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Watching the Phoenix Suns reminds me of the Back to the Future Michael J. Fox movies. The Suns have revived themselves and very possibly the entire trend-conscious NBA by going retro and playing 1980s style, run and gun, Showtime basketball.

The Suns’ offense has only two gears, fast and faster and it’s propelled them to a 43-14 record.. Only the rock-solid San Antonio Spurs have a better mark. Phoenix is scoring 110 points a game, an incredible 14 points over the league average. Even with the league’s most generous defense, due to their up-tempo style of play, the Suns are still scoring an average of eight points a game more than their opponents.

The influsion of European basketball mentality is what differentiates the Suns from the rest of the pack. Coach Mike D’Antoni has been the mastermind of Phoenix’s metamorphosis in his first full season at the helm.

D’Antoni, with experience in both American and European pro ball, might be the perfect cross-over coach. A native West Virginian, D’Antoni played two seasons with the Kansas City Kings in the early 70’s and had brief stints as an assistant in Portland and head coach in Denver in recent years. More importantly, the bulk of D’Antoni’s professional career has been in Italy, spending more then 20 seasons as a legendary point guard and head coach in the Italian league, and succeeding at the highest levels of European basketball.

Today’s European basketball is more reminiscent of the NBA of a previous generation than the current NBA game. It’s basically simple, good fundamental ball. The emphasis is on team play, hitting the open man and good outside shooting, with none of the over-emphasis on defense that's expanded in the NBA during the past 15 seasons.

After two years of international competition embarrassment of American teams stocked with NBA players, voices called for a change. One such voice was that of George Karl, the new coach of the Denver Nuggets. Karl claimed that the stream of quality international players onto rosters wasn’t enough and that maybe even more could learned from foreign basketball. The idea of bringing a high caliber foreign coach to the NBA was probably too daring and intimidating for any team to seriously entertain.

D’Antoni, in many ways, is a perfect compromise. What we have here is a European coach, molded by European basketball mentality, who happens to be an American. He has the mindset and experience of an international coach, plus the ability to relate to American players.

D’Antoni took over the reins of a talent challenged Sun squad in mid-season last year. This summer’s free agent signing of Steve Nash gave D’Antoni an on-the-court coach, capable of implementing his philosophy.

Running a fast break, no-nonsense offense is nothing new for Nash. He spent the last few years orchestrating the Dallas Maverick attack, the most efficient by far in the NBA before Nash signed with the Suns. Last year, the Mavs averaged 105 points a game and like the Suns, scored 14 points a game above the league average.

The difference between the Nash-led Mavs and Nash-led Suns is that the Mavs ran most of the time. The Suns run all the time. The 2003-04 Mavs were also an anomaly. Only one other team, the Sacramento Kings, scored more then 100 a game. Suns have become trend-setters, possibly because they are accomplishing more than the Mavs with an overall less talented cast if you count the bench. The Suns are one of seven NBA teams to be averaging over the century mark, and as game pace quickens, that number is sure to increase.

In pro basketball, as in major league baseball and football, there are self regulatory processes that respond to imbalances between offense and defense. These are often triggered by the success of particular teams. In the late 1980’s the Pistons Bad Boys put the entire NBA on a defense-oriented mode that’s lasted until today. Possibly, the Suns of 2005 are putting the NBA on a self-corrective course.

Comments are most welcome and can be addressed to jerrymittleman99@yahoo.com (remove the "99").