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Suns= team of a million excuses.
(An actually decent PHX article. The whining is kept to only about 4%, which is permissable)
Lockers cleaned, goodbyes said, rumors begin
Doug Haller
The Arizona Republic
May. 20, 2007 12:00 AM
The Suns walked out of their home locker room Saturday, their belongings stuffed into bags swung over their shoulders, their post-basketball intentions spread all over the country.
Their playoff elimination in south Texas just hours earlier hadn't quite sunk in. They have an entire summer to ponder what went wrong during their series with the San Antonio Spurs, which not only consumed basketball fans across the Valley, but those around the country as well.
The Suns had entered the Western Conference semifinals as the favorite, but how quickly that changed. Steve Nash's very own blood, streaming from his nose, might have cost the Suns in Game 1. Then came the hard foul from Robert Horry in Game 4, the altercation and the suspensions of Amaré Stoudemire and Boris Diaw that might have cost the Suns advancement, and ultimately a championship. advertisement
"This is tough," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "But again, when you hang around the guys that we have, you hate it that we fell short, you hate it for the city and the fans, but in that locker room it's still a great feeling. Today's the first day of trying to get better for next year."
Stoudemire, the Suns' leading scorer, said nearly the same thing after Friday's loss. It was all about getting better, coming together, working together, building a championship team. The Suns center didn't elaborate Saturday, because he never showed at US Airways Center, an unexcused absence as the team convened a final time.
D'Antoni acted like it wasn't a big deal but admitted the Suns had chemistry issues, maybe deeper than anyone realized.
"I don't want to get into it a whole lot," D'Antoni said, "but we can really improve that. Last year at the end everybody was crying. This year (everyone) was like, 'daggone,' but it wasn't the same heartfelt stuff that a team should produce."
Nash was still having a hard time dealing with the series drama. He admitted he would always wonder what would've happened had the Suns been at full strength for Game 5 in Phoenix. It made the team's third straight Pacific Division le, the franchise-record 17-game winning streak and the 61 regular-regular season wins easy to forget.
Changes could be in store. The Suns face a luxury-tax hit estimated at $12 million if they return all of their core players and draft and sign their three first-round draft picks. As usual, Shawn Marion, a four-time All-Star, is rumored to be the first out of town.
Nash urged patience.
"You just can't throw everything away and start deciding what you need right now," he said. "It takes a little time to let it sink in and figure out where it is we need to improve. . . . It's not like this group is a finished product. We still have guys who are improving and growing."
D'Antoni agreed.
"We want to win a championship as much as anybody," he said. "If it means we got to get deeper, it means we got to get deeper. If it means we got to get a better player here and there, we're going to try everything we can. We are set up pretty well with draft picks and we have a lot of talented players, so we have a lot of choices."
And a lot of time to reflect on the last few weeks - or, in some cases, let it go. As Nash talked with reporters, reserve center Pat Burke drove up in a cart with teammate James Jones, their belongings sitting on a flatbed behind them. Burke honked the cart's horn, telling the media to step aside.
"Let's go," Burke said. "This is the Suns moving forward."
Suns= team of a million excuses.
Yeah...I find myself wondering what would've happened in 2001 if only we had Derek Anderson against the Lakers. I don't consider the fact that we probably would've lost handily anyway. But I'll always wonder about it.
Perhaps Stoudewhiner will be out of town instead of Marion. You get rid of Amare for someone like KG perhaps. Better inside presence.
Yo Obstructed, what time does the game start manana?
It's funny now thinking that we had a guy that could match up with Kobe, but that team held their own. It would have been a great series. When I went to the Rockets Spurs game in Houston in February, everyone around me was wondering why I was booing Juwan every time he touched the ball or had his name called.
Stoudewhiner is about as likely to move as Duncan is. Young and immature as he may be, he is the foundation of what is up and coming for the Phoenix Suns.
Wait...didn't we get swept...getting blown out most of the games??It's funny now thinking that we had a guy that could match up with Kobe, but that team held their own. It would have been a great series. When I went to the Rockets Spurs game in Houston in February, everyone around me was wondering why I was booing Juwan every time he touched the ball or had his name called.
I was saying it more of a sarcastic manner. Although I do sometimes wonder about what would've happened had we had derek anderson, but it's more of a could the series have gone 5 or 6? or even a miraculous 7 (a la the lakers last year vs. phoenix)?? But I still say we would've lost no matter what.
Sorry, didn't mean to mislead with my sarcasm....I was actually trying to make fun of Nash's wondering...
a lot of my jokes end up like this...
Oh. If you don't think the Spurs gave up once they realized DA wasn't coming back, you must not have been watching. The only reason they beat Dallas was just because they were pissed off about Derek.
That was such an uninspired performance and utter beat-down that based on the evidence that the Spurs offered me (the series that they lost against the lakers), I figure I have no choice but to conclude that they would've lost even if they had DA....
I dunno...just my opinion
Last edited by mikekim; 05-20-2007 at 07:07 AM. Reason: UN-inspired
Suns is a good team to watch, I enjoyed a lot, but key issues must be solved before they got a chance for NBA's Championship... anger of someplayers ... Amare need to do something with his personality (the guy has the skills), and finally style of playing that is important you can't got a Championship shooting around you need to do something else, like defense.
They are young Nash could run faster a couple of years more, I see Suns as a better team that Nuggets in years to come.
Once Nash leaves Amare is going to have a REALLY hard time.
He is a below average defender at his position.
With his hops, he doesnt average 10 rebounds a game...
He doesnt rotate well, he jumps on every other fake and gets into foul trouble faster than any other star in the league...
The fact that he was put first team all NBA is really a travesty...
I agree, he is like a street figther, ready to everything at ude.
I agree with the takes on Amare, he is obviously an offensive machine out there, one of the best... but rebounding and defense are sadly lacking. And given his time in the league, he either is not being coached well, or is not listening, or both, since he does not seem to be getting better at either.
I'll leave you with this on the "GO FORWARD" theme:
Now whip it
Into shape
Shape it up
Get straight
Go forward
Move ahead
Try to detect it
Its not too late
To whip it
Whip it good
Stoudemire, the Suns' leading scorer, said nearly the same thing after Friday's loss. It was all about getting better, coming together, working together, building a championship team. The Suns center didn't elaborate Saturday, because he never showed at US Airways Center, an unexcused absence as the team convened a final time.
D'Antoni acted like it wasn't a big deal but admitted the Suns had chemistry issues, maybe deeper than anyone realized.
I would trade amare and banks for kg
when now nash has 2 years left
they still should have the 4 pick in draft plus 2 other draft picks this year
When a problem comes along...you must whip it.Now whip it
Into shape
Shape it up
Get straight
Go forward
Move ahead
Try to detect it
Its not too late
To whip it
Whip it good
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