The 2012-13 NBA season kicks off in 12 short days, and optimism is swirling around the new-look Phoenix Suns. New faces always seem to breed optimism in and around a franchise, especially when that franchise has been on the treadmill of mediocrity for two straight seasons. No matter how excited Suns fans might be for [...]

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Preseason is about the small victories. Especially for a team like the Suns with so many new faces to integrate, it had to be encouraging that three crucial starters — Goran Dragic, Jared Dudley and Luis Scola — played so well together in the Suns’ 100-94 victory over the Dirk-less Mavs on Wednesday night in [...]

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PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns are committed to running. Steve Nash may be in Los Angeles, but the mantra for Alvin Gentry’s crew hasn’t changed a bit. Run, shoot, play a little defense and do it again. “It’s a pretty simple system really,” Gentry said on Media Day. “There’s not anything complicated about it. The [...]

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PHOENIX — Leadership is a funny quality when it comes to NBA locker rooms. It isn’t necessarily dictated based on talent or the player with the loudest voice, although those can certainly be determining factors. It often isn’t appreciated when it exists, but it’s definitely noticed when it’s absent. It isn’t inherent in everyone, but as [...]

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PHOENIX — Enough scorers have enjoyed career seasons next to Steve Nash to question whether Marcin Gortat will be the same offensive player without him around. Every Sun figures to take some kind of efficiency hit without Two Time, but no Phoenix player relied on him more to create easy buckets than Gortat last season, [...]

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One of the underappreciated benefits of the Phoenix Suns’ offseason overhaul is the effect it’s had on this very column. Last year, Phoenix had only two players who were “must own” guys, so the fantasy preview was a bit thin. This year, while the Suns may not be stacked like the Thunder or Heat, their [...]

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