Suns making up for lack of talent with heart

The Suns would have been better off tanking the season.

The 2012 draft set to be one of the more loaded classes in
recent history. The Thunder are leading the West, and they
are showing no signs of falling apart. And, should a team
miraculously get past the Durantula, chances are the Bulls
or Heat will be waiting for them.

So an NBA Championship is out the window.

And, when the Suns’ loss to the Lakers on February 17
dropped their record to 12-19, it seemed like I (and many
others) would get their wish.

Eleven wins in 14 games later, and the Suns find
themselves on the playoff bubble, playing as well as
anyone but the aforementioned Bulls since the All-Star
break.

While I won’t ask anyone to get excited about the team’s
ascension to playoff contention (mediocrity is nothing to
cheer for), the fact that the team is even at this point
is a testament to a coaching staff that gets the most out
of its players and a group of players who just won’t quit.

After all, this is the same team Steve Nash has repeatedly
said was short on talent.

Sure, the Suns have five players averaging double figures
in scoring, with Marcin Gortat’s 16 points per night
leading the team, but that’s good enough for just 37th-
best in the league. Gortat is also the team’s leading
rebounder, but his 10 per game place him ninth in the NBA
– hardly great.

In fact, only Nash, who is averaging a league-best
11.3 assists per game, would be confused with an elite
player. The team’s only All-Star, the 38-year-old who
wasn’t traded is putting together yet another excellent
season.

But, even Nash can’t carry the Suns to the playoffs – not
on his own – which is what makes the team’s recent spurt
all the more remarkable.

Of course, in typical Nash fashion, the point guard
attributed the good basketball to chemistry.

“I think people are understanding and feeling more
comfortable with their roles, I think we’re more cohesive,
chemistry has improved,” he said. “It’s definitely another
reason why we’re playing better.”

Other reasons include Channing Frye remembering how to
shoot, Grant Hill stepping his game up and Jared Dudley,
who’s avereging 17.2 points per game since the All-Star
break, emerging as a consistent scoring threat.

The bench has played well – or, at least, well enough – to
allow coach Alvin Gentry to rest his starters without
fear. Hell, Gentry was even able to rest both Nash and
Hill last week in Los Angeles against the Clippers, and
his team responded by pulling out one of the more gutsy
wins you’ll ever see.

Gentry shares Nash’s view on where the improvement has
come from.

“I think that the chemistry has just come together,”
Gentry said, agreeing with his point guard. “I don’t know
how that happens but I think our guys feel pretty good
about themselves. Our bench is starting to play better.
Because of that I think guys are starting to feel more
comfortable in their roles.”

This could be the reason, because there’s no other way to
explain the way Gentry is getting solid production from
the likes of Sebastian Telfair, Michael Redd, Robin Lopez
and Shannon Brown, while still finding minutes for rookie
Markieff Morris.

That’s not exactly a second unit dreams are made of.

But I digress.

That the players did not quit on the season or on their
coach is a sign that, if the front office has done one
thing right, it’s assemble a group of men who will
continue to fight.

President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby has, many
times, told Arizona Sports 620 that the goal is to create
a certain culture around the organization, which is why
they wouldn’t trade Nash or tank the season in the hopes
of landing a better draft pick.

Though the team is not likely to return to elite status
without acquiring a superstar or two – and that generally
happens via the draft – it’s tough to fault the players
and coaches for doing everything they can to win
basketball games, a process that gets more difficult as 13
of the team’s final 21 games will be on the road, starting
Tuesday in Miami against the Heat.

Should the Suns win enough games the rest of the way to
sneak into the playoffs they will have done themselves a
disservice, sacrificing a better future for the
opportunity to lose in the first round of the NBA
Playoffs.

But they will also have done themselves proud, showing the
type of character and heart you want in a team.

Even if it’s lacking the requisite talent to really
compete.

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