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I don't have a lot to say about this one. The Kings really wanted it, and we seemed to want it a little less. The two shoulda-been-threes (one from Bell and one from Barbosa) didn't help, but they didn't lose the game.

Barbosa was just amazing. 17 straight points! A franchise record. They seem to be coming in 17s this year, what with that and the 17 game win streak.

I know I'm way late in saying this, but why is Ron Artest still in the NBA? If I worked at a store and hit a customer, I'd be out of there. What he did is no different. It makes me a little angry to see him on the court.

On a lighter note, I'm thinking about throwing my money away on Suns themed M&Ms. (I'd go through here, although I may just get purple and orange ones over here. The price difference is like 40 dollars.)

There's a lot that I could say about Kobe's historic run of points. (Like "blah, blah, blah" *eyeroll*) I was going to link to an article from The Onion that was entitled Bryant Mourns the Passing of the Ball, but since I can't find it enjoy this very relevant article instead.

I also liked what John Denton had to say over here. Although I have a very different conclusion. Namely that watching one player dominate is not good or interesting basketball. That it might help to get to the playoffs (I mean, they were already getting there), but it won't win you games when it really matters.

Also, the idea of giving Kobe MVP now? Ludicrous. The MVP trophy should be given to someone who helps the rest of the team play their best. An MVP plays with a team, not in spite of a team. The power of Nash and, yes, even Nowitzki is that they know how to play in their teams' systems to the benefit of the entire organization. Plus giving an MVP trophy to someone who has recently been throwing elbows and getting suspended? Should not be done. That behavior should not be rewarded or swept under the carpet.

I think I'll leave you with a picture from suns.com in a new series I'm calling, "Is there a sport Nash doesn't play?"

I need to figure out pithy ways to name my posts

Well, even if the rest of the day sucked, we got another satisfying win tonight against the Kings to help wash the taste of last week out of our collective mouths.

Again D'Antoni went 10 deep on the bench again, albeit barely. Stat had an amazing game. 33 points and 21 rebounds? When the man puts his mind to it, he's unstoppable. Yeah, the Kings were missing Ron Artest, but I have little sympathy around that. Diaw's double double was also nice to see.

I'm very glad to find out that Leandro Barbosa is doing alright. I was watching the play-by-play and box score, so I didn't actually know that he was hurt, but I have a soft spot the size of Brazil for the guy and would have been worried had he needed to miss a game.

I'm curious about Marcus Banks. I honestly don't think that he has much of a role to play on the team. I feel like D'Antoni has all but given up on him (and I would not blame him if I were to actually hear that that's the case). But I've both read and been told about his prowess on defense. So, a. Why are we not using him more for that, and b. Why does he seem to collect so many fouls? Is he that much of a hustler? It seems as though someone who was good at D (like Shawn Marion) would be quick enough and savvy enough to rarely pick up fouls (unlike Banks' two in three and a half minutes). Or maybe that's just me.

I am so excited about the FIBA Americas Championship this summer. I'm going to one game, and I think I have them ranked in order of preference. From highest preference to lowest, I want to see Brazil v Virgin Islands, Brazil v Canada, Brazil v Venezuela, and Brazil v USA.

I really like Argentina, but otherwise couldn't care about Group A. I also like Team USA alright, but I don't think I really want to go to that game. For one thing I like Brazil more, and I don't think they have a big chance. For another, well, hubris. Also I don't think I'm likely to score tickets, and I don't want to go and be fussed at for liking the "wrong" team. I had enough of that rooting for Portugal in the World Cup.

I hope Raja Bell plays for the Virgin Islands, because that would make it very fun to watch.

Next up for the Suns, oddly, it's Sacramento again. This time it's in California and it's actually going to be on national TV. ABC Sunday at 330pm EST.

New purchase

I just bought a basketball. It's a WNBA regulation sized outdoor ball. Let's hear it for the Oatmeal and Orange! I'm about to go to bed, and when I wake up, I'll be calling the curling club and finding out about when I can try it, and then heading off to try my hand at free-throw shooting.

Or at getting frustrated and gaining more respect for Steve Nash and his 89.5% free-throws. Whatever.

As for last night's game versus Minnesota, it was nice to rack up an 18 point win against a not terrible team after the previous two atrocities. But more exciting than that is the fact that Diaw had a great game with his 9 assists. I like when he plays up to his potential (obviously). Also Bell hit 6 threes. It was like he was on fire. He's just such an incredible sharp shooter from downtown.

D'Antoni even played 10 deep. Both Burke and Rose got minutes, and the lead grew with Nash out. Just so many good things about last night. The cherry on top is that we clinched the division title.

Now if Cleveland would beat Dallas tonight, I'd be very grateful.

Well, hello there!

Man, starting a blog is intensely intimidating. Especially a sports blog for someone like me (I'm very new to sports). So I'm going to start with something simple.

This picture is a good illustration of what drew me to care about this team. Yeah, their ball handling, speed, and talent are amazing (the end of this past week notwithstanding)--but what I love about them is how well they get along. How silly they are, and how much they just seem to have fun.

This picture (from suns.com) is just utter brilliance, from Alvin Gentry on the far left grinning from ear to ear as he watches them to Barbosa stealing food from Diaw's plate. I also love Pat Burke just being there. He's someone who rarely gets playing time, but he's eating with last year's Most Improved Player and this year's front runner (shut up, I can be biased) for 6th Man of the Year. The fact that they're having lunch in a restaurant that looks like I could afford to eat at is just the icing on the cake.

I feel like I should say something about myself to kind of set the tone for this blog. I'm obviously a Suns fan (even though I live pretty far from the Valley of the Sun). I just started paying attention to basketball last year during the first round of the playoffs. This team hooked me from the first jump ball, and I've been crazy about the game (and them in particular) ever since.

I pretty much got cable so I could follow them better without having to go to a bar every time there was a game on TV. I read everything I can about the sport in general and talk about it pretty incessantly. Even with all this being true, for some reason March Madness holds very little interest outside "Yay basketball!" to me. Probably because I'm not done paying attention to the regular NBA season yet. I feel like I'd care if it were September Madness.

The international game, on the other hand, is very exciting to me. I follow a couple teams predominantly (Brazil, France, Argentina, and when I'm feeling giving, Team USA), and may try to go to the Americas tournament.

I love the WNBA for so many reasons, I can't even begin to enumerate them here. Mostly I'm a fan of the Mystics, but that's due to location more than anything else. The only team I really dislike is the Connecticut Sun. But I'll go into that more in May-August.

For now, I think this bloated introduction entry is long enough. And...end.