2008–09 Phoenix Suns season

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2008–09 Phoenix Suns season
Head coach
General managerSteve Kerr
PresidentSteve Kerr
Owner(s)Robert Sarver
ArenaUS Airways Center
Results
Record46–36 (.561)
PlaceDivision: 2nd (Pacific)
Conference: 9th (Western)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionFox Sports Arizona, KUTP
RadioKTAR
< 2007–08 2009–10 >

The 2008–09 Phoenix Suns season was the 41st season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The season was to be a promising one, filled with All-Star talent at several positions. It was believed over the offseason, the Suns would be able to better incorporate Shaquille O'Neal, who necessitated changes to both the offense and defense after being obtained in a trade one season ago. It was also the first season head coach Terry Porter had been able to use the summer to implement his defensive approach for a team which had in seasons past scored a large number of their points off fast breaks and early in the shot clock. Sensing a need for change, team management traded for scorer Jason Richardson in December, but this did not appear to immediately reinvigorate an offense that had recently led the league in points per game. However, after Phoenix went 28–23 to start the season, Suns assistant Alvin Gentry was named to replace Porter as head coach. Less than one week after the All-Star Game, Amar'e Stoudemire sustained a season-ending eye injury while the improvement of the team never fully came. The Suns finished 46–36, second in the Pacific division but out the playoffs for the first time since Steve Nash rejoined the Suns in the 2004–05 season. The Suns had the best team offensive rating in the NBA.[1]

Key dates[]

Offseason[]

The 2008–09 Suns warming up during a road game against the Golden State Warriors in March 2009.

NBA Draft[]

Main article: 2008 NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 15 Robin Lopez Center  United States Stanford
2 48 Malik Hairston Guard  United States Oregon

Roster[]

2008–09 Phoenix Suns roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY-MM-DD) From
PF 17 Amundson, Louis 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 238 lb (108 kg) 1982-12-07 UNLV
G 10 Barbosa, Leandro 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 202 lb (92 kg) 1982-11-28 Brazil
F 22 Barnes, Matt 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 226 lb (103 kg) 1980-03-09 UCLA
G 2 Dragić, Goran 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1986-05-06 Slovenia
F 3 Dudley, Jared 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1985-07-10 Boston College
SF 33 Hill, Grant (C) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1972-10-05 Duke
C 15 Lopez, Robin 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 255 lb (116 kg) 1988-04-01 Stanford
PG 13 Nash, Steve (C) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 178 lb (81 kg) 1974-02-07 Santa Clara
C 32 O'Neal, Shaquille 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 325 lb (147 kg) 1972-03-06 LSU
SG 23 Richardson, Jason 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1981-01-20 Michigan State
F/C 1 Stoudemire, Amar'e Injured 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 249 lb (113 kg) 1982-11-16 Cypress Creek HS (FL)
F 4 Swift, Stromile 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1979-11-21 LSU
F 29 Tucker, Alando 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1984-02-11 Wisconsin
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Roster
Last transaction: March 4, 2009

Regular season[]

Standings[]

Pacific Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div GP
c-Los Angeles Lakers 65 17 .793 — 36–5 29–12 14–2 82
Phoenix Suns 46 36 .561 19 28–13 18–23 11–5 82
Golden State Warriors 29 53 .354 36 21–20 8–33 6–10 82
Los Angeles Clippers 19 63 .232 46 11–30 8–33 2–14 82
Sacramento Kings 17 65 .207 48 11–30 6–39 7–9 82
# Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 c-Los Angeles Lakers 65 17 .793 —
2 y-Denver Nuggets 54 28 .659 11
3 y-San Antonio Spurs 54 28 .659 11
4 x-Portland Trail Blazers 54 28 .659 11
5 x-Houston Rockets 53 29 .646 12
6 x-Dallas Mavericks 50 32 .610 15
7 x-New Orleans Hornets 49 33 .598 16
8 x-Utah Jazz 48 34 .585 17
9 Phoenix Suns 46 36 .561 19
10 Golden State Warriors 29 53 .354 36
11 Minnesota Timberwolves 24 58 .293 41
12 Memphis Grizzlies 24 58 .293 41
13 Oklahoma City Thunder 23 59 .280 42
14 Los Angeles Clippers 19 63 .232 46
15 Sacramento Kings 17 65 .207 48

Game log[]

2008–09 game log
October: 1–1 (Home: 0–1; Road: 1–0)
November: 10–6 (Home: 4–4; Road: 6–2)
December: 7–5 (Home: 5–1; Road: 2–4)
January: 7–8 (Home: 3–4; Road: 4–4)
February: 8–5 (Home: 6–1; Road: 2–4)
March: 7–9 (Home: 6–2; Road: 1–7)
April: 5–2 (Home: 3–0; Road: 2–2)
2015–16 season schedule

Player statistics[]

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game

Season[]

