EVERYTHING You Need To Know About Phoenix Suns 2025-26 Schedule

EVERYTHING You Need To Know About Phoenix Suns 2025-26 Schedule

The Suns 2025 2026 schedule it’s finally here and I can’t believe it all 82 are must-win games. Psychos and sinkos. Unite for a must-win edition of PHX Suns coming to you live from Studio K presented by Circle K. For the last time in this building, in this edition of Studio K presented by Circle K. Of course, join the inner circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today. Terms and conditions apply at participating locations. I’m Eric Ruby. That’s Gerald Borg. We got Steven Bjan Gardner and of course the Juice Man aka Freckled Mamba aka Eritton behind the Mac making all of the magic happen. We are breaking down everything you need to know about the schedule today. But speaking of you, you’re the most important person here. All of you live in chat with us watching on YouTube after the fact, listening on audio, and hello if you’re watching us on TV. We’re going to break down the schedule. We’re going to react to Espo’s conversation with Phoenix Mercury and Suns Governor Matt Ishpia later today in this show and give our thoughts if you even care. Uh, and the first things first though, this is our last show, not just in Studio K here, but in this building. Uh, a lot has happened in this building over the years and we’re, uh, we’re moving on and moving up. Literally, we’re going from the fifth floor to the 19th floor of another building. But, uh, big big times over at PHNX. Yeah. A lot of happy memories in this building. We appreciate all of you that have been here with us since a couple years ago when we first moved into this office. For those of you that have been here with us since the old office, which was ratty and not great, we are continuing to move up. We’re very excited to show you guys the new digs next week, but um tomorrow will be a remote show and this is our last show in this office. So, we hope that you’ve enjoyed watching us in this familiar surrounding and in the other studio over the last couple years, but it’s time to move on to bigger and better things. And we’re excited. I got, you know, a full full season with my two new co-hosts this year. And we’re really excited about the way we’re going to be able to attack Sun’s coverage for you guys. So, shout out to all the homies, all the the former hosts that I’ve been lucky to do this show with, and shout out to my new co-hosts who are younger and hungry just like the Suns. Easier to bully, right, Gerald? Sure. Shut up, Eric. Clip that. Uh, Stephen, uh, the the new studio new studio looks pretty dope. We got we got a good look at it. Uh, and you know, we’re going to be sitting pretty close to each other. You know, maybe maybe thighs touching a little bit, you know, something like that. Erison, do you have do you have the do you have the pause emoji handy by any chance? Figure it out. Okay. When you get a chance, just put it just put it over over Eric’s face, please. Cutie lane. See, I was going I was going to do a whole moving on up to the east side and then you just had to had to what? Be you. You love me. You just had to be You love me and you know it. Talking about dension. You love me and you know it. I’m just going to let that sit there. Just a big pause in the Listen, there you go. We’re going to be We’re going to be comfy. Comfy in the new studio. Listen, I can dodge this. You can’t stop me. You can’t pause the talking tortilla. Uh, no, you can’t pause the talking tortilla. You can’t pause ph. So, hit that like button. Hit that subscribe button. Five star reviews go a long way. Uh, let’s just dive into the Phoenix Suns. Need to put that on the shirt, son. That’s never That’s never going away. It’s never going away. No, but it legitimately it’s really exciting times and it’s just going to make it easier for us to to bring you the coverage that you deserve. Uh new team for the Suns, new studio for PHNX Suns, and a brand new slate of games. Let’s go ahead and just take an overarching view of the Suns season at a glance. Gerald, here are just some of the things that fans should keep their eyes out for as we prepare for October. Yeah, if you’re looking at the schedule, Suns have 16 back to backs that is tied for the most in the NBA with like four or five teams. I feel like the Sixers, Hawks, Hornets, and Wizards maybe were the ones that they’re tied with. Um they’ve got nine nationally televised games, so a little bit of a step down from last year season opener. Obviously, we knew this already, but October 22nd at home against the Sacramento Kings. Bradley Beal’s return to Phoenix. His first game back with the Clippers will be November 6th. And then a few weeks later, Kevin Durant returning with the Rockets to Phoenix for the first time uh November 24th. The Suns do play on New Year’s Eve at Cleveland. That’s a rough one. But thankfully, if you are one of those people like us that has to work these games, uh it’s a day game, so we don’t have to be right up against the ball dropping like we have a couple years past. The Suns don’t really have a lot of other holiday games this year. They’re not playing on MLK day. They’re not playing on like Valentine’s Day like they have in the past. Um no Christmas game, obviously. They do have a Halloween game, but that’s an NBA Cup game. Um, so yeah, these are those are kind of the the key dates that stand out, but I want to kick it to you guys. First off with let’s do Beal first and then KD, how is Bradley Beal going to be received in his first game back? Is it just booze at the start or is it booze every time he touches the ball? Yes, 1,00%. I couldn’t agree more. I imagine it’s going to be just that. Uh yeah, it’s not going to be the most welcome, but I think he’s going to embrace that and he probably has one of his better games of the season, his first time coming back to Phoenix. Um and probably is going to be looking around to see where all of the powers that be are for that game. So that would be uh a rather vengeful one. And I mean, understandably so for Bradley Bill. So you just got to chalk that one up for what it’s going to be. If the Suns can somehow find a way to win it, they’ll be okay. But he’s probably going to have a very good game that night. For for you better, go ahead and circle that one on your calendar. Probably season high shots at least. You heard me. That’s what I was going to say. Here’s the thing. You asked, is he going to get booed every time he touched the ball? I’m going to ask is he going to be touching the ball because he’s going to be on the court. Uh it’s early enough in the season and we’ll go month by month in the schedule. I don’t know why the Suns always have to play the Clippers like three times in two weeks. I don’t know why we’re doing this, but uh they are getting it out of the way early. Uh if he doesn’t play, he’s still going to get booed. We have people booing him in the chat right now. You know, I I know he said, “Oh, you know, he might have a good game. He and he might he certainly might he’ll be motivated to. Um unless they ask him to be Drew Holiday and then he’ll throw a fit uh and won’t play. So thankfully they got their own rendition of that. So, I highly doubt it, but it wouldn’t even hit the same if it came from Tyler. I’m not going to hold you. That’s fair. Not going. What do you think, Gerald? You’ll be there. Yeah, I will. I I think they’ll probably boo him at the start. I think they’ll probably boo him when he touches the ball, but we’ll see what kind of crowd we have. Honestly, like the Suns were weirdly good against the Clippers last year, despite the Clippers being a better team. I don’t know if that carries over when you don’t have a Kevin Durant anymore into this year and now that the Clippers are a lot better. Um, but I hope that the Suns get that one. That would be a good one to win if you’re going to steal one or two off the Clippers. Would you rather punk Brad and the Clippers and his return or would you rather punk KD and the Rockets in his return on Monday, November 24th? Oh man, it’s probably Beal. And I think a lot of people would answer Beal. I think Kevin Durant. There is still a sizable contingent contingent of people here that didn’t want to trade KD that understood why they had to but was were sad to see him go. I think there’s plenty of people that wanted him gone and are happy that he’s gone. But for me, I think with Beal, there’s going to be a lot more animosity just because of how much he was getting paid and how little his contributions were in terms of staying healthy. With Kevin Durant, hopefully there’s a little bit of a mutual respect there cuz individually KD did ball out during his time there. I think Suns fans will want to be both though, obviously. Like I I think that goes without saying, but I think it’s going to be more so more animosity towards Beiel than there will be for KD. Yeah. And understandably so. I imagine it goes that way as well. People would rather beat the Clippers than the Rockets for who’s where. I don’t know. I think if he didn’t go out there and just completely take a large steaming crap on the fan base on his way out, uh, that that would probably be the case. Obviously, Bradley Beal had the peace sign, but KD has still actively torn down the fan base since he’s left. And I think the Rockets are a bigger threat. And I think, you know, people, as much as they’re not happy about Brad, they’re both going to get booed for sure. I feel like people want to want to beat KD, right? Cuz like the thing is like it’s the Clippers and it’s Brad. And I think because there is more respect for KD and I think because there will be more respect for Houston if you had to pick one to get one over on, you probably want it to be KD and the Rockets so that it’s like, hey, we beat the better team. You know, we don’t like how that ended. He was crapping on the fan base on the way out. Like I I feel like that might be one that people would want more than the hey yeah the Clippers have been winning for the last decade plus but they’re still the Clippers and it’s like beating Bradley Beal. Well, we saw a bunch of teams do that last year. Like is that really that special? Are we talking about the fan base or the team itself? Fan base. I I think it’ll be more of accomplishment if you beat the Rockets compared to the Clippers obviously, but I think there’s going to be more animosity individually directed towards Beiel than there will be towards Kevin Durant. Well then are you talking about the the team then? Who would who do you think the team gets out more for? Do you think it’s I think I think it’s Katie and the Rockets. Even taking the fact that like Jaylen Green and Dylan Brooks are going to feel some type of way going into that game. I I think they’ll be more of a competitive fire for like a book even cuz even though that’s his brother and he, you know, didn’t want him to go, they love competing against friends more so than enemies almost guys like that. So I I think the team will get up more for the Rockets game. I think the fan base in terms of booing and anger, it’s going to be more so for the Clippers. That’s it. Any final thoughts on that? No, I’m not diving too much more into it. Are those must-win games? If you know, you know. Okay. Uh, some other key dates for the Suns, Gerald, of course, they will be involved in the the NBA Cup or the Emirates NBA Cup as well. When do fans need to keep a lookout for that? Um, yeah. Do we have those those dates pulled up anywhere? I I can’t remember. I know that one of them is on Halloween against the Jazz. Um, and I know that they released the NBA Cup schedule last week. I feel like they a couple days ago. It might have been. Might have been last week. Okay. So, 10:31 Halloween Yeah. against the Jazz at home. And then uh November 21st, so almost a month later uh taking on the Timberwolves at home and then five days later against the Kings on the road and then 11:28, November 28th at the Thunder. So Jazz, Timberwolves, Kings, Thunder and then of course those are the qualifying games and then there will be a week in December where they’re going to add a couple of games to the schedule depending on where they stand in the NBA Cup. How do we feel about their draw for the for the Emirates NBA Cup? I mean, they have the best team in the West and they have a borderline contender in the Timberwolves and then they have two very beatable teams with the Jazz and the Kings. H I would say two and two. I I I don’t think they’ll be in the NBA Cup again this year. No, which is a bummer. I’m legitimately bummed. I know you’re big for everybody who doesn’t care about the NBA Cup. Get on board. It matters. It’s fun. I will not hear otherwise. Through those four games, Stephen, two and two, four and0. What are you feeling? Not four and0. Um I think two and two makes the most sense knowing at least presumably in what we’ve seen from what Jordan not how he kind of goes about. I imagine they’re looking at three and one as the goal. Mhm. The one being that all depends on how well they get out the gates to the season and the way those pieces mess together. But I think two and two is the most realistic. Are we bummed or disappointed? Not I guess I know from a personal level we want, you know, holidays with our families as any normal person would. Are we a little bummed or disappointed that they’re not getting the nod except for on New Year’s Eve and even then it’s an it’s an earlier day or does it just feel like like duh, right? Yeah, kind of the latter for me. Like I I do there is something special about covering the NBA on some of these special holidays like especially Christmas. like we we had gone like a decade or so without a Christmas game and then we got four in a row. It was kind of a bummer they went like one and three and the one was the first one and then it was three straight losses. Um yeah, so that was that was kind of a bummer. But I I do there is a certain level of prestige when your team is playing on Christmas of being able to say like yeah my team is one of those eight or 10 however many teams that gets to play on these special holidays. For me personally though, like covering the last four Christmases was kind of rough. Yeah. So, it’s it’s nice to have that day off where you get to just watch basketball and not have to have, you know, your brain on and and work. And I and I think a lot of Suns fans are kind of relieved to have a break from the Suns Christmas agony as well. What’s predicted, Stephen? When’s the next time the Suns play on Christmas? Over under three and a half years. I would take the over. I mean, it took what, a decade before that, but some of the worst eras of Suns basketball that we’ve ever seen, right? I Three and a half years. Good line, huh? Mhm. Our friends over at 365. Great line. Um, I’ll probably Nicest thing you said to me all week. I know, dummy. I’m just going to start throwing random insults. Oh, no. I’d be under just asking for it. Yeah, you kind of you’re kind of like bring it on. Uh I I’ll take I’ll be optimistic and take the under. I think realistically it’s probably the over, but I do think this front office with as aggressive as they are with Book being able to attract stars, like you don’t even have to necessarily be good. If you just attract like one more superstar, Devin Booker and that other face could be enough to get you back in Christmas contention. All they have to do is think that you’re good in August. That’s it. pretty much. I feel like I feel like some of the some of the things in play though, one obviously the Suns have to be viable, but they either have to have another star level player that’s going to get a certain type of attention or draw. Mhm. Or they have to have some burgeon rivalry with someone. Yeah. And I just don’t know if either of those two surface while they’re retooling. They might be good enough to be a playoff team, but I don’t know if that results in them getting a Christmas game in the next three and a half years. If Dylan Brooks is watching this, he’s at home with a little check box saying establish rival. He said, “That’ll be easy.” It wasn’t November 4th. He’s like, “I actually already have a list.” Funny you mentioned that, right? He’s a rival, huh? It’s the whole league and half the G- League. I think there’s I think there’s a chance there’s a chance. I would probably take the over three and a half years as well because you have to earn kind of that respect and I think it’ll take a couple years for the Suns to to feel that way. I mean, Elco 82 in the chat says Luca versus Book Suns Lakers. you know, if that maybe becomes a little bit more poignant over the next couple of years and maybe it doesn’t take a trade for another star. Maybe it is like, hey, come on Malawatch who’s a top 10 pick and maybe he comes on into his own or maybe it is Jaylen Green, right? Or maybe it’s both of them and it’s like, okay, the Suns are this young, fun, hungry team and that are well coached and all the things that we say like could break right for the Suns even if we don’t think all of that will happen at once. If that slowly accumulates over the next two to three years, maybe three Christmases from now, four Christmases from now, they get like a nod as like the the 8:00 p.m. start against like the Lakers or something. I think three would be like right on the money is where it might wind up being for me hopefully. Well, that’s three years from now. What about this season? So, we’ve talked about, you know, the big national days. We’ve talked about KD and Beal’s return. And yeah, maybe the Suns aren’t a big brand in the NBA right now, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have any nationally televised games, and that doesn’t mean that they might not might have been screwed by the schedule makers with those backtobacks. We’re going to talk about those get monthtomonth throughout the season, plus react to Espo’s interview with MattB on Southwest Bias after our first break. Be like Dylan Brooks and write down this October 31st through November 2nd. That of course is NASCAR championship weekend at Phoenix Raceway. And here’s the kicker about championship weekend this year. NASCAR is taking championship weekend on the road starting in 2026. So October 31st through November 2nd is your last chance to catch it here in the valley for a while. But what do you get to see? Well, four champions crowned in just three days. With small ticket upgrades, you can be up close to the garage, meeting the drivers, walking the track, and catching a pre-race concert. But of course, the coup d’et gr the main attraction is cars roaring by by almost 200 m per hour, witnessing four champs crowned in 3 days. So don’t miss it. Your chance to witness NASCAR Championship weekend in person coming to Phoenix Raceway October 31st through November 2nd. Tickets for Sunday’s Cup Series Championship race sell out every year. So move fast and get yours now before they’re gone. and tickets, hospitality, upgrades, all still available. Get yours now at the link in our show notes. And you know me by now. You know that I love APS. And I tell you, it’s because I’m lazy and I like to adjust my thermostat. But here’s the thing about APS is they don’t need to do nice things for you. They want to do nice things for you because most of the time you have to use APS. So, they don’t have to give you a smart thermostat for as low as $0 when you enroll in the APS Cool Rewards program or a time of use plan to make sure you’re not spending the money. They don’t want to be a service. They want to service the community. And that’s why they know how important it is for you to save money. And remember, nearly half of your energy costs come from cooling and heating. And a smart thermostat can help you manage those energy bills. Automatically adjust your thermostat from any device that you have during your APS time of use plan or without it. and make sure that you save some money. And you might be eligible for smart thermostats for as low as $0 when you enroll in the APS Cool Rewards program. If you already have a smart thermostat at home, see if it’s eligible to enroll in Cool Rewards, plus free installs available at the link in our video description. Must be an APS customer. Pay shipping and taxes. Other restrictions apply. Visit marketplace.aps.com for more information. Shout out to everybody hanging out with us in the chat for a whole schedule breakdown. Are they Can we Can we cuz Meatloaf has a good suggestion. Let’s call back to backs. Cheeks to cheeks. I think we just need to call it cheeks, right? Cuz you have one cheek and the other cheek and they’re back to back. Baby got back cheeks. Keep going. You’re saving it. Cheeks. One more. You got one more on you. Cheeks. There we go. Clip it. Oh, it is the full off season if you couldn’t tell. The last three weeks have been for sure. We are here, folks. We are here. So are the psychos and sickos. Like button, subscribe button, five star reviews, they’re all free. Uh let’s take a look at all the Suns nationally televised games for the season. November 8th against the Clippers on ESPN. November 18th against the Blazers on NBC. November 24th against the Rockets at home. That’s on Peacock. December 1st at the Lakers on Peacock. February 3rd at the Blazers on NBC. March 3rd at the Kings on NBC. March 16th at the Celtics on Peacock. March 24th versus the Nuggets on NBC. And April 7th, hey, it’s my birthday. Versus the Rockets on NBC. They did that on purpose. They know what they’re doing. Uh before we get into this specifically, how do we feel about all the different streaming services and how many you’re going to have to have to watch the NBA this year? I mean, I’m lucky because I have all of those, but I do understand for NBA fans that like don’t and don’t want to pay for a whole subscription service just to watch the occasional Monday, Tuesday game on Peacock or whatever. Like, and if you look at the graphic for the schedule of how it’s divvyed up. Yeah, it’s not. It’s confusing. Like, I’m going to need like a a weekly chart to figure out what game it’s on. I mean, most people just, you know, look at your phone and see the little letters next to it. So, it’s not that hard, but uh it is going to be different as opposed to like you knew Thursdays. It’s on TNT and now it’s now it’s very different. So, you got NBC. What is NBC? Oh, no. You know what NBC is, Kaylee? You’re making us feel real old with that question. It’s the company that was there before Peacock, basically. Um, but yeah, and also like how many people have Peacock? Like I do. A lot more are going to. But yeah, I mean I’m excited, Stephen, to get some of these new voices in here and some of the like Blake Griffins and Tracy McGradies and whatnot, but like it is getting inherently more difficult to be a basketball fan. Money, money, money. Got to have it. Subscriptions, rack them up. Mhm. I I love spreading the wealth as far as the opportunities for different types of coverage to break up the mundaness of okay, you have a a one in4 chance of knowing who’s going to be or three in four chance of who’s going to be, you know, broadcasting for each game. Being able to break that up is cool, but how accessible is it to everybody? Like people still can’t get leave pass in the city that they live in or the state that they live in. Sometimes the like sometimes we can’t even see Clippers games from here on Lee Pass because this is such a trash product. It’s like so yeah like figure it out. That’s my that’s my whole thing, bro. Figure it out. Streamline something that makes sense. Stop making people spend extra money on top of League Pass and they can’t even watch the games for their home team in the same market. Like yeah, make all of this make sense, please. Like do we know if the Suns are still doing their deal, the overtv like the Suns.com or the Suns live or whatever it was called? Mhm. I would intend. So, I haven’t heard otherwise that they’re not doing that, which helps locally. Um, but I don’t see why that would be a one-year thing. I can’t imagine that would be very popular. Hey, let’s do this and then take it away. Uh, okay. So, I think it’s fair. I think 16 nationally televised games over the season is actually maybe a little bit of a higher number. Nine. Sorry, not 16. 16 back to backs. Way worse. Uh, nine nationally televised games spread out over the season for a team that we think is on the playin bubble. That seems fair. I don’t have any qualms with that. No. And you get why they picked the games that they picked. Yeah. It’s a bummer they don’t have any on Amazon Prime. I would have liked to watch I mean, we’re going to be watching other teams anyway on Prime just to see all the different coverage teams and how they cover the league cuz we can all agree that uh some of the stuff from ESPN and TNT over the years has been pretty lacking in terms of educating fans the way that NFL broadcasts do. And we’ve talked about that a lot. But it’s kind of a bummer that you know it’s what is it? Five NBC, three Peacock, and only one ESPN, no Amazon. That’s a little bit of a bummer, but kind of expected with the team being what it is. The way to navigate it. Mhm. Win the win the NBA Cup and or go to the playoffs. There you go. Yeah. Pretty simple. Simple. Easy money. That’s why I mean, you know, the you know, the cup, the money, all that. You want to be broadcasted on Prime. #nofree ads. How do we feel about 16 back to backs? Fair? Not fair? What the hell? It’s unfortunate. They are a younger team, so hopefully that helps in that regard. But it is weird if you look at the schedule. Only five of them are in 2025. 11 of those 16 come after the calendar flips. And there’s a lot in like March and February. So, that’s going to be kind of tough to navigate. It does get them some time to get their bearings a little bit before they’re just thrown into a bunch of backtobacks. That’s the advantage. But, uh, things really crank up once the calendar flips to 2026. That’s about what it was what was expected. I can’t remember what the number was that they had last season, but same 16. Yeah. So, there you go. But I do think there’s a lot less fear with it, I guess, this year because last year you’re like, “Okay, we got Bradley Beal, we have Kevin Durant, we have like the oldest roster in the league and the highest payroll and oh man, then and all those back tobacks, a lot of them came in this stretch where they were going to be competing for playoff seating and positioning.” Like I I will say and we’ll go through the first month here in a second, but like three games in four nights to start the season and back to back on the road in LA and then in Denver and then on the road in Utah after that. I mean, come on. That’s not fun. And I feel like they’ve done that to the Suns the last two. They’ve done the LA stuff, too, LA. And yeah, it’s weird. And this uh the Nuggets road game is their season opener, too. So, that’s kind of setting you up for failure there. Um, yeah, I I’m not too concerned about the number of backto-backs except for when it comes to Mark Williams. We’re talking about keeping him healthy, managing his workload and and hopefully getting more than, you know, 44 games, which is his careerhigh. That number of backto-backs is uh is going to be a little tricky to navigate. And hopefully he’s just healthy and we’re talking about this for