Events over the weekend confirm one of my biggest concerns about these Suns. Team Chemistry. Too many fragile egos, insecurities, and guys wanting to be Alpha Dog. That type of team mojo isn't going to win shit. Suns just got beat by a team whose coach praises 'Corporate Knowledge' as a key assett of his players. Yeah, probably not a coincidence.
There were rumblings all year about how Shawn Marion didn't feel adequately appreciated, by the fans, his team mates, his coaches, advertisers or the league as a whole. When you play with Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire, that's probably going to happen. Both of them put up a dozen plays a game that could and should make SportsCenter, where as Marion's 'D' and rebounding doesn't generate that same level of excitement. The fact that he makes more than anyone else on the team, went to the All Star Game, and gets praised by Nash / D'Antoni more often than anyone else doesn't make him feel better apparently. Witness the cover story on The Magazine.
Then there's Amare. He desperately wants to be 'the man', and there are books full of urban legends about him blowing off team mates. My personal favorite is when he showed up for the private plane taking he, Nash and Marion to film that Nike Commercial...well, he shows up an hour late with an ice cream cone, and said he was late 'cause he got a hair cut. There's also all kinds of rumblings in the McCallum book about him blowing off rehab, and not telling the team about his knee before it got to the point where it needed microfracture surgery.
All of that culminated in Amare blowing off the final team meeting of the year. His excuse is as lame as his 'going to check in' excuse during the 'altercation'. I know what those meetings are, and they have nothing to do with the coach. It's just the players, and it's mandatory, and every playoff team holds them after the last game (win or lose). Him not showing up is a large, large sign to the team.
I don't care how good a leader Nash is, you can't keep a team together when your two best players are so insecure and ego-centric. If nothing else, it's a huge distraction to Nash, worrying about their shots and feelings.
So, the team has to be reconstituted. Where they better than the Spurs this year? Yeah, I think they were. But for Czar Stern and Cheap Shot Bob, they could have won it all, even against Dallas, with the players they have right now. The problem is, their problems will fester and get worse. Hurt feelings don't get better with time, and bad chemistry doesn't either. This was the high-water mark for these Suns, just because of Marion and Stoudemire's egos.
After the draft lottery, I'll tell you what they should do in the off season.
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