With the season officially kaput for the Phoenix Suns it's becoming apparent that interim head coach Lindsey Hunter is little more than a marionette with GM Lance Blanks tugging the strings whatever direction he sees fit. Unfortunately, Blanks is a crummy puppeteer who's only managed to knot Planet Orange into such a putrid mess that getting "Ws" no longer means getting wins, but getting some "whos" and "whats" answered.
Thus, crowd favorites like Jared Dudley and Sebastian Telfair likely will continue to see their minutes dwindle while top brass take a closer look at off-season acquisitions like Michael Beasley and rookie Kendall Marshall. Perhaps that's a sensible move in the world of business stratagems and trade posturing, but for fans it just means two more months of meh basketball. It's a strange feeling, hoping your team fires blanks.
Fri., Feb. 22, 7 p.m., 2013