(Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images)

Tonight’s Phoenix Suns game against the Utah Jazz represents the 15th time this season the team has played in back-to-back games.  With the Jazz only 1/2 game ahead of Phoenix for home court advantage in the playoffs, the history of the back-to-backs this season could indicate how well the team will do. 

Stefan Swiat wrote a blog about the Suns schedule and how the team felt about back-to-backs.  Now that we’re heading into the home stretch of the season and have the majority of them behind us – while yet having some big games ahead of us – I thought I would take a look at some trends to see how we have fared.  And maybe even find some trends to watch for.

In the 14 completed back-to-back games so far this season:

• Phoenix is 10-4 in the first game
• Phoenix is 6-8 in the last game
• The team scores an average of 109.3 points in the first game; they allow 104.7 points
• They average 104.9 points in the second game and allow 109.6
• Only two of the back-to-backs have been losses in both games
• Two of the back-to-backs have had a loss followed by a win
• The final back-to-back is against current Western Conference playoff teams – Denver at home on April 13 and Utah away on April 14

Tonight’s game represents the fourth time this season where Phoenix has played an away game and then a home game the following night.  They are 3-0 in the second game in those situations – against Houston, Philadelphia and Denver) so fans should feel fairly good going into the game.  However, both teams know what they are playing for tonight and Utah hasn’t played since Monday so they are well rested.  The fact that these teams would be facing each other in the playoffs if they started today and the fact that both teams are especially strong at home should make it all the more interesting only increases the importance of this game.

What are your thoughts on back-to-backs this season and the way the Suns have played in them so far?

(Barry Gossage/NBAE/Getty Images)

A look back at some trends for the Suns over the past week (February 23 through March 1):

1. The Suns outscored their opponents 546 to 507.
2. The win against the Nuggets capped a stretch of five games in seven days.  They won four of those games and their one loss was by 3 points.
3. Phoenix scored the least number of cumulative points in the 4th quarter over the past week.  They averaged 23.8 points in the 4th quarter as opposed to at least 27.2 in each of the other three quarters.  They scored 17 points twice in that stretch.
4. Amar’e Stoudemire has average 26.4 points over the past week.  Steve Nash averaged 11.25 assists over 4 games – he didn’t play in the first game against the Thunder.
5. The Suns bench averaged 26 points.  The bench of the opponents averaged 33.6 points.  This number is skewed by the Spurs whose bench scored 55 points against the Suns.  But the three players on the bench who scored were Richard Jefferson, Manu Ginobili and DeJuan Blair.  The Spurs starting five only scored 58.

One more number:

1. Lori Ann was wondering how the Suns did when the Suns scored at least 25 points in each quarter and how the team did when at least 25 points were scored in the first quarter.  So I ran some numbers.  The Suns are a perfect 11-0 when they score 25+ points in each quarter.  When they score at least 25 points in the 1st quarter, the Suns are 34-15 – a 69% winning percentage.  So if you’re looking to practically guarantee the Suns a win, root for them to score at least 25 points a quarter.

Have a numbers question yourself?  E-mail me at blog@suns.com and I’ll try to track down the answer.

(Jed Jacobsohn/NBAE/Getty Images)

The Suns don’t have control over their own playoff destiny at this point in the season.  But they did do their part on Sunday night by scoring the most points by an NBA team this season.  And more importantly by beating the Warriors, 154-130.

Jason Richardson and Matt Barnes decided to beat up on their old team by scoring 51 combined points – over 33 percent of the teams total points.  Shaquille O’Neal and Leandro Barbosa add another 47 points to the team’s total.  In fact, every player who stepped on the court for the Suns scored except for Stromile Swift.

With such a high scoring game, one would think that Steve Nash would have the team high in assists.  But that honor went to Matt Barnes, who had a quarter of the team’s total assists.  Nash, however, wasn’t far behind with nine of his own dishes.

While it was a fun game for Phoenix, the second half wasn’t so glorious for the Warriors.  Stephen Jackson had picked up a technical foul in the first half for arguing a call.  In the third quarter, he was given his second technical foul and was ejected from the game.  Golden State coach Don Nelson didn’t agree with the assessment of the second T and said something to the referee that obviously did sit well with the man in stripes.  Coach Nelson didn’t even get a first technical foul warning.  He was ejected immediately and joined his star player in watching the rest of the game from the locker room.  At that point, the Suns took full advantage of the flailing Warriors and extended what started out as a two-point lead to start the half to as many as 30 points.

