Most Painful Phoenix Suns Memories

[ajcardfan]

For me:

1. Walter Davis going to rehab for cocaine the day after one of his greatest games.

2. Mario Elie's three from the corner (followed by him blowing a kiss to the crowd) that knocked us out against Houston up 3-1.

3. In fact, both Houston comebacks from 3-1 deficits were terrible for me. Especially the one when we could've played a crappy Orlando team and coasted to a trophy. I've never emotionally gotten into the Suns in the playoffs ever since. I just wait for inevitable now. That's a terrible attitude I guess, but I can't help it.

 

[BC867]

As a Suns fan since 1970, I'll add two.

Jerry Colangelo giving away Dennis Johnson and Mo Lucas (each with a Championship ring from the northwest) on a team that had a superb lineup of:

Dennis Johnson..G (the best defensive Guard in the NBA)
Walter Davis.....G (the only Sun ever moved to a lighter position, from F)
Larry Nance......SF (the first of the 6'10 Small Forwards)
Maurica Lucas...PF (the prototype Power Forward and enforcer)
James Edward...C (all 7'1" of him)

because their coach John MacLeod couldn't handle aggressive players -- y'know, the kind who win championships.

The other, in the late '70's when we lost to DJ's Seattle's team. It was acknowledged that whichever team won the West would be favored over the East's NBA Champion Bullets. Sure enough, Seattle beat the Bullets. It could have been us.

But MacLeod replaced an injured Alvan Adams at Center with our 6'7" 115 lb. backup Small Forward against the Sonics. No, D'Antoni was not the first.

 

[sunsallday]

For me:

1. Walter Davis going to rehab for cocaine the day after one of his greatest games.

2. Mario Elie's three from the corner (followed by him blowing a kiss to the crowd) that knocked us out against Houston up 3-1.

3. In fact, both Houston comebacks from 3-1 deficits were terrible for me. Especially the one when we could've played a crappy Orlando team and coasted to a trophy. I've never emotionally gotten into the Suns in the playoffs ever since. I just wait for inevitable now. That's a terrible attitude I guess, but I can't help it.

Some wounds cannot be healed.

 

[mojorizen7]

Because that team was not going to beat Jordans Bulls honestly.

How do you figure? We took 2 out of 3 in Chicago and nearly took the third. The BULLS were exhausted by game 6. I contend that game 7 was ours had we gotten there.
Why is it that everytime this organization assembles a truly amazingly talented group of guys that we have to have a head coach that doesn't believe in or can't stress defense? Ughh

 

[mojorizen7]

I don't think the Suns beat the Spurs last year even without the hip check. Sorry, I just don't.

Niether do i.

 

[BC867]

How do you figure? We took 2 out of 3 in Chicago and nearly took the third. The BULLS were exhausted by game 6. I contend that game 7 was ours had we gotten there.
Why is it that everytime this organization assembles a truly amazingly talented group of guys that we have to have a head coach that doesn't believe in or can't stress defense? Ughh

The Ghost of Jerry Colangelo. It's been 'everyone shoot from the perimeter' from the start.

 

[mojorizen7]

The Ghost of Jerry Colangelo. It's been 'everyone shoot from the perimeter' from the start.

It sure looks that way.
So....is it safe to assume that by the time this FO can free itself up to retool with another group of talented and championship worthy guys that coach Porter will be ousted for another offensive-minded gimmick HC?
Like say in about 3 yrs?

 

[BC867]

It sure looks that way.
So....is it safe to assume that by the time this FO can free itself up to retool with another group of talented and championship worthy guys that coach Porter will be ousted for another offensive-minded gimmick HC?
Like say in about 3 yrs?

As Jerry sinks into the sunset, and with the rejection of D'Antoni, perhaps the Ghost of Total Small Ball will disappear as well -- permanently.

Alot of teams play well-rounded basketball. Steve Kerr seems to realize that.

 

[mojorizen7]

Does a Cotton Fitzsimmons R.I.P. coached 92'-93' team win the championship?
Obviously no one can know for sure but i still don't believe that his assumption that he'd "taken us as far as he could" was valid.

 

[mojorizen7]

I guess my point is that although i believe that the D'Antoni hire had to be made and was at the time a "smart" one, promoting Westy was a mistake at that time IMO.
New arena,new uni's,adding a superstar etc...i still don't like the decision to add a new HC. We were onto something with Fitz regardless of his old school ways.

 

[formerphoenix suns]

It's hard to pick a single event, but the 3 biggest for me are:

- Robert Horry hip checking Nash into the score table, leading to suspensions.
- John Paxson sealing the championship for the Bulls.
- Both Colangelo's leaving the Suns.

We've had some bad luck over the past few years, but great teams make their own luck and don't make excuses for losing. We'll get there...

