FanPost

Those who ignore history are doooooooomed to repeat it.

So, here we are, 1-3. We suck, trade Hedo, trade Clark, trade JRich, trade Frye, bench Nash, bench Hill, slap Robin...

These are some of the alternatives that have been suggested as the panic swirls deeper and deeper - why, we're already 3 games out of first place, Nash is too old, Amar'e is gone, and wtf wtf wtf wtf we're losing close games and how can Nashie's legs be tired after only four games and did I mention that Hedo sucks and Frye can't hit a shot and omg we're 1 and freaking 3!!!!!!!

There is peace and happiness and a little levity after the jump.

Allright. Take a deep breath. Find your happy place. It's going to be all right. Really.

There is a historical perspective that has been mentioned lately that got me to thinking - we started the 2006-2007 season 1 and 5, and that ended up in a 61 win season. But what has that got to do with us, you might ask?

Well, I went looking in the archives, as I am wont to do, and I found out that there were none here on our intrepid Bright Side - it apparently got rolling around December of that year. So, I went looking over there on Suns.com to see what I could find out about what people were saying during that long, miserable, painful losing streak.

Of course, to add a little more historical perspective, there were quite a few less bloggers way back then. I certainly wasn't blogging, and I'm not about to go over to AZ Central to see what they were saying - they, for the most part, couldn't be positive if a valuable appendage depended on it. But I'll bet it was something. Here's a sample from AZC today..

Trade Nash+Hill for Josh Smith, start Dragic (who has clearly been the better player this season, the offense LOOKED SO MUCH BETTER with him leading the Suns), get rid of Frye for Thompson (dream scenario), and start rebuilding.


Wow. Pretty rough. But wait - here's a sample from today for our own BSotS.

Hedo/Clark/Siler/Janning...

need to be moved. Especially Hedo and Clark. Bring in rebounders/defenders. The Suns have plenty of time since they’re not going to make the playoffs anyway. I love the Suns and it pains me to have to say it, but that’s the way it is. This is an experiment that has failed. I’m not a business man, but I assume that Sarver makes more money when the Suns win, or are at least entertaining.

Oh, I could find a lot more like this - especially in the game thread. But I'm not going that direction - it's going to be much more fun to take a look at some quotes from early November, 2006.

Our first game of the year was against the Lakers in LA. And bonus - Kobe was out! What a gift to start the season by playing the Pau-less, Kobe-less, toothless Lakers.. However, we lost,114-106

Posted: Oct. 31, 2006

D'Antoni
SUNS HEAD COACH MIKE D’ANTONI: "We came out really strong, then it started looking like we were in one of those "Texas hold ‘em" games, when you just dish everything out, then we didn’t have everything left. Then they started hitting everything – you gotta’ give them credit. They played well and hit big shots. We made a couple of runs at them, but they held us off. Obviously we have to play better."



Odom scored 34 points, and Andrew Bynum added 18 in his first career start, as the Los Angeles Lakers erased a 19-point first-quarter deficit to post a 114-106 victory over the Suns in the season opener for both teams.

Okay, 0-1. No big deal, right? No time to wallow in it, because the next day, we had the Clippers. Oh, it's great to have that whipping boy, and we didn't disappoint. The Suns won, 112-104.

SUNS HEAD COACH MIKE D’ANTONI:

"I think we did better tonight with passion and energy. It wasn’t always pretty but we got 64 points in the second half by playing hard and that’s what we have to do. Right now we’re not in the greatest shape, but we just have to push through it, push through the first two weeks and we’ll be fine."

(On Marcus Banks)
"Marcus Banks did a heck of a job and he will keep getting better. He has got a lot of talent. Right now he hesitates and he just needs to go. As we go along he’s going to be fast and a good contender, and will keep knocking shots down."

(On Amare Stoudemire)
"I think you can see his reservoir of energy is limited but his first half was really good and obviously when we get him back, he will be fast and strong."

Couldn't resist the quote about Banks - he was the answer for all of the Suns problems, obviously. But all was right with the world.

However, Nov 3 brought the Jazz to town, and we lost 108-104. Again with a blown 15 point lead in the 3rd quarter, after blowing a 17 point lead against the Lakers. And it was the Utah bench that largely did us in, including Derek Fisher, along with Matt Harpring and Gordon Giricek.

Posted: Nov. 3, 2006

SUNS HEAD COACH MIKE D’ANTONI:

"We were just not playing in-sync, we have a couple of guys, whether it’s my fault or their fault that aren’t playing in-sync and we’ve got to get them back in there and get them playing. Every game we have played so far, win or loss, we have been up nineteen and fifteen. We just can’t hold it. Our defense is not quite there yet."

"We had the looks we just didn’t have the shots." (On Boris Diaw)
"Boris is just playing hesitantly, when he is hesitant it is hard to play and I have to find a way to help him out a little bit and I am not doing that right now."

No time to panic, though, because it's our second back-to-back of the season - Stern loved the Suns even then. So, the next night, it's the Clippers again. And we lost, 114-108 Now, we were 1-3. Sound familiar? And, strangely enough, there are no quotes for this game.

Remember, though, this was a pretty good Clippers team. Still...the Clippers?

At least, we had 4 days off before we played...the Spurs. Ahhhhhh, crap.

A 111-106 OT loss

SUNS HEAD COACH MIKE D’ANTONI: "Tonight turnovers killed us; we had a great shot at winning this game Raja really stepped up for us with some great shots. This was defiantly a disappointing loss for our team we defiantly need to take this game and learn from it. I consider tonight the first of many baby steps to be taken throughout the season."
SUNS CENTER KURT THOMAS (13 PTS, 8 REBS): "This is defiantly a tough loss for us but, we played well and the Spurs played extremely well. Tonight we took a really good team into overtime I think we need to build on that and take it into the rest of the season. If anything tonight it was our poor decision making that killed us we need to regroup and win the next one."

So, now we're 1-4, we've lost to the Lakers, Jazz, and Spurs,(again, sound familiar?) not to mention the Clippers. THE CLIPPERS!!! And AGAIN - in our 6th game of the season, we're in our third back to back. Against Dallas. Holy Weeping Jeebus, can we catch a freaking break here???? Apparently not.
Dallas 119, Suns 112. 1 and !@#$%^&*() 5. We Suck. Trade everybody.
Let's hear from the eloquent Shawn Marion:

SUNS FORWARD SHAWN MARION (21 PTS, 6 REBS):(On the team’s frustration) "It’s frustrating but we have to keep going after it until we get the chemistry right where we need. We have to stick with it. We are showing great signs out there in moments, but other then that at times we aren’t."

(On what is wrong) "It is a little bit of everything. You can’t just put it on one thing. It is a little bit of chemistry, a little bit of defense. We just have to find a way to get it going."

SUNS HEAD COACH MIKE D’ANTONI: "I thought the first half we just came out soft up until now we’ve come out soft, second half we had played with energy not always good but I thought that would be enough, I think we learned our lesson hopefully we know what is wrong. I guarantee the next game we will have some passion and every game out."

"It should have been a playoff game for us, it was for them but not for us and it should have been which is inexcusable. We’re going to figure out what is wrong and we are going to fix it."

(On Jalen Rose) "He had some bright spots; he is going to help us a lot. He can play, he’s a veteran and he is going to be a good playmaker out there. We just have to be more consistent."

"That’s it we’re done playing around, we’re done messing around and we’re going to play guys that are going to play hard."

Well, here's the good news. Even though we're 1-5, we have for our next game...

The Grizzlies. In 2006, we beat them. 2010?????

We're doomed.