Have the Suns bottomed-out and made a Big Time season turn around move in February - or is it just another rollicking Phoenix-style roller coaster ride to an unhappy place far, far away ???

That's the question of the day and this season... it is hard to tell.

But by knocking down five straight wins - the Suns franchise has gone from having an iffy will-we??? or won't-we??? outlook to the Number 5 spot in the Western Conference. What a happy way to prep for the All-Star break as Phoenix rolls into a Feb.10 game against the Portland Trailblazers.

On another upbeat note - the numbers coming from our man Amar'e Stoudemire have hopefully silenced a cheesy Steve Kerr-style rumor campaign designed to foist Amar'e off the roster. The chatter was in full gear over the weekend when some naughty trade talk was in the limelight at ESPN.Com.

Those guys should have known better. It was just Little Stevie looking for an alibi and he wanted to hang Amar'e out to dry. Another ploy by the Suns overpaid and underskilled General Manager - better known as the architect of our disaster last season.  

Never mind that Stoudemire has the 11th highest points per game average in the NBA with 21.2 so far this season and a blazing shooting percentage of 55.4% - the best of the top 15 ppg players in the league. Add to that an average of 8.6 rebounds per game and a block in every appearance.

Yes - Amar'e is a proven part of any Suns trip to the post-season this year - and any effort to drop him from the mix is ill-advised and plainly irresponsible.  

But that doesn't mean Kerr should stop shopping trades.

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He just has to pick the right player to jettison. And that means admitting that some of last year's front office trade action was counterproductive. 

Topping our list is Jason Richardson - a Kerr acquisition of last year who has shown signs of stumbling this season.

The 29-year old J-Rich has fallen well below his career scoving average this season and is hitting just 14.5 ppg - a 20% drop-off from his past performance. Richardson's declining scoring touch has led to his playing time being trimmed to just 30.5 minutes a game - the result of Suns Coach Alvin Gentry rescrambling the line-up after Phoenix suffered through an unimpressive January slump.

A typical disappointing game from Richardson was the Feb.1 contest against New Orleans when the veteran shooter hit just 1 - 6 during 24 minutes of playing time. And in the latest duel on the hardwood, J-Rich knocked down just 5 - 12 during 34 minutes on the court against the dismal Sacramento Kings.

Better but no real bragging rights there either.

So in the waning days before this season's trade window closes - we can only hope that the updraft in the Suns fortunes turns out to be real. And that Little Stevie admits his mistake and get's us a capable scorer before the Suns are stuck paying more than $13 million a year for an inconsistent benchwarmer.

See ya'   

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