Suns Chairman fought through a cold to join KTAR's Dave Burns for the 620 Sportsline's weekly "Talk to the Suns" program on Tuesday night and covered a variety of basketball issues from whether or not the Suns are "for real" to the players' closeness with their fans.
Dave Burns: You're suffering from a cold right now. Your Suns, nothing cold about them. Best start ever and you've seen everything there is to see with this organization. You've never seen a start better than the one the Suns have gotten off to so far.
Suns Chairman Jerry Colangelo: Well, obviously not because this is the best one. We've now played 25 percent of our season and I wonder when we go from start to the first half, or something like that, because a quarter of your season is a pretty good indicator, in my opinion, about the kind of a basketball team you have. Just based on our results, not that anyone has the anticipation that you can continue to play at this pace because that's a 70-win season and that's only been done once. So far, it couldn't be much better than it is. There's so much to be happy about with this basketball team. I think what's really important, Dave, is when you hear our opposition, coaches and players, as they talk about this team. The see it as a very potent team, five players who can step out onto the court and get 30 (points) for you at any time.
I was in New York last week at some NBA meetings, along with some personal stuff I had to take care of, and Jerry West shared with me that he things legitimately we have three All-Stars on this team and two other players who are very close. That's a pretty strong compliment.
Burns: In many ways you took the words right out my mouth as I was going to ask you at what point in time does enough of the season that's gone by that it validates it for you, where you say, "Okay, it's not just a good start. It's legitimate, it's real, we've arrived." As far as your concerned, a quarter of a season is a pretty good indicator of what you've got so far.
Colangelo: Yeah, I think so. Anything can happen. I guess the bottom could proverbiably fall out if certain things would happen, like injurires or whatever. But that's not something we anticipate. There are signs with this team. Its ability to have some very strong, incredible runs offensively, to bury teams, which is the mark of a very good team. Or to take someone's best shot, in terms of the opposition having a good run and countering that run. All the signs, all the indicators are that this is going to continue (and) we're going to win a lot of basketball games. I've felt that when we went into the season that it was going to be a good team. I was not foolish enough to think or predict that we would win any number of games, be it 50 or 55, but it has all the earmarks of a 50-plus-win season if we keep going at this pace.
Caller (Patrick, Cave Creek): I think it's time to stop talking about whether this team's for real, at least during the regular season. Twenty games is plenty enough for me. As we get into the playoffs and things slow down a little bit, and we start to go against teams that we all know about, how do you see this team kind of reshaping? Who's going to step here?
Colangelo: I think our starting five has been extraordinary. You couldn't ask for more in terms of production, offensively or defensively. I think we need to strengthen our bench in terms of consistent play. (Leandro) Barbosa (Monday) night gave us a big lift when Steve Nash picked up early fouls. And Barbosa showed last year as a rookie that he had potential to be a very good player. His performance, I think, is critical. I think Steven Hunter's development is key to the success we would have this year, primarily because if there's any kind of a team we would struggle against, it's someone who has length up front. Minnesota, by way of example, is a team that beat us, but you could see their length up front negated Amare (Stoudemire) to some degree and we will have some struggles with that. Hunter's presence could make a big difference. So, improved bench play is about all that I can see that this team needs as we go forward.
Burns: Because the playoffs are so far away still, I was a bit surprised to hear the comments from Steve Francis, member of the Orlando Magic, after (Monday night)'s 21-point loss by the Magic against your Suns. "Just wait until playoff time because the Suns, they're not going to be able to run up and down the floor like that in playoff time. That's not how the playoffs work." It's like he was trying to dismiss everything about it because he thinks you're not built the way you need to be built when playoff time comes around. Do you worry about that at all, about how the style of basketball changes or is it way to premature to even be thinking about that?
Colangelo: I think it's way to premature to be thinking about that and I don't put a lot of credence in what opposition players have to say about our team, and what might happen down the road in the playoffs. That's ludicrous to think that far down the line.
