2012- 2013. What. Went. Wrong?

DRK · Post #1 » by **DRK** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 2:52 pm

The title says it all.

A season, beginning full of hopes, dreams, and potential ended in tears, torment and tatters.

The 2012 Offseason, An Offseason full of Promise. Bringing in a former College Basketball Superstar and Number 2 Overall Pick Michael Beasley to the Desert; our long awaited "hero," "Go To Scorer," "Savior." Surely he's our future Star.

The signing of an old friend, and his veteran partner in crime, and the inclusion of our "next Steve Nash" through the draft.

A season, which many of us believed would be the Turning Point in our Future in the League... and it was.... for all the wrong reasons.

My question is posed to you, fellow Suns fans.

What. Went. Wrong.

YouTube · Post #2 » by **Kerrsed** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 2:56 pm

Blanks. Babby. Sarver. Everything.

/End of Thread.

DRK · Post #3 » by **DRK** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 3:01 pm

Sure, that is the easy answer, but did those three really have that much of an impact in how we played on the court?

Remembering that Scola and Dragic almost singlehandedly carried the 2011-2012 Houston Rockets to the brink of the Playoffs. With an arguably stronger supporting cast here next to Scola and Dragic, how could this team have sunk this low.

Do we blame the coaches for not implementing the right system? Do we blame the FO for not assembling a team that supported the philosophy of the coaches? Or do we blame all the players for not fighting hard every night.

Maystack · Post #4 » by **Maystack** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 3:06 pm

Lack of a go to scorer, lack of defence, lack of pretty much everything.

YouTube · Post #5 » by **Kerrsed** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 3:07 pm

DRK wrote:Do we blame the coaches for not implementing the right system? Do we blame the FO for not assembling a team that supported the philosophy of the coaches? Or do we blame all the players for not fighting hard every night.

Yes, yes, and yes.

Frank Lee · Post #6 » by **Frank Lee** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 3:33 pm

Kerrsed wrote:
DRK wrote:Do we blame the coaches for not implementing the right system? Do we blame the FO for not assembling a team that supported the philosophy of the coaches? Or do we blame all the players for not fighting hard every night.

Yes, yes, and yes.

well, we do have the #5 and some future bonus picks... so Thank you, thank you , and thank you.

Its all water under the bridge.

ShawnBronald · Post #7 » by **ShawnBronald** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 3:41 pm

A much better question is.... what didn't go wrong?

SUN · Post #8 » by **SUN** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 6:02 pm

I think we lacked a system. Alvin did not have a gameplan, nor did Hunter, and unfortunately the team had no direction.

BurningHeart · Post #9 » by **BurningHeart** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 6:56 pm

Michael Beasley and Shannon Brown are pits of despair. They're worthless, vile, and wretched.

They do literally nothing to positively advance the cause of Phoenix Suns basketball.

Frank Lee · Post #10 » by **Frank Lee** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 7:03 pm

Yet they both are direct reasons why we have a new GM, coach, and #5 pick.

I would certainly give them some lovely parting gifts for their participation.

gaspar · Post #11 » by **gaspar** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 7:21 pm

BurningHeart wrote:Michael Beasley and Shannon Brown are pits of despair. They're worthless, vile, and wretched.

They do literally nothing to positively advance the cause of Phoenix Suns basketball.

Hey, at least Beas contributed in ruining Canadian Judas' homecoming

RunSunRun · Post #12 » by **RunSunRun** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 7:40 pm

Maybe my memory is fuzzy, but I don't remember a lot of people having hope and high expectations heading into this season. Think most expected us to be in the bottom half of the Western Conference, maybe we underperformed a bit, but with the coaching change and injuries it was bound to happen.

Outlook for next season expectations is similar, but there will at least be hope that our young guys start putting it together. Just looking forward to some excitement being brought back to the Suns, last season just lacked energy.

