, is a really busy day here at Suns.com. We have the grand opening of the Suns.com Newsroom and there is a lot going on centered around that. Of course, today of all days the traffic going into the office was especially slow and while I left in time to get to the office at around 7:45, I didn’t make it until 8:15. There was a slow time of about 30 to 45 minutes when I got into the office but starting at 9:00, the place went nuts. The PR people were coming in to make sure we had the offices clean and looking nice, the balloon people were creating some cool orange balloon bouquets and during all of this I had IT working on my computer.

On top of all that, the Internet went down and it was chaos. If you work for a web site and the Internet goes down, you don’t even have to fake like you’re working! Since this is such a big day in Suns.com history (and on a personal note, it’s a big day for me since I’m meeting all of these people for the first time), I figured I would keep a running diary. Kind of like Bill Simmons, but not as funny. Probably not funny at all! But if you’re a Suns fan, you might find the run-down a little interesting.

11:33 am: Mike D’Antoni walks into the Newsroom. I introduced myself and managed to not giggle because I was meeting the famed Phoenix Suns coach.

11:38 am: The Gorilla came in to scope things out, but it was hard to recognize him without all the fur.

11:47 am: Gambo arrives to set up shop for the day. He’s as cool in person as he sounds on the radio. He’s very personable and can talk about anything.

12:07 pm: Since it’s Amare Stoudemire Day and all, NBA TV decided to oblige and show the top 10 Amare dunks. Nice!!

12:45 pm: Fifteen minutes until show time. I’ve switched desks for the day since Gambo and Burns are taking up the spot I normally sit in. The Internet finally came back on so now we can try and get some work done for the next 15 minutes. Then we start the festivities.

1:00 pm: It’s getting hectic in here. People are running around everywhere. But the excitement is ramping up as well. You can feel the energy in the air.

1:20 pm: I met Amare Stoudemire! WOOHOO! As an employee of the Phoenix Suns, I’m not supposed to get excited about that stuff, I think. But as a fan? It’s just plain awesome. He was very personable and genuinely seems like a nice guy.

1:30 pm: Stoudemire just sat down with Gambo and Burns for their on-air interview, less than 10 feet from my desk! Amare is a great interviewee. I’m amazed at how easily these guys can answer questions that seem difficult to even think about let alone just answer on the fly.

1:33 pm: The interview is still going on. And there are a lot of people waiting for the ribbon cutting ceremony outside the Newsroom. A LOT of people. You can tell they’re getting restless. Probably because they know the refreshments are on the other side of the room and they can’t get to those until the ribbon is cut.

1:45 pm: Amare finished his interview a few minutes ago and now Coach D’Antoni is in. I just got kicked out of my desk, so Amare could sign our wall. We have a “Celebrity Wall” where our visitors can sign it. So far we have Amare and The Gorilla signatures on the wall.

1:58 pm: It’s interesting watching the different people get interviewed. Amare is a great interviewee and answers the questions very well. Then Coach D’Antoni comes in and he has a different demeanor, but is still just as good. He has a more conversational tone and it really just sounds like they are having a conversation as opposed to having an interview. You know how you see Coach D’Antoni on the air or in interviews and he seems like a really cool guy, and just likes to shoot the breeze about basketball? Yeah, that’s exactly how he is in person.

2:35 pm: It’s been more than 30 minutes since I was sitting at my computer. I’ve been running around, kicked out of my desk (again) and getting printouts of the submissions for the impromptu sweepstakes Gambo talked us into throwing up on the site. We’ve probably had almost 500 submissions in the first 90 minutes!

3:00 pm: We now have over 800 submissions for the contest. So if you didn’t win, don’t feel bad. There are 800 other people right with you. Everything around here has slowed down since Amare and Coach D’Antoni left. I’m actually the only other one in the office with Gambo and Burns at this point. Everyone else is around the arena doing other work. Me? I’m sitting here doing metrics and just listening to the radio guys, like I’ve always done. It’s just kind of weird hearing them in person.

5:00 pm: Things are starting to slow down around here now, although Gambo and Burns are still going strong. I’m just about ready to leave for the day. The prizes are about to be given out, but I’ll listen to that on the way home. We had over 1,500 submissions! Amazing!

It’s been an awesome day and I just wish that more fans could see things like this in person. If you’re interested in seeing more from the day, you can check out the video at Suns.com. It takes all the best parts of the day – including interviews with Amare Stoudemire, Mike D’Antoni, Robert Sarver and a couple of Suns Dancers – and puts them all into an easily viewed format.

The main reason such a big deal was made out of the Newsroom opening was that now we will be able to provide more information at a quicker pace to the fans who visit Suns.com. Which brings me to the question I want to ask: If you were running Suns.com for a week, what would you implement? In other words, if you could do anything to make Suns.com better, what would it be? I can’t promise that any of the ideas will be put into place, but it is always interesting to hear from the users of the site to see what they would want changed or added. Let me know in the comments below.

