The 620 Sportsline: With D’Antoni’s departure, the speculation begins

Published on May 12, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Jeremy Foster filled in for Dave Burns.

Mike D’Antoni is the new head coach of the New York Knicks as the Suns and D’Antoni officially head in different directions. GM Steve Kerr didn’t sound too surprised or terribly upset this morning with Doug & Wolf. We played back some of Kerr’s comments from the morning show.

Is Jeff Van Gundy on the list of presumptive head coaching candidates? Not after tonight. Van Gundy joined Jeremy and reiterated his previous stance to stay in broadcasting for another year. He did, though, have some nice things to say about two other legitimate candidates: Tom Thibodeau and Mark Jackson. Van Gundy says Thibodeau, who was Van Gundy’s lead assistant in Houston, is more than just a “defensive coach,” and Jackson, who works with Van Gundy at ESPN, “has every attribute (necessary) to be an outstanding head coach.”

Even without Van Gundy on the list, Steve Kerr should have plenty of people to talk to. Numerous former Suns and current NBA assistants have been mentioned, but would a team with a veteran-laden roster and a shrinking championship window really hire someone with no NBA head coaching experience? Kerr seems open to it. He told Doug & Wolf that he plans to talk to Jackson, a former NBA point guard with as much coaching experience as I have.

But why would Jackson be considered and not Avery Johnson, and which name is the most outlandish?

Vinnie Del Negro
Eddie Johnson
Dan Majerle
Jeff Hornacek


We took calls on that, as well as (in a perfect world) who the fans would like to see as Suns head coach.

My vote: Rudy Tomjanovich (I know, it’ll never happen)

Will the Suns be remembered more than the Spurs?

Published on May 1, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

SPN Page 2 columnist Bill Simmons’ most recent column bids adieu to the SSOL (Seven Seconds or Less) era.  Like Simmons, Burnsy has fond memories of the Suns fast paced style of play and what it brought to the NBA.  What it didn’t bring was an NBA championship, but will the exciting Suns be remembered more than the boring Spurs in the end.  After all, trophies don’t always equate to legacies.  Case in point is in the film industry; where often times the Best Picture of the year is not necessarily the best picture through the years:

 

1960 Best Picture:  The Apartment

Movie you’ll remember more:  Psycho

 

1975 Best Picture:  One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Movie you’ll probably remember more:  Jaws

 

1977 Best Picture:  Annie Hall

Movie you’ll remember more:  Star Wars

 

1980 Best Picture:  Ordinary People

Movies I’ll remember more:  Caddyshack, Raging Bull

 

1981 Best Picture:  Chariots of Fire

Movie you’ll remember more:  Raiders of the Lost Ark

 

1990 Best Picture:  Dances with Wolves

Movie you’ll remember more:  Goodfellas

 

1994 Best Picture:  Forrest Gump

Movie you’ll probably remember more:  Pulp Fiction

 

1996 Best Picture:  The English Patient

Movies I’ll remember more:  Fargo, Jerry McGuire

 

1998 Best Picture:  Shakespeare in Love

Movies you better remember more:  Saving Private Ryan, American History X

Even still, this latest chapter in Suns history is very painful.  But how do some of indelible marks from the 08’ playoffs rank with others from the last four years.  You be the judge:

 

1.       Diaw and Amare leaving the bench (bar none)

2.       Joe Johnson’s departure

3.       Amare’s knee problems

4.       Joe Johnson freak injury versus Dallas

5.       Not fouling in the closing minutes of Game 1 this year

6.       Not pulling the trigger on the Garnett deal

7.       Not getting Atlanta’s pick last year

8.       Giving Boris Diaw a huge contract extension

9.       Trading Kurt Thomas and then watching SA trade for him.  (Anybody think the Spurs would’ve won without him this year?)

10.   Not keeping the draft pick that would’ve been Andre Iguodala/Luol Deng

11.   Not keeping the draft pick that would’ve been Rajon Rondo

12.   Trading James Jones

13.   Not signing Michael Finley

14.   Signing Marcus Banks

 

Lastly, with the Suns set to begin a rebuilding process if not this year, very soon, who has the best chance to supplant that brand as Phoenix’s favorite pastime.  Burnsy says there’s a better chance of Phoenix/Glendale becoming a “Cardinals town” than a “D-Backs town.”  His producer disagrees, although one would be hard pressed to find too many good football organizations that haven’t captured the imagination of their respective populous.   Guess it’s a wager on the Cardinals ability to win … in more ways than just one.

