Phoenix.BloggersPub

Here’s a summary of the top Phoenix Suns news for this week:

East Valley briefs: Suns to air all 82 games on TV - East Valley Tribune - Mesa,AZ,USA
The Phoenix Suns announced their 2007-08 broadcast schedule today, which will continue to allow fans to see all 82 regular season games on either the Suns‘…

Who Will Lead The Phoenix Suns: Steve Nash And Raja Bell Or Amare… - Hoopsvibe.com - USA
Why force him to be The Man off-the-court? Who do you see as the leader of the Phoenix Suns? Get at us in the comment box below with your thoughts.

The NBA announced yesterday that they’re going to allow referees to use instant replay in games this year. 

Before you get excited (or pissed off), be aware that the replays will only be allowed in instances where a player or players are being ejected - flagrant fouls (type 2 only) and fights/brawls/melees/etc.  It basically comes down to this… if they’re going to eject someone and possibly change the outcome of a game (or multiple games) as a result, they want to make sure they get the right guys the first time.

This announcement likely came as a result of all the crap the league had to take after suspending Boris Diaw and Amare Stoudemire in the Spurs-Suns playoff series earlier this year.  Neither player really should’ve been suspended since they didn’t do anything (except leave the bench).  It remains to be known if the “leaving the bench” rule will change or be affected by the instant replay, but at least the refs will be able to eject only those players that were involved and not other players who weren’t involved.

The Phoenix Suns’ Al McCoy, who’s broadcasted games for 35 years, will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame September 7-8 in Springfield, MA.

Al McCoy will receive the 2007 Curt Gowdy Media Award during festivities Sept. 7-8 at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.  The award is annually awarded to a print and electronic journalist. Malcom Moran, a former USA Today and New York Times writer, also will be honored.

The award, given annually to one member of print and electronic media, is typically reserved for national figures. But the 35-year Suns broadcaster is a Valley institution who made his mark describing the action in lively lines like “hoop-de-doo for two” and the three-pointer exclamation: “Shazaam!“

Al is a staple for Suns fans, whether from hosting pre & post games on channel 45 or broadcasting games on the radio.  He’s well respected in the broadcasting industry and the Curt Gowdy award is a reflection of that.  McCoy has also come up with some great nicknames for players and catch-phrases (and some not so great) during his tenure w/ the Suns.

Since 1972, he has been telling radio listeners what is happening on the court. He’s created catch phrases like “Heartbreak Hotel” when a shot goes awry and “zing go the strings” when it sinks the net.

Through the Suns dynasties, he has coined nicknames for beloved players from the Nash Rambler to Sir Charles Barkley and Walter Davis, the man with the velvet touch.

I’m not sure “dynasties“ was the right way to phrase the Suns (how many titles have they won? 0)… back to celebrating McCoy.

Throughout the years, we’ve come to know exactly what to expect when we turn on the radio or the TV to listen to Al’s play-by-play and game conversation. 

In an era where sports are big business and even the announcers are minor celebrities, McCoy has stuck with calling the plays.

“The game is still the most important thing, not where the announcer had his dinner last night,” he said. “Precision, accuracy in description and letting the game be the story” Schulte said of his lessons.  More from AZ Republic

Congratulations to Al McCoy for the great honor; he’s very deserving for the hard work he’s done for the Phoenix Suns and Arizona.

The 30 GM’s: Steve Kerr Of The Phoenix Suns
RealGM - Marion,Illinois,USA
The Phoenix Suns have been among the league’s elite for the past three seasons, but now they have handed the reins of the franchise over to a rookie General…

Suns promote Del Negro to assistant GM
Seattle Post Intelligencer - USA
Phoenix, AZ (Sports Network) - The Phoenix Suns named Vinny Del Negro assistant general manager Tuesday, promoting him from his previous position as the…

Two Phoenix Suns players are helping their respective national teams reach the 2008 Olympics, but it would appear that one of them is on the fast track, while the other is starting to struggle.

Amare Stoudemire (USA)
The Suns’ Amare Stoudemire is helping Team USA advance to the finals in the Las Vegas qualifying tournament for the 2008 Olympics.  While not a starter, Amare is putting in solid minutes at Center and Power Forward for the US squad.

I’ve been trying to watch the games and Amare has been trying to display the skills he’s been working on during the summer (mostly his 3-pt shot - yes, 3-pt shot).  He’s been overly aggressive on defense and at times has allowed his man to beat him to the basket for an easy score.  Fortunately, the USA team is so strong, these mistakes really don’t matter and don’t show up in the box scores (all W’s so far).  When he rejoins the Suns in October, I only hope that he has a better handle on his defense and doesn’t allow his man to score so easily.  Orlando Magic stud Dwight Howard has been getting the starts for Team USA, so that should tell you something about Amare’s production.  No knock on Amare, but Howard’s rebounding and defense are better than STAT’s at this time; Amare’s offense is head & shoulders above Howard (however).

