Ankle Insurance

So, tonight's a big night for the Suns. If we beat the Nuggets, we'll move into the top 4 in the west. I'd just like to take a moment here and confirm what a great trade Jason Richardson turned out to be. With J-Rich in the lineup, we're 9-3, with two of those losses due to last second 3s from the opponent (SAS & IND). Sure, we've beaten our share of scrub teams during this recent run, but we've also had quality wins against playoff bound teams like the Hawks, Mavs, Nuggets, and Magic. IMHO, we will end up with home court in the first round.

And I saw the triple overtime game between GS and Sacto last night. Sacto was up three at the end of the first OT. Turiaf caught the inbound pass and instead of fouling him (career 70% FT), Sacto lets him screen for and pass to Azubuike for the game tying 3. Then at the end of the second OT, it was GS who was up 3. With 6 seconds to go and Sacto out of timeouts, GS let Kevin Martin dribble all the way up court to make the game tying 3 to send in to triple OT. While that was exciting and all... it was just stupid, stupid, stupid basketball. It was the same last year in the playoffs, when the Suns let the Spurs kill them with 3s by Finely and Duncan at the end of regulation and overtime. I seriously don't understand why so few teams foul when they're up 3 late. When you have great FT shooters like Martin (86%), Crawford (85%), and Nash (90%), I'd take my chances on my guy to hit those FTs over stopping the opponent anyday.

I also caught the LAL/SAS game... and damn, SAS probably has the best front office in the league. I hate to give them their props, but they do just about EVERYTHING well. From drafting, to trades, to FA signings. I don't watch that many SAS games but that's two game winners so far this year I've seen by Roger Mason (PHO on Christmas being the other). Mason was a great AND cheap ($7 mil / 2 years) signing. It's amazing how SAS continues to keep their weapons stocked despite minimal cap room and late 1st picks. They lost Brent Barry this offseason and Bowen has noticeably lost a step due to age. But SAS just continues to roll along, drafting George Hill and signing Mason, and now their swing positions are as strong as ever.

And since the Lakers lost yesterday day and the Suns are doing so well lately, here's a rare Kobe post by me. Kobe, Insurance Salesman.