Seven Reasons Why Suns Fans Need a Reality Check
I know it’s tough for me to be a fan of this team and talk about another teams fans needing a reality check (I mean Lakers fans are some of the most unrealistic around…except for guys like Kurt from Forum Blue and Gold), but the it’s about time that they heard this speech.
Here are seven reasons why Suns fans need a reality check:
1) In their current formation they have never so much as made an NBA Final, yet with the way their fans talk, you would think they are the greatest team on the planet.
2) Last off-season, I told everyone that would listen that the Boris Diaw extension was a TERRIBLE one, and I got bashed by tons of Suns fans because of it. Diaw is an overrated cream puff that travels and sets illegal picks and certainly isn’t worth $9M-10M per season. I knew it then, and Suns fans know it now.
3) Continuing from the above point…Their cap situation SUCKS. They’ve managed their salary cap poorly, and now because of it might have to break the team apart early. Paying Diaw and Banks might come back to haunt them for years to come. I guess that’s what happens when you allow your coach to be the GM for one summer. The Suns are already over the luxury tax threshold going into next season, while the Spurs will be 10-15 Million under the cap after next season. That’s good management.
4) The Suns cannot win a championship the way that it is currently composed. Small ball might be entertaining to some (especially the casual fan) but has never won an NBA championship and it isn’t going win one any time in the future (And please don't site the 80's Lakers because although that team was proficient at the fast break, they were also a great half court team that rebounded, played good team defense and didn't shoot ridiculous threes. As well, in Kareem they actually had one of the best low post threats in the history of basketball). At least not while Tim Duncan is still around. The Suns need to a traditional interior presence on the offense and defensive side of the floor. They have no one to go at Tim Duncan on the offensive side of the floor as well as no one capable of defending him. Rasheed Wallace has been one of the best at handling Duncan over the last few seasons, yet Suns fans scoffed at a proposal for that would send Rasheed Wallace to Phoenix for Shawn Marion. Marion is a good all around player, but he doesn’t aid in the areas the Suns need help in the most. And Suns fans criticize Sheed for his attitude, but that guy is all about winning. He lives and dies on the basketball court. Ask any of his teammates. They all love playing with the guy. There’s a reason for that. Maybe Suns fans shouldn't be so quick to scoff at a guy that’s been to six conference finals, two NBA Finals, and won one NBA championship. That’s more success than the Suns organization has had over its entire existence. I think he might know a thing or two about winning.
5) Steve Nash is great, but not as great as Suns fans make him out to be. He is not the basketball messiah. Before he came to the Suns he was just a good player who had made a couple of All-NBA third teams and a couple of All-Star teams. Suns fans think his last three seasons (which he’s never managed to get his team to the finals I might add) allows him to catapult over guys like Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, and John Stockton. Those guys were GREAT for at least a decade straight. And they also were all around players that made both the All-NBA first or second team and the All-Defensive first or second Team basically every year during the prime of their careers. Nash will never have the juice to catch up with them. So stop saying he’s had a better career than all of them.
6) Even if Amare and Boris would have been available for game 5 of the Spurs series, you most likely would have still lost the series. And yes, they deserved to get suspended. Just ask Ewing and co. from the 1997 Knicks.
7) Your former owner, Jerry Colangelo, basically wrote the new rules that allowed small ball teams to thrive, giving the Suns a clear advantage, yet you guys still can’t get to the Finals.
So Suns fans, I don’t want to hear another peep about how great this team is and how great one of your players is until you translate some of your regular season success into actual playoff success. I love watching guys like Barbosa, Steve Nash, and Raja Bell play, but just think that the arrogance of some of the Suns fans and their coach Mike D’Antoni (he often calls his team a championship club…ha) is pretty off putting.
Here are seven reasons why Suns fans need a reality check:
1) In their current formation they have never so much as made an NBA Final, yet with the way their fans talk, you would think they are the greatest team on the planet.
2) Last off-season, I told everyone that would listen that the Boris Diaw extension was a TERRIBLE one, and I got bashed by tons of Suns fans because of it. Diaw is an overrated cream puff that travels and sets illegal picks and certainly isn’t worth $9M-10M per season. I knew it then, and Suns fans know it now.
3) Continuing from the above point…Their cap situation SUCKS. They’ve managed their salary cap poorly, and now because of it might have to break the team apart early. Paying Diaw and Banks might come back to haunt them for years to come. I guess that’s what happens when you allow your coach to be the GM for one summer. The Suns are already over the luxury tax threshold going into next season, while the Spurs will be 10-15 Million under the cap after next season. That’s good management.
4) The Suns cannot win a championship the way that it is currently composed. Small ball might be entertaining to some (especially the casual fan) but has never won an NBA championship and it isn’t going win one any time in the future (And please don't site the 80's Lakers because although that team was proficient at the fast break, they were also a great half court team that rebounded, played good team defense and didn't shoot ridiculous threes. As well, in Kareem they actually had one of the best low post threats in the history of basketball). At least not while Tim Duncan is still around. The Suns need to a traditional interior presence on the offense and defensive side of the floor. They have no one to go at Tim Duncan on the offensive side of the floor as well as no one capable of defending him. Rasheed Wallace has been one of the best at handling Duncan over the last few seasons, yet Suns fans scoffed at a proposal for that would send Rasheed Wallace to Phoenix for Shawn Marion. Marion is a good all around player, but he doesn’t aid in the areas the Suns need help in the most. And Suns fans criticize Sheed for his attitude, but that guy is all about winning. He lives and dies on the basketball court. Ask any of his teammates. They all love playing with the guy. There’s a reason for that. Maybe Suns fans shouldn't be so quick to scoff at a guy that’s been to six conference finals, two NBA Finals, and won one NBA championship. That’s more success than the Suns organization has had over its entire existence. I think he might know a thing or two about winning.
