2009–10 Phoenix Suns season

2009–10 Phoenix Suns season
Head coach	Alvin Gentry
General manager	Steve Kerr
Owner(s)	Robert Sarver
Arena	US Airways Center
Results
Record	54–28 (.659)
Place	Division: 2nd (Pacific) Conference: 3rd (Western)
Playoff finish	Lost in Conference Finals to L.A. Lakers (2–4)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	Fox Sports Arizona, KUTP
Radio	KTAR

The 2009–10 Phoenix Suns season was the 42nd season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Head coach Alvin Gentry, who coached the Suns the final 31 games during the previous season, was looking to reinstill the offensive tendencies the Suns had developed in seasons past, using the strengths of Steve Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire. A season and a half experiment with Shaquille O'Neal ended in the summer before the season, coupled with the retention of Jason Richardson, and the Suns were primed for a return to the playoffs after a one-season absence. Phoenix would be the only team in the league to hit 40% or more of their three-point field goal percentage while leading the NBA in scoring at 110 points per contest. They would return to the playoffs, defeating the Portland Trail Blazers in six games and sweeping the rivaled San Antonio Spurs in four. Returning to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in four seasons, the Suns met the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers but lost the series in six games to the eventual league champions.

Key dates

June 25 – The 2009 NBA draft took place in New York City.
July 8 – The free agency period started.

Offseason

NBA Draft

Main article: 2009 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College / Club
1	14	Clark, EarlEarl Clark	Forward	United States	Louisville
2	48	Griffin, TaylorTaylor Griffin	Forward	United States	Oklahoma
2	57	Preldžič, EmirEmir Preldžič	Forward	Slovenia / Turkey	Fenerbahçe Ülker

Roster

Phoenix Suns roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Height	Weight	DOB (YYYY–MM–DD)
5.5 !F/C	17	USA !	Amundson, Louis	7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	238 lb (108 kg)	UNLV
1.5 !G	10	BRA !	Barbosa, Leandro	7000190500000000000♠6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	202 lb (92 kg)	Brazil
4.0 !F	55	USA !	Clark, Earl	7000208279999999999♠6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Louisville
6.0 !C	20	USA !	Collins, Jarron	7000210820000000000♠6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	249 lb (113 kg)	Stanford
1.5 !G	2	SLO !	Dragić, Goran	7000190500000000000♠6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Slovenia
4.0 !F	3	USA !	Dudley, Jared	7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Boston C
6.0 !C	8	USA !	Frye, Channing	7000210820000000000♠6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	Arizona
4.0 !F	32	USA !	Griffin, Taylor (IN)	7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	238 lb (108 kg)	Oklahoma
2.5 !G/F	33	USA !	Hill, Grant (C)	7000203200000000000♠6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Duke
5.5 !F/C	21	USA !	Jones, Dwayne	7000210820000000000♠6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	251 lb (114 kg)	Saint Joseph's
6.0 !C	15	USA !	Lopez, Robin	7000213360000000000♠7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	255 lb (116 kg)	Stanford
1.5 !G	13	CAN !	Nash, Steve (C)	7000190500000000000♠6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	178 lb (81 kg)	Santa Clara
2.5 !G/F	23	USA !	Richardson, Jason	7000198120000000000♠6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Michigan State
5.5 !F/C	1	USA !	Stoudemire, Amar'e (C)	7000208279999999999♠6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	249 lb (113 kg)	Cypress Creek HS (FL)

Head coach

Alvin Gentry (Appalachian State)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
Injured

Roster • Transactions
Last transaction: September 15, 2009

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve	Inactive
C	Robin Lopez	Channing Frye	Jarron Collins	Dwayne Jones
PF	Amar'e Stoudemire	Louis Amundson	Earl Clark
SF	Grant Hill	Jared Dudley		Taylor Griffin
SG	Jason Richardson	Leandro Barbosa
PG	Steve Nash	Goran Dragić

Pre-season

2009 Pre-season Game Log: 4–4–0 (Home: 1–2–0 ; Road: 3–2–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Attendance	Record	Recap
1	October 6	Partizan Belgrade (Serbia)	111–80	Phoenix Suns
2	October 10 (in Indian Wells, California)	Phoenix Suns	101–104	Golden State Warriors
3	October 12	Phoenix Suns	105–110	Oklahoma City Thunder
4	October 14	Phoenix Suns	110–104	Portland Trail Blazers
5	October 16	Philadelphia 76ers	115–113	Phoenix Suns
6	October 18 (in Monterrey, Mexico)	Philadelphia 76ers	94–116	Phoenix Suns
7	October 20	Sacramento Kings	143–127	Phoenix Suns
8	October 22 (in Vancouver, BC)	Portland Trail Blazers	93–113	Phoenix Suns

