Having played in three NBA All-Star Games, it’s hard to believe Suns forward Amar’e Stoudemire has yet to start in the league’s midseason classic. The former Rookie of the Year is doing everything in his power to change that in 2009, being that the game right here in his own backyard of Phoenix, Arizona.

STAT has launched a viral campaign, using outlets including a newly created website, vote4amare.com, as well as, Facebook. On vote4amare.com, the big man has been releasing new videos every few days centered around he and Jay “Superfan” Johnson trying to get Stoudemire voted into the festivities by the fans. The comedic videos feature spoofs of personalities including Stoudemire’s teammate, Shaquille O’Neal, singer and actress, Beyonce’ and new President-elect, Barack Obama.

“Anytime you’re selected to an All-Star Game it lets you know you’re considered one of the elites; which is great,” Stoudemire said. “It’s a fan-favorite event all players dream about playing in from the time they’re little kids, so to have been there three times in my early career is something I consider a success. Now I’m looking to make it four this year and just keep things rolling.”

Fans wishing to show their support can also send a friend request on Facebook to Vote Amare. STAT currently has more than 40 friends on the newly created Facebook page and told Suns.com he definitely appreciates the support.

“The fans have always been amazing,” Stoudemire said. “I’ve got a lot of great fans who have always been supportive and having fans on my side is always something I’ve considered very important.”

Fans have until Jan. 19 to vote Stoudemire into the 2009 NBA All-Star Game and give him the opportunity to start in front of his hometown fans. In the 2008 contest in New Orleans, Stoudemire was a strong candidate to earn MVP honors for the contest, contributing 18 points and five rebounds, despite the Western Conference’s 134-128 loss at the hands of the East.

Click here to vote now

(Barry Gossage/NBAE/Getty Images)

This was one of those designated Ws, of which there are so many in today’s split-level NBA, where the gap between the haves and have-nots has seldom been wider. And the Suns did what the haves are supposed to do — jump all over their have-not guests early, take a couple of catnaps along the way, stifle a few yawns, and collect the scheduled victory.

Amare Stoudemire led the way with 23 points, Shaq added 17, and Steve Nash had 11 assists, but the most eye-catching thing about the evening from the Phoenix standpoint was the scrap and hustle of Louis Amundson, whose modest numbers (9 points, 5 boards) belied the crowd-pleasing level of his performance - for which he was rewarded with a warm ovation when he made his final exit from the proceedings.

The most impressive statistic of the evening was the 23 rebounds by Marcus Camby of the Clippers in a lost cause, although you’d never guess just how lost it was by the 106-98 final score — which would have been 106-101 if a Fred Jones three-point try at the buzzer hadn’t rimmed out.

Mismatches like this seldom tell you much about either team you didn’t already know, and this one was no exception. Suffice it to say it did nothing to change my opinion (and theirs) that the Suns are moving steadily in the right direction.

The bottom line: ZZZzzzzzz…

(Barry Gossage/NBAE/Getty Images)

So in case you missed parts of the broadcast Tuesday night from Memphis, here are the Top Moments of 2008 from Suns players and coaches that I spoke with before the “thrilling” victory over the Grizzlies:

TOP MOMENTS IN 2008

Terry Porter:  Barack Obama’s election and being named Suns Head Coach (”in that order”, he said!)

Matt Barnes:  The birth of his twin boys Isaiah and Carter in early November

Steve Nash:  Obama’s Victory

Amar’e Stoudemire:  His visit to Sierra Leone in West Africa where his foundation helped create more water wells for the impoverished (Amar’e called this his “proudest moment”) and the birth of his third child, daughter Assata in May

Grant Hill: Obama’s victory over McCain.  I then said we have alot of those…so Grant resonded for his second choice: “Obama over Hillary!”

Lou Amundson:  Signing with the Suns and buying his mom a house in Denver

Leandro Barbosa:  His family vacation to Rio and northern Brazil over the summer.  This was his last vacation with his mom, Ivette, before she passed away.

Jared Dudley: Being traded to the Suns, which he called a classy and winning organization and also close to his home in San Diego

Jason Richardson:  His 360 degree dunk off a lob pass from Bobcat teammate Raymond Felton in a game against the Wolves.  JRich called it “maybe my best dunk ever since it was a 360 off an alley oop.”

Assistant Coach Igor Kokoskov:  Moving from Detroit to Phoenix after spending the past five years in Michigan.  Igor said that when he accepted the Suns offer to join Terry Porter’s staff, Pistons GM Joe Dumars said that while he regrets losing Igor, if he had to go, the Suns were the best destination because of the impeccable reputation they have around the league.

