Quest Club of Arizona

Yes. it’s true. In shocking news that is all over the sports wires, Amare Stoudemire will most likely miss the rest of the regular season due to emergency surgery to repair a detached retina.

Just when it seemed that happiness returned to the Suns organization, comes this devastating news.

As far as the details, you can refer to this article.

What I would like to discuss is the fallout from the Suns losing their most explosive player and who might step up to help fill the void. The initial talk is that Leandro Barbosa will start at shooting guard, and Jason Richardson and Grant Hill will slide up the small forward and power forward respectively. Certainly, this seems like a viable solution since Barbosa can score points and some of Richardson’s best moments as a pro basketball player have been when he has played forward.

Regardless, the Suns have taken a major blow. Now it will be difficult to even stay in the playoff hunt. Steve Nash lamented the absence of Boris Diaw, who would have been an ideal replacement for Stoudemire. If Terry Porter had switched back to running game about three months earlier, maybe that would have been the case. But the Suns need to figure out who they have right now that can help replace the 21-26 points per game that they have lost.

I believe the two key players in the recovery plan will be the two players the Suns received when they traded Diaw and Raja Bell: Richardson and Jared Dudley. Right here, right now is when Richardson needs to show the league that he can score the ball with explosive athleticism and accurate 3-point shooting. When Kerr talked about the upgrade from Bell to Richardson in terms of dynamic play from the wing, he may not have had this situation in mind, but this is the very situation where Kerr needs to be proven correct.

Likewise, the heady play of Dudley will become an important factor as the Suns seeks consistent contributions from the power forward position. He is nowhere near the scorer that Stoudemire is, and he’ll rarely draw a double team, but Dudley is a very smart player with a nose for the ball. His off-stat sheet contributions should pay dividends.

Alvin Gentry has already told his players they will need to step up their games. The Suns can either roll over and play dead, or continue to fight with the enthusiasm they showed in the last two games. I certainly hope for the latter. And remember, the last time the Suns lost Stoudemire for a significant amount of time they nearly won the Western Conference championship.

A little over year ago Shaquille O’Neal first became a Sun. His initial appearance was as a spectator in a suite at US Airways Center. He pointed to his ring finger, then gave a thumbs up to the wild cheers of the Suns faithful. His intentions were clear and the fans believed him.

And today? The response would be 30-70 at best. Yet, as crazy as it seems, the Suns are perhaps in a better position to make an impact in the playoffs (provided they even get there) than they were last season.

You know the backstory. The Suns had the best record in the West prior to the Shaq trade. However, they were still reeling from the stunning loss to the Spurs in the previous playoffs. Shawn Marion was seen as an uber-grump who requested a trade in the offseason and wanted nothing more than proper recognition and a max contract. As the trading deadline approached, and faster than anyone could say “opt-out clause,” Marion was out and Shaq was in. It started out bad. The team lost a lot of games and its high playoff seed. Things turned great as the Suns went 15-5 in their last 20 regular season games. It finally ended with a whimper and a near sweep to the Spurs in the playoffs.

This year, all the bad feelings are already behind the team. Psychologically, the Suns are on an upward trend with a “we got nothing to lose” attitude. And then of course, there’s Shaq. I made a comment to my previous post that the ‘08-’09 season has been very kind to Shaq. He was rebuilt physically by the Suns’ training staff. His game was rejuvenated by Terry Porter’s blind loyalty to the low post offense. And he was gifted the All-Star co-MVP award by the league.

Nevertheless, as today’s trade deadline approached, the Suns were in serious negotiations with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The offer on the table was Shaq in exchange for Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, and perhaps a draft pick. The player the Suns wanted was Wally Szczerbiak and his expiring contract instead of Wallace. The Cavs didn’t like the counter offer and the trade talks were off. Can you imagine the final trade in Shaq’s career could have been for Wally Szczerbiak???

In a surprising move, the Suns staff made a basketball decision. They didn’t trade Shaq or Amare Stoudemire. They decided to stick with what they’ve got and give it their best shot. Amazing.

After the second practice of Alvin Gentry’s career as head coach of the Suns, before Tuesday’s game with the Clippers, before the two-day, 282 point barrage by his rejuvenated squad, Shaq was fully recovered from the “cold and cough” that kept him silent in the aftermath of the coaching change. And he spoke glowingly of the future:

“I’ve been dreaming about how this season’s going to end,” explained O’Neal. “This is how it’s going to go down: We’re going to finish 22-9. We’re going to change the conversation about this team. We’ll be a force in the playoffs and if we win it all, I’ll consider retirement.”