Even though the Suns don’t have total control over whether or not they get into the playoffs, both Barnes and Richardson have experienced the crazy things that can happen at the end of the season.  Barnes said, “Jason Richardson and I are trying to remind everybody that you never know what happens, so you have to try and come out and get every game.  We have won two in a row and we need to try and keep it moving.”

That is the thing Suns fans can remember as well.  Anything can happen at the end of the season.  We shouldn’t give up on our team yet.  They can use all the support they can get from their fans to help push them.

What were your thoughts on the game?  Leave your comments below.

(Noah Graham/NBAE/Getty Images)

For those fans (myself included) who wondered whether the Phoenix Suns would be able to keep up their winning ways with their new coach, Wednesday night’s game was a good test.  Phoenix wouldn’t be playing in front of their home crowd, the newness of the coach had worn off a bit and the players were tired from the game the night before.

And for the first three quarters, it looked as if the Clippers might have a chance.  They scored 19 more points than they did the night before.  But they let the Suns score 2 more points than they did in the previous game.  The final score was 142-119, advantage Suns.

At one point in the third quarter, the game was getting boring enough (because the game was no longer in doubt, not because the Suns weren’t exciting) that Tom Leander and Scott Williams decided to bring on a guess for the rest of the third quarter and part of the fourt.  They had Bill Simmons, ESPN’s Sports Guy, partipcipate in the broadcast for several minutes.  

Overall, the win was a good one – despite the fact that it didn’t help us move up in the standings.  Phoenix is still a half-game out of the playoff picture.  But they’re on a good start – helping new coach Alvin Gentry to a 2-0 record as Suns Head Coach.

Next up: Oklahoma City.  What are your thoughts on this game or the upcoming game?

It’s finally the day we’ve all been waiting for.  There has been a lot of build-up and tons of great stuff put out by Suns.com.  With 9 people roaming around Phoenix and reporting everything they’ve experienced on Suns.com, you can check out what was happening at All-Star Weekend even if you weren’t able to attend yourself.  But everything that we’ve done during the past week was to prepare for tonight’s game.  For three hours, you’ll be able to watch arguably the best basketball players in the world play together on one court.  For basketball fans, there isn’t much better than this.  

Check back throughout the evening for live updates on the game and events in the arena that you may not see on TV.

9:20 pm - The end of the game turned into a dunk contest since the outcome of the game was not in question.  The West won the game 146-119.  I’m not sure if that is the highest score an All-Star game has had but it is probably pretty close.  Thanks to everyone for reading and enjoying all of the festivities this weekend.  It’s been a fun week in Phoenix and we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.  Leave your comments on the All-Star game below!

9:05 pm - The East is trying to make a comeback but keep missing their shots.  Not a great way to try and reduce the lead the West currently has.  The West has basically turned the game into a playground-style event where they try to make the coolest passes and shots and outdo one another.  And even with that, the East can’t really catch up.  With 5:55 left in the game, the score is 124-108 in favor of the West.

8:50 pm - Shaquille O’Neal is teaching Rashard Lewis all kinds of tricks in this third quarter.  It would be hard to play against a motivated Shaq in front of his hometown fans in an All-Star game.  Shaq has taken over the quarter and is even making his free throws (or at least some of them).  The West continued to extend their lead throughout the third quarter and the quarter ends with the West in the lead, 110-91.  But as Phoenix Stan just said on Twitter: “If Allen Iverson still breathes, no lead is safe in an All-Star Game.”

8:40 pm - The NBA showed a different “Love Songs” commercial tonight than they did last night.  It had several NBA players singing love songs including Shaq singing Caribbean Queen and Amar’e singing, what else, That’s Amore (or Amar’e).  With 4 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter, Shaq made a pass that looked like he passed it between a defender’s legs, got the pass back and dunked with a driving layup.  Now that’s All-Star material!

8:25 pm - After the halftime show, a presentation of Olympic rings to the players who won them and the player warm-ups, we’re back to the game.  Amare had a great driving dunk and the West has extended their lead back to 13.  This is a better performance by the West starters than we got in the first half.  

8:00 pm - The biggest cheer of the night went to a video message from Barack Obama.  I know he likes basketball but I’m sure the security just wouldn’t have been enough at an event like this for him to show up.  John Legend and Juanes were the halftime entertainment.  Usually people leave their seats at halftime in order to do whatever they don’t want to do during the game.  But from my viewpoint, I think about 90% of the crowd stayed in their seats for the performance.  That’s going to make for some very crowded bathrooms and concession lines during the third quarter!

