Arizona Sports Fan Blog

The Phoenix Suns finally broke away from the methodical style of the Portland Trail Blazers.

Boy, did they break away.

Jason Richardson scored 29 points, Grant Hill made 10-of-11 shots for 20, and the Suns routed the Blazers 119-90 Tuesday night to emphatically tie the first-round playoff series 1-1.

“The game just went by fast,” Portland’s Andre Miller said. “They hit us with the transition game. That’s what they’ve been doing all year.”
When the mercurial Richardson has a night like this, his team almost always wins. Phoenix is 27-4 this season when he scores at least 20.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

The Phoenix Coyotes have thrived in the face of adversity all season.

They did it again Sunday in Game 3 against the Detroit Red Wings.

Overcoming the loss of captain Shane Doan and another key player, Petr Prucha and Radim Vrbata scored midway through the third period to lift the Coyotes to a 4-2 victory and a 2-1 series lead.

“From where we’ve come from, a couple injuries are not going to deter us,” Phoenix coach Dave Tippett said. “Shane is a great player, he’s our leader, but we recognized we had a game to play.”

Phoenix scratched forward Vernon Fiddler, who got hit in the lip by a stick in Game 2, and lost Doan on his first shift of the second period when he appeared to have an upper-body injury after running into the endboards.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

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Once considered long shots to even make the playoffs, the Phoenix Suns are entering the postseason as the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.

The Suns looked much more like a contender than the “overachiever” label they’ve carried throughout the season in a 100-86 win at Utah on Wednesday, locking up the third seed in the West while sending the Jazz tumbling to fifth.

Phoenix will host No. 6 seed Portland on Sunday in the first round of the playoffs.

“It was a great way to finish the regular season — for a team that was picked by many to be on the outside looking into the playoffs or at the bottom of the playoff list,” said Steve Nash, who had 11 assists in just three quarters. “To finish third in the West is rewarding. And most importantly we’re playing well and heading into the playoffs fairly good.”

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of http://www.eastvalleytribune.com

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Dan Haren was so winded running the bases in front of Stephen Drew during the shortstop’s inside-the-park home run Monday on Opening Day that the Diamondbacks pitcher said it took him nearly two full innings to recover.

Drew’s fourth-inning shot off Jon Garland, the sixth by a Diamondbacks player, took a lot of people’s breath away.

“Probably the most exciting play in baseball,” manager A.J. Hinch said.

“Man,” right fielder Justin Upton said, “that was fun to watch.”

Drew has hit for the cycle, turned a triple play and now hit an inside-the-park homer. Where does the latter rank in his career?

“It’s up there,” Drew said. “I was telling (first baseman Adam) LaRoche, ‘I’ve seen it on TV, but I’ve never been a part of it on the field.’ To actually do it, it was exciting.

“With the roof open, the wind was kind of swirling all around and the ball just kept carrying and going left. . . . It hit (off the wall) and I got a good bounce. It was unexpected. You don’t think about it. You’re just running hard and you see the ball do that and nobody’s near the ball, you get a chance to score so, it’s pretty neat.”

Click here to read the full article – By Bob McManaman of The Arizona Republic

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The Arizona Cardinals and former Cleveland Browns quarterback Derek Anderson have agreed to a two-year contract worth $7.25 million, a source told ESPN.com Wednesday.

The source said the deal includes $3.25 million guaranteed, and with incentives would max out at $18.25 million.

Anderson would compete with current Cardinals quarterback Matt Leinart for the starting job.

Arizona’s deal for Anderson came on the heels of free-agent quarterback Charlie Whitehurst telling San Diego Chargers management earlier Wednesday that he will sign a one-year restricted free-agent tender offer. The development will allow the Chargers to begin trade talks on his behalf, a source told ESPN.com’s John Clayton.

Whitehurst has indicated he prefers to go to Seattle, according to a source; at one time, Whitehurst, who is a restricted free agent with third-round compensation, was considered a possibility to connect with the Cardinals. Because the Seahawks don’t have a third-round choice, the Chargers and the Seahawks would have to work out a trade.

Click here to read the full article – By of ESPN.com

The big news on the Coyotes front is that they are on the verge of their first playoff spot in eight years. But there is old news that remains relevant: General Manager Don Maloney will not sacrifice what he considers top assets to bring in a player who might be gone at season’s end.

