Refreshed Suns look to down T-Wolves

The Phoenix Suns come out of the break refreshed,
recharged, and refocused, looking to start the second half
of the season with a win as they catch Minnesota on the
end of a back-to-back-to-back.

The Suns haven’t played since February 22, and only Steve
Nash and Markieff Morris went to Orlando for the NBA’s
All-Star Weekend. Morris participated in the BBVA Rising
Stars Challenge and Nash played just five minutes in
Sunday’s All-Star Game.

One area where the Suns are striving for improvement in
the second half is defense.

“We’ve struggled in general just because of our pick-and-
roll coverage,” said Suns guard Jared Dudley, in an
interview Tuesday with Arizona Sports 620’s Doug and Wolf.
“And the point guard or guard penetration to the lane has
hurt us just because when teams penetrate us we have to
over help and now when a shot goes up we are out of
position for rebounding.”

Speaking of point guards, the Suns will get their first
look at Spanish import Ricky Rubio, who’s been slicing up
defenses as a rookie with his passing, ranking 5th overall
in assists with 8.4 per game.

The Suns will possibly have to contend with All-Star
Kevin
Love, who has thrust himself into the conversation for the
best power forward in the league. Fresh off his win in
last weekend’s 3-point shootout, the fourth-year pro ranks
fourth in the league in scoring (24.5 points per game) and
second in rebounding (13.8).

However, Love didn’t play in Minnesota’s loss to the
Lakers Wednesday night. The former UCLA star sat out with
flu-like symptoms, so his status for Thursday’s game
against the Suns is up in the air.

Phoenix has nine of their next eleven games at US Airways
Center, where they’ve struggled this season, posting a
disappointing 7-9 record.

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