I will make this observation. I thought Steve Francis last night was yipping and yapping all over the place, he never stopped on the court. And he was having a go of it with Amare. I was reminded after the game that this goes back to an incident in a game last year with Houston where Amare caught him with an elbow. It was in inadvertant elbow, it certainly wasn't anything intentional. But I think that was a carryover, in terms of an attitude, into that game last night, so I wouldn't put too much into what Steve Francis had to say. He's a terrific player, but he ought to just leave it on the court.
Caller (Dennis, Glendale): I think a lot of people lost interest in some of the basketball players, simply because of all the trouble they were getting into. Drugs, drunken driving, carrying concealed weapons, spousal abuse and I know that turned myself off, and I know a lot of other people over the years. Hopefully now, these Suns will continue to keep their nose clean and continue to do a good job, and I hope all of them can continue on their winning ways.
Colangelo: I appreciate that. I think we have a good group of young guys and I don't forsee any problems going forward. But, you know, life is what it is. You have to deal with these issues when and if they come up. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that we're not going to have to deal with it. It's too good a group of guys.
Burns: I've been surprised, and yet I haven't been surprised, at looking at some of the attendance figures and see some of the crowds at America West Arena. I don't begrudge anybody who chooses not to go, but I certainly think they're missing out on the best product the Suns have put on the floor since the Barkley years. Why do you think people have been slow to come around into the building and see this product with their own eyes.
Colangelo: I think the biggest issue right now is that we had an erosion of our season ticket base. There was a time when we had 15,000 season tickets. It didn't leave very many tickets to sell on a nightly basis. Presently our base is considerably less than that in terms of season tickets. It's about 9,000, so the secret here is you need to increase your season ticket base. That's what will have a big impact on your total attendance. As we go forward to next year I truly expect to sell an extra two or three thousand season tickets and so the attendance will really shoot up. I also anticipate that after the first of the year, you're going to see a big spike in attnedance for our home games.
We just haven't had any switchover. There's no hockey being played, so where are the hockey people in terms of coming out to see some games? There hasn't been any attendance at the Cardinals games, so there's plenty of football people who could be entertained and give it a try. And the D-backs had a very bad year, as we all know, this past year. So, the ball's been teed up, so to speak, for someone to step out and capture the hearts of the sports fans, and I don't think anyone could have jumped off any better than we just did. I'm patient. I think it's going to happen.
Caller (Peter): In professional sports, with everything that's been going on in the past few years, do you see the closeness (between players and fans) ever coming back or do you think money has thrown it to where people are on a different plateau, or even a different planet, than we're on?
Colangelo: I think the expectation level might be more than is reasonable as it relates to players' participation. If there's anyone who's a proponent of the players being involved in the community, it's me. But there really are limitations in terms of when this can happen. There needs to be some privacy in their lives and when you look at the time that they are commited, in terms of games, practices (and) travel, if you're not playing at home, you're really on the road somewhere. That's the way it is for six months or longer, depending on how your season goes. I was thinking last night after the game, there were hundreds of people near the locker room, waiting behind roped-in areas for autographs and everybody, including myself, stopped and signed everything that they wanted. Photos, balls, shirts, I can't even tell you some of the things I've signed for people, it would be embarassing. We're trying to reach out and do all those things, but if you fail to make one eye contact or miss one autograph, that's what that person remembers and that's unfortunate.
Caller (Allen, Phoenix): I was wondering how you think the Suns will match up against the Sonics on Friday night?
Colangelo: That's going to be a great matchup. Obviously we're playing on their home court. Advantage, Seattle. But I think when you have two teams that can get up and down the court the way each of these teams do with their athleticism, it sould make for a great game and I'm looking forward to that game after (Wednesday) night's game. I don't want to look past Utah. We want to just keep winning and keep rolling the ball in the right direction.
Burns: How do you compare this team to the '92-93 team, the Charles Barkley team? Colangelo: They're different teams just because of the personalities involved. We had one very dominant personality because of Charles Barkley being Charles Barkley and we had a lot of great talent on that team. I think this team probably five deep is a stronger five. No dominant personality, per se. That's kind of spread out on this team. And bear in mind, this is the youngest team in the NBA right now that we're talking about. That wasn't true of the Barkley team, a mature team, a veteran team. So, I think they just handled things a little bit differently.
