The Phoenix Suns ended their playoff journey early in the first round this year. It was quite a year. Am I surprised? Not really. There were a lot of inconsistencies for the team long before the trade for Shaq. Sometimes the momentum and enthusiasm was not there. Perhaps the team played without a lot of heart or focus--sometimes. That is okay. There is always time to regroup for the next season.
I feel I can say all this since I managed to either watch or listen to every single Suns game this season. Pre-season included. This is the first chance I have ever had to do such a thing. Before this year, I was living in Montana and could only follow the team when they showed up on TNT, ESPN or ABC Sunday basketball.
My first chance to ever see the Suns play in-person was on April 1, 2007 when they played the Dallas Mavericks. Wow! That was an incredible game filled with amazing passes, 3-point shots, etc. Remember the old slogan, "The NBA is FANtastic!" It certainly was for me on that game. I was in awe. It was also tons of fun!
Once my family and I moved back down to Arizona in the Summer of 2007, I looked forward to the next Suns season. We even drove down to Tucson on October 6 for the Suns intrasquad scrimmage. My daughter got her first chance to see the Suns in a more intimate setting than the US Airways Center. McKale Center of the University of Arizona had a mere 7,000 die-hard fans having fun watching the orange team play the white team. That was so much fun!
And how quickly and crazily a season has flown by. I am proud of the Suns regardless of the playoffs or the trade or D'Antoni not playing his bench, etc. They are a great bunch of talented gentlemen who if they are "clicking on all cylinders" can be one of the most incredible teams in basketball. I don't care about the Championships--I just want the team to have fun and play well.
Enjoy your summers, guys and we'll see you next season!
