With the NBA in a compressed off-season, the Association begins play on December 25th, the Phoenix Suns have been tame in their transactions.  Transactions and Depth Chart courtesy of ESPN.

Players Signed By Phoenix
Grant Hill – One year @ $6.5 million
Shannon Brown – One year @ $3.5 million
Sebastian Telfair – One year @ $1.5 million
Markieff Morris – First Round Draft Pick

Departures From Phoenix
Vince Carter Signed With The Dallas Mavericks

2011-12 Depth Chart

PG: Steve Nash – Zabian Dowdell

Shooting Guard: Josh Childress – Mickael Pietrus

Small Forward: Jared Dudley

Power Forward: Channing Frye – Hakim Warrick – Gani Lawal

Center: Marcin Gortat – Robin Lopez – Garret Siler

By default I am a Phoenix Suns fan. I started this rooting interest last season to have some common ground with my now two-year old son. In all honesty I didn’t really follow the Suns and I may have watched a pair of their games in the 2010-2011 season. I was aware of their work but not necessarily interested in it.

The recent NBA strike didn’t add to my love towards The Association. If anything, as I mentioned this in a recent post, it made me a hockey fan. But with the Nevada Wolf Pack never on TV, including tonight and they are playing in Tempe, AZ against Arizona State and I live roughly 35-miles from campus, and with the recent downfall of Jay Cutler’s thumb and the Bears’ playoff hopes I need something to occupy my time besides work.

Simply put, I am giving the NBA another chance. By my calculations, which are rough because I never got past Advanced Algebra while studying at Nevada, this is the fourth time I have given my love to the NBA in hopes of developing into a fan. This year it will be rough. The Suns aren’t very good and I want them to trade their best player, Steve Nash, so he can finish career on top and possible garner that elusive championship. Beyond Nash, Grant Hill is likely gone. They drafted the wrong Morris twin from Kansas, which is in line with them retaining the wrong Lopez twin too. Looking at their roster I don’t see a lot of talent but if they dump Nash and Hill hopefully they can bottom out, get a high lottery pick and begin to rebuild. I don’t really trust their front office since Steve Kerr left but I’ll do my best to be optimistic. Of course they picked up an aging Vince Carter and he blossomed into scorer phenom with 13.5 ppg. I shouldn’t harp on Carter too much, since he will likely be waived shortly.

In summation, it will be a rough year to be a Suns fan. Not a lot of glory and there is the distinct possibility that the Nash will be jettisoned to a contender. Negativity aside, I will stick with the Suns and become an active fan. For example, I am wearing a Suns t-shirt today. Mind you I bought it because it was $4.99 but that shouldn’t overshadow my life on Planet Orange. For Christmas Mrs. DPC is taking us to the Memphis Grizzlies game, which will be my second contest at US Airways Center. The prior contest was against the Charlotte Bobcats and I have no recollections from the game, so let’s hope this one is a little more memorable.

Phoenix Suns 2011-12 Roster
Aaron Brooks (FA)
Vince Carter
Josh Childress
Zabian Dowdell
Jared Dudley
Channing Frye
Marcin Gortat
Grant Hill (FA)
Gani Lawal
Robin Lopez
Markieff Morris
Steve Nash
Mickael Pietrus (FA)
Garret Siler
Hakim Warrick

Their roster leaves a lot to be desired. Because I haven’t been following the NBA too closely these last few years I am in no position to judge talent, of course I follow the NFL closely and I assume that Jeff George is a viable QB option for the Bears.  Anyway the Suns roster is far from stellar. Like I mentioned earlier, Nash will likely be gone and Hill will be somewhere else too. The rumor mill has Vinsanity being waived, so it looks like there won’t be a lot of star power in the Valley. 

