I'll have to agree, but I've been ringing this bell of warning since Thomas was given away for a tidy pocketing of cash. In July I mentioned posted that I believed the Suns should still win the Pacific, but that it wouldn't be by a lot. I posted that they'd struggle to a finish of 54-to-58 wins. I liked both the Hill and Skinner signings, but felt the Suns offseason really screwed them in the immediate and longterm.
I few weeks ago I argued to a few Spurs fans that they shouldn't write off the Suns just because they hadn't played anyone out West, but should rather wait until after Christmas. Well, it's now time to note the two wins (skidding Utah, parker-less San Antonio) vs. three losses (Dallas, Hornets and Lakers).
Right now the Suns shooting isn't at the point where they can simply out-shoot its opponant to make up for its weaknesses any longer. It struggles on the boards nightly, struggles to make the promt defensive rotations often, gives up too much size in the paint, doesn't go deep enough and this is despite playing only seven to eight players for roughly 30-to-40 minutes a night.
There's been no player development, which scares me when injuries strike. There's been very little attempt to address its size issues by either playing Skinner more, which would be smart regardless since he's not an issue on offense, or by acquiring a legit 7-footer. Nash is playing way too many minutes way too often and Hill, despite proving he is and will still be a player both for this and future seasons, is fastly wearing out, I fear. Amare doesn't look the same. Not even close. And while he's improved his shot blocking, it's come at the expense of his man-to-man focus. Marion has been consistant and up to snuff, but how long can he take playing 40 minutes a night? Barbosa has been great, but not to the point to make up for Bell's lackings. Diaw is a mystery nightly and even on good offensive nights, he's still a defensive liability.
I still say they stave off the Lakers in the long run and win the Pacific, but it's going to be very difficult and will likely mean D'Antoni further exhausting Nash, Hill, Marion among others. I stick by my claim of 54-to-58 wins, but fear it is closer to 54-to-55 TOPS right now.
I'd very much like to see this team take a risk and go after Artest. Diaw and the Atlanta pick may be tempting and if an expiring contract like Piatkowski is thrown in, it should work, if offered and accepted. He'd be very welcome and could provide depth at three positions, supply energy and hustle and could hopefully team up with Marion and Bell to lock-down the perimeter.
While I suspected Utah would be the biggest threat to supplanting the Suns from the "big-3" of the West status, it may very well turn out to be the Lakers. They have the size, depth, leadership and coaching to do so. If Bynum keeps up his recent play and Kobe remains trusting of his young teammates, then I see no reason why they can't challenge for 52-to-57 wins.
If the Suns don't win the Pacific, they may very well fall into the bottom half of the playoff seeds. That would likely doom them in the first round.
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To put it bluntly, fire D' Antoni's ass. That old geezer is so stubborn that he still doesn't realize that his team needs to play defense to win championships. He still sticks to his run & gun friggin' offense. Hire a coach who will instill defense on this team and only then can the boys from Arizona think of winning it all. 
