Marion was a one of kind player at that time (Draymond eclipsed him this season tho). But I will never forgive him for ruining our best shot at a ring by preventing the KG trade from happening because of his refusal to re-sign with a team that wouldn't give the full max. He settled for less anyways in Dallas and the SSOL era unceremoniously ended with the acquisition of Shaq
Even if you believe the SSOL era ended after Matrix was gone, you must also acknowledge that the best overall team during the Nash era was the 2010 team which DID NOT have Marion. That team had EVERYTHING!
- Healthy Amare who was still incredibly dominant
- Elite rim protector in Lopez
- The awesome defense of Hill
- The great shooting back-court of Nash/J-Rich
- A really good bench
- Good coaching by Gentry, who proved to be a better fit than Porter and a better coach overall than MDA.
They pretty much had no weaknesses.
Marion has nobody but himself to blame for how things ended and I actually think he became over-rated in a hurry because it seemed like people just enjoyed blaming Shaq for everything despite the fact that: (And I am not a big Shaq fan)
- Marion was garbage and totally ineffective in Miami during his contract year; he had every opportunity to prove he was better than 37 year old, supposedly washed-up Shaq and he stunk in Miami during his lone season, averaging a pathetic 12/8 and getting traded a year later and then later trashing them on his way out.
- The Heat had very high hopes for Matrix, and he failed pretty badly during his time there, which is why they traded him so quickly despite the fact that he was playing with Prime Wade.
- No team in the NBA, even the Mavericks, offered him anywhere near as much as he demanded from the Suns, and his whiny attitude resulted in MDA/Nash growing sick and tired of him, which is why they both pushed to get rid of him.
- He has ONE...count it...ONE good year in his seven years after he complained his way out of Phoenix, which was 2011.
2010- Loses in the first round and he no-showed against the Spurs just like he did in the 2005 WCF against them.
2012- Swept in the first round
2013- Misses the playoffs
2014- Loses in the first round again and disappears against the Spurs yet again.
2015- Retired after an ineffective season with the Cavs
Why don't his fans point this out? Matrix seems like a really good person, but I think his supporters overly-protect him and his legacy just like the MJ supporters like Skip Bayless bash LeBron at every opportunity because he's a threat to MJ's legacy as the GOAT.
Shaq's numbers in 2009 blew Marion's out of the water during that same season.
- 18/8 on 61% shooting.
- All Star Game MVP
- All-NBA 3rd Team
- Led league in FG%
- Had the best plus/minus ratio on the Suns
- 12th highest PER in the ENTIRE NBA
I really don't know what more he could have done that season. It's not his fault that:
- MDA (Who wanted him more than anyone) quit
- That Porter was chosen over Budenholzer and Gentry
- That Amare missed 30 games and Diaw was NOT available for any one of those games.
The 2010 Suns record after 53 games? 31-22.
2009 Suns record after 53 games? 30-23, which is the EXACT moment when Amare was lost for the season and Diaw was no longer on the team.
Yet, the Suns only missed the playoffs by ONE game that year. If Amare never got hurt and Gentry had coached instead of Porter, the 2009 Suns would have easily made the playoffs and been a bigger threat than the 2008 Suns were for a few reasons.
- Gentry > MDA
- Shaq was sensational in 2009, which was much better for him than the previous year.
- Hill would have been available in the playoffs instead of missing them like he did the previous year, when the guy he was going to guard (Tony Parker) totally destroyed the Suns.
Amount of playoff appearances for the Suns since Amare left in 2010? Zero.
Yet, the Marion supporters don't mention these things because it doesn't fit their agenda.
The SSOS offense under Gentry averaged 140 PPG BEFORE Amare's season-ending injury and 118 PPG WITHOUT Amare/Diaw and with Barnes starting at PF for crying out loud! How is that "slowing a team down?"
They averaged 112 PPG under MDA with Shaq and MORE fast-break points than they did with Marion that year before the trade.
When they wanted to run with Shaq, they ran with no problem at all under MDA/Gentry.
The one who was primarily responsible for slowing the team down was Porter.
I didn't hear that Kurt Thomas prevented the Suns from running.
I don't read that the Warriors can't run because of Bogut.
People just like to blame Shaq for everything even though he thoroughly outplayed Matrix in 2009.
Who knows what might have happened in 2008 if Duncan misses that crazy shot in Game 1 and Grant had been able to slow down Parker?
Who knows what happens in 2009 if Amare doesn't miss the final 30 games and Gentry was coaching instead of Porter? They would have been a dangerous team that year.