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[bwgood77]

It's funny, the Clippers are probably one of my fourth least favorite team in the west, but I continue to be forced to pull for them. For whatever reason, I will still be surprised if they don't win this series. I think they will just have more sheer willpower to win it, but of course a team like the Rockets can just simply get hot like they did last game or like Wisconsin did in the elite 8.

After pulling for them against the Spurs and Rockets, I may be so used to it I will begin to pull for them against the Warriors. I would love to see the Clips/Warriors in the next round though.

[Kyler Murray]

Can't wait for Paul George to come back strong cuz this East sucks donkey ass. Love-less Cavs with injured Kyrie beating the no.1 seed....

[Bogyo]

Steph. Curry. Makes. Me. Cry.

[lilfishi22]

Steph. Curry. Makes. Me. Cry.

Remember this

This is one of the series of interviews I conducted recently while trying to reconstruct the events and almost-decisions that led to the Warriors selecting and keeping Stephen Curry in the 2009 draft… after almost trading him to Phoenix.

Steve Kerr was the Suns’ president and GM at the time–about to enter his final full season in that role.

-Q: Were you guys close to a trade with the Warriors for Curry?

-KERR: It was close. There was not a deal done. But it was tricky because of Amare’s physical situation. Because he had bad knees, any deal that we were going to make would’ve been subject to a physical…

But we were very far down the road.

I think we felt like from our side that if Steph dropped to 7 where they were picking that we were going to get a deal done. That’s what it felt like.

At the time with all the discussions… we had a lot of discussions, Larry and I did. But again that’s all part of the way things work in the NBA–until something is approved by the league office, you can’t count on it.

We felt pretty good about it, though.

http://archive.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/2009/06/25/20090625spt-sunsonline.html

[Bogyo]

Steph. Curry. Makes. Me. Cry.

Remember this

This is one of the series of interviews I conducted recently while trying to reconstruct the events and almost-decisions that led to the Warriors selecting and keeping Stephen Curry in the 2009 draft… after almost trading him to Phoenix.

Steve Kerr was the Suns’ president and GM at the time–about to enter his final full season in that role.

-Q: Were you guys close to a trade with the Warriors for Curry?

-KERR: It was close. There was not a deal done. But it was tricky because of Amare’s physical situation. Because he had bad knees, any deal that we were going to make would’ve been subject to a physical…

But we were very far down the road.

I think we felt like from our side that if Steph dropped to 7 where they were picking that we were going to get a deal done. That’s what it felt like.

At the time with all the discussions… we had a lot of discussions, Larry and I did. But again that’s all part of the way things work in the NBA–until something is approved by the league office, you can’t count on it.

We felt pretty good about it, though.

http://archive.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/2009/06/25/20090625spt-sunsonline.html

Damn you Fish! He made me cry without thinking about this

[Revived]

How come this thread is not stickied anymore especially with the playoffs still going on?

[Revived]

Did anyone else notice that the previous Suns GM and his assistant GM are now both going to be in the Finals while Robert Sarver, yet again, watches it from the couch?

Kerr has obviously been brilliant but I don't think Griffin is given enough credit. He screwed up with the Wiggins trade but the addition of Mozgov, JR and Shumpert have been key for the Cavs. Hiring Blatt is also looking brilliant. Sure LeBron is the obvious reason for the Cavs but Griffin has done a fantastic job as well and the smart ones in the media do recognize him every now and then as well.

I remember when he was in PHX, he was supposed to take over once Kerr left but something happened (can't remember what anymore) but he left either with Kerr or even before Kerr. A shame really, it would have made a pretty big difference going with Griffin instead of Blanks.

[RunDogGun]

Totally! If we just would have kept Terry Porter as head coach, we would have been in the finals right now.

[Cutter]

Did anyone else notice that the previous Suns GM and his assistant GM are now both going to be in the Finals while Robert Sarver, yet again, watches it from the couch?

Kerr has obviously been brilliant but I don't think Griffin is given enough credit. He screwed up with the Wiggins trade but the addition of Mozgov, JR and Shumpert have been key for the Cavs. Hiring Blatt is also looking brilliant. Sure LeBron is the obvious reason for the Cavs but Griffin has done a fantastic job as well and the smart ones in the media do recognize him every now and then as well.

I remember when he was in PHX, he was supposed to take over once Kerr left but something happened (can't remember what anymore) but he left either with Kerr or even before Kerr. A shame really, it would have made a pretty big difference going with Griffin instead of Blanks.

