Phoenix Suns Offseason Priorities: Starting Power Forward
Channing Frye was great last season, but the Suns should still look for an upgrade. (Photo Courtesy of Chelsea, Flickr)
When Amar’e Stoudemire left for the Big Apple, the Suns were left with a huge hole at the power forward spot. Nearly a year since STAT joined the Knicks, the organization is still looking for a starting caliber player at that spot.
During last offseason, Phoenix acquired Hedo Turkoglu from Toronto to place him in Stoudemire’s old spot. In only 25 games in a Suns uniform, the Turkoglu experiment at the four spot was a complete disaster. The undersized Turkoglu failed to get comfortable offensively and was a liability defensively against many teams power forwards. Turkoglu eventually became part of the deal that brought Marcin Gortat over from Orlando. (more…)
Poor Home Record Costly to Phoenix Suns Playoff Chances
U.S. Airways Center was not a friendly place to the Suns this season. (Photo Courtesy of Steven Vance, Flickr)
Going into the 2010-2011 season, it was hard to find a better home team than the Phoenix Suns over the previous six season. The Suns had won at least 30 games at home in five of those six seasons and in the lone season where they didn’t, they won a very respectable 28, missing out on the postseason.
The team in the purple and orange took a big step backwards this season. Phoenix went only 23-18 at U.S. Airways Center, which was tied for the 11th best home record in the Western Conference. Their record was tied with the Clippers, who ended up with only 32 wins combined. The 23 wins were the lowest total since the Suns won only 18 back in the 2003-2004 season. (more…)
Phoenix Suns Struggles in Sacramento Continue
Power Balance Pavilion, former known as Arco Arena, has suddenly become a House of Horrors for the Suns as they had another fourth quarter collapse in their 116-113 loss. Luckily for Phoenix, it will more than likely be the last time that the Suns will be playing in the building with the Kings pending move to Anaheim.
Phoenix held a 98-88 lead early on in the fourth quarter, but the Kings would go on a 28-15 in the remaining minutes to grab their third straight win over the Suns. Tons of turnovers, poor three-point shooting and a lack of defensive intensity keyed another fourth quarter collapse for the Suns in California’s capital. (more…)
Suns take big step back after last night’s loss
The Suns have done something that no other team in the NBA has done so far this season. They have two losses to the Sacramento Kings. The Kings came back from a fourth quarter deficit to win 113-108 over the Suns last night.
The loss was brutal on several fronts. First off to lose to a Kings team that was without DeMarcus Cousins, who was kept off the team charter after a brush up with a teammate after Sunday night’s loss, is inexcusable. The Kings big men stepped up in Cousins absence though. Samuel Dalembert, Carl Landry and Jason Thompson combined combined for a total of 32 rebounds, 14 of which came on the offensive glass. The Suns had 36 total rebounds as a team. (more…)
Game Preview: Kings at Suns
After a few days of technical problems, we are back up and running here at Suns Zoo. I missed a few games, but the Suns sure didn’t skip a beat in their two victories. Yours truly will be in attendance for tonight’s game against the Kings. The Suns are looking to continue on with their hot play against a poor Kings team tonight.
Sacramento has struggled since these two teams faced off with one another back in early January when the Suns blew a big lead late in the fourth quarter. One of the few bright spots though has been DeMarcus Counsins. With increased playing time, the rookie has lived up to his fifth overall billing so far. He has had a double-double in each of his last three games and five in his past seven. If it weren’t for Blake Griffin, he would definitely be in the discussion for rookie of the year. (more…)