7:45 pm - Bill Russell was honored during the timeout.  The NBA is naming the Finals MVP trophy after him.  I guess it’s also his 75th birthday today so they brought out a huge green 75 cake for him.  I was walking in the halls last night and saw him so I stopped to wait for him to walk past.  I didn’t want to bother him by talking to him but I can now say that I stood next to Bill Russell.  It’s something I can mark off my “NBA Wish List.”   The rest of the quarter went about as expected.  Brandon Roy did have a couple of good dunks.  At halftime, the score is 76-72, West lead.

7:37 pm – The Phoenix Suns’ Dancing Dads and Golden Grannies just performed for the arena crowd and they did great.  My favorite part:  When all the grannies did the actions to “2 Legit 2 Quit.”  Something is funny about a woman with graying hair doing that.  Back to the game, Amar’e Stoudemire has entered again.   With the score tied at 56, Amare Stoudemire grabbed a rebound off a Kobe Bryant missed shot and put it back for two.  Yet another timeout.  The West is up 62-58 with about 3 minutes to go in the half.

7:30 pm - Danny Granger finally had the first big dunk of the second quarter with about seven minutes to go.  The East has caught up from their previous deficit and the players’ competitiveness is starting to come out.  I didn’t think that happened until the fourth quarter of an All-Star game but maybe these guys have decided they really want to win this thing.  More timeouts are starting to be called.  With 5:18 to go in the half, the West is up on the East, 54-50.

7:20 pm – For the first several minutes of the 2nd quarter, the teams traded baskets.  There were no huge runs like there were in the previous quarter.  There were a lot of jump shots or layups but not any great dunks or passes.  Either none of these guys are great at defense or they’ve decided to see if they can get a combined 300 points With 8:16 left in the 2nd quarter, the score is 46-40.  The West has the lead.

7:15 pm - With Shaq in the game, the West has had 3 steals and went on a 7-0 run before the East decided that they should maybe shake things up on their end by bringing in some reserves.  Shaq had great defense and a steal against Devin Harris and that lead to a Kobe Bryant Dunk.  Even the reserves couldn’t stop the East bleeding with Shaq in the game.  The West went on an 11-point run before the East decided to use one of their time-outs.  During the timeout the Gorilla got a bunch of his mascot friends together to dunk on the trampoline.  For the finale, they brought out a big cactus and dunked over it.  Quite impressive!  After the timeout, Shaq gave a great pass to Tony Parker to continue the West’s run and followed it up by one of his patented dunks.  The West ended the quarter on a 24-7 run and lead 34-27.

7:00 pm – There is 5:44 left in the quarter and the West is down 20-10 .   Maybe the rims are tight on the West’s end of the court because even Kobe can’t hit anything from as close as the free throw line.   Kobe got his first two points with an amazing dunk.  With two great dunks in the first quarter, I think ESPN could possibly come up with a top-10 dunks of the All-Star game.  The West finally had to call a time out to get some things in order.  Shaq is now in the game so hopefully that will add some fire to the team.

6:46 pm - The West hasn’t started out well and is already in a 5 point hole in the first minute of the game!  Amar’e has taken one shot.  And Alen Iverson just schooled somebody while driving to the basket.  That’ll be on a highlight reel somewhere.

6:38 pm - I got a little caught up in the introductions and forgot to type what was going on.  I’m not sure what it looked like on TV but it was pretty cool in person.  The rehearsals went a little differently than the real thing.  Shaq didn’t do the starting announcements like they had practiced but he did dance with the JabawokeeZ and that was pretty good.  He can definitely move for a big man.  Next we listened to Tamia Hill sing Oh Canada! and Jordin Sparks sing The Star-Spangled Banner.  They both did amazingly well.  It’s amazing what good singers can do for both of those songs.

6:22 pm - The All-Stars have left the court to get ready for introductions and the Suns Dancers are out trying to get the crowd excited.  Ced Ceballos is the MC for tonight’s in-arena activities.There is still a lot of media on the court so I think we’re a few minutes from the game starting.  

6:00 pm – Let’s get this party started!  The All-Stars are all out on the court warming up, the celebrities are slowly filling in and the atmosphere is definitely electric.  It’s always fun to go to an NBA game but I’m not sure if it is the fact that I’m seeing celebrities everywhere, that there is a huge stage at the corner of the court or that this is what I’ve been working on for more than a week that makes this game feel more special.  Or it could be the fact that every player on the court is an absolutely awesome basketball player.

