How about them Suns.
 

So far so good. seems like they might be in the runnings for the playoffs this year.

ya i know start of the season but its rare to see the sun at 3-0.

might be in the running?
Barring any major injuries, they should be a near lock for the playoffs.
In fact, I expect them to win their divsion and make a run for the championship.
They have an excellent leader in Nash and a great young athletic core of Johnson, Richardson, Marion, and Amare. The only thing they're missing is a center and that won't be as big in the west without Shaq.

I think they have one of the best squads in the league... very underrated.

i was saying might cause i dont want to get my hopes up and have them get spanked again. they still have a long way to go still.

and what a heartbreaker against the cavs...i feel asleep wiht 5 mins left in the fourth quarter and they were up by like 15...sorry i missed an incredible comeback

i was at that game!!! was soooooooo great we all started chanting Z after he drained that 3 and put away the suns! the suns arent underrated the CAVS are when they play D!

Suns were unlucky. We broke down when Amare went out and we had too many guys camping out at the 3pt line. Barbosa would've been handy to have as Nash looked wrecked by the end.

We should bounce back against the Kings.

DAMNIT! lol i didnt see that game. well atleast they got themselfs a good 4-0 Streak... first in 20 years =/

lol i cant believe that crap caves were 1-3 too... thats some messed up crap right there.

Everyone will bounce back this year against the Kings... they look aweful.

yeah, that was a pretty horrible loss, but hopefully the Suns can learn from it. Amare fouling out was a major blow but things were going south before that. They have so many weapons, they need to use all of them, rather than just forcing it to the hot hand. Q got it in the first quarter, but then he disappeared. The Matrix showed up in the third but then he was gone. When they started losing their lead at the end, they went exclusively to Amare and he ended up forcing it, charging, and fouling out.

The Cavs were incredibly nasty that game. I was there. LBJ (28-10-6-3-3) was tearing up in the 4th quarter, single handedly outscoring the Suns 17-14 in the 4th quarter. And then the shot by Z (20-6-2blk). I had my doubts when he got the ball, but man, when that went in, I just went nuts. Such a great game. Gooden was also proving himself as being relentless at the boards, 16-21, great showing. I hope he can keep this up, he hasn't been known to in the past.

The Suns are playing very well.. All that trade talk revolving Marion was bullshit, he shouldn't have even been mentioned. He does a lot of things well, and is a good defender on a team that lacked a lot of it last year.

They remind me of the Mavericks a couple years ago. I think this team will make the playoffs, but are a big man short of doing damage. They cause matchup problems, have a lot of energy, etc.
Its often mentioned that Nash is a liability on defense, and I think its completely true. Its not a lack of effort, but he doesn't have the size to fight through screens and bump players out of position.

Kudos to the Sun's management. They got rid of Steph and contracts (Hardaway made 13.5 million last year) for three expiring contracts and a couple draft picks. Theoretically you could say that they traded Steph for Nash and Q-Rich.

suns are off to a fast start, and will likely make the playoffs, but probably be a bottom seed, maybe 6-8. they still lack a true center, and i feel that will catch up with them eventually. suns need to get better defensively also...they cant just outgun everyone.

i also question their depth...after their starting 5 of stoudemire, marion, richardson, johnson, and nash, who else is there really?

yeah, now we lost to Sacramento.

Q has gotta come off the bench. Lets start with a NORMAL lineup with Hunter, Amare, Marion, JJ and Nash.

Q is playing like shit. Need a change.

:|

watched a little interview that a local station had on teh owner of the suns today and his perdiction of the season will be that the suns should have a nice run in the playoffs and if they loose half or more then half their games he'll be pretty dissapointed.

Phoenix(3): 4 | 2
L.A. Clippers(7): 4 | 3
L.A. Lakers: 4 | 4
Sacramento: 2 | 4
Golden State: 1 | 6

so far thats how they are standing right now. it looks pretty good but we'll have to see how things go. i would love to see them win the conference this year but to me that sees like a little wish full thinking on my half.

I've lived in AZ my whole life (19 years) and I haven't had the erge to watch the NBA in a loooong time. I might even attend a game this year :) GO SUNS!!!

