Suns GM Ryan McDonough still thinks the Suns can make the playoffs
Dec 31, 2015, 9:30 AM
Team: Phoenix Suns
General Manager Ryan McDonough
Resolution: I will stay the course
Look, it would be easy to be tempted by the team's fast start and look to package some of the Suns' youth and draft picks for an established or aging star, but that would not be prudent. Are the Suns better than last year and better than expected? Absolutely. But are they one piece away from contending for a championship? Probably not. Now is a time to keep building.
Despite being 5-17 in their last 22 games, Suns general manager Ryan McDonough still sees a scenario in which the Phoenix Suns make the playoffs after this upcoming bump in the schedule. He discussed that possibility and more on Wednesday afternoon on Burns & Gambo before the Suns took on the San Antonio Spurs.
“[After this tough stretch] if we’re within striking distance of the eight seed we’ll climb back into it. I know that might sound crazy given how things have gone lately, but things change quickly in this business,” McDonough said. “We still need to find an identity.”
That’s been the most troubling issue for the Suns after the poor run of play. However, there were encouraging signs on Monday.
“The effort was a lot better the other night. We were concerned about the effort the previous four games prior to the Cleveland game,” McDonough said.
“If we play that hard the rest of the year we’ll be fine.”
There’s still a murky feeling surrounding the team after the firing of two assistant coaches and that feeling applies more to head coach Jeff Hornacek than anyone else in the organization. While playoff aspirations were certainly there for the Suns after this summer, roughly the exact opposite has occurred to this point for the Suns.
Still, that has not changed the belief in him as the coach of the team according to McDonough.
“Robert Sarver and I very much believe in Jeff as the coach of our team,” McDonough said.
The Suns are coming off a blowout loss to the San Antonio Spurs and it doesn’t get much easier, with a game the night after on Thursday against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
