Ho, despondent Suns Fan, despair not, for all is not as bleak and dreary as it seems.
It's quite possible all of you will hate me by the end of this article but here goes.
The Phoenix Suns are having a down season, if you haven't noticed. Currently occupying the 12th spot in the Western Conference with Golden State and Sacramento close on their heels, and ranking 23rd overall in efficiency differential, the Suns have looked flat-out.....well, flat so far this season.
A 5-game losing streak capped by a 21-point loss to the Bulls and Friday's 38-point drubbing by the Portland Trailblazers have left fans daydreaming about the 2012 off-season and wondering whether it's even worth it to try and sneak into the playoffs at this point. Even short-term boons like yesterday's win and Nash's amazing play haven't been enough to redeem this team that seemed destined for an NBA championship or two just a couple years ago. For Suns fans, one season missing the playoffs is quite enough. Two really poor, frustrating seasons push even the most die-hard fans into a dark, dark place.
Finished reading already? Don't quit on me.
I'm gonna pull a crazy here, and insist that we here at Bright Side of the Sun look at the bright side of every situation.
Read on and make fun of me in the comments.....
I'm gonna take some comments from the Game Threads this year and see what I can make of them. Extra points if you can figure out which game they are from!
Winning is overrated anyway –Acucrack
This is an excellent statement. Referring to the context of this comment, I believe it to be a sarcastic one, but it is spot on. Winning in a season like this IS overrated. The Suns aren't a huge threat to make the playoffs at this point, let's be honest, but how many teams can say that they compete for a championship every year? I would venture to say, none. All NBA franchises, even the "lofty" Lakers and Celtics, go through ebbs and flows, highs and lows. The Phoenix Suns are in a low right now, so let's get pissed. Absolutely. But with that comes the likelihood that the Suns are soon on the way up, so stay tuned.
The identity of the Suns is not that of a perennial bottom-dweller, even pre-Nash era for those who are too young to remember. The Suns own the league's 4th-best winning percentage all-time.
I almost feel like the guys have quit on Gentry. No way this team should play at this level. –Daryl Ray
Daryl, I know you're not talking about Steve Nash and Marcin Gortat here, so I'll focus on the other guys. This is a team that is scrapped together in the highest sense of the word. It's really impossible to objectively judge new acquisitions Shannon Brown, Ronnie Price, Sebastian Telfair, and Markieff Morris. They've played less than 20 games under Gentry, and there's a lot of evidence that Gentry's "system" isn't established at all anyway.
As for Grant Hill, he had trouble initially this season with his conditioning, and had fans worried that he was finally showing his age. This until he held Carmelo Anthony to 12 points on 5-22 shooting, and most recently stifled Rudy Gay en route to a narrow, ugly win for the Suns. I can forgive the fact that he's averaging career lows in almost every statistical category if he can play defense on the other team's best player.
You're probably talking about Channing Frye, Jared Dudley, Hakim Warrick, and Robin Lopez here. These guys are just in a funk. Here's the Bright Side: their attitude isn't the problem, they're just in a slump. Jared Dudley broke out of his last night, going all JunkYard Dog on the Grizzlies, and I expect Channing to break out of his soon. Robin Lopez has issues. No argument there, but anyway, the Suns aren't offering him an extension and a young 7-footer getting limited minutes in a rotation is a valuable piece.
Am I just being an apologist for an apathetic team? No. I genuinely believe that this team in general is in a slump, and slumps are made to be broken.
Damn, now the FO is going to think we're good and not make a trade. –Suns R Us
Wrong. What will the Suns Front Office see in the last win against the Grizzlies? They see that they still have some good pieces to build with in the coming years. I fully expect Jared Dudley to use this game as a turning point this season. He's undersized, but he's a great "glue" piece that can hold together a winning team coming off the bench. Steve and Marcin have been great this season. I truly enjoy seeing Markieff Morris improve almost every game. The Suns view these here-and-there wins as a sign that this team could still be competitive with some big changes. The 2012 draft combined with trading players not named Nash, Gortat, or Morris could quickly lead this team back into the "W" column in the 2012-2013 season.
This is getting to the point where even when we beat someone I'm going to roll my eyes, like the suns are a girlfriend who always cheats on me and then starts being really nice because she feels bad. –blanke
blanke, I see where you're coming from here. As a Suns fan, it hurts when my team loses. It hurts to see sparks of the former glory of Suns teams in the past, only to get dashed by a loss the next night. This 66-game compressed season toys with everyone's emotions. Don't take it personally.
As die-hard Suns fans, we tune in every single night for a reason. You don't want to miss a Steve Nash behind-the-back pass of over-the-head-and-off-the-glass layup. I, for one, don't want to miss the one night this season when Channing Frye goes 8-12 with five threes to lead the Suns to victory.
I know you don't want to get hurt, so you distance yourself from the team. Don't do that. Living the Phoenix Suns lows alongside the team will free you to experience the Phoenix Suns high highs when they come.
Stick it out, Suns fans. It's not as bad as you think.
At least we're not the Bobcats.
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