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NATIONAL
BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
The Suns began last season feeling that it might finally be their time to win the NBA title. They reinforced how badly they are seeking a championship by trading for Shaquille O'Neal in February.


But it didn’t work out for Phoenix, which was beaten in five games by San Antonio in the first round. Changes were inevitable after another stinging exit from the postseason.


Those changes began with the departure of Mike D'Antoni as coach. He has been replaced by Terry Porter, who comes off a previous head coaching stint in Milwaukee and two years as an assistant coach with the Pistons.


Porter believes the Suns can win it all and he’s expected to bring more of a defensive emphasis to Phoenix, which has lived and died by its high-flying offense directed by superstar point guard Steve Nash.


In addition to planning to make some tweaks in the Suns’ offense, Porter’s work with the team on playing improved defense will create the long-sought after formula that will bring Phoenix the NBA title next season.


SNAPPER JONES: DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE?


DISAGREE
Under Porter playing tougher on defense will be much talked about but the Suns will still have to go out on the court and prove they can pull off such a mandate. Under D'Antoni the Suns played decent defense. They were a good passing-lane defensive team. What has led to their downfall in the playoffs is not their lack of defense but rather their lack of production off the bench. They have never had a good enough or deep enough bench to win a title.


To win a championship the Suns will also need very solid and productive years from Nash, O’Neal, Amare Stoudemire and Grant Hill. O’Neal is on the other side of greatness. The key will be if he can summon his best in crucial situations – thereby turning back the clock at the most pivotal of times. His mobility is the biggest thing that has fallen off in his game.


The Suns will likely have another 50-plus win season. That sort of success is a great thing but it means nothing if a team’s ultimate goal is finally getting over the hurdle and winning a championship. Porter’s the latest to try and orchestrate getting this done, but no matter what he does to make the team stiffen defensively, to a win a title the Suns need an upgraded bench and that should be their No. 1 priority this summer.


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BASEBALL
If the Indians are to repeat as AL Central champions they are going to have to soon start making strides in the division. Two and a half months into the season Cleveland was in third place – closer to the division’s basement than to its penthouse.


But it’s not Detroit that Cleveland is chasing. Despite more than a few preseason predictions that Detroit with its loaded lineup would run away with the AL Central, the Tigers have been even more disappointing than the Indians. Chicago and Minnesota have been the surprises with the White Sox setting the pace in the division and both team showing staying power.


The Indians have been hurt by injuries and they haven’t had a lot go right but one thing that has clearly gone wrong is the bullpen. After getting the job done a year ago, Cleveland relievers have struggled mightily this season. A week into June the group had the second-highest ERA in the majors (4.90).


While there’s still plenty of baseball left to be played, the Indians won’t get the quality and depth from their relief arms they got in 2007.


So the club’s shortcomings in the bullpen will not only keep it from a second-straight division title, those woes will keep the Indians out of the playoffs.


BERT BLYLEVEN: DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE?


AGREE
When a bullpen is pitching to an ERA of about 5.00, the playoffs are not in the picture. In an attempt to shore up what Indians manager Eric Wedge calls “a team within a team” a number of arms have been shuttled into and out of relief roles with little success to show for all the movement.


It didn’t help Cleveland that closer Joe Borowski went on the disabled list April 15 with a strained right triceps and didn’t return until May 24. With Borowski sidelined the team turned to Rafael Betancourt to close. Last season Betancourt owned the eighth-inning setup role, going 5-1 with a 1.47 ERA. In 79 1/3 innings, he struck out 80 and walked just five. But Betancourt couldn’t translate that dominance to finishing up games so he’s back to the setup role – trying to end his struggles -- and the Indians are hoping he can regain last season’s mastery in getting games to Borowski.


Neither Rafael Perez nor Masa Kobayashi have proven they can consistently handle the setup role if Betancourt can’t regain his golden touch. And right-hander Jensen Lewis is a cause for concern. Last season he became a viable option for Wedge in important spots but a demotion to the minors in early June has him trying to straighten himself out away from the pressure of the major leagues.


There’s not yet an air of desperation around the Indians even though an underachieving offense, key injuries in the rotation, and the uncertainty of whether ace C.C. Sabathia, a free-agent-to-be, will be around after the trading deadline have all added to the Indians being forced to play catch-up in the division. But without the kind of performance from the bullpen as it supplied a year ago, games will slip through the hands of Cleveland in the later innings and so will a return to the postseason.