Dave Burns: You're suffering from a cold right now. Your Suns, nothing cold about them. Best start ever and you've seen everything there is to see with this organization. You've never seen a start better than the one the Suns have gotten off to so far.
Suns Chairman Jerry Colangelo: Well, obviously not because this is the best one. We've now played 25 percent of our season and I wonder when we go from start to the first half, or something like that, because a quarter of your season is a pretty good indicator, in my opinion, about the kind of a basketball team you have. Just based on our results, not that anyone has the anticipation that you can continue to play at this pace because that's a 70-win season and that's only been done once. So far, it couldn't be much better than it is. There's so much to be happy about with this basketball team. I think what's really important, Dave, is when you hear our opposition, coaches and players, as they talk about this team. The see it as a very potent team, five players who can step out onto the court and get 30 (points) for you at any time.
I was in New York last week at some NBA meetings, along with some personal stuff I had to take care of, and Jerry West shared with me that he things legitimately we have three All-Stars on this team and two other players who are very close. That's a pretty strong compliment.
Burns: In many ways you took the words right out my mouth as I was going to ask you at what point in time does enough of the season that's gone by that it validates it for you, where you say, "Okay, it's not just a good start. It's legitimate, it's real, we've arrived." As far as your concerned, a quarter of a season is a pretty good indicator of what you've got so far.
Colangelo: Yeah, I think so. Anything can happen. I guess the bottom could proverbiably fall out if certain things would happen, like injurires or whatever. But that's not something we anticipate. There are signs with this team. Its ability to have some very strong, incredible runs offensively, to bury teams, which is the mark of a very good team. Or to take someone's best shot, in terms of the opposition having a good run and countering that run. All the signs, all the indicators are that this is going to continue (and) we're going to win a lot of basketball games. I've felt that when we went into the season that it was going to be a good team. I was not foolish enough to think or predict that we would win any number of games, be it 50 or 55, but it has all the earmarks of a 50-plus-win season if we keep going at this pace.
Caller (Patrick, Cave Creek): I think it's time to stop talking about whether this team's for real, at least during the regular season. Twenty games is plenty enough for me. As we get into the playoffs and things slow down a little bit, and we start to go against teams that we all know about, how do you see this team kind of reshaping? Who's going to step here?
Colangelo: I think our starting five has been extraordinary. You couldn't ask for more in terms of production, offensively or defensively. I think we need to strengthen our bench in terms of consistent play. (Leandro) Barbosa (Monday) night gave us a big lift when Steve Nash picked up early fouls. And Barbosa showed last year as a rookie that he had potential to be a very good player. His performance, I think, is critical. I think Steven Hunter's development is key to the success we would have this year, primarily because if there's any kind of a team we would struggle against, it's someone who has length up front. Minnesota, by way of example, is a team that beat us, but you could see their length up front negated Amare (Stoudemire) to some degree and we will have some struggles with that. Hunter's presence could make a big difference. So, improved bench play is about all that I can see that this team needs as we go forward.
Burns: Because the playoffs are so far away still, I was a bit surprised to hear the comments from Steve Francis, member of the Orlando Magic, after (Monday night)'s 21-point loss by the Magic against your Suns. "Just wait until playoff time because the Suns, they're not going to be able to run up and down the floor like that in playoff time. That's not how the playoffs work." It's like he was trying to dismiss everything about it because he thinks you're not built the way you need to be built when playoff time comes around. Do you worry about that at all, about how the style of basketball changes or is it way to premature to even be thinking about that?
Colangelo: I think it's way to premature to be thinking about that and I don't put a lot of credence in what opposition players have to say about our team, and what might happen down the road in the playoffs. That's ludicrous to think that far down the line.
I will make this observation. I thought Steve Francis last night was yipping and yapping all over the place, he never stopped on the court. And he was having a go of it with Amare. I was reminded after the game that this goes back to an incident in a game last year with Houston where Amare caught him with an elbow. It was in inadvertant elbow, it certainly wasn't anything intentional. But I think that was a carryover, in terms of an attitude, into that game last night, so I wouldn't put too much into what Steve Francis had to say. He's a terrific player, but he ought to just leave it on the court.
