Thoughts on SSoL Suns

by willthehawk on Aug 5, 2009 12:23 AM MDT Comment 2 comments

I know we've all gone over this countless times...

What if Amare hadn't gotten hurt for the 05-06 season?

What if Raja and KT were at full strength for the 06 Conference Finals series against Dallas?

What if Horry had, for once in his life, decided not to be an asshole in '07?

What is Sarver/Kerr gave the 06-07 team a full run, without trading 'Trix for Shaq?

What if D'Antoni hadn't been pushed away by managment in '08?

There are plenty of 'excuses'. But I would definitely say that, while the Suns have never won a championship with their SSoL mentality, it was still 100% absolutely, positively, without a doubt worth it to try.

I LOVE the great personalities that have played their hearts out for the team during that run, and Mike D'Antoni should be inducted into the Ring of Honor.

We've had lots of great moments during those 4 years:

- Winning 3 of the 4 "special" All-Star game competitions in 2005 (and Amare getting 2nd in the Dunk contest)

-Amare's BEASTLY performance against SA in the 05 playoffs- he played with so much passion

-2 MVP's for Nashie

-Tim Thomas's buzzer beating three-pointer in game 5 against the Lakers in 06

-Bell's three to send game 6 against the Clippers into overtime in 06

Obviously...there have been countless others.

What I am trying to say is that, despite all of our disappointments with SSoL Suns, we loved almost every minute of it. I thank D'Antoni for the guts to play at a breakneck pace, I admire Nash's dedication to the team, and I am truly grateful for the past 5 years.

Here's to 5 more!

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If nothing else, the SSOL era brought a lot of national attention to the Suns. So we have learned that it does not make for a championship, but it was entertaining and brought new people to the game.

None of the ‘what ifs’ you mentioned would seem to be a make or break point for the Suns winning a championship.

BTW, the 06-07 Suns did have a full run. Shaq was traded for the whinetrix right before the All-Star game in 2008.

Also, you say:

I LOVE the great personalities that have played their hearts out for the team during that run, and Mike D’Antoni should be inducted into the Ring of Honor.

They played their hearts out….on one end of the floor. And because they only played on one end of the floor (as permitted by D’Antoni), they had more energy to give on offense. But this one-sided game is also why the team was never able to win when it counted, in the post-season.

"I’m tired of hearing about money, money, money, money, money. I just want to play the game, drink Pepsi, wear Reebok." ~Shaq

by Max_in_Missouri on Aug 5, 2009 12:10 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

yeah oops

the 06-07 thing was a typo. I would disagree with you saying that team had a full run though… that was the year of the suspensions?

I think that had it not been for some of those “what ifs” the Suns could have won in various years. Like the Raja and KT being hurt for the 06 conference finals, and Horry’s hip checking w suspensions

by willthehawk on Aug 5, 2009 3:13 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs