The Suns, as constituted, simply aren’t good enough, GM Ryan McDonough acknowledged today in a radio appearance this morning on the “Doug & Wolf Show” on Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link). McDonough also said that he accepts responsibility for the state of the team and, when asked about his own job security, said he hadn’t been given any guarantees and hadn’t asked for any (All Twitter links).
“It is our job to coach the players we have and to fill our roster to the best of our ability and we haven’t,” McDonough said.
See more from McDonough and others as the Suns dig out from under Monday’s firing of Jeff Hornacek and the appointment of assistant coach Earl Watson as interim head coach.
- Watson will be a candidate for the long-term head coaching job, McDonough also said in his radio appearance (Twitter links). McDonough added in response to a question that he hasn’t reached out to Sixers assistant and former Suns head coach Mike D’Antoni, whom the team has reportedly been poised to target.
- Players expressed support for Watson when the Suns shook up their assistant coaching staff in late December, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. Markieff Morris and Watson get along, notes Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
- The Suns still have a roster built to run the two point guard attack that Hornacek orchestrated, and Hornacek’s firing is a signal of potential changes to come in the team’s approach to player personnel, Coro writes in the same piece. Turnover issues and the emergence of lottery pick Devin Booker, a traditional shooting guard, further that notion, Coro adds.
- The Suns set up Hornacek for failure when they neglected to pick up his team option for next season before this season began, making him a lame duck, and when they failed anticipate the fallout from the Marcus Morris trade, contends Paula Boivin of the Arizona Republic. Hornacek deserved some of the blame, but not as much as the Suns organization assigned to him, Boivin opines.
- Hornacek’s firing won’t change the problems that hang over the franchise, which sorely lacks a culture of mutual respect and trust between ownership and the rest of the organization, contends Ben Golliver of SI.com.
So, who is getting dealt? Bledsoe or Knight? If I were PHX, I keep the guy that fits best with Booker, the kid will be their franchise player sooner than later.
Their best player gets hurt, another is having an extended baby fit, the rim protector they finally signed looks 10 years older than his actual old age, and they havent addressed their need on the wing in the last 3 years, but it’s Hornacek’s fault