I think it's time to bring back this thread in light of the way the Suns just destroyed Miami.
The Suns are now 31-4. Only five teams in the history of the NBA had better records at this point and four of them won titles.
If the playoffs started today, I wouldn't bet against them against anyone.
Of course, their starters have been logging alot of minutes, so either they will start resting more and their record will suffer a bit or they will keep playing too many minutes and will be tired come playoff time.
However it turns out, I'm just excited about seeing entertaining basketball again.

I live in Phoenix and hope to maybe go to a game soon with some of my friends. We go down to the sports bar down the street and watch their games at least once a week. They're so awesome this year, it's amazing.

I read through this thread, and your post from a couple months ago was prophetic. They really have developed into a great team. I recall making a post about the Jazz, and boy was I wrong. To be fair though, since AK has gone down, their D has went to shit, and the team just sucks. I expected a lot more from Harpring and Arroyo. It is shocking that a Jerry Sloan team is playing this poor.
Back on topic, I enjoy watching the Suns play. Everyone is playing as a cohesive unit. They push the ball on the break and keep the ball moving in the half-court. On a side, but related note...it irritates the hell out of me that Marion was even mentioned in trade talks this summer. Foremost, Q-Rich would not have been an upgrade if Marion left. Secondly, Marion is a multi-tooled player; he rebounds and blocks shots like a center. I have always been a fan, guys like that help you win.

However, I still think the Spurs are the best team in the NBA (even if the Suns had not lost to them recently). Great defense, excellent inside-out game, and good role players. They are very well coached; I enjoy the brand of basketball they play.

Suns are insane. Very interesting points about the minutes being logged by the starters. If I were them I wouldn't be so much worried about how that relates to the regular season, but come play off time it could factor in BIG TIME, especially if you take it as a sign that they have no real bench to work with.

Spurs are looking great as usual,can't really such much else about them, Tim Duncan is a robot.

Biggest Surprise Orlando, had no idea they'd be playing so well, granted they along with the heat are in the shittiest division in the leauge.

Biggest dissapointment, my Minnesota Timberpups. The Alien (Sam Cassell) sucks, the Predator (Spree) sucks. KG is a freak of basketball nature, but he isn't a dominant player, he can't take over a game and win it by his lonesome.

Don't forget about the 19-13 Wizards, they they are second in that division. Sure Atlanta and Charlotte suck, but the Atlantic division is poor as well. The Knicks are leading it with a less than .500 winning percentage.

The biggest suprise to me as of late has been Chicago. Once you get over the fact that Orlando got a fully healthy Hill back, it isn't THAT shocking. I mean, when you have an all-star fall out of the sky in the eastern conference, it's going to help a ton. As for the wizards... ok, it's pretty surprising, but we'll really see what they're made of come late Feb/early March.

But the Bulls... they've won 10 of the last 14. I mean, they started something like 1-9, and trade talks for Curry and Chandler were rampant. Who would have thought? Not I. My biggest dissapointment has been the coaching of LB for the Pistons, and their lackluster effort so far. I can't really blame them though, and they're starting to turn it around now.

boy, the Suns have looked pretty bad without Nash in there. They've lost their last 4 games after losing only 4 out of the previous 35 games. Clearly, Nash is the key to this team and they just don't know what to do without him. To me, he is the clear league MVP thus far and there's no one even close.
If I were the Suns management, I'd try to give Nash more rest on the bench when he gets back because they will need a healthy Nash in order to be competitive in the playoffs, even if they have to give up the top seed to San Antonio as a result.

As Cross-over says, Atlantic is in the shittiest division, hands down. Southeast has Miami (#1), Washington(#5), and Orlando (#6) With New Jersey doing so poorly, there is currently a three way tie.. between Boston, NYK, and Philly, with 17-20 records... Poor. It's sad for Chicago that they'll get the 8th seed with probably a much better record than anyone in the Atlantic.

The Biggest surprise has to be Seattle. Great record, leading the division when people said they'd be last.

Disappointment? Tie between Denver and Houston. Houston can take it because at least Denver can argue injury to Veshon Leonard.

Yeah....how about them Suns....losing.

It's tough without Nash. Who knows though, maybe getting other players involved, this skid might prove to be positive.

How about them Spurs :)

That was a classic performance last night...to come back from a 17 point 4th quarter deficit, especially on the road with the crowd on its feet is phenomenal. The Suns are a good team, but with the way they play defense I can't think of them as different from the Dallas Mavericks when Nash was with them. They are just too young. No title this year, but they are definitely in good position to make a run next year and the years to come.