You just can’t kill them, no matter what you do.

A great effort by the Portland Trail Blazers last night. When you consider that the Phoenix Suns had four days off prior to that game and that they were on a five-game win streak. And oh yes, the Blazers had lost nine straight in Phoenix.

A nice job of sharing the ball and bringing energy — which is hard to do on the second of back-to-back games. But for some strange reason, back-to-backs have been a real bonus for Portland, with 10 wins in 13 tries. No question, it’s a resilient bunch.

That said, man what a difference between the Suns and Oklahoma City Thunder in terms of defensive intensity. Huge difference. The Suns are all about selling regular-season tickets with their style of play. But the way they play is going to make it just about impossible to win a playoff series. You just have to have more understanding of team defense than what they bring. I’ve said it before but Terry Porter was on the right track in Phoenix.

The Suns didn’t like it one bit, but what Porter was selling — a commitment to physical team defense — was exactly what that franchise still needs. But the front office gave in and what the Suns are left with is an entertaining style that pleases fans, doesn’t tax players much but really — it just isn’t conducive to long-term winning.

Dismissing the Suns doesn’t mean the Trail Blazers didn’t bring a great effort to this game. Steve Blake was terrific and LaMarcus Aldridge had a tremendous first half to get his team going. It was a wonderful response to that awful home loss Tuesday night at home to the Thunder.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, LaMarcus Aldridge, Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers

I wanted to wait until the next morning to write about this, because it helps gain perspective. And that’s important in this case, because, yes, it was only an exhibition game.

That said, the Trail Blazers were miserable on defense last night in their 110-104 loss to the Phoenix Suns. Granted, the Suns can spread you out and make you look bad if their threes are going in. But Portland allowed them to hit 12 of 23 of them and a lot were wide open.

For a team that was supposed to be making defense a priority in training camp, this was embarrassing.

Same old defensive problems — not knowing how they want to defend the pick-and-roll, not closing out on open jump shooters, not getting back on defense. It wasn’t pretty.

Afterward, Nate McMillan blasted his team’s conditioning several times. If I were the team hearing that, I’d know what’s ahead — some punishing time in practice, running lines and all sorts of sprints. Nate was ticked — and took a lot of the blame himself, which he should, since conditioning is part of training camp routine.

More than conditioning, though, I thought they just didn’t play very hard. We may be going through a time with this team where the young players have been around long enough that they think they can just turn on the faucet when the regular season starts. But it doesn’t work that way.

Andre Miller was pretty good and Greg Oden was terrific. There are so many teams that don’t have centers who can guard Oden and he can feast on them if he gets the ball. He got it in the first half but not much in the second. Moving forward, that could be a problem. He could have easily gotten 25 or 30 against the Suns — who tried to defend him with Channing Frye, which will never work out.

I didn’t like the game much and quite obviously the coaching staff didn’t, either. But it’s just one more exhibition game. Enough said.

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Tags: Andre Miller, Dwight Jaynes, Greg Oden, Nate McMillan, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers

As the leadoff to his promising “NBA Flashback” series, our pal Wendell Maxey chose to tell the compelling story of one of the most serious scandals ever to hit an NBA team, the 1987 Phoenix Suns:

It was simply known as “Waltergate.”

On April 18, 1987 the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office indicted 13 people including three members of the Suns on charges of possessing and trafficking in cocaine or marijuana. The two month investigation showed the players were frequenting a local establishment and obtaining cocaine.

Yet in the end, their downfall came at the hands of one of their own in front of a grand jury.

Center James Edwards, guard Jay Humphries and rookie guard Grant Gondrezick – along with former Suns Garfield Heard and Mike Bratz – had all been turned in by teammate Walter Davis, who testified to avoid prosecution after being involved.

