I catch the Phoenix Suns play whenever I can. I’m not huge fan of basketball but have been watching for the last couple of years.

Tonight was an exciting game in a few places.

The first clip is a brawl that started with Shaq and Nash jumping in and the second clip of Steve Nash scoring from behind half court before half time.

His basket got called back before the second half the ball had not left his hand before the bell but what a shot.

UPDATE: The NBA has suspended Steve Nash and Matt Barnes of Phoenix and Rafer Alston of Houston for their roles in a fight.

Alston and Barnes were suspended for two games without pay and Nash for one. The league also fined Shaquille O’Neal $35,000 and Tracy McGrady $25,000 on Friday for their actions during the Rockets’ 94-82 win in Phoenix on Wednesday.

Barnes knocked back Alston with his shoulder late in the third quarter, and Alston charged him. Nash ran in and was pushed back by McGrady, who was shoved down by O’Neal.

Nash was cited for “escalating the altercation.” He and Barnes will miss Friday’s game at Sacramento, and Barnes will sit Sunday against Detroit. Alston will miss games Friday against San Antonio and Saturday against New Orleans.

The Suns have opened up two new locations on their Virtual Locker Room, the Players Lounge and the Training Room.

I went straight for the Training Room and at first glance it seemed O.K. The loading for everything is a bit quicker than before, but still is unappealing for people who just came to check it out. When you enter the Training Room you first hear Sean Marks say “I can’t feel my feet” as he sits in an ice bath. If you go to the right you get to watch Dan Majerle ride stationary bike.

After the Training Room I hit up the Players Lounge and played some billiards with Shaq, or rather just clicked the table and it did its little flash thing. Over on the computer the Suns Dancers have a solitaire game, but it isn’t like normal solitaire, it lets you put red on red and black on black, so it is super easy and super boring. Go click on the TV and play a frogger-style Gorilla game.

Overall the site is slow, and boring. Check it out for yourself, but I do not believe it is worth the wait involved. The majority of the slowness comes from the lame green screen’s that the players do, which all pretty much lagged out when I went to the site.

Kevin Johnson, ex-Phoenix Suns player, is running for Mayor. Johnson has spent the years after his retire from basketball working on developing the low-economy Sacramento neighborhood that he grew up in.

I don’t believe this is the same case as the Schwarzenegger thing since he has invested so much time and money on developing the community. But I do believe he will get more votes than his opponent, Heather Fargo, “who has governed the capital city as it has slid into a deep real estate slump.”

“We need a change in the city and I believe we need a change now,” Johnson said. “As I went out the last month and talked to people around the city, folks have said to me they believe city government is nonresponsive, tired, uninspired and bureaucratic. They want something different in Sacramento. (They’re) clamoring for change.”

The former Phoenix guard’s nonprofit community development corporation, St. HOPE, transformed the failing Sacramento High School into a successful charter school.

St. HOPE also developed the 40 Acres Art Gallery and Cultural Center, with a book store, lofts and Starbucks, in the commercial heart of Oak Park.

But, he does have his faults. Don’t let his success turn you into a glaze-eyed zombie who runs out and votes for him immediately. Apparently Johnson failed to keep up other run-down properties he bought with an eye toward redeveloping them.

Johnson was forced to issue a public apology after The Sacramento Bee ran a story that said half his group’s 37 Oak Park properties had been cited for code violations over a 10-year period. Vacant lots had been left fallow and had become filled with garbage.

Johnson has since moved to clean up the properties and said he would press ahead with his redevelopment plans by bringing a Fresh & Easy market to a key Oak Park intersection.

Link

It didn’t take long for Shaq to get into his “new crib”, the Suns Virtual Locker Room.

We posted about the Locker Room a while ago and with all the hype (good and bad) about the trade for Shaq, it’s impressive they got him in a uniform and into the flash piece so quickly.

From what I can find he is only in a few places so far but you can already buy his Suns gear from links at his locker in the locker room. It’s one big flash file so I can’t point you right at it.

Shaq was traded from the Heat to the Suns recently and let’s just say it might be the worst move the Suns have made yet.

MSNBC had this bulleted list over on an article of theres, this is what the critics seem to be going nuts over:

• Shaq can’t play anymore.
• He’s not going to be satisfied just being a defensive player and inbounder.
• He’s too slow to keep up with the Suns speed and fast break.
• Western teams play small and who will he defend?
• He’s out of shape and always injured.
• D’Antoni doesn’t like a postup or halfcourt game, which was Shaq’s specialty when he was the Big Diesel.
• He was complaining about his touches even in Miami.
• Are you taking the ball out of Steve Nash’s hands to run offense through Shaq?
• Shaq didn’t defend the pick and roll even in L.A.
• Marion was the Suns best defender.
• It’s just an overreaction to the Lakers getting Pau Gasol and the Mavericks reportedly trying to get Shaq in their game, which does feature more half court.

Shaq’s big thing is that he is big, which can be a good thing, but in this case it is not. Being big on a basketball court just allows your to block super well, but the Suns big thing is that they have an incredibly fast offense, will Shaq slow them down?

I remember Shaq from the old days, back from when everyone worshiped him and tolerated his horrible video game skills in Shaq-Fu. Now a days, Shaq just might be out of gas.

Now that the Suns have their Virtual Locker Room up, what do you think the chances of seeing some Shaq memorabilia around, you know like a Kazaam poster or a flash version of the Shaq-Fu game?

Steve Nash is a rare thing in the NBA, it really is an amazing journey he has taken to be an MVP of the NBA. Little white guys don’t usually get very far in the modern NBA, or so I’m told.

The Phoenix Suns have made the most of this extremely talented guy.

I personally like that he comes from a soccer family and might end up playing and/or owning part of an English premier league team, Tottenham Hotspurs.

Regardless of all that, great commercial and Nash seems like the real deal on and off the court.