It’s time for All-Star Saturday Night!  And Suns.com’s Dan Hilton (and possibly some special guests from other Suns.com crew members located throughout the building) will be providing live coverage of the event from high above the rafters at the US Airways Center.  Check back throughout the event to get information you won’t see anywhere else on the web!

8:59 pm - With 52% of the vote, the NBA Slam Dunk Champion is NATE ROBINSON!  And the crowd literally goes wild!  Everyone was chanting his name during the commercial break and it looks like the fans at home thought so as well.  It was a great contest and probably one of the most entertaining slam dunk contests I’ve seen in quite a while.  In fact, the entire evening was very enjoyable.  I hope the fans watching from home enjoyed it as much as I did and hopefully the little insights given in the blog were helpful either while watching live or for those of you who were on dates with your significant others.  Remember to check back tomorrow for a live blog of the All-Star game.

8:59 pm - AND THE WINNER IS…

8:56 pm - This is a great change to the competition.  The fans get to text in their votes and decide the winner.  They have two minutes to text in their vote.  Most people on Twitter are saying Nate Robinson will get the win.  We’re waiting for the votes to tally now.

8:53 pm - And now for Howard’s last dunk.  He’s pacing and looks maybe a little nervous.  All of the NBA players on the baseline are standing.  Howard just got a much, much smaller uniform.  It’s like a spandex uniform.  And now he’s moving the entire crowd that was on the other half of the court off.  If Howard has anything, he’s got the ability to entertain.  He’s trying to get the crowd into it by waving his arms.  But his dunk was somewhat anti-climactic.  He meant to take off from the free throw line but he 

8:51 pm - Now Robinson is using Howard as a prop.  Have we ever seen this before?  A competitor using his competition as part of the dunk!?  Robinson dunked OVER Howard.  Absolutely amazing.  The saying is right.  The NBA really is where amazing happens.

8:50 pm - Dwight Howard is getting ready for his dunk.  And the crowd goes absolutely nuts!  He bounced it off the side of the backboard and I thought he was going to bring down the rim with the power he had.  Even Shaq (the REAL Superman) is impressed.

8:48 pm – And now we know why he changed into green.  He says it is Kryptonite green.  The theatrics have just gone up another notch.  And then he does a dunk where he brings the ball between his knees!  Very impressive for the power he slammed it down with!

8:46 pm - It is Nate Robinson and Dwight Howard in the finals.  I really thought Robinson had a chance this year but if Howard can bring out another performance like he did on his second dunk, he may be the repeat champion.  And I found out why Robinson left the court.  He changed into a green uniform for some reason.  I’m not sure why but maybe he wants to be a super hero as well.  Maybe the Green Lantern?

8:40 pm - Holy cow.  Dwight Howard just requested another basketball goal and they have raised it to what I think is 12 feet.  Now Howard has gone into a telephone booth on the stage and closed the door.  They’re playing the Superman music and he comes out with a cape.  Shaq looks very interested in the proceedings.  Everyone in the arena is on their feet.  Howard passed the ball to his teammate, who bounced it off the backboard and then Howard dunked it.  He was given another score of 50.  This one, I think, was deserved just for the theatrics!

8:38 pm - I think Nate Robinson is going to injure himself or his teammate.  He is using him as a trampoline and the first dunk I thought he might break his teammates back or break his own ankle.  The judges gave him a 41.  He then left the court.  I’m not sure why.  I hope he’s not hurt.

8:35 pm - JR Smith attempts his second dunk from a teammate and misses the pass in the first attempt.  After two attempts, they change the location of the pass but still can’t connect.  I think the NBA may need to change the whole “use a teammate” thing.  The first round was great but so far the first two competitors have been missing dunks left and right because the passes can’t connect.  They finally change the pass yet again and he also ends up with a 42.  Which is actually higher than I would have given him.

8:30 pm - Rudy Fernandez gets his second dunk.  He’s going to have to pull something out that we haven’t seen before or he’s going to be sitting the rest of the night.  He is using Pau Gasol as his partner in this one.  The dunk is a bounce from behind the backboard by Gasol and then Fernandez will bring it forward to dunk it.  He’s missed several attempts but it could be really impressive if he can get it.  The crowd is chanting “Rudy” (never thought I would hear that one!) and he’s run out of time!!!  That means he gets two final attempts before he gets scored.  This rule was implemented after Birdman couldn’t dunk after about 300 tries several years ago.  Fernandez finally hits the dunk but he only gets a 42.  I think the judges docked him a point for not getting it within the time period.

