Currently 13-28 and in last place in the Western Conference, odds are good the team will miss the playoffs for the third consecutive year.

A guest of Arizona Sports 620's Burns and Gambo Wednesday, Suns owner Robert Sarver said the team struggling a bit is not exactly a surprise.

"None of us had illusions at the beginning of the season that we were competing for a championship or one of the elite teams in the West," he said. "We did think we had a chance to compete, and we did think we had a chance to compete for one of those bottom playoff spots."

The merits of trying to be a fringe playoff team notwithstanding, by that logic it's somewhat understandable as to why the team would make a coaching change.

"If you don't believe in your people and you don't set the bar high, you'll never have a chance of achieving those results," Sarver said.

So, the owner is on board with the decisions his front office has made, as controversial as they have been.

"We want to be a competitive team; we want to compete at a higher level than last in the Western Conference," Sarver said. "I think we can. Our players believe they can. Our players believe in themselves more than where we sit right now in the standings, and I believe in our players."