Suns Don't Blame Shaq for Down Season

Post #1 » by **rsavaj** » Wed Dec 2, 2009 4:54 am

Once Gentry replaced Porter, the Suns averaged 117 points - with O'Neal - down the stretch, similar to their 15-5 regular-season finish in 2007-08 with O'Neal and then-coach Mike D'Antoni. D'Antoni was the biggest proponent of acquiring O'Neal in 2008.

"We hit a dead end, bumping our heads against the ceiling, and we were looking for a way to get over it," D'Antoni said Tuesday. "Everybody was thinking it was the way to go. To me, it wasn't Shaq's fault. He did everything he was supposed to do with me. If we get by San Antonio, who knows what happens? It was a good idea that didn't come to fruition. We blew the first game in San Antonio, and mentally we changed."

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/ar ... s1202.html

Too many what-ifs with this franchise. Man...

fishtheman04 · Post #2 » by **fishtheman04** » Wed Dec 2, 2009 5:08 am

It was Terry Porter's fault. He is a terrible coach, and didn't know how to utilize his players correctly

The Diesel · Post #3 » by **The Diesel** » Wed Dec 2, 2009 5:40 am

The players also deserve some of the blame for the Porter experiment being such a disaster; so many of them just never bought in.

As D'Antoni and Gentry said, it's not Shaq's fault things didn't work out. The guy did everything that was asked of him.

Under Mike, his role was to rebound and he averaged 11 rebounds a game.

Under Gentry, he was made a big part of the offense and averaged 18 PPG on a league-leading 61% shooting. The Seven Seconds or Shaq offense was one of the greatest offenses in NBA history.

118 PPG was incredible without Amare. Just imagine if Amare was healthy!

I just knew after that crushing Game 1 loss to the Spurs that the series was over. Hill's injury was a huge blow and the Duncan 3 pointer was the dagger.

The team never recovered from that loss.

Post #4 » by **lilfishi22** » Wed Dec 2, 2009 6:02 am

We were a contender with Shaq under D'Antoni imo.

RaisingArizona · Post #5 » by **RaisingArizona** » Wed Dec 2, 2009 6:04 am

bad memories.

kermster · Post #6 » by **kermster** » Wed Dec 2, 2009 6:30 am

I dont blame SHAQ, i just think it was poor judgment on Kerrs part.

Gorilla Warfare · Post #7 » by **Gorilla Warfare** » Wed Dec 2, 2009 6:33 am

Definitely not Shaq's fault, it was $arver/Kerr/Porter's fault. Everybody SHOULD know that, Shaq put it all out on the floor every night, really all he could do with our system and his age/size/weight.

kermster · Post #8 » by **kermster** » Wed Dec 2, 2009 6:40 am

Get Nashty wrote:Definitely not Shaq's fault, it was $arver/Kerr/Porter's fault. Everybody SHOULD know that, Shaq put it all out on the floor every night, really all he could do with our system and his age/size/weight.

AGREED!!

The Diesel · Post #9 » by **The Diesel** » Wed Dec 2, 2009 6:48 am

I dont blame SHAQ, i just think it was poor judgment on Kerrs part.

Kerr doesn't deserve ANY of the blame for the Shaq trade. It's been 100% confirmed that D'Antoni and Sarver are the ones who pushed for the trade.

Kerr wanted to keep Marion.

Shuttlesworth · Post #10 » by **Shuttlesworth** » Wed Dec 2, 2009 7:10 am

The Diesel wrote:
I dont blame SHAQ, i just think it was poor judgment on Kerrs part.

Kerr doesn't deserve ANY of the blame for the Shaq trade. It's been 100% confirmed that D'Antoni and Sarver are the ones who pushed for the trade.

Kerr wanted to keep Marion.

What happened to you? You used to post so much around here!

The Diesel · Post #11 » by **The Diesel** » Wed Dec 2, 2009 7:35 am

What happened to you? You used to post so much around here!

I don't follow the Suns as close as I used to since Shaq was traded. But I still follow the team here and there and will post on this forum occasionally. Just not as frequently as I used to.

hunterxaz · Post #12 » by **hunterxaz** » Wed Dec 2, 2009 11:52 pm

100% Porter's fault.