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“It might extend Steve’s career five or six years if Dragić keeps playing like that.” – Greg Popovich (San Antonio Spurs Head Coach)

I remember when I used to have the time to watch almost every NBA game scheduled for the week on television.

But work, coupled with our version of an NBA channel moving into a pay-channel format, has limited my options to enjoy NBA Basketball.

But not today.

Game 3: 2009-2010 Western Conference Semi-Finals – Phoenix Suns @ San Antonio Spurs

The Suns Goran Dragić shoots over the defense of the Spurs Tim Duncan.

As I tuned in, I see Suns backup point guard Goran Dragić throw up one of the most awkward three point attempts ever and it goes in!  Subsequent replays showed that Dragić had intended to initiate contact from the outstretched arm of his defender (most likely San Antonio Spurs guard George Hill) and go to the free-throw line for three shots.  But he got something better—the three-point basket and a foul—for the possibility of a rare four-point play.

The television announcers then fill me in on game.

The San Antonio Spurs were down by about nine points after the 24 year-old Dragić’s And 1 free-throw and were playing catch-up basketball.  The Spurs had given up a considerable first-half lead with the heady play of Goran Dragić —who spelled Suns starter Stephen John Nash with about two or three minutes left in the third quarter.

After a time out several possessions later, I see the Dragić masterpiece unfolding through several replays: post up-and-under moves, jump shots, drives into the lane.

The native of Ljubljana, Slovenia was certainly in the zone.

Hitting everything he threw at the basket certainly opened up the lane for Suns guard Goran Dragić.

Being in “The Zone”

In their book entitled “Flow In Sports” (1999) by Susan Jackson and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi describe “The Zone” as a heightened level of performance that every athlete aspires to reach.  It is a moment that cannot be attained at a whim—rather an instant that an athlete prepares for when that moment does arise.

This is one of the reasons why athletes practice.

So that they know what they have to do when they are fortunate enough to be in “the zone.”

That special moment wherein “everything seems to fall into place” and “they can do no wrong.”

All Dragić in the 4th

In less than 18 minutes, the 6’4’’ Goran Dragić was simply on fire.

He hit 9 of 11 shots on an assortment of hard drives to the basket, step-backs, post-moves, and cold-blooded three-point shots (Dragić connected on 4-4 from downtown in the 4^th).

It was a performance that allowed the Phoenix Suns to stick with their second unit—comprised of Leandrinho Barbosa, Jared Dudley, Louis Amundson, Channing Frye, and Dragić —for most of the fourth quarter.

On a night where Suns center Amar’e Stoudemire only scored 7 points.  Dragić, who coming into Game 3 had only averaged 7.9 points in the regular season and 5.6 points in the playoffs, had a perfect game (outside of those two missed foul shots and heat check jumpers) to lead his team to victory.

Here is his stat line for the game:

Goran Dragić – 17:27 minutes, 10-13 FG%, 5-5 3PFG%, 1-3 FT%, 3 (1) rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and no turnovers.

Suns forward Grant Hill (left) considered Dragić's fourth quarter playoff performance as the best he has ever seen.

Arrival into The Valley of the Sun

Touted as the second-best point guard after Memphis’ Derrick Rose in the 2008 NBA Draft, Goran Dragić impressed Suns’ Director of Player Personnel Todd Quinter and Suns’ senior vice president of basketball operations David Griffin with his speed and quickness in a camp held in Treviso, Italy, two weeks prior to the NBA Draft.

The Arizona Republic’s Paul Coro shares that the Phoenix Suns were ready to take Dragić with the 15^th pick in the draft had Stanford center Robin Lopez not been available.  Fortunately, the Suns were still able to snag their man after working a deal with the San Antonio Spurs to trade second-round picks (An agreement that involved giving the Spurs $500,000 and a future second-round pick that turned out to be Pittsburgh’s DeJuan Blair).

After drafting Dragić, the Suns then bought out the point guard’s contract with his Spanish ACB club CB Murcia and rewarded him with a lucrative $7.6 million dollar contract spread over four years.

Tonight, that financial investment certainly paid off.

I can still hear Marv Albert commentary, "A spectacular move by Michael Jordan!"

With the 2009-2010 National Basketball Association (NBA) Playoffs & Finals right around the corner, I looked back and realized that this is my 20^th year of watching professional basketball.

