Sarver's Change in Philosophy

[ShawnBronald]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/suns--surprising-season-began-with-change-in-philosophy-025610267.html

Great article on Yahoo by Adrian Wojnarowski regarding Robert Sarver. Most Suns fans dislike Robert Sarver, that's no secret. I'm not a big fan of his, but I believe in giving credit where it's due. I know that stepping back and letting McDonough and Babby (and Hornacek, to an extent) run this team was extremely hard for Sarver.

Since he's been owner, he has often overstepped his boundaries and made bad decisions. Sure, not all of them were bad (not resigning Amare, bringing back Dragic), but all anyone remembers are the horrible decisions (JJ, KT to Seattle, Warrick, Lance Blanks, etc, etc). His wisest decision may very well be stepping aside and letting the basketball people finally run the basketball team. Whether you dislike Sarver or flat-out hate him, take a few minutes to read this article.

[alldayeveryday]

"For all successful people in business, I think that the notion of taking a step back to take a step forward is a foreign concept," Sarver told Yahoo Sports. "You simply don't say, 'We're going to go backward for a couple years,' in business. But pro sports – especially the NBA – is different, and it's set up to do just that.

Listen I'm not a GM and never will be. The only issue I have with this statement is how delusional do you have to be to not bite the bullet and re-build. I would imagine Sarver had people surrounded by him that can make these types of decisions a little easier when deciding what to do with a NBA franchise.

It sounds more PR talk then anything else and the only reason he's probably speaking up now is because the Suns are doing well this season. I am excited we are doing well but I cannot let go of the miscalculated decisions he's made over and over again.

Hope everyone enjoys the holidays!

[Christine-In-AZ]

All-in-All...grading on a curve. Sarver is not a bad owner at all. Upper half of the league at a minimum. The 9+ years of his ownership has equaled mostly good, relevant teams. His given us a team with at least a shot at a ring 4 or 5 times. Just having enough faith in Nash to sign Steve covers many of the mistakes made...and there have been some rather ugly ones. I wouldn't put the JJ decision in this negative call catagory. The Suns couldn't afford to have 4 max/near max salaries at once, and I think the right 3 players were kept. I seriously doubt JJ would've gotten the Suns any further than the resulting fallout of his departure would've, that being Boris Diaw & Raja Bell.

Over the length of his ownership, I'd give Sarver a "B" as an owner. He was about a "C-" a year ago or so.

[rsavaj]

Pretty darn good article

Gonna add a related one: "How the Suns became the NBA's biggest surprise": http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nb ... e/4167877/

[McD for MVP]

All-in-All...grading on a curve. Sarver is not a bad owner at all. Upper half of the league at a minimum. The 9+ years of his ownership has equaled mostly good, relevant teams. His given us a team with at least a shot at a ring 4 or 5 times. Just having enough faith in Nash to sign Steve covers many of the mistakes made...and there have been some rather ugly ones. I wouldn't put the JJ decision in this negative call catagory. The Suns couldn't afford to have 4 max/near max salaries at once, and I think the right 3 players were kept. I seriously doubt JJ would've gotten the Suns any further than the resulting fallout of his departure would've, that being Boris Diaw & Raja Bell.

Over the length of his ownership, I'd give Sarver a "B" as an owner. He was about a "C-" a year ago or so.

Wow.

I honestly think you either don't know or have just completely forgotten what Sarver has done wrong.

You seem to be under the impression that Sarver gave us those contending teams. Wrong. Colangelo handed him a championship team on a silver platter and Sarver still found ways to **** it all up.

Couldn't afford a guaranteed championship? Sorry, I can't take that argument serious.

What also made me absolutely sick to my stomach was in 2007, when we were favored by many to win the championship, Sarver traded our starting center who we needed for defense and rebounding for **** cash and scraps. Don't blame Kerr for that trade, it was clearly an order from Sarver. With no Kurt Thomas, the team was clearly missing something right out of the gate, and I attribute that to Marion's poor play which lead to him being traded.

Also, the countless picks we have sold for cash. Disgusting.