It's amazing how brilliant someone looks when they get to coach all star Steph Curry or super star LeBron James. I'd bet a paycheck that neither Kerr nor Blatt would do any better coaching the current Suns team that Hornacek has done.

[bwgood77]

Did anyone else notice that the previous Suns GM and his assistant GM are now both going to be in the Finals while Robert Sarver, yet again, watches it from the couch?

Kerr has obviously been brilliant but I don't think Griffin is given enough credit. He screwed up with the Wiggins trade but the addition of Mozgov, JR and Shumpert have been key for the Cavs. Hiring Blatt is also looking brilliant. Sure LeBron is the obvious reason for the Cavs but Griffin has done a fantastic job as well and the smart ones in the media do recognize him every now and then as well.

I remember when he was in PHX, he was supposed to take over once Kerr left but something happened (can't remember what anymore) but he left either with Kerr or even before Kerr. A shame really, it would have made a pretty big difference going with Griffin instead of Blanks.

I don't know about Griffin. His draft picks I don't know how much he had to do with the Bennett and Waiters picks, but those certainly were not good. Irving and Wiggins were but those were pretty much no brainers. I think he is probably a decent exec, but I certainly wouldn't credit him much for this Cavs finals run. As for the stickies, there were so many, and this one was pretty inactive, and I didn't want to unsticky Howard's that quickly (though I probably will soon).

[Revived]

Did anyone else notice that the previous Suns GM and his assistant GM are now both going to be in the Finals while Robert Sarver, yet again, watches it from the couch?

Kerr has obviously been brilliant but I don't think Griffin is given enough credit. He screwed up with the Wiggins trade but the addition of Mozgov, JR and Shumpert have been key for the Cavs. Hiring Blatt is also looking brilliant. Sure LeBron is the obvious reason for the Cavs but Griffin has done a fantastic job as well and the smart ones in the media do recognize him every now and then as well.

I remember when he was in PHX, he was supposed to take over once Kerr left but something happened (can't remember what anymore) but he left either with Kerr or even before Kerr. A shame really, it would have made a pretty big difference going with Griffin instead of Blanks.

It's amazing how brilliant someone looks when they get to coach all star Steph Curry or super star LeBron James. I'd bet a paycheck that neither Kerr nor Blatt would do any better coaching the current Suns team that Hornacek has done.

Oh is Steve Kerr the first coach that's coaching Curry? Cause I'm pretty sure none of Curry's previous coaches got him all the way to the championship game. So I guess Kerr must know something all his past coaches don't. And lets just ignore the progress and development that guys like Klay, Draymond and Barnes all made under Kerr as well...

And LeBron played in CLE for 10 years prior to leaving for Miami...and LeBron was actually young and in his prime then and he made the Finals a whooping 1 time. Now 30 year old LeBron is under the team that Griffin constructed and walla, their in the Finals in just 1 year. So again, Griffin must know something that the previous GMs who were in CLE during LeBron's previous tenure didn't know.

[lilfishi22]

Kerr walked into a situation where the roster was already championship calibre so he definitely had an easier route but gotta give credit where credit is due. Draymond took his game to the next level, as did Klay, Barnes and even Curry. GSW are playing a brand of basketball most teams wished they played, uptempo, exciting but also elite defensively. Kerr deserves credit for running a system that suits the roster perfectly

[Cutter]

Curry's first few years were littered with ankle injuries. As a matter of fact, he was so injury prone he signed a very modest contract that befitted his limited production. Of course he turned his injury situation around completely and is now MVP of the league. The last couple of years he is fully playing up to his potential, and he has been a beast. Kerr has done a good job with the GSW team and has turned them into a championship contender.

LeBron is a mature battled hardened veteran who has several championships under his belt at this point. He was a 26 year old kid when he left Cleveland to go to Miami. Now that he is back in Cleveland he has all star Irving and all star Love to help him. Honestly, I'm not sure Blatt is actually even coaching the team right now. If you believe the gossip about the Cavs, LeBron basically does what he wants while Blatt pretends to be coaching.

[King4Day]

More former Suns in the finals.
Happy for blur. Hope they win. Give him and Gentry their rings.

[bwgood77]

More former Suns in the finals.
Happy for blur. Hope they win. Give him and Gentry their rings.

Yeah, those that left too early (Marion and James Jones) can just miss out.

Also, Bulls explaining how Thibs was not good for them...

