The Suns got their first Vegas win against the D-league Select team. It was a game they should have won but easily could have lost as well considering the Suns roster outside of Earl Clark is basically the same type of players fielded by the other side.

There was a difference in this game though and it was clear in the early minutes. The Suns were pushing the ball and Earl Clark looked far better than he had in the first two games. The Suns also had the services of Scottie Reynolds from Villanova for the first time.

Scottie Reynolds Time

Scottie worked out yesterday with the team on their off day and told the coaching staff this morning that he wanted to go. Thunder Dan said he was glad to have him.

"When you get Scottie in there he's going to push the tempo, that's the big thing and I thought Z (Zabian Dowdell) did a good job of that too," Dan said. "In this situation we want to get out and run and play the way we do in the regular season and that's look at shots early if their good shots and try to stay out of set plays and just get out there and run."

Reynolds looked a little tentative in the first few minutes of court time but quickly settled down. Even more impressive than his scoring was his floor leadership and ability to push the ball. Reynolds had 16 points and 3 assists in only 18 minutes of play.

Scottie was a vocal leader on both ends of the floor, something that impressed his coach, "He likes to talk and that's good and I think he brings energy to the guys. It keeps everybody in the game and when your point guard is that vocal and is pushing the ball it's exciting, it's fun for everybody to play with him."

Scottie thought his familiarity with the system gave him an edge, "It's just like Villanova, the same principles and the same kind of offense. It's a little bit heart-warming that I've been in the system for four years and have been able to be successful."

Reynolds injured his Achilles while working out last week in Villanova with Alvin Williams and Kyle Lowry. He was initially afraid he tore something because he couldn't walk on it but it's been improving recently. He expects it will be sore tomorrow but with the Suns having a day off he hopes to play again on Wednesday.

Earl Shows Signs Of Life

Earl had his best game of the summer by far. He was 6 for 12 shooting and 6 of 7 from the line. 18 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. He looked more confident and relaxed from the opening tip.

Majerle agreed, "Earl struggled a little bit (in previous games) but he got his legs under him a little bit more and started playing his type of game. I think he was pushing the first couple of games, more looking for his shot and not trying to make anybody better but today I think he played more within himself and played a lot better."

Gani Continues To Shine

Gani, or "G" to his teammates, had another good game. He runs the floor very well and is physical and aggressive in the paint. He finished this game with a triple double - 15 points, 11 rebounds and 10 fouls.

He certainly has a lot to learn but several of his fouls were of the ticky-tack variety so no real concern about that. Gani understands that he will be a limited minutes role player so having a high foul rate for this kind of energy bench player is expected and accepted.

Others

Zabian Dowdell will get over-shadowed by Reynold's debut but he had a nice game himself. 9 points and 4 assist in 21 minutes. He is a bigger and better defender than Scottie and did a decent job pushing the tempo but in comparison lacks the creativity and ability to create plays in transition that Reynolds has.

Matt Janning is quietly having a very good Summer League with the Suns after also playing with the Celtics in Orlando the previous week. The Suns are very high on him. Look for a separate story on Matt soon (or tomorrow if I decide to go eat instead and get to bed before 2am).

The only other guy on the roster that jumps out is big man, Shawn Pruitt. He's big and physical. 4 rebounds in 10 minutes isn't bad. I don't think he runs the floor or can do enough offensively to get a serious look by the Suns however.

Suns Not Talking About Hedo/Childress. Yet.

All of the Suns brass from Sarver on down were at the game but declined to comment on the Hedo or Childress trade. Until deals like that are official they really shouldn't talk about them.

Goran Dragic was also at the game. He was meeting with Robert Sarver to discuss playing for the Slovenian National Team this summer and also has a meeting with a shoe company to finalize a deal. Goran will be playing for his country and for the first time will be teammates with his brother Zoran.

Will Earl Clark look better in this game?

Will the Suns get a win?

Will Alvin Gentry answer any questions about the Childress and Turkoglu deals?

What kind of cool shoes will Mr. Irrelevant (Dwayne Collins) be wearing?

Stay tuned and find out.

The Summer Suns will be facing the D-league Select Team. Last summer, they were pretty good. Even though this is their first game of this party the word is they aren't as good this year. They are coaches by Iowa Energy head coach Nick Nurse.

A complete break-down of the D-League team can be found at Ridiculous Upside.

I have no idea if this game is on NBA TV.

When Amare Stoudemire left for the New York Knicks, I started pondering the options the Phoenix Suns had at their disposal to become an upper-echelon team again. I felt they should either go after a...

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The Phoenix Suns and owner Robert Sarver came out of nowhere to make a huge splash Sunday evening, wheeling and dealing for swingman Josh Childress and shooter/playmaker Hedo Turkoglu. The general...