Caller (Dennis, Glendale): I think a lot of people lost interest in some of the basketball players, simply because of all the trouble they were getting into. Drugs, drunken driving, carrying concealed weapons, spousal abuse and I know that turned myself off, and I know a lot of other people over the years. Hopefully now, these Suns will continue to keep their nose clean and continue to do a good job, and I hope all of them can continue on their winning ways.
Colangelo: I appreciate that. I think we have a good group of young guys and I don't forsee any problems going forward. But, you know, life is what it is. You have to deal with these issues when and if they come up. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that we're not going to have to deal with it. It's too good a group of guys.
Burns: I've been surprised, and yet I haven't been surprised, at looking at some of the attendance figures and see some of the crowds at America West Arena. I don't begrudge anybody who chooses not to go, but I certainly think they're missing out on the best product the Suns have put on the floor since the Barkley years. Why do you think people have been slow to come around into the building and see this product with their own eyes.
Colangelo: I think the biggest issue right now is that we had an erosion of our season ticket base. There was a time when we had 15,000 season tickets. It didn't leave very many tickets to sell on a nightly basis. Presently our base is considerably less than that in terms of season tickets. It's about 9,000, so the secret here is you need to increase your season ticket base. That's what will have a big impact on your total attendance. As we go forward to next year I truly expect to sell an extra two or three thousand season tickets and so the attendance will really shoot up. I also anticipate that after the first of the year, you're going to see a big spike in attnedance for our home games.
We just haven't had any switchover. There's no hockey being played, so where are the hockey people in terms of coming out to see some games? There hasn't been any attendance at the Cardinals games, so there's plenty of football people who could be entertained and give it a try. And the D-backs had a very bad year, as we all know, this past year. So, the ball's been teed up, so to speak, for someone to step out and capture the hearts of the sports fans, and I don't think anyone could have jumped off any better than we just did. I'm patient. I think it's going to happen.
Caller (Peter): In professional sports, with everything that's been going on in the past few years, do you see the closeness (between players and fans) ever coming back or do you think money has thrown it to where people are on a different plateau, or even a different planet, than we're on?
Colangelo: I think the expectation level might be more than is reasonable as it relates to players' participation. If there's anyone who's a proponent of the players being involved in the community, it's me. But there really are limitations in terms of when this can happen. There needs to be some privacy in their lives and when you look at the time that they are commited, in terms of games, practices (and) travel, if you're not playing at home, you're really on the road somewhere. That's the way it is for six months or longer, depending on how your season goes. I was thinking last night after the game, there were hundreds of people near the locker room, waiting behind roped-in areas for autographs and everybody, including myself, stopped and signed everything that they wanted. Photos, balls, shirts, I can't even tell you some of the things I've signed for people, it would be embarassing. We're trying to reach out and do all those things, but if you fail to make one eye contact or miss one autograph, that's what that person remembers and that's unfortunate.
Caller (Allen, Phoenix): I was wondering how you think the Suns will match up against the Sonics on Friday night?
Colangelo: That's going to be a great matchup. Obviously we're playing on their home court. Advantage, Seattle. But I think when you have two teams that can get up and down the court the way each of these teams do with their athleticism, it sould make for a great game and I'm looking forward to that game after (Wednesday) night's game. I don't want to look past Utah. We want to just keep winning and keep rolling the ball in the right direction.
Burns: How do you compare this team to the '92-93 team, the Charles Barkley team? Colangelo: They're different teams just because of the personalities involved. We had one very dominant personality because of Charles Barkley being Charles Barkley and we had a lot of great talent on that team. I think this team probably five deep is a stronger five. No dominant personality, per se. That's kind of spread out on this team. And bear in mind, this is the youngest team in the NBA right now that we're talking about. That wasn't true of the Barkley team, a mature team, a veteran team. So, I think they just handled things a little bit differently.
(Apparently my smiley changed......)