 

 

Talk to the Suns: Steve Kerr discusses D’Antoni’s future

Published on May 1, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Audio: Talk to the Suns - Kerr discusses D’Antoni’s future

Steve Kerr joined Jon Bloom on the final edition of “Talk to the Suns.” Let’s cut right to the chase, as I’m not sure anyone is interested in rehashing the painful Spurs series. So, when asked whether the Suns would allow other teams (i.e. Chicago, New York) permission to talk to Mike D’Antoni about their head coach vacancies, Kerr said “no, no, Mike’s our coach.”

This seems to run contrary to the recent SI report by Jack McCallum, who suggested that the “A” scenario is another team asking permission to interview and then hiring D’Antoni, a situation similar to the one a couple years ago, when GM Bryan Colangelo and the club parted ways. Then again, Kerr didn’t seem to think the article had much basis in fact to begin with:

“I was in total shock, frankly (about the SI report). When we got on the plane in San Antonio, somebody pulled it up online, and it was startling, because nothing had been brought up by anybody.”

Kerr said he then talked to D’Antoni about the report:

“Mike and I spoke and Mike said ‘no, that’s not true.’ It seemed very strange, Jack McCallum, the guy who wrote the book (7 seconds or less) about the Suns was around San Antonio the last couple of days. For him to write that, when it’s not true, doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

Talk to the coach: Mike D’Antoni

Published on April 23, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Audio: Talk to the coach - Mike D’Antoni with Sports 620 KTAR’s Dave Burns

It’s All About Suns/Spurs

Published on April 17, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Less than two days until the Suns-Spurs showdown at High Noon in San Antonio. Burnsy couldn’t think of anything other than Suns-Spurs to talk about last night. Anything other than a series win would be devastating to Suns fans, and a couple callers thought it would worth another 2nd or 3rd round exit just to get the Spurs back. Burnsy thinks that a Suns series victory will happen in 6 games, and he may have history on his side. That is, if you believe the Suns-Spurs – Colts-Patriots analogy is applicable. Here are the similarities in case you haven’t noticed:

Indianapolis Colts:

2003: AFC Title Game- L to New England

2004: AFC Divisional- L to New England

2005: NE loses in the Divisional Round, but so do the Colts- to Pittsburgh

2006: Colts beat NE in the AFC Championship- win the Super Bowl

Phoenix Suns:

2005: Western Conference Finals- L to San Antonio

2006: San Antonio loses to Dallas In the 2nd Round, but so do the Suns in the Western Finals

2007: Western Conference Semifinals- L to San Antonio

2008: ????

Plus, the Colts broke up their big three (Peyton, Harrison, and Edge James) during year four, just like (you guessed it), the Suns who did so with (Nash, Amare, Marion). Now, I know Shaq is a bigger name than Joseph Addai and the Patriots have won 3 titles while the Spurs are 4 time champs, but work with me here.

Last year at this time Steve Kerr was working at TNT. Now he’s the architect behind the Suns-Shaq experiment, one that may have been constructed for this exact series:

“Each (previous year versus San Antonio) we just got overpowered, so I don’t think it’s going over the top to say this is why we got Shaq.”

The Suns have also got production from LB and Boris Diaw in recent weeks, something that Kerr says the Suns will have to have in order to advance in this series:

“Neither guy was very productive a year ago versus San Antonio and no question we need (Barbosa and Diaw) to kick it into gear.”

And just to say we tried, Burnsy busted out the “non-Suns/Spurs related topic of the night” (hey, that could be a bit). He went with Miguel Tejada’s recent admission that he’s close to age 34 and not 31. Astros GM Ed Wade must be thrilled. What’s worse: a GM getting that news or a guy finding out that his 19 year old girlfriend is really 16. I wouldn’t know. Seriously, I don’t.

Hunting a Big Red Bird for Turkey Day

Published on April 16, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Dave Burns made the smooth transition from a D-Backs 8-2 win in San Francisco to an extended edition of The 620 Sportsline. Another shaky, albeit non-save, outing for Brandon Lyon, but don’t feel too bad, Jose Valverde gave up four runs to the Phillies a little later in the show.

Burnsy does feel bad for quite a few folks in light of the recent NFL regular season schedule. First and foremost are the NFL fans, subjected to another MNF matchup between the Cardinals and Niners. Did they see the last one? Paul Calvisi and Ron Wolfley certainly did, and now they’ve got another quick turnaround following the Cards primetime Thanksgiving matchup in Philly. Well, maybe not Wolf - we don’t work the Friday after Turkey Day, right? I think I did this year, but I sense a cell malfunction this time. Anyway, the Cards do have several interesting stops this year, including a late December showdown in Foxboro.

Speaking of showdowns, how about Suns at Spurs in the first round? It’s one of 32 playoff scenarios that Suns beat writer Paul Coro broke down with Burnsy. And before the Clippers played like the Clippers, there was actually the possibility of one with New Orleans. (Yeah, I didn’t know that either).

Either way, the Suns are gearing for another deep postseason run, perhaps the last of the Nash era. Suns coach Mike D’Antoni joined Burnsy on the last of the TTC pre-playoff editions and of course the postseason was first and foremost on coach’s mind. Contrary to popular belief, though, the potential first round opponents for the Suns aren’t weighing so much on coach’s mind, as he’s seen them all before:

“I’ve probably watched each one of those teams play 20 times, you watch them every night, hoping they lose.”

As for whether the Suns are better equipped to win in the playoffs, D’Antoni certainly believes so: “(With Shaq) Steve doesn’t have to make every play. We now have the ability to get rebounds and to shut off second chance points.”

D’Antoni says all those factors make it easier on the Suns, as before they had to play “perfect basketball” throughout the playoffs. Although Shaq does make life easier, coach was quick to point out that he’s not perfect: “He isn’t really Superman, I don’t know if everybody knows that. There (are) a lot of expectations and (Shaq) puts a lot of them on himself when he holds up his ring finger.” Speaking of expectations, as if there was any question, coach reinforced the unspoken theme of the 2007-08 season (my words) “NBA championship or bust.”

“We’ve been three or four years and we’ve had success in the regular season, and I think some of the attention has been of the regular season and (we’ve) been gearing up for the postseason.”

And last but not least, since we can’t help but revel in the fact that Calvisi will be enduring subzero temps on December 31, and subpar humans in Oak-town for a pre-season matchup with the Raiders, Burnsy spoke with Paulie Pigskin about the Cardinals new schedule. No surprise, Paulie isn’t too happy about it either. He’s also none-too-pleased about spending Thanksgiving evening with a drumstick and a microphone.

Burnsy’s also predicting that Calvisi and Wolf’s spouses will be none-too-pleased about that, and could see a divorce or two by seasons end. That’s mean.

Burns: Lyon’s Roar Sounds Like A Moan

Published on April 7, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

There is practically nothing to complain about if you’re a Diamondbacks fan.

They’re scoring plenty of runs (a little quiet to start Sunday’s game against the Rockies, but the bats woke up. They’re starting pitching has been fantastic (Micah Owings and Edgar Gonzalez each had a start that will make you feel a whole lot better about the back end of the rotation). The bullpen has been great.

The Rockies celebrated with a NL Championship Banner party on Saturday, a ring ceremony on Sunday. In response the Diamondbacks outscored the Rockies 20-5 in three games.

I did say practically nothing, right?

Because there is one thing, and unfortunately for the Diamondbacks it is a big thing. Gynormous thing. So far, the Brandon-Lyon-as-closer experiment is failing. Three save opportunities, two blown saves. Two home runs allowed this year, the same number he allowed last year.

In my mind, he’s on probation as the D-Backs’ closer.

You know how when you start a new job, often you’ll start in a probationary period? No vacation days, no 401k, no paid sick days. They just want to make sure you’re the right person for the job.

Bob Melvin will stick with him, and he should - for now. But another week like the one Lyon just experienced and even the loyal National League Manager of the Year will have to consider his options. And in that regard the Diamondbacks are fortunate. They have plenty of ‘em.

Tony Pena could do it. So could Chad Qualls. Hell, I think Juan Cruz could be a very good closer. So far, the only member of the D-Backs bullpen to allow a run this season has been Lyon.

There are a few other things to be mildly concerned about: Eric Byrnes is off to a very slow start. Doug Davis looks like he has a lot on his mind - who wouldn’t? But none of those issues can derail a team like a closer who can’t close.

Brandon Lyon is still the guy. No one should forget the year he had last season pitching in the 8th inning. But, his vacation days won’t start accruing until his 10th save.

Burns: Don’t Look Too Much Into Season Opener

Published on April 1, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

For seamheads who have been jonesing for a baseball fix, the temptation is to read too much into opening day.

In Chicago today, I’m sure Cubs fans are already moaning about the state of their bullpen. They’re probably doing the same in Detroit.

In New York, Mets fans are pre-ordering their World Champion-Mets-2008 T-shirts after Johan Santana’s debut.

In San Francisco, Giants fans are starting a Bring-Bonds-Back petition drive. And they want the guy who signed Barry Zito to that laughable contract to go straight to where Bonds is now - baseball purgatory.

In all those cities, and here in Arizona, I would say the same thing. It’s just one game. It’s not a trend setter, not some sort of a precursor to what will happen. It’s just one game. A few years ago, the D-Backs got shelled by the Cubs on opening day 16-6. Meant nothing. That 2005 team started the season 30-22 before coming back down to earth and finished 77-84.

So, if I’m not going to read too much into that opener, I’ll resist reading too much into the D-Backs opener against the Reds on Monday. But I’ll say this: It had a real familiar look to it, didn’t it?

Great outing by the starter, the bullpen - new look, same result - shut the door in the last three innings. Defense was sharp. Offense was just OK. That’s how this team won 90 games last year.

After struggling much of the spring, Brandon Webb tossed six good innings – got to watch those walks, he had four. His changeup had the Reds baffled. After struggling much of the spring, Brandon Lyon fell behind Adam Dunn 3-1 in the ninth inning, but got him to strikeout, threw a picture perfect curveball to strikeout the next batter and he notched a save in a much quieter fashion that his predecessor would have. And, oh-by-the-way, Chad Qualls will be a revelation, I’m telling you that right now so I can remind you of it later - and you can rag me about it if I’m wrong.

The offense put together good at bats, made Aaron Harang work early on. That patience netted the D-Backs three quick runs, including two on solo shots by Young and Byrnes. But that patience seemed to fade by the middle innings and that is still an area of concern.

A good start. But in a season made up of 162 games, it makes up for 0.6 percent of the season. Long way to go.

Coming up tomorrow, season predictions from me and the staff of Sports 620 KTAR.

Upset Friday

Published on March 21, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Here’s what went down Friday on the 620 Sportsline…

* Jon Bloom covered for the “injured” Burnsy but was sick himself. Bloomer was quick to inform every one of his nostril therapeutic techniques. Bloom felt a lot better throughout the show and covered upset Friday. San Diego and Western Kentucky both won with last second shots.

* Cardinals in San Antonio? One caller came on to tout the Trees and speak highly of their towering centers. However, Bloomer took him down and pointed out the Lopez “Sisters” (Brooke and Robin) were better suited for the Women’s team. At least the Stanford’s Women’s team has a better shot of winning it all.

* ASU Head Coach Herb Sendek joined the program. Coach once again made it aware that he and his team are completely devastated by missing March Madness. He confessed that he has not watched much of the tournament but is not surprised with the Pac-10’s .500 start. Herb disagrees with Bloomer that Friday is a better day for an upset than Thursday. Also the Coach said that if Florida had magically made March Madness, he wouldn’t be surprised if they went all the way to the Sweet 16. Competition in the NIT is fierce.

“Sugar on the Ice Cream”

Published on March 21, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Here’s what went down Thursday on the 620 Sportsline:

* Burnsy made a special exemption on the first day of the NCAA tournament for Jim O’Connell, the award winning college basketball writer for the Associated Press. The “gym rat” was allowed on the opening segment which Dave only does for people he really likes. Jim was in Raleigh, NC where Duke fans were sweating out a nail bitter against #15 seeded Belmont.

* Duke won 71-70 and avoided being the first No. 2 seed to lose in the opening round since 2001 when Iowa State was upset by Hampton. That Cyclone team was led by New York City PG Jamal Tinsley.

* Tick, Tick, Tick. Less than 24 hours until Burnsy loses his manhood. Dave is excited for the occasion because he is going to get to sit around and watch college basketball for three days. I think he has lost his mind. The topic leads to a discussion of the best excuse to skip work to watch the NCAA tournament. A caller stole the show when he said “that would put the sugar on the ice cream.”

* Steve Kerr called in for his weekly “Talk to the Suns” segment. The Raja Bell injury does not seem to be that serious as “the swelling was pretty minimal.” Bell will likely miss the Rockets game on Saturday and then it will be day-day.

* Kerr also said that “Bell was the heart and soul of this team.” Bell brings a presence and defensive intensity that no one else on the Suns brings. Burns and Kerr talked about Phoenix’s two dimensional game. With the addition of Shaq the Suns have “developed into a team that can play two different styles,” a half court game when O’Neal is on the court and a run and gun style when he is on the bench.

* The Arizona Republic sports columnist Paola Boivin also checked in. They talked about the field of 64, the Suns and if the NBA winding down is as exciting as March Madness. Both thought the tournament is much better.