THRIVING TANK
Suns season has been a success despite all the losing
For a team that might lose 60 games, the Suns are making a lot of noise. They’re making a lot of history. And they’re making a lot of enemies. ¶ They will be a marked team when Operation Tank is finished, when winning basketball games becomes a priority once again. ¶ Can’t wait. ¶ For now, the Valley’s original franchise should enjoy its stroke of good fortune. Most teams that fail this spectacularly fade from relevance and disappear from the public eye. These Suns are different. They made headlines by starting the youngest lineup in NBA history in a loss to Brooklyn, where their average age was younger than seven of the eight NCAA teams that played on the same night.
For an encore, Devin Booker poured in 70 points in a loss to the Celtics, a number so big that it reverberated across the NBA for days, for better and worse.
To those on Planet Orange, Booker’s performance was proof that he might be the franchise player the team has been missing for years, far more than just an important cog of a winning team. After a slow start to the season, Booker’s sophomore season is almost as satisfying as David Johnson’s second year with the Cardinals. He’s stoked the imagination and sparked hope for the future.
In other places, Booker’s output was considered something of a gimmick, a contrived effort to pad the statistics of a developing player. Suns coach Earl Watson took much of the heat, fingered for calling late timeouts and fouling Celtics players in an effort to get more possessions and scoring opportunities for Booker.
The criticism is ridiculous. Kobe Bryant’s final game with the Lakers was far worse, where he scored 60 points on 50 shot attempts. David Robinson’s 71-point performance in 1994 was a staged attempt to win a scoring title, where Spurs coach John Lucas instructed his team to foul excessively in the fourth quarter to get his center more field goal attempts. To the contrary, Booker only had 19 points at halftime, and his output didn’t negatively affect another player.
Watson has never been more impressive than he was after that game. His unapologetic message to Boston media that asked about the integrity of the performance? If you don’t like it, stop him.
Booker was equally ruthless. After the Celtics’ Jae Crowder took offense to the Suns taking a celebratory picture in the locker room following a loss, Booker responded with an epic Instagram takedown, telling Crowder: “You can’t guard me.”
From the living room couch, Booker appears very polished and meticulously groomed. He’s also one of the NBA’s brashest young stars, willing to talk trash with anyone. Like when he destroyed Memphis’ Troy Daniels after a 19point loss, pointing out that a journeyman role player showed a lot of nerve engaging with a player of Booker’s status.
It was a heavy statement from a secondyear pro who isn’t old enough to drink alcohol. It’s everything you want to hear from an ascending player, proof that he has the ambition and mental tenacity to be the Suns’ next superstar. It was also a show of arrogance that wasn’t appreciated in other locker rooms, and there will be a target on his back in 2017-18, when the Suns will be in a much different position.
But it isn’t just Booker. Marquese Chriss has played with oversized attitude in his debut season, where he’s arguably the NBA’s third-best rookie.
The Suns have been quick to engage on the court, a team that’s been involved in numerous altercations. Their demeanor belies their dismal record, a team that is unabashedly tanking games to better their future. All of this will be held against them in the future.
This is where Watson does his best work. His bosses received something of a reprieve when Indiana University opted not to hire former star Steve Alford, which could’ve led to Watson accepting the head coaching job at UCLA. It would’ve been very difficult for a new head coach to assume the burden and consequences of Watson’s approach, along with a team that has agitated so many opponents,
The Suns should feel blessed. They’ve lost 60 or more games only once in their storied history, and that was their expansion season in 196869. The organization’s commitment to losing is so sturdy and hardcore that they could conceivably end the current season with 60 losses and a 16-game losing streak, and somehow, the season will be perceived as a smashing success.
Our basketball team is living a charmed season. The Suns are praised for their combative spirit. When they win, people feel hope for the future. When they lose, fans feel even better, reveling in their lofty draft status. It won’t be like this next year.
Let’s hope these fighting Suns are ready for what’s coming when a new season rolls around in October, when the game and the expectations will change dramatically.