Britt Robson, Smasher of Dreams

by Genesius on Mar 2, 2010 3:28 PM MST

So I'm still giddy from last night's game against Denver, enjoying thinking back to arguably one of the best quarters of basketball I've seen from my beloved Suns since I jumped on the bandwagon back in 88, surfing the net for all of the NBA Power Rankings to continue this b-ball high I'm feeling, when...

BAM!: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/britt_robson/03/02/suns.notes/

Britt Robson decides to take the wind out of the sails. Actually, scratch that... he full on destroyed the boat with a full air strike.

I'm not delusional. My greatest hope for this franchise each year is a championship, but realistically, I'll be psyched if we make it out of the 2nd round.

I know that an article shouldn't upset me that much, but we've had a lot of success since the all-star break, and an article like this, solely written to make Suns fans feel like we're wasting our time rooting for a franchise consisting of "beautiful losers" frankly just pisses me off.

So here's my question: does he have a solid point? Am I mainly upset because I know he's right, or because he's being a smug arsehole?

Poll

Is Britt Robson off-base or on-target?

Totally off-base.

16 votes

Completely on-target.

0 votes

A little from Column A, a little from Column B

21 votes

You're being a total homer; get back to work!

3 votes

40 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

2005- I’d like to see the Spurs try to beat us without Manu.

2006- I’d like to see the Mavs beat us without their best defender in Josh Howard and without their big-man in Kurt Thomas.

2007-I’d like to see the Spurs try and beat us without Duncan and Horry.

2008- We just weren’t contenders this year.

Really, we just had a lot of bad luck. Things have to go your way in order to win a championship. We’ve just had a lot of bad luck in the playoffs.

As for out current team; I think its still too early to judge them. I’m not completely sold yet. I want to see them beat the Jazz, Blazers, Spurs and Mavs( one more time), and LA before I can say they’re contenders.

by Beavis 25 on Mar 2, 2010 3:44 PM MST reply actions

We know now that we match-up well with Denver and I wouldn’t be afraid to play them in a series. The Mavs are a different and better team with the trade than they were when we beat them. We have yet to beat Portland or Utah. I’d like to beat the Spurs one more time this season. I’d like to see us play LA at their full strength. I know we can beat the Thunder and pretty much anyone else out West.

by Beavis 25 on Mar 2, 2010 3:48 PM MST up reply actions

I actually thought this article was rather pointless

And didn’t have much to say. Seems like his editor said “Whip up a piece on the Suns real quick” and he did so, just sort of regurgitating stuff.

The thing with a lot of these writers is they don’t seem to realize that you can’t consistently hold teams under 100 points when the game has over 100 possessions. If it was possible, the Suns would have a huge victory margin all the time. You have to look at things like field goal percentage allowed, margin of victory, points per possession, etc.

by jburning on Mar 2, 2010 3:56 PM MST reply actions

Glad he picked out what I kept saying. The old Suns play avaerage-to-above-average defence

Because of their run-and-gun pace, the previous Suns teams always ranked near the bottom of the league in points allowed. Yet with quality defenders like Raja Bell and Shawn Marion on the roster, those teams managed to play average defense, ranking between 13th and 17th in defensive efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions). This year’s Suns are 29th, ahead of only Toronto, in defensive efficiency. Phoenix doesn’t generate turnovers (last in the league) and doesn’t keep teams off the offensive glass (next to last in the league), providing opponents with more opportunities to score than any other team.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/britt_robson/03/02/suns.notes/#ixzz0h46DLKg9

by magenta on Mar 2, 2010 4:32 PM MST reply actions

+1

i think the horrible defense thing was magnified because we were usually the worst defensive team in the playoffs, and the points allowed numbers looked pretty bad. we played average defense in the early years, but couldnt get any clutch stops.

Banzai!

by Suns' Sensei on Mar 2, 2010 11:58 PM MST up reply actions

It's just the usual spin you expect to hear from a basketball writer

Same old, same old.

Trying to rep Canada on the Bright Side.

by Willman on Mar 2, 2010 5:09 PM MST reply actions

+1

Pay no attention to the sports opinion columnists…

by 8472species on Mar 2, 2010 6:04 PM MST up reply actions

Yes.

Especially ones that write for specific team-related sites. We They cannot be trusted.