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NASCAR
After leading the Cup Series in wins in 2006 with six and finishing eighth in points in NASCAR's playoff, Kasey Kahne had a dismal 2007. He missed the Chase for the Championship, went winless, posted only one top-5 and just eight top-10s.


Kahne started out this year looking like he was going to leave the struggles of last season behind as he came home with four top-10s in the first five races. But in the next six events he had only one top-10 and his average finishing position was 22.1.


Things took a turn for the better when fans voted him into the All-Star race at the end of May and he won that event. What followed over the next three weeks were two wins (at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and Pocono Raceway) – signs Kahne could be making strides back towards his impressive form of a couple of years ago.


Kahne’s resurgence will prove more than temporary. He’ll run well enough the rest of the season to secure a return to the Chase and he will end this year by posting his best-ever points finish.


JOHNNY BENSON: DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE?


AGREE AND DISAGREE
I agree Kahne will be part of the 12-driver Chase field that competes for the Sprint Cup championship over the final 10 races of the year. But I would disagree that his points finish will be above that of No. 8 (his career high). I’m looking for Kahne to wind up anywhere from 8-12 in the final standings.


Kahne and the team of the No. 9 Dodge of Gillet Evernham Motorsports have drawn momentum off their win in the All-Star race. But what has also helped is the fifth-year Cup driver realized he wasn’t communicating probably like he should have been with crew chief Kenny Francis. Kahne knows for him to be at his best he and Francis have to be talking the exact same language. There is no overstating the importance of that.


What probably has happened is Francis has come across something with the car that both Kahne and he really like and when a driver gets real comfortable with the feel of his wheels things can really take off for him. If they’ve hit on something that’s clicking extremely well they can concentrate on sustaining that and often their communication improves as a result. When a car is performing well it’s easier for a driver and a crew chief to have good communication.


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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
The Red Wings have all summer to celebrate winning their first Stanley Cup since 2002. Then they will get going on trying to become the first team to repeat as NHL champion since Detroit did it in 1997 and 1998.


Working in Detroit’s favor is that many of the players who are at the core of the Red Wings’ success are under contract for at least two or three more seasons. This summer’s top priorities for general manager Ken Holland are re-signing defenseman Brad Stuart (an unrestricted free agent) and young center Valtteri Filppula (a restricted free agent).


Also expect Holland to work hard at getting new deals with superstar Henrik Zetterberg and center Johan Franzen – both of whom could become unrestricted free agents next summer.


A big part of the challenge of accomplishing this feat is overcoming the mental fatigue that stems from winning a Stanley Cup. After a team wins a championship, it seems the offseason flies by. That eventually can catch up with a club.


But the Red Wings will prove up to the task and they will repeat as Stanley Cup champions.


BILL CLEMENT: DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE?


DISAGREE
I thought the Ducks would repeat this season but after seeing how they fared I am more and more impressed every year with the increasing degree of difficulty facing a champion that is trying to win back-to-back Cups. It’s like attempting to climb Mt. Everest without an oxygen tank. Anaheim vowed it would do whatever it had to so as to repeat but saying that and actually being able to pull it off are – as the Ducks found out – two different things.


The amount of sheer commitment required to repeat just seems too great to ask of a team. There might be about 10 players on a champion’s roster that are able to make the mental and physical commitment needed to win titles in two consecutive seasons but other players – though wanting to do the same – will not be able to pull it off.


Of course, the possibility of Detroit repeating exists but the odds against it happening are pretty long. Red Wings coach Mike Babcock can’t push his players any harder than he does. Putting the gas pedal to the floor won’t matter is there is no more fuel to be had.


By nature Babcock is an all-out guy. He’s that way all the time but my feeling is next season he would be well advised to have his players hear his voice less. He should let his assistant coaches do much of the talking so that when he does address the team his voice stands a better chance at being heard because he hasn’t been in his players’ ears on a near constant basis. Former Steelers coach Bill Cowher used to have his assistants do much of the talking to the players to guard against his words not getting through and resonating with his team when it counted the most.


Sound off in our NHL message boards"; // END editorial data