8:26 pm - The reigning champion, Dwight Howard, goes behind the basket for his first attempt and messed up the throw.  And his second throw.  He got the third throw but missed the dunk.  That always makes it a little anti-climactic.  Finally, the crowd gets behind him and he gets the dunk.  But after four tries, it doesn’t seem as impressive as it could have been.  The judges disagree, however, and give him a 50.  I think his reputation preceeds him.  I would have given him a 9 maybe, but not a 10.

8:24 pm – Nate Robinson from the Knicks is up and messed up on his first attempt.  The weird thing is he did basically the same dunk as JR Smith and got a 46.  I think because the dunks just look more impressive when you’re shorter than half the people watching and all of the judges.

8:23 pm - Rudy Fernandez was the player voted in to participate.  He has a lot to live up to.  He removed his warm-up, bounced the ball off the top of the backboard (after throwing it behind his back) and dunked it with force.  The judges gave him a 42.  And then got roundly booed.

8:22 pm - JR Smith has the first dunk and it was a good dunk but nothing we haven’t seen before.  The best thing about it was the power behind it.  The judges gave him a 43.

8:15 pm – The judges for tonight’s dunk contest are Tom Chambers, Kevin Johnson, Cedric Ceballos, Larry Nance and DAN MAJERLE!!  

8:12 pm - Nate Robinson and Dwight Howard are loving the performer on the stage right now.  I don’t know who he is but he’s rocking the place out.  Even Shaq was dancing in his chair.  Speaking of Dwight Howard, while many people think Howard is going to repeat, I’ve got my money on Nate Robinson.  He’s the shortest of the group and so his dunks automatically look more impressive.  However, I guess I shouldn’t ever count out Howard.  He’s come with the most innovative dunks the past two years.  So who knows what he’s going to bring tonight!?

8:01 pm – Daequan Cook starts out much better than Lewis and wins in the third rack.  But he keeps going and just can’t miss.  He gets 19 in the tie-breaker and wins the competition.  Next up, the contest everyone has probably been waiting for.  The Sprite Slam Dunk Contest.  With all Phoenix judges, including the greatest player to ever step on an NBA court, Dan Majerle.  (Yes, I know I said that earlier.  I just wanted to make sure you all knew it.)

7:59 pm - I guess the tie-breaker is just shooting again with the tied contestants.  Lewis missed his entire first two racks!  He finally hit three (including the money ball in the third rack) but didn’t have the same stamina he did in the Final and ended with only 7 points.  Wow, it’d be a heartbreaker for him to lose like this!

7:57 pm - Cook had a terrible first two racks but so did Lewis and he came back.  AND THERE’S A TIE!!!  Cook made the money ball to tie the competition and Rashard Lewis will go against Daequan Cook in a shoot-off.

7:55 pm - Rashard Lewis follows Kapono.  He went first and has the most rest of any of the finalist contestants.  Maybe that hurt him though.  After two racks, he only had 2 points and only 6 after three racks.  He hit the money ball in the 4th rack to get to 10.  He needed the money ball in the last rack to get the lead and hit it.  The crowd loved the last second shot and let him know it.  Lewis is in the lead with Daequan Cook the only person who can stop him from winning.

7:53 pm - Poor Kapono!  He has to shoot twice in a row.  That’s going to kill him, I think.  But that’s what he gets for shooting poorly in the first round.  14 is his final score.  Unfortunately, probably not enough to win.  Dang, I was rooting for him.  But at least the Spurs still haven’t gotten into any finals!

7:47 pm – Jason Kapono brings up the rear.  I still say he is the guy to beat and he shows it buy hitting four of his first five shots.  Then misses 4 of the next five.  With one rack to go he had 15 points but his legs gave out on him and he only got 16 points.  However, that is enough to get into the final round.

7:45 pm - Roger Mason, Jr. was announced and still didn’t get as many boos as his teammates.  He does not look nervous at all.  He also beat the Suns on a last second three-point-shot.  Wow, these guys are all Suns killers!  Mason missed all of his third rack and just barely missed the money ball at the end.  He also had 13 to end.

7:43 pm - Back to All-Star action.  Danny Granger follows Cook and looks a little nervous.  He beat the Suns with a last second three-point-shot earlier this season so we know he’s a good shooter.  After two racks he ended with 5 points but hit 4 of 5 shots from the same spot he beat the Suns.  Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t hit any money balls and he ended with 13 points.