I have no doubt it will be a tough year for the Suns. To get better in the NBA you need to bottom out, rebuild and of course get lucky in the draft. I don’t know if I trust their brain trust or shot callers, mainly because they got Vince Carter, but they have some promising young talent to rebuild with, specifically Marcin Gortat. Once again I will do my best to be a dedicated fan of the NBA and the Suns. I have said this before but now I really mean it. Me and Mrs. DPC are rasing our son as a Suns fan (since he is two he has minimal input on the team he is associated with) and I need to set an example on how to be loyal, even when your team is hitting rock bottom. I should be able to root for a possibly terrible Suns team since I once rooted for the Nevada Wolf Pack during the Chris Tormey era and those were dark days on Virginia Street.

A while back I made the decision to be a Golden State Warriors fan. Ultimately the Warriors beat out the Chicago Bulls and the very local Phoenix Suns. It was a close race and I was swayed by an email from Chief Macho that showed all the positive facets of being a Warriors fan. He’s a good writer and great salesman of Oakland based Athletics.

Mrs. DPC was not happy. She is a Suns fans and our son, DPC2, will likely be a Suns fan too (at this point he owns a Suns shirt and has a stuffed Phoenix Suns Gorilla) and she figured that DPC2 and I could root on the local team together. Obviously I threw a wrench into that concept and looked to the East Bay for my hoops heroes.

Because my son is roughly 18-months old Mrs. DPC and I make all of his decisions for him. This is what parents do because if he had his own way he would eat marshmallows all day while watching Dinosaur Train. I’m not a fascist but I decorated his room with the teams I hope he likes. This includes pennants of the Nevada Wolf Pack, Miami Hurricanes, Oakland Raiders, A’s, Chicago Cubs, Bears and Arizona Cardinals. There is mini ASU helmet, poster of USC and a Phoenix Coyotes bank. There used to be Chicago Cubs Mr. Potato Head but its parts are scattered around our home, DPC2 enjoys chewing on his arms and hid his feet in the couch.

The decorations are a passive form of brain washing and I used a lot of sports propaganda to possibly influence my son. The unfortunate part of my excessive use of propaganda in his room is that there are very few winning teams represented. I have figured out a way to get around my son rooting for a bunch of losing teams and never knowing what a winning traditions is and I can accomplish this by having him root for the Montreal Canadiens.

Conveniently I am a Canadiens fans and having DPC2 root for the Habs is a win-win situation: We get to share in the experience of Original Six hockey and he gets a team that went to the Eastern Conference finals last season. Because my son is Phoenix native the local teams don’t have a lot of history, the Suns are the elder statesman and they opened up for business in 1968. The Canadiens are hockey’s equivalent to the Yankees, minus the astronomical payroll, and give a young fan, such as my son the opportunity to embrace:

• 24-Stanley Cup championships. The most in NHL history and second to the Yankees for North American professional sports titles
• A member of the Original Six
• 52-Hall of Famers
• 15 Retired Number for 17 Players
• Celebrated their Centennial in 2008
• Legendary players such as Lafleur, Roy, Richard, Dryden, Cournoyer, Plante, Geofrion, Vezina (as in the trophy given to the top goal tender)

Like I said before, having DPC2 rooting for the Canadiens is a win/win in our house. We get to share in the experience of the Habs and my son has a winning team to love. Unfortunately my son missed out on the Cardinals Super Bowl. Yes, he was there but in the womb. Since then he had nothing but the misfortune of losing teams and also rans. Rooting for the Habs is a chance to offset some of the losing.

After sleeping on my decision to find a favorite NBA team the past couple of nights I feel finally feel confident in making my choice. Besides sleeping on my decision I also asked the people close to me for their feedback on which team I should select from the Chicago Bulls, Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns.

In an email from my Dad he noted that Phoenix Suns’ owner Robert Sarver was against SB1070 and had his players wear Los Suns jerseys this past season as a sign of solidarity for the area’s Hispanic community. This gesture was not lost on me and I have nothing but respect for Sarver because it took great audacity to take a stand against a controversial law in state that is decidedly conservative.

