So as the regular season has come to an end and while the first round of the playoffs lasts longer than any playoff round should, I decided to go back and determine this season's biggest disappointment in the Western Conference.
I have narrowed it down to 3 candidates, but would love to hear cases for others...
#3: Los Angeles Clippers: After acquiring Baron Davis & Marcus Camby in the off-season a 35 win season out of the Clippers was not that far-fetched, not with the promise of Al Thornton, who seemed primed to make the leap in year 2 and the potential of Eric Gordon. The Clippers weren't necessarily supposed to crack the playoff bubble in the west, but they were certainly expected to hang around the 8-10 range in the conference. Instead, they won about 4 games and the season was defined by general discontent between Baron Davis & Mike Dunleavy, as well as a trade for Zach Randolph, effectively ruining the Clippers cap until 2012. I think this season was a huge disappointment as it was supposed to be a stepping stone to a playoff run next year, however, it instead turned into an unmitigated disaster which will take years to recover from.
#2: New Orleans Hornets: This may be a bit premature, but considering they're down 3-1 in the playoffs and have 1 home game left and just lost by approximately 120 points to denver, I'm considering their season over. This is a wonderful opportunity for the Hornets to silence their critics... but i'm not counting on it. Heading into the season, the Hornets seemed prime to make the jump to the head of the Western Conference. They fell just short of a Conference Finals date with the Lakers last year & kept their core in tact in the off-season and added post-season specialist James Posey. The Hornets were a trendy pick to win the West & represent the West in the Finals or at least push the Lakers to the brink in the Conference Finals. Instead, the Hornets finished 7th in the West, Tyson Chandler was nearly traded, but failed a physical & they got bounced in the first round of the playoffs. A huge step back.
#1: Phoenix Suns: The fate of one franchise has never been so tragically fated by one official as the Suns. Tim Donaghy essentially cost them a chance at a championship three summers ago and the Suns have yet to recover. Instead of sticking to their system of the fun and gun, they traded for Shaq last year and tried to slow it down. Eventually the core of the team was blown up, with Raja Bell, Boris Diaw and Shawn Marion all gone and an injured Amare, an aging Shaq and a discontent Nash were all that remained. Forget competing with the Lakers in the Pacific, the Suns couldn't even manage to squeak out a playoff birth in 2008-09. Steve Kerr's tenure as GM has to come to an end this off-season. He tried to fix something that wasn't broken and failed miserably. From running off D'Antoni to alienating Nash, Kerr has been made wrong turn after wrong turn. His trade for Jason Richardson really ended up being the icing on the cake, where Raja Bell and Boris Diaw nearly helped carry the Bobcats to an unprobable playoff run in the Eastern Conference. The Suns missed their window for a championship & have to hope that a core of Barbosa-Robin Lopez-Jason Richardson can carry them in the future. Please re-read that. Nash is going to leave after next season and Amare seems about as out the door as Marion did. Shaq has maybe 1 year left in him... so yea, Barbosa-Robin Lopez-Jason Richardson.... yikes.
the Suns - your 2008-09 most disappointing team in the West....
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