nothing. But I hope so. I really do hope so. Fingers crossed. Charlotte’s been saying the last like 3, four years. Yes. Fingers crossed. It’s okay. We’ll just get another person from the Hornets organization and that’ll make everything better. Say the Suns aren’t Charlotte, but then you look around and see pieces. Hey, training staff, come on down. Okay. Different but similar. We’re going to go month through month. We’re going to look through everything here, but we are going to do it after our second break. Who here has a checking account? I do. Show of hands. Yeah, everybody has a checking account. Thank you for your enthusiasm, Gerald, cuz you want to make sure that you have a checking account with built-in benefits. Stephen will work on the enthusiasm. Mountain America’s my style checking account has perks and they’re just for you. Just for you. How special. You’re so special. They’re just for you. Listen, things like restaurant deals, mobile phone protection, teleaalth access, identity protection, loan rate discounts, offers on travel and events, and so much more. It’s quite simple to make my style your lifestyle with My Style checking account over a Mountain America Credit Union. If you’re going to spend your money, why not have some of your money work for you? And you ain’t even got to do anything to get it at Mountain America Credit Union. Visit macu.com/mystyle to apply. Insured by NCUA. Membership required based on eligibility. Some benefits required. No cost. Registration and activation. Terms, conditions, and exclusions. Stephen, they apply. Also, we are going to have to apply ourselves to building a new studio and, you know, getting comfortable in our new place. And luckily, we’re going to be helped out by two men and a truck moving here in Phoenix. And it’ll be nice that we are not responsible to lift this heavy desk or all of those chairs out there or the entirety of studio A. We can just say, you know what, two men in a truck, they got it. And moving is not just literally moving places. It’s a fresh start. It’s excitement, new beginnings, big things to come, and a new space to call home. And luckily, our home is going to be so much easier to settle into, thankfully, because of two men and a truck. For your next move, whether it’s residential, whether it’s business, visit two mencottsdale.com. Two men and a truck. The movers who care. Uh Andy says, “I’m interested in how the office will look at the new place.” You’ll never believe it. It looks like an office. It’ll be cool. We’ll decorate it up. It’ll look pretty. Hey, Elco 82 in the chat says, “Just became a Die Hard member.” Love that. Thank you, Elco. All right, we got We definitely got to get a little animation for people that announced their die hard like fireworks. I think that’d be cool. Even if it’s just confetti or something, balloons or whatever. Does it still work if you throw out the peace sign? No, I like the thumbs up like when we’re when we’re broadcasting from home tomorrow. Maybe maybe the thumbs up will work. Thank you, Elco. Make sure you jump in the Die Hard Discord. We’ve enjoyed you being involved in conversations the last probably what month now. Yeah, I think a little I think longer than that. I think they’ve been around. Uh but join the Die Hard Discord and say what’s up. It’s the best place to talk about Suns basketball. Lots of fun stuff. We’ll get to reacting from Messo’s interview with Mattbia here in a second, but let’s go month by month. The moment you’ve all been waiting for, breaking down every game of this Sun’s schedule. Well, we told you when opening night was, that is October 22nd against Sacramento at home. And then they have an off day on the 23rd. On the 24th, it’s the Clippers on the road. And then Denver on the road the day after that, a day off, then Utah on the road, a day off, then Memphis at home, a day off, then Utah on the road. So, at most they have a day off in the month of October and a back-toback three games and four nights to start the season. Six games. Stephen, what’s their record through six? I think it’s going to be close to what they ultimately finish the season. Six and0 five and one. Ask me a question then. Sorry. as soon as I start talking. The Eric Ruby special. Uh, I think they go three and three. Think they get a win against the Kings on opening night. I think they beat Utah twice. Yep. That’s where That’s where I’m at to start the season. And Utah, that is that first NBA Cup game on the 31st, the second Utah game. So, I’m going to go three and three as well. No, I’m switching it. Oh, are you? We’re going four and two. That’s what I like to hear. Of course, I talked you into it. Jiren Jackson Jr. is probably not going to be playing to start the season for the Memphis Grizzlies in addition to all of the other changes that they have going on and a new head coach. Mhm. I think the Suns might be able to go and get that one against the Grizzlies as well. So, I’m I’m going to go I’m going to go four and two. I think four and two, but I think they’re going to lose one of those games to the Jazz and they’re probably going to be three and one or four and one and lose that game to the Jazz and People be like, “What the hell? Why did you lose to the Jazz?” Uh, but I I think they beat Denver just because I want them to. Okay. So, you’re going four and two. Going four and two. I’m keeping track of I’m keeping track of lost to Memphis, lost to Utah. 4 and2. You start the Jordan math um of Jordan math. The Jordan I coach of the year campaign their nickname. Optimism will be through the roof if they start this season four and two. I know it. Yeah, I know it. We’ll see. Which I’m not mad about. I just think if I’m if I’m if I’m talking about they’re going to potentially sneak into the playin and potentially make the playoffs through it. Yeah. A hot start is going to be what needs to springboard them through the rest of the season. So, stay in line with that initial thought process. 4 and2 is what they should be aiming for at least. Yeah. All right, let’s take a look at November. Obviously, a lot more flush out than October. Starting November 2nd, taking on the Spurs at home. Then on the fourth, Golden State on the road. On the 6th, the Clippers at home. On the eighth, the Clippers on the road. Then the 10th, the Pelicans at home. The 12th, Dallas on the road. And then a back-toback Indiana at home. after Dallas at home on the third on the road on the 13th. Then on the 16th, two days off, the first two-day break for the Suns Friday the 14th and Saturday the 15th. Then they play Atlanta at home on the 16th, a day off before taking on Portland on the road. That is a nationally televised game at 900 p.m. at night. Get ready to learn midnight broadcast, pals. uh two days off before they take on Minnesota at home and then a day off before a back-toback at home against San Antonio and then Houston. The 24th of course being Kevin Durant’s return to Phoenix nationally televised on Peacock. A day off and then Sacramento on the road, a day off then OKC on the road. I believe those are both NBA Cup games. And then to end the month, Saturday, November 29th, Denver at home. So, a good mix of teams and on the road and at home. How many total games is that? 15. 15 games. What do we think they go in those 15 games, Gerald? Hopefully better than the the record that I’m about to project for them cuz they do have a good number of home games in that month and you got to capitalize on those. I got them at six and nine in this stretch. They do have a pretty high quality of opponents. I think you like you got to capitalize on New Orleans. I think they steal one of the Clippers games because they’ve been good against the Clippers. Um I think maybe they take a Portland game. Maybe they take one of the Spurs games as well. Um Sacramento, I think I have them beating Sacramento on the season opener. So I think that might flip in the follow-up just because the Kings and Suns have had weird games like that over the last couple of years. Um and I think they surprise somebody in that bunch. But honestly, that’s a pretty tough slate for a team that’s going to be have a lot of fresh faces, going to be trying to figure out their their identity through all of that. So, I’m going to go six and nine. Eric, five wins. That’s where I’m at, too. Yeah. They’re going to beat the Pelicans. They’re going to beat the Pacers. They’re going to beat Sacramento again. They’re going to beat Houston in Kevin Durant’s return. And then Oh, on the second night of AI. Yep. On the second night of a cheek. Second night of Cheeks. Yeah, on the second cheek. Uh, second. And then I think they I think they take one from the Spurs. I don’t know which one. They’re both at home. Uh, that helps. Yeah. So, I’ll take one win over the Spurs, a win over the Pacers, a win over the Pelicans, a win over the Kings, and a win against the Rockets in the 24th. Okay. Five wins. Okay. Yeah, I’m at about the same. I got them at five and 10. Okay. In the month of November. I hope they do better than that, especially stemming from a 4 and2 start potentially, but this speaks to the es and flows of the season that