Thursday's News: No pain, no gain, no whining and HAVE FUN, DAMNIT!!!!!

[SwingMan]

Nash: Adversity helps for playoffs (http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/0102sunsnb0103.html)

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/pics/0102nash.jpg
Suns guard Steve Nash drives the lane on Dec. 22 in Phoenix. Nash says the adversity from this season may help harden the team for the postseason.

Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 2, 2008 09:52 PM

The Suns had some humbug to their holidays, but in Boston it has been Christmas nearly every day of the season.

Fans remember what that was like. It was three years ago, when Phoenix's franchise turnaround shocked the NBA - and itself - with a 31-4 start. The buzz lasted another year when the Suns disproved beliefs that they would not contend without Amaré Stoudemire.

These days, Phoenix's 22-9 record and virtual tie for first place in the West causes consternation among fans and dissatisfaction in the locker room because it is not at the championship standard.
http://www.azcentral.com/imgs/clear.gifhttp://www.azcentral.com/imgs/clear.gif

Nobody is having as much fun - and so be it, Suns guard Steve Nash says. That happens when you win as much as this era of Suns, who could beat Seattle at home Thursday night for their 200th victory since Nash's 2004 return to Phoenix.

Just like the club's 40th anniversary that it celebrates Thursday night, these Suns are grown up.

"That's forever gone," Nash said of that 2004-05 season when each game was "this exciting, beautiful gift" to the team and fans. "That's forever gone. Now we have to be grown men and professionals and not euphoric souls."

Nash said he did not foresee that this regular season would be less enjoyable for a team whose proving ground lies in the postseason. Nor is he envious that the lost magic can be seen in Boston's bounce.

"Been there, done that," Nash said. "Hopefully we're hardened and grizzled because of it and when the time comes, we'll be ahead of that place."

Phoenix faces a wide range of opponents on this homestand - a rebuilding team (Seattle), a rising threat (New Orleans), a division leader (Denver) and a struggling team (Indiana).

"No matter who we play, if we lose, it's a disaster for the fans," Nash said.

That minutia of analyzing losses grates on him. He always has said he does not read the newspaper, listen to sports radio or watch local sports television. He would rather lock in on each day's task and have his team apply the same focus.

"It's probably not as enjoyable thus far, and that's the part that we need to just keep battling for is to try to make it fun and not be so maybe overly critical or not so affected by people's opinions," Nash said. "Just worry about having fun every day. We've got talent. If we play hard and have fun, we're going to go far, no matter what; I guarantee that. That's the tough part. We've got to find a way to keep making it fun - make it more fun than it's been thus far."

Home, sweet home

Phoenix starts a one-week homestand Thursday that has as many home games (four) as it played in December. The Suns' 12 home games thus far are the fewest in the league.

"It's time now to just go on a tear," Stoudemire said. "We've got to go ahead and light it up."

Grrrrrrrr

Those tiger cubs the Wildlife World Zoo named Nash and Raja last year now have four cub sisters at the Litchfield Park zoo - Amaré, D'Antoni, Marion and McCoy.

Thursday's game

SuperSonics at Suns

When: 8:30 p.m.
Where: US Airways Center.
TV/radio: My 45, TNT/KTAR-AM (620).

Seattle update: The Sonics (9-22) had nine active players for Monday's 98-90 home loss to Philadelphia. Top scorer Kevin Durant was out because of a sprained left index finger, and forward Chris Wilcox was out because of a knee sprain. Durant is expected to return tonight. Guard Luke Ridnour might return from a quadriceps strain. This is starting center Kurt Thomas' first game against the Suns since they traded him in July. Thomas, averaging 9.7 rebounds in 24.4 minutes per game, was injured for Phoenix's season-opening win in Seattle.

[SwingMan]

Suns broadcast goes retro (http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/0102sunsbox0103.html)

Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 2, 2008 09:51 PM

Thursday night's 40th anniversary celebration for the Phoenix-Seattle game will feature many throwback elements, except retro jerseys, but fans watching on My 45 might feel taken back in time even more.

The game broadcast will start in black and white with a grainy-film look and two camera angles. The graphics will have no logos, a huge, basic scoreboard, an in-laid camera shot of the game clock and "instant replay" labels. A Suns dancer will hold billboard advertisements.

