Suggestions for Phoenix Suns 2010 offseason

Welcome to another Phoenix Suns postseason. At this same time last season your friend The Greg One released a checklist of things for the Suns to do in the offseason to be successful this past season. Get rid of Shaq. Check. Sign Nash. Check. Make Gentry the permanent coach. Check. As a result of these and other suggestions the Suns had a better season than anyone expected, advancing to the western conference finals. Here's hoping the Suns follow the new blueprint yours truly is happy to share with the world.
The first thing the Suns have to do is bring in a strong General Manager. Steve Kerr gets a solid C grade for his work in the valley. He pulled the trigger on the deal that brought Jason Richardson and Jared Dudley to town, sending away Raja Bell and Boris Diaw. Great deal looking back on it now. He also hired Terry Porter and sent away Shawn Marion to get a decrepit Shaquille O'Neal. Terrible moves on both fronts. Kerr didn't take the lowball offers for Amare Stoudemire offered by a number of teams, choosing to stand his ground and risk losing Amare for nothing in return. That move ensured a wildly successful season but can also be a curse if Amare walks, leaving the Suns holding the bag. The Kerr tenure is a push. A solid 'C'. Similarly, owner Robert Sarver needs to open his checkbook this offseason and get quality talent in or sell majority ownership to someone who will.
The Suns need to talk to Kevin Pritchard, the young gun who just was released by Portland. Pritchard brought in solid character guys and turned Portland from the 'Jailblazers' to one of the up and coming players in the western conference. Talk to Danny Ainge. The ship is sinking in Boston. Rasheed Wallace is retiring, Ray Allen is a free agent, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce aren't getting any younger and now they're starting to no-show in the playoffs. Pierce is also a free agent. Its time to rebuild in Boston and now would be a good time for Ainge to head to greener pastures . Just something to think about, nothing wrong with just sending a phone call out that way.
Should the Suns offer Amare Stoudemire a max contract? In a word, no. The Greg One is a big Amare fan. The problem is that Amare has peaked already. He has only recently got the spring back into his step two years removed from his microfracture knee surgery. His court vision finally cleared in the second half of the season a year after his eye surgery. His body has already started to break down. Stoudemire's next deal will take him into his thirties and even now his desire can be called into question. There's no doubt he carried the Suns in the second half of the season but for a player with such immense athletic gifts, how can he NOT be averaging a double double? Amare averaged 23 points and 8.9 rebounds and one block for the season. Not good enough. When you have to install Robin Lopez for rebounding, that's not a good sign.
If not Amare, then who? The Suns have the money to sign one player to a max contract and with a team that made the conference finals it shouldn't be a hard sell. Before we get to the most legitimate prospects, one suggestion. Make an offer to LeBron. We know his mind is set on Chicago or New York and The Greg One sees him in a Knicks uniform next season. Even so, put someone on a plane and pitch the man already! In Phoenix, LeBron wouldn't have to worry about having a sidekick coming with him, he'd already have the league's best point guard in Steve Nash, Jason Richardson, the deepest bench in the league, an arsenal of three point shooters that will open the lanes wide enough for him to drive a truck through, and a fast break offense that would highlight his high-flying ability more than any other team can. Move Frye to Amare's slot, put Lopez at Center and you have a championship. Case closed. Pitch the man!
Now on to the best candidates to replace Amare:
1. Chris Bosh. Bosh is who Amare should be. He averages 24 points, 10.8 rebounds and one block a game. Bosh is a year younger an inch taller and doesn't have the injury problems. Bosh seems transfixed on Miami but that's why someone needs to shine the light from Phoenix and pitch the man!
2. Dirk Nowitzki. Dirk may be looking to opt out this postseason. Where better than to go than to join his favorite running mate Steve Nash? With Dirk on the floor the Suns could field five players who can all shoot the three with deadly accuracy if Channing Frye is at center. Take a minute to let that thought wash over you. The downside is Dirk is 32 and we don't know how much gas is left in the tank but back alongside Nash, it could be the fountain of youth for him. Dirk has hit the glass ceiling in Dallas and at seven feet tall he would make a nice twin tower next to seven footer Robin Lopez at center.
3. Carlos Boozer. Boozer is a defensive force. He averages 19.5 points, 11.2 rebounds per game. He can be had for less than the maximum which should make Robert Sarver happy. Boozer is an intimidator and would look really good backing down Bynum and Gasol.
4. David Lee. Lee is a bright young stud who averages 20.2 points and 11.7 rebounds per game. He also would not require a max deal.
5. Yao Ming. He gets injured too much but he averages 19.7 points, 9.9 rebounds and almost two blocks a game. The Suns game speed may be too fast for him but after a season on the injured list, he would be a great reclamation project.
So there you have it, the top five replacements should Amare leave town. If all else fails, sign Paul Pierce for three years. Keep the bench intact by resigning Amundsen and Frye then add one of these pieces and the Suns will make championship runs in the playoffs. If one of the top three choices sign, a banner will finally find its place into the Purple Palace. Three words, pitch the man!