we’re likely going to see as the games kind of pick up frequency and the level of competition kind of rises as well. So, so far through the first two months of the season, our records are all identical for the Suns at 9 and 12. Mhm. Hey, that’s exactly what I’m looking at. I think I and I think this is a team that will get better throughout the season. I think they’ll have a hot start and have some stuff they need to figure out. A lot’s going to need to figure out some rotations. This is a like and that’s the thing, this is a tough schedule too, right? Like all the games that I have them winning are the ones against like non-certified playoff teams, right? Like we put Golden State in playoff lock, Clippers and Contenders. Like Dallas is a wild card, but I mean Cooper Flag might just be him. Atlanta’s going to be a good team. Portland is going to be a fun team and a really good defense. Minnesota, OKC, Denver, Houston. Like there’s a lot. Plus, there’s four cheeks in this month. Two backtobacks. It’s a lot of cheeks. Yeah. All right. Uh what about December? Obviously, we don’t have the full picture of December quite yet because there’s going to be NBA Cup games. And even if the Suns don’t make the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup, they will still have at least two games scheduled in that week because they need to make those up. So, a lot of road games in this month, only two home games. So, starting on the road December 1st against the Lakers, that’s a nationally televised game. Then you have three days off, your first three-day break of the season, which is pretty crazy. You play Friday on the road against Houston. Then you have two days off- before playing on the road against Minnesota. The rest of that week, the 9th through the 16th, so a whole week is the NBA Cup, so there are going to be some regular season games in there, but we don’t know those yet. Got to imagine some of those are going to be home games for the Suns given how many road games are in this month. Uh Golden State then is the first game on the schedule at home uh of the season on the or of the on December on the 18th and then you have a another game against Golden State two days later on the road. Two days off on the 23rd you take on the Lakers on Christmas Eve Eve uh on at home for that one and then another two days off then a backtoback on the road against the Pelicans. Both games against the Pelicans and then a day off take on the Washington Wizards on the 29th. a day off and then Cleveland on the 31st. So, man, going 18 days in a month before your first home game is kind of wild. Well, as of right now, they will have I I take that back because they will have one home game and one road game. We’re assuming they don’t make the NBA Cup here. I think that’s kind of our assumption. So, they’ll have one home game and one road game of the two regular season games that are rescheduled among the teams that don’t make it. So, um this is tough. I I think so. I have of the scheduled games, I have them going four and six. Do we want to add into imaginary games? No, I we can’t. How can we predict games? So, we’ll just keep it at our 80 game prediction cuz they will have two games that they have to reschedule one way or another. So, I’m going to go four and six. I think they take care of business against the Pelicans. Even on a road back to back, I think they’ve got the Wizards. Um, and then I think Oh, they’ve got sack. No, they don’t sack next month. Man, it’s four and six. A little optimistic. It might be. I mean, it’s a lot of road. You got Lakers, Rockets, Timberwolves, back to back. Not back toback, but backto-back games. Warriors, Lakers again. And then you have a nice little easier stretch for three games. A backto-back against New Orleans, but on the road and still playing back to back right around Christmas and right after Christmas actually. and then a day off. You play Washington on the road and then it’s a day game against the Cavs on Wednesday. So, you only have three games against teams that are predicted to be under 500 and one of them’s a backto back. Um, I see a four game win streak in here. Do you Lakers Pelicans very end of the month. Jordan is out for absolute. Oh, I like it. Like where your head’s going to have a better scouting reporting game plan for that team in particular. That’s true. didn’t change too much from when he left. He’s well aware of the way things go there. Not saying it’s guaranteed, but they could potentially go on a four game win streak and that might be the only four wins of the month. I hope you’re right. I think they get smacked in that game again, honestly. But I do think maybe one of those Golden State games is a game where Jimmy Butler misses and they got and they got two Lakers games while the Lakers are still trying to get their bearings, too. So, I got them taking I I’ll stick with four and six. I’m gonna have them losing to Houston, okay? Losing to Minnesota, losing to Cleveland, and then they’re gonna lose one of those games against Golden State. They’ll win the other one. So, I have them six and four for this. I think they beat six and four. I think they beat Houston again, dude. I could have given you one, but two is You’re crazy. I think they beat Houston again. You’re crazy. I think they beat Golden State once. I think they beat the Lakers once, and I think that they beat the Pelicans and beat the Wizards. And then I’ll take the Cleveland win too. I I believe I wish we had KD’s actual voice telling you to cut it cuz all we got up. You press one of them beautiful buttons over there. Mhm. Just dict like dictate. You hate me until I’m You hate me till I’m right. You hate me till I’m right. Um Stephen, what did your what was your record projection at for the month? I’m I’m still going four and six. Okay. So Cleveland. Yeah. If they don’t beat Cleveland, I think they could take one against the Lakers. Okay, fine. We’ll do five and five. They’ll lose to Houston. I’ll go five and five through the end of 2025. Uh Stephen and I have the Suns at what is that? 16 and 18. And Eric, you have them at Change me to five and five for this month. 14 and 16, I think. Five and five for this month. Five and five. Yeah. Well, I’ll give Houston the win. Okay. So, you’re So, you’re at 14 and was that 17 for 2025. There we go. Okay. All right. All right. Let’s move on to January. Jampacked month in January. Starting on the second at home against Sacramento. Then the fourth at home against OKC. Back to back on the road against Houston on the 5th. A day off and then at Memphis on the 7th. Day off. Then at home against New York on the 9th. Then at home against Washington on the 11th. On the road against Miami on the 13th, on the road against Detroit on the 15th, on the road against New York on the 17th, and then on the road against Brooklyn, and then Philly and backtoback on the 19th and 20th, two days off before then taking on Atlanta on the road. So that is six straight road games in the middle of January. They usually have a similar stretch like that every year. Then the final month of or the final week of the month at home against Miami on the 25th, at home against Brooklyn on the 27th, and then a back-to-back at home against Detroit in Cleveland on the 29th and the 30th. Uh man, there are a lot of good teams in the NBA. There really are, man. Um and this is so just for some background data here, uh this is one of two months that the Suns have January and March where they play 16 games in 31 days. Uh during this month of January, eight are on the road, eight are at home. Uh this does feature one of two six-game road trips that the Suns have this season, which is their longest road trip of the year. At the tail end of the month, those last four home games are the start of a six-game home stand, which is their longest home stand, or I’m sorry, a five-game home stand, which is their longest of the season. Um so this is kind of all over the place in terms of a lot of different road trips and home stands and whatnot. I have them going seven and nine over this stretch. I think that’s optimistic. Yes. But I also think like some of the opponents they have are potential like the Wizards, you should win that one. Heat, I think you can win that one. Nets on the road. Sixers, who knows if they’ll be healthy by then. Um Heat again, Nets again, like there are some winnable games in that stretch. Kings to start the month and I think they steal one maybe unexpected game and then the rest are going to be kind of rough. But I got six and nine or seven and nine. What do you think, Stephen? Five, six, seven, 16 games. Mhm. Eight and eight. Oh, wow. Okay. Book likes playing in New York. He does. He also loves playing in Detroit. He also does. He does. That’s one of the games. Two Detroit games, two Knicks games, two Heat games, two Nets games. Yeah, I got them beating Sacramento to start the month. Memphis, the Wizards. Mhm. Detroit. Mhm. Um Brooklyn, Philly, Brooklyn again, and one of those Detroit games. Okay. So, and I do think playing the same team as the worst team twice in a month can kind of help you a little bit because it is hard to