Who are these Suns?

I once heard someone say that you have to go through hell to get to heaven. While I'm sure when this was originally said it was meant in a very philosophical way, when I heard it, the gentleman was referring to the state of the Phoenix Suns. What he forgot to mention was anything about purgatory, that mid way portion where you aren’t quite in hell but certainly not in heaven. This is where the Phoenix Suns sit.

For the last few years you could almost always expect a preseason article on ESPN.com or in a Sports Illustrated magazine with the catchy headline of, "The Sun is setting in Phoenix." This article typically dismissed the Suns as legit contenders, said Steve Nash and the rest if the Suns were getting too old, always snuck in a jab about the Suns' defense, or lack there of and typically ended with the statement that the Suns' championship window had closed. Up to this point, the only time this appeared to be true was during the failed Terry Porter experiment (Most Suns fans try to forget this ever happened. Porter barely got to coach half a season before Alvin Gentry came in and reinstalled an updated 7 second our less offense.). Year in and year out the Suns seemed to over achieve, consistently proving critics wrong and at least maintaining a fringe contender status. Their consistent over achieving came to an apex last summer when they swept their arch nemesis, the Spurs, and pushed the defending champ Lakers to the edge in an attempt to reach the finals.

The aging Nash and Hill have to be confused
on the Suns direction too.

Then the off season came. Off to New York went Amare Stoudemire and in to replace him Hakim Warrick, overpaid Hedo Turkoglu and a freshly highly overpaid Channing Frye. Any time you lose a player of Amare's caliber and replace it with the likes of Warrick, Turkoglu and Frye, your bound to take a step back. The Suns also picked up Josh Childress, who apparently could help that much needed defense and that was about it. No real big moves for the Suns. But no need to panic in Phoenix, right? They still had Nash, he made the likes of Boris Diaw, Eddie House and Quentin Richardson look like stars (You may soon be able to add Leandro Barbosa and Lou Amundson to this list. Both were integral parts of past Suns teams yet have all but fallen off the NBA map. While Amundson's drop off could have been expected, Barbosa's drop into obscurity was as fast as his lightning quick first step and slightly unexpected from the former sixth man.). Surely Nash could drag this bunch of Suns to the playoffs; he did it once before when Amare missed an entire season with a knee injury. Not to mention Turkoglu, he thrived in a system where he could shoot threes and handle the ball. That’s exactly what the Suns needed him to do. Childress gave them a bit of a defensive stopper. They showed in the playoffs, that they had arguably the best second team in the league. These Suns would be alright. Weather, the "Sun is setting in Phoenix" articles and make an over achieving run in the playoffs; business as usual.

Once the season started, they struggled a bit. That was to be expected, a big piece of the offense was gone, replaced by several pieces that hasn't had time to jell. But this didn't feel like the typical over achieving season. This seemed like purgatory. The Turkoglu era was shorter than the Porter experiment. Gone with Turkoglu went our leading scorer, Jason Richardson, and in came Vince Carter. Let the fade away thirty footers begin. They also got Gortat and Pietrus. Pretty decent for what they gave up.

How good could Carter be if
He stopped settling on ridiculous
Fadeaways?

The confusion on who the Suns were had begun early in the season but this trade added more fuel to the fire. The trade was a microcosm of most of the Suns recent decisions. Trading your leading scorer Richardson and getting Carter's expiring contract; definitely a move for the future, but getting Gortat is obviously a move that helps this season. Moving Richardson seemed like it would start the fire sale in Phoenix but it appears that the Suns aren't interested in moving Hill or Nash, their only pieces with any value to contending teams. Their lack of urgency to move these players while they have their highest value seems to imply that they think this team as conducted can win.

        The Suns play hasn’t helped either. The Suns are coming off of a Tuesday night win over the Jazz, their second over Utah in the past week. Not many teams in the league can say that they have beaten the likes of the Lakers, Celtics, Thunder, Nuggets and Jazz like the Suns. However, not many teams can also say that they have lost to the Kings twice, Bobcats twice, 76ers twice and Pistons. Who are these Suns? Are they the fringe contenders that they’ve been in years past? Have they officially faded away? Are they a lottery team in a rebuilding phase or are they an aging team looking to make one last run? The Suns front office cannot seem to decide which they are and it is leaving the fans in a state of confusion. Any team that has Nash running the show is going to be entertaining, just as these Suns are. However, how long will flashy mediocrity be tolerated in Phoenix. Like a man afraid of commitment the Suns have to decide what they want to do. The fans are slowly becoming the longtime girlfriend who still loves them but can no longer be with them unless they make an effort to put a ring on their finger.