FanHouse LeandroBarbosa

FanHouse previews a player to watch from each NBA team in advance of the 2009-10 season.

The conventional wisdom is that every Suns wing or guard champed at the bit for the end of Terry Porter's reign so that they could do what they do best, which is to run and gun. Upon taking over for the deposed Porter during the All-Star break, former D'Antoni assistant Alvin Gentry couldn't exactly replicate Seven Second or Less -- he still had Shaquille O'Neal, after all, and he lost Amar'e Stoudemire after only a few games.

But Gentry certainly unleashed Steve Nash, and by extension the offense. As we head into 2009-10, with Gentry still in place and with Shaq having become someone else's superhero/problem, the theory is that a fully unleashed Phoenix with Amar'e back in the saddle will be a massive improvement on last season. Top to bottom, the guards and wings most comfortable under D'Antoni should improve. This means Nash, of course, but also guys like Leandro Barbosa ...

Right?

You can change all the pieces you want, but at some point you just have to reconcile with the fact: the Spurs own the Suns.

This statement stretches well beyond today's game. In fact, even if the Suns had managed to win today's game which they lost 103-98, it wouldn't alter that fact. It's a universal truth that springs from such a far ranging set of circumstances, through injuries, season, suspensions, and every conceivable manner of heartbreaking defeat.

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Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the "lig." Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.

This might be the most downright outlandish line of the entire season: LeBron James played 34 minutes Thursday in Houston, and only tallied 21 points (on 21 FGAs), one rebound, zero assists, two blocks and a steal.

This was the first game in LeBron's entire NBA career without an assist. He hadn't finished a game with only one rebound since November 2007. Shane Battier and Ron Artest completely obliterated King James, and it wasn't even debatable. Simple, wanton destruction.

Earlier this week, we showed you a basketball + soccer video staring Kevin Garnett and David Beckham. Not to be outdone, the always entertaining Shaquille O'Neal also decided to take a stab at the game of soccer. But unlike KG, Shaq focused on goal tending. Here's footage of Shaq successfully blocking Leandro Barbosa's goal attempt:

Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the "lig." Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.

Alvin Gentry knows how to make a statement. The Suns again went over 100 possessions and again went for 140 points. With Amar'e Stoudemire felled by a detached retina, Leandro Barbosa helped destroy the Thunder. Barbosa had 41 points on 16-21 shooting, with seven rebounds, seven assists, six assists and one turnover. The Blur simply brutalized his defenders, getting to the rack and hitting from long-range.

PHOENIX -- As the arena began to fill up, Dan Majerle was working on his half-court shooting, warming up for the Haier Shooting Stars event. FanHouse NBA writer and next-door neighbor on press row Brett Pollakoff said Majerle practices knocking down the shots from halfcourt before every Suns home game, but it didn't rub off on Saturday in Phoenix.

Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the lig. Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.

Earlier this season, Kevin Garnett insisted that there were two Rajon Rondos on the court, not one. If Rondo has two mirror images, does Chris Paul have a half-dozen?

Paul had a majestic 25/10/15/7 -- one of those "smelling distance from a quadruple-double" performances. (No, you won't see me saying seven steals is almost 10 steals.) The amazing thing is, as it has been since last season, that Paul does all of this in low-possession games.

So here's a fun one: Ken Berger of CBSSports.com is reporting that the Suns have added another player to Steve Kerr's trading-block-o-rama-rama: Amare Stoudemire.

You may recognize this block from such staples as now-Bobcats-who-beat-the-Suns-on-Friday Boris Diaw and Raja Bell, Leandro Barbosa, and pretty much every player except Shaquille O'Neal (whose arrival pretty much coincided with Phoenix's plummet from the top of the Western Conference standings, but hey, he's an All-Star!)

Before the Suns were scheduled to take on the Magic, they already knew that Shaquille O'Neal wouldn't be back in time from the trip he took to deal with some family matters. What they didn't know was if the newly acquired Jason Richardson would be available, and if so, how much he could contribute. As it turned out, not only did he play, but he played very well, scoring 21 points in 34 strong minutes off the bench.

Things didn't start off so hot for J-Rich, or for the rest of his new teammates. Richardson checked into the game midway through the first quarter to a standing ovation, but missed his first four shot attempts, as the Suns fell behind by as many as 12. (After the game he said he was nervous and was surprised they weren't all airballs.)

Richardson found his rhythm early in the second quarter though, and scored his first bucket as a Sun on a layup and-1 drive down the middle of the lane. He followed that up a couple of possessions later with one of the game's most exciting highlights, when he converted a pass from Leandro Barbosa into an alley-oop reverse slam that brought the house down.

Richardson's stellar play in his first outing with his new team wasn't lost on Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, who said afterwards that sometimes a player's first game in a new setting might be easier than expected.

There were plenty of storylines heading into Friday's nationally televised game in Phoenix between the Suns and the Miami Heat. You had Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal meeting for the first time since the Diesel was traded to the Suns last season, and you had Shawn Marion returning to the team where he spent eight and a half seasons making a name for himself. But in the end, it was the Suns' offensive ineptitude that was the story, and the surprise absence of Steve Nash that helped the Heat cruise to a rare (and easy) 107-92 road victory.

Nash was a late scratch, and sat this one out with a right thigh contusion. The decision not to play came very late in fact, as lineups were revised about 20 minutes before tip-off to let us know that Nash would be unavailable. That left the starting point guard duties to Sean Singletary, who had played decently in a backup role as of late, but was clearly unprepared to run with the starting unit, and it showed from the opening moments.

The Suns have had their problems with turnovers this season, and that problem was exacerbated by the fact that Nash was on the sidelines. The team looked lost offensively without their two-time MVP running the show, and committed seven first quarter turnovers that the Heat were able to convert into 32-19 lead at the end of one. On paper, the Suns appeared to have a huge advantage in the paint, with Shaquille O'Neal and Amare Stoudemire facing the likes of Joel Anthony and Udonis Haslem. But the Miami defensive strategy was both brilliant and well-executed, as they continually kept Shaq and Amare from getting the ball in prime position to score.