Season Wrap-Up
As the Suns players and coaches filed out of the arena one last time this season, questions arose about the present and perhaps more importantly – the future state of the franchise. After a first-round exit to the defending champion Spurs, the offseason started much quicker than most people would have anticipated. But as the media scrounged for answers from the players, coaches and Suns General Manager Steve Kerr about any forthcoming changes, uncertainty prevailed as the company line.  Steve Kerr will have a number of decisions to make this offseason regarding free agents.
(Daniel Banks, Suns.com Photos)
With reports on SportsIllustrated.com and ESPN.com circulating about the unlikely return of Suns Head Coach Mike D’Antoni, Kerr stated that D’Antoni was still the coach of this team. The usually loquacious D’Antoni would only deliver “no comments” when prompted about the situation. He said that he preferred to remain quiet until he felt the time was right. However, both coach and general manager said that they would both sit down with owner Robert Sarver in the coming days and evaluate the future of the team. “Mike is our coach and I’m hoping we can move forward together,” Kerr said. “I’d like to see him back and I’d like to see us working together. “It’s well documented that we have some different ideas and approaches and what we have to do is talk, communicate and get on the same page on how this organization can get better and how this team can get better.” Kerr believes that a difference in opinion can be healthy for generating ideas and he also believes that D’Antoni wants to be back. “Mike has been a terrific coach over the last four years and I have great respect for him,” Kerr said. “I like him personally and we get along fine and he’s done a really good job. “But we have to get better. Our team went out in the first round and we need to figure out together how this team can improve.” OLYMPICS Amaré Stoudemire said that he’s going to take some time off, spend some time with his family before getting ready to play this summer. After he consults a doctor about the grind of playing through three straight offseasons, he’ll decide if he is ready to play for USA Basketball in this summer's Olympics in Beijing. Stoudemire, who had microfracture surgery in 2006, is worried about the lack of rest he’s had in the past two offseasons since having such a major operation. However, STAT said that he would definitely play if he was 100 percent, but that he wanted to ensure that he wasn’t jeopardizing his health and career as a whole by pushing himself too hard. Stoudemire told Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic, “It's more than a year-round grind. It's last year and the year before that and the year before that. It's really been like a three-year-round basketball circuit.
STAT and Coach D'Antoni may work together at USA Basketball this summer.
Daniel Banks/Suns.com “Coming back from microfracture, I tried out with the USAB then and played a few months then. Then went into the training camp in the NBA and had the season last year. Came back and played USAB last summer and came back for training camp this year and played this season. So it's a lot going on after the knee surgery. I just want to make sure I'm ready to handle that." So while STAT is non-committal on playing in the Olympics, one player that won’t be playing is Boris Diaw, whose French National Team was eliminated during last summer’s Olympic qualifying tournament. Diaw, France’s team captain, has also not decided whether or not he is going to help France qualify during next year's FIBA Europe Championship Tournament in Poland in 2009. One Sun that still has a chance of playing in the Olympics is Leandro Barbosa. LB and his Brazilian National Team have the opportunity to play their way into the Olympics when they play in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Greece in July. ROOKIE WATCH Rookie Alando Tucker will also be in town as he plans to take only a limited amount of time off before going to work on his game. He says that we’ll see him at the Suns’ practice facility often and that he hopes to improve tremendously over the summer. Both Tucker and fellow rookie D.J. Strawberry will be participating in the Las Vegas Summer League from July 11 through July 20. Kerr, who was encouraged by what he saw from the two rookies this past season, hopes that their continual development will improve the club’s depth next season. The general manager also believes that having savvy veterans like Sean Marks, Eric Piatkowski and Brian Skinner around has shown the rookies what kind of work ethic it takes to be successful as professionals. When Tucker isn't working on his game, he will also be making a few entries to his blog this summer, so Suns fans will be able to stay on top of what he’s up over the next few months. TIDBITS The road will diverge for many of the players this offseason. Steve Nash is headed to New York to work out, skateboard, play soccer and maintain his silky smooth jumper. Shaquille O’Neal will be hanging around Phoenix for a while to work with Suns head athletic trainer Aaron Nelson on his body and its continuous rejuvenation. Raja Bell will head back to Miami to see his family before shooting up to Long Island, NY to spend time with his wife’s family. QUOTE OF THE DAY When asked if the Suns have what it takes to win the championship with their current pieces next season, guard Raja Bell replied, “Yeah. On paper we are just as good or better than anyone else in the league, we just need to sure a few things up.”

very good