In the second quarter, television play-by-play announcer Tom Leander will do radio while Hall of Fame radio voice Al McCoy will join former analyst Greg Schulte on television as the production goes to 1980s color with more angles. After two segments, former announcer George Allen will join Leander and analyst Eddie Johnson.

Gary Bender, who has broadcasted Suns games since 1993, and Channel 10's Jude LaCava, a former Suns broadcaster, will share memories as a normal broadcast returns for the second half.

The game also is on TNT with a team of Marv Albert, Mike Fratello and Reggie and Cheryl Miller.

[cap]

Bad day: Zach Randolph had a -27 in only 16 minutes against Sacramento. The Knicks ended up losing by 10. Z-Bo’s stats: 5 pts, 2-5 FG, 3 reb, 1 ast, 4 pf, 4 to.


Meanwhile, John Salmons, who left us at the altar, played 44 minutes for a +12, 32 pts, 13-18 FG, 11 reb, 6 ast, 6 stl, 1 bs, 4 pf, 3 to. How much do we wish we’d got this guy instead of the consolation prize?

[Shabazz]

Salmons would have been great. But we were competing with God, and he's a tougher matchup than the Spurs on the road.

[Maldonado316]

Hall of Fame radio voice Al McCoy will join former analyst Greg Schulte on television

Hell yeah even if it's only for a quarter, McCoy is the man!

[SpecialSauce]

<sarcasm> NOW I KNOW WHY MARION'S OFFENSE SUCKS THIS YEAR!!! </sarcasm>

http://www.thedirty.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/56rhgf6rfh.jpg

[SwingMan]

Just noticed this at Suns.com:

The 1985 Suns Reunion game - Charlie Scott, Clem Haskins, Hawk, both Van Arsdales, Curtis Perry, Gar Heard, Paul Silas etc. Unedited/raw video, no commercial breaks, Al McCoy at the mic. (mms://phxsuns.wmod.llnwd.net/a205/o2/reunion85.wmv)

[desertcoast]

<sarcasm> NOW I KNOW WHY MARION'S OFFENSE SUCKS THIS YEAR!!! </sarcasm>

sadly, that is actually Marcus Banks in that wig....

[Xcon]

<sarcasm> NOW I KNOW WHY MARION'S OFFENSE SUCKS THIS YEAR!!! </sarcasm>

http://www.thedirty.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/56rhgf6rfh.jpg

Oh Snap! Here comes all the holy than thou folks that beat up Boris for his pics...or will they??

[AmareIsGod]

Shawn has his shirt on and his hands to himself. There's someone in front of him, but his hands aren't on anyone's tits. But hey, all the Boris "protectors" can say "it's the SAME thing!"... I'm cool with that. Arguing will get me nowhere. I'm glad SpecialSauce went out of his way to find this. "Just like you went out of your way, AIG, to find pics of Boris"... I know, I know.

[Xcon]

Haha, nice spin.

[Dammit]

I never saw those Boris pics. Link?

[MTSunsFan]

Z-Bo got tossed last night, cap. Not that that's any excuse for his poor performance up until that point, but he did get less minutes then usual...

[ShelC]

Thats bullshit and you know it AIG. You've just been proven wrong and now you have to eat crow. Shawns twisted in that photo...look at his eyes. Maybe if Shawn were working on his ball handling (instead of the blonde) and working on his jumper....but im sure thats just some catholic school girl hes giving a ride home to after Bible Study, right?


Seriously, i could care less about that crap. 90% of those guys do that shit. The ones that called Boris out for it and now play it off with Shawn are just hypocrites. How about manning up for once?

