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2009-2010 Phoenix Suns Preview

2008 Record: 46-36, 2nd in Western Conf. Pacific Division
Head Coach: Alvin Gentry, 2nd season
Key Additions: F Channing Frye, G-F Aleksandar Pavlovic
Key Losses: F Matt Barnes, C Shaquille O’Neal
1st Round Draft Picks: F Earl Clark
2nd Round Draft Picks: F Taylor Griffin

2008-'09 Suns Review:

General Manager Steve Kerr traded Raja Bell and Boris Diaw in December. He traded Shaquille O'Neal at the end of the season. In between, Kerr flirted with dealing away Amare Stoudemire. It was not a happy or predictable year in Phoenix, as the Suns--despite a winning record--missed out on the Western Conference playoffs and gave the impression that they're no longer chasing an NBA title in the desert. And oh, by the way, this doesn't even touch on the fact that new coach Terry Porter--never accepted as the slowdown-loving successor to popular run-and-gun coach Mike D'Antoni--was fired in midseason and replaced by Alvin Gentry. Sure, the Suns could score 130 points or more against the Clippers, Golden State, and Oklahoma City, but they couldn't post such numbers against big-time opponents with better defense. That's why a season ended short of the playoffs in the Valley of the Sun for the first time since 2004.

2009-'10 Suns Preview:

Steve Nash was heard to say this past offseason that not every team can win an NBA championship. That was a coded way of saying Nash knows what everyone else has been silently (or not so silently) thinking: The Suns' window for chasing the big enchilada has come and gone. The presence of Gentry as the returning (and permanent) head coach gives comfort to Nash, who chafed under Porter in the early stages of last season's chore-like journey. Perhaps, then, merely feeling comfortable in a congenial and pleasant atmosphere is enough for the Suns' superstar point guard in the latter stages of a superb career that has achieved everything except a conference title and a world championship.

If fans want a return to racehorse basketball in the desert, they're likely to get it this year. No more Shaq and no more Coach Porter will allow Mr. Gentry to give the keys back to Mr. Nash, who will lead the Suns back to the seven-seconds-or-less style of the D'Antoni era. This will create aesthetically pleasing spectacles at the U.S. Airways Center... just don't expect the Suns to seriously sniff the second round of the Western Conference playoffs... not with the Lakers, Denver, San Antonio, Portland, and Dallas standing in their way.

> Find a great selection of Phoenix Suns merchandise and apparel online through probasketball-fans.com!

By Matthew Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer

> View the entire 2009-2010 NBA preview here at ProBasketball-fans.com

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