Mrs. DPC also sided with the Suns because it could be the team that I and DPC2 could share together as he grows up as an NBA fan. As of this writing my 17-month old son has not shown any desire to participate in basketball but he looks very sharp in his size 2T Steve Nash jersey. Yesterday I ordered him a Suns T-Shirt with his name on the back and the number 2. The pull of my family is strong and the local angle is cool too because all of their games will be televised and I can be a proper member of the community cheering on the home town team. Also, with a possibly crappy season on the horizon tickets for Suns games could be plentiful and cheap. In my five years of living in Phoenix I have attended one Suns game and I enjoyed it immensely. U.S. Airways is a cool environment and I wouldn’t mind catching a few games there in the 2010-11 campaign.

No one close to me mentioned rooting for the Bulls. Quite frankly this doesn’t surprise me because most of my friends and family have ties to Arizona and California. The exception being my Father who is a Chicago native and a Bulls fan but said I should root for the Suns. Very confusing advise from a lifelong Bulls fan but I don’t know if I will heed his words.

I asked my man Lex Ice, an Alameda native, why the Golden State Warriors would be a good team to root for and he put forth a very convincing argument: …new cool log0o, Steph Curry is the equivalent of yourself in the NBA(at least whenever I’ve made you in NBA 2K Shaft Dynasties), new owners who have been a part of winners(Celtics), and we’ve got a coach with the last name Smart. All this points towards a upward turn for Warrior fans. The Bulls are good except for that cancer Carlos Boozer. The Suns play the same brand of ball as the Warriors but their crew is getting too old to go deep in the playoffs without a complete makeover. It’s like Marcelous Wallace said,”You were good, but if you were gonna make it, you’d have done it already.” Steve Nash & company may have one good series in them where they can play spoiler, but I don’t see them winning the big trophy. Better to get on the Warriors bandwagon at the beginning, then you can claim rightful dominance when we win it all in 2015.

I am being pulled from all sides to make a decision and pick an NBA team that DPC can call his own. I got input from a variety of folks and I took all arguments and ideas into consideration but ultimately this is DPC’s decision. Each team has its own appeal. The Bulls will be playoff bound with the trifecta of Rose, Boozer and Noah. The Suns have future Hall of Famer Steve Nash and will continue to score points by the bushel. The Warriors are under a new regime and they have a dynamic backcourt with Curry and Ellis.

So who is it gonna be? I’ve spent the better part of the week mulling the decision over and the NBA season has already begun, without me participating as a fan. But enough stalling…I am going with the Golden State Warriors from this day forward.

Like I mentioned in my previous post I am looking for an NBA team to call my own. I have always liked basketball and if I was asked to rank my favorite sports basketball would finish ahead of baseball and NASCAR but still finish behind hockey and football.

But alas I am a bigger fan of the NCAA than the NBA and this is likely due to my love for my alma mater, the University of Nevada. March Madness is a holiday when the Pack are readily involved and ultimately I have expended more energy rooting and working for the Wolf Pack than any squad that the Association has to offer.

My hope is that if I find a favorite NBA team than the 82-game regular season and subsequent playoffs will finally have meaning to me. Right now I am a lost sheep without an NBA shepherd and I feel that I am missing out on a great sport and a plethora of great young talent. The Association is filled with transcendent young pros like Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Blake Griffin, John Wall, Luke Babbitt, Armon Johnson (sorry shameless Nevada plug), Derrick Rose, Brandon Roy and a bunch of other guys I forgot to mention because my knowledge of the NBA and it’s personnel is lacking because I barely watch the sport.

In my prior post I mentioned that I needed to “sleep on it” before making a decision on which team would be DPC’s. I am a step closer to making that decision but I also realize that haste makes waste and I need to think about this one some more before making a final decision. So, once again, I will go to sleep with dreams of an NBA team to call my own dancing through my head.

The 2010-11 NBA campaign starts on Wednesday the 27th and I am still an undrafted free agent from the University of Nevada without an NBA team to call my own. I went through this same exercise last season and ended up as a Phoenix Suns fans. Good times as they made their way to the Western Conference Finals but in all honesty I didn’t follow them on a daily basis. I probably watched a grand total of 10-games, playoffs included, throughout the season. Do I consider myself a Suns fan? Sorta, I guess. As you can see I have minimal conviction with that proclamation. Essentially I like the Suns because I live in Phoenix but they don’t flick my switch.