[bobster]

Just noticed this at Suns.com:

The 1985 Suns Reunion game - Charlie Scott, Clem Haskins, Hawk, both Van Arsdales, Curtis Perry, Gar Heard, Paul Silas etc. Unedited/raw video, no commercial breaks, Al McCoy at the mic. (mms://phxsuns.wmod.llnwd.net/a205/o2/reunion85.wmv)

lots of old-timers - public address announcer stan richards [r.i.p.], jim fox, bayard forrest, nate hawthorne, garfield heard, curtis perry, charlie scott, john shumate, dick snyder, tom & dick van arsdale, john wetzel, george wilson, johnny 'red' kerr, dennis awtrey, jerry chambers, mel counts, lamar green, clem haskins, connie hawkins, joel kramer, dennis 'mo' layton, paul silas, neal walk, joe proski and jerry colangelo.

i actually have the program from that game somewhere..... ah, the memories.

wouldn't it be great to see a game with walter davis, paul westphal, maurice lucas, alvan adams, don buse, tom chambers, charles barkley, kevin johnson, mark west, ricky sobers, dan majerle, jeff hornacek, eddie johnson and larry nance?

[CharlesV]

The caption to that pic was...


Nik this picture is of the Matrix drunk @ 6 last friday night, he was pulled over by the cops after leaving the club…not sure what came of that.

Anybody know what’s up? Inquiring minds would like to know? I am guessing the cops kissed his ass. Shawn I know we were cool, but you can thank Boris.- nik

[jed]

Not great, chick. Even more disturbing:

http://www.thedirty.com/?cat=8&paged=4

Caption under the Boris photo (obviously Suns management has been giving the site the full-court press):

"A little message to the head of PHX Suns Security… If you really want to go down this road I have way better pictures of players on the team just ask Steve Nash’s Agent. I will just email them to Sportscenter that would be fun. People if you only knew. Boris she is too old for you, let’s be honest. But I like your strategy, now if you applied that kind of effort on the court that would be awesome.- nik"

[Xcon]

Oh Double Snap. Boris is the mack daddy, haha. Maybe his uninspired play is due to a venereal disease sapping his strength. Double bag it bro, double bag it.

[Xcon]

Oh, and I wonder if I can be Boris' wingman. Haha.

[RDM2]

Despite the fact that the girl looks like a 2 bit whore, Marion looks like he doesn't want to even get near her.

Still that pic is pretty inexcusable, but if it were on the Suns site with the caption "Marion poses with a fan" we may not even be talking about it.

Boris on the other hand looked looked like he was ready to strip down and film Fat Fest 08.

[AmareIsGod]

RDM, don't try to argue it. It's the "exact same thing" according to SpecialSauce and ShelC. The can suck my balls before I even begin to say it's the "exact same thing".

[Squeege63]

<sarcasm> NOW I KNOW WHY MARION'S OFFENSE SUCKS THIS YEAR!!! </sarcasm>

http://www.thedirty.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/56rhgf6rfh.jpg

I was at that bar that night when marion was there. Diaw was there too. I remember seeing that girl when I walked in. She looked really beat up, but not surprised to see that she got in the VIP based off of the way she was dressed.

[INFORMER]

"No matter who we play, if we lose, it's a disaster for the fans," Nash said.

Haha.


Grrrrrrrr

Those tiger cubs the Wildlife World Zoo named Nash and Raja last year now have four cub sisters at the Litchfield Park zoo - Amaré, D'Antoni, Marion and McCoy.

Thank goodness they named one after Shawn. Wouldn't want him to feel slighted . . .

[sehan]

Really guys, if I was 20 something and already multi-millionaire - i would be out there sampling all kinds of p*$$y and you (most) would be too. Last I recall he is not even married and far as i know he is not forcing any of those women in those pictures unlike some other Ball players. So whats the big deal.

Biggest problem with Boris is his self content, not his social life. Without discontent and recognition of the problem there is no progress; and right now, Boris does not acknowledge the existence of a problem. Lets focus on that first step and leave the rest alone.

Than again, that - the fact that he thinks his game is good enough to warrant no work during off season - might be Shawn's ultimate downfall as well.

[misteradiant]

Thats bullshit and you know it AIG. You've just been proven wrong and now you have to eat crow. Shawns twisted in that photo...look at his eyes. Maybe if Shawn were working on his ball handling (instead of the blonde) and working on his jumper....but im sure thats just some catholic school girl hes giving a ride home to after Bible Study, right?


Seriously, i could care less about that crap. 90% of those guys do that shit. The ones that called Boris out for it and now play it off with Shawn are just hypocrites. How about manning up for once?


what does danny manning have to do with any of this?

