Searching for the Perfect New Suns Coach

Amid all the talks about possible candidates for the Suns head coach position (see the great short list compiled by Greg Esposito on AZ Sports Hub) I find it difficult to find a candidate I really like to coach the Suns next season.

The key is understanding what’s inside Steve Kerr mind:

Whether `tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of REBUILDING NOW or to take arms against a sea of troubles and GIVE THIS TEAM ONE MORE SHOT AT THE CHAMPIONSHIP.

In the former case the Suns need a teacher, a coach who can evaluate and develop talent, trade away all the big salaries and start rebuilding around Stoudemire; in the latter Suns need a manager and a leader one that can ask a bunch of aging offensive minded players to play defense and deal with the huge pressure of having to win it now. Avery Johnson would be a good fit I think.

I think it would make sense to start a rebuilding process now but I am not sure I’d enjoy it. It’ll mean at least two, maybe three, years of losing basketball and that IF you do a good job. As it happened in the past it’s possible that you choose a coach to start the process, grow talent and after a couple of losing season his successor will be the one getting the fame and the glory. Teachers often fail in this crazy NBA.

Ideally the Suns could follow the Blazers route to glory and avoid a Bulls like collapse of the post MJ era. Paul Silas could make it work.

I don’t know.

Go Suns !

Ciao Mike. D'Antoni signs with the Knicks

Mike D'Antoni (Rob Schumacher/The Arizona Republic) is officially the former coach of the Phoenix Suns after signing a 4-year 24 million deal with the New York Knicks.

I think it was the right decision for him, personally, and for the Suns. It was clear D'Antoni and the Suns front office could not work together anymore.

Thanks Mike, whatever it was four great years (253-136 .650 winning pct.), at least 3 were really great, and we saw the best basketball on the planet.

It's clear Steve Kerr wants someone who can actually coach defense but it's better not to forget the Suns players, more or less, simply can't play defense.

Now it's time to move on. List the candidates for the position, evaluate the situation, prepare for the draft, make some moves.

Grazie Mike e Buona Fortuna!

Go Suns !

D'Antoni won't coach the Suns next season

Clues are now adding up. Solid evidence is growing that Mike D'Antoni will not coach the Suns next season.

Clue no. 1
Suns denied reports of D'Antoni departure. In pro sport it generally means he's already gone.

Clue no. 2
The initial meeting between D'Antoni, Kerr and the Owner couldn't reach a decision. You don't need to postpone a decision another 10 days if you plan to retain the Coach.

Clue no. 3
ESPN.com is reporting D'Antoni will be allowed to talk to other teams with New York and Chicago the most likely destinations.

The Suns need a change. That's step 1.

Go Suns!

The 2007-08 Suns. The Season

After each game during the season I posted a recap at AZ Sports Hub. I have decided to post all the headlines from each game: 1 to 82 and then 1 to 5 in the Playoffs. I think it will help go through the last few months of Suns basketball as understanding the past is the best way to build for the future.

