Four years ago, Phoenix Suns were one of the most deadly teams in the NBA. With their Run N’ Gun, fast paced style not only made them one of the most exciting teams in the league. But also made them one of the most deadly teams in the league. What Happened? Steve Kerr happened; his consistent bad decisions turned what was a contending team, into what it is now. On the verge of starting over. The suns Big 3 of Amare, Nash and Marion turned into Nash, Amare and Shaq. Shaq? On one of the fastest paced teams in the league? Luckily for Kerr it worked… Sort of. Kerr fired Mike D’Antoni and hired Terry Porter, in order for Suns to become a more Defensive oriented team.
Steve Kerr and Terry Porter
Shaq was killing them at the start of the 08 - 09 season. Amare was Amare and things were going great. Kerr, who originally was trying to make the Suns into a more Defensive team, went the opposite direction. He traded Raja Bell and Boris Diaw for Jason Richardson and Jared Dudley. How is this move going to help Suns defensive troubles? I don’t know. But it did help spark some offensive fire power and Jason Richardson would fit great in the Run N’ Gun which eventually did happen. When Kerr made the obvious decision to fire Porter and let the Phoenix Suns assistant coach lead the team, it was probably the smartest thing Suns management did all year. They had a number of 140+ games and the Run N’ Gun is back.
This unfortunately didn’t last and having Grant Hill at PF didn’t help either. The suns had multiple bad games. This ultimately knocked them out of playoff contention and left Suns fans with yet another disappointing year. The bright side about all this is that it is in the past. And we have to look to the future.
Reportedly Nash asked for Shaq to get traded. So Kerr being the genius that he is traded Shaq which would have been a decent move if he didn’t get Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic in return. Trading an All-star for two bench players was a terrible move. But rumor has it that Suns might shop Big Ben for Tyson Chandler. And Pavlovic would fit great in the Phoenix Suns Run N’ Gun style this year under Alvin Gentry’s Run N’ Gun with a defensive spritzer added. When you look over the Suns roster you would imagine it to be back. Now with J Rich in the scenario he could be just as good in the system as Matrix. I believe Nash will get power over the team and the Suns will be a better team next year with some exception being.
- Amare stays healthy
- No more mid season trades
- Gentry stays as head coach
- Run N’ Gun returns
Phoenix also needs to look at trying to secure a valid center. Robin Lopez is simply not good enough for the starting spot and likely still has at least another 2 years before we even consider it as an option. Phoenix also needs to decide not to rebuild. With Shaq out of the picture we can turn up the tempo to the way things used to be.
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