Mike D’Antoni had an incredible run in Phoenix, with four straight seasons of at least 54 wins among the highlights of his tenure. However, his inability to get the Suns to play anything resembling defense ultimately led to the decision not to bring him back in 2008. While defense is the main knock on D’Antoni as a coach, it’s actually his failure to develop a bench that people should be worried about. If there’s one thing that Alvin Gentry has done differently than his mentor in leading this Suns team to the Conference Finals, is build and establish trust and confidence for his bench players. Read More »

In less than a season, Raylan Givens is rocketing up the Austin’s Favorite TV Cops power ranking — threatening Frank Pembleton (“Homicide”), J.C. Williams and Eddie Torres (“New York Undercover”), Rick Hunter (“Hunter”) and the entire cast of “In The Heat Of The Night” — the same way Kevin Durant crashed the NBA’s elite party.

In a recent episode of “Justified” (Tuesdays on FX), Givens had gotten his ass kicked in a barroom brawl, and while his ex-wife is nursing him back to health, they have this exchange: Read More »

When talks of the League’s top point men in the game come up, the usual names that come to mind are the veterans such as Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, Chauncey Billups, Tony Parker, Deron Williams and Chris Paul. There are also the new kids on the block with Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Brandon Jennings, Tyreke Evans and Stephen Curry. After his showing on Friday against the Spurs, is there room to add Goran Dragic to this list? Read More »

It took a collective team effort for the Suns to secure a 110-102 victory over San Antonio and go up 2-0 in the Western Conference semifinals two nights ago; six players were able to reach double figures. Steve Nash and Amar’e Stoudemire are playing great, Jason Richardson has been on fire this postseason and Grant Hill seems to be channeling his younger self recently. But the one guy no one is really talking about is Jared Dudley. Read More »

Unlike this year’s NBA playoff bracket, where both 8-seeds are legitimately feisty and each conference has up to four teams that could realistically make the Finals, the NBA awards season is turning out to be pretty predictable.

Wire-to-wire favorite Dwight Howard won Defensive Player of the Year in a landslide, LeBron James is expected to similarly dominate MVP voting, Tyreke Evans is pretty much a lock for Rookie of the Year — and today Oklahoma City’s Scott Brooks was named Coach of the Year. Read More »

From 1976 to 1990, Dennis Johnson didn’t just play in the NBA. He left a mark. But now we can finally say DJ is a Hall of Famer. By earning his place among the 2010 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class this week, the late Dennis Johnson will finally be recognized for his contributions to the game of basketball, which were about so much more than numbers. DJ was a winner, a clutch player, and most importantly, a terrific teammate. Read More »

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 »