Twitter: @MikeLisboa

by Mike Lisboa on Mar 3, 2010 12:11 PM MST up reply actions

spot on, up to a point

This article tells it like it was. He did point out that Hill is 37, Nash and Stoudamire do not play much defense and the Suns are not a great rebounding team. How can you argue? He should have also mentioned that the team was considered ‘soft’.
Things seem to be changing. The team did not back down in a rather viscious and physical game last night against Denver and their collection of thugish players. Is there a tougher point than Billups or a rougher center than Nene?
The Suns are growing up. The addition of Lopez to the starting five has given the team new ability to rebound and defend. It has also taken a lot of the defensive pressure off Amare. Lopez is showing he is a pretty rough and tough player.
Now, if we could just feed some of that toughness to Channing Fry…. But to be fair, he has come a long way this year. He is starting to get serious about defending the basket and is getting some good results. He still plays too much ‘matador defense’ and his little touch fouls lead to too many ‘and 1’ plays.
JRich is probably the most physical and best defender on the team. I’m glad that he is getting a little help.

by da suns on Mar 2, 2010 5:21 PM MST reply actions

He was right in other areas like with this team, but he was wrong on his theory’s with our teams from 05-07. Plus, he sounds as if he hasn’t really watched a Suns game in the past three weeks. We’ve stepped up our defense big time which is why we haven’t given up any big leads. The problem with our team is consistency on defense. We can play it, its just consistency. Hopefully we’ve turned things around from our struggles in December and January and we can continue our success from February and on. The Jazz did it, so why can’t we?

by Beavis 25 on Mar 2, 2010 10:24 PM MST up reply actions

The team is playing team D to an extent not seen before

by magenta on Mar 3, 2010 12:54 AM MST reply actions

Ruck Fobson!!!

It seem a lot of sports writer like to bash the Suns just by looking at the stats after the end of game/s. They can’t for a fact accept that the Suns can defeat a championship caliber teams like the Nuggets, Celtics, Lakers and Orlando. For them, no matter how many the Suns teams won regular games, it will always end up in utter disappointment for Suns fans. Have they forgotten that out of 30 teams only 1 team will (and always) get to be a champion? Have they forgotten that teams that even finished with the best record doesn’t ensure play-off success? Need I remind them of Mavs or the Cavs? And by play-off success, I mean winning the Larry O’Brien trophy. It’s in this time of the year where articles like the one mentioned above appears.

Personally, I like reading articles about the Suns. It’s just that it is very hard to find an unbiased article. The most balanced article I read are from sbnation blogs. At least they give credit when credit is due.

We all want to fall in love. Why? Because that experience makes us feel completely alive,where every sense is heightened, and every emotion is magnified. Our everyday reality is shattered and we are flying into the heavens. It may only last a moment, an hour, or an afternoon, but that doesn't diminish its value, because we are left with memoriesthat we treasure for the rest of our lives.

by Spit_Fire on Mar 3, 2010 5:20 AM MST reply actions

Bill Simmons wrote a pretty good article on the Suns a while back.

by Beavis 25 on Mar 3, 2010 12:00 PM MST up reply actions

I remember that article..

It made me so damn prud to be a Suns fan… it was called “Thank God for the Phoenix Suns” or something like that..

by bangbang240 on Mar 3, 2010 2:59 PM MST up reply actions

yeah "thank you for the suns" i think

Steve Nash, the league's MVP, is a longhaired Canadian who spoke out against the war in Iraq and reads The Communist Manifesto. Quentin Richardson declared after a game-winning shot that it "was like Hamlet. It was a suspense thriller, and I killed them at the end." Amare Stoudemire, when asked to comment on a 22-point third quarter against the Kings, said, "I've got a tendency to jump over some guys' heads and throw it down."

by rsavaj on Mar 3, 2010 11:59 PM MST up reply actions

He's attempting to preach to the choir...

…but he got our attention instead.

Big networks will ALWAYS cater to big markets over Phoenix. He’s trying to cash in on people who hate us.

Amare (Amar’e?) made a comment about giving effort on defense… when the Suns try to defend, they are very hard to beat. Maybe that’s what he’s getting at.

by ArizonaBornandBred on Mar 4, 2010 1:41 AM MST reply actions

Phoenix is a big market. the fourth or fifth largest. and big tv networks love the suns the suns are on national tv more than anyone not named lebron or kobe, and probably just as much. they know people want to watch it, and other than a kobe lebron finals the suns in the finals is what they want most.

by philebarb on Mar 4, 2010 10:00 AM MST up reply actions