Phoenix Suns Tickets

It's been an interesting first half of the season for the Phoenix Suns, who have completely overhauled the way they play basketball.

When general manager Steve Kerr and head coach Mike D' Antoni weren't on the same page following the team's elimination from the playoffs last season, you got the feeling change was on its way.

The Suns decided to let D' Antoni take off, and the coach eventually signed a big contract with the New York Knicks.

With D' Antoni out of the picture, the move to a slower offense with a greater focus on defense was the next step.

It certainly didn't help D' Antoni's case that Kerr went out and traded Shawn Marion to the Miami Heat for center Shaquille O' Neal at last year's trade deadline.

A few years ago, it may have still been a good deal and risk despite O' Neal's size. However, with O' Neal in the twilight of his career and declining significantly each season, he certainly wasn't about to fit into D' Antoni's system.

Despite the massive change in philosophy, the experiment hasn't been a complete disaster. In fact, it could be argued that O' Neal has actually played much better this season than he did last year.

The team is now looking at possibly beginning a rebuilding process or at least restructuring their roster again. The Suns are discussing the possibility of trading center Amare Stoudamire to the Miami Heat for rookie forward Michael Beasley and an old friend: Marion.

It's no secret that the Suns haven't been happy with Stoudamire's lack of effort on the defensive end and his negative attitude concerning his teammates and his role as a leader on the team.

The Suns already made another move shaking up their roster, trading forward Boris Diaw and Raja Bell to the Charlotte Bobcats for Jason Richardson. It's a confusing set of moves given that the Suns first moved toward a slower pace with O' Neal and are now trying to speed things up again with Richardson.

Despite all of that, the Suns are still 28-23 and in second place in their division, which is hardly anything to sneeze at. It will be really interesting to see what Kerr decides to do in the coming months.