With former NBA point guard Lindsey Hunter now at the helm for the Suns, there was some expectation

Following a fourth quarter meltdown that led to a 98-94 defeat at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks, Alvin Gentry mutually parted ways with the organization, player development coordinator vancouver island bc whale watching tours Lindsey Hunter received quite a promotion and was named the interim head coach , Suns legend Dan Majerle left his post as an assistant coach, vancouver island bc whale watching tours an FBI investigation of Hunter was brought back to light and a reported confrontation took place between veteran center Jermaine O Neal and general manager Lance Blanks.
Save for Wednesday night s come-from-behind 106-96 victory in Sacramento the first of Hunter s coaching career the Suns certainly have provided enough material to make a Hollywood script into a TNT drama.
Granted Vinny Del Negro s squad is still 21 games above .500, but after two straight losses to the Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City, the Clippers are no longer in the driver seat for the No. 1 seed out West. Combine that with the bruised right kneecap that continues to hamper six-time All-Star Chris Paul, and Los Angeles has its first taste of adversity in a season that has seemingly seen all of the team s stars align.
Don t fret for the Clippers, however, after all general manager Gary Sacks has arguably assembled the perfect mix of players to create a team that has youth, veteran leadership, athleticism, depth and star power. Basically, all of the ingredients necessary to make a deep run into June.
With Paul reportedly out for Thursday vancouver island bc whale watching tours s contest , the onus once again falls on three-time All-Star Blake Griffin for the third consecutive game. While Lob City might not be in full effect sans Paul, Griffin is without question playing his best basketball of the 2012-13 season. In Tuesday s loss to the Thunder, the former No. 1 overall pick scored a season-high 31 points to go along with 11 rebounds. For just the second time this season, Griffin has posted double-doubles in three consecutive games. And in the month of January, Griffin has scored at least 10 points in every contest something he failed to do in November and December.
12-year veteran Jamal Crawford is making possibly the best All-Star case of any bench player this season. The 2010 NBA Sixth Man of the Year has all but locked up the prestigious award for the second time in his career, vancouver island bc whale watching tours averaging 16.6 points and 1.1 steals per game in under 30 minutes a night.
Now in his 11th year, former vancouver island bc whale watching tours Suns forward Matt Barnes is having the most proficient offensive season of his career (11.2 points per game and 48.4 percent shooting). Former No. 10 overall pick Caron Butler has seen his numbers go up-and-down vancouver island bc whale watching tours for the better part of the campaign, but he has never been gun shy when it comes to taking a big shot and remains Los Angeles fourth-leading scorer (9.7 points per game).
Throw in the maturation of DeAndre Jordan (8.8 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game) and Eric Bledsoe (8.7 points and 2.7 assists), the little things that Willie Green provides at both ends of floor (40 starts in 40 games) and role players (Lamar Odom, Ronnie Turiaf and Ryan Hollins) that understand their responsibilities, and Del Negro is never short on lineup options on a given night.
In two wins over Phoenix this season, the Clippers vancouver island bc whale watching tours have won by a margin of 22 points a contest. Yet still something vancouver island bc whale watching tours tells me Suns fans have at least one reason to be excited about their arrival Thursday.
Grant Hill , who saw his career rejuvenated in Phoenix vancouver island bc whale watching tours for five seasons, comes back to town healthy for the first time this season. Hill, who played in at least 80 games three times in a Suns uniform, will forever be a fan favorite for his professionalism and leadership, especially during the team s Western Conference Finals run in 2009-10. In six games since his return to the Clippers (knee surgery), Hill has averaged 4.3 points and 2.2 rebounds in 15 minutes per game off the bench.
Replication. Phoenix and in particular Michael Beasley have had a hard time replicating their good habits this season. The former No. 2 overall pick was a catalyst (scored 15 of his 19 points) in the fourth quarter of the Suns 10-point win over the Kings Wednesday. However in the five games directly following a performance of 18 points or more this season, Beasley is averaging just 9.6 points a game. That won t cut it against a team as deep and as talented against the Clippers.
20 or below. The Suns are coming off a game in which they forced a ridiculous number of turnovers (24). That will be hard to match against a Los Angeles squad that ranks No.7 in the league in fewest turnovers committed. But turnovers aren t the only name of the game. Albeit was against lowly Sacramento, vancouver island bc whale watching tours but the Suns kept the Kings to 20 points or fewer in two different quarters Wednesday. For a team that doesn t rebound the basketball very well and has an affinity for giving up the three-point shot that is easier said than done. But in games against superior foes, defense might just be the only chance at an equalizer the Suns have.
