DAVE BURNS

Two unpopular decisions, but only one was the right call

Jan 18, 2013, 11:51 PM | Updated: 11:58 pm

This tweet Friday was spot-on accurate:

Between Bruce Arians, Ray Horton and Alvin Gentry, there were plenty of comings and goings. Fortunately nothing exploded. At least not yet (its 3:50 p.m. as I write this, Upton is still a D-back, right?).

On some level you have to feel for Arians. A day that should be noteworthy for his arrival is instead consumed with the controversial departures of the Horton and Gentry. Unpopular? Yes. Unjustified? Yes. But in one of the circumstances, it was unequivocally the right thing to do. And that is allowing Ray Horton to leave.

All along I thought Horton, as long as he was paired with a seasoned offensive coordinator, would be a fine choice as head coach. Clearly the Cards thought differently. At best, he was nothing more than the in-case-of-emergency-break-glass option, the guy to hire when they’d exhausted all the options they liked more. At worst, he was never an option. A mere courtesy interview in an era where defensive coaches aren’t getting too many sniffs.

Horton has every right to be unhappy about this, just as Arians has every right to have full authority to choose his assistants. It doesn’t do anybody any good to keep Horton around. Too many trust issues and too many fears of a divided locker room. Painful. Unpopular. But the right decision.

Ray Horton was the best thing to happen to the Cardinals in the last year and a half but, as the cliché goes, coaches coach. Players play. Give me Daryl Washington, Patrick Peterson and Calais Campbell over Ray Horton any day.

The same cannot be said for that so-called roster belonging to the Phoenix Suns.

Despite assurances from Robert Sarver to the USA Today that Gentry would last the season, Gentry was fired on Friday morning.

I agreed with letting Ken Whisenhunt go; in my view he was part of the problem. That’s why the firing of Gentry is so misguided. He is not a part of the problem.

Handed a roster filled with players who might be someone else’s third best player (or fourth, or fifth depending on the team), is it any surprise Gentry’s team is 13-28 with losses in 20 of their last 26 games? Apparently it is to the front office; they expected more from a team that they constructed. When you have a bad blueprint, firing the guy who pounds the nails hardly seems like the fair thing to do.

This is part of the process. How the NBA works. Quick turnarounds are not the norm and the Suns are now in that phase of their evolution where being bad is good. Good draft picks that hopefully can spin off into legitimate contributors and maybe even stars.

Who knows, one day – heck maybe today – Gentry will realize that getting let go was the best thing that happened to him, that there is more to life than trying to squeeze a little production out of Michael Beasley. This is especially true if more encouraging options around the league emerge. I’ve been fired before; sometimes the experience can be liberating.

Dave Burns

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer (3) throws a pass during the first half of an NFL footb...

Dave Burns

Through two games, the Arizona Cardinals are proving why preseason predictions are moot

It doesn’t seem that long ago that the hopes of the Arizona Cardinals and the Red Sea were about to be washed away with the tide.

9 years ago

New York Jets running back Chris Johnson trades jerseys with Tennessee Titans players, after an NFL...

Dave Burns

The Arizona Cardinals deserve a participation trophy

Give credit to Arizona Cardinals GM Steve Keim for one thing -- he's always trying to improve the roster.

9 years ago

Presented By...

Arizona Sports

Are we asking the right question about Daryl Washington?

I think of that line every time an announcement comes down from the NFL league office. Is today Daryl Washington Day?

9 years ago

...

Arizona Sports

Eric Bledsoe is the key to the Phoenix Suns’ future

These are confusing times for Phoenix Suns fans.

9 years ago

...

Arizona Sports

No fan base has ever had it so bad as the Arizona Coyotes’

I grew up in a time when being a Cardinals fan was difficult. At times impossible. At times embarrassing.

9 years ago

...

Arizona Sports

Kerr, Gentry and Griffin leave Planet Orange green with envy

Steve Kerr, Alvin Gentry and David Griffin -- perhaps you've caught yourself thinking that if they still had one or more of those guys the Suns wouldn't be in the spot they are.

9 years ago

Two unpopular decisions, but only one was the right call