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Amare Stoudemire aka STAT aka Sun Tzu aka @AmareIsReal aka a certain... I don't know what. No matter what you know the former Suns big man as, chances are his name alone provokes some sort of emotional reaction. Loved by some, hated by others and discussed by all, Amare was always an enigma to Suns fans. We loved him for his offensive abilities and hated him for his lack of defense. We loved him for being a product of the Suns, born and raised (at least from an NBA player standpoint) right here in the desert and hated him for always wanting more. Some of us are deeply saddened to see him move on to greener (as in 'Benjamins') pastures and others are hoping the door hit him in the ass on the way out. No matter where you land on the Amare love/hate spectrum, the big man is now in New York and this is his Phoenix Suns report card.

When Amare Stoudemire came into the league, he was nothing more than an array of beautiful dunks and it was awesome. (Quick side note: go back and watch his first playoff series against the Spurs when he was playing alongside Stephon Marbury. You forget just how explosive this dude really was.) Now back to what I was saying. When he went down after getting the dreaded microfracture knee surgery, many questioned how a player who depended solely on his amazing athletic ability could rebound from a surgery that historically had completely destroyed the athletic ability of every player who had gone through it. Amare's answer: shoot jump shots every day while he was unable to do anything else and come back with one of the best midrange games of any big man in the league. Over the course of his career here in the valley, Amare went from having one offensive weapon to being one of the best scorers (in terms of how easy it is for him to score) in the NBA.

Since 2004, we have had the EXTREME pleasure of watching Amare Stoudemire run the pick and roll with 2-time MVP Steve Nash. Not only was it beautiful, but effective, as the Suns advanced to at least the second round in every one of those seasons except for the year of Shaq (granted, one of those seasons, Amare was on the bench after the microfracture surgery mentioned above, but still). But again, we all loved his offensive game; it was his game on the other side of the ball that left us wanting more. 

Amare showed flashes of defensive ability and even brilliance throughout his years with the Suns, but they always turned out to be just that... flashes. He'd rack up 7 blocks in one game only to have his man drop 40 the next. He'd pull down 20 boards one game only to respond with 3 the next. For all of Amare's offensive brilliance, his defense was inconsistent and many times just bad (mostly during games in which he wasn't being as involved in the offense as he'd like to be). When it came to Amare, this is where the argument would begin.

Being a fan of Amare, I have long argued that you can't just replace that kind of offensive brilliance. That instead of giving him away and trying to replace his offense and improving on defense, a team should try and shore up the other half of the front line with a defensive player that would allow Amare the freedom he needs on offense. That's what the Suns tried with Shaq (unfortunately having the Big Ego in the middle made it impossible for Amare to breathe) and what they lucked into when Robin broke a glass door and suddenly became one of the better centers in the West last season. So what happens when Amare is paired with a player like Robin? He blows up and destroys the league for 3 solid months, earning a spot as a 2nd team All-NBA player even though he was thought by many to be lucky to get into the All-Star game at the break!

Others argued that the price was too steep for a player whose main focus was on the offensive end of the court. They demanded that Amare become a defensive presence and when he failed to live up to their expectations, they pushed for the Suns to get rid of him. (Another quick side note: I did openly root for the Suns to get rid of Amare once and that was when the offer was on the table to send him to Minnesota for KG. This would have left a core of KG (3 seasons before he broke down), Marion (one of my personal favorite Suns players of all time), and Nash.) Back on topic. Now, Amare is gone and we'll see just how much of his offensive game is missed.

Too often in sports we, as fans, become overly critical of those athletes we watch and fail to fully appreciate what we have in front of us. When Marion was here and the Suns were considered to be one of the top 3 teams (if not the top team) every year we - I'm using a collective 'we' here even though I definitely didn't want Marion to go - clamored for a team that could play "traditional" basketball just because we had gotten a few unlucky breaks and failed to advance to the Finals. The Suns shipped Marion out and brought in the Big Ego. It took the Suns organization 2 years to respond from that disaster. For 7 of the past 8 seasons we have had the pleasure of watching a young raw dude straight out of high school develop into one of the top scorers in the league. We've watched him smash on Kandi man's head, embarrass Tolliver and cause Richard Jefferson to have a VERY bad day. Say what you want about him, but the power and fury of Amare was fun to watch and be a part of.

For the 7 seasons (and the 3 games he played in during the season of microfracture rehab), I am giving Amare Stoudemire an A. He made 5 All-Star teams, made the All-NBA second team 3 times and first team once (which he did along with Steve Nash, becoming the first PHX duo to do so) and he helped lead the Suns to the Conference Finals (meaning they were 1 of the last 4 teams standing for you non-math majors out there) in 2 of his last 4 Playoff appearances. While I did hold out hope that his defense would improve and he'd become an All-Defensive type player, there was never a single game that I wasn't on the edge of my seat just waiting for Amare to do something that would give me an excuse to be on YouTube for hours the following day. Amare Stoudemire may not be missed by all (especially if the Suns are successful this season without him), but he will most definitely be missed by me and THAT is what makes being a fan of one of the NBA's biggest enigmas is all about. 

Amare Stoudemire's Phoenix Suns grade: A

One other quick note: I apologize if this comes off a little disjointed, the original draft was roughly the size of a small novel and I had to cut it down. Hopefully the sentiment came through and if it didn't, here's an Amare montage that I like.

Poll

What grade would you give Amare for his time here in Phoenix?

• A
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• D
• F

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