It’s been very evident that Shaq wants to end his career with one more championship. He worked hard in the offseason to get into great shape. And as the Porter-led Suns were crumbling, Shaq tried to carry the team on his back. Now, two games into the relaunch of the Suns, things are looking good. True, the team had the luxury of playing perennial doormat, the LA Clippers, and the Clips were shorthanded at that. But the beginning of the Gentry era could not have gone any better.

The most dangerous competitor in sports is the one that is laser focused on the here and now. For the Suns, there really is no future because no one has any idea of what that future will look like. The players received a new lease on life with Gentry and the return of run-and-gun. With the trade deadline now behind us, the team knows that it will remain intact for the balance of the season. They also know that there could still be major changes in the offseason. Gentry may not be retained. Any number of players might be traded. When summer arrives, the team will most likely again be in flux. Therefore, the players have only one thing to play for. Finish the season with reckless abandon. Today we fight for tomorrow we die.

Mark your calendars for two upcoming dates. The new Suns will have their stiffest challenges yet, the Boston Celtics on Sunday and the LA Lakers on Thursday. If they manage to win both games, then it’s time to buckle your seatbelts, return your tray tables to their upright and locked position, and prepare yourselves for one wild ride.

Suns GM Steve Kerr made three major moves following the ’07-’08 season that have proven to be strike outs: the hiring of Terry Porter as head coach, the drafting of Robin Lopez with the 15th pick and Goran Dragic in the 2nd round (via trade), and the trading of Boris Diaw and Raja Bell to the Charlotte Bobcats for Jason Richardson. Yet, after a whirlwind of unconfirmed rumors and trade scenarios during the All-Star break, the Suns actually now have the opportunity to reverse their fortunes with 31 games remaining on the season.

Instead of a completing blockbuster trade, Kerr made a better move. He fired Porter and promoted Alvin Gentry. It’s safe to say that a huge burden has been lifted from the team. True, Gentry is only interim head coach, but he is popular with most of the players and understands what needs to be done to turn things around. He will return to the Seven Seconds or Less offensive philosophy, rely on the talent of the players, and deliver a consistent message.

With the return of the run-and-gun offense, there is little doubt that more bench players will get an opportunity to play. Matt Barnes will see more court time. Critically, the overwhelmed Dragic will also receive minutes. Whether this turns into a disaster remains to be seen. But it is clear that Steve Nash needs more rest during games. Gentry indicated that Dragic will be the player to carry this role initially. Fast breaking and more open court play should compliment the skills that Kerr saw in him prior to the draft. And if Dragic can develop a consistent shooting touch, his game should improve dramatically.

For the Suns’ other rookie, it seems consistent playing time for Lopez must be on Gentry’s checklist of changes he needs to implement right away, even if it’s only five minutes a game. As the team’s only 7-footer who can run up-and-down the floor, Lopez possesses the big body and shot blocking skills that can help shore up the team’s terrible defense while also keeping up with the pace of the game.

At shooting guard, the trade for Jason Richardson initially appeared to be a big win for the Suns. The team went 9-3 and averaged over 109 points per game in his first 12 games as a Sun. But things began to unravel as Richardson became yet another player mired in Porter’s slow-down offense. And worst of all, two traffic incidents have tarnished the reputations of the player and team. In a mere six weeks, with a DUI arrest, a ticket for excessive speeding, and endangering his 3-year-old son, Richardson is on the verge of outdoing the collective off-court antics of Stephon Marbury and Jason Kidd while they were Suns players.

For the ever penny-pinching owner of the Suns, Robert Sarver, there is a potential bonus from the fallout of Richardson’s legal troubles. If it turns out that Richardson is convicted and serves any jail time, perhaps the Suns could figure out how to nullify his contract and the remaining two years at $27.7M. This would provide a greater financial windfall than any salary dump trade would have brought.

Yet, if Richardson ends up missing more time than his current 1-game suspension will the Suns miss a beat? Perhaps not. Leandro Barbosa has steadily improved this season and is close to the high level of play he was at in ’06-’07. It might also serve as an opportunity for Alando Tucker to show that he belongs in the NBA. Like Richardson, Tucker has worked on his perimeter shooting and he has an effective post-up game that can be exploited from the shooting guard position. Unlike Richardson however, Tucker has been non-existant as an NBA player. He needs to be allowed to sink or swim and now would be a good time for this to happen.

For the remainder of the season, the key team stats that will indicate improvement are field goal attempts and assist-to-turnover ratio. The Suns have a deficit in allowing opponents 7 more shots per game, and with the Suns shooting its fewest amount of 3-point attempts per game in years, their defensive deficiencies have become even more apparent. The Suns need to shoot more and hope that the faster pace will enable them to produce more hustle plays and reduce second chance points for opponents. By playing instinctively and not second-guessing themselves, the players will look to move the ball more and create scoring opportunities by sharing, rather than bogging down and turning the ball over.

