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Republic: Early woes forced shift in Suns' plan
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 13, 2004 12:00 AM
Paul Coro
Just six months ago, the Suns and NBA experts had Phoenix pegged as a 50-win team, perhaps among the league's 10 best.
Today, the Suns' lone goal this season is to win their final two games and reach the 30-win mark, a far cry from 50.
What happened? How did the promise of Stephon Marbury, Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire turn into coach Frank Johnson's firing and massive payroll cutting? Why did the Suns trade Marbury three months after giving him a contract extension that has him earning $104.9 million over six years? It's the fine line between the wonders and blunders of the NBA.
Marbury, Marion and Stoudemire played together for only 15 games, going 7-8. Marbury took the most shots but hit 43 percent of them while Marion began his seasonlong shooting struggles.
Since the trade, Marion's shooting has gone up 3 percentage points. If a chemistry problem existed between Marion and Marbury, it would have joined the more obvious one involving Marbury and Stoudemire.
Setting Suns
The Suns will finish with one of the three or four worst records in franchise history. Here are the worst six teams.
SEASON RECORD WIN %
1968-69 16-66 .195
1987-88 28-54 .341
2003-04 28-52 .350
1973-74 30-52 .366
1974-75 32-50 .390
1985-86 32-50 .390
Stoudemire said he was not having fun at the season's outset. He also questioned Marbury's leadership shortly after the deal.
"We overachieved last year and this year we started out slow and we were going nowhere fast," Stoudemire said. "Jerry and Bryan (Colangelo) made a couple moves to get things started."
Marion said the fall got "crazy" once Bo Outlaw and Jake Tsakalidis were dealt. The two were traded on the first day of training camp in a financial move for a team that lost $5 million in the 2002-03 season. By unloading Marbury to New York along with Penny Hardaway's maximum contract, Phoenix's brass decided it was better to build with Marion, Stoudemire and salary-cap space than with Marbury, Marion, Stoudemire and financial restraints.
"They didn't see it working," Marion said. "All I can do is be professional about it and go play ball."
In a league in which 16 of 29 teams make the playoffs, there is little patience for a lack of results. There was more of a fool's paradise in Chicago, where the Bulls were supposed to make a quantum leap.
Instead, Chicago is the NBA's second-worst team. The Bulls were 4-10 (.286 ) when they fired Bill Cartwright and were 19-47 (.288 ) since then entering Monday's game.
By January, the quick-trigger firing spree had wiped out all of the Eastern Conference coaches who opened the 2002-03 season.
"There are a lot of GMs and owners who are much quicker to make a change based upon the belief that what we tell every new owner is true - that you are only one player away," NBA Commissioner David Stern said. "The problem is that that player is Shaq and he's in LA. You see the continual upheaval of coaches and trades and international players. I think that indicates that the line between winning and losing is thinner and that the patient level is thinner."
The Suns have nearly an identical record since the Marbury trade (16-30, .348) as they did before it (12-22, .353 ).
"At the beginning of the season, it was all picks and rolls," Stoudemire said. "Then it became, 'OK, guys, we have to learn the game.' "
There were no aspirations of rallying to the playoffs with the league's youngest team, but the Suns see signs that the deal could pay off: a .500 record since March 15, Joe Johnson's emergence and enough cap space to be aggressive in a free-agent market that includes Kobe Bryant.
"We could really add to all that," coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We could really do some damage. I still don't think it's so far-fetched that we can jump pretty far."
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 13, 2004 12:00 AM
Paul Coro
Just six months ago, the Suns and NBA experts had Phoenix pegged as a 50-win team, perhaps among the league's 10 best.
Today, the Suns' lone goal this season is to win their final two games and reach the 30-win mark, a far cry from 50.
What happened? How did the promise of Stephon Marbury, Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire turn into coach Frank Johnson's firing and massive payroll cutting? Why did the Suns trade Marbury three months after giving him a contract extension that has him earning $104.9 million over six years? It's the fine line between the wonders and blunders of the NBA.
Marbury, Marion and Stoudemire played together for only 15 games, going 7-8. Marbury took the most shots but hit 43 percent of them while Marion began his seasonlong shooting struggles.
Since the trade, Marion's shooting has gone up 3 percentage points. If a chemistry problem existed between Marion and Marbury, it would have joined the more obvious one involving Marbury and Stoudemire.
Setting Suns
The Suns will finish with one of the three or four worst records in franchise history. Here are the worst six teams.
SEASON RECORD WIN %
1968-69 16-66 .195
1987-88 28-54 .341
2003-04 28-52 .350
1973-74 30-52 .366
1974-75 32-50 .390
1985-86 32-50 .390
Stoudemire said he was not having fun at the season's outset. He also questioned Marbury's leadership shortly after the deal.
"We overachieved last year and this year we started out slow and we were going nowhere fast," Stoudemire said. "Jerry and Bryan (Colangelo) made a couple moves to get things started."
Marion said the fall got "crazy" once Bo Outlaw and Jake Tsakalidis were dealt. The two were traded on the first day of training camp in a financial move for a team that lost $5 million in the 2002-03 season. By unloading Marbury to New York along with Penny Hardaway's maximum contract, Phoenix's brass decided it was better to build with Marion, Stoudemire and salary-cap space than with Marbury, Marion, Stoudemire and financial restraints.
"They didn't see it working," Marion said. "All I can do is be professional about it and go play ball."
In a league in which 16 of 29 teams make the playoffs, there is little patience for a lack of results. There was more of a fool's paradise in Chicago, where the Bulls were supposed to make a quantum leap.
Instead, Chicago is the NBA's second-worst team. The Bulls were 4-10 (.286 ) when they fired Bill Cartwright and were 19-47 (.288 ) since then entering Monday's game.
By January, the quick-trigger firing spree had wiped out all of the Eastern Conference coaches who opened the 2002-03 season.
"There are a lot of GMs and owners who are much quicker to make a change based upon the belief that what we tell every new owner is true - that you are only one player away," NBA Commissioner David Stern said. "The problem is that that player is Shaq and he's in LA. You see the continual upheaval of coaches and trades and international players. I think that indicates that the line between winning and losing is thinner and that the patient level is thinner."
The Suns have nearly an identical record since the Marbury trade (16-30, .348) as they did before it (12-22, .353 ).
"At the beginning of the season, it was all picks and rolls," Stoudemire said. "Then it became, 'OK, guys, we have to learn the game.' "
There were no aspirations of rallying to the playoffs with the league's youngest team, but the Suns see signs that the deal could pay off: a .500 record since March 15, Joe Johnson's emergence and enough cap space to be aggressive in a free-agent market that includes Kobe Bryant.
"We could really add to all that," coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We could really do some damage. I still don't think it's so far-fetched that we can jump pretty far."
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