Open Court: The Suns burn out

Well, now what?

The most thrilling season in Arizona Cardinals’ history is officially over. We can stew over the conclusion to Super Bowl XLIII — one toe or two, where’s the replay?, Sixburgh, etc. — but nobody who follows that franchise can be genuinely angry. Every alleged football expert thought the Steelers were going to win in blowout fashion, but Arizona battled valiantly in one of the Super Bowl’s most exciting fourth quarters and nearly pulled off the impossible.

This February features an interesting role reversal for Arizona sports fans. Typically, the Cardinals stink so bad that locals start paying attention to the Phoenix Suns, as they embark on yet another playoff run.

Things are much different these days.

Since Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald captured fans’ attention throughout the winter, most people don’t realize how profoundly depressing the Suns’ situation truly is.

Now that Arizona’s miracle run is over, people are looking at the Suns and wondering what the heck happened to their beloved NBA franchise.

During the glorious “seven seconds or less” era, Mike D’Antoni’s squad was the antithesis of those boring grind-it-out defensive juggernauts that started winning championships. The Suns had a genuinely unique identity and dared teams to keep up with them. Most couldn’t.

The knock on D’Antoni’s run-and-gun mentality was that it could never win a title. However, had Joe Johnson not broken his face in 2005 and had the officials (including the nefarious Tim Donaghy) not completely botched the Suns’ 2006 series against the hated Spurs, those critics would be singing a completely different tune.

So what happened to this delightfully entertaining team?

There are many people to blame for what’s happening, but nobody more than penny-pinching owner Robert Sarver. Let’s never forget that this team botched contract negotiations with Johnson, who forced his way to the Atlanta Hawks. Let’s never forget about Sarver’s maddening decisions to sell (not trade, sell) first-round picks to squeak under the luxury tax threshold — giving away players like Rajon Rondo, Luol Deng and Rudy Fernandez while getting nothing in return. These decisions over any other have put the Suns in this position.

Steve Kerr doesn’t escape blame, either. Since taking over for Bryan Colangelo (the beloved architect of the “seven seconds or less” roster) before the 2007-08 season, he stripped the Suns of their identity and turned them into a regular team. He traded the moody Shawn Marion for an aging Shaquille O’Neal — exactly the type of player who can’t function in a fast-paced offense. The move created a schism between Kerr and D’Antoni, who struggled to make things work with Shaq clogging up the middle. D’Antoni has currently molded a hodge-podge group in New York into a competitive squad. Just wait and see what he does, once the Knicks break the bank in 2010.

Kerr tabbed Terry Porter to coach this year’s team, with very little success. Porter somehow has this reputation as a defensive coach, but if anyone saw him play on those Clyde Drexler Portland teams in the 1990s, they’d report that Porter’s reputation was that of a three-point gunner. These days, the Suns are a surly, joyless group with no identity absolutely no shot to win an NBA title.

Sure, O’Neal has a good game every once in a while, even garnering a bogus All-Star appearance. But the “Big Cactus” takes every third game off, so how dominant can he really be?

Kerr already tried to shake things up earlier this season, dealing Boris Diaw and Raja Bell for Jason Richardson. Now, the Suns are without Diaw’s versatility in the post or Bell’s gutty one-on-one defensive efforts — remember, Bell is one of the few guys in this league who can still get under Kobe Bryant’s skin. Richardson has played some good ball in Phoenix, but it hasn’t been enough to turn things around.

In fact, ESPN’s Marc Stein is reporting that the Suns may trade Amare Stoudemire. When Stoudemire is motivated and happy, he’s impossible to defend. Just ask Tim Duncan — only one of the NBA’s all-time great post defenders. Yet the Suns have fostered such a morose culture that Stoudemire has started to slip. He’s an abysmal defender and he isn’t playing with the same passion that we saw from him during the “seven seconds or less” era.

Heck, Kerr might trade Shaq, as well. There’s no telling what he’ll do to bring this team around.

Stuck in the middle of all of this is Phoenix’s lovable two-time MVP, Steve Nash. Having just turned 35 this week, time is running out for Nash to capture that elusive title. He’ll never do it in Phoenix — not with this slow-down, half-court mentality. He’s the type of player born to play in D’Antoni’s up-tempo style. When his contract runs out after next season, I’d be stunned if he stuck around Phoenix.

Phoenix’s payroll is currently at $75 million — far too high for Sarver, especially in this economy. Everyone from Stoudemire to O’neal to Leandro Barbosa could be moved before the trade deadline. Unless Kerr can pull off some miracles (not just one miracle, mind you), the Suns won’t compete for a title anytime soon. Heck, they’ll be lucky just to make the playoffs this year.

Due to the relative newness of the Diamondbacks and the traditional ineptitude of the Cardinals, Phoenix has typically been an NBA town. Once the buzz from this Super Bowl run wears off, fans will be left wondering what happened to their beloved basketball team.

nprevenas@gvnews.com | 547-9747