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It's all about the playoffs
March 30, 2007
 
Do you hear that noise? That’s the sound of a lot of Suns fans jumping off their bandwagon and pressing the panic button after Phoenix has dropped 4 of their last 7 games since that instant classic win in Dallas back on March 14th.
 
What’s more disconcerting for Suns fans, currently swan diving off that bandwagon, is that in that stretch they've dropped games to bottom feeder teams such as Sacramento, Denver, and most recently Golden State. I think it’s safe to say that no one would characterize those teams as “elite” and that has Suns fans screaming from the rafters in a panic.
 
Take a deep breath, Suns fan. It’s not as bad as you think it is. In fact, it’s a good thing. Sound crazy? Allow me to explain.

If you step back and think about it, there are a lot of parallels between this Suns team and this years Indianapolis Colts team. If you’ll recall, the Colts absolutely dominated the regular season each of the past 2 years. There was talk about undefeated seasons, this being the best team ever, and so on. Subsequently, though, what ended up happening following those great, nearly historic regular seasons were early playoff exits.  Thus making those great, nearly historic regular seasons essentially worthless. It took the Colts those years to gain the experience and knowledge to realize that in the grand scheme of things, outside of positioning yourself for the playoffs, the regular season meant nothing. It wasn’t too long ago that prior to this years NFL playoffs, the Colts dropped 3 of their final 5 games, including terrible losses to Jacksonville, Tennessee, and Houston. That left everyone wondering "If the Colts can’t beat those teams, how can they possibly win a championship?"
 
But that’s where the Colts proved that they were smarter than all the "experts" writing them off. They learned from their previous experience that it truly is all about the post season. They knew that busting their hump to win those essentially meaningless games paled in comparison to the value of being healthy and ready for the post season. It took them a few years to have that epiphany, but look what happened once they did. As you all know, they went on to dominate in the playoffs and win the Superbowl.

Do you see where I’m going with this analogy? The Phoenix Suns have been to the Western Conference Finals the past two years. They know now what it takes to get there and what’s important in the grand scheme of things. After two seasons of going through those experiences, the Suns players know what the Colt players figured out as well. And that is that the most important thing is being healthy and ready for the playoffs. The Suns realize that the final stretch of this regular season is absolutely meaningless in terms of the big picture. Therefore, what you’re seeing with them dropping these games shouldn’t be alarming; it should be encouraging in the fact that they understand now where the priority needs to be.
 
The Suns had to prove to themselves that they could beat the big boys in the west (Dallas and San Antonio). It’s why you saw them get after it against the Spurs in their last meeting getting the win and it’s why you saw them play their hearts about against the Mavericks a few weeks ago in Dallas. That was all they needed for their psyche. Right then, after that Dallas game, they knew in their head that when they play at their highest level, there is no one in the NBA they can’t beat. Knowing that and also that they are pretty well locked up for their playoff spot, the Suns have done the smart thing. They have started to conserve themselves for what is really important: The playoffs.

All you have to do is watch the games and it’s clear as day what they’re doing. These teams that they are losing to are coming into the game as if it’s the NBA championship. And for those teams struggling to make the playoffs, it essentially is. For the Suns, though, those games meant nothing. That’s why you've seen the Suns not give a genuine effort defensively because that’s where desire, heart, and most of your energy goes towards. The Suns can roll out of bed and hang with anyone offensively, but it’s defensively where they can be deficient causing them to lose these games.
 
But rest easy, Suns fans. It’s not that the Suns can’t play tough defense. It’s that they don’t have to play tough defense right now. All you have to do is look at the most recent statement games against the Spurs and Mavericks to see that when the Suns are focused, they can play defense at a high level. But right now, with the knowledge that they can beat those teams, as well as the knowledge that their playoff seeding is pretty much locked up, they like their NFL counterparts (the Colts) are simply riding out the rest of these meaningless games waiting for the playoffs to begin.
So sit up, dust yourself off, and jump back onto that bandwagon Suns fans. This Suns team, like the Colts prior to them, are simply playing possum gearing themselves up for what’s truly important. And I suspect, when it’s all said and done, you will see the Suns and Colts have one more thing in common...a world championship trophy.