Outlook sunnier in Phoenix with Gentry shining light on D
There was no better indication that these are the new and improved Phoenix Suns than the misshaped, swollen face of Steve Nash.
An elbow to Nash's brow during the final game of the Suns' sweep of San Antonio left Nash looking like the love child of Ronaldinho and Gollum. Nash played practically the entire second half with one eye shut. It was a great moment in recent NBA history. The only thing missing was a patch and a sonnet.
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| The stats aren't markedly different, but Alvin Gentry's '10 Suns are better defenders and much tougher than their predecessors. (AP) |
Somewhere, Mike D'Antoni had to be shaking his head. "Why couldn't they do this when I was coaching?" he might've asked himself while watching from New York.
They couldn't under D'Antoni because the Suns are proving they're better without him, and because of D'Antoni's absence, they actually have a real shot to Beat L.A. in the Western Conference finals.
The current Suns have trashed D'Antoni's stubborn, offense-only nonchalance toward defense (you see the same flippant approach with his New York team now). Current Suns coach Alvin Gentry has enforced the holy NBA trinity of smart shot selection, overall work ethic and defensive play.
The Suns have won six consecutive playoff games, a franchise record. They're 36-9 since Jan. 28 and 22-4 since March 14. They've done this mostly by playing better defense.
D'Antoni didn't care about defense. It was almost a stubborn point of pride. What Gentry has done is course-correct that flawed mindset, and the result was eliminating a longtime nemesis. Now, they might eliminate a longtime power.
You're going to say the Suns have done diddly and they've parked themselves in the same spot -- the Western Conference finals -- where D'Antoni did twice.
And I say these Suns and these conference finals are different. They look like a tougher and better-coached team. If the Lakers destroy Phoenix, then I'm wrong and it's the same old Suns. But for once, I'm not wrong.
Gentry admittedly utilizes the vast majority of D'Antoni's offensive schemes, but what Gentry has added is toughness. Past Suns teams were remarkably soft. Everyone in the NBA knew (especially the Spurs) if only a modicum of pressure was applied, Phoenix would fold like a knitted sweater. And fold they did. Again and again and again.
It's no coincidence that in the one season Gentry emphasized defense, they didn't just beat the Spurs, they destroyed them.
Gentry's gotten this far with an older Nash, an older Amar'e Stoudemire and an ancient Grant Hill. He's melded D'Antoni's offensive leanings with his own defensive philosophies to create a nice fusion that contains the smooth rhythm of a Penguin Café Orchestra song and the blunt-force trauma of a ball peen hammer.
Throw in Gentry's skillful use of bench players like Jared Dudley and Goran Dragic, and it has been quite the coaching clinic.
Hill played for Gentry in Detroit from 1997 and 2000 and told the Arizona Republic recently that, "Alvin's in a different space as a coach. He was a good coach then. He's really underrated now. He's done a great job this year, especially at that time a week or two before [the] All-Star break when we were not finding our way. A lot of the closed-door meetings, the things he did to try to motivate and instill confidence, not being afraid to change the lineup, changing up sets. Alvin got us going in the right direction and figured it out."
Please, don't misunderstand. None of this is to say the Suns now play defense like the Orlando Magic. D'Antoni's final Suns team had a defensive field-goal percentage of 45.6 which was 13th in the league. Gentry's Suns allowed a percentage of 45.2.
They still rely heavily on scoring, but this team is different and better than any statistic will ever demonstrate. Just ask the Spurs.
Better on defense, better everywhere.
And, yes, better without D'Antoni.
