Phoenix Suns: Playoff Optimists or Pessimists?

In every part of life, the one thing we can control is our own emotions. We can choose to look at a dire situation and be pessimistic, or we can choose to keep our heads up and be optimistic. The Phoenix Suns are in that predicament right now, with the playoffs far enough out of their grasp to seem hopeless…but that’s the pessimist in me talking. Let’s look at their playoff situation from both sides and see who’s right and who’s wrong.

Optimist: The schedule provides the Suns with the opportunity to play teams ahead of them, which is the easiest way to make up ground.

Pessimist: The schedule is way too difficult, with only two under .500 teams remaining in the last 14 games.

Edge: Pessimist

True, it is the easier route to catch the teams ahead of you when you get to play them and the Suns get the New Orleans Pelicans twice and the Oklahoma City Thunder once — but if you’re struggling with the other games, it’s really not going to matter. The Suns play six of their last eight on the road, with their only home games against the suddenly hot Utah Jazz and the getting-back-to-healthy Los Angeles Clippers.

Optimist: Even though the schedule is tough, the Suns can beat those teams — they’ve showed it this year.

Pessimist: How can the Suns compete against good teams — on the road no less — when they can barely beat bottom-feeders?

Edge: Pessimist

Can you remember the last Suns win that could truly be considered an impressive win? Go ahead and think, we’ll wait. Matter of fact, lets just list their last wins and we’ll see if we can find a good one in there:

Mar. 15 vs. Knicks — one of the worst teams in basketball
Mar. 11 vs. T’Wolves — one of the other worst teams in basketball
Mar. 6 at Nets — bad team with next to no chemistry
Mar. 4 at Magic — another Eastern Conference patsy
Feb. 26 vs. Thunder — without the league’s reigning MVP, Kevin Durant
Feb. 25 at Nuggets — Denver was on a historic slide, ended up firing coach
Feb. 6 vs. Jazz — back before they discovered that defense was important
Jan. 30 vs. Chicago — probably the last real quality win

So there you have it — it’s been almost 6 weeks since the Suns last had a quality win. The squad on that night included Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas, who are now gone.

Optimist: The trades have allowed younger players to play in meaningful games down the stretch — they need this kind of experience.

Pessimist: If we didn’t blow up the team, maybe we could be playing for seeding instead of survival.

Edge: Optimist

I’m a long-term thinker. Even though the Suns are looking at a five-year playoff drought, the goal simply cannot be sneaking into the playoffs. They want to build a foundation that can grow together and have a legitimate chance at competing for a championship someday.

As much as I loved watching Dragic play, he made it known he was out the door. I really liked watching Thomas take over late in games, but his defense and inconsistent play helped get the Suns in those holes, where they needed the comebacks.

Because of those trades we’ve been more exposed to T.J. Warren and Archie Goodwin. Because of those trades the Suns were able to bring in Brandon Knight, a guy who isn’t better yet, but has much more upside than Dragic.

Are the Suns in a great spot? No. Should we all hang our heads and call it a season? Absolutely not. The Suns must stay positive and keep learning, improving and developing chemistry — even if they end up on the outside of the playoffs again.

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