Then, after Kerr retired this idiot had one of the worst off seasons in NBA history that set out franchise back several years. He let Amare go because the training staff insisted it, fine. But with that money, Robert Sarver, one of the worst owners in sports history traded Barbosa for HEDO TURKOGLU and his 4 year 40 million dollar contract. But wait, it doesn't end there. How about Josh Children's, a guy who had been playing in Europe for a year or 2? Why not offer him a SIX YEAR (!!!!!!) 33.5 million dollar contract????? That worked out well. Genius. Because heaven forbid we give a mediocre player who wasn't even playing in the NBA for a while a 3 years or less deal. Also, Turkoglu and Childress played the same position..........as well as Grant Hill.

And to top it off, he offered a certified scrub by the name of Hakim Warrick a 3 year $12.75 million contract.

I would have rather paid Amare all the money in the world to sit on the bench injured in a suit than to waste tons of cap space on garbage like that.

Oh, and did I mention he signed Lance Blanks right after this off season? What the hell made him worthy of being an NBA GM?

At this point, we were going down the toilet. The years of competing for a campionship were clearly over. Instead of either blowing it up or beginning to stack up young assets and picks to start a rebuild, Sarver decided he wanted to squeeze as much money as he could out of Nash, praying for the 8th seed the next 3 years. He had no plan but to get money from making the playoffs and selling Steve Nash jerseys.



So you are going to give this man anything better than a D- as an owner? Seriously? He is **** terrible and the franchises profits are now in the toilet. The Suns were a cash cow every year for a long time.

Plus, outside of destroying the team, he has almost completely killed purple and drove more fans in Arizona away from the franchise. Stupid. He also continues to try to overprice the hell out of tickets and concession stands.

He sucks. I give him an F+ as an owner. Before McDonough, he was an easy F-

[thamadkant]

All-in-All...grading on a curve. Sarver is not a bad owner at all. Upper half of the league at a minimum. The 9+ years of his ownership has equaled mostly good, relevant teams. His given us a team with at least a shot at a ring 4 or 5 times. Just having enough faith in Nash to sign Steve covers many of the mistakes made...and there have been some rather ugly ones. I wouldn't put the JJ decision in this negative call catagory. The Suns couldn't afford to have 4 max/near max salaries at once, and I think the right 3 players were kept. I seriously doubt JJ would've gotten the Suns any further than the resulting fallout of his departure would've, that being Boris Diaw & Raja Bell.

Over the length of his ownership, I'd give Sarver a "B" as an owner. He was about a "C-" a year ago or so.

Wow.

I honestly think you either don't know or have just completely forgotten what Sarver has done wrong.

You seem to be under the impression that Sarver gave us those contending teams. Wrong. Colangelo handed him a championship team on a silver platter and Sarver still found ways to **** it all up.

Couldn't afford a guaranteed championship? Sorry, I can't take that argument serious.

What also made me absolutely sick to my stomach was in 2007, when we were favored by many to win the championship, Sarver traded our starting center who we needed for defense and rebounding for **** cash and scraps. Don't blame Kerr for that trade, it was clearly an order from Sarver. With no Kurt Thomas, the team was clearly missing something right out of the gate, and I attribute that to Marion's poor play which lead to him being traded.

Also, the countless picks we have sold for cash. Disgusting.

Then, after Kerr retired this idiot had one of the worst off seasons in NBA history that set out franchise back several years. He let Amare go because the training staff insisted it, fine. But with that money, Robert Sarver, one of the worst owners in sports history traded Barbosa for HEDO TURKOGLU and his 4 year 40 million dollar contract. But wait, it doesn't end there. How about Josh Children's, a guy who had been playing in Europe for a year or 2? Why not offer him a SIX YEAR (!!!!!!) 33.5 million dollar contract????? That worked out well. Genius. Because heaven forbid we give a mediocre player who wasn't even playing in the NBA for a while a 3 years or less deal. Also, Turkoglu and Childress played the same position..........as well as Grant Hill.

And to top it off, he offered a certified scrub by the name of Hakim Warrick a 3 year $12.75 million contract.

I would have rather paid Amare all the money in the world to sit on the bench injured in a suit than to waste tons of cap space on garbage like that.