[Nodack]

This stuff is silly. If I was a ball player and single you can bet I would go out clubbing sometimes on my off time. I might piss some people off that some players have some sort of life outside of basketball, but it doesn't bother me one bit. None of you guys know what these guys do 24/7, but you see a picture of a guy having fun at a club and get all bent out of shape by it for some reason thinking he should be in the gym working on his game 24 hours a day and that they aren't allowed to have any fun ever. I'm guessing that Shawn and Boris work a lot harder at their craft than any of us here do at ours, whatever that may be. If you want to hold somebody accountable why don't you look in the mirror first before casting stones.

[misteradiant]

yeah, i've been hard on boris for those dirty pix that get posted here sometimes, but i'm over it. it is as others have said, really not that big of a deal and you'd be doing the same thing. for boris, it just looks bad because he's been so sucky on the bball court.

what really bums me is that the suns are doing a retro night and there will be no retro jerseys? that is lame, lame, lame.

[AmareIsGod]

Yeah. A retro night with current uniforms doesn't scream retro at all. It starts with the uniforms and goes from there. I could care less about the old school flavored broadcast (though it should be cool) if the players are running around in 2008 jerseys. Weak.

[SpecialSauce]

RDM, don't try to argue it. It's the "exact same thing" according to SpecialSauce and ShelC. The can suck my balls before I even begin to say it's the "exact same thing".

You know AIG, I used to like you...but lately you've turned into a real ass for no reason. I didn't say shit except post a picture that I happened to come across because I like looking at that site and laughing. Bite my ass if you got a problem with it or me.

[SpecialSauce]

yeah, i've been hard on boris for those dirty pix that get posted here sometimes, but i'm over it. it is as others have said, really not that big of a deal and you'd be doing the same thing. for boris, it just looks bad because he's been so sucky on the bball court.

what really bums me is that the suns are doing a retro night and there will be no retro jerseys? that is lame, lame, lame.

BRING BACK THE 92-93 JERSEYS PLEAAAAAAAASE!! Those were my favorites. Our current jerseys are sooooooo boring

[Nodack]

At least we have Al for a little bit. I would pay extra to have Al call all of the TV broadcasts.

[AmareIsGod]

RDM, don't try to argue it. It's the "exact same thing" according to SpecialSauce and ShelC. The can suck my balls before I even begin to say it's the "exact same thing".

You know AIG, I used to like you...but lately you've turned into a real ass for no reason. I didn't say shit except post a picture that I happened to come across because I like looking at that site and laughing. Bite my ass if you got a problem with it or me.

Don't get your panties in a bunch. I never said I didn't like you. If I can't disagree with you on a matter of ethics and morals without you thinking I'm being an ass to you for no reason then you need to chigity check yourself before you wrigity wreck yourself fool :P All I was saying is that I'm not going to agree that the picture of Shawn is the same thing as the pictures of Boris and I'll suck your balls before I'll cave in and say it's the same thing.

Regardless, like mister said, it's an old issue. I'm over it. I could care less if Boris bangs all of Tempe and Scottsdale. So long as he starts producing on the court...

[MTSunsFan]

I could care less if Boris bangs all of Tempe and Scottsdale. So long as he starts producing on the court...

No doubt, AIG. If Boris's production on the court was anywhere near what it is when he's out clubbing, this team would be darn near unstoppable...

[Nodack]

Boris started out passive and got a lot of slack for it. Now he has started to play more aggressive, but he does need to start making some of his shots.

[SpecialSauce]

RDM, don't try to argue it. It's the "exact same thing" according to SpecialSauce and ShelC. The can suck my balls before I even begin to say it's the "exact same thing".

You know AIG, I used to like you...but lately you've turned into a real ass for no reason. I didn't say shit except post a picture that I happened to come across because I like looking at that site and laughing. Bite my ass if you got a problem with it or me.

Don't get your panties in a bunch. I never said I didn't like you. If I can't disagree with you on a matter of ethics and morals without you thinking I'm being an ass to you for no reason then you need to chigity check yourself before you wrigity wreck yourself fool :P All I was saying is that I'm not going to agree that the picture of Shawn is the same thing as the pictures of Boris and I'll suck your balls before I'll cave in and say it's the same thing.

