The More Suns Change, the More They Stay the Same

Filed under: Spurs, Suns, NBA Playoffs

When news of Los Suns first came down the pike, Dave Zirin joked to me, "and to think, I've hated [Robert] Sarver for years for breaking up Seven Seconds or Less."



Calm down, basketball insiders. While meddlesome, Sarver didn't order the end of this century's most beloved cult team (in Bill Simmons' nomenclature, "critically acclaimed"). Mike D'Antoni signed off on the Shaquille O'Neal trade, and Steve Kerr, not Sarver, was the new voice whose voice actually mattered. Regardless, it says something about the SSOL Suns that everyone who presided over their demise still has some explaining to do.



Everybody loved the Suns. Unfortunately, all their creativity and good vibes didn't translate into championships. In 2005, the Spurs thumped them in the conference finals; the following summer, they again made it to the edge of the West, only to lose to Dallas. The strongest team was the 2007 edition, but it lost to the Spurs in second round in a series marred by controversy, making the front office panic all the more infuriating.



Fast forward to 2010. D'Antoni is gone, and the Suns aren't the circus show they once were. But Shaq is gone, too. Terry Porter, who succeeded Mike D and tried to slow things down, has been replaced by Alvin Gentry, a, SSOL assistant. Steve Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire are better than ever. And the Suns swept San Antonio -- a team that, like many around the league, now regularly pushes the tempo with a small lineup. SSOL isn't dead, it just went mainstream.

 

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Full story at http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/05/12/the-more-suns-change-the-more-they-stay-the-same/