Who is to blame for the Phoenix Suns’ early exit? The coaches? The Big Three? The nonexistent bench? Well, that’s what everyone is trying to figure out. As for now, the majority seems to side with holding the players accountable, calling the acquisition of Bradley Beal an expensive mistake and a gigantic bill that Suns owner Mat Ishbia should have never footed. But if you ask NBA legend Tracy McGrady, the majority have the whole situation upside down.
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While McGrady may not have seen much post-season success during his career, T-Mac is still considered one of the best offensive talents the league has ever seen. The Raptors legend recently took to his Instagram to answer questions concerning the ongoing playoffs, during which McGrady was asked about the Pheonix Suns early exit. T-Mac, while admitting to being disappointed by the Arizona side’s performance, pointed to the team’s coaching as the biggest reason why the team kept failing in the playoffs.
“The sun getting swept is a huge disappointment, cause I actually thought with the three of them that they could make something happen…I am going to blame something on the coach as well, ’cause I am watching the Suns and it’s pick-up basketball.”
The heavy reliance on isolation scoring is definitely something that the Suns’ offense is plagued with. While it’s great for getting a quick bucket, the system relies heavily on their star players having big games, a tactic that bared its flaws during this year’s postseason.
The Warriors also came up during the discussion, as McGrady pointed to Steve Kerr’s system as being an example of a well-coached team. The screening action and the off-ball movement of the Warriors make it hard to key in on players defensively, and while the Dubs may not have the same offensive talents as the Suns, in McGrady’s eyes, they are a superior offense. Charles Barkley seems to think otherwise.
Charles Barkley thinks the players are at fault
Barkley doesn’t see what the fuss is all about. The trio of Durant, Booker, and Beal are set to make $150 million next season, and that’s just their base salaries. After making such atrocious sums of money, Barkley found it ironic that the players didn’t want the media and their coaching staff holding them accountable. Sir Charles didn’t spare his media colleagues either, as he went in on the industry and its hypocritical standards.
” Anybody who thinks the Lakers stink because of Darvin Ham or the Suns stink because of Frank Vogel, you don’t know what you are talking about. Frank Vogel is a hell of a coach. Darvin Ham is a hell of a coach trying to get his career started. So for all you punks, idiots, and jacka**es on other networks who want to be in media and who want all the players to like them, do your damn job.”
The TNT panelists didn’t put the complete blame on the stars either, as Barkley suggested firing the “trash-a**” executives that put the roster together, pointing to the fact that the Suns team was doomed to fail from the beginning. Unfortunately, news reports are hinting at a possible firing in the Phoenix organization, as Coach Frank Vogwel will most probably go fishing for a new job this summer.
