Like I have done in recent matchups, here is a rundown of the good and the bad from tonight’s game. Like it has been the case for most of the games this year, there were a lot more negatives than positives.

The Good

Steve Nash and Marcin Gortat continue to be the Suns two best players this season as both had another double-double on the night. Nash had 16 points and 15 assists, which was his second highest total on the season. Gortat had 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting and also added 10 rebounds. You kind of wish both would start shooting more with how successful they have been lately.

In his debut in a Suns uniform, Michael Redd looked good. Playing for the first time in essentially eight months, Redd had 12 points, knocking down 3-of-7 three-point attempts in a little more than 19 minutes of action. Expect Alvin Gentry to continue taking it slow with the veteran as he works to get his game legs back.

After a terrible effort in Los Angeles, rookie Markieff Morris returned to his normal self. He just missed out on a double-double with 13 points and eight rebounds and drained both his attempts from behind the arc. Shannon Brown got in double digits for his fourth straight game and for the fifth time in his last six.

The Bad

The Suns continue to get creamed on the glass. Just two nights after getting dominated on the glass in Los Angeles, the same happen tonight as Cleveland had 47 rebounds to Phoenix’s 39. The Cavs did most of their damage on the offensive glass as they had 15 that got them 20 extra chance points. If the Suns count that down by half, they have a chance to win the game in the final seconds.

Cavs starting center Anderson Varejao did the majority of the damage with seven offensive boards, but five other Cleveland players had at least one. Tristian Thompson, who hasn’t played a ton of minutes in the early portion of this season, had three himself and guard Ramon Sessions had a pair too.

Phoenix continues to get next to zero production from the back end of their bench. Hakim Warrick’s lone two points both came from the charity stripe. Ronnie Price is not offering next to nothing on the offensive end and that means an increase in minutes for Nash. Robin Lopez is dangerously turning into a liability whenever he is on the floor. After scoring 21 in the season opener, Lopez has only 30 points in his last 11 games.

Up Next

The Suns will try to put this stinker behind them immediately as they have a home matchup against New Jersey tomorrow night from US Airways Center. The Nets are bad with a 2-9 record, having lost three straight, but nothing is a given with this Suns team.

Coach Gentry say it's a good possibility that Michael Redd suits up tomorrow but it will still take time for him to get his timing back.

January 11, 2012 3:20 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@PhoenixSuns

NBA Phoenix Suns

A few weeks after signing with Phoenix, there is a high probability that Michael Redd will make his Suns debut tomorrow night at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers, according to head coach Alvin Gentry If Redd suits up and earns playing time, it will be the first live action game that the shooting guard has played in since April 13 of last year.

Of course, Redd hasn’t played a lot of basketball over the last couple of seasons due to two separate knee surgeries. Since playing in 72 games during the 2007-2008 campaign, Redd has missed 192 games over the last 3+ seasons, including the first seven this year in Phoenix.

It will take some time for Redd to get into game shape. He has practiced ever since he signed his one-year deal back in late December, but there is a big difference between playing against your teammates during a portion of practice and playing against other competition in a live game.

Where Redd fits into Gentry’s rotation remains to be seen. After getting off to a slow start to begin the year, Shannon Brown has played much better in his last three games. He has had double figures in points in all three contests. Jared Dudley has been a bit up and down, scoring only seven points last night in Los Angeles.

If Redd can prove that he is healthy, Gentry will find a way to get him on the court. He is no longer the 20+ point scorer that he was earlier in his career, but he can still shoot the basketball and that is something that Phoenix has not done well in the first nine games of this shorten season.

There were some good things for the Suns and some not good things in their fifth loss of the season. Here is a rundown of the positives and the negatives from the 48 minutes of action that I watched.

The Good

It looks as though Channing Frye has left behind his early season shooting struggles. The Suns starter forward was 4-of-23 from three-point land in his first seven games of the season, but is 7-of-9 in his last two, including going 3-for-5 on Wednesday. Frye’s 17 points led all Suns scorers.

Steve Nash and Marcin Gortat looked good as well. Nash just missed out on another double-double with 13 points and eight assists. Gortat was arguably Phoenix’s best player on the court. The big man got his second double-double of the season with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Ever since he had the splint removed from his finger, Gortat has been a much different player on the offensive end.

In his return to Staples Center, Shannon Brown had a relatively nice night. He got off to a real tough start shooting the ball in the first half, but he did a much better job in the final 24 minutes. Brown was the Suns only bench player to get double figures in points with 11.

The Bad

Take away the nights of Frye, Nash, Gortat and Brown, the rest of the team was terrible.

