19Nov/092:45 PM

Brownie Points: Can the Suns get even better?

By Jerry Brown

Nobody asked, but …

* Isn’t funny how Mark Mangino’s current and former players are now coming out of the woodwork to carve him up now that Kansas has lost five games and are out of the major bowl hunt?

I’m not saying Mangino didn’t do what he’s accused of. It just seems like it didn’t bother people so much when the Jayhawks were winning the Orange Bowl.

* Give the Coyotes credit for a gutsy win in Minnesota Wednesday. Ilya Bryzgalov is still keeping them afloat, but give credit to a battered defense that includes three guys who were expected to play in San Antonio this year in Sami Lepisto – who has proven himself to be an NHL player – David Schlemko and Shawn Heshka.

In the 3-2 win over the Wild, all three goals were either set up or scored by defensemen. Heshka teed up Radim Vrbata in the first period, James Vandermeer made up for his bonehead penalty against Tampa on Monday with a goal and Keith Yandle danced into the Minnesota zone and put a shot on net that led to a juicy rebound that became Scottie Upshall’s game-winner.

* The Suns’ 10-2 start is impressive enough, but it could get even better over the next two weeks.

After tonight’s game against the Chris Paul-less Hornets in New Orleans, the next five games are:

- A home game against the 5-7, last-place Pistons.

- A home game against the 3-8 Grizzlies (Gee, who would have though that whole Allen Iverson in Memphis thing wouldn’t work out? I was sure he would have turned that franchise around, especially their work ethic.)

- A road game at Minnesota, where the Suns traditionally struggle. But the T-Wolves have lost 11 straight games and Al Jefferson’s magic over the Suns has worn off. If the Suns blow this one, Target Center is truly haunted.

- A road game at Toronto against the 5-7 Raptors that gave the Suns all they wanted in Phoenix on Sunday. But Steve Nash loves to play in Toronto and he doesn’t let the Suns lose to the Raptors – look it up.

- A road game in New York against the 2-9 Knicks. Mike D’Antoni was smiling last year as the Knicks got off to a decent start while the Suns were learning to run in place with new coach Terry Porter. This year? Not so much.

That means the Suns could very well take an eight-game winning streak into Cleveland for a Dec. 2 showdown with old pal Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James and the Cavs. That game isn’t slated to be on national TV right now. Wanna bet it ends up there?

Of course, the Suns pretty much need to win these games, because December is brutal. Beginning with a return trip to the Lakers on Dec. 6, Phoenix has a six-game stretch that continues at Dallas, home to Orlando, at Denver, home to San Antonio, and at Portland. That means hay must be stored in the barn.

Prediction Time

See, you get a little full of yourself on college football picks and Arizona decides to play like Arizona and USC decides to play like … well Arizona State.

So we had to lean on certainties – picking Notre Dame to lose to anyone decent and Ohio State to put the wood to Iowa to pull out a 3-2 record for the week. The pros were more cooperative, although I would have bet the house on the Steelers settling the score with the Ochocincos. Glad this is just a fun thing (cough, cough).

So we take a 6-3 record from the week and move to 48-19 for the season (.716) trudge on without a bye week to mentally clear our heads:

ASU 27, UCLA 24: The Devils might be 4-6, but Brownie is a perfect 10-0 and BCS eligible when it comes to picking ASU games. So why am I going against the grain and picking the underdog Devils in this one? Maybe I’m just sick of picking them to lose. Maybe I think they have to beat somebody, sometime and this is as good a chance as they get. But I liked what I saw from the new quarterback (whatever his name is, they all run together now) and despite the injuries that are really piling up, ASU is still playing hard.

Oregon 31, Arizona 17: The Wildcats can still go to the Rose Bowl by winning out against the Ducks, Devils and Trojans. Of course, the Cats could also get swept and finish the season with six wins and a four-game losing streak. Hey, I’m just saying.

Ohio State 25, Michigan 20: Is this it for “Rich Rod” in Ann Arbor? Only two years doesn’t seem like enough from a distance, but I haven’t had to watch the Wolverines play every week either. Michigan is tied for – good gosh – last in the Big 10 and this would be their seventh loss in eight games. Jim Tressel is 7-1 against Michigan and has won five straight … and that’s when they were good.

Stanford 41, Cal 21: Stanford put up 106 points in back-to-back wins over Oregon and USC, and that has to scare the Bears. It makes you wonder how they lost three games so early in the season. A win here keeps the Cardinal in the hunt for the Rose Bowl, unless Arizona goes all Boise State down the stretch.

Texas 44, Kansas 17: The Jayhawks, like coach Mark Mangino, go down and go down hard. Five straight wins followed by a five-game losing streak and allegations of dealing with a player in an inappropriate manner puts you in Rick Rodriguez’s job security neighborhood quickly.

Cardinals 35, Rams 13: The Cardinals stay perfect on the road (oh my, what did I just say?) and the emergence of Beanie Wells truly turns the offense into a “pick your poison” proposition. Since the Rams couldn’t stop Kurt Warner when he was one-dimensional, this could get pretty ugly.

Patriots 31, Jets 17: Think ol’ Coach Hoodie wants this one in the worst way? There’s nothing like a little public ridicule to get your mind right. Everyone wants to talk about the fourth-and-two call, but how did New England blow that big lead in the first place? Uncharacteristically, the Pats took their foot off the gas.

Colts 24, Ravens 21: If Ray Lewis and the boys can’t stop Peyton Manning, the guys down at the old Dolphins home in Miami might start getting antsy.

Detroit 7, Cleveland 6: If an NFL game is contested and nobody watches, is it still a regulation game? This should be one where the first score wins, but the networks don’t want to commit that kind of air time.