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Pregame coaches notes:

• Gentry said the Suns "might" use the zone against the Lakers. He said it wasn't some genius plan in the playoff, it was done out of desperation because they couldn't guard Gasol.
• Gentry was happy with the pace and overall how the Suns played in Utah (easy to say after a win).
• He was really happy with the team's defense which he credits with the win. As a sign of the team's emphasis on defense this season, the white board in the locker room now has defensive game notes on top of offensive. That's new.
• Gentry said it's hard to trap Pau because the triangle creates such good spacing and since he's the most skilled big man in the league now, Gasol will make the right play 99% of the time. He said they would "pick their spots" to double him.
• Asked about Robin's struggles, Gentry just said it's early in the season and again said how much the Suns need him to play well this year.
• Gentry says the Lakers are still the team to beat and thinks they are loving all the attention Miami is getting. They like being the underdogs despite winning the last two titles and three straight trips to the finals.
• Goran said his knee was actually feeling better. He looked fine in pregame warmups to me. He also seemed to be in a great mood and stopped to sign autographs for quite some time. 

At this point last year, fans treated Goran like a ball kid. Now, he's a rock star.

Question: Who are the Lakers gonna to play at the 4/5 when Gasol and Odom are on the bench? I suppose Derrick Character is going to get minutes and Theo Ratliff (who is listed has having a "sore left knee" will come in. Do those guys scare you? 

So, while I don't think the Suns can win this game (thanks NBA schedule) the opportunity is there if you can get one of those guys into foul trouble and/or run them enough to wear them out by the 4th qtr. 

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Los Angeles Lakers @ Phoenix GameThread, Oct 29, 2010 7:30 PM MST - Silver Screen and Roll

Yeah yeah yeah, it's about that time. By which I mean: time for Kobe Bryant to show once again that he's the fastest gun in the West. You can usually count on the Suns' D to cooperate.

Warmth in the form 90 degree weather and love in the form of about a Gazillion "Beat LA" signs expected at the arena for the Suns home opener. Kobe loves that.

But first, I have a confession to make. I am sick of the Lakers. Not in the "I hate the Lakers!" kind of way as much as in the "I'm sick of the hubbub of the Lakers". All the extra hoopla and Kobe crap that comes with the annual arrival of "Bieber's Team".

Aside from all the basketball reasons why starting the season at home against THE GREAT LAKERS after playing last night in Utah, I'm just sick of seeing those colors. I'm sick of the crappy LA media they drag with them, and I'm sick of 2,500 Bryant #24 jerseys.

On the Bright Side, having them come to town this early in the season means it's over and done with (until January 5th). Bring on the Grizzlies and the rest of the NBA so we can focus on the game and not the circus. The following does not apply of course, to the mega-clusterf&*k that will come with the Miami Heat in December.

As for the game, what can we say. The Suns will be tired. Nash will be tired. Hill will be tired. You even have to worry how Goran's knee will hold up after playing just 15 (great) minutes last night. The Lakers are well-rested (as they always somehow happen to be when playing the Suns) and they look good. They've even added Suns-killer Steve Blake. Don't laugh, he kills the Suns.

This game comes down to Robin Lopez. He's the difference between a blowout and a competitive game.

To quote myself (a preferred source):

LA Lakers Come To Phoenix For Date With Suns, 7:30 P.M. AZT - SB Nation Arizona
On the downside, the Suns only got to the line 16 times and Robin Lopez in two games has a combined nine points and 11 rebounds. He fouled out of the Jazz game in only 20 minutes. Perhaps Robin is feeling the pressure of being "The Man" and understanding that the Suns are going to need big things from him this season, or maybe he just had a couple of bad games.

The Suns were able to survive without Robin on the floor much against a smaller Utah front line, but against the Lakers, he's going to have to play huge if the Suns have any chance of keeping this game close. That match-up between Lopez and Gasol will be the most important on the floor despite all the attention that will be paid to the Goran Dragic vs. Sasha Vujacic side show (should Phil Jackson even play Mr. Sharapova). 

 

Stay tuned for more reasonable, rational and well-expressed thoughts on the game later this afternoon.

Remember, post your game (or Halloween costume) photos on our Facebook page.

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Also, happy birthday to me because you only turn 40 once. I'm having a HUGE party at my house tomorrow nice. Stop by....and don't try and talk to me on Sunday morning.

Lakers 114, Suns 106 The last time the Los Angeles Lakers visited US Airways Center Kobe Bryant went bonkers, Steve Nash weeped in the locker room, Amare Stoudemire waved goodbye to the...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

As a young boy growing up in the desert there wasn't much to do in the early 1980's. There were no Cardinals, Diamondbacks, or Coyotes to root for. My family had two televisions in the house. One in the parents' bedroom, another in the "family room."  Before the advent of cable TV there was "On TV", which was a movie channel scrambled all day until prime time. Adults were treated to movies into the wee hours of the morning on their dial changer TV's. You remember them, the bunny ears with the tin foil wrapped on top?

The remote control for my parents was me. My father wouldn't speak when he wanted me to change the channel to one of 5 available, I was forced to watch to look at him ever 30  seconds or so. He'd simply make a circular motion with his fist and I'd know to change from Mary Tyler Moore to Bob Newhart, or to the Suns game on channel 5, KPHO. Or was it 12, KTVK? I don't even remember.  Anyway, it was a sad state of affairs.

By the end of 80's Arizona was in full swing with an awful NFL team, of course or beloved Suns, and CABLE freakin' TV. That's right, at least 50 or 60 channels and PPV adult movies. The salad days were here. Remote controls, big screens and all that jive. And watching Barkley's Suns play Jordan's Bulls in '93 on 60 something inches was nothing short of a technological and athletic miracle. Except the Suns lost the series. And a certain special something was missing now that I remember it.

What did we do without HD? Why did we bother to watch sports at all?

Waxing about the old days is not nostalgic, it's absolutely depressing. It reminds me how old I really am and how out of touch with most technology I am. And I'm not going to lie. I have a love/hate relationship with technology. I am too impatient to learn about a lot of things and I go into a shutdown/coma mode when I'm attempting to grasp a tekkie type of abstract concept. But the first time I saw an HD picture several years ago, I was convinced I had to have it, immediately.

I'll never forget the picture that what was on the screen at that moment of realization:  Steve Nash tossing a half court lob to Shawn Marion. In high definition. I could see the spin of the ball, the sweat on Steve Nash's brow, the snarl on Marion's lips. The monster dunk. It was like I was in a movie when everything goes in slow motion for perfect effect.  I was hooked. Plopped down the gold card, consequences be damned.

Cut to present day. That young, freckled face, curly headed boy holding the bunny ears for his parents has survived the rough years in Arizona. The dusty unpaved streets, the drunken cowboys and OK Corral gunfights, the unreliable Pony Express, and the dry wells we once pumped our water from.

We're in the big leagues, people. And I have a remote control and High Definition Television. The next generation will have no clue what kind of pain and suffering we all went through.

*Ed. Note: The afore mentioned was a true story, yet part of a corporate promotion in which the writer has mostly sacrificed his reputation in order to feed his starving young children. Sorry.

Poll

Do you watch the Suns in HD?

• Hell yeah, I'll never go back
• Nope, haven't made the jump yet and don't care to
• Screw TV, Al McCoy's silky voice is all I need
• None, I need BSOTS for all my Suns Coverage

  163 votes | Results