Grant Hill had probably his roughest night since putting on a Suns uniform. He went 1-of-12 shooting from the field, putting five points on the scoreboard. Hill also had his problems on the defensive side of the court guarding Kobe Bryant. Bryant had to work for a lot of his shots, but the future hall of famer still scored 48 points, which was a season-high.

Both Markieff Morris and Robin Lopez were bad, really bad. Morris didn’t make a single shot in four attempts, which included a terrible air ball. Morris’ lone two points on the night came from the free-throw line. Lopez was held scoreless and had a porous two rebounds in just under 13 minutes. Morris and Lopez probably would have been better off staying at the team hotel.

Phoenix’s rebounding was horrific too as they were outboarded by Los Angeles by 14. Remind you, this is with Andrew Bynum playing only 30 minutes. 14 of the Lakers 49 rebounds were the offensive variety. Pau Gasol had four of those, which was to be expected, but giving up five to Luke Walton is just inexcusable. I was a fan of his when he was at the University of Arizona, but I am still surprised that Walton has been in the league for this long.

Overall poor job by the Suns rebounding.

Up Next

After a brief one-game road trip to La La Land, the Suns will have back-to-back games at home. They will open up their two-game homestand on Thursday against an improved Cleveland team and then follow that up with a matchup against a bad New Jersey squad.

Always considered one of the best shooters in the game, Nash was struggling to put the ball through the hoop. In one game against Philadelphia, Nash made only 2-of-11 shots to the tune of 18 percent from the field. The point guard was also having difficulties distributing the ball to his teammates with games of one and six assists on his game log.

It was learned during Nash’s stretch of poor play that the veteran was playing through bruised ribs that were bothering him. Nash also suffered a bruised eye during a collision inpractice.

Whether it be a better bill of health or just finally getting into his normal game shape after the short training camp and preseason schedule, the Nash Rambler has really come on during his last four games after playing poorly for the most part in his first four contests.

It all began in the game against Golden State on the afternoon of Jan. 2. Nash shot lights out from the field to score 21 points and just missed out on a double-double with nine assists. Nash would get his second double-double of the season the very next game against Dallas putting 15 points on the scoreboard and dishing out 12 assists.

In his last two games against Portland and Milwaukee, Nash has continued to score as well dish out the ball. The 37-year-old has been nearly perfect shooting the basketball as well. Nash has missed only three of his 17 attempts, a far cry from how he was shooting when the season got under way just a couple of weeks back.

Because of his improved play, the Suns offense as a whole has been much better as a result. In three of their last four outings, the Suns have compiled at least 100 points. In their first four games of the season, they were getting no where close to the century mark and were struggling to make it to the 90-point mark.

When the season got under way the day after Christmas, I fully expected for Nash to be one of the few players across the league to put up his usual numbers because of the tremendous shape he stays over the course of the offseason. Nash’s slow start to the year showed though that he is human and not a double-double robot that we have grown accustomed to in his second stint in Phoenix.

With a shorten training camp, two preseason contests and eight regular season games under his belt, it looks as though Nash’s is back to his normal self, which is one of the best point guards in the league despite his advanced age. That is great news for the Suns playoff prospects going forward.

That has exactly been the case with the Suns against the Bucks in Phoenix since 1987. Milwaukee hasn’t beat Phoenix on their home floor since that year and that long streak would continue on Sunday night as the Suns would cruise to an easy 109-93 victory. With the win, Phoenix has won two games in a row and have even up their record on the season at .500.

Here are some of the things that I saw from the Suns blowout win.

The Good

There was so much to like from this game if you were a Suns fan. On the offensive end, the Suns were lights out and put together their best effort on the young season. Phoenix shot just under 56 percent from the field and knocked down 10-of-22 jumpers from three-point land. All five starters and two guys off the bench had double-digit point totals.

Marcin Gortat was the game’s leading scorer with 18 points and missed only one shot on the evening. The Suns big man also had seven board, three assists, three blocked shots and a pair of steals. If you take away the Dallas game, it was Gortat’s second best game of the season.

The two guys that I was really impressed with was the combination of Channing Frye and Markieff Morris at power forward. The lid on the hoop finally fell off for Frye. He only missed one shot and knocked down all his attempts from behind the arc. Morris wasn’t quite as efficient shooting the basketball, but he finally got his double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. The pair was a perfect 7-of-7 shooting three’s until Morris missed one late in the game.

You can’t mention how good the Suns offense was without forgetting about Steve Nash. Nash had 10 assists in the first quarter and finished up the game with 17 dishes on the evening. He also made 5-of-7 shots for 10 points. The two-time MVP got off to a rough start in the beginning of the season, but he has come on as of late.

