Defensive deficiency, two trades lead to death of Suns

The Phoenix Suns as we know them -- perennial Western Conference contenders and the most beloved offensive team in recent NBA history -- died Sunday at Arco Arena in Sacramento at the age of five.

The Suns had been inflicted by a defensive deficiency for some time, but the disease became more aggressive after the team changed coaches after the All-Star break. Ultimately, the Suns lost their battle with the affliction amidst allowing the Kings to score 126 points on Sunday evening.

The Suns are survived by their erstwhile father, Mike D'Antoni, and their 14 step-brothers, the New York Knicks, who also suffer from a defensive deficiency, but are hoping to receive a transplant from the Cleveland Clinic.

In lieu of flowers, mourners are asked to send trade offers to Steve Kerr, Suns President of Basketball Operations.

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Technically, the Suns are still mathematically alive. But with the Mavericks' win in Minnesota on Tuesday, Phoenix trails Dallas by four games for the eighth spot in the West with eight games left. Even if the Suns win all eight (and if you think that, you obviously forgot they just lost to the Kings) -- including one in Dallas later this week -- they would need the Mavs to lose three ...

Oh, forget it! The Suns aren't winning all eight. And they're not going 7-1 either. They let the Kings score 105 points through the first three quarters, for cryin' out loud. The Kings!

The Kings are 16-57, by the way. And two of their three best players now play for the Bulls.

So, amazing will not be happening in Phoenix this year. Shaquille O'Neal will miss the postseason for the first time since his rookie season (16 years ago) in Orlando, and Steve Nash will miss it for just the third time in his 13-year career.

The last five seasons in Phoenix were a great run. They produced a back-to-back MVP (Nash), a Coach of the Year (D'Antoni), a Most Improved Player (Boris Diaw) and even a Sixth Man Award winner (Leandro Barbosa). The Suns went 272-130 (.677) in the regular season during that span, and made it to two Western Conference Finals.

While the loss of Amar'e Stoudemire to an eye injury has certainly hurt the Suns over the last six weeks, their inability to defend has been the biggest factor in their untimely demise.

Since the break and the coaching change from Terry Porter to Alvin Gentry, Phoenix has been the best offensive team in the league. But only the Clippers have been worse defensively.

There are two key problems with the Suns' defense: personnel and apathy.

First, the Suns are simply a collection of poor defenders. Almost every NBA team, when devising their offensive game plan, looks to take advantage of their opponent's defensive liabilities. When facing the Suns, foes have multiple choices.

You can beat Steve Nash off the dribble, you can get an open jumper when O'Neal doesn't come out on a high screen-and-roll, or you can just pass the ball around a few times and the defense will eventually break down. The Suns have tried playing zone recently, but a zone can only hide one or two bad defenders, not four or five.

The Suns' defense really started to go downhill when Kerr traded his best defender, Shawn Marion, to Miami in order to acquire Shaq last February.

Say what you want about Marion's attitude in the locker room and how he expressed joy upon being traded from the best team in the West (at the time) to the worst team in the East. The fact is that he's one of the best defenders in the league and can guard 4 1/2 positions (not all centers, but some of them). It's no coincidence that Miami's defense got worse when they traded Marion this February to Toronto in the Jermaine O'Neal deal.

Kerr compounded the Marion mistake when he traded his second-best defender, Raja Bell, in December's deal to acquire Jason Richardson. And when Gentry took over as coach after the All-Star break and promised to return the Suns to their seven-seconds-or-less ways, the team apparently took that as a directive to stop caring about defense at all. At least Porter, while he was lacking the proper personnel, made some acknowledgement that in order to be a successful team, you have to get stops.

As a whole, the league has an *effective field goal percentage of 49.9 percent. Under Porter, the Suns held their opponents under that mark 26 times in 51 games (or 51 percent of the time). Under Gentry, they've held their opponents under 49.9 percent just four times in 23 games (or 17 percent of the time).

Note: *Effective Field Goal Percentage gives additional credit for a three pointer: EFG% = (FGM + (3PM*0.5))/FGA

Since the coaching change, the Suns' offensive improvement is actually greater than their defensive regression, but almost every successful team will tell you that a stingy defense is more valuable than a potent offense. Being able to rely on a good defense engenders consistency and a greater ability to beat good teams, including ones that will slow down an offense. Under Gentry, the Suns are just 4-10 against teams above .500. Under Porter, they were 15-15.

Looking back, it's clear that Mike D'Antoni wasn't that bad of a defensive coach. The Suns' defense under D'Antoni wasn't terrific, but it was passable considering how good they were offensively. D'Antoni's Knicks, while still poor defensively, have improved defensively and are nowhere near as bad as they were under coach Isiah Thomas.

Knowing now what both D'Antoni and Marion brought the Suns, Phoenix is learning that you don't know what you've got until it's gone. But of course, they can't turn back time and erase their mistakes.

So what does this summer hold for Phoenix?

They won't have much roster flexibility, because they're set to pay four players (Nash, O'Neal, Stoudemire and Richardson) a total of almost $63 million next season, unless they decline the team option on Nash. Letting the two-time MVP walk would certainly cause some backlash on Planet Orange, but with the way this team declined this season, it isn't as unfathomable a scenario it once seemed.

Either way, a trade for a player or two who can defend is needed. More important may be bringing in a coach that will really focus on defense (rather than just paying it lip service) and hold players accountable on that end of the floor.

The Suns still have a lot of talent on their roster and don't have to lose their run-and-fun identity to improve on the defensive end. But a better balance is needed to bring this team back to life.