The Phoenix Suns are not Tough Enough

“What we need is a Charles Barkley.”

Arguably the most famous utterance in Phoenix Suns history, following the 1992 second round loss to the Portland Trailblazers, the Suns had been tabbed as “soft” after several consecutive seasons of showing an inability to climb over the Western Conference hump and into the NBA Finals. Suns Assistant Coach Lionel Hollins spoke those words to nobody in particular as he walked off the court following his team’s heart-breaking game 6 loss, a sentimental statement that was just as real then to the franchise as it is now.

The current Phoenix Suns are soft. They do not know how to stand up for themselves. They do not know how to for their will on an opponent. They do not have an effective team leader with winning experience on their roster.

Phoenix Suns

They do not seem to know how to put up a fight.

This current Suns team has an identity crisis. They’re soft.  They play timid. As they walk out onto the court before tip-off they appear to become awestruck with the players in a different uniform than theirs and think “Wow! That’s a real NBA player I’m guarding! They’re in the NBA!”

Yeah, son! And so are you! So why don’t you go out there and act  like it! Take a hit! Give  a hit! Defend yourself, your teammates, the name on the front of the uniform, the city and state which it represents!

“Why do we practice against each other harder than we play in front of 15,000? We practice downstairs, we’ll kill each other, jump in front, we do everything. When the lights come on, I don’t know if it’s nerves, fear, experience, we just back up, back, up, give in.

“At halftime (against the Clippers on Friday night), I asked them why for two days of practice we want to fight each other, but when we play against somebody else, we “ole” and let them go right past us to the rim.”

That was Jay Triano following the February 23, loss to the Clippers, an opponent who was severely short-handed, and a game that seemed ripe for the Suns’ taking. But rather than a hungry team from Phoenix, there were the old young  Suns, a team who appeared incapable to compete even against another likely non-playoff team. Los Angeles opened up play with a 19-0 lead, “only” ten points off of the known worst start to a game in NBA history when the Los Angeles Lakers opened a regular season game against the Sacramento Kings 29-0 on February 4, 1987.

Why was this? How could this happen? How can a team seriously not only succumb to a 19-0 run at any point during a game, but literally begin  the game with such a completely worthless effort?

The Suns are in desperate need of a leader with experience. The core is too young and inexperienced to lead themselves and need a veteran (or several) with a winning pedigree to push the young Suns along. Someone who is at a point in their career where winning is everything and both on and off the court the drive and desire to win is paramount in their minds. Someone who will be the vocal face of the franchise letting the younger players ride his coattails as they continue to develop their own status in the league.

Essentially the Suns need a Charles Barkley. A player of supreme talent who had never won, who was at the peak of his powers, and who needed a fresh start with an exciting team to lead and take them all over the same hump.

Right now the Suns are just not Tough Enough.

Rather than using his six fouls to cause enough bodily harm to prevent a player from driving past him, Josh Jackson swipes at opponents cutting through the lane picking up ticky-tack fouls that only lead to early exists – a detriment to a team when such a talent offensive player is taken off the floor.

Dragan Bender gives up on open dunks (although often open looks from beyond the arc in particular) instead passing out to players like Marquese Chriss who are just as likely to miss  a 3 as Bender should be at making  a dunk for under the basket. Bender as of yet does not have a lethal mentality that he’s going to get his points when open regardless of what the defense throws at him.

The aforementioned Chriss believes that the entire NBA is out to get him and argues every call or non-call that he feels are injustices to his prestige as a player – often to the point of worthless and useless technical fouls. His mind is more worried about transgressions against himself than the negative effect that his complaining, lackadaisical play, and points added via fouls shots bring to the rest of his team.

Yes, the Suns have Devin Booker, the new Black Mamba, but his talent alone isn’t enough when his age (21) has still not afforded him enough years of NBA challenges passed and hurtles leapt to carry a team. He too has never tasted victory in any large quantity and therefore does not have the winning experience to share. While he most certainly has the drive to win, having never done so, he truly does not know how to get over the proverbial hump, and so far knows that he is climbing that hill, can see the top, but has yet been able to survive the treachery to reach it.

Yes, the Suns have Tyson Chandler and Jared Dudley, two veterans who were retained on the roster this season to help continue their mentorship of the young core. Sure, Chandler has actually reached the NBA’s mountaintop and owns a championship ring. But like the character Monix in Semi-Pro, he is not a key cog in the core, and as he is not counted on every game, as he is not the face of the franchise – or even on the billboard – his experience, and that of Jared Dudley who has never made it beyond the Conference Finals, is not enough for the franchise to rally around and strive to achieve their career heights.

Those player are nice to have on an otherwise young roster, but are not expected to provide any more than veteran pep talks, a point where their services essentially end with no ability to actually lead a team to wins.

Who that modern Charles Barkley is, I have no idea. Obviously a player like Kawhi Leonard comes to mind and might actually be had this offseason – for the right price. But not only are the odds of him truly becoming available still very low in my mind, but it will to be very difficult for Phoenix to come up with the assets to match the asking price by the San Antonio Spurs for such an exceptionally talented player.

Of course other players might become available at some point this summer who embody the very pedigree that the roster needs. Further speculation aside, stars are out there yearly now it seems, ones who are desperate to exit their current situation and are granted a change of scenery, the very kind of players that Phoenix so desperately needs.

Next: Is Kawhi Leonard going to be the Suns' big splash this summer?

If that happens, Ryan McDonough needs to find a way to acquire one (or more). The Suns have shown that they can be a great team; they wish to be. They only lack the tough player to show the way.

Right now though, the Phoenix Suns are just not Tough Enough.