Regardless, like mister said, it's an old issue. I'm over it. I could care less if Boris bangs all of Tempe and Scottsdale. So long as he starts producing on the court...


you're just real bitter these days....did boris break your heart!?? :mrgreen:

[misteradiant]

I could care less if Boris bangs all of Tempe and Scottsdale. So long as he starts producing on the court...

No doubt, AIG. If Boris's production on the court was anywhere near what it is when he's out clubbing, this team would be darn near unstoppable...


boris is a raspberry! booo! we are a team of pineapples!

[SwingMan]

I think what Boris broke was everyone's patience with him, Saucy.

He's been a hopeless slack-ass on the court since the beginning of last season and it's worn pretty damn thin.

[misteradiant]

even jerry brown slammed him recently in the trib. it's really funny to see people sticking up for bore-us. he hasn't done anything to deserve it for a year and a half. boris sucks, the bad way, and you have nothing but the occasional 5-minute span to say "see?!"

we see. he sucks the rest of the time and game after game until, walla! another decent 5-minute span.

[JustWinBaby]

I think what Boris broke was everyone's patience with him, Saucy.

He's been a hopeless slack-ass on the court since the beginning of last season and it's worn pretty damn thin.

His actions off the court have not been stellar as well.

When you have to send a personal baby sitter to France to make sure he works out, I would say more people are concerned than just the people on this board. I will never forget the Safari he went on after receiving his $45 MIllion. Since then it has been downhill.

A lot of you complement him on his 05/06 accomplishments. If Amare would have been healthy and received those same look we would have won the Championship.

I wonder what Chambers would really say about Boris after a couple of beers, same with Marjle

[Superbone]

Yeah. A retro night with current uniforms doesn't scream retro at all. It starts with the uniforms and goes from there. I could care less about the old school flavored broadcast (though it should be cool) if the players are running around in 2008 jerseys. Weak.

I'd like to see the broadcast. I'm stuck with TNT though. Can't complain too much though. I think we get Marv and Reggie.

[Superbone]

At least the Atlanta fans are enjoying Boris' performance.

They're all saying, "See, I told you so."

And it's really too bad. We really thought we had a pretty good consolation prize after losing JJ.

[Nodack]

I still hold out hope for Diaw. Call me crazy.

[misteradiant]

crazy!

(points finger and shakes like a possessed man)

;)

[Nodack]

It takes one to know one and you are definitely qualified. :)

[misteradiant]

why you i oughta...














... buy you a beer!

:cool:

sose and i are getting together monday for denver. pm me if you'd like to join us, dude.

[JustWinBaby]

I still hold out hope for Diaw. Call me crazy.

It may he hard to believe, but I do as well.

It is just a shame to see a guy with all of his potential to play so poorly and generally without emotion. I think the emotion thing gets my goat more than anything, come to think of it.

[Nodack]

Yeah!

Corona please and don't forget the lime.

[Nodack]

It is just a shame to see a guy with all of his potential to play so poorly and generally without emotion. I think the emotion thing gets my goat more than anything, come to think of it.


I don't know so much about that. I don't think you can really judge emotion very well by looking at a guys facial expressions. Some players wear their emotions on their sleeves and some don't show any emotion at all. I don't recall Diaw showing much emotion whether he was playing good or bad ever. The closest you are going to see is a smirk. The most emotion Diaw has shown was when he was pissed off and even then you had to really look for it. Maybe it's a French thing. LOL

[scosuns]

We are going to kill this Boris thing all year aren't we? Well, its fun and I'll stay on for the ride.

[scosuns]

I don't know so much about that. I don't think you can really judge emotion very well by looking at a guys facial expressions. Some players wear their emotions on their sleeves and some don't show any emotion at all. I don't recall Diaw showing much emotion whether he was playing good or bad ever. The closest you are going to see is a smirk. The most emotion Diaw has shown was when he was pissed off and even then you had to really look for it. Maybe it's a French thing. LOL

I wonder if his mom kicked his ass when he was a kid... We should start some kind of Diaw joke. No no thats too immature. Ah! Who cares?

Ok, I'll try. What do you get when you put Diaw with....(voice slowly quiets down until there is no sound.)