Phoenix’s offense will get all the pub, but the Suns defense was pretty darn good as well. For most of the game, the Suns D held the Bucks to shooting around the 40-41 percent mark until they got hot during garbage time.  Milwaukee was ice cold shooting the three going 2-of-15 and they also committed 13 miscues.

The Bad

There isn’t much to find bad about this Suns win. The only thing that you could realistically whine about was the Bucks on the offensive glass. Milwaukee had 15 offensive boards on the evening with starting center Andrew Bogut. Of course, the Bucks failed to convert on a lot of those second chances. Still, the Suns must clean that up heading into their next game.

Next Up

After two straight home wins, the Suns will head to Los Angeles to face the Lakers. The Lakers are 6-4 on the season heading into Tuesday’s matchup and will be coming off of a win against the Grizzilies.

Those two things were immediately thrown out at first tip as the Suns got out of the gates fast. Phoenix scored 30 points in the first quarter and got off to a 11-point lead, a lead they would never come close to relinquising in their 102-77 win over Portland on Friday night.

Here are the three big keys to the Suns shocking W over the Blazers.

1. Portland’s Fatique

After their big performance against the Lakers last night, it was clear that the Blazers never had their legs from the beginning. Several of their key players played big time minutes the night before in their win over Los Angeles and the entire team got into Phoenix at around 4 a.m. this morning. Credit the Suns for getting off to a fast start and never letting up after they got a big early lead.

2. Balanced Phoenix Attack

When the Phoenix offense is clicking on all cylinders, the entire roster is playing well and that was the case on Friday. Six players; three starters and three bench players, had double-digit point totals. Jared Dudley led the way with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. Steve Nash had 17, Shannon Brown had his best game of the young season putting 14 points on the scoreboard, Markieff Morris chipped in with 13 and Marcin Gortat and Hakim Warrick had 12 points a piece.

3. Fabulous Suns Defense

It remains to be seen what kind of team the Suns will be this season, but it is becoming more clear that they are playing much better defensively compared to recent years. The Trail Blazers were horrific on the offensive end thanks in large part to the Suns D. Portland shot about 32 percent from the field and knocked down just 2-of-19 attempts from three-point range. Portland also committed 17 turnovers on the night. Not a pretty night to say the least.

Of course, that all hinges on Phoenix not adding anymore salaries to next year’s payroll. As of right now, they only have a little more than $30 million on the 2012-2013 rolls.

One of the big decisions that the Suns will have to make over the next couple of weeks is what to do with Robin Lopez. Phoenix has by January 25 to decide on whether to sign the center to an extension. If they pass, Lopez would become a restricted free agent and could sign with another team. The Suns could match that offer to keep the big man in Phoenix.

Local radio personality John Gambadoro from Sports 620 speculated earlier today on how much Lopez would cost the Suns on a long-term deal.

Make that the 25th on the deadline for Lopez, rough guess is around 7 mill a year to keep him on a long term deal

January 4, 2012 1:53 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@Gambo620

John Gambadoro

Gambadoro is only guessing on what Lopez will cost, but looking around the league, that sounds about right for a 23-year-old center.

Putting myself in Robert Sarver’s shoes, I wouldn’t pay Side Show Rob that kind of money, especially with all the other potential free agents that will be on the market come next offseason. Plus, the Suns already have a starting center in Marcin Gortat. Why pay that kind of money to Gortat’s backup?

How much would I pay him? Probably no more than $4 million per season. Lopez has shown flashes of being a real good player over the course of his career, but that was only at the second half of a single season. Other than that, he has been pretty mediocre and hasn’t warranted anymore cash than what I just mentioned.

If he does become a free agent, there will probably a couple of teams willing to offer Lopez $7 a year. After all, Lopez is just 23 and does have upside that really could interest a team looking for a young piece at the center position

We will find out in a matter of three weeks on what exactly the Suns decide to do with Rockin’ Robin. Will they lock him for the forseeable future or will they decide not to give him an extension right now and leave the door open to either bringing him back during the offseason or letting him go elsewhere and spend the money in other ways?

Here is to Phoenix doing the latter.

Rookie Markieff Morris hasn’t been one of those troubling things for the Suns so far though. In fact, he has been one of the few bright spots and pleasant surprises.

Taken with the 13th overall pick, one spot ahead of his twin brother Marcus, Morris wasn’t expected to do much in his first season in the league, but he has been a valuable asset off the bench for Alvin Gentry.

During this afternoon’s game against Golden State, Morris put together his best performance of the young season. Receiving the most minutes that he has gotten all season at 32 minutes, the power forward just missed out on a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds, including three on the offensive glass.

