PHOENIX SUNS
by Dan of Bright Side of the Sun
Players Playing Well: Steve Nash - The current MVP of the season. Considering the way the Suns played while he was out, the only other player who can be considered is Dirk Nowitzki.
Amare Stoudemire - The big question mark of the season. He started out slowly but came on strong once he was put into the starting lineup. He is expected to only get stronger as the season progresses.
Shawn Marion - Shawn has had his down games but he leads the team in rebounds per game and seems to be in the right spot at the right time 85-90% of the time.
Players Playing Poorly: Marcus Banks - Good things were expected from Banks this year but he has not lived up to his potential. It was only in the past 2-3 games that he started playing well and even then the team always seemed to lose ground when he was in the game.
Jalen Rose - I can't say he has played poorly because he really hasn't gotten a lot of playing time. We don't know the reasons he isn't getting into games but I assume if he isn't practicing well, Mike D'Antoni won't play him.
Where They Stand: The Suns currently have the 2nd best record in the league and are currently 10 games ahead of the Lakers for the #1 seed in the Pacific division. It doesn't seem likely that anyone will catch them unless they completely tank in the last 30 games or so. The reason they are so far ahead? They are just that much better of a team than the rest of the Pacific Division. That being said, I'm not sure the Suns would look forward to a 1st round series against the Lakers (currently 2nd in the Pacific Division).
Looking Ahead: The Suns should easily end up with the top seed in their division and unless they have a huge falloff in the last 30 games of the season, they should end up with the 2nd seed in the Western Conference. At this point, they would play Denver in the first round of the playoffs. That should be a fairly easy matchup but it will be interesting to see how the Nuggets work together in the last half of the season. If they start playing well together, it's never a sure thing when you're playing both Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson.