Matt's Suns Rant: Nash and Frye Step Up, Defense Doesn't

Welcome to the first edition of Matt's Suns Rant, a weekly venture into Planet Orange.

Good and bad points from the previous week will be touched upon, with the reader assuming the writer 1) knows exactly what he's talking about and 2) is always right.

With that in mind, here's a look at Week One of the Suns' 2009-10 campaign:

Raves

1) Steve Nash is ageless.

Last season (and possibly before), the rest of the league had placed Nash in the backseat of the "Best Point Guards in the NBA" vehicle (with Chris Paul in the driver's seat and Deron Williams riding shotgun). Given the Suns' free-fall from playoff regular to lottery attendee, it's understandable.

Without Terry Porter's shackling him to the ground, Nash has taken off. The "past his prime" two-time MVP racked up 32 points and 34 assists in the last two games. That was after pulling closer duties against the Clippers in their home-opener (15 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter for the 109-107 win).

Nash had the perfect response after his 20-dime display against Golden State Friday night: "I'll wait for you guys to decide when I'm over the hill."

Touché.

2) He doesn't rebound well for being 6'11". He's averaging less than a block per game over the first three contests. But man, Channing Frye can shoot the long ball. 13-for-20 from three-point range through three games? That's no one-game (or even three-game) fluke.

It's not just his shooting. It's Frye's ability to run. Instead of a rhinoceros (Shaq), the Suns have a thoroughbred (Frye) for their running game to flourish. Paul Coro from the Arizona Republic said it best:

"[Frye's] exactly the opposite of Shaquille O'Neal—which is exactly why he's the perfect fit for this team."

3) Grant Hill used the $92 million from his Orlando contract and bought/invested in/made a time machine. Seriously. That's the only way the 37-year-old is leading the team in scoring and rebounding (20ppg and 9.7rpg) through Week One.

As previously written , Hill is playing like it's 1999, not 2009. He just likes to play, and hopefully it'll rub off on the youngsters, as well as Stoudemire.

Rants

1) What can you rant about when the team in question gos 3-0? Number one: defense.

I know, it's the Suns' dead horse, their Achilles' heel, and their Trojan Horse (first time through I wrote "Horse of Troy," then my editor coreected me. History is my Horse of Troy). It killed them in the end every season (this goes way before Nash and D'Antoni).

New coach Alvin Gentry promised it would be different. He yelled at everyone during camp and the preseason when it wasn't adequate.

Keep yelling, Gentry.

Phoenix is scoring, sure, but so are their opponents. Through three games, every Suns' foe has topped the century mark in scoring. Golden State (101 points) is feasible, but the Clippers (107 points) and the Timberwolves (112 points).

You could argue Suns games contain more possessions, and therefore more chances to score. The argument here (remember, this is the right one), is fast breaks and fast play are spurred by defensive stops, not by letting them score and trying to blitzkrieg them afterwards.

2) It's true, another rant (last one). Gentry looked like he was setting out to use his bench more than his predecessors did (one of the biggest reasons the Suns never won a championship. Remember, the writer knows). Hasn't happened to the extent it needs to, yet.

Nash is averaging 37 mpg against three teams who won't make the playoffs this season. This is troublesome.

Meanwhile, his backup (who they've expressed confidence in through word and the almighty dollar), Goran Dragic, has snagged all of 12 mpg thus far. Again, the biggest reason the Suns never broke through is because Nash broke down at the end of every season (that and the Spurs broke their hearts).

Play Dragic more. Play Lou Amundson more. Frye is getting 5.3 boards a game in 32.0 mpg. Amundson is gettng 5.3 boards a game in 16.0 mpg.

Play Lou four more minutes a game, and you're getting another two-three boards. Sure, you may lose a three-pointer by Frye, but you're giving up two to three less second chances for the opposing team, as well as igniting your fast break.

That's that for the Rant. Ciao from Planet Orange.