Time to preview the 2010-11 Phoenix Suns
Music to listen to: Only Women Bleed by Alice Cooper
Last season/offseason changes: The Suns finished last season with a record of 54-28 playing the fast-paced style that become synonymous with the squad the previous few seasons before Steve Kerr took over as general manager. Kerr was fired, Alvin Gentry was put in, Shaq left and Steve Nash continued his stellar play which will garner him a spot in the Hall of Fame.
However, the Suns did lose in the Western Conference finals to the Lakers in the playoffs.
Amar’e Stoudemire left for the Knicks in free agency, leaving a major void at power forward. He wasn’t offered a guaranteed contract with the terms that he had been seeking for years with Phoenix and decided to leave. While it will hurt the team on the court, the constant trade rumors involving Stoudemire were becoming a distraction for the Suns so at least that’s over.
Leonardo Barbosa is also gone but with the emergence of Goran Dragic in last year’s playoffs, this loss may not be as significant as first expected.
The biggest addition for the Suns in the offseason was Hedo Turkoglu, who two seasons ago, was a major piece of an Orlando Magic team that reached the NBA finals. Last year in Toronto, he had one of the worst years of his career.
The Suns are hoping that playing with Nash and a change of scenery will do Turkoglu well, even though Phoenix and Toronto run similar offenses.
Strength: The guards and small forwards.
Nash is a brilliant player who has the ability to make anyone look good on offense. We all know that he doesn’t play defense well but that’s a small tradeoff for what you get from him on offense. I had him in my top-five for MVP last season. It may have been one of the best efforts of his career.
The Suns also have a slew of small forwards to use for its offense. Grant Hill, Turkoglu, Josh Childress, Jared Dudley, Hakim Warrick will all earn time at the forward position for Phoenix. Each one of them fit’s the offense, can handle the ball to varying degrees and all can hit three-pointers.
Weakness: Age and lack of size.
Nash and Hill have to slow down at some point in their careers. If both of them show their age this season, the Suns will be in trouble.
Both of those guys have showed amazing durability as Suns and have backups, especially Nash, that can take some of the major minutes in the regular season to rest up for a playoff run.
The bigger concern is the lack of size. Outside of Robin Lopez, the Suns don’t have a rebounded or interior defender that can help them in the playoffs. Because of this issue, Phoenix may win its share of games against below average teams that can’t match the offensive output of the Suns, but when they face teams like the Lakers, Dallas, San Antonio and others with size, the problems happen.
Most important player: If Nash suffered a season-ending injury, the Suns wouldn’t make the playoffs and maybe struggle to win 40 games.
Celebrity crush from the city: I’m taking the talented actress Emma Stone, who for some reason can get it any day of the week even though I usually don’t go for her look.
Coaching: I remember Alvin Gentry when he was the head coach of the LA Clippers when they were actually building a respectable squad with Elton Brand, Darius Miles, Quentin Richardson and such but was released by their management when they barely missed the playoffs.
When he got another shot with Phoenix, I thought it would be another stop gap for him but after leading the Suns to the conference finals last year, things are looking up for him.
He’s been around the Suns for years and knows how to take advantage of the team’s strengths.
First memory of team: I remember seeing the undervalued Kevin Johnson doing his thing at point guard for the squad. His highlights are below:
Best case: A return to the Western Conference Finals
Worst case: Missing the playoffs
Uniform grade: Its hard to go wrong with purple and orange. Grade: B+
Overall outlook: The Suns are a fun team to watch and produce highlights that are pleasing to the fans. However, their lack of rebounding and defensive skills may cost them a playoff spot at the end of the season.
Those are my thoughts, what about yours?
2010 Backdoor Cut Previews:
Atlantic Division
Central Division
Southeast Division
Northwest Division
Pacific Division
The Sports Inquirer 
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