From: f67700241@violet.ccit.arizona.edu (Greg Franklin)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.basketball.pro
Subject: Suns Roster, and Preview of Opening Night Nov. 7 vs. Clippers
Date: 6 Nov 92 21:14:44 GMT
Distribution: world,local
Organization: University of Arizona
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Here is the Suns opening-day roster, I guess.  Please correct any errors,
any of you netters out there.

Tom Chambers (starting SF)
Charles Barkley (starting PF)
Mark West (starting C)
Danny Ainge (starting SG)
Negele Knight (starting PG)
Dan Majerle (6th man)
Cedric Ceballos ("Point-A-Minute Man")
Oliver Miller (good backup C)
Tim Kempton (bad backup C)
Richard Dumas (backup SF)
Kurt Rambis (backup PF)
Ed Nealy (backup PF)

On the injured list (I assume)
Kevin Johnson (starting SG)

Obviously the loss of Kevin Johnson will hurt for most of November.  It
would be worse if Charles Barkley wasn't around to compensate.

There are other things not to like about this Suns roster.  Rambis and
Nealy are too washed up to contribute, and Chambers will continue to move
in that direction.  Kempton is not worth his contract, and Dumas is
an unknown.

But I still am optimistic that the Suns will start out strong.  Barkley
will be on fire to start out the season, as he tries to show up Harold
Katz (I saw Andrew Lang is on the shelf till December for the 76ers).  West
is underrated as a center; he gets enough rebounds and put-back hoops to
justify a starting slot.  Majerle plays almost as hard as CB and gives the 
Suns a strong 2nd team.  Dumas and Miller will have the chance to surprise.
Ainge still has enough left in him to help the Suns outside shooting,
though I question his ability to start for 80+ games.  Ceballos is still
exciting and doesn't look to be in decline.  In short, a blend of speed
and power 3rd to only Chicago's and Portland's.

Paul Westphal is a new coach, but still not too much different from Cotton.
Westy was a Suns hero in the playoff years of 1976-80; I remember watching
him.  Let's hope he keeps the good parts of Cotton's leadership while 
getting rid of the stupid ones.

Here's how the Saturday night matchup in the America West Arena looks:

SUNS (0-0)                   CLIPPERS (0-1) :-)
Chambers                     Danny Manning
Barkley                      Ken Norman
West                         Stanley Roberts
Knight                       Mark Jackson
Ainge                        Ron Harper
Majerle                      Gary Grant

Expect the Suns to romp.  Manning's superiority to TC is outweighed by
the extreme superiority of Barkley to Norman.  West/Knight/Ainge can
hold their own against the Clippers threesome, and Majerle and Co. will
easily roll over the pathetic bench of the Clippers (Hot Plate Williams?
Kiki Vandeweghe??) in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, which is when the game
will be decided.

Anyone have any differing opinions?
-- 
Greg "Mockingbird" Franklin      Interviewer: "Sir, how do you spell relief?"
f67700241@ccit.arizona.edu               Dan: "R-O-L-A-I-D-S-E."

"[George Bush is] the most ruthless white man in the history of the planet."
	-- Richard Ben Cramer, author of _What It Takes_
"The President scores much better than Bill Clinton."
	-- Dan, comparing Bush's record of marital infidelity to Clinton's
Newsgroups: rec.sport.basketball.pro