Edwards and Davis eventually became Trail Blazers and both had the reputation as good people. But you read this story and you understand why the NBA had (some say it still does) such a bad reputation for so long.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Garfield Heard, Grant Condrezick, James Edwards, Mike Bratz, NBA, Phoenix Suns, scandal, Walter Davis, Wendell Maxey

It’s as if the Western Conference powers are sitting around a poker table and each one, in turn, keeps upping the ante. The Blazers might just as well swoop in and pluck Steve Nash from the dead carcass that was once the Phoenix Suns.

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Tags: Amare Stoudemire, Dwight Jaynes, Houston Rockets, NBA Western Conference, Phoenix Suns, Steve Nash

Just so people understand, Shaquille O’Neal getting in Robin Lopez’s face last night was a joke. Very similar to the KG and Big Baby deal in Boston earlier in the season.

At the time Shaq decided to come down on Lopez, the Suns were absolutely getting their asses handed to them on a platter. So time to yell at Robin Lopez for something.

Got a scoop for you Shaq, if you really want to make your mark as a leader, why weren’t you yelling at Steve Nash to get his tail in gear during his five-assist, three-turnover stint? Or screaming at Matt Barnes for his 1-for-8 snoozefest? Why not say something to somebody who plays, somebody who had an impact on the loss that virtually eliminated the Suns from playoff contention?

Oh, what the heck. Just go ahead and get in the face of the guy with bad hair who doesn’t play much and really had NOTHING to do with the outcome of the game. Easier that way. Now THAT’S leadership.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Phoenix Suns, Robin Lopez, Shaquille O'Neal, Steve Nash

Tonight at the Rose Garden, you’re going to be looking at a veteran team fighting for its playoff life. And its heart is barely beating. The Suns come in needing this one bad. Real bad.

And even though Phoenix played last night at home, I expect the Suns to bring full effort to this game. If they lose, they’re in deep trouble.

The Blazers, on the other hand, don’t need the game quite as badly, but they need it. You don’t want to lose back-to-back games at home and more important, you want to put the Suns in your rearview mirror right here and now. Bury them. If you don’t, it’s going to be like one of those zombie flicks, where these guys keep getting out of the coffin and coming at you for the rest of the season.

For the Blazers, it’s actually pretty simple: Take care of the ball, run when the opportunity presents itself and make the Suns defend, something they don’t do well. Make them work hard at the defensive end and you’ll see the effects of the back-to-back thing. At the other end, do not leave their outside shooters open. Don’t give up open threes and deny penetration.

Simple? If the Blazers win this game, the playoffs a virtual lock. Lose it and the odds will still say the playoffs are there – but it becomes a lot tougher deal.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Phoenix Suns, playoffs, Portland Trail Blazers

I’m sure Terry Porter has some failings as a head coach. I’m not sure, having not seen it close up, if he’s even head-coach material. Not saying he isn’t — just saying I don’t know.

But I do know an ambush when I see one. Steve Kerr — how can you look yourself in the mirror?

The general manager of the Phoenix Suns didn’t have the stomach to back Terry Porter in the face of Steve Nash’s whimpering about the team’s new style of play (which, of course, was Kerr’s vision in the first place, having added Shaq to the roster) and that undercut Porter’s position with his players. Porter was set up to fail almost from training camp onward. The Suns’ veterans are a disgruntled group because they hated to see former coach Mike D’Antoni leave. I don’t blame them — he coached a fun style of basketball and it was successful.

Kerr has that on his resume, too — pushing D’Antoni out the door. But then, when a decision was made to rein in the team’s running style a little bit, Porter was brought in to instill a defensive mindset and a halfcourt game. That’s two things Phoenix didn’t have.

But when the players cried about not getting to run and having to actually attempt to play defense, Kerr didn’t march into the locker room and shut them up. He wasn’t honest enough to tell them and the Suns’ fans the truth — they’re too old and broken down to continue that running style. Even now, when it’s obvious that Nash, not Amare Stoudemire, should be traded for the betterment of the franchise, Kerr doesn’t have the guts to do it because Nash is too popular in Phoenix.

