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Suns center Robin Lopez has bulging disks in his back and will not make the Suns' upcoming five-game road trip.

Lopez's fantasy owners should abandon ship in favor of Channing Frye, though Jarron Collins could start at C to limit the necessary adjustments. Even Lou Amundson may have a few decent games. GM Steve Kerr said it "could be worse" than five games, and we can't help but think that his season is in jeopardy.

Phoenix Suns center Robin Lopez to miss trip with bulging disks

Suns starting center Robin Lopez is out with bulging disks for at least the entire Suns five-game trip that opens Sunday at Minnesota.

Lopez was bothered by back spasms in the past two Suns games. Team physician Craig Phelps identified the bulging disks in his lower disks on a Saturday morning MRI exam. A back specialist will follow up with a diagnosis and possible rehabilitation for Lopez, who stayed in Phoenix.

"The minimum is it's going to take him the duration of the trip," Suns General Manager Steve Kerr said. "It could be worse."

Lopez's back first bothered him Monday at Golden State but he had no pain down his leg to indicate a bulging disk, Kerr said. Lopez was held out of practice and felt improvement until he returned to play New York on Friday, when his back tightened in the third quarter.

Jarron Collins might start now to keep a similar rotation with Channing Frye off the bench. The Suns are 22-9 with Lopez starting and averaging 11.3 points and 6.3 rebounds.

lilfishi22 wrote:The 5 game trip is definitely survivable without Lopez and against these poorer teams, a high octane offense with Frye in the lineup would work well. The remaining 5-6 games would be tough though, with all of them being against above .500 teams. I just hope the injury or whatever it is, doesn't take too long to heal, we really need Lopez in the playoffs.

MaryvalesFinest wrote:Maybe Kerr can look for a center that can rebound and doesn't have injury problems now in the 2011 draft, with that being said I hope Lopez recovers...

MarJJMar wrote:Collins is only about 6'10, isn't athletic, isn't mobile, has slow feet. He is in the league because he is a big body and a smart player but he isn't going to replace what Robin gave us..

Many games Robin would set the stone in the first quarter getting 10 quick points inside. Collins won't give us that.

Robin altered tons of shots. Collins won't give us that.

Backup Center is a huge need for this team in the offseason still with all the other ones (PG of the future, SG of the future, PF of the future, backup SG).
We need another true 7-footer who can play 20 mpg of the bench behind Robin and fill in when Robin is out.

MarJJMar wrote:

MaryvalesFinest wrote:Maybe Kerr can look for a center that can rebound and doesn't have injury problems now in the 2011 draft, with that being said I hope Lopez recovers...

Hassan Whiteside please.

That would give us a nice center rotation of Lopez/Whiteside.

Regardless of Robin's back backup center is a big need for us still.

lilfishi22 wrote:Very rarely do backup centers give what the starting centers do so no one is expecting Collins to be Lopez. What Collins has that Lopez don't is something almost as valuable as Lopez's length and mobility, and that's his IQ and experience. Collins is a very smart basketball player who, like Dudley, knows his limitations but makes up for it by playing smart and using what he has to the best of his ability. His defensive experience definitely can't be discounted either since he did play 8 seasons for Sloan.

Our rebounding margin might drop a bit and quite possibility go into the negatives but that's to be expected however, I still think we should be able to pull out the wins we're expected to win with Lopez in the lineup anyway.

This week's toughest Suns opponents are the standings and the NBA grind, because nothing in home whites will frighten the league's hottest team.

The motivation every game will be a conference race that shifts with each day's results. The Suns will fight through the rigors of five road games in seven nights. But they also will play three of the NBA's worst five teams.

The Suns take a league-best six-game winning streak into Sunday's game at Minnesota, which has lost 15 in a row. Then it's on to Chicago, where the Bulls recently lost 10 in a row. They play Wednesday at New Jersey, which flirted with the NBA's worst-ever record. Friday's stop is Detroit, which has lost seven in a row.

Finally, on Saturday, they see playoff-bound Milwaukee, whose recent surge was just tempered by home losses to Philadelphia and Miami.

"It's all about never underestimating a team," Suns forward Amar'e Stoudemire said. "Once you underestimate a team, then you overestimate yourself. We have to make sure we attack every game like we have over the past two months."

The Suns have not lost to a losing team since their previous Eastern Conference trip, a winless one in mid-January. They have not had a blowout loss since that trip's 125-99 setback at Charlotte. When they do jump on a weaker opponent they don't let up, with an average victory margin of 17.9 points during this win streak. They have shot 52.5 percent from field during the streak and held opponents to 42.7 percent shooting.

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