<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Franchises entering new eras of basketball came to Las Vegas 5 1/2 months ago. The Suns were toying with a counterculture system of overwhelming offense led by Steve Nash's return. The Lakers were coping with a roster overhaul, and the off-season drama of Shaquille O'Neal's and Phil Jackson's departures. "They're going to be better than what most people think," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said then.He was talking about the Lakers, but it proved more apropos for his team, which has a 1 1/2-game lead on Miami for the NBA's top mark with six of Phoenix's last nine games at America West Arena. Most of those in Las Vegas for that Oct. 24 preseason game between the Suns and Lakers still were betting on the Lakers to be better than the Suns for a 10th straight year. Phoenix fed that notion, never threatening Los Angeles and making 1 of 14 three-point shots in its only preseason loss. Even then, D'Antoni and Steve Nash said they knew the Suns had the better team. But 23 games better? The disparity between the Suns (56-17) and Lakers (33-40) is so wide that a Phoenix win tonight against the Lakers and a Denver win at Memphis would eliminate the Lakers from the playoffs for the first time in 11 years. "I thought it'd be more competitive," Nash said.</div> Source
I think everyone thought we would be more competitive. No one thought our defense would be this atrocious, no one thought that Rudy T was going to step down, no one thought we would be changing offenses in the middle of the season. It was just an ugly year full of surprises.
I am actually glad that we are finally out of the playoff's. It has been a painful season and I am glad that our hopes have been destroyed. Don't get me wrong, I would have loved LA to reach the playoffs but when I realised that it was virtually impossible, it was time to end quickly instead of a long fight and our hopes destoryed. This extra time gives us time to experiment with our squad and find a formula that works. At least next season there is no pressure on us as we are probably going to be seen as finishing around the 9th or 10th place in the West. I am confident that we will make the playoffs soon and win the championship once again. When we are on our way and suprising all the doubters and haters, the victories are going to be SO much sweeter and it is going to be funny how the media and spectators claim that they "always knew the Lakers would be on top, and how they never doubted Kobe." I can't wait for this day to come. Believe me, the victory is going to be so sweet because we would have shocked everyone and came up from the bottom.
