By Craig Kwasniewski
The Suns are on quite a tear, winning their 14th in a row after pasting the Washington Zeros in DC last night. Yet as impressive as their streak is, they have yet to beat San Antonio, Dallas or the LA Lakers this season.
So is Phoenix a fraud? Hardly, the losses to San Antonio and Los Angeles came early in the season when Diaw was fat and Stoudemire was recovering from knee surgery. Still, before we start comparing the 2006-07 Suns with the greatest teams in NBA history, let's see if they can beat the best teams this season. All this hype about Phoenix reminds me of Pistons last year. Remember how the talk was 70 wins and five All-Stars for Detroit? Can someone please show me their championship trophy from last season?
Anyway, San Antonio travels to Phoenix on February 1st. I'll be very curious to see how the Suns fare with the methodical Spurs. The Spurs were the only team in the NBA that the Nash-led Suns could not entice into a track-meet, winning 10 of 13 since the "two-time MVP" came to Phoenix.
BTW - I know the Lakers are more like a distant 4th best team in the west (especially since they fold to shitty teams), but there's a budding rivalry between these two teams since the playoffs last year and the Lakers' size may cause problems for Phoenix. Of course, the Lakers only have a chance if they slow the tempo. If they try to out-score the Suns, well it's a no-brainer... the Suns would dominate.
BTW 2 - I'm not counting Utah as a contending team in the west. Since the 12-1 start they are 16-13 and can't keep guys from dropping 50-spots on them... they are a fraud!
Mind if I "counterpoint" your article over at my site?
Posted by: basketbawful | January 24, 2007 at 06:35 AM
Go ahead, but just to clarify, my point is more along the likes of the Suns are good, but let's not put them up there with the 1986 Celtics, 1988 Lakers and 1996 Bulls until they can prove that they can beat Dallas, San Antonio and the LA Lakers.
Granted, like I mentioned, the two losses to LA and SA don't cout because Diaw and Amare were different players back then. Still, given the Spurs track record against the Suns and the Lakers' ability to step up against quality opponents, I think both teams along with Dallas can hang with PHX.
Unless you're looking to defend Utah... then bring it on!
Posted by: Craig | January 24, 2007 at 09:17 AM
looking into the bubble of all the teams you had mentioned, I have to take issue with one more. Sure, the Lakers step it up a notch and pull out some impressive wins. Then, two nights later, the get manhandled by the Grizzlies. Yes, the ones from Memphis. Therefore, you can't single out only Utah and Phoenix on this one. I think the two teams with a proven track record of domination in the West are SA and Dallas. Unfortunately, SA is the most boring basketball of all time, and Dallas likes to be asphyxiated by their own hand. I think the hoopla over teams like PHX, Utah and the new look Lakers is that with all their flaws, they are more fun to watch.
Posted by: geebs | January 24, 2007 at 10:03 AM
I agree with your take on San Antonio, but Dallas too is very fun to watch. Especially since they're playing with a chip on their shoulder after watching Wade shoot 50 freethrows a game in the Finals.
Posted by: Craig | January 24, 2007 at 10:28 AM