Anyone who watched last night's Suns debacle against Orlando knows that the effort level put forth by Phoenix was at best Diaw-like and at worst abhorrent.
Obviously, the loss is relatively excusable given that the Suns were playing their fourth game in five nights and without the services of tiny Canadian point guard Steve Nash, but what bothered me was a pre-game tweet from Paul Coro quoting Alvin Gentry on his expectations without Nash:
Gentry on going w/o Nash for 4th game in 5 nights vs. ORL: "We've just got to find a way to make 22 3s."
Paul Coro
paulcoro
Now don't get me wrong -- I understand that Alvin Gentry has a bit of a dry wit and that the NBA season is a long, but it seems like that type of attitude permeated the Suns locker room and was apparent in their lax effort against the Magic.
Believe it or not, I actually do hate jumping on Gentry -- the guy who led the Suns to the brink of the NBA Finals a year ago -- but kidding or not, that isn't the message you want to send from the top. Certainly none of that will affect the professionalism and effort level of a veteran like Grant Hill, but to certain young guys, that could possibly be construed as a license to slack.
I think I heard once that winning is a state of mind.
Would they have lost either way? Probably. Am I overreacting? Probably -- but it's a slow Friday.