Phoenix Suns statistics
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Louis Amundson 76 0 13.7 .536 .000 .442 3.6 0.4 .4 .9 4.2
Leandro Barbosa 70 11 24.4 .482 .375 .881 2.6 2.3 1.2 .1 14.2
Matt Barnes 77 40 27.0 .423 .343 .743 5.5 2.8 .7 .3 10.2
Raja Bell* 22 22 32.4 .429 .468^ .762 2.9 1.3 .6 .1 9.6
Dee Brown* 2 0 14.0 .200 .250 1.000# 0.5 1.5 .0 .0 2.5
Boris Diaw* 22 0 24.5 .567 .357 .692 3.8 2.1 .5 .4 8.3
Goran Dragic 55 1 13.2 .393 .370 .769 1.9 2.0 .5 .1 4.5
Jared Dudley* 48 0 15.2 .481 .394 .691 3.0 0.8 .8 .1 5.5
Grant Hill 82 68 29.8 .523 .316 .808 4.9 2.3 1.1 .7 12.0
Robin Lopez 60 7 10.2 .518 .000 .691 2.0 0.1 .2 .7 3.2
Steve Nash 74 74 33.6+ .503 .439^ .933# 3.0 9.7 .7 .1 15.7
Shaquille O'Neal 75 75 30.0 .609 .000 .595 8.4 1.7 .7 1.4 17.8+
Jason Richardson* 58 57 33.1 .488 .383 .778 4.5 1.9 1.1 .4 16.4
Courtney Sims* 1 0 2.0 . . . 0.0 0.0 .0 .0 2.0
Sean Singletary* 13 1 9.4 .324 .400 1.000# 1.2 0.9 .5 .0 2.6
Amar'e Stoudemire 53 53 36.8+ .539 .429 .835 8.1 2.0 .9 1.1 21.4+
Stromile Swift* 13 0 9.3 .366 1.000^ .533 2.5 0.2 .3 .5 3.0
Alando Tucker 30 1 9.4 .430 .348 .788 1.0 0.4 .2 .0 4.6

* – Stats with the Suns.
+ – Minimum 70 games played or 2000 minutes, 1400 points.
^ – Minimum 55 three-pointers made.
# – Minimum 125 free throws made.

Awards and records[]

Awards[]

  • O'Neal was named to the All-NBA Third Team.

Week/Month[]

  • Stoudemire was named the NBA Western Conference Player of the Week for Nov. 3-9.[15]
  • Stoudemire has been named the recipient of the NBA Community Assist Award for October.[16]

All-Star[]

Transactions[]

Trades[]

June 26, 2008[8] To Phoenix Suns----Draft rights to Goran Dragić To San Antonio Spurs----Draft rights to Malik Hairston
2009 second-round pick
cash considerations
August 25, 2008[12] To Phoenix Suns----Sean Singletary To Houston Rockets----D. J. Strawberry
December 10, 2008[19] To Phoenix Suns----Jason Richardson
Jared Dudley
2010 second-round pick 		To Charlotte Bobcats----Raja Bell
Boris Diaw
Sean Singletary

Free agents[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Offensive Rating". NBA.com. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  2. ^ Jeramie McPeek, SUNS: Stoudemire Lucky Eye Injury Not Worse, Suns.com, October 3, 2008.
  3. ^ Stefan Swiat, SUNS: Alvin Gentry Named Interim Head Coach by the Suns, Suns.com, February 16, 2009.
  4. ^ SUNS: Stoudemire Undergoes Successful Eye Surgery, Suns.com, February 20, 2009.
  5. ^ Stefan Swiat, SUNS: Suns Name Terry Porter Head Coach, Suns.com, Suns.com, June 7, 2008.
  6. ^ SUNS: Suns Complete Coaching Staff, Suns.com, June 20, 2008.
  7. ^ SUNS: Suns Hill Exercises Player Option For 2008–09, Suns.com, June 26, 2008.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b Brad G. Faye, SUNS: Suns Believe in Dragic, Suns.com, June 26, 2008.
  9. ^ SUNS: Suns Sign Robin Lopez, Suns.com, July 10, 2008.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b Josh Greene, SUNS: Suns Ink Barnes to a One-Year Deal Archived 2008-07-31 at the Wayback Machine, Suns.com, July 22, 2008.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b Stefan Swiat, SUNS: Suns Sign Forward Louis Amundson, Suns.com, August 14, 2008.
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b SUNS: Suns Acquire Sean Singletary, Suns.com, August 14, 2008.
  13. ^ Stefan Swiat, SUNS: Suns Sign Goran Dragic, Suns.com, September 22, 2008.
  14. ^ SUNS: Suns Exercise Option on Alando Tucker, Suns.com, October 23, 2008.
  15. ^ SUNS: Stoudemire Named Western Conference Player of the Week, Suns.com, November 2, 2008.
  16. ^ SUNS: Stoudemire Receives Community Assist Award for October, Suns.com, November 25, 2008.
  17. ^ Stefan Swiat, SUNS: Stoudemire Named All-Star Starter for the West, Suns.com, January 22, 2009.
  18. ^ SUNS: Shaquille O'Neal Named NBA All-Star, Suns.com, January 29, 2008.
  19. ^ Stefan Swiat, SUNS: Suns Trade for Richardson, Dudley and 2010 Second-Round Pick, Suns.com, December 10, 2008.
  20. ^ SUNS: Suns Add Dee Brown, Suns.com, December 24, 2008.
  21. ^ CLIPPERS: Clippers Sign Free Agent Brian Skinner, Clippers.com, July 31, 2008.
  22. ^ Gordan Giricek joins Fenerbahce, Fenerbahnce.org, August 19, 2008.
  23. ^ HORNETS: Hornets Sign Sean Marks, Hornets.com, August 28, 2008.
  24. ^ BOBCATS: Bobcats Sign Linton Johnson III Archived 2008-10-31 at the Wayback Machine, Bobcats.com, October 28, 2008.
  25. ^ SUNS: Suns Release Dee Brown, Suns.com, January 6, 2008.

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