The Suns have an uphill run through December (Part 2 of 3)

Dec-11th-2009

By Tony Padegimas in Orlando Magic, Portland Trailblazers, Preview, Washington Wizards, cleveland cavaliers, denver nuggets, san antonio spurs

Part two of our December 09 preview.

Part one is here.

“It’s not a sprint. It’s a marathon.” – Charles Barkley

Sir Charles was one of the foremost critics of the brutal NBA regular season schedule (way back before he became a foremost critic of the Phoenix Suns). Eighty two games is a lot for a contact sport played on a hard surface without pads, but every team – even the Lakers – must run the same distance. But some routes run over steeper hills than others.

For the Suns, December is uphill both ways. Eleven games remain in 2009. Six are against teams widely considered to be contenders.

logo_magic_small Friday, 11 December, vs Orlando Magic, USAC 8:30pm

Last game of a tough road trip and second game of a back-to-back – just like they found the Suns in Florida. Don’t talk smack too soon. Superman Jr and the Magic are out to prove that they won the Eastern conference last year more than Cleveland lost it.

logo_nuggets_small Saturday, 12 December, @ Denver Nuggets, Pepsi Center, 7:00pm

“You’re almost better off playing two away games on the road then you are playing at home and then getting on a plane and then flying out that night,” said Alvin Gentry to Suns.com

It gets worse.

Denver head coach George Karl is probably the best coach to never win a championship. The Nuggets, with Chauncey Billups managing a high-octane attack, particularly with Carmelo Anthony going after a scoring title, have been crushing teams, especially at home. They are the only team in the league outscoring the Suns. We knew they’d be good – but sheesh!

logo_spurs_small Tuesday, 15 December, vs San Antonio Spurs, USAC 7:00pm

The Spurs are under-performing, but that hardly matters, because they are always dangerous, and they are the @#$%!ing Spurs! Only the Lakers generate even a fraction of their animosity on Planet Orange. Remember, if Duncan and Stoudemre are both healthy, they play each other to a standstill. It’s been point guard Tony Parker that’s been killing the Suns the past few seasons. Yeah, blame the French.

The Suns then play six of their next eight games at home. Whew, right?

“And six easy games it is, if I can recall,” Gentry joked. “There’s Orlando, and I think there’s Boston, uh, San Antonio, Cleveland and some other small team… Oh yeah, the Lakers. It should be an easy little home stand.”

logo_trailblazers_small Thursday, 17 December, @ Portland Trailblazers, Rose Garden 8:30pm

They’ll probably be done crying about Greg Oden by the time they get to Phoenix, but that doesn’t change the fact that they have suddenly plummeted from this year’s hope to last year’s damage control. “This group, the group we’re in charge of is staying in the moment right now,” said assistant coach Dean Demopoulos (to Portland broadcaster Casey Holdahl). “We’re going to try to squeeze every ounce of every second that we’re out on that floor. That’s our goal. That’s our goal … and that’s what we’re going to do and see what happens.”

The game is on TNT – so they have that.

logo_wizards_small Saturday, 19 December, vs Washington Wizards, USAC 7:00pm

The Wizards, with Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison, and Caron Butler have plenty of talent. They have struggled though with injuries and chemistry; an over-reliance on Agent Zero, and an under-reliance on defense. The Wizards can still score and rebound and even season defend at times – it’s that consistency thing that eludes them. Plus the trauma of last year’s disastrous still hangs over the squad.

“I looked at the games last year, and in a lot of games, they were inventing ways to lose at times, too. So I’m not totally surprised, no,” Coach Flip Saunders told the Washington Post. “But it’s one of those things we have to overcome in order to get better and better.”

logo_cavaliers_small Monday, 21 December, vs Cleveland Cavaliers, USAC 7pm

The Cavs ride into Phoenix the night after they play the Dallas Mavericks. So they’ll be an opportunity for payback here, even though Charles Barkley just dismissed them as contenders – which almost ensures that they will be in the East finals.

In Cleveland, the Suns shot brick after brick from dead legs, but it was worse than that. The Cavaliers whacked the Suns defensively with ten blocks, twelve steals and fifteen offensive rebounds. Oof! It could be a classic contest of muscle vs hustle, but a shame that the schedule doesn’t provide a level court on either occasion.

We’ll fill in the rest of the match-ups as we draw closer, but here are some quick previews:

logo_thunder_small Wednesday, 23 December, vs Oklahoma City Thunder, USAC 7:00pm

If the Thunder wish to make the play-offs, they have to find a way to win games like this. Because honestly, Houston or Utah would be a lot more worrisome coming into the Airway Center.

logo_clippers_small Friday, 25 December, vs LA Clippers, USAC 6:00pm