beat any team, you know, two, three times in the same month sometimes. So, that backtoback Sunday, Monday, OKC Houston, that’s insane. Yeah, that’s tough. Come on. That’s tough. The Detroit Cleveland backtoback the end of the month is uh Yeah. G give me eight and eight as well. I’ll take I’ll take I’ll take eight. I thought I was being optimistic. I like where you guys are you guys are at. I feel like they pick up their play as the schedule goes on as the games keep coming, but they get a little bit more continuity. Uh starts to stamp his finger on things. They start to establish the identity in December going into January. Feel like they might be able to squeeze out a 500 month in January. Hman with a super chat. $5 says, “In your opinion, what would be the exceeds, meets, or below expectations be of Sun’s players this year? Points, rebounds, time played.” Wow, that is a big question. It is. That’s a show. Who’sman, can we bank that cuz we got a lot to get into today. We really appreciate your super chat. That is a entire show. Mhm. Can we let’s screenshot who’sman super chat and thank you so much for for asking that. Um that is a lot more than what we can get into right now. Uh, we still have three months to get into February, March, April, and some sound bites for Matt Ishbia and apparently we’ll do an extra hour on Who’sman’s Question. Uh, we’ll do it all right after our final break. Guy like me? Well, I love shade. Whether I’m throwing it when predicting the Suns to beat the Rockets or sitting in it under an outdoor patio because All ProShade Concepts is the best place to extend your outdoor living space with a custom fit awning. Hundreds of designs and colors to choose from to match any home. They can work with your HOA for approvals or motorized and retract with a remote control. And you can add LED lighting to light up your patio under the awning. But the most important part is that they’re effective. Roll down patio shades block the sun. Good for me. And keep the patio up to 20° cooler. Plus, in the winter, it actually keeps warm air in and cool air out, thus extending your outdoor living space all year. Plus, you can trust them. Number one by ranking Arizona for patio shades in 2024. A+ better business bureau rating over 1,000 five-star reviews on Google. In business for 20 years in the valley, call 6232041476. That’s 623204-1476. Or visit allproshadcepts.com right now to schedule your free estimate. And hopefully I’ll see you on Saturday when the stars are out at Halo River Resorts and Casino’s Wild Horse Pass for the Straight Game Podcast live with Shaquille O’Neal. I mean, that’s the whole ad read. Why not show up? I mean, I’ll be there. So, if you want to bully me in person like these two get to do every day, that is your chance. Get ready for an unforgettable night as NBA legends Mike Bby, Eddie House, Coach Ty Ellis bring the Straight Game Podcast to the stage for a live special recording featuring none other than basketball icon and business mogul Shaquille O’Neal. And you know when there’s a live mic in front of Shaq, he’s going to say something. So don’t miss this rare opportunity to witness greatness live, unscripted and straight from the source. Tickets are at retail pricing when purchased online or by phone. However, discounts are available at the box office only. Get yours now and I’ll see you Saturday. Brent in the chat says, “I grew up on the 7 seconds or less sons. Eric has to grow up with Jaylen Green and Isaiah Livers. Heartbreak.” Uh, we did get a question from Leo. When are you guys going to release your watch party schedules? Give it some time. We just got the sun scheduled, so we got to we got to figure it out. We got to talk with our partners. But appreciate your enthusiasm. We will definitely let everybody here in the chat know when we’re having watch parties so that if you are here in Phoenix, you can come and hang out with us and enjoy a Suns game and watch it with us. We’re going to have some fun events this year. Just because the Suns might be a 500ish basketball team doesn’t mean that we can’t have 50 win fun here on PHNX Suns. All right, let’s get five games left in the schedule. bursted away. So, at at this point through January, I’ve got him at 20 and 27. Stephen, you’ve got them at 21 and 26. And Eric, you’ve got them at 22 and 25. All right. So, that’s where that’s where we’re at. 47 games in. This these records won’t actually hold because there’s going to be two more games added to this that we’re not projecting for right now. I for one am shocked that I have the best record. Uh I had them I had them getting 240 Uhhuh. as my maybe potential ceiling for them on the optimist optimistic side. I can I can speak English I swear. Um so I need them to get 20 well 19 more wins over these next three months and they got so 19 out of 35 games. I think that’s doable. Just trying to just trying to throw some context to how you get to the from A to B if it makes sense. I’m not going to force it but if it makes sense. Yeah. Well December was the road game month. Welcome to the home game month. It’s February, of course, the shortest one. The Clippers at home February 1st, then Portland on the road on the 3rd, Golden State at home on the 5th, Philly at home on the 7th. A backtoback after two days off at home against Dallas and OKC on the 10th and the 11th. And then no games on the 12th. All-Star weekend 13th, 14th, 15th, and then three days off after that. So, the next game is eight days later on the road in Austin, Texas against the San Antonio Spurs and then back at home for the rest of the month against Orlando on the 21st, Portland on the 22nd, Boston on the 24th, and the Lakers on the 26th. Lots of home games, but still some good teams. Gerald, what do you have them going in February? So, I mine is probably going to come in less optimistic than you guys, but I’ve I’ve got them at five and six here. Um, and I think it’s because like if they are going to make a play and push, if they are going to reach, you know, 40 41 wins, whatever it is that we’re hoping is on the optimistic side, it has to get done in February because this is your most amount of home games that you have. You only have two backtobacks over that stretch. Um, but the quality of opponents is tough. I’ve got them beating the Blazers. I’ve got them beating the Mavs. Um, I’ve got them beating I got I got him beating the Blazers twice. That’s a little iffy. I got I do have them beating Boston. I do have them beating Philly, but I’m going to go five and six there. And that might be the make or break point for me for their kind of play in hopes that that month. I got a win against the Clippers cuz I haven’t had them winning any of those games yet. Okay. I got them beating Portland. Mhm. I got them beating Philly. Okay. and it starts to get dicey. Yeah, I think they can take Boston because they’ll be at home for it. I don’t think I’ve had them beat the Lakers yet. Okay. So, I think they get to five. Okay. So, at five and six. Mhm. This is also when the trade deadline is. Yes. As well. So, the Suns might look different and some of these other teams might look different. Is Boston selling off pieces and trying to tank for the rest of the season? How do the Spurs look? Do they maybe try to move a de’ar and Fox if they’re not looking as good this year? Uh Philly, what does Philly do right around the trade deadline with Joel Embedden if he’s healthy? Dallas who’s kind of teetering on the edge of are you going to be a playoff guy, a playoff team, a playin team? Obviously OKC is OKC. Is Portland going to be buyers near the deadline and trying to acquire some talent? What about Golden State and their geriatric home over there? Like there’s a lot that could change around this month. That being said, four wins. Oh, no. Okay, so four I think they beat Philly and I think they beat one of Portland. I think they Jeez. Oh man. Yeah. Okay. Give me a Boston win and a Lakers win. Give me those four. Okay. God, rough. You don’t feel good about those. No. I’m But here’s the thing. Once we get to the season, they’re winning all these games, right? All right. Um and let’s move to March here. Another busy month in March. Surprise, surprise. On the road, Tuesday the 3rd against Sacramento. That’s a nationally televised game. Then back toback at home, the fifth and the sixth against Chicago in New Orleans. Always feels like those games are like similar. And Deon Booker likes to torch both of them. At home on the eighth against Charlotte on the road, starting a three no starting a six-game road trip on the 10th against Milwaukee. Then a backto-back on the road, the 12th and the 13th against Indiana and Toronto. Two days off before a backto-back on the road against Boston and Minnesota. Yeah. And then a day off on the road against San Antonio. Then you’re back at home for a four-game home stand starting on the 21st against Milwaukee and a backto-back then against Toronto on the 22nd. And then a day off at home, a nally televised game against Denver on the 24th. Three days off before being at home against Utah, a day off, and then a backtoback on the road. Memphis and then