7:40 pm – The NBA recognizes that tonight’s activities are on Valentine’s Day (to my wife’s chagrin!) and they’re trying to make it up to the fans who are here by showing video of some NBA players singing love songs.  My favorite – Dwight Howard singing “At Last.”  Of course, LeBron James did pretty well with his “I Need Love.”  The NBA.  Where Love Happens.  The crowd gave a huge cheer for that video.  (Oh, and Dwyane Wade is sporting red glasses and a pink handkerchief this evening.  Nice!  Much classier than Craig Sager’s all-red suit and tie at media day today!

7:38 pm - Daequan Cook is third.  He started the same as Bibbybut made the money ball on the second rack and ended the third rack with 14 points.  Then you could tell he started getting tired.  Luckily for him, he found the rhythm again in the last rack and ended with 18 points.

7:37 pm – Mike Bibby started by making 3 balls from the first rack.  The crowd is really rooting for him since he’s a hometown guy.  We don’t have  Phoenix player in there so people are adopting Bibby.  Unfortunately, after a strong start he only ended up getting 14 points.  Maybe Lewis’ score will hold up after all!

7:35 pm - Rashard Lewis is up!  He seemed to be making a lot during the warm-ups but didn’t do well the first three racks.  He hit two money balls and ended with 17.  I’m not sure that will hold up.

7:30 pm – Next up: The three-point contest.  I’ve always loved this one.  I think Kapono is still the one to beat but there is a lot of strong competition, including Roger Mason from the Spurs.  Dang, they’re everywhere tonight!  It’s like the NBA wants to rub them in the Phoenix fans’ face!  He got a small boo but nothing like Parker and Duncan.

7:26 pm - There is a kid performing right now whose wish for Make-A-Wish was to perform at the NBA All-Star weekend.  He got that chance tonight and he’s pretty dang good!  I was impressed.  Make-A-Wish is an awesome organization.

7:17 pm – Derrick Rose has a nearly perfect run and ends with a rousing slam dunk!  Rose is the champion of the Playstation Skills Challenge!  He seems like a good guy and like he really had fun out there.  Great job, Derrick!

7:14 pm - Devin Harris starts the final roundwell but then messes up on the bounce pass and the top-of-the-key shot.  That puts him with a final time of 39.7 seconds.  A little slower than his first-round score.

7:10 pm – Finally, Tony Parker gives the competition a shot.  The hardest part for him was the shot at the top of the key.  When he realized he didn’t have a shot (both figuratively and literally), he kind of gave up.  Because of that, he ended with a time of 50.8 and the Spurs have so far been shut out of the finals.  Sure, Phoenix didn’t win their only competition but at least they got further than the Spurs players!!  I’ll take satisfacttion where I can get it.

7:09 pm – Derrick Rose now competes.  He looks like he took some tips from the veterans and is taking his time while trying to finish quickly (if that makes any sense).  Because of that, he ended up with the best time so far of 33.3.  He also got the biggest cheer when he finished.

7:07 pm - Mo Williams is up next.  He’s having a little problem with the bounce pass but was able to complete the rest of the contest with ease.  He ended with 37.5 seconds which puts him in second place – .6 seconds behind Devin Harris.

7:05 pm - Devin Harris is up first and is doing fairly well.  I saw him practicing the passes more than anything else during the warm-ups and I think that really helped him.  He didn’t try to rush through things and just did what he knew he had to do.  He ended with a time of 36.9 seconds.

7:03 pm – I just realized that I’m sitting directly across from David Stern, the commissioner of the NBA.  The only difference is I am higher than any paid seats and his is about 1/3 of the way up the lower section.  He looks very interested in the competition but I don’t see him rooting for any one person.  I guess that’s how it should be.

6:58 pm - They are getting things set up for the Playstion Skills Challenge.  This is always a fun one because it’s just a matter of whether the players can get their passes through the small hoops.  If they can do that, theyhave a good chance of winning.  If they have some problems, it could cost them the competition.  During the introductions, everyone got cheers in the arena but Tony Parker.  I guess that’s to be expected.  But again, I don’t like it.  (Unless he ends up winning, then it’s justified!)

6:56 pm - PHX Percussion is performing for everyone.  I love those guys.  It’s a talent I wish I had.  They’re really good and they entertain the crowd.  It’s definitely something different than piped in music.

6:52 pm - The Suns had a great chance to do it but just couldn’t pull out the win in the end.  The team started well by making the first shot at every position but the halfcourt shot did them in.  They ended with 1:15 seconds to end in second place.  It’s too bad.  It would have been great.  Oh well.  It’s ok.  Dan Majerle is still the best.