Has it really been that long?

The Memories

I can still see the Los Angeles Lakers Sam Perkins drilling a three-point shot to stun the Chicago Bulls at the end of Game 1 as well as Michael Jordan’s classic right-to-left under goal lay-up over the same Sam Perkins in Game 2 of the 1990-1991 NBA Finals.

Bulls versus Lakers.

Those were the years.  The veteran laded Los Angeles Lakers versus the hip, up-and-coming Chicago Bulls.

Memories.

The Questions

With that said, I decided to test that memory (use of references are forbidden!) and challenged myself with these questions: Over the last 20 years, which teams have participated in the NBA Finals?  Who were the winners?

Tall order?

At least not initially as the key to these questions would be to determine who were the winners and the bridesmaids would surely follow suit.

Clutch City won it's first NBA title with the five of Hakeen Olajuwon, Kenny Smith, Vernon Maxwell, Robert Horry, and Otis "OT" Thorpe.

The Answers

Starting with the 1990-1991 season, this was a no-brainer as it signified the first Chicago Bulls dynasty (1991, 1992, and 1993).  This was followed by the Jordan-less years of 1994 and 1995 wherein the Hakeem Olajuwon led Houston Rockets dispatched the New York Knicks in seven games en-route to the first NBA Championship (1994).  The Rockets then repeated in 1995 when they swept the youthful Orlando Magic in four games.  The championship also etched the Houston Rockets in NBA annals as the lowest seeded playoff team (6^th) to capture the title.

From 1996-1998, the Chicago Bulls again regained their dominance over the NBA with their second three-peat.  In the 1998-1999, the league played a 50-game lockout shortened—no All-Star Weekend—season.  The finals featured the overachieving New York Knicks (8^th seed) and the Twin Tower (“The Admiral” David Robinson and “Big Fundamental” Timmy Duncan) led San Antonio Spurs.  If I am not mistaken, it was Spurs in six…or was it in five.  One thing is for sure, the Spurs were simply too much for the Ewing-less Knicks.

The partnership between Tim Duncan (left) and David Robinson has produced two NBA Championships for the city of San Antonio.

The turn of the century brought yet another string of championships for Coach Phil Jackson (2000, 2001, and 2002), but this time with a Los Angeles Lakers team that was bannered by Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant.  In 2003, the San Antonio Spurs gave their “Admiral” David Robinson a great retirement gift when they captured their second NBA crown.  This also marked the only finals match-up wherein I was unable to recall whom the runner-up was.

Hitting the curb

NBA seasons from 2003-2006 took a little more time to flesh out.  Questions such as the three seasons wherein the San Antonio Spurs captured championships as well as the Detroit Pistons and Miami Heat championship years were among the last to be identified.  But once the aforementioned sequencing and cast of teams were identified, everything fell into place.

Back to business

Shaquille O'Neal and a young Kobe Bryant set aside their differences in order to win the coveted Larry O'Brien NBA Championship Trophy in 2000.

The 2003-2004 NBA season featured future hall-of-fame members Karl “The Mailman” Malone and Gary “The Glove” Payton joining the potent Los Angeles Lakers for another run at an NBA Championship.  However, this was not meant to be as they had the rug pulled out from under them by the blue-collar Detroit Pistons led by the likes of Ben Wallace, Richard “Rip” Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, and Chauncey “Mr. Big Shot” Billups.

The following season (2004-2005), Detroit again made it back to the NBA Finals but lost out to the San Antonio Spurs in seven games.  This season, in my mind, was best remembered for those Rasheed Wallace WWE inspired NBA Championship belts that he got for the whole Pistons team.

I wonder what ever happened to those belts?

The 2005-2006 NBA season featured two first-timers to the NBA Finals stage: The Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat.  This season was a classic example of momentum gone awry as it really looked like the Dallas Mavericks had this series all but locked up with a 2-0 advantage and a huge lead in Game 3 of that series.

Then Dwyane Tyrone Wade, Jr. happened and the rest is history.

Miami upset the Mavs in Game 3 and proceeded to take the next three contests and captured their first NBA championship.

Whatever happened to WWE inspired Championship Belt named "Roscoe"? Only Rasheed knows the answer to that one...