Suns shake off rust in 2nd half, Beat Sonics in opener
Lakers win 119-98. Suns booed by home crowd!
Suns come back to beat Cavs 103-92
Suns (3-1) dominate Bobcats to begin Southeast trip
The Hawks are good! Suns lose in Atlanta 105-96
Nash takes over in the 4th. Suns beat Heat in Miami
It’s Barbosa doing magic as Suns beat Orlando 106-96.
Suns beat “shorthanded” Knicks, improve to 6-2
Running with the Bulls, Suns win 112-102
You can’t reach the Sun with a Rocket! Phoenix beat Houston 115-105
Suns hold on for 100-98 win in Sacramento.
Suns score 80 in the first half, beat Kings 127-111
Suns beat Clippers 113-94 for 8th straight win
Yao leads Rockets past Suns 100-94
Raja leads the way as Suns beat Magic, 110-106
Hill’s 28 lead Suns past Knicks in NYC
STAT’s 42 lead Suns past Pacers 121-117
Suns score 136 to beat Raptors in Toronto
Suns “just incredible”, Beat the Wiz 122-107
Suns get cold in second half, lose to Minnesota 100-93
The Heat is on! Suns lose to Miami 117-113
Suns beat Jazz 103-98 as Nash leads the ensemble…and chipped a tooth in the making
Hornets beat Suns 101-98 as Paul edges Nash in the Big Easy
Hill leads Suns past Duncan and the Spurs 100-95
“WunderDirk” leads Dallas past the Suns 108-105
Suns win eighth straight vs Raptors 122-103. Now it’s Christmas with Kobe
Santa is a Laker! LA beat Phoenix 122-115
Amaré plays big as Suns walk over Clippers 108-88
Suns score under 100 and WIN! 94 enough to beat the Clippers
Suns end year with win no. 22 in Sacramento
Suns come back from 20 down to beat Sonics 104-96
Paul and the Hornets come back to beat the Suns 118-112
Suns drop 20 3-pointers on the Nuggets in a 137-115 win
Suns come back to beat Pacers in OT without Nash and Hill
Jazz hold shorthanded Suns to just 86 points in Utah
Nash’s season-high 35 points lead Suns past Bucks (for the 20th straight time at home)
Clippers beat Suns in LA giving Division lead to the Lakers
Suns finally beat Lakers, regain Division lead
Suns dominate Wolves 115-95 as D’Antoni looks for defense
Suns (29-12) dominate Nets at home 116-92
Nash’s season high 37 points lead Suns past Bucks.
Suns first to lose twice to Timberwolves in the season
Marion’s floater (with 1.1 seconds left) gives Suns 110-108 win in Cleveland
Suns gain “gritty win” in Chicago, 88-77
Suns run over Hawks 125-92. Now ready for Spurs
Spurs come back in the fourth to beat Suns, 84-81
Suns’ 16 triples beat Bobcats, 118-104
Suns lose again to Hornets in 2OT, on the night Shaq became a Sun
Waiting for Shaq, Suns beat Sonics with a little help from Wally
STAT scores 31 as Suns beat Wizards 108-107
Baron and “the Man” lead Warriors past Suns 120-118
Suns beat Mavs 109-97 in final game before break
Kobe ruins Shaq’s Suns debut. LA wins 130-124
Suns get first win of the Shaq era, beat KG and the Celtics 85-77
Pistons run over Phoenix 116-86 as Suns play worst game of the year
Suns back at full speed, beat Grizzlies 127-113
Hornets sweep season series vs Suns with win in New Orleans
Suns lose at home to Sixers. Is it time to worry?
Suns hold on for 97-92 win in Portland
Melo and A.I. lead Nuggets past tired Suns, 126-113
Jazz send Suns to third straight home loss, 126-118
Suns beat Spurs 94-87 as Shaq shows the way
Suns roll over Grizzlies for second straight win, 132-111
STAT lead Suns past Warriors 123-115
Suns run over Kings for 4th straight win
STAT and Shaq lead Suns past Blazers for 5th straight win
Suns make it six in a row with win in Seattle
Perfect STAT leads Suns past Rockets 122-113
Pistons end Suns’ seven game win streak in OT
KG leads Boston past STAT and the Suns
Amare and Raja lead Suns to easy win in Philly
Amare (again) leads Suns past Nets and back on top of Pac5
STAT and Nash lead Suns past Denver in biggest comeback of the year
In the end the Suns can’t shine in Denver
Suns do “their job” against Timberwolves, win 117-88
Suns collapse in the fourth, Dallas wins 105-98
Suns clinch playoffs spot with win in Memphis, 127-113
Nash, Shaq and STAT lead Suns past Spurs 96-79
Rockets “out-hustle” Suns 101-90. Phoenix now 6th in the West
Suns blow lead then come back to beat Warriors 122-116
Suns beat Blazers 100-91 to end season at 55-27. Spurs Next !

and then came the Spurs, once again.

Suns vs Spurs: Focus, Paint, Refs and “our” Frenchman
Suns fans’ worst fears materialized as Spurs take game 1 of the series in 2OT
Spurs’ Big Three beat Suns in game 2. Phoenix in 0-2 series hole
Suns quickly setting in Phoenix. Spurs dominate game 3
Suns still alive as Diaw and Bell lead Phoenix past Spurs in game 4
It’s Over. Spurs eliminate Suns 4-1

Go Suns !

Suns out of the Playoffs. D'Antoni out next?

Led by Tony Parker and Tim Duncan the Spurs once again eliminated the Suns from the playoffs. For the third time in the last four years, the Suns' great expectations were shattered by the Spurs.

The season's over for the Suns and plenty of questions will fill the offseason, including the biggets of them all: Should Phoenix rebuild now or give it one more try to Nash and Co. ?

“It seems like every time we get to the playoffs we play the Spurs, and they beat us every time. They’re well-coached…they’ve got solid players…they understand what it takes to win. They were the better team." Stoudemire stated after the game 5 loss.