[Nodack]

We need somebody to ride every year and it's generally who is playing the worst at the time, so that means Diaw and Banks are the official goats until somebody else steps up (or down).

Last year it was JR. It beats the Penny Hardaway chat of years ago. I really hated discussing him.

[misteradiant]

What do you get when you put a shirtless Diaw with a barely dressed drunk broad?

a paternity suit!

[Dammit]

I'll ask again. Does anyone have a link to the pics that started all this Boris controversey?

[misteradiant]

pm saucy, toastman. they are all on dirtyscottsdale.com and started about 6-8 weeks ago.

[Superbone]

I still hold out hope for Diaw. Call me crazy.

You're crazy!

Just kidding. I do to. It's hard not to after seeing what he's capable of.

[scosuns]

This summer, I thought Diaw was going to have a good season. Man, I was very very very off. Makes me shudder.

[Shabazz]

For those curious about the lack of retro unis tonight, Coro addresses it in his latest blog:

http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/PaulCoro/13816


Dirty's back

Thanks to Brian Skinner, the Suns won't have to endure a lot of teeth-gnashing or heckles when Kurt Thomas makes his first Phoenix appearance since the Suns dealt him in a paryoll-reducing July trade with the Sonics.

Skinner has been better than anyone imagined and you can't beat the price (a $16 million savings from carrying Thomas' salary and luxury tax burden). However, Dirty is still getting it done. If Thomas qualified for stat leaders, he would be second in the league (to Marcus Camby) in rebounds per 48 minutes at 19.0 (he is averaging 9.7 per game). The guy's a pro and one of best tactical post defenders in the league. He's also auditioning for summer free agency.

As with any defensive big man, fans love Thomas and his starting introduction will be received warmly.

In other matters ...

* There has been a lot of questioning and complaining about the Suns not wearing retro uniforms for tonight's game. I don't really get it either but at least they can say that they are not calling this "Retro Night." It's simply called 40th Anniversary Night but it might as well be a retro night complete with retro uniforms for the full effect.

As for the uniforms, apparently only six teams in the NBA wear the retro look in a season but it doesn't exactly take an Act of Congress for another team to wear them. It does take some foresight, though, because they have to be ordered months ahead of time. Phoenix wore the classic purple Suns jersey with the Western lettering two years ago but that is when Reebok did the jerseys. The league is now on an Adidas account.

The uniforms likely would have done well in the team shop. Next year, Phoenix is supposed to be in the retro uniform cycle. Two people have mentioned the possibility that the Suns would wear the early 1990s style jersey (diagonal suns and basketball sunburst) that is widely known from the Charles Barkley-led 1993 NBA Finals team. Now that would sell.

But nobody was down for going to the short shorts the Lakers wore for the first half last week against Boston.

"Some things are best left in the past," said Suns coach Mike D'Antoni, who passed on a suggestion to break out a sports coast with elbow patches.

"My legs are too long and skinny," Suns center Amare Stoudemire said (He's right. Did you see Lamar Odom the other night?). "I don't think I'd look too good in those. You'd have to have the knee pads and the extra spandex and everything to add some accessories to it because it's super-short."

The players are going to well a special warm-up pullover but it's not a throwback, just a shirt with a 40th anniversary logo.

* The third returns on All-Star voting came out Thursday. The chances of Steve Nash making up ground on Houston's Tracy McGrady for second place and the second starting spot don't look too good when he gets passed for third place. In the latest returns, Denver's Allen Iverson moved ahead of Nash by 9,798 votes.

Houston's Shane Battier (Shane Battier!) passed Shawn Marion, putting the Matrix into sixth among forwards. If Marion played with Yao Ming, would he be starting the All-Star Game like T-Mac? Grant Hill is still 10th among forwards and Amare Stoudemire is still a distant second to Yao for the starting center spot.

You know the Chinese online vote is getting out of hand when Milwaukee rookie Yi Jianlian is fifth among East forwards.

* Some of the Suns spent New Year's Eve in Las Vegas. Vegas guy Shawn Marion, Raja and Cindy Bell and Grant and Tamia Hill went out with Managing Partner Robert Sarver and his wife, Penny, for dinner and a Kanye West concert at The Palms. Now that's "The Good Life."