Oh, and did I mention he signed Lance Blanks right after this off season? What the hell made him worthy of being an NBA GM?

At this point, we were going down the toilet. The years of competing for a campionship were clearly over. Instead of either blowing it up or beginning to stack up young assets and picks to start a rebuild, Sarver decided he wanted to squeeze as much money as he could out of Nash, praying for the 8th seed the next 3 years. He had no plan but to get money from making the playoffs and selling Steve Nash jerseys.



So you are going to give this man anything better than a D- as an owner? Seriously? He is **** terrible and the franchises profits are now in the toilet. The Suns were a cash cow every year for a long time.

Plus, outside of destroying the team, he has almost completely killed purple and drove more fans in Arizona away from the franchise. Stupid. He also continues to try to overprice the hell out of tickets and concession stands.

He sucks. I give him an F+ as an owner. Before McDonough, he was an easy F-

So... You're trying to say you don't like Sarver very much.

[Koknikol]

Colangelo handed him a championship team on a silver platter and Sarver still found ways to **** it all up.

Colangelo was very succesful in winning championships?

What also made me absolutely sick to my stomach was in 2007, when we were favored by many to win the championship, Sarver traded our starting center who we needed for defense and rebounding for **** cash and scraps. Don't blame Kerr for that trade, it was clearly an order from Sarver. With no Kurt Thomas, the team was clearly missing something right out of the gate, and I attribute that to Marion's poor play which lead to him being traded.

Also, the countless picks we have sold for cash. Disgusting.

Coach didnt want to use KT any more - so Sarver should pay 16 mil.$ for player who dont play? Terrible trade but it was not all Sarvers fault.

He was also guilty for all injuries, stupid suspensions and all other crap?

[BurningHeart]

Awesome article. Agreed with every word. Love McDonough and crew sticking their dicks into the sick fantasies of draft fetishists.

[Cutter]

Awesome article. Agreed with every word. Love McDonough and crew sticking their dicks into the sick fantasies of draft fetishists.

[Moochthemonkey]

You seem to be under the impression that Sarver gave us those contending teams. Wrong. Colangelo handed him a championship team on a silver platter and Sarver still found ways to **** it all up.

Incorrect, Colangelo sold the Suns in the spring of 2004, BEFORE Nash was a Sun.

From a managerial standpoint the early success can be somewhat attributed to B. Colangelo. In fact, I think some fans place too much importance on the owner, for they usually no little about basketball. They are just there as they have the $$ to hand out multi-million dollar contracts- and the Suns were well over the cap from 2004-2012.

Don't blame Kerr for that trade, it was clearly an order from Sarver.

[citation needed]

With no Kurt Thomas, the team was clearly missing something right out of the gate, and I attribute that to Marion's poor play which lead to him being traded.

Somewhat true, but Kurt Thomas didn't exactly fit perfectly into D'Antoni's plans of the uptempo system. I'm not saying it was a good move to make, but it certainly wasn't just a Sarver directed one.

Marion got traded (for Shaq) because the Suns felt they needed more of an inside presence after that Lakers traded for Gasol. It also got rid of M. Banks ridiculous contract which only just expired a couple years ago.

Also, the countless picks we have sold for cash. Disgusting.

The players that would have never seen the light of day in D'Antoni's system.

[Frank Lee]

Sheesh... this again ?


I liked these tidbits

No more beer in the locker room (who was sudzing?)
No card playing except after wins
No management in the locker room

[McD for MVP]

Citation needed? Do you really think Steve Kerr was just dying to trade our starting center away for cash? No GM in history wants that. Only an owner would.

And Colangelo signed Nash when he was GM iirc.

Robert Sarver is garbage. He ruined the Suns. I wish he would have died before the **** the franchise. Hell, if I would have known he was going to do so much damage I would have no problem with putting the bullet between his eyes myself.

[Ring_Wanted]

What I 'hold' against Sarver:

Selling Sergio Rodriguez.
Using one mid first to unload Brian Grant's contract.
Using Rudy Fernandez to unload JJones.
The KT trade, along with Kerr who should have been adamant such move wouldn't go down under his tenure.
The Shaq trade.
OK'ing Terry Porter.
Hidayet Turkoglu. Josh Childress.
Lance Blanks.