Regular season

Standings

Pacific Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
c-Los Angeles Lakers	57	25	.695	–	34–7	23–18	13–3
x-Phoenix Suns	54	28	.659	3	32–9	22–19	12–4
Los Angeles Clippers	29	53	.354	28	21–20	8–33	5–11
Golden State Warriors	26	56	.317	31	18–23	8–33	5–11
Sacramento Kings	25	57	.305	32	18–23	7–34	5–11

#	Western Conference
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Los Angeles Lakers	57	25	.695	–
2	y-Dallas Mavericks	55	27	.671	2
3	x-Phoenix Suns	54	28	.659	3
4	y-Denver Nuggets	53	29	.646	4
5	x-Utah Jazz	53	29	.646	4
6	x-Portland Trail Blazers	50	32	.610	7
7	x-San Antonio Spurs	50	32	.610	7
8	x-Oklahoma City Thunder	50	32	.610	7

9	Houston Rockets	42	40	.512	15
10	Memphis Grizzlies	40	42	.488	17
11	New Orleans Hornets	37	45	.451	20
12	Los Angeles Clippers	29	53	.354	28
13	Golden State Warriors	26	56	.317	31
14	Sacramento Kings	25	57	.305	32
15	Minnesota Timberwolves	15	67	.183	42

Game log

2009–10 game log

October: 2–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 1–0)

November: 12–3 (Home: 5–0; Road: 7–3)

December: 7–9 (Home: 7–2; Road: 0–7)

January: 7–9 (Home: 5–4; Road: 2–5)

February: 9–3 (Home: 4–1; Road: 5–2)

March: 12–2 (Home: 6–2; Road: 6–0)

April: 5–2 (Home: 3–0; Road: 2–2)

2009–10 season schedule

Playoffs

The Suns defeated the Portland Trail Blazers in six games in the first round. They swept the San Antonio Spurs in four games in the Western Conference Semifinals, defeating them for the second time in 10 years, after having been eliminated by them in recent seasons four times in five playoff series. The Suns would face the Pacific division-winners Los Angeles Lakers, also the West's top seed, in the Western Conference Finals, but lose the series in six games.

Game log

2010 playoff game log

First round: 4–2 (Home: 2–1; Road: 2–1)

Conference Semifinals: 4–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 2–0)

Conference Finals: 2–4 (Home: 2–1; Road: 0–3)

2010 playoff schedule

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Amundson, Louis !Louis Amundson	79	0	14.8	.551	.000	.545	4.4	0.4	.3	.9	4.7
Barbosa, Leandro !Leandro Barbosa	44	5	17.9	.425	.324	.877	1.6	1.5	.5	.3	9.5
Clark, Earl !Earl Clark	51	0	7.5	.371	.400	.722	1.2	0.4	.1	.3	2.7
Collins, Jarron !Jarron Collins	34	10	7.7	.387	.	.400	1.8	0.2	.1	.1	1.0
Dudley, Jared !Jared Dudley	82	1	24.3	.459	.458	.754	3.4	1.4	1.0	.2	8.2
Dragić, Goran !Goran Dragić	80	2	18.0	.452	.394	.736	2.1	3.0	.6	.1	7.9
Frye, Channing !Channing Frye	81	41	27.0	.451	.439	.810	5.3	1.4	.8	.9	11.2
Griffin, Taylor !Taylor Griffin	8	0	4.0	.400	.000	.500	0.3	0.1	.0	.3	1.3
Hill, Grant !Grant Hill	81	81	30.0	.478	.438	.817	5.5	2.4	.7	.4	11.3
Jones, Dwayne !Dwayne Jones	2	0	3.5	.	.	.	1.0	0.0	.0	.0	0.0
Lopez, Robin !Robin Lopez	51	31	19.3	.588†	.	.704	4.9	0.1	.2	1.0+	8.4
Nash, Steve !Steve Nash	81	81	32.8	.507	.426	.938	3.3	11.0	.5	.1	16.5
Richardson, Jason !Jason Richardson	79	76	31.5	.474	.393	.739	5.1	1.8	.8	.4	15.7
Stoudemire, Amar'e !Amar'e Stoudemire	82	82	34.6	.557†	.167	.771	8.9	1.0	0.6	1.0+	23.1
Tucker, Alando !Alando Tucker*	11	0	6.5	.433	.143	.762	0.6	0.3	.0	.0	3.9

* – Stats with the Suns.
† – Minimum 300 field goals made.
+ – Minimum 70 games played or 100 blocks.

