Planet Orange Gets a Black Eye!

Should have been wearing these glasses player!

Okay so now Amare is out for 8 weeks because of an eye surgery...not good timing at all! Good news is that the Suns can still sneak into the playoffs and have him ready a week or so before they start.

Garnett is out for this Sunday's game and again other teams in the West are falling apart.  Sweet Lou and the rest of the bench will need to step it up, like really step on it- like J. Rich and his gas pedal with a 3 year-old in the back seat! Eat your carrots Amare! Get back quick!

If for some reason the Suns don't get far because of this eye-poke..that would be yet another spell of bad luck for our beloved Planet. From the Kareem coin flip, to the John Paxson dagger, to the Joe Johnson face break, to the Amare microfracture, the suspensions, and that darn Tim Duncan 3pt. prayer last year in the playoffs....man that was tough to bring up. The Fredstrom remains optimistic and wonders if you feel the same?

Planet Orange Burning Brighter?

Coach Poorter has been cast out like space garbage and Planet Orange is burning a whole light brighter.  The players are using words like "freedom" and "fun!" Yes, it is the PaperClips, and yes they are injured, and just a flat out horrible team, but the Suns look like they have just been released from Porterwitz- straight up running for their lives and the Fredstrom couldn't be happier.

The Suns body language is different, they are having fun again. The Suns are smiling more and there are plenty of high-fives to go around.  The Suns are communicating better on defense and it is showing.  They are mixing up the defense with a steady balance of man-to-man and zone.  Their points in the paint have been redonkulous not to mention their assist per game and shooting percentage.

Even though the games haven't been close, Gentry seems less afraid to play his bench than both Porter and D'Antoni, this should allow the starters, mostly Nash and Shaq to have fresher legs during those late 4th quarter minutes.  The Fredstrom likes!  You don't see Poopovich or the Phil panic and put their stars in with more than 8 mins to go in the fourth, they come in well rested and usually finish strong. The more the bench plays the more confidence they get-the better they will be-the more rest the starters will get, etc.  Shoot, Nash already looks 10 years younger...and his turnovers are way down, he just looks cleaner.

On the flip side whipping the Clips twice and even beating Oak City tomorrow doesn't mean a whole lot.  How will the Suns show up against the Celts on Sunday?  Will this team be able to move up into a 3, 4, or 5 seed in the West?  With the Hornets dumping salary, T-Mac out for the season, Manu and his health problems, The Oden's bone chips, and the underachieving Jazz, the Suns may just do it. Either way, it's fun to be a Suns fan again and it's exciting to see what the next thirty games will bring! Your thoughts?

Cards Come Up Short, But So Did the Steelers!

Wow! What a game!

The Fredstrom could talk about how this epic game looked a lot like the Suns v. Spurs in the playoffs.  He could touch on the face mask call that should have been off-setting or how the 100yd. interception TD return should have been a 99 yd. one.  How about the roughing the place holder call, while it didn't cost the Cardinals any points they did end up losing valuable time that would have helped towards the end of the game. But you can't cry over the refs, you can't leave the fight in the judges' hands. Make a stop, make Pittsburgh kick a field goal and tie it...or better yet, throw the ball in the first half like you did in the 2nd!  The Hurry-Up offense worked pretty well, wonder what the outcome would have been if it was used the whole game?

    But the Fredstrom digresses...

Congratulations for a great season!  It was a fun ride and they deserved to be there.  Now let's see if the Bidwell's dig a little deeper into their pockets to keep the core of this team together.  

Unfortunately the Arizona sports fan has to look forward to Planet Meltdown.  Hopefully Captain Poorter will get a clue or be jettisoned to the coaching junk yard.  Is it just the Fredstrom or does every picture of Coach Poorter look like he's either confused or no one's listening?

The Fredstrom especially likes the one with Dan Marjele (the other defensive specialist) where they look completely confused or the one with Porter just scratching his head!