Assistant Coach Dan Majerle: His top moment of 2008 was not having to work with me anymore!

With that…Happy New Year to all you loyal and passionate Suns fans!  May 2009 bring you happiness and lots of playoff wins!

(Joe Murphy/NBAE/Getty Images)

The Suns decided to make their game against the Memphis Grizzlies a little more interesting on Tuesday by sitting out Steve Nash because of back spasms and leaving Goran Dragic at home with flu-like symptoms.  Amar’e Stoudemire followed that up by getting ejected from the game with two quick technical fouls in the second quarter.  That left Phoenix with only nine players to go against OJ Mayo, Marc Gasol, Rudy Gay and the rest of the Memphis team.

But Leandro Barbosa stepped up his game by scoring 28 points on 10-18 shooting and Shaquille O’Neal not only scored 24 points on eight of 13 shots but also passed Oscar Robertson to move into the 8th spot on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.  Add to that Shaq’s eight of 10 shooting at the free throw line and it was just too much for the Grizzlies to handle.

The Grizzlies had the lead for most of the game but Phoenix stepped up their defense in the 4th quarter and held the entire Memphis team to only 11 points.  That brought the Suns from an eight point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to a 12 point lead at the end of the game.

The Grizzlies’ Hakim Warrick scored 25 points in the game by shooting 64 percent from the field but the rest of the Memphis team only shot 34 percent - including OJ Mayo’s 20 percent on four of 20 shooting.

Overall, this wasn’t a pretty game by any means.  At times, it appeared the Suns were playing street ball and that no plays were ever being run.  But at other times it seemed like things started clicking for Phoenix.  And when that happened, the team looked like they were enjoying playing basketball.  Smiles were actually seen on the bench when the game was nearly over.  And players seemed to be talking to each other more than they have in the past.

The main thing is that the Suns got a W and are now two games out of second place in the Western Conference.  The next game the Suns play is on Friday against the LA Clippers.  Hopefully, Steve Nash will be back, Amare will keep his temper under control and the Suns will have a full team to continue their winning streak in the new year.

To all of the blog readers, Happy New Year!  And may all of your hopes for the new year come to pass (especially a Suns championship)!

(Layne Murdoch/NBAE/Getty Images)

If someone had only watched the first six minutes of the Suns vs Thunder game on Monday night and then was asked which team had only three wins to their name this season, it would be a toss-up on which team they would choose.  But by the end of the quarter, the Suns had gathered themselves enough tie Oklahoma City at 32 apiece.

For the next three quarters, there were great moments (like Jason Richardson’s break-away 360-degree dunk) and not-so-great moments (Steve Nash leaving because of back spasms).  There were also some scary moments when both Jason Richardson and Matt Barnes went down in separate incidents toward the end of the game.  Richardson got up after a few moments and didn’t seem to have any lasting problems.  Matt Barnes, on the other hand, ended up going to the bench for several minutes.  At least, until Amare got his 5th foul with about nine minutes to go in the 4th quarter.

But the most important thing is that Phoenix won the game.  Despite missing Steve Nash and Goran Dragic (flu-like symptoms), the rest of the team pulled through.  The bench received a lot of minutes (Dee Brown, Jared Dudley and Lou Amundson played a combined 36 minutes) and the entire bench scored 35 points, compared to only 13 points for the Thunder bench.

Shaquille O’Neal continued his better-than-average free throw shooting, making eight free throws out of 12 tries.  He also made 10 out 12 shots to score 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Amar’e Stoudemire was in foul trouble most of the night, playing only 23 minutes.  Despite the limited minutes, STAT still scored 14 points and tied for the team lead in assists with five.

Overall, the game wasn’t pretty for Phoenix but it still ends up as a W in the standings.  While the Suns are still in 8th place in the West, they are only 2.5 games out of 2nd place.  Compare that to the Eastern Conference where the Bulls are in 8th place but are 12 games out of 2nd (3 games out of 6th place).  With the schedule the Suns have over the next week or two, this is the time for them to pull ahead in the standings.  And they need to win the games they’re supposed to win - which they started on Monday night.

Your thoughts on the game?

(Barry Gossage/NBAE/Getty Images)

Charles Barkley had it right about the Spurs.

