The Phoenix Suns are in that place called ‘no man's land' without a clear exit. They aren't a bad basketball team, they just aren't a good one either. They'll have plenty of ups and plenty of downs, only their plenty of downs will be the downfall of a team that's lost its identity. And man, what an identity it was.
So for now, they sit at no. 20 in SBNation's NBA Power Rankings and at no. 19, four spots up from no. 23, in ESPN's Power Rankings.
SBNation let everyone know that they realize what we all realize - that the Suns are good but just not good enough. And with such a deep Western Conference, it is hard enough to play .500 ball, let alone sneak into the playoffs playing that same caliber of ball.
ESPN pointed out just how different this team is from years past. The Suns won a road game in Boston by scoring only 79 points? The team's leading scorers - Steve Nash and Marcin Gortat - don't even average 15 points per game? Just doesn't seem right to call this team the Suns. But we don't have a choice.