Phoenix Suns Podcast 25: Delving into the draft

25 podcasts. 25 cents. A penny for my thoughts 25 times. A great deal at even twice the price (since we're dealing with fictional pennies).

To touch on all things quarter, I reminisce on a story I was told as a young lad about the United State's first president... and it's somewhat parallel to the present day Suns. A story about a cherry tree and a hatchet.

*Quotes taken from article by Mary Trotter Kion @ Suite 101

The (very probably fabricated) tale delineates how young George chops down his father's cherry tree and, when confronted, tells the truth about his role in the destruction. His father forgives him for the mistake, even though the tree is a lost cause.

...explaining that by George being honest about the situation he has well paid his father for the ruined tree.

In case I'm being too ambiguous, the cherry tree is the Phoenix Suns and the recent mismanagement is the hatchet.

Between spin like "a more talented team", "not taking the path of trying to make the playoffs for financial reasons", "here's what a basketball genius (Blanks) looks like", ad infinitum... I wonder what good old George would have thought about the Suns recent methods of being honest with their fanbase?

George was forgiven by his father because he told the truth. I have a hard time forgiving the powers that be within the Suns' organization because I still feel they're being unnecessarily evasive.

I understand that a team can't be fully transparent with its fanbase all the time. A team slogan like "How long until the 2014 lottery?" may be more apropos than "Next starts now", but doesn't make for a very effective advertising campaign. Although the ambiguity of the word "next" can still distort the phrase to mean next = sucking.

I also understand that when speaking publicly, as opposed to reading a prepared statement, things don't always come out the way you mean them to are or misinterpreted. Maybe this was the case with Sarver's recent commentsabout "rebuilding the right way."

I was hopeful that recent hirings infused a new sense of candidness into the organization, and was hopeful that a page had been turned, but those rebuilding remarks reminded me of the status quo....

Since we're already on the topic of honesty, it turns out that George's cherry tree episode was most likely completely concocted. Making up a story about honesty... who would do such a thing? The most likely reason for the lie, money. The author is described here as...

...a shrewd businessman who possessed and uncanny sense of what the public wanted whether they knew it or not.

I'll let you draw your own conclusions there...

I (firmly believe that) I will love the Suns (George) the rest of my life, but it's pretty hard for me to move past recent transgressions (hatchet job) when I still feel I'm being duped. Hopefully the tergiversation, dissimulation and disingenuousness (my spin) I've perceived (feel free to have your own opinion) in recent years will wane. In the interim, the Suns need to put down the hatchet.

25.

Phoenix Suns Podcast Episode 25

And here is the list Kris alluded to in the podcast: