Suns fire McD

AzStevenCal

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I had been hoping Sarver's become hands off but clearly he hasn't. He is still the #1 reason for the franchise's struggles.

Even if he were the most hands off owner out there wouldn't it still be his job to do what he did today? And if you looked out there and saw Ryan Anderson as McD's power forward answer and Harrison as his answer to the point guard position, wouldn't you fire him too?
 

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Even if he were the most hands off owner out there wouldn't it still be his job to do what he did today? And if you looked out there and saw Ryan Anderson as McD's power forward answer and Harrison as his answer to the point guard position, wouldn't you fire him too?

Bad teams have holes. What changed in the last 2 months that we didn't know already?

I figure either Sarver and McD had a serious row in the last few days or Sarver is demanding we get a starting caliber point guard. Yeah, McD has made a lot of mistakes, but this reeks of Sarver being meddling and/or impatient.
 

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Bad teams have holes. What changed in the last 2 months that we didn't know already?

I figure either Sarver and McD had a serious row in the last few days or Sarver is demanding we get a starting caliber point guard. Yeah, McD has made a lot of mistakes, but this reeks of Sarver being meddling and/or impatient.
If this is so, it will be the first time I support a Sarver action. As Managing Partner, he has the right to oversee the organization as long as he does it with leadership skill.

Of course, with you describing the Suns as a bad team (which they have been for close to a decade) and their constant personnel changes, that falls on Sarver.

So, to date, the score is Bad Sarver infinity - Good Sarver 1. ('Sorry, I couldn't paste the infinity symbol.) :)
 

AzStevenCal

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Bad teams have holes. What changed in the last 2 months that we didn't know already?

I figure either Sarver and McD had a serious row in the last few days or Sarver is demanding we get a starting caliber point guard. Yeah, McD has made a lot of mistakes, but this reeks of Sarver being meddling and/or impatient.

I'd guess that Ryan committed to acquiring a point guard and power forward and Sarver finally had a chance to see how his solutions performed. And I wouldn't be shocked to learn they had a serious row but it would likely be about how poorly the team he constructed looks.
 

BC867

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Even though it is not a change of coaches (whom the players interact with regularly, of course), I think the Suns level of play so far against Golden State reveals hope.

That the Front Office can still field a complete team. And that management is not content with the way the Suns look right now.

They say that a team that has been in the doldrums always comes to life the game after a coaching change. I believe that a similar concept is in the hearts and minds of the coaching staff, players and fans tonight.

Let's hope that it is not just one breath of fresh air.
 
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SunsTzu

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Yeah it’s like a sweeping

Kinda takes some steam out of the argument that there was a fight with McDonough that led to the firing when you look at all the collateral damage. My initial reaction is that James Jones made a power play, but I hope I'm wrong.
 

AzStevenCal

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Even though it is not a change of coaches (whom the players interact with regularly, of course), I think the Suns level of play so far against Golden State reveals hope. That the Front Office can still field a complete team. And that management is not content with the way the Suns look right now.

They say that a team that has been in the doldrums always comes to life the game after a coaching change. I believe that a similar concept is in the hearts and minds of the coaching staff, players and fans tonight.

Let's hope that it is not just one breath of fresh air.

I don't want to burst anyone's bubble but this is a Warriors team minus several starters and key rotation players.
 

BC867

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I don't want to burst anyone's bubble but this is a Warriors team minus several starters and key rotation players.
I'm talking about attitude, Steve. Not comparing skill levels.

Screw who the Warriers have on the court. This is about the Suns looking forward to believing in themselves. Today is different than yesterday. It is a start.
 

AzStevenCal

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I'm talking about attitude, Steve. Not comparing skill levels.

Screw who the Warriers have on the court. This is about the Suns looking forward to believing in themselves. Today is different than yesterday. It is a start.

Okay but it is a lot easier to have a positive attitude if your shots are falling. And it's easier to get your shots and make them drop when you're playing against an inferior opponent. And, we still might lose this game (probably won't, but...) despite the huge advantage we have in key available players. So, while I am hopeful, I'm not sure we've turned any corner today.
 

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Okay but it is a lot easier to have a positive attitude if your shots are falling. And it's easier to get your shots and make them drop when you're playing against an inferior opponent. And, we still might lose this game despite the huge advantage we have in key available players. So, while I am hopeful, I'm not sure we've turned any corner today.
I agree that we haven't turned the corner today. But perhaps there is hope. Hope that, whatever it takes, our situation at PG and PF will somehow deliver, whether by trade or on our young roster.