[Shabazz]

Something else to chew on - according to Hollinger's Playoff odds on ESPN, based on our record and how we're playing, we currently have the best shot in the west of making the playoffs (99%), winning our division (73%), getting the #1 seed (53%), making the finals (23%) and winning the championship (3%).

He currently has Boston (49%) and Detroit (42%) as the teams most likely to win the title.

Here is the link:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/playoffodds

[Nodack]

My wife comes thru again. She works for an airline and checked in Brian Colangelo and chatted with him. She of course told him that her husband was a big Suns fan and got him to sign an extra ticket for me and he also gave her his business card with his telephone, fax and email on it. I'm not going to bug him of course, but I could if I wanted to. :)

[misteradiant]

and he also gave her his business card with his telephone, fax and email on it.

interesting. your wife must be hot.

[misteradiant]

what a bunch of corporate bullshit excuse mongering. reebok then, adidas now? the suns knew long enough ago to get jerseys made that resembled the original jerseys for "40th anniversary night." it's just cheap bullshit. are you saying that for our 40th anniversary, we won't get retro jerseys? seems so. i hear a bird. is it the phoenix? i don't think so. it keeps saying the same thing, "cheep cheep!"

it's like the suns logo not centered on the basketball court this year, with the center line not even going up to the bottom of the logo, but the line starts in the head of the phoenix on top. it's cheap half-assed bullshit. who is responsible for that shoddy branding?

i should have that idiot's job. i could do better than what we've been given this year. no retro jerseys? what a bunch of bullshit.

you can take it if you want, and say nothing about it. 40 years is moses in the desert. 40 days is jesus battling satan's promises in the desert. i'm 40 right now. it just seems that a game that is calling itself "40th anniversary night" would go full out, not half ass.

next year? next year is 41. it's like getting a birthday present a year late. hey dumbass, you missed last year. what do i want this for? you're not amputated? your family is alive? oh, you're just cheap.

what do i care about my dvr recording of the retro stages for the game? i want a jersey. what do you want?

i am now in the "sarver is cheap" bandwagon.

a shirt with a logo instead? glad my dog is a bird dog. now i can just throw the carcass away.

[AmareIsGod]

I agree completely mister. I can't say for certain whether Sarver is cheap or not (really depends on whose shoulders this falls on) but it's a lame fucking excuse for not going all out. Pretty lame if you ask me. If the "retro" broadcast on our HDTV causes the game to lose a lot of the appeal of the HD with the retro shit, I can guarantee we'll be changing it to TNT. Let's see how well they can pull it off.

[misteradiant]

how come malcolm mclaren... i mean rupert murdoch isn't writing me paycecks by now?

[INFORMER]

Houston's Shane Battier (Shane Battier!) passed Shawn Marion, putting the Matrix into sixth among forwards.

Wow.

[Xcon]

The powah of China my friend.

[Mori_Chu]

The all-star voting system must be fixed. I don't think international votes other than those from Canada (since Canada actually, you know, HAS AN NBA TEAM) should be counted.

[JediSkywalker]

The all-star voting system must be fixed. I don't think international votes other than those from Canada (since Canada actually, you know, HAS AN NBA TEAM) should be counted.

WORD. There is too much national bias when it comes to international voting. Actually bias is rampant even within the US. Fans don't always vote for the best player(in their opinion); they vote for their favorites.

In any case, what does it matter? The only thing that matters is whether the Suns win the NBA championship or not.

[Andy_S]

The all-star voting system must be fixed. I don't think international votes other than those from Canada (since Canada actually, you know, HAS AN NBA TEAM) should be counted.

Fixed? It's a marketing gimmick, not a basketball game. If Yao happens to have a billion fans who want to watch him play, then the system works great as long as he is in the game, and it fails if he's not.

If you want it fixed, then no fans should be allowed to vote. Actually, if that happened, I might even start to care about the game. A little. And votes from Canada should NOT be counted, because it's CANADA. :)

[Ring_Wanted]

I'm with Andy. I'd like to see only the coaches vote. That way, the game would be respectable. Of course, not allowing fans to vote goes against the nature of the allstar game, but since I don't vote any more, wouldn't mind having a decent event, for once.