Just got to believe in McD's plan

snowthedirtbub · Post #13 » by **snowthedirtbub** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 9:19 pm

In the beginning of the season I had a little hometown bias going on and expecting things to happen that probably wasn't very realistic,

1. Michael Beasley living up to his draft status.

2. Markieff Morris turning into Kennith Faried with a full offseason.

3. Gortat living up to expectations

4. Jared Dudley being a starting SG.

Maystack · Post #14 » by **Maystack** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 9:39 pm

I was really hoping that this was the year Beasley would finally grow up and start playing to at least half of his potential. I read a few articles on how he was ashamed of his performance so far and it was time for him to be mature and put the work in. What a fool I was for believing that.

bigfoot · Post #15 » by **bigfoot** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 11:27 pm

I'd attribute it to hiring Hunter as the player development coach. That immediately put Gentry and his assistants on the defensive and looking over their shoulder. When you have strife and turmoil in the leadership group it carries over to the troops. More time is spent worrying about how your getting screwed by management/ownership/the other guy than focusing on the work (basketball in this case).

I really do think the Suns underachieved badly last year, especially under Gentry who had a softer schedule during the first half of the season. A #5 and #30 draft pick and a really good free agent could make for a big turn around.

Post #16 » by **batsmasher** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 12:38 am

Top 5 (in no order)
-Blanks picking Beasley as his #1 offensive option by signing him to a big contract.
-Gentry having stupid 10-man rotations.
-Players getting minutes based on their profile, not their performance
-The Hunter debacle
-The whole organisation depressing (ticket sales, chemistry, morale)

Shannon Brown made the first half of the season exceptionally uncomfortable to watch.

mybloodisorange · Post #17 » by **mybloodisorange** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 9:51 am

Nothing went wrong other than your expectation level. When the season started I predicted a 6-8 draft position which is close to where we landed...I would have nailed it if Gortat didnt miss the last month but im more than happy to draft 5th.

Don't be suprised if next year isnt too much better either unless we make some unexpected blockbuster move this offseason that I just dont see.

The good news is we have excellect future cap flexibility and a couple of extra 1st round picks over the next couple years.

phrazbit · Post #18 » by **phrazbit** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 10:34 am

I think unless you were wearing some seriously purple and orange tinted glasses then last seasons result was not surprising.

Before they played a single game they had a very very bad team on paper. Even if you ignore how horrible the players were individually, as a collective the roster fell short in just about every skill category you could think of.

They had only one serious perimeter threat (Dudley), outside of him the roster was covered in poor distance shooters, basically no legit post players, no one who could create for others consistently, they lacked rebounding, Dragic and Brown were the only high level athletes on the team, and they projected to be god awful defensively across the spectrum.

I know I've harped on how horrible he is but Beasley's failure was not a true "failure". He played roughly how anyone who had followed his career would have expected him to play. The guy is a terrible player and he had been terrible before he ever arrived in Phoenix. And any team who plans on one of the most detrimental players in the league to be their most important player is in for a long season with plenty of time to reflect on their astounding stupidity.

I honestly think they could have done WORSE than they did. Many of our early wins came after the supposed "starters" had built an enormous deficit and then the bench rallied.

Not only was it a lousy but it was not a young team. Most rotation players had at least 4 years already under their belt in the league, for most of the year the only rotation guy who was still on his rookie contract was Morris. It takes some exceptionally incompetent front office work to assemble a team that contends for a #1 pick despite having so many experienced players whos talents should already have been well understood.

So, in summary, the 2012-2013 season was dead on arrival. What went wrong was several years of bad drafting, bad free agent signing and horrible roster planning.

Cutter · Post #19 » by **Cutter** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 12:46 am

phrazbit wrote:What went wrong was several years of bad drafting, bad free agent signing and horrible roster planning.

This.

Dragic13 · Post #20 » by **Dragic13** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 1:35 am

Beasley and Brown. They sucked on offensive and defense. It didn't matter if you put them in the game for only 10 minutes they would jack up 20 shots and miss the majority of them. They farked up almost every game they played in.

Wes should have been playing over Brown and Beasley.

But I think last season no matter how bad it was will make this next season better. We discovered Tucker who is a beast. We have lots of draft picks and can put a young roster around Dragic that can hope to build into the future.

I think we end up trading Gortat at some point too and get some good value for him, more young talent to build on. NEVER TRADE DUDLEY! Hope he stays with PHX forever.

I have higher hopes for next season then last season.

I would also like to see Garrett stick around to compete for the backup PG spot against marshall. I think Garrett has a lot of talent and Marshall needs to feel some pressure. Marshall did surprise us with his 3pt shooting last year tho. lol hope he improves on that aswell.

Not to mention what went wrong last year wont be here this year =)

Oh and will channing frye be back?

And we got a new logo, new court, new jerseys? Young talent and new look Suns! Go team.