Chicago Bulls Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said, “The Chicago Bulls have a history of achieving great success on and off the court. These accomplishments have been possible because of an organizational culture where input from all parts of the organization has been welcomed and valued, there has been a willingness to participate in a free flow of information, and there have been clear and consistent goals. While the head of each department of the organization must be free to make final decisions regarding his department, there must be free and open interdepartmental discussion and consideration of everyone's ideas and opinions. These internal discussions must not be considered an invasion of turf, and must remain private. Teams that consistently perform at the highest levels are able to come together and be unified across the organization-staff, players, coaches, management and ownership. When everyone is on the same page, trust develops and teams can grow and succeed together. Unfortunately, there has been a departure from this culture. To ensure that the Chicago Bulls can continue to grow and succeed, we have decided that a change in the head coaching position is required. Days like today are difficult, but necessary for us to achieve our goals and fulfill our commitments to our fans. I appreciate the contributions that Tom Thibodeau made to the Bulls organization. I have always respected his love of the game and wish him well in the future.”

Following 21 years in the NBA as an assistant coach (he was an advance scout in 1991-92), Chicago named Thibodeau the team’s head coach on June 23, 2010. During his five seasons at the helm of the Bulls, Thibodeau’s teams compiled an overall record of 255-139 (.647). The Bulls advanced to the playoffs five times during Thibodeau’s tenure, where he posted a postseason record of 23-28 (.451).

"When Tom was hired in 2010, he was right for our team and system at that time, and over the last five years we have had some success with Tom as our head coach,” said Chicago Bulls General Manager Gar Forman. “But as we looked ahead and evaluated how we as a team and an organization could continue to grow and improve, we believed a change in approach was needed."

http://www.nba.com/bulls/news/tom-thibo ... head-coach

[RunDogGun]

More former Suns in the finals.
Happy for blur. Hope they win. Give him and Gentry their rings.

Yeah, those that left too early (Marion and James Jones) can just miss out.

Well they just got them not too long ago, right? Different teams though. Didn't Jones get one from Miami, and Marion from Dallas?

[bwgood77]

More former Suns in the finals.
Happy for blur. Hope they win. Give him and Gentry their rings.

Yeah, those that left too early (Marion and James Jones) can just miss out.

Well they just got them not too long ago, right? Different teams though. Didn't Jones get one from Miami, and Marion from Dallas?

Yeah, they got theirs. Time to reward our other past contributers since they can't seem to do it here.

[letsgosuns]

There are a lot of people that have left the Suns organization while it has been under Sarver's control. Many of them had a lot of success, some did not. Nearly everyone involved during the seven seconds or less era is gone. That era was also the last time the Suns signed a marquee free agent. Just look at the people involved who met with Nash in 2004:

"Nash had met with Cuban in Dallas on Wednesday morning and then was greeted by a traveling Suns delegation that included chairman Jerry Colangelo, son and team president Bryan Colangelo, new owner Robert Sarver, coach Mike D'Antoni, former NBA player and Suns minority owner Steve Kerr, former Suns player and current scout Rex Chapman and forward Amare Stoudemire, a client of Duffy's." http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1833028

Fast forward to now and every single one of those people that met with Nash in 2004 are gone besides Sarver. Pretty shocking how much turnover this organization has had since then. Compare that group of people who met with Nash and think of who the Suns would be able to send now if there was a similar situation. Sarver, McDonough, Babby, Hornacek, maybe one player. I do not know who. Certainly not Bledsoe because he barely talks. Anyway, that 2004 group demands so much more respect it is not even close. You have the Colangelo's who are respected mightily across the league. Kerr who was a multiple NBA champion. Amare who was already a massive up and coming presence. Chapman who was Nash's personal friend. And D'antoni was the only unknown. The current group only has one person that even played in the NBA in Hornacek. There is no comparison. The Suns organization now is so far from what it was under Colangelo it is sad. And I really like Sarver too. I just do not understand what has happened.

[RunDogGun]

Even though it was two WNBA championships, Sarver is the only one besides Kerr that has a chip, right? I'm also going to bet that the team isn't in as much debt as when JC left it.

The other odd part is Kerr basically got rid of almost the whole SSOL crew. Didn't Kerr get rid of KT, two unprotected firsts, Raja, Diaw, Marion, D'Antoni, and stayed on to trade Stat?

[bwgood77]

If Sarver wears a WNBA championship ring I might have to stop being a Suns fan during his tenure.