Leandro Barbosa (Brazil)
In what’s really a surprise around NBA circles, Suns’ 6th man Leandro Barbosa has emerged as the star of the Las Vegas Olympic qualifying.  Barbosa has led the tournament in scoring and was playing extremely well until he ran into the buzz-saw that is the USA squad.  Leandro struggled to score w/ the USA’s best defensive players hounding him all game.  In his follow-up game, they lost as well, but they did win Tuesday night’s game against Mexico.  In their latest game against the other (qualifying) favorite, Argentina, Brazil lost in overtime.

We can only assume that Leandro Barbosa will return to Suns camp in great shape and an even better player than when last year’s playoff debacle ended.  Things are looking great for Barbosa and the Suns.

Other Suns News
Raja Bell was suppose to play for the Virgin Islands, but his recent knee surgery kept him out of the tournament.  Phoenix guard Steve Nash was called upon by team Canada, but he declined to play.  There’s no doubt that Nash feels this is the Suns’ year to win the NBA championship and they’ll need all of his energy to get there.

Suns brass finally inked their 2nd round draft pick to a contract.  The 59th pick, during the 2nd round, D.J. Strawberry has signed a 2-year contract w/ the Phoenix Suns.  The contract will pay Strawberry only the league minimum (over $400k) and the 2nd year is an option for the Suns (not for Strawberry). 

This is a great move by the Suns since they’re not overcommitting for an unproven player.  Strawberry received a lot of praise for his summer league play, but how that will translate in the regular season is unknown. 

With this contract, the Suns leave the option open to move Strawberry or let him sign with another team if they have other plans at the end of this year.  Of course, all will depend on how they advance in the NBA Playoffs and whether or not they win the NBA championship.

Phoenix Suns guard Raja Bell underwent arthoscopic knee surgery yesterday to clean up some damage in his right knee cap. 

The surgery doesn’t sound serious and he should have no effects from the surgery after the 4-6 week recovery period.  The surgery was successful, so Bell should be just fine for training camp and the 2007-08 season.

Suns’ team physician Dr. Tom Carter performed the surgery and had this to say about it:

“Raja had mild wear and tear of his knee cap,” said Carter. “This was simply a clean-up procedure. He should experience a full recovery in four to six weeks without any limitations on his play.”

More info from NBA.com

On the verge of paying a hefty luxury tax this year, the Phoenix Suns made a move to help trim the payroll even more today.  The trade of Kurt Thomas to the Seattle Supersonics will free the Suns of approximately $8 million dollars this coming year.  Phoenix was projected to be about $10 million over the salary cap, so by shipping out Thomas, they get into a much more manageable position.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Sonics get Thomas and the Suns first-round draft picks in 2008 & 2010.
• Suns should now only be about $2 million over the salary cap.
• Suns get an $8 million dollar trade exception, but it must be used within 1 year.
• Kurt Thomas joins Sonics to mentor rookies Jeff Green and Kevin Durant.
• Thomas is in the last year of his contract, so the Sonics have no obligation next year.

There are rumors that Phoenix made the trade in order to prepare for another trade, perhaps involving Shawn Marion or Amare Stoudemire.  Suns’ General Manager Steve Kerr said the move was made for financial reasons and that Phoenix still wants to keep it’s core of Marion, Stoudemire and Steve Nash together for another championship run.

“We are doing everything we can to keep our core group together. Sometimes in doing so, you have difficult decisions to make,” said Suns President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Steve Kerr in a press release Friday.

“We feel good going forward having our core group of players under contract for several years, including the recent addition of free-agent Grant Hill. The bottom line is there are tough decisions to make, but we have flexibility and our core together. We really like the group of players we’ve assembled and feel we can make a legitimate run for an NBA championship next season.”

It’s hard to comprehend why the Suns threw 2 first-round draft picks into the trade, but I guess they’ll figure it out later.  The loss of the picks hurts their chances over the next 3 years to pickup a quality player directly out of college.  None of the stories I’ve read indicate whether the picks are protected or not, but the assumption is that they’re not.  I doubt Phoenix will be entering the draft lottery in the next few years anyway, so they probably didn’t lose too much.

The trade leaves Phoenix very weak in the paint and on defense, something that was already very evident in this year’s playoffs.  I’m not sure what their plan is, but there aren’t a lot of big men available right now, so they’re either going into the season with Amare as their biggest post threat, or they have something else planned. 

The NBA issued a brief statement Friday: “We have been asked by the FBI, with whom we are working closely, not to comment on this matter at this time.”

During a basketball clinic Tuesday for Jr. NBA and WNBA attendees, the NBA unveiled the logo for the 2008 NBA All-Star Game, which is hosted by New Orleans.  This will mark the first time that New Orleans has hosted the All-Star Game, with next year being the 57th game overall.  Among the guests present for the unveiling of the logo were former NBA great Clyde “The Glide“ Drexler, Hornets’ player Hilton Armstrong and several other local basketball figures.

The logo is really pretty neat and well done overall.  It seems to really capture what New Orleans is about and should help the city to regroup some of the luster it has lost since hurricane Katrina.  I personally haven’t been to Mardi Gras or New Orleans, but it seems like a great city.  They’re lucky to get the opportunity to host the annual event.