Keef knocked down 7-of-13 shots and showed his range by knocking a three-pointer from behind the arc. When he was out on the floor, the Suns were +20 in points over the Warriors, the best on out of any player who played for Phoenix. That goes to show you how valuable the young guy is when he is playing.

Back when the Suns drafted Morris, I wasn’t real excited about the pick. He did play a position of need, but he didn’t offer a ton of upside, something that the Suns need looking towards the future.

The rookie has really impressed me in the first five games of the year though. I had no idea that he had the range of a three-point shooter. It may not always go in, but he has a nice rotation on his ball and he isn’t bashful to take a shot, something that you have to love out of a young player.

When you look at Keef, his body doesn’t really blow you away. He is listed at 6’10, but he is more in the 6’9 or 6’8 range, which is a bit undersized for a NBA power forward. He also isn’t blessed with elite athleticism, something that Phoenix had at the four spot with Amar’e Stoudemire for a number of years.

Morris gets the job done because of his smarts, strength and toughness. Nash said the other day that Morris is the type of player that this team has missed over the last couple of season because of his ability to do little things that helps win ballgames. He has already showed how good of a rebounder and defender he is.

Now, it remains to be seen whether he can be a starter in this league. I still have my reservations about him being in the starting five down the line despite his very solid start to his hopefully long NBA career. Morris has proven me wrong so far though and I hope he continues to do so.

Many individual Suns players have not played well on the offensive end, but Channing Frye might be one struggling the most out of all the guys on the roster.

Coming of a season where he averaged a career high 12.7 points, Frye is averaging just 4.3 points in the early portion of this season. If it weren’t for his 10-point effort the other night against New Orleans, things would be even worse. Only the seldom used Josh Childress is scoring less points per game than the Phoenix power forward.

Frye has always been a streaky shooter throughout his career. He went through a bad streak shooting the basketball during the playoffs a few years, but this might be the worst stretch since he entered the league. Frye has missed 25 of his 31 attempts from the field and has knocked down only 2-of-16 shots from three-point land.

A lot of Frye’s shots don’t look good either. Several of them have been bricks and have had no shot in going through the hoop. I would expect that from my jump shot, not that of a pro.

Luckily for Frye, he has managed to stay in Alvin Gentry’s rotation thanks in large to his rebounding and his blocking shots. Against the Hornets, Frye grabbed 16 boards and blocked three shots. He is averaging eight rebounds a game so far, which would be a career best if remains on this pace.

If Frye’s shooting doesn’t improve and if his rebounding slips, it is going to be hard for Gentry to keep him on the floor. Rookie Markieff Morris has been impressive in his first four games of his NBA career and Hakim Warrick has been the Suns leading scorer.

Who thought I would have been saying that when the season started?

For Frye’s sake, lets hope he starts shooting better as the weather starts to warm up. Frye’s shooting from behind the arc enables the Suns to open their offense and if he continues to shoot poorly, the Suns will continue to struggle putting points on the scoreboard.

All that changes tonight when Phoenix goes to Oklahoma City to face the Thunder on the second night of a back-to-back. OKC is already off to a perfect 4-0 start with impressive wins over Memphis on the road and a last second buzzer beat by Kevin Durant the other night against the world champs.

Before the season, many had them as going to the Finals. I was in that same boat.

Durant is one of the top favorites to win his first MVP award. His 31.2 points per game so far this season is the best so far of his already great career. Grant Hill will probably try to get first dibs on trying to guard him, but look for Alvin Gentry to give Durant lots of different looks with a number of guys on the MVP candidate.

What makes the Thunder so good is the nucleus that Durant has around him though.

It appears as though James Harden, a former ASU Sun Devil, has taken his game to the next level. Receiving the most playing time of his career, Harden hasn’t disappointed setting career highs across the board in the first four games of the season.

Harden might be taking over the #2 role which has been Russell Westbrook’s role over the last couple of seasons, but the point guard has struggled shooting the basketball so far and got into a spat with Durant a few games back. Some might think that OKC could trade the point guard before the end of the season.

The combination of Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka might not receive the same recognition as the first three players that I mentioned, but they are still important to the success of the Thunder winning games. They both provide a defense presence on the frontline that a lot of teams across the league don’t have.

Months after the trade went down, the Celtics are desperately missing Perkins services, especially after Jeff Green went down for the year due to heart issues.

Even if the Suns hadn’t played last night, this was going be a rough game considering the opponent they are facing on the road. It gets that much tougher with Phoenix having played last night in New Orleans and Oklahoma City resting at home.

Hill and Steve Nash also logged heavy minutes during last night’s win, so Gentry will have to rely heavily on his bench if the Suns are going to have any shot in tonight’s matchup.