6:49 pm – Because Detroit had the worst time of the two teams, they have to go first.  They ended with a time of 58.4 seconds.  That’s going to be a hard one for Phoenix to beat, but I have faith!  Go Majerle!

6:45 pm – Now the Spurs.  David Robinson missed his first several shots and that put them in a hole but they came back nicely and had a lot of time to make a half-court shot.  But they just couldn’t do it and ended with 1:06.  The Spurs and Lakers are out of the event and Detroit and Phoenix are in the finals.  This could be bad for Phoenix because Detroit went first and has had a lot of rest.

6:43 pm – Suns are up!  They made their first two shots and Majerle missed only one.  They got to the halfcourt shot and again the legend, Dan Majerle, made the halfcourt shot.  They are now in the lead with a time of 53.3 seconds.

6:39 pm - The Lakers are next and had a good run until they hit the half-court shot portion.  They couldn’t make that shot to save their lives and ended up with a time of 1:16.  So far, the legends have both made their three-point shots to end their team’s shooting.

6:37 pm - Detroit is up first.  Both NBA players missed their first shots while the WNBA player made her first shot.  Bill Laimbeer made the last shot and Detroit has a time of 59.3 seconds.

6:34 pm - They’re doing the introductions for the Shooting Stars competition.  The Suns/Mercury players obviously got the loudest cheers.  However, second was David Robinson.  Tim Duncan, of course, got booed.  I’m not sure I agree with booing someone at an All-Star event but he seemed to take it all in stride.  I may be changing my tune if the Spurs win this event.

6:23 pm - While I’m watching the players warm up (especially Dan Majerle – the all-time best player to ever step foot on an NBA court.  Yes, I’m serious), co-worker Daniel Banks pointed out the antics of Benny the Bull.  So far in the few minutes I’ve been watching him, he’s flirted with a dancer, groomed one of the other mascots, sat in the ball containers and wouldn’t give a ball to Tim Duncan and threw a ball at a Suns Dancer.  This guy could be trouble.

6:20 pm - The players are definitely going to be warmed up for their events this evening.  They’ve been down on the court shooting for about 20 or 25 minutes.  Many of the players are practicing their half-court shots for the Haier Shooting Stars competition – which is the first event of the evening.

6:13 pm - It’s about 17 minutes before the real festivities start, we’ve had the Canadian and American National Anthems and the players who are participating in tonight’s event are warming up.  The crowd is beginning to fill in and it’s starting to look like an All-Star event.  This is going to be a great night.  Definitely stay tuned to see what will happen!

Dan Hilton will be following the Rookie Challenge and Youth Jam live during the first half on Friday night.  Check back throughout the game for insights you won’t get anywhere else!

8:02 pm – The rookies are up by only three at halftime after Green made an amazing halfcourt shot at the buzzer.  It’s been a very entertaining game.  I think it goes to show what type of players the NBA has to look forward to.  This is a great showcase to see what these guys can do when the veterans aren’t around.  And they should only get better as they get more time in the league.   

7:58 pm - The announcer just said that Corbin Bleu is performing.  And I thought it was loud before.  Not sure my ears can take too much more of this – although the game has been very entertaining!  I guess I’m getting a little too old for all the screaming.  

7:52 pm - Amare Stoudemire made a surprise appearance and the kids went nuts.  Especially one kid who was on the stage who couldn’t see him until they let him turn around.  What a great experience for that kid!

7:51 pm - The rookies may have the lead (although the sophomores have cut it to 3) but the sophomores definitely have the better dunks.  Not sure if it is experience or just natural ability the sophomores have.7:45 pm - The rookies are up 41-33 with about 7 minutes to go in the first half.  The game is definitely a fast back-and-forth game.  These guys must be young.

7:42 pm - Something you don’t hear at an NBA game every day: The entire crowd singing along to the organ playing “If You’re Happy And You Know It.”  

7:39 -  Kevin Durant just had a monster break-away dunk that got the crowd screaming (of course, they were screaming before that as well.  They haven’t stopped screaming since the game started).  

7:34 - Another timeout with about 10 minutes to go in the first half.  The rookies are up 29-24.  They’re slowly pulling away.  Even if it is only a point since the last update.

7:24 - Wow, that changed really quickly!  The rookies are now up 19-15.  That’s a 12 to 2 run they just went on and the sophomores called a timeout.  Should be interesting to see what the sophomores come back with after the timeout.