The Suns now are officially on the road to ruin. If they make the playoffs this season it will be for the last time in a long, long while. And in Phoenix they’ll remember Steve Kerr’s disastrous moves a lot longer than anything Terry Porter did or didn’t do.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Phoenix Suns, Steve Kerr, Steve Nash, Terry Porter

That’s what Pete Vecsey is reporting in the New York Post.

Talk about being set up to fail. They trade Shawn Marion for Shaquille O’Neal, they’re playing with a 35-year-old point guard who doesn’t seem to realize he’s not the player he used to be and yet, nobody can accept the fact that this isn’t a running team any longer. Terry never had a chance there.

Yeah, fire the coach. It’s HIS fault. If you do that, Steve Kerr, you ought to be ashamed of yourself.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Phoenix Suns, Shaquille O'Neal, Shawn Marion, Steve Kerr, Terry Porter

In the previous post, I wrote about Steve Kerr in Phoenix, holding onto old guys and trading his good young guy. Even though Nash, at 35, is the natural guy to be putting on the market because he’s still got some games left, but he’s on the down side of his career and his contract is at least tradeable.

Go try to get a promising young guy for him.

What you keep hearing, though, is something like, “You can’t trade Nash. He’s the most popular player on the team. He’s beloved. Season ticket holders wouldn’t renew. Blah, blah, blah . . .”

Well, I’m here to tell you that if you can improve your team, you better make the deal. In another year, if the Suns hit the skids — and they’re going to have a massive train wreck when all these old guys run out of gas at the same time — those season ticket holders are going to leave you, anyway.

It seems so obvious — you’re so much better off doing what’s best for the team than worrying about what the fans think. Sorry, fans — it’s the way it works and sometimes you just have to move on.

And the smart general managers know that.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, NBA, Phoenix Suns, Steve Kerr, Steve Nash

This story says that Portland is in the thick of the chase for Phoenix’s Amare Stoudemire. I don’t really believe it’s true, at least if the deal is constituted the way it’s reported. In the last two days I think I’ve read stories in the hometown papers of about half the teams in the league saying their team was chasing Stoudemire.

This report says that the Blazers are offering LaMarcus Aldridge, Jerryd Bayless and Raef’s super-expiring contract for Stoudemire.

First off, I don’t see Portland giving up Bayless. Or Aldridge, for that matter. And I’m not sure where Stoudemire fits as a Blazer. He’s an extremely talented offensive player — but this team is already one of the most efficient offensive teams in the league. He’s a rebounder, but the Blazers are the best rebounding team in the league already.

He’s also a very disinterested defender, and the Blazers are already pretty mediocre on defense. He’s also a guy who needs to run — and Portland plays at the slowest pace in the league. He just doesn’t strike me as enough of the missing piece for the Blazers to basically push so many of its chips onto the table and go “all in” for him.

I’m also convinced if this report is true, and the Blazers did, indeed, make that offer, Stoudemire is going to be a Blazer. It’s a great offer because the Suns get two terrific young players and also the massive salary cap relief they’re looking for. In fact, I’d say if Portland really made that offer, the deal would be done already.

I mean, the Suns not only get the cap relief they’re seeking by dumping Amare’s contract (which is probably the biggest thing they’re seeking), they get TWO great young players? Nobody else is offering anywhere near that much.

(Sidebar — Steve Kerr is a very smart guy. And a nice guy. But has he taken leave of his senses? Trade the 26-year-old superstar and keep the elderly Steve Nash, Shaquille O’Neal and Grant Hill? In a year, Phoenix will be so far from the playoffs it will need a telescope to see them.)

Everyone likes trades. At least that’s my experience. At the very least they like talking about them. There are a good many players out there who would really help the Blazers, but I’m not sure Stoudemire fits as well as a lot of them.

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Tags: Amare Stoudemire, Dwight Jaynes, Jerryd Bayless, LaMarcus Aldridge, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers