Team of the Moment: Phoenix Suns

I've decided to award the inaugural edition of what I'll call the "Team of the Moment" award. This is a prize given to the basketball team that in my opinion best captures the spirit of the game of basketball at any given time. I'm not necessarily looking for the best team in the standings or even the hottest team of late. Rather, we're looking for the team that stirs the soul with its style or swagger or changes the way the game is played. Whatever the team of the moment is doing, it's making basketball intriguing and exciting. The rules are simple, a team holds the Team of the Moment award until it's moment has passed, that is another team surpasses it on the ultimate hoops barometer, at which point the prize is transferred to a new team.

For this inaugural edition of the award, we look towards the NBA, where there's no more deserving team than the current edition of the Phoenix Suns, led by MVP point guard Steve Nash. This is a team that for the last two plus seasons has been reinventing the way winning basketball is played by turning pro basketball from what had become a series of yawn inducing, half court pick and rolls (Malone and Stockton) or post up kick out offences (see Houston Rockets with Hakeem Olajuwon) back to the full court bravado that marked the 1980s showtime era.

They're able to do this, of course, because they are one of the most supremely physically gifted teams in the league. Not only do they have Nash, the pre-eminent passer in the game (and a very effective scorer), but they have two of the most explosive offensive finishers in Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire around him as well. Stoudemire, by the time all is said and done, may be a hall of fame big man even. Around this, they've compiled a lineup of multitalented sharpshooters who can all put the ball on the floor and also finish at the hoop. The result is a lineup of thoroughbreds the likes of which the NBA has not seen in years.

The trickle down from this style of play is already visible. We're seeing many teams like the Warriors, the Wizards and the Grizzlies trying to play a similar, up tempo style game, with varying levels of success. The end result is a more exciting brand of basketball for everyone.

Now, the real question facing the Suns is whether they can take this brand of fast break basketball and win consistently in the playoffs. Conventional wisdom says no, that a team needs a clamp down defense and a steady half court offence to win in the meat grinder that is the NBA playoffs. However, the Suns did reach the conference finals last year without Stoudemire and by are playing better now than they did last year. It's not unreasonable to expect them to give the Spurs or Mavericks, their two sternest tests in the west, a serious run at the finals.

Of course, when it comes to being the Team of the Moment, winning the NBA Championship is gravy but also a moot point. Already, they're far more fascinating than last year's champions, the old fogey Miami Heat, who are quickly being forgotten. Can anyone honestly admit they get excited about the Heat anymore, except for ABC which insists on airing every Miami/Lakers game from here to infinite? Shoot me now before I see another clip of Shaq and Kobe shaking hands!

Peace.