As the NBA trading deadline approaches, no name has been thrown around more than Amar’e Stoudemire. An All-Star starter two years running and once thought to be the future of the Phoenix Suns, now it appears certain that if Amar’e isn’t traded this month, he’ll sign with another team in free agency this summer.

Back in Dime #52 (Oct. 2009), Amar’e talked about facing criticism, injuries, falling short of a championship, as well as the trade rumors that have followed him for the last year. Read More »

Behind every great team is a great coach. Several coaches this year have literally turned around the fortunes of their respected franchises. While Doc Rivers and Phil Jackson are definitely putting in work, it doesn’t really come at a huge surprise that those teams are killing it. We ranked the five coaches that have gotten the most out of their players so far and have posted records that far exceeded expectations. Read More »

Earlier today, we asked who will be better between the Suns or the Clippers. While most people agreed that the Suns will edge out the Clippers, it’s interesting to note how far the Suns have fallen since the days of Mike D’Antoni. With the big Shaqtus now focused on getting a “Ring for the King,” the Suns will return to running and racking up the points. (A run-and-gun system that led the Suns to the Western Conference finals twice (’05 and ’06), and in 2007 many felt were one Robert Horry body check away from at least an NBA Finals berth.) For today’s Reebok Still Talkin’ Quote of the Day, we look at the opinions of two members of the Suns. Read More »

With the exception of the Rockets, you can probably count on each of last year’s Western Conference playoff teams returning to the postseason in ’09-10. That makes one spot up for grabs. For me, the top two candidates for the West’s eighth and final playoff berth is going to be between the Clippers and Suns (although the Thunder, Grizzlies and Rockets aren’t far behind). Read More »

Who do you want your offense to run through with everything on the line? Counting down 30th to 1st (one per team), I’ve ranked the League’s go-to guys…

*** *** ***

#14: STEVE NASH, Phoenix Suns

First, for those thinking Amar’e Stoudemire would/should be holding this spot, an explanation for why Nash gets the nod: To ID Phoenix’s go-to guy, I had to go back to the football analogy I often used when the Suns were at their running, gunning, coulda-been-great peak. Read More »

OK, so the Shaq and Terry Porter experiment failed and now the Phoenix Suns are back to runnin’ and gunnin’ full time. Over the summer, Steve Kerr re-signed the quarterback behind the seven-seconds-or-less offense Steve Nash, re-upped with Grant Hill and acquired two slim and athletic big men in Channing Frye and lottery-pick Earl Clark. Under coach Alvin Gentry (who was one of D’Antoni’s assistants in Phoenix), the team will try to trying to rewind time back to the 2004-’05 season and attempt to put up 115 or more points per game. Read More »

When I heard this weekend that new Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis was mostly likely going to add Bill Laimbeer and Reggie Theus to his staff, this got me thinking: If there was a 3-on-3 tournament amongst the NBA’s current coaching staff, who would win? Read More »

With the vision of the 2009/2010 NBA season becoming more and more clear each day, we’ll take a look at each division and explain what we think we know about each. Sure, there are a lot of things that could change before opening day, but we have a pretty good idea of how each team will look and where we think they’re headed in the upcoming year.

Next up, 5 things I think I know about the Pacific Division… Read More »