Searching for Chemisty

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>It is alarming when Suns center Amaré Stoudemire sends a morning text message that he will not be coming to practice a day after showing frustration in a loss in which he did not shoot in the third quarter and nearly went the final six minutes without a shot until a last-second 3-point try.

It is more alarming that Stoudemire's absence is not even the biggest issue for a 23-10 team enjoying itself about as much as the New York Knicks are these days.

The Suns are 1-6 against the West's current playoff seeds, with another one, Denver, visiting tonight. Stoudemire is expected back Monday from what the team called an absence for "personal reasons." Word around practice was that he could not make it to the 45-minute practice because his two kids were sick.


He was sick about Saturday's 118-113 loss to New Orleans. After the game, he paused for words, rubbed his head, punched his palm and said, "We've got to all get on the same page."

Suns General Manager Steve Kerr said Stoudemire had an excuse for Sunday's absence. Kerr did not go into more detail, saying, "We're going to handle it internally."

Guard Raja Bell also missed Sunday's practice but was asked to do so to recuperate from the flu that sent him home after playing 2:36 on Saturday.

What ails Phoenix is harder to pinpoint.

"I can't put my finger on it right now but, for whatever reason we aren't as good as we were the last couple, three years," said Suns coach Mike D'Antoni, who met with Stoudemire's fellow co-captains, Steve Nash and Shawn Marion, individually on Sunday. "We're kind of wobbling. We've got to find some answers."

The Suns have had defensive and rebounding issues in this era. A lack of chemistry seems to be at the heart of this team's issues. It has never been "peaches and cream," as ex-Suns guard Joe Johnson once put it, but it rarely looks like they enjoy each other's triumphs.

On Saturday, guard Leandro Barbosa played volleyball with a loose ball the length of the floor, hustling to keep it alive until it went out of bounds off New Orleans. Barbosa's momentum carried him off the court with only Marion near him. The crowd roared with approval. Marion turned and walked away.

At another point, Marion posted up a guard when Barbosa waved him out of the area in a move you could not fathom him doing two years ago. Barbosa drove and missed.

The Suns are also quick to look disgruntled with each other when things go amiss. That includes Nash, who may be tired of juggling agendas.

Nash said he may be oblivious to the finger-pointing to a fault but called it a "losing fallacy."

"If that stuff is going on, it needs to be stopped or else we can kiss it goodbye, because you can't win at this level if you don't have great chemistry and you don't pull for each other," Nash said. "If you're worried about your shots or about yourself or making excuses and pointing fingers at other players, that's for losers. We've been a winning ball club here, and if we want to take that next step, that's going to be a big part of our character."

As for Saturday, D'Antoni said Phoenix "probably should've tried" going to Stoudemire more in crunch time and that he would have played Brian Skinner more. Phoenix is 14-2 when Stoudemire takes at least 14 shots and 12-0 when he has 20 points and 10 rebounds.

D'Antoni did not rule out a starting lineup change but will go "soul-searching" first.

"There's a sense of urgency to get this win," forward Grant Hill said of Monday night's game.</div>

Source: AZ Central