Suns mistakes cost them game & season
In last night's 92-87 loss to the Spurs which eliminates the Suns from the playoffs, Phoenix showed they're still not ready to compete at a championship level. There's plenty of blame to go around:
-
Costly turnovers with the game on the line - The Suns had 4 turnovers in their last 7 possessions while within 1-3 points of the Spurs.
-
17 missed free throws... 17!!!!!!!!!!! Shaq missed 11 of them.
-
Pick & Roll was missing completely - Amare finished w/ 22 pts (combined) in the last 2 games, after averaging close to 30/game prior.
-
Coaching - The Spurs outplayed & outcoached D'Antoni and the Suns, pure & simple. The stubbornness of keeping Shaq in, despite the hack-a-Shaq being employed by San Antonio, may have helped cost D'Antoni his job.
-
Steve Nash - He rarely gets called out for playing poorly, but he did not lead the Suns in the closing minutes and committed 2 costly turnovers with the game on the line. He also couldn't hit the broad side of a barn last night, shooting 25% (4-16 FG) and only going to the charity stripe 2 times. He had no assists in the first half and only finished w/ 3.
-
Leandro Barbosa - One part of the killer B's (Bell, Boris & Barbosa) that couldn't find his stroke in Game 5. Leandro finished 1-7 from the field and only 5 points. The other B's played well, combining for 36 points and 16 rebounds.
I do want to acknowledge the Suns defense effort in Game 5, however, as they did play better defense for close to 46 minutes. Unfortunately for Suns fans, the Spurs played D' for 48 minutes.
No one knows what the offseason will bring, but there is obviously conflict and doubt in the locker room and in Suns management. I don't expect to see the same team and/or coaching staff take the court next year. It will be a shame, but as a basketball fan, the writing's on the wall - this team can't win the way it's setup now.