Introductions and the Phoenix Suns 2007-2008 Schedule

Fri, 10 Aug 07 17:31:00 UT

Let me start out by saying that writing on a blog again feels really good. For most of you, you're probably thinking, "Huh? I've never even heard of this guy before!" So I'll back up a little bit.

Amaré Stoudemire and the Suns open the 2007-08 season in Seattle against the Sonics on Nov. 1 before hosting the Lakers on Nov. 2.
(NBAE Photos)

As Jeramie McPeek explained in his last blog post, I just started working for the Phoenix Suns as the new Web Analytics Coordinator. But before I started here, I wrote a Phoenix Suns fan blog located at BrightSideoftheSun.com. Before that, I was writing over at TheSunsBlog.com. Hopefully, you’ll be hearing a lot more from me over the coming weeks and months.

I’m not sure about you but, as a fan, by the time the season ends (unfortunately over the past several years it seems like the season has always ended too early), I’m ready for a break from all things basketball. When the draft comes around, I’m ready for a bit of basketball talk and then I go into basketball hibernation for a few weeks. Now it’s almost the middle of August and I’m beginning to get a hankerin’ for some NBA basketball again.

The NBA schedule came out last week and there are some interesting things to note:

The Suns start traveling early in the season and get 20% of their Away games out of the way before the end of November.
In December, the team will have a good "litmus test" trip when they play San Antonio on the 17th and Dallas on the 19th.
In both December and January, the team has two away games where they won’t have to travel between games. On December 25th and 27th and then again on January 15th and 17th the Suns play both the Lakers and the Clippers on the road. Since both teams play in the Staples Center, the Suns shouldn’t have to travel between those games.
Between January 29th and February 24th, the Suns play 10 out of their 11 games at home. The only away game is at Golden State on February 13.
All 4 of the Phoenix/San Antonio matchups will be nationally televised this season.
All 3 of the Phoenix/Dallas matchups will be nationally televised this year.
From February 10th to February 24, the Suns have 6 games in a row that are nationally televised.

What do you think of the schedule? Where do you think the Suns will have the most trouble? Where do you think the Suns have it the easiest?

I look forward to hearing from everyone now and throughout the season. We’ll be making some changes on the blog over the next few months, too, so let us know what you think!

Phoenix Suns Blog [Category - Dan Hilton]

The Reason I Watch Sports

Life with Lopez as a Phoenix Sun

Phoenix Suns Draft Night Blog

He's Still Got the Touch

A Different Angle on Suns Coach Terry Porter

Changes to the Phoenix Suns Blog

With Two Games Left, Playoff Opponent Still Unknown

How Important Is Going Out With a Bang?

Suns Win Over Spurs Bucks All Trends

Suns Beat Memphis, Head to San Antonio

Monkey on Their Back (to Back)

Who Would You Rather Face?

STAT's stats

Shaq's Honda Ride Confirmed

Shaq and the Free Throw

By the Numbers: Phoenix Suns vs Denver Nuggets, Part 2

By the Numbers - Phoenix Suns vs Denver Nuggets, Part 1

Excitement Building as Season Comes to a Close

By the Numbers: The Shaquille O'Neal Effect

A Brief History of Franchise Centers

By the Numbers: Phoenix Suns vs Los Angeles Lakers

By the Numbers: Phoenix Suns vs San Antonio Spurs

Are the Suns "Finals-worthy"?

All I Want for Christmas is Two L.A. Wins

By the Numbers: Phoenix Suns vs San Antonio Spurs

By the Numbers: Phoenix Suns vs New Orleans Hornets

By the Numbers: Phoenix Suns vs Toronto Raptors

By the Numbers: Phoenix Suns vs Houston Rockets

By the Numbers: Phoenix Suns vs Golden State Warriors

By the Numbers: Phoenix Suns vs New York Knicks

By The Numbers: Phoenix Suns vs. Orlando Magic

By the Numbers: Phoenix Suns vs Atlanta Hawks

By The Numbers: Phoenix Suns vs Cleveland Cavaliers

Phoenix Suns By The Numbers: Game 2

Phoenix Suns By The Numbers - Game 1

In Tucson with the Phoenix Suns

Training Camp Means It's Finally Fall

Steve Nash: More Than Just a Basketball Star

Mercury's Finals Run Encourages Suns Fan

An Interview with My Broadcasting Hero

Summer Pick-Up Games

Steve Kerr on "The BS Report"

Suns Players in the News

More Exclusive Steve Nash Charity Classic Videos Released Today

Phoenix Suns' Preseason Nothing to Sneeze At

New Addition to the Hill Household

A Day In the Life Of...

Introductions and the Phoenix Suns 2007-2008 Schedule