Phoenix Suns 2010-11 Media Guide - NBA Media Central

Season Review 09-10
204
Review09-10
Review09-10
Season
RECORD
A 2009-10 season that began with tempered expectations and a slew of vocal
doubters saw the up-start Phoenix Suns make believers out of fans and pundits 54-28
alike, and come within two victories of an NBA Finals berth. The club made its
third Western Conference Finals appearance in six seasons after a 54-win regular season despite
being picked by many to miss the playoffs entirely.
Behind Alvin Gentry in his first full season as the club’s head coach, Phoenix opened the season
with a franchise-record tying and NBA-best 14-3 record, earning the first of two NBA Western
Conference Coach of the Month honors for Gentry, who finished fifth in league Coach of the Year
voting. Despite inconsistencies in December and January that saw the club struggle to a 14-18 mark,
the quick start was a source of confidence for the Suns, who rediscovered their swagger and won 23
of 29 games after the All-Star break, best of any West team. That record included a 12-2 mark in the
month of March when Gentry won his second monthly honor.
The Suns were once again led by All-NBA Second Team teammates Steve Nash and Amar’e
Stoudemire, who were both voted All-Star starters. Nash posted the greatest statistical season for a
point guard over the age of 35 in league history and led the NBA in assists for the fourth time in six
seasons since re-joining the Suns. But it was not just the stars who led Phoenix. Suns fans were
treated to a deeper and more defensive-minded club. Planet Orange witnessed the development of a
consistently productive 10-man rotation and the coming-of-age of the team’s 2008 draft class, as
Robin Lopez and Goran Dragic each became key contributors. The Suns led the league in scoring for
the fifth time in six seasons and shot a franchise-record 41.2 percent from three-point range, the
second-highest mark in NBA history.
After dropping their playoff opener against the Trail Blazers, Phoenix went on to win eight of its
next nine postseason contests, defeating Portland 4-2 in the opening round to set up a semifinal
grudge match with the rival San Antonio Spurs. Though the doubters returned, not only did the Suns
erase a decade of playoff heartbreaks against the Spurs, they did so with a sweep of San Antonio that
included an 18-point comeback in Game 3 and a series-clinching Game 4 victory in the Alamo City.
That set up a clash of Pacific Division foes in the conference finals and the Suns and Lakers split
the series’ first four games. But, in Game 5, Ron Artest’s improbable rebound and put-back of a Kobe
Bryant airball as time expired won that pivotal contest for the Lakers and eventually the series, 4-2.
FRONT ROW: Advance Scout Noel Gillespie, Equipment Manager Jay Gaspar, Assistant Athletic Trainer Tom
Maystadt, Strength Coach/Assistant Athletic Trainer Mike Elliott, Video Coordinator Elvis Valcarcel, Assistant
Video Coordinator Nick U’Ren. MIDDLE ROW: Assistant Coach Bill Cartwright, Assistant Coach Dan Majerle, Head
Coach Alvin Gentry, Leandro Barbosa, Goran Dragic, Steve Nash, Jason Richardson, Jared Dudley, Assistant
Coach John Shumate, Assistant Coach Igor Kokoskov, Athletic Trainer Aaron Nelson. BACK ROW: Grant Hill,
Louis Amundson, Jarron Collins, Channing Frye, Robin Lopez, Amar’e Stoudemire, Earl Clark, Taylor Griffin.