Embrace the drama. Let s be honest, if the past seven days for this organization weren t rock bottom, vancouver island bc whale watching tours then I don t know what is. It s been ugly. The talk around town hasn t been pretty. Robert Sarver, Lon Babby and Lance Blanks have even appeared vancouver island bc whale watching tours on local radio to try and shed some light on their recent decisions. The Suns have an opportunity to play out their drama on national television Thursday night, which on paper sounds like the worst possible timing. But maybe it s the best recipe to mute the noise. A win over Sacramento felt good, but it didn t accomplish vancouver island bc whale watching tours much. A win over Los Angeles vancouver island bc whale watching tours on TNT doesn t accomplish much in the standings, but it could go a long ways towards shutting off the surrounding noise, at least in the short-term.
The final ball appears to have dropped Thursday in terms of Lindsey Hunter s coaching staff. Assistant coach Elston Turner, who served parts of two seasons under Alvin Gentry, has agreed to part ways with the organization. Turner played eight NBA seasons and had 14 years of experience as an assistant coach before coming to Phoenix in 2011-12.
With former NBA point guard Lindsey Hunter now at the helm for the Suns, there was some expectation that rookie Kendall Marshall might see more minutes. In the Suns victory Wednesday, however, the former No. 13 overall pick was the only player in a Suns uniform vancouver island bc whale watching tours not to see the floor.
The Suns have been known for comeback wins this season, but none quite like the one in Sacramento. Wednesday s win marked vancouver island bc whale watching tours the first time in 2012-13 that the team came back to win on the road after trailing by more than 10 points and after trailing going into the fourth quarter.
From the other thread, I think you've got a good shot at the GM job! The Suns have been calling me a couple of times a day for weeks now. I thought vancouver island bc whale watching tours it was because they're trying to get me to start buying tickets like I used to or for silly things like arena tours, but now I'm starting to think they may want to interview vancouver island bc whale watching tours me for a job :) Getting my best suit and bow tie ready....
Just finished watching the game. In some ways both teams couldn't get out of the way of their own mistakes, but the Suns persevered and got the W. Scola played great from start to finish, so did T.Rob for that matter. Other guys like Dragic and Beasley got it going later, great game and energy from Beas. That 4th quarter was the first time this season I've seen the guy I used to see in Minny and Miami. He's never been consistent, but he used to show a lot more flashes on a game to game basis than he has so far. Hopefully this isnt just an aberration due to the change and long layoff.
Did anyone get the feeling that Keith Smart was trying to show Hunter how to tank? Not only does his offense inexplicably keep placing Cousins not even at the high post, but often just inside the 3pt line, but what was up with his substitutions? It seemed clear that the Suns were turning the momentum and he stuck with his bench for a long time. Demarcus and T.Rob were both really impressive on the glass last night, so they've vancouver island bc whale watching tours got that going for them. Now it's on to see what they can do vs the Clip joint tonight.
Win (unlikely) or loose, I would just like to see some consistency tonight. It's not always possible but scoring 30 points vancouver island bc whale watching tours in one quarter and then scoring 15 points in the next is just way too inconsistent. Yeah, a weak bench is a good excuse but I don't think that the Suns' bench is really that weak. It certainly isn't a good unit when all playing together but in this case I think it's a case of the sum of the parts being less than the individual player's talents.
The Suns' bench just doesn't play well together so they all tend to look bad when they are all on the court together. The Suns have found a fairly good starting 5 but the bench is just a random bunch of spare parts. I think there is a way to juggle the rotations so that the Suns could be more consistent from quarter to quarter but it would probably be complex and not make the team much better overall.
Regarding my previous post that point guard Wroten who was selected after Marshall had 9 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists amd one blocked shot, you mentioned I was silent vancouver island bc whale watching tours about the fact it took Wroten 13 shots to get those stats. Absolutely I was silent about his shooting percentage because I thought it was immaterial with regards to Marshall comparisons. Reason it is immaterial is because Marshall shot 31% in the D-League. So unless there is compelling evidence Marshall will be a better shooter vancouver island bc whale watching tours at the NBA level, what is your point?
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