As a result of the awful pre-season and that ridiculous 18-1 run Portland made in the 4th quarter on Tuesday, a lot of loyal Suns fans are extremely nervous. I don't blame them. I'm sure everyone has heard the quote from Steve Nash from the other day: "To be honest, if I was outside this picture and a betting man, I would probably pick us to be outside of the playoffs considering all the changes and the new guys."
While I am a little nervous, I don't think Nash really meant it saying he had no confidence in his team. I think he was saying he can understand why an outsider would doubt them. I mean what ESPN's John Hollinger had to say was much more troubling:
"(Steve Nash) loves the desert and certainly benefits from the Suns' world-class training staff, but how much longer does he endure the penny-pinching ownership and the fact that the final years of his prime will be spent scratching and clawing to get the No. 8 seed in the West? All his interviews sound like he's trying to talk himself into optimism through gritted teeth, but the reality is that his owner nuked a team (and front office) that was two wins from the Finals and, if he stays put, Nash and Co. are probably going to the lottery.
Even if Nash doesn't push for a trade, what sense does it make for the Suns to hang on to him (and Grant Hill, for that matter) if they're bumbling along toward 32-50? Wouldn't it be more prudent at that point to trade their four 30-something starters and rebuild?"
Pretty heavy stuff right? I don't know how I feel about this. Part of me thinks it'd be good to trade Nash and start over. Don't get me wrong, I love Nash, I'd want him to go somewhere he'd have a chance to win it all. That being said, I'd rather see us pull of a trade where we could get a young, strong, mobile power forward that rebounds (Like Sacramento's Jason Thompson, who averaged 12.5 points and 8.5 rebounds last season). I also love Grant Hill, he drinks Sprite after all, but salary wise we could trade him straight up for Thompson (and maybe get a 1st round pick too?). Sacramento has a strong young core and lots of big guys but they could definitely use veteran leadership. With someone like Hill they could gain a lot of maturity. The Suns could get Thompson and then move Turk (who I'd rather trade than Hill but his contract is a mess and it's not likely happening) to his natural SF position. That would make a lineup of Nash, Richardson, Turkoglu, Thompson, and Lopez with Dragic, Childress, Dudley, Warrick and Frye off the bench. That could be a mean lineup! I have a mancrush on Josh Smith, so he is who I want the most (he is a premier defender AND dunks like a mad man). I think he'd be great on the pick and roll with Nash but I don't see how we could pull that off. while I am a bit troubled with how this season could turn out, I am just going to enjoy this season a game at a time.
New subject: BTTF!
It was awesome in the theater! I was texting Bater the whole time in line and ran into/sat by Jordan and Bryce! The atmosphere was fantastic and it was awesome to see it with such clarity and such great sound. People were laughing throughout and one guy gasped in disbelief when Marty couldn't get the DeLorean to start. Jordan and I laughed pretty hard, it was like that guy had never seen it or something! I had to hold back laughter at some of the parts that were in the "Brokeback to the Future" video (Nate told me he did laugh and was the only one in the theater laughing). Well done, Bob Zemeckis and team.
