Who says the Suns championship window has closed?

Who says the Suns championship window has closed?

Since the Suns unimpressive first round exit against the Spurs media and fans alike seem to think the Suns championship window has been slammed shut.

But why? Not much has changed since the optimism that was very apparent back in February when the Suns dealt for Shaq.

After the trade, many people viewed the acquisition as bolstering the Phoenix Suns championship chances. Even Vegas was on the Suns side improving their odds of winning an NBA championship from 4-to-1 to 7-to-2 (maybe they were given bad information that the league was going to fix things in the Suns favor..oh wait that’s the Lakers).

So what happened?

The Suns lost to the Spurs in the first round

That’s it.

Yes, the Suns did lose positioning in the playoffs after the Shaq trade. Most of the slide from first to sixth was due to the growing pains of learning how to play with Shaq. What people forget though, is the Suns did have a stretch after the trade where they won 10 of 12 games. They also forget that the difference between first and sixth in the west was a measly two games.

The series against the Spurs was certainly disappointing, but how much of that can really be pinned on Shaq or any of the Suns players?

The Suns had never lost three games in a row before or after the Shaq trade. That is until the playoffs (Damn you Popovich). However the reason for losing three games in a row had more to do with poor coaching adjustments and decisions by Coach D’Antoni than the players.

Remember in game one when the Suns didn’t foul while up by 3 (who they hell would have thought Tim Duncan could hit a three when Shaq can’t even hit a free throw)? How about when Coach D’s stubbornness reared it’s ugly head and he refused to take Shaq out of the game during the hack-a-Shaq strategy (by definition without Shaq on the floor it doesn’t work because hack-a-[insert big man name here] doesn’t sound right)? Better yet how about D’Antoni’s reluctance to change defensive game plans after the crushing game one defeat (I think Tony Parker just scored again). All of these attributed more to the Suns losing than having Shaq on the court instead of Marion.

In my books the Suns have already rectified their playoff woes with the hiring of Terry Porter. Porter’ brings a new strategy of hard defense with a fast-paced, more selective offense. Couple that with the fact he is willing to play a bench, and it sounds like you could have the perfect coach.

Sure, he could just be saying those things, and he has to practice what he preaches. Though just talking about it is a complete change of tone from D’Antoni’s refusal to even acknowledge the terms defense and bench.

The biggest take away from the season was the fact that Shaq answered all of his detractors (obviously all his detractors weren’t listening though). In his 32 games in a Suns uniform, he showed the ability to compete at a high level, proving that his hip injury is a non-issue. He did so by averaging almost 13 points and 11 rebounds in less than 30 minutes a game. His 15.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.6 blocks a game in the playoff were more impressive than his regular season numbers.

Another plus for the Suns? They have the 15th pick in the draft and, according to Steve Kerr, they don’t plan to sell it (unless Portland or Boston really, really wants the it and has a spare $3 million lying around). That pick can turn into an impact player off the bench.

That, plus any free agent signings, and all of a sudden things look better than the past, contingent on Porter playing the bench of course.

With these factors, and the right coaching staff surrounding Porter, the window is anything but shut on the Suns championship hopes. As a matter of fact it’s probably less crazy to say that the Suns have a better shot at the 2009 championship than they did in 2008.

Sure the Suns are older, Steve Nash has lost a step and the west is a tough conference– but all those things were true back in February, and people still believed.

Who says the Suns championship window has closed? I sure don’t.

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Tags: Coaching, Fans, Lakers, Off Topic, playoffs, Shaq, Steve Kerr, Steve Nash, Terry Porter, Tony Parker