Pansies In Phoenix

Never a dull day in the NBA. What a league. This years trend....firing coaches for not producing playoff contenders with mediocre rosters. Three come to mind that are really infuriating. Sam Mitchell in Toronto, Mo cheeks in Philly, and the last and by far the worst, perhaps ever, is Terry Porter in Phoenix. What a disgrace. To begin with I have never liked the Phoenix Suns organization since I started watching basketball 22 years ago. They remind me of the Atlanta Braves. Always loaded with high profile pretty boys. High scoring, no defense. Always silky smooth, no power all finesse. And would always crumble in the playoffs. After a dry spell (guess who was the point guard during that time?) in comes Dantoni with Nash. Where the coach's philosophy is hit the open man. Isn't that what most real ballplayers say, even in your local neighborhood park, all age ranges included. Telling a team to move without the ball and shoot in seven seconds or less is the dumbest philosophy ever. Because San Antonio or any other championship caliber team will cut all that speedball bullshit out when it counts. And did. Dantoni might have averaged 54 wins over that four year period, but they never won the 16 they needed. And never made it the Finals.

Defense wins championships, in all sports. Every single one. Period. And the high powered offense wasn't working. So then change ensues. From the beginning Terry Porter was the last person I thought would end up in Phoenix. A tough coach, known for defense. Was the same way through a great career. He played on winning teams. Maybe that's what they needed. Here we are four months later, and hes gone. I guess them being 5 games over .500 and currently as the ninth seed in the west wasn't good enough. It takes some time for a run and gun team known for trying to outscore opponents instead of defend them to change
overnight. All Star players getting paid 14-15 million a season are sitting around bitching because they have a coach who actually holds them responsible for what happens on the defensive end. Newsflash.....when you're getting paid to play, you cant choose how you play and who you play for. The old way was pretty, but it wasn't working either. Couple that with the trades they made. Boris Diaw and Raja Bell.....two career knuckleheads with nothing worthwhile to speak of in their careers were traded for another knucklehead, another flashy loser type, who like Porter was a bad fit from the beginning. What was they thinking? Newsflash, it wasn't the coaching, it was the roster. aside from Stoudemire, your three best players in Shaq, 37, Nash and Hill, 35, are old as fuck. Damn. Phoenix is a mess, as they always have been, and its just coming to light now. Terry Porter is a damn good coach. He should have been hired in Detroit instead of Micheal Curry. Instead Phoenix hired him, and ultimately blamed him for their flawed roster. They talk of Alvin Gentry being a players coach. Why has he spent more time as an assistant instead of a head coach. Player friendly coaches don't last....rarely. Defense wins rings, In all sports. And a team who is unwilling to buckle down on defense and change the loosey-goosey no defense attitude will never win a ring, The proof is in the pudding....when was the last time the Phoenix Suns won a championship. Exactly.