[Christine-In-AZ]

All-in-All...grading on a curve. Sarver is not a bad owner at all. Upper half of the league at a minimum. The 9+ years of his ownership has equaled mostly good, relevant teams. His given us a team with at least a shot at a ring 4 or 5 times. Just having enough faith in Nash to sign Steve covers many of the mistakes made...and there have been some rather ugly ones. I wouldn't put the JJ decision in this negative call catagory. The Suns couldn't afford to have 4 max/near max salaries at once, and I think the right 3 players were kept. I seriously doubt JJ would've gotten the Suns any further than the resulting fallout of his departure would've, that being Boris Diaw & Raja Bell.

Over the length of his ownership, I'd give Sarver a "B" as an owner. He was about a "C-" a year ago or so.

You seem to be under the impression that Sarver gave us those contending teams. Wrong. Colangelo handed him a championship team on a silver platter and Sarver still found ways to **** it all up.

Not going to give you much thought in response, as you're view of Sarver is pretty commited. I am wondering how you can say Sarver was handed a championship team. He purchased the team in '04 immediately after the Suns completed a 29-53 year. I've been watching the Suns with focused interest since March 1970, and I keep very close tabs on FO moves from about 1980 forward.. I think Sarver has done a pretty good job overall. The evidence is on the scoreboard, and I feel quite confident Sarver will continue to enable the Suns for even further success for years to come.

We just disagree I guess.
Merry Christmas!

[Ring_Wanted]

Sarver's first sin was getting frugal on the verge of a championship. The second one was getting involved in player decisions.

He did 'inherit' a title candidate under BC the summer they signed Nash and Q, but almost everything went wrong after that until this new regime.

Right now we have a future and believe in the GM, but Sarver pretty good job overall? Come on.

[Christine-In-AZ]

He did 'inherit' a title candidate under BC the summer they signed Nash and Q, but almost everything went wrong after that until this new regime.

He did own the Suns when Nash and Q were signed-
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1833028
http://www.nba.com/suns/news/quentin_ri ... 40729.html

Don't get how you feel "everything went wrong after that", as the Suns made 3 strong runs in a row. But like I wrote to the dude who says he would have literally killed Robert Sarver if given the chance. I just see it differently, and I think Sarver actually made some great calls from June '04 until the Gasol trade to L.A. ...then panic set in. Followed by many bad decisions. Things went bad for about 3 years.

One thing I have noticed is that Sarver is fairly quick to acknowledge a mistake, and not let it fester and get worse. He's pretty good at this. I'm sure he'll always be a "cheapskate idiot" to a segment of the fanbase with any good stuff coming despite his ownership. I'll remain the crazy (clearly in the minority) Suns fan that is mostly pleased with his stewardship so far.

[Ring_Wanted]

He already was the owner when Nash was signed, but I say 'inherit' because dumping Marbury and Penny and going for Nash to lead the core of youngs on the roster was not a plan concieved by Sarver, but by BC.

The Suns made three strong runs, true, but it was is spite of Sarver, not thanks to him.

And yes, after signing Nash and Q everything got worse if you talk about players and personnel decisions. Not every single thing done was bad, but the list of bad moves and wasted assets is brutal. The JJ fiasco, dumping picks, stupid trades, stupid signings, you name it. I know I was not pleased.

[mybloodisorange]

I think our hated owner may be turning the corner by learning to be more hands-off. He owes alot to McDonough and Hornacek for what is happening right now...I still can't believe how quickly Horny has gotten this team rolling; we really lucked out getting him and we have him tied up for 4 years!

[Jdiddy701]

You guys are nuts. You don't know what it takes to be an owner so chill out.

Sarver wants the Suns to win. I'll just leave it at that.

[Koknikol]

Well BC left him nice team - but also 2 mental clowns in JJ and Marion. I guess it was Sarvers fault that Marion tanked second half in 2007 playoff.

In Miami much bigger stars took paycut to win championships, in Phx Marion and JJ whine about no1 stars status and 20 mil.$ per season.