Babby: Fight for playoffs, ‘may run out of time’
Apr 13, 2012, 10:36 PM | Updated: Apr 14, 2012, 12:47 am
The Suns have just a handful of regular season games,
meaning they’re running out of time to secure a postseason
bid.
However, if they fail to reach the playoffs, it won’t be
because of how they’ve played in the season’s second half,
since the team has very much rebounded from its 14-20
record at the All-Star break.
Still, Suns president of basketball operations Lon Babby
told Arizona Sports 620’s Doug and Wolf that he wished
there was more time for his team to make a run to the
postseason.
“I wish we had a full season. I wish we had another 16, 20
games left, because I think we would be formidable the
rest of the way,” Babby said. “Hope we make the playoffs.
We’re going to fight like heck to do it, but we may run
out of time. But I do think we’re playing at a very, very
high level now.”
Babby thinks the shortened training camp and preseason
are big factors for why the team struggled early, as
several players dealt with injuries and coming into camp
out of shape.
“I think they were in relatively good shape, but not the
kind of shape they would be if we had a normal offseason,”
Babby said. “Channing Frye and Shannon Brown have publicly
stated they’re in much better shape. I think that was a
big part of it.”
But what he largely credits the resurgence and late
success to is the intensity the bench has shown, which,
Babby feels, is a sign that head coach Alvin Gentry
finally got guys to click on the floor.
“I think Alvin was brilliant in searching and searching
until he got the right combinations and was encouraged by
the players themselves to have a greater belief in the
bench,” Babby said. “He took their advice and it worked
out.”