With the NBA season about to start I have two days to find a team and fall in love. This will be a similar exercise to last year but I want this relationship to last. By my greatest recollection I have rooted for the Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls and Phoenix Suns within my lifetime. None of these relationships have been long term and some were based purely on aesthetics, such as my love of the Celtics’ uniforms. This year I promise to be different. I will pick a squad and stand by them through thick and thin.

But what teams should be on the ballot? That’s easy because I will base my decision on the places I have lived or currently reside at. So the choices will be limited to the Phoenix Suns, Chicago Bulls and the Golden State Warriors. Each squad has pros and cons going into the 2010 season. The Bulls, for example, have the best team amongst the three and a greater chance of going deep into the playoff. While the Warriors are rebuilding with young talent and the Suns seem to be in limbo as they have older talent (Steve Nash) and some young guns, such as Robin Lopez and Josh Childress, in an ultra competitive Western Conference.

This is no easy decision and I will sleep on it before making an kind of choice. At this point I am not leaning towards any particular squad. My Blogger profile notes that I am Chicago Bulls fan but that can be easily changed.

So what have I learned in my six-days as a Phoenix Suns’ fan? That they are a good but not great team and maybe it’s a bit too early in the season to pass any judgments as they continue to revamp their identity after jettisoning the lumbering Shaquille O’Neal.

Since my induction to the Suns they are 1-1. The defending world champion L.A. Lakers ran allover the Suns 121-102 and showed that the Suns have some work to do before they can play with the big boys in the Western Conference. The Suns followed up their loss with a one-point win over the visiting Toronto Raptors.

All in all I have enjoyed my first week as a Suns fan but do I feel like I am truly vested in the team? In a word: sorta. Despite drinking from a Suns coffee mug in the morning and owning a Suns short that I got from Goodwill for $1.99 I am having a bit of difficulty swearing absolute allegiance to the team.

Fandom and loyalty will come with time and shared experience. At this point I have two-games under my belt (I didn’t watch either of them and I listened to 20-minutes of the Lakers’ game on the radio.) but I feel that as the season rambles on that I will be a good fan and stick by the team. It’s a new experience for this scribe to have a pony in the quest for the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy and I am looking forward to a greater interest in the NBA as I root for the Suns.

It has been four-days since I pledged my allegiance to Planet Orange and became a Phoenix Suns fan. So far so good as the Suns are rolling to a Pacific Division leading 8-1 record. Tonight they face a great challenge against the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers. Any prognostication this early in the season is a fools game but tonight could be a fair barometer of the Suns mettle.

I am vaguely familiar with the Suns’ roster. Meaning that I am aware that Thunder Dan is now a coach, as opposed to marquee player, and that Amare is still on the roster despite various rumors that he is on his way out of the Valley.

Though a part of DPC feels a bit old because I remember Thunder Dan and Bill Cartwright from their respective playing days.

I am still an undrafted free agent from the University of Nevada that is looking for a team.On DavidPatrickCastro.com I attempted to hook up with an NBA team and become a die hard fan. Based on the blog I found myself leaning towards the Chicago Bulls, Golden State Warriors, the Los Angeles Clippers or the Phoenix Suns.

I never made a final decision and as a result I spent the 2008-2009 season not really involved with a team but I did enjoy the Chicago Bulls/Boston Celtics first round series. Going into this campaign I am still an undrafted free agent looking for a team to attach myself to. Basketball is a great sport and the NBA is on an upswing with their product but as long as I am an orphan I really have no reason to follow the Association. If I have a favorite team then I can truly be involved. Like my love of the Nevada Wolf Pack, March Madness is my favorite time of the year because I have a vested interest in the outcome of the tournament.

For the 2009-2010 season I am leaning towards joining Planet Orange and rooting for the local team, the Phoenix Suns. After seven games the Suns are leading the Western Conference with a 6-1 mark. It’s too early to say that that they will run away with the West but there has been a marked improvement since the departure of Shaq.