Jared Cohen
The Suns off-season brought so many questions to the franchise. Through the first month of the season, many of those questions still remain and continue to bring much uncertainty. There have been positives like the emergence of different players stepping up on a given night for the team and negatives like a 40-point loss to the Detroit Pistons and having a less than stellar road record as a whole. Because of those inconsistencies, it is still hard to gage what to expect not just for this season but going forward.
“They don’t necessarily have a roster that they are committed to in terms of, ok this is our team,” NBA TV analyst Greg Anthony told Brad Cesmat Thursday on ‘Big Guy on Sports.’ “So because they have not necessarily established that, it may give the owner the opportunity to say ok lets just see what we have, how this team responds and maybe go in that direction.”
When words like commitment and direction are used in question when talking about a team, it could create some problems that are difficult to overcome. One buzzing point has been the future of head coach Alvin Gentry. In the final year of his contract coaching a team that is in transition, it is difficult to gage what lies ahead for him with the Suns.
The decisions made in the near future in regards to Gentry as well as defining the commitment and direction, could make or break the organization in the future.
“Stability is really important,” explained Anthony. “From a players stand point, from the fans stand point, from a variety of stand points and in-stability is not a path you want to start down and is one that you may never get off. So it’s a fine line right now that ownership is walking.”
“I think coach Gentry has done a solid job,” Anthony added. “If you told me that this team a month into the season would be playing about .500 basketball I’d say that’s a pretty solid job.”
Anthony mentions that the Suns are at a crucial point for their organization even though it has been a decent start to the year. Creating the foundation and an identity to build around is critical. That’s something that he believes the Suns are more than capable of putting together.
“Phoenix has had a great history of putting out a good product from a basketball stand point and fans there have been pretty supportive of that,” mentioned Anthony. “But if you don’t in essence show them that you are committed to winning, fans in Phoenix like in most places can become a bit fickle.”
Suns continue their road trip in Toronto, New York and then Memphis before returning home to face Dallas next week.