In order to secure a strong playoff seed, the Suns will likely need to go 24-7 over its remaining 31 games. This is a mighty difficult task. But one thing is certain. The Suns will be a lot more fun to watch now compared to the team that it was just 6 days ago.

One of my heroes died today. Bill Walsh, age 75, died of leukemia. I am Fred Moore, 73 years of age, and my father died of leukemia so I know the disease well.

I have three home towns: Phoenix, where I live now, San Francisco, where I went to junior high school and high school, and Fresno, Ca., where I went to elementary school and one year of junior high school. When I lived in San Francisco from 1946 to 1951 I was just beginning to be the obsessed sport’s fan I am today. In those days my teams were the San Francisco 49ers, University of San Francisco (basketball), University of California at Berkeley (college football) where I intended to go to school one day, the Oakland Oaks baseball team in the Pacific Coast League, and the Boston Red Sox.

In the early years the 49ers played in the All American League dominated by the Cleveland Browns featuring Otto Graham, Mac Speedie, and Marion Motley. But the 49ers had some good players too like Frankie Albert, our all pro quarter back out of Stanford, and Johnny “Strike” Strykalski at running back. When the league folded a few of the teams had strong enough followings and large enough markets to move to the NFL. Cleveland immediately went to the top of the league, but it took the 49ers quite awhile to make it there. I remember going to games at the old Kezar Stadium to watch that version of the team.

But it wasn’t until Eddie DeBartolo bought the 49ers in the early 80’s and hired Bill Walsh, the successful head coach at Stanford University, that the team hit the top. They had a symbiotic relationship that worked so well they won three super bowls in Walsh’s time as head coach. It was the golden years of pro football in San Francisco with their stars: Joe Montana leading the way, Jerry Rice, Dwight Clark, Ronnie Lott, and some very efficient no name offensive and defensive players like Randy Cross and Matt Millan.

But there have been many famous coaches in the NFL who had records like Walsh’s. George Halas, Bill Belichek, Tom Landry and others. But Walsh was a very creative innovator. He is given credit for developing what is now called the “West Coast Offense.” In addition many of his assistant coaches have gone on to success as a head coaches in the NFL; men like George Sieffert, Mike Holmgren, Steve Mariucci, Andy Reid, and others.

But there was more. What I intuitively got from him was his attention to detail. He thought of everything, and some things no one else had thought of. As an example, his offensive linemen were always smaller but much faster then their opponents. I think he knew all the parts of the team and how they fit together, and he knew the kind of player he needed for each position. Maybe like a composer of a symphony knows each instrument, and the note each has to play to get the melody. It also seemed to me that he was constantly thinking long term. As an example: as player X was aging and beginning to lose some of his speed and ability he was training his replacement, so when the older player left, his replacement was ready to step in and take his place so the team never lost a beat.

I remember when Joe Montana came into the league there was a lot of skepticism about his arm strength and would he be able to make some of throws a pro quarterback has to make (heard the same arguments about our Matt Leinart). But perhaps Walsh designed the West Coast Offense for Joe Montana to take advantage of his accurate arm, quick mind, and his leadership. Walsh recognized early on that Montana was a winner and they could do this thing together.

It wasn’t just the offense on those great teams because his defenses were as good as the offenses, but they too were smaller and faster then the other teams.

But beyond all of that it comes down to this. How do you get so many players to want to play for you, and are willing to do things no one else has done before, and therein lies the magic of this man. He knew something and he knew how to find the players he needed to carry out his vision.

Kenny Moore (who used to write only articles about running and runners) wrote a great article in Sport’s Illustrated about Walsh. It got inside the man and you felt you were beginning to understand how he did this. In sports there are no secrets. We all know about the same things, but some of us can make these things work better then others. Dumping a short pass in the flat to the great Jerry Rice with some innovative blocking schemes will only fool the other team for a short time because the other coaches are smart too and will figure out to stop that play, but I’m not sure they ever figured Walsh out.

In the Halls of coaching greatness, in my opinion, he ranks up there with Vince Lombardi, George Halas, Pop Warner, and Johnny Wooden. It wasn’t wins and loses for these men, but the impact they made on the game they coached. Walsh changed professional football forever. He was personally difficult, arrogant, self righteous, bad tempered at times, tough minded, and very demanding of his players and coaches. He wanted perfection even though he knew he would never achieve it. He was ruthless and if you couldn’t cut it with him and his ideas, he was quick to send you on your way. But he was also kind and generous, loyal, a great friend, teacher, and leader. I don’t think the public knew him well because he was a very private man.

He was one of my heroes, and we took this trip together: he the coach, and me his fan. I never met Bill Walsh in person, but I felt like I knew him. I’ll miss him.