Is the Sun Setting in Phoenix?

By Alex Lendrum

Historically, Suns fans have been spoiled with a very successful franchise.  Some of the Suns accolades include winning three Pacific Division titles, reaching the Western Conference Finals three times since 2005, and earning playoff spots 19 of the last 22 seasons.  After a cold start this season, should the Phoenix faithful begin to worry?

After sweeping the Spurs in last year's Western Conference Semis, the fun-loving Suns team, led by two-time league MVP Steve Nash, seemed to be destined for the Finals.  After battling the Lakers for the first four games, the Suns took a major hit in Game 5 when Ron Artest tipped in a Kobe Bryant air ball to win the game.  If not for that miraculous tip by Ron-Ron, the Suns most likely would have gone on to defeat the Lakers and appear in their third NBA finals in franchise history.  Instead, the tip in led to their eventual playoff elimination and an offseason full of turmoil.

The anticipated departure of Amare Stoudemire, a 5-time NBA All Star, came to fruition when he opted out of his contracts final year and entered free agency early.  During the summer, he made headlines when he signed with Coach Mike D’Antoni and the New York Knicks.  After losing Amare, the Suns front office signed some key acquisitions of their own with Hakeem Warrick, Hedo Turkoglu, and Josh Childress.  The new team was marketed to be more energetic, quicker, and deeper providing fans with a sense of hope.

Nevertheless, the Suns find themselves with a dismal 11-12 record and some fans cannot help but panic.   

The franchise so familiar with winning has now dropped three straight to teams with a 33-36 combined record.  The Suns are trying to compete with one of the oldest and smallest line-ups; and in a league that gets younger and bigger each year, they are struggling to find new ways to compensate and win without consistent contribution from a big man.

With no help from inside, the Suns lost a heartbreaking overtime game to Memphis Grizzlies sandwiched in between a home and away (both losses) against the surging Portland Trailblazers.  Those three straight losses place the Suns as the ninth seed in the West.  While it is of course too early to be concerned about playoff positioning, is it too early to question and critique the team chemistry (or lack thereof) of a team entering a difficult stretch against Dallas, OKC, San Antonio, and Miami?

The Suns are running out of time to establish themselves. The traditional run and gun style offense may still be succeeding (statistically ranked 1^st), but the Suns continue to perform poorly on defense (statistically ranked last).  However, the bench has provided some positive support to the starters by cutting late game deficits, but until moral victories count in the win column, they will be no help to the Suns. 

It is not panic time yet at the Purple Palace. Suns fans can still hold out hope that with the guidance and leadership of Steve Nash and Grant Hill, two of the NBA’s most experienced veterans, that they will always have a fighter’s chance.  Though the road to redemption is not going to be easy, the season has only just begun.  The Suns have grown accustomed to the underdog role and seem to play well when no one outside of Phoenix believes in them.  Don’t sweat the early struggles too much Suns fans, Planet Orange is still rockin’!