In case you didn't notice it sounds a lot like STAT's goodbye to Coach D'Antoni (AP Photo/Eric Gay).

The Suns were clearly out coached and out played in the series. The Shaq move, made to beat the Spurs (don't forget that), didn't work. I am not sure whether it was D'Antoni or Kerr who made that deal, but I feel it's time for a change.

Coach D'Antoni will be fired also according to both ESPN and SI.com who recently rumored about insanable differences between D'Antoni and the front office. I think the Owner and the GM Steve Kerr believe the Suns are not going to win with that coaching staff.

We'll have plenty of time to write, discuss and analyse everything from poor drafting to the Shaq trade or the non-use of bench players.

Fire Mike D'Antoni is probably the easy (and partial) answer to a more complicated question about the Suns ability to win an NBA Championship. But we all know easy answers is what an Owner tends to look for.

It's more or less 185 till Opening Day...

Go 2008/09 Suns!

Do you still believe?

Three reason why I still believe Suns (Barry Gossage/NBAE Photos) will come back and win the series

1. Shaq, after game 3: "I think if we can win just one game we can take it from there and see what happens. It's never been done before but will probably be done one day."

2. San Antonio can't play so well, make every clutch shot, execute perfectly on every play

3. Suns had been able to build big leads in game 1 and 2, menaing they can actually outscore the Spurs.

Of course, there's one (huge) reason why I don't believe the Suns will come back

1. Spurs are a better basketball team.


Whatever Go Suns !

Spurs-Suns or simply Nash and Ginobili

The first two games of the Spurs series were decided by two players. After watching game 2 I realized it was not about Duncan, Stoudemire, Shaq, foul trouble, zone defense or anything.

It all comes down to Manu Ginobili and Steve Nash (Ronald Martinez/NBAE Photos). Suns can’t limit Manu and can’t play efficient offense without Nash on the court.

1. Suns don’t have an answer for Manu Ginobili.

Ginobili has a plus/minus of + 9 in game 1 and +12 in game 2.
Raja Bell can’t guard him, nor can Grant Hill. Zone defense (2-3) can be used to protect the inside and the big men from getting into foul trouble but it’s very vulnerable to outside shooting, or better, to mid-range shooting.
Parker and Ginobili beat the first line of perimeter defense, easily, and can score without actually having to deal with Shaq and STAT coming up the middle. Check the shot charts of Manu and Parker in Game 2 from espn.com

2. Suns offense can’t function without Nash.

It’s not only evident by watching the games, Steve has 13 of a Suns season-low 16 assists (if I remember it right) in game 2. The Spurs defense can send the Suns completely out of rhythm and when Nash is on the bench it gets really ugly.

The Suns could use Barbosa and Diaw as alternative point men. Forget that! as both are having an awful series (-18 for both in +/- in game 2).

By the way, did you notice that in the high-equilibrium Western Conference each series is now 2-0?

Go Suns!

"New" Suns lost game one in the "old" Suns way

The Suns lost game one of the Western Conference first round series against the Spurs in dramatic fashion.

Michael Finley 3-pointer to tie it (Barbosa on him? Why not Grant Hill, the Suns best defender?)

Tim Duncan first triple of the year (rotation?), Manu Ginobili amazing shot (help up the middle?) whatever...

Phoenix played poor defense in the second half, mostly because of the big men's foul trouble.
With Shaq, STAT (Jeramie McPeek/NBAE/Getty) and Diaw in foul trouble the Spurs "underlined" all the Suns defensive limitations on the perimeter. Ginobili and Parker often beat the first line of outside defense driving to the rim.

The Suns played well for the most part, on the road despite the fact that their initial game plan (protect the paint, attack TD, keep Manu and Parker out of the area) was denied almost immediately by foul trouble.

Suns and Spurs have now played each other in the Playoffs four of the last five season. Phoenix has actually been eliminated by the Spurs on every such occasion.

In 2004-05 (Spurs 4, Suns 1 in the Conference Finals) San Antonio won game 1 (121-114), in 2006-07 (Spurs+Stern 4, Suns 2 in the second round) SA won game 1 (111-106) and of course in 2007-08 Suns lost game 1 (117-115 in 2OT). On each of those three games Tim Duncan led the Spurs to victory.

During the D'Antoni era the Suns have played the Spurs three times in four years and in each of those occasions San Antonio took game one of the series. By the way, the Spurs eventually took the series in '05 and '07.

