Greetings, 5MM fans. I know, you’ve been waiting for another post for a while now. At least that’s what I’ve been telling myself. You never leave any comments, so I’m forced to make them up in my head.

Unlike last year, when 5MM was all-Suns-all-the-time during this part of the year, the basketball season has coincided with a bit of a hiatus while I’ve switched jobs and such. That doesn’t mean there isn’t a ton to talk about with Phoenix basketball, though. For example:

• Channing Frye is the frontrunner for Most Improved Player in the NBA right now, and I’m not sure it’s even that close. Frye flashed his talent his first two seasons after being drafted by New York, but was buried on the bench in Portland thanks to their infamous “depth” (which is being severely tested as we speak). Extending his solid shooting touch from 16 feet to outside the 3-point line is a huge bonus for the Suns’ system, rekindling memories of the 04-05 Suns and their bevy of outside shooting (Johnson, Nash, Q, James Jones, etc.)
• Speaking of 3-point shooting, what a huge steal the Diaw/Bell trade has turned out to be — and not because of Jason Richardson. Jared Dudley has gotten the playing time I asked for in 5MM’s season preview, and has exceeded our wildest expectations. Not only does Dudley bring tenacious defense and hustle every minute he’s on the floor, but he spent the offseason working only on his 3-point shot and it’s paid off — Jared leads the NBA percentagewise from beyond the arc.
• Goran Dragic is starting to fill out the lofty scouting reports the Suns had on him when they pried him away from the Spurs last season (and yes, that deal ended up planting DeJuan Blair in San Antonio — verdict’s still out on that one). The main facets we heard about were defense and shooting, and Dragic has delivered both in spades along with an increased confidence running the offense and penetrating and kicking. Dragic is still a work in progress, and it remains to be seen why he struggles at the free-throw line sometimes, but he’s a solid part of the rotation.
• Otherwise, it’s been business as usual for the returning folks. Nash is back at an MVP level (although he’d have to average 25-12 to win it this year); Stoudemire has finally picked it up in the past month; Richardson and Hill have been mostly good, albeit inconsistent; Barbosa has provided key scoring off the bench when healthy; Amundson delivers 10-20 huge minutes a night; Lopez’s hair is amusing.

We’ll have a more in-depth look at the starters and the early results from 2009 next time, when it’ll be 2010, a brand-new decade. I’m sure that’s exciting to some folks.