The Peanut Gallery: June Edition

Summer has officially arrived in the valley, bringing triple digit temperatures, a sports void for non-baseball fans and a solutions oriented edition of The Peanut Gallery! One out of three ain't bad, it will get you into the baseball Hall of Fame. Baseball is the only relevant sport to tide us over until August when we can finally enjoy the NFL preseason. The Greg One is, at his most extreme, a passive baseball fan. No sport should require a 182-game regular season. (We will make an exception for women's beach volleyball). Baseball is ancient, behind the times and not very fan friendly. Bud Selig is a moron. Any forward thinking commissioner would look at the ump blunder that cost Armando Galaragga a perfect game as a ghastly offense to the game and corrected it. If history means so much do the right thing and give the kid his place among the other immortals that have thrown perfect games. Instead, Bud does nothing but try to say 'I'm sorry' by giving the kid a Corvette. Woo freakin hoo! The kid could go buy a Corvette with the change that has fallen between his couch cushions. That's reason #162 why baseball sucks. We all know The Greg One is a dedicated Chargers fanatic so by extension the Padres get a casual eye in their direction as well. What do you know, the Padres are taking a cue from the Chargers and spanking their division! Space is too valuable in this column to waste on baseball so we'll pick the Padres winning the World Series by defeating the Phillies in the NLCS and taking out the Tampa Bay Rays in the lowest rated World Series ever.
The NBA season is over, the draft is over and Lebron-a-Palooza is about to begin. Lebron will leave Cleveland and play in New York. Hope it was good for you Cleveland, your moment in the sun is over and your team will go back to the cellar and the lottery next season. Personally, The Greg One wants Lebron to go to the Clippers. They have a good young nucleus, an all-star point guard and the delayed freshman debut of Blake Griffin. On top of that he would get to TAKE Los Angeles from Kobe Bryant and make himself a God in an organization with a franchise long history of failure.
What a roller coaster its been in MMA. Machida lost his rematch to Shogun, Rampage lost to Rashad and Fedor lost to UFC castoff Fabricio Werdum. First, now that the series is tied at one, there needs to be a third Machida vs. Shogun matchup. Nobody has tagged Machida as much as Shogun and a third fight would be a barnburner. Secondly, Rampage losing to Rashad was disappointing. How do you not account for that speed with small, fast sparring partners? How do you not go for the kill when you had him down and almost out in the third round? Not good. It was also sad to see Chuck Liddell sent into retirement by Rich Franklin. Thanks for the memories and the legacy of great fights Iceman. Thirdly, Fedor lost his first fight in ten years in under two minutes and with it went his aura of invincibility. Ten years of fighting tomato cans has caught up with you. You have one more fight left with Strikeforce then what? Will you retire or man up and go to the UFC where Brock Lesnar, Frank Mir, Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez will be waiting? Somewhere Dana White is laughing his head off right now. Want to redeem yourself Fedor? Step into the big leagues and face the best, not has beens.
UFC 116 is going to be off the hook as Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin get it on. Brock has been The Greg One's favorite fighter since crossing over from the WWE and nothing has changed. Hopefully Brock is 100% after his debilitating illness. Regardless my prediction is Brock will emerge victorious on saturday and will continue to rule the heavyweight division for a long time. The pecking order has been established and Brock is the new Tyson. Props to ESPN for adding a MMA themed half hour but lets stop running it over with Baseball Tonight and World Cup coverage. Thank you.
Don't think i've forgotten you World Cup. As much as we'd like to forget you your presence is as annoying as your vuvuzelas. Here in America, there is only one football, no matter how you spell it. Ask the MLS how we feel about soccer. Thankfully, team USA has lost and we can go back to paying attention to things more relevant than you like the NFL offseason, the WNBA, Wimbledon, summer movie blockbusters and why Shaun White was sporting a walking cane at the Guy's Choice Awards. Take your floppers, your magic spray, your crooked refs and go away. Don't bother returning in four years, we'll be busy...washing our hair.