The NBA Finals in 2006-2007 was forgettable to say the least.  I remember that the San Antonio Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers finals match-up to be one of—if not the lowest—rated finals in history.  I didn’t even bother to try and watch any of the games that year.  Spurs swept the Cavs in four.

On the other hand, the 2007-2008 season was more promising with Boston Celtics General Manager Danny Ainge engineering several trades that brought Kevin “KG” Garnett and Walter Ray Allen, Jr. to the Celtics for practically everyone on their team with the exception of Paul “The Truth” Pierce, Rajon Rondo, and Kendrick Perkins.  This development, coupled with the Los Angeles Lakers acquiring Pau Gasol the year before, set the stage for a Lakers verses Celtics finals match-up.  One that fans haven’t seen since 1986-1987.

It was a great match-up with the Celtics capturing their league-leading 17^th NBA banner in six games.  For more information on this season, I’ve written an extensive post on the Celtics championship season here.

Lastly, the 2008-2009 finals match-up featured the Los Angeles Lakers returning to the big dance along with the young Orlando Magic team lead by the dominating Dwight Howard.  In this particular series, there was a lot of heartbreak for the Orlando Magic as they squandered numerous opportunities to truly establish themselves in the finals.  However, this does not take anything away from the Los Angeles Lakers who truly deserved the The Larry O’Brien NBA Championship Trophy.

After Game 2, everything that Dwyane Tyrone Wade, Jr. threw up against the hapless Dallas Mavericks just seemed to go into the bucket.

This championship also broke a tie between legendary icon Arnold Jacob “Red” Auerbach of the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers Phil Jackson for most NBA championships by a head coach.  Jackson now takes the top spot with 10 championships.

In summary

Well, that was 19-years of NBA Finals basketball and I look forward to the end of the 2009-2010 NBA regular season, an interesting NBA play-offs, and hopefully, an epic finals match-up.

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Now playing: Incognito – Don’t Turn My Love Away
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Category: Movies
Genre: Comedy

Entertainer, promoter, coach, player, and Flint Michigan Tropics owner Jackie Moon (Will Ferrell)

It is 1976 and the American Basketball Association (ABA) is on the cusp of sending four of their more profitable franchises to the National Basketball Association (NBA) (e.g, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, New York Nets, and San Antonio Spurs). However, entertainer, promoter, coach, player, and owner of the ABA’s Flint Michigan Tropics, Jackie Moon (Will Ferrell) is livid with such a proposition and instigates unrest among his fellow ABA owners—arguing that the four teams to be elevated upon the dissolution of the ABA should finish in the top four.

Moon’s proposition is granted, however, several stipulations are made along the way (e.g., the Tropics need to average 2000 patrons per home game, etc.) as the four teams elevated to the NBA need to show a stable fan base. The last place Tropics have a lot of work ahead of them and Jackie Moon takes the first step towards his Tropics 4th place goal by trading away his team’s washing machine to the Kentucky Colonels for guard Ed Monix (Woody Harrelson), a league journeyman and former backup point guard for the NBA Champion Boston Celtics.

Once upon a time...underhand foul shots were the way to go.

Despite this new addition, the Tropics are still fundamentally unsound—largely due to Moon’s shenanigans and cheap gimmicks. Monix is elevated to “offensive and defensive coordinator” and the Tropics mettle is tested.

They are within one game of 4th place before ABA Commissioner (David Koechner) announces that because of the Tropics small media market, they will not be elevated to the NBA despite the potential outcome of their team’s standing.

Moon is devastated and trades away his star player–alias Rich Clarence Withers A.K.A. Clarence Coffee Black A.K.A. Downtown “Funky Stuff” Malone A.K.A. Sugar Dunkerton A.K.A. “Jumping” Johnny Johnson (André Benjamin) to the San Antonio Spurs in order for him to realize his NBA dream.

Monix convinces Moon that though the Tropics NBA aspirations may have come to a close—their original 4th place goal is still within reach with a win against the Spurs. Jackie Moon is further revitalized when Monix says that he (Moon) still “has one more promotion left in him.”

Moon is in his element and concocts “The Megabowl”—yet another ambitious and outlandish promotion to fill up seats in the Tropics stadium—for the franchise’s final home game against the aforementioned Spurs.

