Training camp, and Sun Devils

He's yelling "I hate U of A!"

The last post was up for a long time, and I think it is time for a lighter, Suns update type of post.

Training camp is my favorite time of the year. Of course, I have never been to a Suns training camp, but I love this part of the season. There is hope. New players arrive. There are new shoes, new practice uniforms, team photos, and everything else that helps cure the drought of new team info that has lasted three months. The only bad part is that they are having training camp at the University of Arizona.

Let me explain the hatred I have for the U of A. I grew up in a time in AZ when there was no pro football team until I was 10. We didn't have pro baseball or hockey either. The Suns were the only professional team in the state, and they only played 41 games at home a year, unless they made the playoffs. I only went to 2 Suns games ever before my mission. The Suns were not a team I watched in person. I did, however, get to accompany my dad to ASU football games. We would park at what used to be a waffle restaurant on University just west of the power plant on McClintock. Then, we would walk to Sun Devil stadium. This was like a half mile walk. I was 8 or so, and was short for my age, so the walk seemed really long for my short legs. We would walk through the "Cornerstone" shopping center (Flaky Jake's, The Gap, etc.) and on to campus. I remember some of my dad's friends from his old softball team, the "Arizona Tortillas," were guys named Bobby Jones, Kinky, Thumper, and Dave. They would tailgate, and we would eat a hot dog with them before heading into the stadium.

Sun Devil stadium was a castle of concrete at that time. It had not been shared by the Arizona Cardinals yet, so it was more basic than it would become later. I remember the smell of beer a lot, and I remember my dad always using binoculars. I guess this was because there was not a giant TV screen in the stadium showing replays, like there are now. I remember my dad being puked on by a drunk guy that was sitting behind him. I remember eating peanuts. I remember once, on the walk back to the truck, while walking through the "Cornerstone," my dad gave me his cowboy hat, jacket, and drivers license and sent me to the front door of a bar, just to see what would happen. My parents were divorced, and bad memories are a part of that, so the good memories are super important for me. ASU meant fun times for my dad and I. A natural part of being a Sun Devil fan was despising the U of A, so I started that at an early age and have continued ever since.

Our coach? He hugs our enemies. Barf.

Steve Kerr, the Suns new GM and former Spur, played for the U of A. This puts him on the "guys I don't trust" list. He has now gutted my favorite team, and sends them to the U of A for training camp every year. Seeing the Suns practice in Tucson is like seeing your daughter get married to a great guy in a garbage dump. You are so happy, and yet the surroundings make you want to barf. Oh well, I have not yet been asked by the Suns brass how I feel on the subject, so I will let it go. Or let in fester quietly. At least Amare is an ASU student, they aren't all lost.

I read something this morning that made my ears perk up. One of the beat writers for the Suns said that Matt Barnes' mid-range jumper has been automatic. That made me so excited. I have told many that I believed that the best Suns team during this run of good teams was the 2004-2005 team. I think that team had the best chance of winning a title. That year, Joe Johnson smashed his face in the playoffs and the Suns were dispatched by the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals. Then, during the summer, Johnson demanded a trade and he was replaced by Raja Bell.

I like Raja Bell, and I love his tenacity. However, in D'Antoni's system, the spacing doesn't work well enough for the offense to dominate unless there is a shooting guard with a consistent mid range jumper and three point shot. A lot of people think it is only the 3 point shot that spreads the defenses, but guarding the lane AND the 3 point line is do-able. It is when there is good 3 point AND mid range shooting that the defenses become too porous to stop the offense. Since Raja is only a 3 point shooter, the Suns haven't been as good as they were with JJ. The sad thing is, D'Antoni is gone. I can never prove my theory. Now I have no idea what a good mid-range shot does for the team.

Another former Spur? After seeing this I need to go slam my hand in a car door.

Terry Porter, the new Suns coach and former Spur (I am detecting a pattern here), has said that he would rather win in the 80's than lose in the 110's (this is points scored per game, for those who are still reading without knowing much about basketball. If there is such a person still reading, I am sorry to be boring you to death). What happened to wining in the 110's? That means that we could end up watching a Phoenix version of the Spurs. I think I just threw up in my mouth. I would not be happy if that were the case. Why play that style of basketball when you have the best point guard in the game for an open court game on your roster? Playing grind it out basketball with Nash as your point guard is like using the Hope diamond to hammer nails. It will work, but you are using the best thing in the world to do something that a lot less expensive item can do - AND you are denying the world of something special by denying the true purpose it was made for. Steve Nash should not be pounding the ball for 12 seconds in a half-court set, he should be running a team like the 2004-2005 team that wins in the 110's.

Terry Porter's favorite hammer

Regardless of what all this means, I am glad that it is the start of a new season for all that it means to begin anew. Go Suns.

Let's hope we still see plenty of this.