Though they’ve been hauling the boat anchor in the Eastern Conference’s Central Division all year, the Indiana Pacers — including third-year superstar-in-the-making Danny Granger (pictured above) — aren’t your prototypical NBA doormat. Another year (two, max) and Indiana Coach Jim O’Brien should have these young guns challenging the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit…
The game was clinched on a third-and-16, 23-yard pass from Captain Kurt to Mr. Spach. It was logical. Most teams would’ve kept it on the ground and probably had to punt, giving their opponent another chance to score and win the game. But most teams don’t have Arizona’s passing attack…
“Charmed” seems an odd descriptor for the 2008-09 Arizona Cardinals, who lost — no, were crushed in — four of their last six regular-season games. Yet here they sit, all warm and snuggly at 9-7, hosting a first-round playoff game at home in the Red Zone. Meanwhile, a couple of…
Clippers’ rising star Eric Gordon A reserve suspended for violating the NBA drug policy. A star player talking openly about trade desires. Injuries and multiple losing streaks. Yep, things are most definitely topsy-turvy in Los Angeles Clippers Land. Or, based on the franchise’s underwhelming past, things are exactly the way…
The Boston Celtics bought themselves an NBA Championship in 2007-08. The Los Angeles Lakers nearly stole one by snookering away the rights to All-Star forward Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies last February 1 for the NBA equivalent of nothing. Oh, Memphis Coach Marc Iavaroni, a former Suns assistant, called…
The Phoenix Suns played all but nine minutes of Monday night’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder without Steve Nash, and the team seemed to pick up steam after its floor leader went to the locker room with back spasms. Even if it was against the team with the worst…
Thunder star Kevin Durant after a dunk. What’s a surefire cure for depression? For the Phoenix Suns — losers of a brutally heartbreaking game on Christmas Day to the San Antonio Spurs — a cupcake; namely, the Oklahoma City Thunder…
Finally, we get to report good news about the Arizona Cardinals, who finished the regular season 9-7 — just as we predicted they would when we named Ken Whisenhunt top head coach in the PHX in our 2008 Best Of edition. Our prediction was based on the Cardinals going 8-8 last season behind…
Don’t tell us that you’re surprised. Really, did y’all expect anything different besides the same ol’ bloody Cardinals? Since the team’s division-clinching victory against the lowly St. Louis Rams on November 2, your Arizona Cardinals have lost four of their last five , including the previous two against the Minnesota…
This year’s Phoenix Suns are playing better than ever. They’ve looked good in the last six games. Unfortunately, they’re 3-3 in those contests against (save for the New York Knicks) good teams. Turnovers have killed the Suns all season, and while they’ve gotten better at protecting the basketball lately, ham-handed botches are the…
Anyone else miss the good ol’ days, when the Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs were locked in a bitter struggle for ideological supremacy (and home-court advantage in the playoffs)? When the Lakers and Hornets were laughable, and the thought of a return to form for the Boston Celtics was…
It wasn’t the worst defeat in Cardinals history. The worst was a 49-0 ass-kicking by the Kansas City Chiefs in December, 2002. But it was an ass-kicking, all right. I know we’ve said it before, but the Cardinals were really pathetic this time. And it wasn’t all about the weather in…
The Suns have looked good for two games in a row! Unfortunately, they lost the first of these in a heartbreaker against an emerging Portland team. On Saturday night, Phoenix actually won the turnover war (16 to 21) against a good Denver Nuggets team, and therefore the game. Keeping turnovers down is…
No question, University of Arizona football has been lousy at best for about a decade now. Alums like ourselves who pay attention to such weighty things quietly were suffering through yet another mediocre season until — Hallelujah! — the Wildcats throttled ASU down in Tucson a few weeks ago and…
Ah, chemistry. In the NBA, acquiring talent and getting your talent to properly combust are the real tricks of the trade. But what looks good on the drawing board — like, say, the Denver Nuggets’ pairing of body-modified human pinball machines Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson (see image below) –…
Call it a dress rehearsal for a huge event at the end of March, when the University of Phoenix Stadium will be the site of the NCAA West Regionals in men’s college basketball. Tomorrow afternoon, ASU and its superstar soph James Harden (pictured shooting jumper) will take on Brigham Young University in what will be…
The Suns played well in Portland. They actually demonstrated some cohesion. It looked for this game like the running Suns, returned suddenly from the old Mike D’Antoni days, could actually work Shaq into the offense. It wasn’t his best night; the big man had 19 points and six rebounds, but he dominated…
Brandon Roy’s scoring 22 points a game for the Blazers Tonight’s Phoenix Suns versus Portland Trail Blazers game is not only an important matchup for the team’s push toward Western Conference respectability, but it also marks the return of Suns Coach Terry Porter to the city where he starred…
Here’s an idea: play Shaquille O’Neal every third game. The other idea would be to play him only against Milwaukee (he scored 27 and 35 points in two games against the Bucks this season), but that wouldn’t be cost-effective for a guy making $20 million a year. After missing two…
Restoring Phoenix’s Papago Golf Course was $6 million well spent, says a Houston-based writer at a national golf Web site. Mike Bailey of travelgolf.com raves about the new look of the course — which re-opened on December 6 — in an article today, saying it “takes you back to the good old…
So, when Mike D’Antoni leads his New York Knicks out of the tunnel and onto the hardwood at the Purple Palace, will you boo him or will you cheer him? What’s the etiquette for a man who abandoned a listing ship? Sure, following the Suns’ first-round playoff ouster by…
Quarterback Kurt Warner was on his ass all day thanks to an Arizona Cardinals offensive line that couldn’t have held off Brophy Prep. Offensive lines can make or break football teams, and Arizona’s broke its team’s back Sunday afternoon. It’s a lucky thing no official stats are kept on offensive linemen because these guys would…