5) Steve Nash is great, but not as great as Suns fans make him out to be. He is not the basketball messiah. Before he came to the Suns he was just a good player who had made a couple of All-NBA third teams and a couple of All-Star teams. Suns fans think his last three seasons (which he’s never managed to get his team to the finals I might add) allows him to catapult over guys like Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, and John Stockton. Those guys were GREAT for at least a decade straight. And they also were all around players that made both the All-NBA first or second team and the All-Defensive first or second Team basically every year during the prime of their careers. Nash will never have the juice to catch up with them. So stop saying he’s had a better career than all of them.
6) Even if Amare and Boris would have been available for game 5 of the Spurs series, you most likely would have still lost the series. And yes, they deserved to get suspended. Just ask Ewing and co. from the 1997 Knicks.
7) Your former owner, Jerry Colangelo, basically wrote the new rules that allowed small ball teams to thrive, giving the Suns a clear advantage, yet you guys still can’t get to the Finals.
So Suns fans, I don’t want to hear another peep about how great this team is and how great one of your players is until you translate some of your regular season success into actual playoff success. I love watching guys like Barbosa, Steve Nash, and Raja Bell play, but just think that the arrogance of some of the Suns fans and their coach Mike D’Antoni (he often calls his team a championship club…ha) is pretty off putting.
11 comments:
thank god. I've been saying it all along too, the fast break is not enough, nor is playing on only one half of the freaking court. this is NOT the new Showtime. play some D, make a jump hook, and then maybe we can talk. until then, STFU.
it will never be enough. Well-written.
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The Pig Pen
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one thing....Pop is GM and Coach....and he has done very good at handleing all the duties. D'antoni just dosent know what he is doing I think.
1 - The suns could have beaten the Spurs. Nash's bleeding nose and the suspensions mattered for the final result, a lot.
2- The Suns fans overrate Marion's defense. He's a good perimeter defender, but doesn't doo a good job against smaller point gards and strong power forwards.
3- If I were the Suns I'd do the Marion-Sheed Trade. If they could add the 24+ Banks and get the 15 would be perfect, but the pistons probably wouldn't fall for that.
4 - Nash is great, he may have been helped by rule changes but it does not change the fact that he's great. I'd take the best nash against the best Gary Payton any day of the week. Stockton and Kidd were a little better.
5 - The rule is completely stupid, but given that they have this rule they had to be suspended.
anon 4:32-The difference is that Pop started off as the teams GM and then became coach. Plus Buford is there doing some excellent front office work as well...
Thank you, Mr. Jones, both for taking the time to do the research and for articulating with such clarity the thoughts I struggle to get across to casual basketball fans about why the hype surrounding the Suns and Nash drives me crazy. I lived through the heydey of Run TMC and I've always though that 1) the Suns are basically a glorified, Euro-influenced version of that team, albeit greatly aided by the new rules and 2) that people credit D'Antoni as a genius while forgetting Nellie's innovations and that fact that he did nearly as much with far less. The irony is that all the hype and the arrogance that you mentioned, which are totally gratuitous and unnecessary, ruins nearly everything enjoyable about Nash and the Suns, at least for me.
Sheed for Marion, plus or minus other marginal picks/players, would be fantastic for the Suns, especially given Sheed's ability to shoot the 3, even though he becomes less and less inclined to go inside and bang with every passing season.
I also read your excellent Fanhouse piece on the Spurs' cap management. I don't think it's going to be quite as easy for them to simultaneously fill out the roster with role players and land a big FA, but they're still in a better place than just about any team in the West for the next 3-4 yrs, except maybe the Jazz with their fairly youthful core. Luis Scola is also a beast and the thought of him playing alongside TD (which would allow TD to gradually transition to more of a full-time low block players as his speed inevitably deteriorates) is exciting. I envision TD winning at least one or two more rings, with his retirement as a nice segueway between him and Shaq to the impending LeBron (as he improves)/Durant/Oden era.
Ahhhh, thanks NJ for an honest assessment of the Suns - how refreshing... and finally, someone spoke out on Diaw's penchant for setting illegal picks (it's a Euro-thing, the NBA wouldn't understand)...
So you actually do respect Sheed for the man he is and what he brings onto the court.
RASHEEEEED WAAAAAAALLACE!
U know, the funny thing here, it's that suns fans read this and they have a answer to everything! They are a very good team, a very well coached team that can score (and score.. and score ). But when they need to score on half court situations they go to the three or stay put praying nash pull something "magical"...
And.. why Steve Kerr? They are a couple of pieces away from contending for real, why a rookie GM...why...
Wonder if you may change your tune a bit knowing that game 3 if the suns-spurs series was fixed?
This post is just another example of how any old jackass can have a blog on the internet. Jones' aversion to reality almost makes me want to require people to be licensed before being able to blog.
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