The game is initially a laughter, as it seems as if the Spurs are going to run away with it in the first half. But Jackie Moon takes a nasty spill and is haphazardly carried to the locker room as he sold the team’s stretcher (it is unclear if it was halftime when Moon was injuries as when they returned to the court, it was already the start of the second half). Unconscious, Moon has an audience with his late mother who gives him the gift of the “alley-oop.”

The Flint Tropics Championship Ring (4th Place)

Armed with this new move, the Tropics turn to Clarence Coffee Black (Black leaves his Spurs teammates at halftime in order to rejoin the Tropics. HUH?) who makes a living of the Spurs inability to adjust defensively.

With two seconds remaining, the Spurs are still up by one. 116-117.

Moon is set to take two free throws and shoots them underhanded (ala Rick Barry of the San Francisco Warriors).

He makes the first.

Misses the second.

But Monix follows it up and put it a short floater.

Final score. 118-117.

Semi-Pro was certainly entertaining.

And I do love the game of basketball.

But not that much to watch this again…

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The Celtics New #30: Rasheed Wallace

It’s been almost 16 months since the Boston Celtics celebrated their 17th NBA Championship against the Los Angeles Lakers in the TD Banknorth Garden.

And in all honesty, if the Celtics had a healthy Kevin “KG” Garnett going into the 2008-2009 NBA Playoffs–who knows what might have happened.

In 2009-2010, the C’s are primed (and heavily favored) to bring home yet another Larry O’Brien NBA Championship Trophy back to Boston, Massachusetts with new off-season acquisitions Rasheed Wallace (free agent signee from the Detroit Pistons) and Marquis Daniels (free agent signee from the Indiana Pacers) ready to help out.

Till then, here is a look back to June 17, 2008.

One shot:

“Check it. You know how I be. Last week Kobe couldn’t do without me.”

- Shaquille O’Neal (Freestyle rap in a NYC nightclub [6/23/08])

The world bleeds green once again

For the unprecedented 17th time.

The Boston Celtics are the NBA (National Basketball Association) Champions.

And they made it look easy with a resounding 131-92 drubbing of their rivals—The Los Angeles Lakers—in Game six of the 2007-2008 NBA Finals.

From L to R: Allen, Garnett, Posey, and Pierce pose with the Larry O'Brien Trophy

But that wasn’t always the case.

Longtime Boston Celtics beat writer Peter May shared that at the start of the 2007-2008 NBA season, Celtics’ Head Coach Glenn “Doc” Rivers urged his stalwarts—specifically team captain Paul Pierce and newly acquired NBA All-Stars Walter Ray Allen, Jr. and Kevin “KG” Garnett—of the importance of “seizing the moment” as “the can’t afford to wait” (since they are getting up their in age and opportunities to win a championship are few and far between). Rivers added that the talented trio need to play with a sense of urgency and liken their situation to being their “one and only chance to win.”

Rivers, then 46, sold them on the concept of defense and Garnett was the first one to follow his lead—eventually ending the season as the league’s top defensive player—the first of his decorated career.

And that wasn’t all

An exodus of more than half their players from the 2006-2007 NBA season in order to acquire Garnett from the Minnesota Timberwolves and Allen from the Seattle Supersonics posed to be yet another challenged to the 24-win club.

The Celtics defense in 2007-2008 started with Defensive Player of the Year (DOP) Kevin Garnett

By the time the season started, the green and white has nine new faces on board—the aforementioned Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, free agents James Posey, Eddie House, Scot Pollard, rookies Glenn “Big Baby” Davis, Gabe Pruitt, and returnees Tony Allen, Kendrick Perkins, Leon Powe, Brian Scalabrine (whom some sources have said, has the same basketball IQ as the legendary Michael Jordan), Rajon Rondo, and the Captain Paul Pierce. Before the close of the regular season, The C’s added two more faces, 15-year veteran P.J. Brown and guard Sam Cassell.

Cohesion and lack of bench strength were points brought up by critics all season long and despite a 66-16 season—successfully securing home court advantage throughout the playoffs and the NBA Finals. It was the largest single season turnaround in NBA history, yet the critics still kept on talking.

It didn’t help that their journey to the NBA Finals was a rocky one.

Rajon Rondo surveys the court for an open teammate

The young 8th seed Atlanta Hawks (37-45) brought the Celtics to 7 games in the first round. LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers (45-37) also pushed the Celtics to the distance in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals (and if it were not for Paul Pierce’s 41 points—who knows how that may have turned out). As for the Eastern Conference Finals, well, that series went six grueling games against the cohesive Detroit Pistons (59-23).

The Celtics went 10-1 at TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, Massachusetts and 2-8 on the road for the duration of the playoffs. Doc Rivers put it best when he said, “that’s why the regular season is so important. We fought for it all year” (Pertaining to home court advantage).

Onward to the NBA Finals

After winning the first two games at home and stealing one of the next three at the Staples Center—The Boston Celtics were on the cusp of greatness—an unprecedented 17th World Championship.

By halftime of Game 6, the outcome had already been decided as the Lakers seemingly lost the fight in them.

58-35 at the end of two—A twenty three-point deficit.

Walter "Ray" Allen, Jr. hit an NBA Finals record 22 treys.

The Celtics were running on all cylinders, led by their injured point guard Rajon Rondo, who finished with a stat line that Jason Kidd would be envious off (21 points, eight assists, seven rebounds, six steals, and only a single turnover in just under 32 minutes of action).

Ray Allen also recovered from a first-half eye injury to finish with 26 points (7-9 from downtown). Associated Press Sports Writer Howard Ulman added that Allen also set a record “for most 3-pointers made in a finals series with 22. The previous mark of 17 was set by Dan Majerle with the Phoenix Suns in 1993 and matched by Derek Harper with the New York Knicks in 1994. Allen’s seven 3-pointers also tied the finals record shared by Houston Rockets Kenny Smith and the Chicago Bulls Scottie Pippen.”

The Celtics juggernaut didn’t end there as Kevin Garnett tied Allen for game high honors with 26 points and 14 rebounds. James Posey (whom Pierce considers “invaluable” during his brief time with the Celtics) finished with 11 points (perfect from the field, including 3-3 from downtown) three steals, and a block. And who can forget the performance of Paul Pierce (17 points and 10 assists) thought the series.

In the end, it was only fitting that that Pierce, the Celtics Captain, be named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the Finals as he had certainly endured a lot of heartaches over the last 10 years in a Celtics uniform.

With a title now safely under his belt, those days are certainly over.

17 banners. Jersey Numbers #1, #2, #3, #6, #10, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #21, #22, #23, #24, #25, #31, #32, #33, #35 and #00 also hang from the rafters.

Could #34 be that far behind?

2007-2008 NBA Finals MVP Paul Pierce celebrates with the Celtics fans at the TD Banknorth Garden.

Addendum:

- The Celtics played an NBA record 26th post-season game when they stepped on the Red Auerbach Parquet Floor for Game 6 of the NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Associated Press Sports Writer Howard Ulman wrote:

- The Celtics’ 39-point margin in the championship clinching Game 6 win is the largest in a decisive NBA finals game.

- In fact, Boston now has four of the six biggest margins in games that clinched titles. The Lakers have the other two in championships won while they were in Minneapolis. The previous biggest winning margin in such games was 33 points by Boston on April 25, 1965, when it beat the Los Angeles Lakers 129-96.

- Boston’s 52 baskets from 3-point range erased the finals mark of 51 set by San Antonio in 2005.

- The Celtics also put on a record-setting defensive performance Tuesday with 18 steals, eclipsing the single-game finals mark set by Golden State against Washington in 1975.

- The Lakers put their own stamp on the record book, despite being crushed in the decisive game. League MVP Kobe Bryant’s 16 steals in the series tied the mark held by some pretty special players—Julius Erving, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Dwyane Wade.

- And Boston broke its own NBA record for most championships with 17. The Lakers are second with 14.

Associated Press Sports Writer Jimmy Golen added:

- The Celtics joined the 1975 Golden State Warriors and the ‘77 Trail Blazers as the only teams to win it all a year after missing the playoffs.

The Champs share a moment with David Letterman

The Champs on Letterman

The following evening on The David Letterman Show, guests Walter Ray Allen, Jr. and Kevin Garnett shared:

“How you feeling, champ?” Ray Allen asked KG.