 

[JCSunsfan]

There are so many. Like someone else said, after the 3 years in a row of having teams good enough to win it all with Barkley, I just cringe at playoff time. The two Houston series where Barkley choked hurt bad. I started just waiting for box scores a playoff time, or turn the TV on and off to check how the game is going because my nerves cannot take it.

One single championship would change all of that though. I could actually relax and enjoy watching the Suns in the playoffs again.

 

[HooverDam]

Does a Cotton Fitzsimmons R.I.P. coached 92'-93' team win the championship?
Obviously no one can know for sure but i still don't believe that his assumption that he'd "taken us as far as he could" was valid.

I don't know what Westphal v Fitzsimmons as coach would've really had to do with anything in 93. I think the Suns ran into an all time great team, and sometimes you just have bad luck like that. I think a bigger shift would've been if Ceballos would've been healthy for that series. The Suns were relying a lot on rookies like Miller and Dumas. Ceballos always seemed to play well against Pippen from what I recall, and his scoring would've been super helpful because if I recall KJ was pretty off in games 1 and 2. Plus, he could've been on Jordan occasionally (not saying Ceballos could stop or even slow MJ, but the Suns threw a lot of different looks at him-KJ, Majerle, etc- and I think thats quite often times the way to go against an All Time Great).

The Paxson 3 is the all time worst for me .I remember just crying my eyes out (I was 10- give me a break!) when it happened. My Mom took me to the nearest McDonalds for ice cream and all the other boys and their moms from the neighborhood were there, we we're crushed but we're confident "We'll win it all next year!" Ah well.

 

[green machine]

I don't know what Westphal v Fitzsimmons as coach would've really had to do with anything in 93. I think the Suns ran into an all time great team, and sometimes you just have bad luck like that. I think a bigger shift would've been if Ceballos would've been healthy for that series. The Suns were relying a lot on rookies like Miller and Dumas. Ceballos always seemed to play well against Pippen from what I recall, and his scoring would've been super helpful because if I recall KJ was pretty off in games 1 and 2. Plus, he could've been on Jordan occasionally (not saying Ceballos could stop or even slow MJ, but the Suns threw a lot of different looks at him-KJ, Majerle, etc- and I think thats quite often times the way to go against an All Time Great).

The Paxson 3 is the all time worst for me .I remember just crying my eyes out (I was 10- give me a break!) when it happened. My Mom took me to the nearest McDonalds for ice cream and all the other boys and their moms from the neighborhood were there, we we're crushed but we're confident "We'll win it all next year!" Ah well.

I remember being at my grandparents' house with the family when that happened, and I was crushed, but being 10 at the time, I didn't realize how hard it was for the team to get there.

The losses to Houston were the worst for me, both times being up 3-1, both times allowing them to come back and win. Especially the second time, with the Elie three, when the Suns had home court. My dad got us tickets for game 7, absolute last row of the arena, and I still remember KJ making all those FTs except for the one at the end, and I also remember my dad saying, as soon as Elie started to shoot the three, "that's the shot we want them to take." How wrong he was, and it was then that the window seemed to shut on the Suns.

That the Suns never won a title with that group would rival this group's team if they don't win one.

 

[TucsonDevil]

IMO.

BY A MILE - 1995 Playoffs. Here is the scenario.
- MJ was making a comeback, thus the clock was ticking to win before he would do it again.
- The Suns were beaten the previous year by the Rockets, who were arguably the lesser team (also, people get it wrong when they say we were up 3-1 in 1994, the series was tied 2-2, Houston won game 5, Suns game 6).
- Barkley had two failed two years in a row, was talked back out of retirement by Ainge to give it another go... This was the Suns year!
- Losing Danny Manning in February should have been the sign of what was coming, but the team still had plenty of talent to win it.

What happened - Suns met up with that 'lesser' team again in the 2nd round. They blew them out the first two games, and eventually went up 3-1. Then, the utter collapse. Barkley was seen partying before games, and then Mario Elle kissed us goodbye.

That hurt something awful. Window slammed shut.

There was doubt as to whether the Suns could get past the Spurs and David Robinson in the WCF, but David Robinson had been shown to be weaker competitor against Barkley before... That was the Suns' year.

#2 - the early 80s. This is when I really became a fan of the team. My favorite players were DJ, Davis, and Kyle Macy. Then we traded DJ (for Rick FREAKIN' Robey) - we always lost to the Lakers, cocaine gone wild, and (late 80s) watching James Edwards win a ring in Detroit, etc... All-in-all, I think my favorite Suns team was 1983-1984 (even without DJ), close 2nd is the Steve Nash 2004-2005 team.

#3 - Going down 3-1 to Chicago. It's not Paxon's 3 that did the Suns in, it was losing 3 of the first 4 games. Also, in Game 6, losing the lead in the final two minutes in order to put Paxon in that situation.

#4 - The hip-check/game fixing debacle of 2007. Tim Donagy, Robert Horry, and David Stern. The three Amigos.