The Peanut Gallery: May Edition

Welcome back to the from the ridiculous to the sublime issue of The Peanut Gallery! I am your party host, The Greg One. Spanning the globe, we'll start with the ridiculous and what better place than Pittsburgh where Ben Roethlisberger has been under fire for allegedly having unwanted relations with a college coed for the second time in less than two years. One's an accident, two's a trend...three's a habit. Even though Ben has gotten off light legally he's officially the dumbest pro quarterback in NFL history. Congratulations Ben, you make Jamarcus Russell look like he knows what he's doing! All of us can see you're a target when you go out in public, why can't you? You're a multi, multi-million dollar quarterback with two Super Bowl rings. You're going to be under the radar anyplace you go for the rest of your life. What are you doing hanging in college bars? All you're going to do is what we just saw. You got hooked by a barely legal piece of college hotness with nothing better to do than pay off her tuition at your expense the moment the hangover wore off. There may not be a criminal trial but the trail does not go cold overnight unless there was a substantial payoff involved. Ask Tiger about that. You put yourself in that position, Ben. Twice. Roger Goodell laid his pimp hand flush on your gamechecks and its going to cost another three million on top of your payout for the games you will be missing. Your team didn't back you, the annoyingly rabid Steeler fans didn't back you, the management didn't back you and EMINEM even punked you! That sir, is a ridiculously bad couple weeks which you definitely deserve.
The Raiders, speaking of ridiculous, traded for Jason Campbell and sent the aforementioned Jamarcus Russell packing. For once the Raiders made a smart move but The Greg One has complete confidence the Raiders will make the same moronic mistakes they always do. This is the team that brought proven quarterback Jeff Garcia into the fold last year only to cut him before the season started! Stupid is as stupid does. Russell did do The Greg One a favor by replacing disgraced Charger Ryan Leaf as the biggest bust in NFL history. Now all the NFL talking heads are asking if Russell will get another job. Sure he will, at Dairy Queen. He has a promising future as a Wal-Mart greeter! Oh, you mean a job in the NFL...In a word, NO. Getting cut from the Raiders is like flunking preschool. Jamarcus, don't go away mad, just go away.
Last season David Stern jinxed the NBA. Salivating over the potential ratings bonanza that would be a Lakers/Cavaliers finals, Stern officially jumped the shark by rubber stamping commercials that promoted the potential series during the semifinal round. Remember the Kobe/Lebron puppet commercials?( Lebron, have you seen my RINGS?!?) Predictably, the Cavs lost in the conference finals and the showdown never happened. In the end, no one outside California cared about a Lakers/Magic final. This year, no puppets, no commercials and sorry David Stern but Cavs/ Lakers still will not happen. Why? The Suns are good enough to beat the Lakers but even if they don't there is NO WAY Cleveland will get through Boston AND Orlando. The Cavaliers are a one man show and one man will not win a championship. Orlando will make it to the finals for the second straight year. That Kobe/Lebron finals series will NEVER happen. Lebron might make it with his next team but Kobe's window will shut after this year and the Lakers will not make the finals after this year for a very long time, IF they make it this year.
On that topic, The Greg One was the only man in the blogosphere to predict the Suns winning the series against the Spurs in five games, thus getting closer than all the 'experts' out there handicapping the series. Everyone else had the series going six or seven but the writing was on the wall. The Spurs were old and slow. The Suns are young, fast and deeper than any team remaining in the playoffs. If the Suns keep playing the way they're playing and the Lakers keep playing the way they're playing the Suns will win the series. Official prediction? This series will go seven games and when the smoke clears...The Lakers will have squeezed out the win and will lose to Orlando in the finals. Hard to say being a die-hard Suns fan and The Greg One hopes he is wrong for once.
Wrestlemania proved to be the biggest game in town the last weekend of march as yours truly told you on the air. The event was the best attended, highest grossing event in the history of University of Phoenix stadium, bringing in 72,219 fans and pumping more than 50 million into the Glendale economy over the four days they were here. If you want to know why the WWE is the greatest show in town rent the dvd and watch the Money-In-The-Bank ladder match and the main event featuring Shawn Michaels versus The Undertaker. If you're not a fan after that call an exorcist because you have no soul.

The Greg One will be back soon talking MMA, MLB, the controversial Arizona immigration law and the REAL keys to fixing the recession. Stay tuned.