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NBA Thursday: Phoenix Suns at Seattle SuperSonics
When Portland Trail Blazers rookie Greg Oden went down for the year with a knee injury it left all eyes on Seattle SuperSonics rookie Kevin Durrant. While Seattle has struggled a bit in preseason, only winning two games, they still expect big things from Durrant, and the rest of their young squad. If you take a look at the SuperSonics squad it is filled with players who could still be in college, let along the pros. They only have a few veterans on the team, such as Wally Szcezerbiak and Kurt Thomas, but they will start the season on the bench, behind the likes of Durrant, Chris Wilcox, and Robert Swift
The Phoenix Suns are always knocking on the door of an NBA championship, but to this point they have been unable to advance to the finals. Leading the way for the Suns again will be two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash. Nash was injured his hamstring during a preseason game Thursday, but is expected to be back in the starting lineup for this game. The Suns seem to have a lot of nagging injuries, but nothing that should keep them from performing well to start the season. Also of note, the Suns signed Grant Hill this season, and as of now he looks like he’ll be starting.
The Suns aren’t the same team they used to be, but Seattle is awfully young. I believe that Phoenix will take this one, mainly due to experience.
NBA Friday: LA Lakers at Phoenix Suns
Since right after the completion of the last year, the question on almost every NBA fans mind is: Will he stay or will he go? Kobe Bryant has been in the news almost every day, seeming inches away from a trade. As of the time of this writing Kobe Bryant is still an LA Laker, but more rumors are out there daily. Bryant isn’t happy with his supporting cast. It’s filled with older veterans like Derrick Fisher, and then a slew of players that will still need time to develop such as Jordan Farmar, Andrew Bynum, and Brian Cook. That could be a good team one day, but Kobe doesn’t want to wait around until then.
The Suns are a bit different looking this year, having lost some key players to free agency, but they are still led by Steve Nash. Nash is a two-time NBA MVP, and has been regarded as one of the best of making his teammates better. They will need that talent this year. Admare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion are back, but youngsters Leandro Barbosa, Boris Diaw, and Marcus Banks will need to play well for them to make another run at a title. Also, oft-injured Grant Hill is in the starting lineup. He isn’t what he once was, but he still plays solid defense, and can score when called upon.
The Suns will have a tougher time competing this year, but should be a playoff team. The Lakers will struggle to make a playoff bid of any kind, especially if they trade of Kobe. I think the Suns will take this early season match up, while Kobe scores between 40 and 50 points in the progress.
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