7:21 pm - Sophomores are currently beating the rookies 13-7 but the rookies have had some great moves and break-away dunks.  They just haven’t had enough of them to cut into that lead.

7:14 pm – The game is about to begin and it is LOUD in here.  I didn’t know what the Youth Jam part of the evening meant until I got into the arena itself and heard thousands of young voices screaming all at once.  And I thought it was loud when my three kids had too much energy!  It looks like all the kids who got tickets tonight were given pink shirts and signs and they are all wearing the shirts, waving the signs and screaming at the top of their lungs.  It should be a fun evening.

I’m back in the Skybox for most of Friday and there is a lot of activity going on in the arena today.  

• Run-throughs for the Haier Shooting Stars competition started at 9:00am.  Again, there are stand-ins for every person who will be on the court during the real thing on Saturday night.  For the Shooting Stars competition, that means there are 12 guys on the stage to go through the introductions.  Then they actually get to go through an actual competition.  The only thing I hope is that the actual competition goes better on Saturday than it is going in rehearsals.  Most of the guys look like they’ve played basketball before but that half-court shot must be a killer.  They finally changed the rules for the stand-ins so they would only take one shot from each location other than half-court.  It was just taking too long!
• After the Shooting Stars rehearsal, they did the same thing for the skills and dunk contests.  This was a little easier for the four participants.  The hardest thing for them (and it always seems like for the real players as well) was the bounce pass through the vertical hoop.  The ball seems to go through and then bounces out.
• One of the guys doing the skills contest thought he would add a little flair at the end when he needed to make a lay-up and instead tried to dunk the ball.  Unfortunately for him, his legs were a little more tired than he anticipated and the ball hit off the front of the rim.  He quickly attempted and made another lay-up and then was laughed at as he left the court.  The camera guys decided to help him out by continually showing his miss on the big screen.

The entire Suns.com crew is now heading to the All-Star Media Availability for the next 2 hours.  I expect we’ll have some fun stories from that experience.

When something big comes around like the All-Star game or the playoffs, the Suns.com crew isn’t satisfied with just sitting in the newsroom watching the game on TV while simultaneously working. So long before I started working here, the department was given permission to work from what used to be the Organ Loft of the arena. We’ve begun calling it the “Skybox.”

The Skybox isn’t perfect by any means. We can’t see the scoreboard above the court, we’re higher than even the nosebleed seats and there is no elevator so we get to carry all of our computers, cameras and any other equipment we may have up several flights of stairs. But it’s definitely better than listening to the crowd have a good time and knowing we are at the arena but not really experiencing the game!

Since we would be using the Skybox for All-Star weekend, I assigned myself to go up and check out the data connections, TV’s and power to make sure everything was working properly for the big event. At least, that’s what I told my co-workers and boss. My real reason for going up there was so I could work while watching everything on the court get set up and to get a sneak-peak while the performers rehearsed.

I’ve only been up here for a few hours but in this short time, I’ve seen some interesting and absolutely hilarious things:

• As you have probably heard, Shaquille O’Neal is going to be announcing the All-Star starters. When he showed up for rehearsal, he was the only person on the court I could recognize without binoculars. The dance group JabbaWockeeZ will be performing during the All-Star introductions and they were on the court practicing. When Shaq was introduced to them, he did a nice little dance move for the group before he shook their hands.
• If you’ve watched the All-Star game in the past, you’ll remember that the introductions of players is more of a production than just a list of names. And everything is rehearsed. Since the players aren’t in town yet, it means the initial rehearsals need stand-ins. It’s kind of funny to hear the announcer say LeBron James and then see a skinny old man or a woman come out and pose like LeBron would. In fact, I wish they would do that during the real game. It’d be quite a surprise!
• The rehearsal has a real person in every spot where there will be someone during the game on Sunday. They don’t just hope that everything works out that day. They practice the production again and again and have stand-ins for every possible person who will participate in those introductions. it’s really something to see.

You’ll see a lot more from the Skybox as the weekend progresses. I wondered whether it would be worth the time and effort to be up in the Skybox (probably by myself for much of the weekend) but I don’t think I’ll be disappointed. In fact, I wish now that I would have pursued an idea that was thrown out in one of our meetings that I spend the entire weekend in the Skybox! Of course, my wife probably wouldn’t have been too happy with that. Instead, I’ll just try to spend as much time as I can from up here to help give you a different perspective of All-Star Weekend.