#5 - Trading Barkley for crap. Some may argue that the Suns then positioned themselves for JK with those pieces, but I say, BS. Barkley was a HOF. Who in the Hell is Chucky Brown? That was disappointing. The press conference was a little like Jack telling his mom how he sold the cow for some magic beans - except there wasn't magic in those beans. That trade has to be viewed as one of the worst trades in NBA History. Barkley never did get his ring, but we should have gotten real value for him.

 

[sunsallday]

Why do teams always hit miracle shots against us?

John Paxson's three
Mario Ellie's corner
Kobe's Last Minute shots that put us on the verge of elimination
Tim Duncan's Miracle Three
The list goes on

 

[JCSunsfan]

Why do teams always hit miracle shots against us?

John Paxson's three
Mario Ellie's corner
Kobe's Last Minute shots that put us on the verge of elimination
Tim Duncan's Miracle Three
The list goes on

Because we don't emphasize defense and therefore have poor defensive execution in the last moments of games. In most of those cases, there was a defensive lapse. That was certainly the case with Paxson, Ellie, and Duncan.

 

[mojorizen7]

Paxson from "downtown" PHX
I was 24 yrs old at the time and was(along with friends, family & the rest of this state) consumed by the SUNS that year.
If any of you can bare to watch....this is video of the last 2:30 min of game 6.
I just rewatched it for the 1st time in many years.
It's still unbelievable. The BULLS were done.You can literally feel the air of life come out of that building as well as SUNS fans everywhere.
My fellow SUNS fans & friends & i didn't speak for days after that....
93' FINALS GAME 6 (short video) decent quality actually.
Part 1-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB8kG1ZY3vs&feature=related
Part 2-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIi0CTMrHEY&feature=related

 

[BC867]

Because we don't emphasize defense and therefore have poor defensive execution in the last moments of games. In most of those cases, there was a defensive lapse. That was certainly the case with Paxson, Ellie, and Duncan.

Your response beat me to the punch.

Two finals appearances in 40 years -- one Cinderella and one legit. 40 years.

Small ball on offense and lack of defense.

 

[ajcardfan]

Actually, my first really painful memory is when the Suns, up 3-2 on the Sonics in the WCF, choked away an opportunity to go to the Finals on Mother's Day. Then, a furious rally fell short in game 7 in Seattle. In the Finals, a badly hobbled Bullets team somehow made it and the Sonics easily swept them.

I still say that was truly the closet the Suns came to a title. The Suns beating the bullets in 1979 (or 80?) was more certain than beating the Bulls in game 7 in 1993.

 

[bratwurst]

I've said it since it happened, the Paxson shot isn't the worst thing from the end of that game, if they simply would have defended Jordan the possesion before instead of letting him run down the court uncontested at all for a layup, the Paxson shot never happens.

Check the video, 40 seconds to go, Jordan gets a rebound and runs the length of the court. No one defended the ball.

 

[CBeyond]

Because we don't emphasize defense and therefore have poor defensive execution in the last moments of games. In most of those cases, there was a defensive lapse. That was certainly the case with Paxson, Ellie, and Duncan.

I'm glad a couple people mentioned this. Everyone was citing "The Paxson Three" as a painful memory. That's not the way I look at it.

My most painful memory is DANNY AINGE LEAVING PAXSON OPEN for that 3 pointer. If you watch the entire game again, you'll see that Paxson had been hitting that shot all game long. It shouldn't have been any surprise to anyone including Westphal and Ainge. Yes sorry, but I blame Ainge.

BTW, in the earlier games the Suns lost in that series, the Bulls got tons of assistance from the Refs. Some the the calls and non calls they benefited from were almost comical. I do not in any way believe the Bulls outperformed the Suns in that series.

 

[green machine]

Why do teams always hit miracle shots against us?

John Paxson's three
Mario Ellie's corner
Kobe's Last Minute shots that put us on the verge of elimination
Tim Duncan's Miracle Three
The list goes on

Every team has big shots hit against them, but for the Suns, since they haven't won a title yet, and the fans, because we know (and hear about) how they haven't won a title yet, we remember each one vividly.

 

[Bigdez22]

I am not going to read any of this but everytime I see this thread, I cant stop thinking about how I felt after game 6, Western conf. Finals, Vs The Mavs


I thought that was going to be the year. Everything was so crazy that playoffs. 7 games vs Lakers,(TT cant see me three!!!!!!) 7 vs the Clips(Bells three from the corner with his man all in his face). When Diaw hit the game winner vs the Mavs, I thought that was it.........we just ran out of juice. That was the best year of basketball I can remember.

 

[BC867]

Every team has big shots hit against them, but for the Suns, since they haven't won a title yet, and the fans, because we know (and hear about) how they haven't won a title yet, we remember each one vividly.

Yup, fan is short for fanatic.

How about the common factors which have run through the Suns history?

A soft team. Undersized, especially on defense. One dimensional.

Hopefully, that is now a thing of the past.