Hope puts a smile on your face and a skip to your step. For the first time in a long time, we have a glimmer. I like it!
 
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Even though it is not a change of coaches (whom the players interact with regularly, of course), I think the Suns level of play so far against Golden State reveals hope.

That the Front Office can still field a complete team. And that management is not content with the way the Suns look right now.

They say that a team that has been in the doldrums always comes to life the game after a coaching change. I believe that a similar concept is in the hearts and minds of the coaching staff, players and fans tonight.

Let's hope that it is not just one breath of fresh air.

I agree with this. It's not a coaching change and I don't think players are expecting a change but with McD in charge they were what they were. There may not be help on the way but firing McD says they're not a finished product and are a work in progress. Perhaps they have different expectations going forward now also. Hearing Sarver today I really wonder what was being said to the players. I'm sure Kokoskov hyped them up but there were obvious holes on the roster and it wouldn't surprise me to learn that McD talked playoffs to them.

They've improved but not a playoff team yet and that's not ok but there is hope. McD represented a higher level than they were, expectations they weren't going to live up to. His job was on the line with their play and since he's not very personable, why would they play all out and above their talent level to save him when he wouldn't give them the pieces to put them in the best possible position to realize their potential.
 

Bert

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Idk what prompted this but it needed to happen so I'll take it when we can get it.

I dont know Ryan but to put it bluntly, the impression that I always got from him on TV was not good. He always seemed very smug and condescending. I did not like seeing players leaving on bad notes and having not great things to say about the Suns when they left. We've never won a title, but I always felt like we were atleast a semi-respected team in the league until the few years.

Not saying that's all on him, but you're the GM, so it's all on you in a way.

There had to be something that happened. Either him and the coach got into it, or Sarver. It just seemed like Sarver was willing to give him one more year of 'the process' and then something broke the dam.

Hope we get someone solid in place to surround our promising young players with the right kind of talent and culture.

Best of luck to McD in the future.
 

Mainstreet

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Idk what prompted this but it needed to happen so I'll take it when we can get it.

I dont know Ryan but to put it bluntly, the impression that I always got from him on TV was not good. He always seemed very smug and condescending. I did not like seeing players leaving on bad notes and having not great things to say about the Suns when they left. We've never won a title, but I always felt like we were atleast a semi-respected team in the league until the few years.

Not saying that's all on him, but you're the GM, so it's all on you in a way.

There had to be something that happened. Either him and the coach got into it, or Sarver. It just seemed like Sarver was willing to give him one more year of 'the process' and then something broke the dam.

Hope we get someone solid in place to surround our promising young players with the right kind of talent and culture.

Best of luck to McD in the future.

Agreed. Best of luck to Ryan McDonough.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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Kinda takes some steam out of the argument that there was a fight with McDonough that led to the firing when you look at all the collateral damage. My initial reaction is that James Jones made a power play, but I hope I'm wrong.
I think you’re watching too much Ballers.
 
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I know David Griffin's name has been tossed around as a replacement for McD and if he interviews but turns down the job, similar to Budenholzer, that will look terrible for the Suns. I would almost like to see James Jones promoted full time so we don't go through another coaching search type of charade again, especially if we interview a number of qualified and experienced GM's to settle on Jones.

We need to hold a better search than the Cav's did when they lost Griffin last offseason. The guy they hired was new to that position and hasn't done anything good, although it was clear that team was on borrowed time. We need this next hire to repair any damage the timing of the McD move made. I don't think the firing itself hurt the Suns image much, if at all, it seems to have improved it with a number of players though.
 
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By saying it needs to be better than what the Cav's did I mainly mean how a number of candidates seemed to decline that job publicly and since Lebron was there, it was always the leading ESPN story. The Suns won't get that coverage but they can't afford to look foolish like that. Jones has a season of being under McD under his belt and he was a high ranking member of the Players Association as a player. He's well respected and liked by players all around the league and hiring him as GM would be viewed as a good move by most analysts and players around the league, I'd think. Suns fans may not like it but I think he'll do better than McD. Considering Sarver said that Jones was brought in to help the Suns repair player relationships and help McD not have any more Dragic type issues with players, it seems he had already been playing part of the role that McD should have handled.
 

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