Orlando. Call that the Desmond Bane weekend or we because it’s Monday and Tuesday. Uh, Gerald, is March kind to our sweet sons? No. And I think my record’s a little bit optimistic to be honest with you because again, this is another 16 games in 31 days month. Seven of them are at home, nine on the road. You have your other six game road trip just nestled in there. I’ve got them going seven and nine in March. I do think that Oh, man. you you it’s tough because a lot of those backtobacks that they have are like bad teams that you think they would probably beat on a normal night, but because of the backtoback addition to that, it’s kind of a tossup. But I I think I think they I think they beat Sacramento, Chicago, New Orleans, Charlotte to start and they go 4-0. That’s a great start to the month and then it gets really brutal. I think you pick up one of those other Toronto games. Um, and then you get that Jazz game and that’s how and then maybe one other and that’s how you get my seven. But I got seven and nine and that’s probably optimistic. I’m going eight and eight for this month. Okay. Yeah, buddy. I think they lose to Sacramento. I think they beat the Bulls and and the Pelicans on that back to back. I think they beat Charlotte because Steve Clifford would not allow for it to happen. Mhm. Um I think they go I think they go and get Milwaukee honestly. Okay. I think they can go and get Milwaukee in this one. Yeah. I think they take both games against Toronto. So that’s what one, two, two, four, five at five total wins right now. Mhm. Indiana make it six cuz I said both of the Toronto games. Um you did you get Utah already? No, not yet. So that’s seven. And then I think they can go beat Memphis again at the end of the month. Okay. I like eight. I like eight and eight. Remember now March is when hoops becomes a little bit less serious for some of these teams and and it gets weird and and maybe the Suns are the team that benefits from like a Trailblazers like push at the end of the season or two seasons ago. How the Rockets made a push at the end of the season and kind of got their stuff together. Uh is this the first over 500 month of the season? I’m going to say yes. Nine and seven. Oh, we go nine and seven. Nine and seven. All right. Oh, I can’t. That’s the That’s the lowest over 500 that I thought you said eight and eight. That’s why I was confused. No, he said eight and eight. Okay. I got I got I got two eight and eight January. Give me a Give me a win over either Boston or Minnesota on on that back to back. I think I think you sneak and take one of them. I think Boston might look terrible by this part of the year. I think they might they might shut Jaylen Brown down. They might have traded Derrick White and Simons off the team. Um I don’t think that they’re going to be like this team that the Suns can’t get a win over. Give me the first over 500 month because March basketball isn’t real. Okay, let’s end the season in April. Okay, people are saying, “Guys, come on.” Like nine and seven in one month when I’ve had them multiple games under 500 for every other month. It’s not like I’m saying they’re the best team in the NBA. Point you still have them four games under 500. Yeah. 35 and 39. Oh, the homer. Eric, calm down. Okay, April. Charlotte on the road on the 2nd and then Chicago on the road on the fifth and then a backto-back at home against Houston and Dallas on the seventh and eighth. Friday on the road against LA and then you end the season against OKC on the road. Could be a trap game. OKC might not play their guys that that game depending on where they stand. Uh that is six games to end the season. How do we feel? Uh I feel okay. I feel like Charlotte, you can win, Chicago, you can win. Those teams will probably be tanking by then. The Suns could be in that same boat, honestly. But, um, I don’t I think Houston is a loss. I think the Lakers will probably still be battling for positioning. That’s a loss. So, I think if you can get one of Dallas on the second night of back-to-back hoping that they’re bad or have shut guys down or out of the playin hunt or you just beat them or OKC like you said, Eric, last game of the season, they could have wrapped up the one seed a week or two ago. Um, so I’m going to go three and three. I think there’s I think one of those you lose, one of those you pick up. I’ll go three and three to close out the year. Stephen, I think we coming up short of 40 over here. I think so. 35. I’m at 35 wins right now. There’s six games this month. You’re at 34 wins. I’m at 34. So, we got to go undefeated. Oh, okay. But then, yeah. Uh, look like we coming up short. Um, I think they beat Charlotte. I think they beat the Bulls. I think they maybe get the Lakers game if they’re in good contention as far as not needing to have that game. And I think the SH or I think the the Thunder game to end the season, they won’t even send their players for that game. So they’ll probably come out to Deon Booker’s in Cancun by now. Uh before I give you my prediction, if you’re watching on TV, the party always continues over at gophnx.com, which means it’s time for overtime here on phxons. Hit that like button, hit that subscribe button. Five star reviews all around. Thank you for doing that. So definitely beating Houston. That’s one win. Uh beating Charlotte in Chicago. This guy Wait, sorry, Stephen. What did you have for the month? Four and two. Uh, I had I had Charlotte, the Bulls. Yeah, you can go four and two. Four and two. Okay. 39 39 wins total for me. 38 38 wins, excuse me. 38 wins total for me. What am I at? You are at 35 and 39 right now. So, definitely beating Houston. Mhm. Uh, I’m kidding. They’re going to lose a natural walking gasoline tank. Thank you. Thank you. You’re welcome. I think Gasoline is more tan than me, but thanks. Uh, translucent. Okay, they’re going to beat Charlotte. They’re going to be Chicago. Uh, I think they’re going to beat OKC. That’s three. I think they beat one of Houston or Dallas on not some troll stuff. I just I think those are teams that maybe Dallas is still having something to play for. You know what? Maybe that Dallas Suns game determines like who the 10th or ninth seed in the West is. Um, but give me three and three. Give me four and two. Four and two. I don’t care. That’s what I thought. Okay. So, it’s August. All right. So, final tallies for the season based on my rudimentary math here. We’ve got Gerald the least optimistic at 35 and 45. We’ve got Steven in the middle at 38 and 42, just shy of his projected 40 win total. And then we’ve got Eric the most optimistic at 39 and 41. Now, we should bear in mind again this does not include two games that will have to be rescheduled in December for the NBA Cup. Whether they make the NBA Cup or whether they don’t, they’ll still have two more games to add on to this. I think they lose those two games. They mean 39 and 43. I’ll say they go one and one in those. So, I’m going to say 36 and 46 against imaginary opponents. Yep. Well, because I’m assuming they don’t make the NBA Cup, so those are the less good teams usually. So, you probably get one and hopefully it’s a home game that you get and then you lose the other one. So, I’ll go one and one. We still getting a 40, baby. Give me both of those. Let’s go. There we go. Consistency. That’s what we strive for. Steven’s the most optimist. Steven has now become the most optimistic. Eric is in the middle at 39 wins. Steven’s got 40. I am at 36. Ah, me rational in the middle ground as always. Um the overunder for the Suns is 30 and a half wins. So even our least optimistic pessimist over here, Gerald believes that they pretty easily surpass that. But I mean, you are actually you’re not super optimistic about everything. So I I feel like I was overly optimistic in a couple of months. So they are they’re going to have to scratch and claw to get to these win totals that we’re projecting. It is not going to be easy. I hope that’s the the learning part of today’s episode is that rather than just speaking kind of arbitrarily, you have some context to provide sequencing of games, home back to backs, all of that fun stuff involved and included thought exercise wise not easy to get to 35. No, we all finished there or above it, but that wasn’t we I wouldn’t say any of us are like 100% comfortable that that’s going to come to fruition. And if they drop some winnable games like we see, I mean, teams do, every team does this, but if they drop some winnable games like we’ve seen the Suns do in the recent past, you got to make it up somewhere. And as we’ve covered, once you get to January and March, those game heavy months, those road heavy months, it’s a lot harder to make up those games against good teams. Sure. And this isn’t me saying that they’re just going to shock the world and beat up a bunch of teams that they shouldn’t, but like the NBA is unpredictable. Bad teams beat good teams every single night. And there are teams that we think are going to be good that either get derailed by injuries or trades or just aren’t as good as you think that they would. So maybe some of these games that we assume would be