I remember back in 2009 when Steve Nash extended his contract with the Phoenix Suns. I thought, "Did he really want to stay with a rebuilding team until 2012?" (Well, they're sort of rebuilding now... but that's not the point.) Yes, they had Amar'e Stoudemire coming back but they basically shipped Shaquille O'Neal (who they got from the Shawn Marion deal) off for nothing. The championship-caliber Suns from 2005-2007 were mostly gone. Mike D'Antoni was gone. They did play better under Alvin Gentry in the latter half of the 2008-09 season (even when they lost Amar'e) but they missed the playoffs as the Suns didn't exactly work well with Terry Porter in the first half.
The Suns decided that they would go back to what won them games in the first place: a high-powered offense instead of concentrating on defense like Porter would preach. Coach Gentry, Amar'e, Nash, and Leandro Barbosa were the only remnants left from the D'Antoni Seven Seconds or Less era. Jason Richardson and Jared Dudley joined the squad the season before. Grant Hill re-signed with the squad. Channing Frye looked to resuscitate his career in Phoenix. Goran Dragic was starting to develop under Gentry. And they were hoping Robin Lopez and Lou Amundson could do something in the middle. Looking at that squad on paper, it didn't seem like a team that would strike fear in anyone's eyes. After all, offense didn't win games; defense did.
But, boy, did they take everyone by surprise when they started out 8-1. The fun-and-gun Suns were back. Even a loss to the defending champion Lakers didn't faze them as they continued to march to a 14-3 record. It seemed like all was good in Phoenix again. I even thought, "Wow. This team is fun to watch again." The Suns looked more loose and seemed happier playing together instead of the constant circus atmosphere that Shaq had provided the season before.
Then they slowed down big-time. They had a 7-9 December as well as a 7-9 January. Worse yet, Amar'e Stoudemire was once again in trade rumors; the biggest one had him going to Cleveland for... J.J. Hickson. I thought that was crazy. I thought it was unfair. Of course, the deal didn't go through and Steve Kerr and Robert Sarver patched things up after the trade deadline. With that distraction out of the way, the Suns surged forward.
And surge they did. People were talking about the Mavericks and the Nuggets potentially challenging the Lakers, as well as the usual Spurs and maybe the Blazers. Heck, the Thunder was a trendy underdog pick as well. But nobody talked about the Suns. Kinda left hanging there at 28-21 at the end of February, the Suns went 26-7 to finish the year (which included a 10-game winning streak). At the last day of the season, the Suns snatched up the 3rd seed. Nobody could've predicted this as some pundits had them missing the playoffs. Phoenix once again led the league in scoring and their defense was good enough (11th in field goal percentage allowed in the regular season).
Even after they took care of a hobbled Portland TrailBlazers team in the first round, most people picked their old rivals, the Spurs, to kill them in the second round. But the Suns shockingly swept the Spurs, which included Dragic's 23-point 4th quarter explosion in Game 3.
The Suns were back in the Western Conference Finals after a four-year absence. They faced the Lakers and seemed overwhelmed in the first two games. But the Suns came back to tie the series at 2-2. In Game 5 at Staples Center, they came all the way back to tie the game at 101... only for Ron Artest to break their hearts with a buzzer-beater. And in Game 6, it took an incredible shooting performance by Kobe Bryant to eliminate the Suns.
After the Suns were defeated in Game 6, Nash was shown crying. It was the closest Nash has gotten to the Finals and from the way it looked, he knew it was right there... and it was his last chance to get there.
To me, it was a team that defied all expectations. In many ways, it was a cinderella team. Nobody gave them much of a chance. Even at a third seed, no one thought they'd make it past the Spurs... and yet this team ended up getting the closest to the Finals in the Steve Nash era. It was a fun team to watch from Nash's wizardry to Stoudemire's aerial attack to Grant Hill's gritty defense to Jared Dudley's workhorse attitude. The squad didn't look much on paper at first but they turned out to be possibly the deepest team in the NBA that season. And people acknowledged it; the Suns bench all got interviewed by Craig Sager in Game 4 of the WCF.
I wouldn't have minded if this team made it past the Lakers. I really wanted Nash to win his championship (I still do). And this one would've been really sweet after all the overhauls this team went throughout the years.
After the 2009-10 season, Steve Kerr, who was able to rectify his early mistakes by building this squad, resigned his position as general manager. Amar'e left Phoenix that summer after seemingly being shopped by the Suns every season. Barbosa was traded away for Hedo Turkoglu, leaving Nash and Gentry as the only people left from the D'Antoni years. And during the 2010-11 season, key players like J-Rich and Dragic were traded away. With so much turnover, the Suns would finish under .500 and miss the playoffs entirely.
The Suns are still somewhat in rebuilding mode in this current season even though they're fighting for a postseason berth. Steve Nash is still playing well for them. We just all wished he was playing well for a contender so he can have one last shot at the title.
VIDEO CREDIT: maikonas
PHOTO CREDIT: Jesse D. Garrabrant/Getty Images.
Follow me on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass. Please LIKE us on FaceBook. Thanks!