During the playoffs last year The Big Larynx said they were “like cockroaches.” And he meant it in a nice way, as in “You can’t kill ‘em.” And the Suns will certainly sigh a heartfelt “Amen” to that

Again!!!

The Suns trampled the Spurs early, hammered them to death on the boards all night, and appeared to have slipped them a lethal dose of poison when they freed up Grant Hill for a lay up on a perfectly executed two-point play out of a timeout to take a 90-88 lead with 4.3 seconds left—   only to have the Spurs run a perfectly executed three-point play to free up Roger Mason for a 22-foot jumper at the buzzer.

Ironically, although the Suns played some ferocious defense most of the night, it was a breakdown by Jason Richardson that left Mason unguarded in the corner, a forgivable lapse in view Richardson is still learning the Porter system.

Coach Terry summed up the 91-90 loss in a nutshell. Two nutshells actually.

Nutshell Number One – “To play as well as we did and still lose has to hurt.”

And Number Two — “If we play like this the rest of the year we’ll be fine.”

I’m definitely with him!

I’m not into moral victories any more than you are, but, given all the question marks that have hovered over the Suns most of the season, this has to be one of the most encouraging losses they’ve suffered in a long time.

They defended, they rebounded, they executed, they played with poise against a great team that’s been buried more times in November and December in recent seasons than Count Dracula, but rises from the “grave” every Spring - and they got great efforts from Amar’e Stoudemire and Shaquille O’Neal, aka Mr. Inside and Mr. Even Further Inside.

In other words, what that they delivered was playoff-worthy basketball, which, it will be recalled, has been the re-tooling mantra since they were bounced from post-season by the Spurs last year.

Amar’e had 25 points and 13 boards, and Shaq weight in with 23 and 12, and between them they blocked six shots while pretty much ruling the paint. Shaq also delivered a bit of revenge against the much derided hack-a-shack defense when he converted five straight free throws, much to the delight of the sellout crowd.

Bottom Line Number One — Regardless of who you were rooting for, this was great holiday entertainment. It had star power, suspense, tension, intriguing subplots, heroes, villains (see Ginobili, Mano) and a nail-biting last act.

Bottom Line Number Two — You don’t want to put too much emphasis on any NBA game in December, especially a day game, but for me this one is convincing evidence the Suns are moving in the right direction. Maybe not at warp speed yet, but steady as she goes.

Barry Gossage/NBAE/Getty

It was muttered amongst the media. It was silently understood by some in the locker room. It is currently being shouted by fans on the Planet Orange message boards and outside the US Airways Center. “Typical.”

The Suns/Spurs dysfunctional relationship may have hung a loss on the Suns’ record, but there are a couple differences that point to a silver lining.

Spurs Style

The Suns showed they are ready and willing to play at the Spurs pace. San Antonio slows things down? No problem, the Suns will switch their style right with them. Sure, fans may yawn and reach for a pillow while watching Tony Parker and Tim Duncan methodically do their thing, but the Suns weren’t phased.

In fact, the Suns led the Spurs 34-20 in points in the paint. They were not shy about contact and collisions in the lane. While the Suns of old would usually threaten the Spurs from beyond the arc or on the fast break, they trailed in both categories on Christmas Day. They took less threes and scored fewer points on the break than their rivals – and they still came one three-pointer away from going home happy.

Of course, Shaq does have something to do with the toughening of the Suns. In a play that brought fans (and the Suns bench) out of their seats, Shaq found himself close to the basket, but closely guarded by the Spurs big men. Shaq rose up – with Duncan elevating right in front of him – and threw up a shot that bounced off the rim. Shaq claimed the offensive board and rose up again only to have the ball fall off the iron once more. Shaq collected another offensive rebound before deciding it was time to score. He pushed through the defenders and forced down a dunk so violent it must have lit up the switchboards in the Phoenix 911 offices.

Hush the Hack

The drama between Gregg Popovich and Shaquille O’Neal is fascinating to watch. The Spurs coach employed the controversial “Hack-A-Shaq” tactic with success during the playoffs. Fans hate it, players hate it, and of course Shaq wasn’t pleased. During the offseason he criticized the Spurs for fouling him while they held a big lead. Pop responded in the opening seconds of the 2008-09 season by telling Michael Finley to foul the Big Diesel immediately after the tip. It was the first humorous thing Pop had done since an incident in 2002 when he accidentally slipped on a banana peel.

