PStan and all, you make many good points in this post and Stan’s rant about the other article. I find it funny that I have the same level of disgust for the talking points that get thrown out there about the Spurs.

It takes a hell of a lot of things to go right to win it all. Great decisions by your front office, health, clutch plays, lucky bounces, bad calls go your way, composure, toughness, etc. If any go against you, it is very difficult to win.

You guys had a window for a few years there where you were contenders. Some health, some suspensions, some lack of defensive execution, some sold draft picks, etc. all hampered the Suns from getting further. Teams have to be good AND lucky to make it all the way through. The Spurs won in ’03 when Dirk went down with a knee injury in the second game of the series, we won in ’05 when Joe Johnson got hurt, in ’07 with the suspensions. We lost in ’03 when Derek Anderson got hurt, we lost in ’08 and ’09 without a healthy Manu, we got some bad breaks and bad calls in ’06.

A lot of people who write like to simplify these complex connections down to a single point “No defense”, “Cheap”, “Bad front office decisions”, “Robert Horry”. It’s just not the case. I like to rag on the Suns as much as anybody about not playing defense, but there were a couple teams (’05 and ’06 I believe) that were really pretty good damn efficient defensively and to not admit that the Suns were a viable contender because they played crappy defense in other years is just a flat out asinine fallacy.

1. Kerr has done a genuinely Isiah-like job of running the team into the ground. Literally.
2. The Suns defense once reached average heights, if you believe the stat guys. But watching the team told a different story…but at least they were different and fun to watch before.
3. The Suns do not have a young core of untapped potential. Amare, at least theoretically the best player, has essentially announced to the world he doesn’t give a crap about a ring, and those other guys…J-Rich? Lopez? Barbosa? Take off the beer goggles, man. I am not saying these are bad players, but it’s not like there are other teams taking the door down to get at them.

I 100% agree with you- especially on the “Suns don’t play defense” thing. It pisses me off beyond belief when ‘analysts’ blame the suns playoff loses on weak D. At the point at which you make it to the conference finals, your defense is good enough. Too many people just want to pin 1 easy magic failure on the Suns, saying that the team couldn’t D up. But at the end of the day, it’s about who scores more points. And the suns were great at doing that.

I don’t see how you can defend the “will fail in the playoffs” by talking about failing in the playoffs…

I think this commentary is a fair and objective one without being bias or exaggerated. I think the Suns do deserve more credit than they’ve gotten and were probably close a couple of times. I totally agree regarding Nash and Hill. I would’nt want any other pair of guys above thirty five in the league. These two guys still have a couple of good years left in the tank and could probably be productive for a couple of more. They take good care of themselves, are smart on the court and have high basketball IQs (every ex-NBA commentator’s favorite word) and will provide excellent leadership on the court. Plus, they really care about winning and will balance the team out nicely with some of the younger talent.

Regarding the younger talent, I think Amar’e and J-Rich will have an outstanding year. I know they’re not so young, but they’re still in they’re prime. Amar’e will be for a few years. I’m looking for him to go on a mission this year and just tear up the league. I think he’ll average 26 points and 9 rebounds. It’s simply a combination of his talent and the system with Nash feeding him the ball. Plus, he’s not the only athlete anymore on the team. J-Rich is a legitamate scoring threat which should only make Amar’e better. And, no big guy in the middle to clog the lanes anymore.

I agree completely. While they aren’t the same team they were a couple years ago, I don’t believe they are mediocre or even average.

They can be a good team, but are likely not a great team anymore. I think Kerr took some chances that haven’t played out as he had hoped. He’s no more perfect than the rest of us, but his decisions didn’t work and as the boss, he gets the blame. That’s fine, but Isiah-level incompetence is something else entirely.

When the Suns were at their peak, the defense wasn’t great, but it was at least average. And what is good defense? Holding the opponent to fewer points than you. They managed to accomplish that quite often, and if not for a few bad breaks, it could have been good enough to win the championship. But those happen to good teams all the time, which brings me to MY biggest problem with D’Antoni – depth. He never took advantage of the depth – they had some decent players who barely saw any court time. And when they needed them, they weren’t ready. Gentry seems to lack that tendency, so we’ll see how that helps or hurts.

We’ve got a lot of players who like to play and are willing to work hard and play hard. I think there is a lot of potential on the team, even beyond the obvious (Dragic, Lopez, Clark). If a few of them step it up a notch (or three), it could be an exciting and fun year.

The west will always be known for flashy, offensive teams. It’s no different for other sports like college football, hockey, mlb, and the nfl. The majority of the publicity and storylines is dedicated to east coast teams that the media think matter because they are perceived as tough. It’s wrong but its all about market share. If the majority of your viewers and listeners live on the east coast, then who cares about the west and whatever teams reside there. The west coast is where you go to retire and relax so obviously teams will automatically gain that attribute.

The Suns are just that wacky team that can light up a scoreboard without playing any D. I’d rather be labeled that than the worst franchise ever in the Clippers.

As for the Suns, I’m happy with what Kerr has been doing lately. He’s assembled a nice young nucleus while keeping a few vets. No, we won’t win a championship. We had our chances a few years ago but we should remain competitive. Kerr is a smart guy, who’s only limitation is Sarver. If Sarver signed Johnson to the extension a year before he left then we most definitely would have won the championship with that team. Instead, Johnson left on bad terms and so started the snowball downhill.

My only complaint with this team has to do with drafting. We squandered our picks that now we may have set back the rebuilding, once Nash retires, a little further.

but I object to referring to ESPN as prestigious. It isn’t worthy of prestige.

Phoenix all the way!

I agree with most of what you are saying man.