but get rid of NASH now because he is actually worth something… albeit – not his contract…

Think someone like Thibodeau to run the defensive side of the ball from the passenger seat and throw unexpected schemes at people in the last 5 minutes of games. It’d make a huge difference if you could uphold that same level of offensive efficiency over 82 games.

Granger, Mason, Terry, Mo Williams — these shooters punish the Suns because their rotations suck in pick-n-roll situations. But there’s also the fact that during late game situations the Suns don’t stay home on the guy who can beat them with the 3, and that’s just inexcusable.

But, it’s solvable. Easily. With Strom Swift making a comeback year, Stoudemire getting his head out of his ass and Shaq picking his spots, I think they could still be a good defensive team when they have to be. That and you have Dudley and Amundson to irritate the bejesus out of people with their hustle when the starters are on the pine.

But anyway, since I’m a ludicrous speculator here’s my 5-step program for the Suns this summer.

Step 1 – Getting rid of Porter was step 1. The guys were so busy sulking about being treated like JV kids that they didn’t think about what they were doing defensively. Sort of a cop out but not untrue. It’s like the kid with the oppressive father — sooner or later it doesn’t matter what he says, the kid just wanted to do the opposite because he’s lost touch. Getting Gentry back wouldn’t be a bad idea, but see who is on the market for sure.

Step 2 – Like I said, get a defensive coach to teach these guys help defense. Get Van Gundy and his Diet Coke caffeine highs to come in and spank these guys. Find someone else who knows their stuff. I don’t care who.

Step 3 – Train like hell in the offseason to improve footspeed and vert. Get un-soft. Get ripped.

Step 4 – Get angry. Nothing is quite as motivating as being one of the best teams ever to achieve nothing. I want to see them come out next year and want to kill teams. None of this “let’s not lose this one guys” attitude — more “let’s fricking destroy these guys and make them wish they’ll never play us again”.

Step 5 – Random stuff; find a way to get Shawn Marion back. Encourage Sarver to leave the NBA and go run a community credit union somewhere — or something more relevant to his expertise (lemonade stand?). Sell the team to someone really rich who loves basketball and hates losing. Hire another assistant who knows how to smack down egos and has championship experience (Bill Russell?).

Step X – Move to the Eastern conference.