tougher, maybe in Minnesota, Rudy Gobear’s regression is a really big deal for them and they’re not as tough to beat or scheme against, right? Maybe Jordan is one hell of a coach and some of these backto-backs or some of these tossup games, the Suns end up shocking a couple teams and pulling out maybe a few more wins. But of course, it could also go uh the other way as well. Any final thoughts on the NBA schedule for the Suns? Margin for error if they got Delano Banton. Here we go. Margin for error for the Suns is slim. Yeah. Mhm. A hot start is non-negotiable. No matter how realistic or unrealistic you might think it is for them as a team, non-negotiable. They got to get it going early because schedule gets tough in November, December, January through the holiday months. A fast start would help a lot. If we were projecting for 35 to 40 wins, you got to get off to a fast start. I mean, I had them at a fast start and I still don’t have them reaching 40 wins. And that’s the thing. I think the the not having a scouting report for this team dynamic is something that they could be taking advantage of early. Yeah. If they come out and play with the energy that Jordan is hoping that they come with on the defensive end in particular, spend a little bit more time in transition. Jaylen Green running around poster postering dudes, dunking. That’s their best bet. Yeah. If if if um January, if November and October are not well, they don’t go well, it’s going to be tough. It’s gonna be really tough. Yeah. Well, guess what? We’ll be here every single game. Even if they do suck, pregame, postgame shows, of course, live shows during the week right here on PHNX Suns. Before we get out of here, I wanted to bring you one clip from Espo’s conversation uh with Matt Ishbia. Make sure you go check it out. Uh that whole conversation on the Mercury and the Suns was earlier today. Maybe we’ll dive some more into this next week uh a little bit deeper, but just as a taste for you guys, here’s Matt Ishbia on what alignment and identity looks like it and actually means. You guys have talked a lot about alignment, vision, and identity. But beyond beyond those words, what what does that really mean for for you for this franchise and and moving forward? What is alignment, vision, and identity mean to you? Well, you got to have an identity of what is Sun’s basketball about, right? What are we going to stand for? What are we going to be on the court? Right? From the way the players treat the fans, walking off the f walk off the court high-fiving players or throwing them a wristband, right? From the way players treat each other. Are we great teammates? Do we do things when our guys on the ground? Do we pick them up? Like if you watch the summer league, you could start to see some of the things that were starting to put in place with the way the bench was interacting, the way the players cared about one another, the way the whole team flew out there to support uh each other and be there. Like there’s certain things that that’s what the right way. Like people are like, “Oh, that’s the way the Suns are going to do.” Like it’s just the right way. If you run, if you’re involved with middle school basketball, high school, college, and like the right way of doing things for the WNBA and NBA, we’re going to do it the right way in Phoenix. And so the identity is going to be around toughness. It’s going to be around grit. We’re going to play hard. Like our guys are not going to be uh the last guys diving on the court. We’re going to dive for the ball. Maybe bloody your chin a little bit. It’s okay. And you know what? We’re going to we’re going to we’re going to play tough. We’re going to There’s going to be things that And then the way that you say alignment, people like to joke about the word. The thing is I can say it and then BG Brian Gregory’s got to say it and Jordan’s got to say it, but you actually got to see it on the court. So alignment means it can’t be just Matt says one thing and they do another thing like all the way through the organization. And if people don’t believe in it, it’s fine. It doesn’t mean I’m right and they’re wrong. It just means they’re not going to be on our team. Just means not going to be part of our organization. And you’ve already seen us make those changes. So if they’re not bought in, that’s cool. They just can go buy in another team. There’s 29 other NBA teams. Oo, saving that money quote right for the end there. Um, if you’re not bought in, there’s 29 other teams. um they’re very serious about establishing this culture. Whether you believe they have the personnel for it is or the talent to actually get wins is one thing, but a lot of the guys they brought in do align with what identity and culture they’re trying to establish here. So, I respect him for that. Slightly, maybe some parting shots for some certain players that are no longer on this team. Uh but we saw the product last year. We saw it wasn’t any one player that was part of the problem. It was everybody. So, there’s going to be a new mentality to how they approach things here. And hopefully the guys that they did bring in are able to live up to that alignment that he’s talking about because like he said, he and Brian Gregory and Jordan not can say all these things, but it’s a matter of doing and the players actually living by that every single day. Take that, Monte Morris. What was your big takeaway from that, Stephen? Uh, if we talking alignment, you talk about having a bunch of bluecollar guys that get after it. That’s the way you navigate back ends of backtobacks, whether it be home road, road home, or both in either situation. That’s the way you trim out the margins and get to that 40 win total right there. And for the thought exercise we just did, if you factor that in and it hits the way that he’s desiring for it to and the way that they’re hoping for it to based off of how they built this this roster and obviously brought in the head coach to uphold those principles, I genuinely don’t think 40 is out the room. It’s just a matter of it won’t be for a lack of effort that they don’t get to 40. I think that’s the best way to put it. That’s the ultimate X factor with this. And speaking of X factor, they also talked about the Phoenix Mercury earlier today with Matt Ishbia. And if you’re not tapped in with the Mercury, you need to be because they are the best basketball team in the valley. And of course, Stephen spearheading Yeah, Stephen spearheading that Mercury coverage right here on PHNX Sports and and a bunch of other really fun great stuff. Film breakdowns coming for you later this week. Tomorrow we’ll be talking about Kaman Malawatch. We’ll dive deeper into what Matt Ishbia had to say on Espo’s Southwest Bias. A trending mini pod came out yesterday on the Sun’s secret weapon being that coaching staff and being that new approach and how that might impact these win predictions today. And as always, Gerald is bringing you great coverage over at gophnx.com recently power ranking the 30 teams in the NBA. And of course, we’ll have written breakdowns of all the important and key players and pieces for the Suns. As we approach the regular season that we just broke down today, there is no better place to get your Suns coverage than right here. No better place to talk basketball than right here on PHNX Sports. So, make sure you become a diehard today. GoPnX.com/join. Make sure you’re subscribed to the channel. I know there are a lot of people who watch every single show and aren’t subscribed. I know there are some people that don’t even know that they’re not subscribed. So, take a second and look at that subscribe button and make sure you’re subscribed because maybe you’re just getting the feeds, the videos in your feeds because you click on all of them all the time. Make sure you’re subbed. Make sure you like it as well. Make sure it’s five star reviews on audio. We’ll be back tomorrow. We’ll be at home because this is the last time in the studio. We’re moving and then starting next week, brand new studio, brand new star for PHNX Sports and PHNX Suns. But it doesn’t matter if y’all aren’t there with us. So, we’ll see you around. We all silly like the mayor.

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The Phoenix Suns’ 2025-26 schedule has been officially released, and there are lots of notes to go over. PHNX Suns breaks down everything you need to know about all 82 games for the new-look squad, including how many are nationally televised, back-to-backs, against new rivals, old foes and other tidbits and notes.

They also react to Espo’s interview with Phoenix Suns and Mercury Governor Mat Ishbia on Southwest Bias, including what he had to say about earning fan’s trust, building a culture and how winning is personal to him.

Follow the show @PHNX_Suns, @GeraldBourguet, @ErikRuby, @StephenPG3 & @FreckledMamba!

0:00 – Intro
1:30 – Last Show in this Office!!!
4:10 – Breaking Down the Suns’ New Schedule
20:00 – The Suns Have How Many Games on National TV?
30:00 – Going Through the Schedule Month-by-Month
1:00:00 – Record Predictions

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