While all of our worst fears materialized on Saturday night's game 1 loss there's plenty of reason to believe this is going to be a tough and long series.

Go Suns !

Suns vs Spurs: Focus, Paint, Refs and "our" Frenchman

The great statistical analysis at 82games.com will confirm tha the Suns are the better team on offense: shooting .552 to .504 and passing the ball as 65 percent of the Suns baskets are assisted to the Spurs 58%.
Steve Kerr has identified his won five keys to beating the Spurs on Suns.com.

Scout Inc. broke down the series on ESPN.com as the Suns won the Season series 3-1 for the first time in five years.

Even on their side of the story on MySA.com, The Spurs are worried by Shaq.

Everyone agrees this will be an intense series with lots of close game. There will be blood indeed.

With the Playoffs beginning on Saturday in Texas I believe the Suns-Spurs Series will come down to four key factors

1. Stay focused.

Never lose sight of the situation. Never try to win the game with one single player. Never give up on defense. Never stop running. Never. It's got to be 100 percent every second of every game.

2. Control the Paint.

Suns need to have control of the painted area and the boards. It means no second chances for the Spurs and trying to keep Ginobili and Parker from driving to the hoop. It all starts from their initiatives. That was reason no.1 why Shaq came to the Suns.

3. Have decent officiating.

Refs need to prevent the Spurs from making this series Royal Rumble II. It's the playoffs and everything, but it's still basketball. The last time I checked the game had not yet made special rules for the occasions. San Antonio loves fighting even more than playing basketball. The Suns are the best basketball team. Let's just hope that game will be played.

4. Boris Diaw needs to step up.

Our Frenchman can change the series. He's a great defender and an unstoppable combination of passing, shooting, inside and ouside game, but he needs to put energy and will on the court. Leave everything you have on that court, Boris!

Spurs have eliminated the Suns three of the last four Playoffs but this time will be different. I think the Suns can beat the Spurs this time. 4-2 Suns in the series.

GO SUNS !

Suns vs Spurs. Next

So, after 82 games (55-27) of the regular season, it’ll be the Spurs again starting this weekend in Texas. We haven't forgotten.

Go Suns !

Today we're all Sonics Fans

SAVE OUR SONICS

Save this great franchise from moving to Oklahoma City.

Do something, take action ! It's not too late. Write your NBA owner, post on your blog, let them know they're making a terrible mistake.

That move is "ripping" a great basketball town and the Seattle fans who supported their Sonics for 40 years. By the way, I can't see any long-term economic sense either.

Keep the Sonics in Seattle as today, we're all Sonics Fans.

Go Sonics !

The Envelope Please

It's time to hand out some silverware to the best in the 2007/2008 NBA season.


MVP - Kevin Garnett (Boston)
Each time Kobe, CP3, Garnett, STAT and Co. go to the line these days the crowds start the inevitable "MVP MVP" chants. To me the MVP has to be the best player on the best team. There could be a case for both Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant but KG changed the franchise beyond the numbers. Case closed


Coach of the Year - Byron Scott (New Orleans)
Made a great team from a bunch of talented player. A close runner-up has to be the Rockets' Adelman for his great job without Yao Ming.


Rookie of the Year - Kevin Durant (Seattle)
Played in a low-pressure, just play and have fun, environment but did very well in his first NBA season.


Most Improved Player
Either Rajon Rondo (Boston) or Rudy Gay of the Memphis Grizzlies...I would say Gay in a close one.


Best sixth man
This is a real non sense award. No awards, please. I am not really willing to hand out an award to any member of the Spurs, anyway.


Suns MVP - Stoudemire put up great stats but did not really improved his game. Steve Nash is still my MVP. By the way, Steve got over 40% of the votes in the recent Sons of Steve Nash poll ;-)

Go Suns !

The expected April decline of Steve Nash

I am a bit worried by the last few games played by Steve Nash.

He looked tired and I am afraid his back is starting once again to feel the pressure of playing 35 minutes each night.

The long discussed inability of the Suns coaching staff to develop a decent back up to Nash is taking its toll, as usual in April. Just check his Split Stats on ESPN.

Nash is averaging 13.2 points, 11 assists and shooting a season low 35 percent from the field. This decline in production has already happened in 2005-06 and 2004-05 and that means 3 of Nash 4 seasons with the Suns.

With the Suns more or less locked in 6th place in the West, why not rest Nash for a week?

Go Suns !