“I feel good,” Garnett replied. “How you feeling, champ?”

Said Allen, “Oh, I’m doing good.”

And with that, the world is right again…

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NBA Draft Lottery

Annually, the NBA Draft brings together the best crop of collegiate and international talent into Madison Square Garden in New York City. Prior to this momentous occasion wherein young aspirants take their first step to earning millions of dollars, NBA teams spend months and sometimes years scouting and assessing talent across the United States, Europe, and even Asia.

Some teams have a knack for assessing good talent like the Golden State Warriors (Latrell Sprewell 24th pick in 92’; Gilbert Arenas 30th overall and 1st in the second round of 01’; and Monta Ellis 40th selection in 05’) and San Antonio Spurs (Manu Ginobili 57th 2nd round pick in 99’ and Tony Parker 29th selection in 01’).

Another team with what I would like to call, “a great draft sense” (along with superior scouting and assessment skills) is the Phoenix Suns. They were able to draft a number of solid NBA players over the last 20 years (“Thunder” Dan Majerle (1st rd; 14th overall in 88’); Steve Kerr (2nd rd; 50th overall in 88’); Former New Jersey Nets’ All-Star F/C Jayson Williams (1st rd; 21st overall in 90’); Cedric Ceballos (2nd round; 48th overall in 90’); Michael Finley (1st rd; 21st overall in 95’); 2-time MVP Stephen John Nash (1st rd; 15th overall in 96’); their lone choice the following year named Stephen Jackson (2nd rd; 42nd overall in 97’); Shawn Marion (1st rd; 9th overall in 99’); Amar’e Stoudemire (1st rd; 9th overall in 02’); traded for San Antonio Spurs draft choice Brazil’s Leandrino Barbosa (1st rd; 28th pick in 03’).

Not bad right?

The Phoenix Suns will be celebrating their 41st year in the 2009-2010 NBA season.

Well, with “new” Phoenix Suns’ owner Robert Sarver’s mandate to tighten his squads spending, several first round draft picks from 04′ to 07′ were traded elsewhere in order to avoid paying them since 1st round picks are guaranteed a two-year rookie deal under the current NBA collective bargaining agreement.

From 2004-2007, there are the players that the Suns virtually gave away. Luol Deng (1st rd; 7th overall in 04’) was sent to the Chicago Bulls in a prearranged deal. Two-time Slam Dunk Champion Lil’ Nate Robinson (1st rd; 21st overall in 05’) was traded to the New York Knicks along with guard/forward Quentin Richardson for F/C Kurt Thomas and the right to 2nd round pick Dijon Thompson (2nd rd; 54th overall in 05’).

2006 didn’t shine any brighter for the Suns who owned two 1st round draft selections (#21 & #27). The Suns drafted Rajon Rondo (1st rd; 21st overall in 06’) and traded him, along with Brian Grant to the Boston Celtics for their 2007 1st round draft (a picked conveyed to the C’s by the Cleveland Cavaliers who got guard Jiri Welsch in a prior deal) and cash considerations. With the 27th selection, the Suns drafted promising Spanish guard Sergio Rodriguez (1st rd; 27th overall in 06’) but traded his rights to the Portland Trailblazers for cash considerations.

Can you imagine Rudy Fernandez in a Suns uniform? I sure can.

The 2007 Cleveland Cavaliers 1st round selection turned out to be Spanish sensation Rudy Fernandez (1st rd; 24th overall in 07’) who was subsequently dealt again to the Portland Trailblazers along with shooting forward James Jones for cash.

Ouch.

Can you imagine if the Suns kept half those guys instead of deciding on personnel moves like signing Marcus Banks to a five-year $21 million dollar contract in 06’ or absorbing Shaquille O’Neal’s contract in 08′?

In both cases, the Suns did “rectified” their “mistakes” by trading both of the aforementioned players in separate deals by 2009.

But at the end of the day, what do the Phoenix Suns have to show for it? They are certainly a shadow of the team that made the Western Conference Finals in 2005.

The window to win any kind of championship involves so many factors: talent, a blend of youth and experience, teamwork, and most of all, that unquantifiable element called “luck.”

But at this point, with their current talent “getting on” in years and their youth movement nowhere what it would have been had they kept their picks…

How much do the Suns have left?

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