SDH Presents the NBA's Worst to First for December: 25. Phoenix Suns

Phoenix Suns Overall Win/Loss Record (as of December 31st): 10-20,  fifth place Pacific Division	Last Month 22	This Month: 25
Team Statistics and League Rank (as of December 31st): Points Scored: 97.4 (13th) Points Allowed: 101.0 (26th) Team FG%: .449 (13th) Opponent’s FG%: .470 (29th) Rebounds per game: 39.8 (27th) Opponents rebounds per game: 43.6 (25th) Turnovers per game: 13.4 (4th) Opponents turnovers per game: 15.4 (8th)	Individual Statistical Leaders (as of December 31st): Scoring (ppg): Goran Dragic (14.7) Rebounds per game:  Marcin Gortat (8.4) Minutes per game: Goran Dragic (32.1) Assists per game: Goran Dragic (6.4) Field Goal Percentage: Marcin Gortat (.534) Steals per game: Goran Dragic (1.6) Blocked Shots per game: Marcin Gortat (1.9)
Worst Player of the Month:  Alvin Gentry He is not a player, but it is because of Alvin Gentry’s poor coaching that the Phoenix Suns find themselves in the sad state that they are currently in.   On the offensively, he has failed royally in utilizing the talent and athleticism in his team as can be seen by the poor performances of Michael Beasley and Marcin Gortat thus far this season.  He has equally bungled in his defensive scheme where Gentry has a team that is loaded with size, but still ranks at the bottom in points and field goals allowed, along with being at the bottom of the league in rebounds.  The frustration of his players is evident and sooner or later it will boil over and become a situation where the players will simply tune Gentry out, if that has not happened already.  Phoenix’s top brass should simply cut Gentry loose because the longer he continues to coach the team, the worse off that it is going to be.	First Player of the Month: Jermaine O’Neal In a team that has been terribly underperforming, it is a surprise to see that the team’s best player has been considered a washed up has-been for the past five years.  Many were shocked to see the Suns giving a chance on the much beleaguered Jermaine O’Neal who had spent much of his career for the past few years wither on the bench in his warm up suit or in street clothes.  No one expected for O’Neal to even play a minute, let alone make any impact on this rebuilding Suns team; however, he has proven all the haters wrong by posting his best numbers in recent memory.  Although his 7.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per game does not pop out in anyone’s eyes, the fact that he does this in 16 minutes per game along with shooting possibly a career best of .512, shows that O’Neal still has enough in his tank to make a solid contribution to an NBA team.    With his history, however, one still have to wonder how long can he keep this up for before he inevitably breaks down.
Analysis: The Phoenix Suns were supposed to be one of the up and coming teams in the NBA--they came into the season with an infusion of fresh young talent to give the team a jolt in the post-Steve Nash era.  Unfortunately, this new version of the Suns have been anything but spectacular despite having one of the top young point men in the league in Goran Dragic along with a stable full of solid veterans which include Jared Dudley, Shannon Brown, Luis Scola, Marcin Gortat and Jermaine O'Neal to name a few.  The Suns also boast a treasure trove of dynamic young talent with untapped potential in Michael Beasley, Markieff Morris, Wesley Johnson and their first round pick, Kendall Marshal.  Sadly, it has been a rather dark and cold time for a once bright and red hot exciting team as their fire has been completely snuffed out. With as much depth of talent and athleticism that Phoenix has, one would expect the Suns to be much more exciting and fun to watch; however, so far it has been the complete opposite this season.  The Suns' play has been the antitheses of their historical reputation as a fast and fun uptempo team as they have played rather stagnant offensively with none of the ball movement and chemistry that many have grown accustomed of seeing Phoenix play.  It is as if the Suns have spent the entire season running around like chickens with their head cut off going in every which way until the team eventually stops moving.  Sure, one can place the blame on the influx of new players and the loss of Steve Nash for this sharp downturn in Phoenix basketball; however, even before Steve Nash, the Suns had a reputation of being one of the most dynamic and efficient offensive teams in the league so the new faces should not be considered an excuse by any means.  Plus, the Suns have a veteran coach in Alvin Gentry who has a sterling reputation in the league for getting the best out of his players regardless of personnel. That is not to say that with the team it currently has, the Phoenix Suns should be on top of the Pacific Division--not by any means; however, with the talent on its roster, the team should be performing and producing far better than their 10-20 record currently has shown.  With the team's current makeup, the least one should have expected the Suns to be hovering around the .500 mark, at worst, a game or two under.   Last season, the Suns did not even have half the talent it currently has and still managed to squeak out a .500 record and still remained somewhat respectable until season's end.  Many would say that was it was all because of Nash that the Suns remained respectable, but that is a cop out because upon further examination, Nash was not that huge a factor last season as his offensive numbers dropped to their worst in years.  And although the argument can be made that it was primarily his passing and his superior ability to get his teammates allowed Phoenix to maintain its respectability, that also should be considered a cop out because the Suns brought in a more than capable successor to Steve Nash in Goran Dragic. Last season, Goran proved that he had to the potential to be just as good as Steve Nash or at worst a close facsimile of him while he played for the Houston Rockets.  While at Houston showed glimpses of having the same court sense as Nash had along with the basketball IQ to find his teammates in the right spot and get them involved.  In fact Dragic did so well that Phoenix decided to drop 30$ million of the next four years to secure him as the Suns' point guard of the future.  With   a little coaching, extra guidance and a little more structure in the offense, it would not be too presumptuous to predict not only Dragic to be a fine successor to Nash, but even probably play well enough to garner All Star recognition.   Unfortunately, Dragic has thus far stumbled through the season looking completely clueless on the leading him and his teammates to force him and his teammates to play one on one in most if not all offensive possessions this season resulting in the Suns poor play and current underwhelming performance. Much of the cause of the Suns woes has to be pointed to the coaching as the team's play on both ends of the floor has been a complete jumbled up mess with no real planning or organization.  Such a deep, talented athletic team with so much untapped potential should not be playing so sporadic and in such disarray, but much more cohesive and steady with a unified purpose.  There should no need for any kind of major roster shakeups because the Suns already have the pieces good enough to be able to take on any team in the NBA.  All that is needed is something or someone to corral all these loose and wild young thoroughbreds and take have them moving in one direction instead of them splitting apart going each and every way.  There is still time for the suns to get it together, but they will have to act soon because it will be such a shame for such a talented team with so much untapped potential to continue floundering this season--neither the team, the players or the fans that support them deserve such a terrible fate.