Last Season: A detached retina derailed the season and the Shaq experiment ended. The Suns had high hopes for last season but nothing worked out as planned. Terry Porter attempted to utilize Shaq and the halfcourt game but it never caught on. In early December the Suns traded two players that had been key to their playoff success – Raja Bell and Boris Diaw – for Jason Richardson. Even with the trade, Porter’s offense was not working and on February 16, he was replaced by Alvin Gentry. Just three days later Amare Stoudemire suffered a detached retina and missed the rest of the season. Under Gentry the Suns returned to their high-powered offense and even managed a three-game stretch where they scored over 140 points a contest. In the end they finished two games back of the final playoff spot in the West.

Acquisitions: F Earl Clark, F Channing Frye, F Tyler Griffin, G Sasha Pavlovic

Departures: F Matt Barnes, C Shaquille O'Neal

Starting Five: F Channing Frye, F Grant Hill, C Amare Stoudemire, G Jason Richardson, G Steve Nash

Bench Mob: Leandro Barbosa, Sash Pavlovic, Jared Dudley, Louis Amundson, Robin Lopez (out until Thanksgiving with a broken foot), Earl Clark

Most Interesting Man in the World: Steve Nash – It seems like there are more than 24 hours in a day for Steve Nash. He is involved in so many things I don’t know how he does it all. Here are just a few of the many things he has delved into: He’s currently working on a documentary for ESPN. He runs a charity organization that he is actually involved in. He’s a part owner of the future MLS team, the Vancouver Whitecaps. He also has a great sense of humor as seen from his Vitamin Water ads and from covering the NBA Finals on Letterman.

Over the Hill: Steve Nash – Do you really expect a 35 year old to run this offense? Maybe Nash will do it again. Maybe he will continue to defy Mother Nature and play at an All-Star level but I think this might be the year he begins to really break down. If he stays healthy he’s still the right guy to lead this offense but on defense he will need some help to hang with the more physical guards like Deron Williams and also the quicker ones like Chris Paul.

Ready to Break Out: Channing Frye - His stats have decreased ever since his standout rookie year but he will be given a new opportunity in Phoenix where the talent level isn’t quite as high as it was in Portland. He has the ability to shoot well from the outside and that could fit in nicely to Gentry’s system.

Outlook: The Suns are in a bit of a predicament. They are at their best when they push the tempo but they have a very thin bench. They are going to be a very schizophrenic team with huge point swings and too often they will be on the losing end of those battles – especially late in games. Nobody on the team is particularly good at defense and the loss of Robin Lopez for the first month of the season makes them very vulnerable inside.

Hill, Nash, Stoudemire, and Richardson will be a solid combination but there are too many questions and not enough answers right now for the Suns to be anything more than fighting for a playoff spot at the end of the season.

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