Suns Leaders Still Burning With Desire

As the training camp for the 2008-09 season tips off, the talk in the press surrounding the future of the Suns is that of a team that has flamed out.

A day normally ripe with anticipation was unusually subdued on Monday. The 2008-09 Media Day went off without a hitch, but without the fanfare seen the past two seasons.

With many believing that the Suns were just a Robert-Horry body check away from an NBA championship in 2007, last year's Media Day was filled with excitement and anticipation. But after a first-round exit in the 2008 playoffs, Phoenix has seemingly fallen off the national radar as well as people's favorite to win the Western Conference.

But it doesn’t seem to be bothering one familiar face.

“It’s nice to be able to go out there, prove ourselves to people and put our team back in the picture,” Steve Nash said. “We’ll have some chips on our collective shoulders. I think we're just as talented as any team that I've been on here.”

That attitude appears to have trickled down from the front office, where President of Basketball Operations and GM Steve Kerr holds a great deal of optimism about the state of the franchise. His main objective for training camp, which opens Tuesday in Tucson, is for the coaching staff and players to get on the same page as quickly as possible.

“It’s important to establish our principles and our system right away, so our guys have to be focused and absorb a lot of information,” Kerr said. “I’m confident that we’ll be able to do that because we have veteran guys that are very bright and play well together already. I think it will be a productive training camp.”

With the addition of new Head Coach Terry Porter, Kerr believes that the front office and the coaching staff share a united vision for the team. The team will still adhere to its traditional up-tempo style, but will also focus more energy on the defensive end. It is a sentiment that resonates with the only starter who has already won his fair share of NBA rings.

“I think we are pretty good all the way across the board,” Shaquille O’Neal said. “I think we just need to step up our defense a little bit. Defense wins championships.”

And the big fella is ready to buy into his coach’s philosophies.

“(Porter) is our newly appointed president, and I, as Vice-Chairman General of the team, have to see to it that whatever orders come down from the Pentagon, we’ve got to obey. “

Porter believes that in order for a team to be successful, it has to be able to generate easy baskets throughout the course of the game. That is accomplished, he says, when the offense is triggered by the defense. Not only does it provide a boost of energy, but it allows a team to conserve some energy on the attack.

“You have to be in the top five in the league defensively, and that’s something that this team hasn’t done historically,” the Suns’ new coach said. ”We haven’t made it a focal point in the past and that has to change in order for us to be successful.”

Although the Suns will only be training in Tucson through Saturday, Kerr believes that vital information will be imparted to the players once they've concluded their two-a-day practice schedule.

“From a learning standpoint, there will be a lot of teaching, watching film, going over our strategy and how we’re going to play, because it’s all a new system,” Kerr said.

Porter seems to be on the same page as his GM.

“I think the most important thing coming out of camp is that guys have a really good sense of what we’re trying to get done offensively and defensively and then make sure they are in pretty good shape,” he said.

There are a few advantages that the Suns enjoy heading into camp that are perhaps being overlooked by the casual fan. The first being that this veteran-laden club was able to rest its players for an unusually long period of time this summer.

With the Suns playing deep into the offseason the last few seasons and their steady contributors receiving the lion’s share of minutes, the starters and main role players were able to rest their bodies for the first time in a long time, following the early exit at the hands of the Spurs. Veterans such as Nash and Raja Bell were able to recuperate after logging heavy minutes over the last couple of seasons.

Amaré Stoudemire opted to skip playing with the US National Team for the first time in three seasons in order to rest, while neither Boris Diaw or Leandro Barbosa participated with their respective national teams either. Shaq and Grant Hill were both able to rehab their bodies after injuring themelves at different points of the season.

Besides the added rest, it will be the first complete training camp the Suns will have with O’Neal. Having the ability to incorporate such a vital piece into one's system from the get-go is a huge boon for a group looking to develop its identity and chemistry.

Then there is the influx of young talent in the form of rookies Robin Lopez and Goran Dragic, who will bring an enthusiasm and a presence to the floor that Phoenix hasn’t seen in some time. Throw in the arrivals of free agents Matt Barnes and Louis Amundson, and the starters will have to assert themselves as competition for minutes will be higher than it has been in years.

The only perceived negative the Suns are facing heading into camp surrounds the injured ankle of Stoudemire. After spraining it a couple of weeks ago, he will probably have to refrain from the evening practices in an effort to avoid contact. Despite that minor setback, Porter believes that the soon-to-be 26-year-old will still be able to familiarize himself with the new system, while also allowing his body to avoid any lingering effects from the ankle injury.

So as STAT’s wheel continues to heal, Nash and Shaq are going to go to work on their prides. Both of them were questioned by the press at Media Day about having an “heir apparent,” with Nash turning over the reigns to Dragic in a couple of years and O’Neal relinquishing his throne to Lopez once his contract is up.

The idea of having an "heir apparent" amused Nash, but the doubts about the Suns' vitality only seemed to fire up the playmaker.

“Shaquille is an old man, I’m an old man, Grant is old, we’re all getting old,” Nash deadpanned. “There are so many young and talented players that have come into this league, they think we can’t keep doing it forever. But that’s all right, I still feel great and I still feel great about my teammates. I can’t see why our experience can’t overcome any of those age factors.”

So while 2008's Media Day may have appeared uneventful and as serene as the ocean, an undercurrent of desire seeped out of a number of players who still don't believe their ships have set sail.

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