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Amundson, Louis !Louis Amundson	16	0	12.1	.528†	.	.429	3.5	0.1	.4	.4	2.9
Barbosa, Leandro !Leandro Barbosa	16	0	15.6	.417	.343	.708	1.3	1.3	.3	.1	7.2
Clark, Earl !Earl Clark	3	0	4.3	.333	.	1.000^	0.7	0.3	.3	.0	1.3
Collins, Jarron !Jarron Collins	11	10	10.5	.333	.	1.000^	1.5	0.0	.1	.1	1.1
Dragić, Goranl !Goran Dragić	16	0	14.8	.430	.325	.742	1.8	2.3	.3	.1	7.6
Dudley, Jared !Jared Dudley	16	0	23.6	.465	.424	.607	3.8	1.8	1.1	.4	7.6
Frye, Channing !Channing Frye	16	0	27.2	.364	.349	.938^	5.6	0.9	.8	.6	8.2
Hill, Grant !Grant Hill	16	16	28.3	.480	.188	.868	5.8	2.3	.8	.6	9.6
Jones, Dwayne !Dwayne Jones	2	0	5.0	.500	.	.750	2.5	.0	.0	.0	2.5
Lopez, Robin !Robin Lopez	6	6	17.3	.543†	.	1.000^	4.0	.0	.3	.2	7.8
Nash, Steve !Steve Nash	16	16	33.7	.518	.380	.893	3.3	10.1	.3	.1	17.8
Richardson, Jason !Jason Richardson	16	16	33.3	.502	.475	.759	5.4	1.1	1.1	.3	19.8
Stoudemire, Amar'e !Amar'e Stoudemire	16	16	36.5	.519†	.000	.754	6.6	1.1	.7	1.5	22.2

† – Minimum 20 field goals made.
^ – Minimum 10 free throws made.

Awards, records and milestones

Awards

Week/Month

Alvin Gentry (West Coach of the Month – November 2009)
Alvin Gentry (West Coach of the Month – March 2010)
Amar'e Stoudemire (West Player of the Month – March 2010)

All-Star

Nash and Stoudemire were selected to play in the 2010 NBA All-Star Game. Additionally, Nash was the 2010 Skills Challenge winner in the event held during All-Star Weekend.

Season

Nash and Stoudemire were named to the All-NBA Second Team.^[1]
Nash led the league in two statistical categories: assists per game (11.0) and free throw percentage (93.8%).

Milestones

On January 16, 2010, Stoudemire scored his 10,000th career point in a loss to the Charlotte Bobcats.^[2]
On January 26, 2010, Nash became the eighth player in NBA history to surpass 8,000 assists in the Suns' loss to the Utah Jazz.^[3]

Injuries and surgeries

Robin Lopez broke his ankle near the end of the season. This resulted in them wanting Jarron Collins and later, Dwayne Jones.

Transactions

Trades

June
June 25, 2009	To Cleveland Cavaliers---- Shaquille O'Neal	To Phoenix Suns---- Ben Wallace Sasha Pavlovic Second round pick in the 2010 NBA draft $500,000
June 26, 2009	To Phoenix Suns---- Cash considerations	To Cleveland Cavaliers---- Rights to Emir Preldžič (57th overall in 2009 NBA draft)

Free agents

Additions

On July 11, the Suns re-signed Grant Hill and Louis Amundson. On July 13, the Suns signed a two-year contract with former University of Arizona center Channing Frye.^[4]

References

↑ "Best on offense (Durant), defense (Howard) pace All-NBA team". NBA. May 6, 2010. Archived from the original on May 9, 2010. Retrieved May 7, 2010.
↑ http://espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=300116030
↑ http://espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=300125026
↑ "Suns reach two-year agreement with Frye". NBA. July 13, 2009. Retrieved July 17, 2009.

External links

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2009–10 NBA season by team

Eastern

Atlantic	Boston New Jersey New York Philadelphia Toronto

Central	Chicago Cleveland Detroit Indiana Milwaukee

Southeast	Atlanta Charlotte Miami Orlando Washington

Western

Northwest	Denver Minnesota Oklahoma City Portland Utah

Pacific	Golden State L.A. Clippers L.A. Lakers Phoenix Sacramento

Southwest	Dallas Houston Memphis New Orleans San Antonio

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/6/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.