The Spurs brought the controversy back to life in the third quarter by pulling the Hack-A-Shaq once again. The U.S. Airways Center roared with boos and even the ABC announcers were openly pulling for Shaq to get revenge. They got their Christmas wish. In the final minute of the third quarter Shaq sank five straight from the charity stripe and sent the Hack-A-Shaq trick to the bench.

Standing Tall

It wasn’t long ago that the Suns were surrounded by questions and doubt. They’d lost four straight and were struggling to keep up with the rest of the West while finding their rhythm under Coach Porter.

The game against the Utah Jazz may prove to be the spark for the Suns centerpiece Amar’e Stoudemire.
In that game Amar’e was fierce on the boards snatching up 20 rebounds marking the fourth 20-20 game of his career. Since then, he’s proven that night was no fluke.

STAT has led the team in rebounding in eight straight games including his 13 board performance on Christmas Day. His focus on collecting missed shots has allowed the Suns more opportunities to run on the break and get easy buckets that seemed to be missing during their recent struggles.

So the Suns did officially lose a heartbreaker on Christmas Day, but they can walk away knowing they’re improving quickly. After the game Coach Porter sounded proud of his team when he said, “It hurts to play as well as we did and not get the win but if we keep playing like we did today, we’re going to be fine.”

The Suns held a private workout of point guards Monday, not only because they are looking to sure up their backup slot in that role, but also because they’re in need of filling their league-mandatory 13th roster slot.

The players that were brought in for an individual workout were former Magic playmaker and the 1998-99 NBA’s Most Improved Player Award Darrell Armstrong, former 1995-96 Rookie of the Year Damon Stoudamire, former Timberwolves guard Troy Hudson, former Paces guard Eddie Gill, former Wizards backup Dee Brown and the Fort Worth Flyers’ Walker Russell Jr.

Suns Head Coach Terry Porter visited with President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Steve Kerr and Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin to talk about the candidates. Porter stressed the need for a backup point that was capable of stopping opposing players on the defensive end.

Armstrong (40), Stoudamire (35), Hudson (32) and Gill (30) are all veterans, whereas Brown (24) is only entering his third season. Russell Jr. (26) is the only player without NBA experience, but he’s leading the NBA Development League in assists.

“All of the guys look like they are in great shape, they competed hard and each one brings a little something different in terms of skill,” Kerr said. “We just have to make a decision on who is best-fitted for that role.”

The league requires that a team must carry a roster that possesses a minimum of 13 players. If a team falls below 13 men, they are afforded a two-week window to sign a sufficient number of players. When the Suns traded Raja Bell, Boris Diaw and Sean Singletary to Charolotte for Jason Richardson and Jared Dudley, the roster fell to 12 players.

The Suns front office must have someone signed by Wednesday, but a decision on who to sign could come as early as tonight.

(Barry Gossage/NBAE/Getty Images)

This was one of those games that could have gone either way - and did, several times before Steve Nash’s three late jumps shots put it in the win column for the Suns.

Nash, flashing some of his old MVP form, hit a deuce with 3:25 left to put the Suns up by three, a trey to put the Suns back ahead by three at 2:47, and another trey to put the Suns up by six at: 59.

Not too shabby for a guy everybody is whispering (some right here in town and right out loud) is starting to show signs of old-timer’s disease.

And don’t look now, but for a team’s that’s spent most of the year on the couch being treated for real and alleged identity problems, the Suns are looking surprisingly sound in the results column, this being their fifth straight home win and fifth in the last seven games overall. And they are sitting six games above .500 heading into a mini-break before returning to action against the Spurs here on Christmas Day.

Granted, if one wished to insert a little scrooge/grinch note by way of balancing all the holiday cheer, one could grumble that the Suns finally found somebody who could out-fumble them for the “L”, so to speak. But while the Nuggets did offset the Suns’ customary 16 turnovers with 22 of their own, this writer doesn’t wish to go there, so you’ll have to shop elsewhere for your humbug.

And although both teams did have almost as much trouble holding onto the ball as the lead, this was a night to celebrate Nash’s heroics, and another powerful performance by Amare Stoudemire, who delivered 27 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 blocks, the second of which may well have saved the game. Nash, incidentally, had 11 assists and only 3 turnovers to go with his game-closing hot streak.

Oh, and by the way, how about a nice round of applause for Grant Hill, who deserves credit for helping shut down Carmelo Anthony. The Denver star, who scored 33 points in ONE period last week managed only 10 on three for 13 shooting and had only one rebound. And while he did have three assists, he also had four turnovers.

The bottom line: What else? Have a Merry Christmas.