Money is not the issue for Maloney; it’s his belief that success is built and then ensured through a solid foundation. Any deal he makes would fit that parameter.

“I still believe we are growing this franchise,” he said. “We expect to win. We’re a playoff team, and we think when we get there we have a chance to win, so that’s why we’re looking (for) help, but . . . the price right now on some of these players, that’s the challenge.

“This isn’t a money decision for us right now. We’ve been able to save enough in our budget to give ourselves room for paying the next six weeks. This is more of the asset price that we have to give up to acquire, and a second-round pick and prospect for a guy for six weeks, that doesn’t cut it for me at all.

“That’s where maybe somebody else is wiling to pay, but I’m not. We think we’re good enough, and we like the group. If we can find a way to be better, we’ll do it.”

Click here to read the full article – By Arizona Republic

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Nineteen games separate the Coyotes from their first playoff berth in eight years. They have had a few chances in the interim but always seemed to find a way to lose.

They finished play before the Olympic break in fourth place in the Western Conference with 79 points, equaling last season’s total. The Coyotes are 11 points ahead of No. 9 Dallas and No. 10 Detroit,both with 21 games left.

It took 91 points to make the West playoffs a year ago, but that number likely will not be enough this time. The Coyotes do not need perfection: They can go 8-8-3 and finish with 98 points; the Stars and Red Wings could storm to the finish line with 15-6 records and only match that number.

Teams can resume trading after the break, and with Scottie Upshall (knee) out for the season, the Coyotes could be active.

Click here to read the full article – By Arizona Republic

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Radim Vrbata joked that when the Coyotes journey to the Czech Republic they could save money by staying at his house. “We’ll have a party there,” he said.

The Coyotes will play the Boston Bruins on Oct. 9-10 in Prague to conclude the NHL’s overseas schedule. The Carolina Hurricanes and Minnesota Wild meet in Helsinki Oct. 7-8; and the Columbus Blue Jackets face the San Jose Sharks in Stockholm Oct. 8-9.

“I played a game there (Prague) with Tampa last year,” Vrbata said. “I think it’s going to be exciting, a lot of travel but once you’re there, especially for us Czech guys, it’s going to be special.”

Coach Dave Tippett has been to the Czech Republic before, and during the lockout worked with a team in Prague. He said the trip will bring challenges.

“I haven’t dug into it enough yet, but I’ve talked to a lot of the coaches who have gone over there, just to find out what they thought went right, went wrong on their trip, just to make sure we’re on top of everything,” he said.

“With the amount of Czech players we have, it will be a great trip for them.”

Click here to read the full article – By Arizona Republic

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Coyotes coach Dave Tippett appreciated the opportunity to chat with friends from around the rink and visit with his daughter when he made his first trip to Dallas on Sunday night as a coach for the visiting team.

“I have a lot of great memories but once the puck dropped, it was just game on again, and I really enjoyed the way our guys played,” Tippett said following the Coyotes’ 4-2 win against the Stars.

The win maintained the Coyotes’ hold on fourth place in the Western Conference and also marked the first game without forward Scottie Upshall, who is out indefinitely with a torn ACL. He is awaiting surgery.

“He’s one of those guys when the game kinda isn’t going the right direction for you, he has the ability to grab that back just with a burst of energy, with a great play,” Tippett said. “He’s definitely a player that will be missed.”

Coyotes captain Shane Doan said Upshall’s “kamikaze” style will be hard to replace.

“We always tease him about how excited he is when he scores, he loves to score, and that’s what makes ‘Uppy’ so valuable to us,” Doan explained.

Click here to read the full article – By Arizona Republic

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Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner will announce Friday at a news conference whether he plans to retire, according to a Cardinals source.

The widespread assumption — one that hasn’t changed for weeks — is that the 38-year-old Warner will step away from the game.

One possible indication of Warner’s intentions is that he already has begun gathering his family so they can attend Friday’s news conference at the team’s training facility, according to sources.

Warner’s agent confirmed the news conference in Tempe on Wednesday evening.

Warner also has another added motivation for a quick decision: He has multiple promotional appearance commitments during Super Bowl week in Miami. Rather than answer retirement questions then, Warner would prefer to remove the focus from his future as quickly as possible so it’s not an issue next week, according to a source.

Click here to read the full article – By Adam Schefter of ESPN.com