Adam,
I agree with your comment that the Boston game this weekend will be a barometer game. We'll see where the team stacks up versus the best.
Tonight's game against the Thunder will be more of a test for Phoenix than the recent Clipper games. In Kevin Durrant the Thunder have a very special shooter who has the possibility of developing into a top NBA star. It will be fun to watch the Suns try to defend this very hot player. I'm sure that there is room for Durrant on every team in the league.
It looks like the "call" to trade Stoudemire and/or Shaq has ended with the end of the trading deadline. The Suns are pretty well set until the end of the season.
Expectations for this team have fallen to a reasonable level and they are out from under the pressure of unrealistic hopes for a championship. That will work to the Suns advantage. The team can play with a sense of freedom and will be a serious factor in the playoffs.
Every team in the Western Conference is having problems. The Lakers are without their center Andrew Bynum. The Spurs have lost Ginobli for several weeks and they are a team in transition. The Hornets are under performing and have lost 5 more games this year vs last season. The Suns appear to a the team that could finish as high as second in the conference.
How far they climb will depend on both internal and external events. Internally, the Suns must limit their opponents to one contested shot per possesion. That means playing tough individual and team defense. That means blocking out your man on the boards. That means no uncontested layups. That means that the "bigs" must rebound before the transition. That means playing Shaq no more than 4 minutes a shift (yeah, just like a hockey shift even though a hockey shift rarely is over 2 minutes). That means that the team needs to play nine or ten players regularly. That means having a coach on the sidelines who has a confident look on his face and a grasp of his players and their limits and strengths.
Externally the Suns will have to have some help from their opponents. The Spurs, Hornets, Mavs, etc. will have to lose a few games. Teams like the Warriors, Thunder, Trailblazers and even the Clippers will have to score some upsets over the top teams in the conference.
Could this happen? Could the team come close to a second place finish? Is the actual finish somewhere in the top four? At least the New Phoenix Suns will be fun to watch.

Thanks Den,

Yeah Nash looks like he has that glimmer of excitement in his eye again! It is good that we got to play the Clippers and the Thunder this week to hopefully prepare us for the Celtics Sunday. Go Suns!

Hey Adam
Great post; enjoyed it very much.
The Suns management thought they needed to bring in a "big man" to clog the middle and a defensive specialist coach for the team to get to the "next level". With ths goal in mind they traded for Shaq and invited Mike D'Antoni to leave. In retrospect all they really needed to do was to play a little tougher brand of defense, tweak their run out system and develop one or two more bench players. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
The Suns of the last few years were continually out rebounded by their opponents. It is difficult to rebound when your "bigs" start running to the offensive basket as soon as the opponents launch a shot. Many opposing teams enjoyed banner nights on the offensive boards. The Suns were never out of a game and neither were their opponents.
The criticisms directed toward D'Antoni were spot on. In the haste to attack offensively, the defense was neglected. We all noted the lack of playing time for the bench players. When the subs got into the game they were ineffective for this very reason. At any one time, D'Antoni only trusted about seven players who played almost the entire game.
No purpose is served by blasting Terry Porter. He was hired by a rookie GM and given what turned out to be an impossible mission. Who knows whose to blame? We all make mistakes; it's part of life and it's how we learn.
The two recent victories over an out manned and out gunned Clipper team were a lot of fun to watch. The Suns are an excited team that is exciting to watch. I was dreading having to go to the game Friday night but now I am looking forward to seeing this reincarnation of the running Suns.