The former player the Phoenix Suns miss the most is painfully obvious
It was so different when he was playing in The Valley.
If you’ve watched the Phoenix Suns play basketball this season – and you deserve a lot of praise if you’ve stuck with them through what has been a rough campaign – then you will know that this group lacks grit and intensity when matched up with a tough opponent. If the opposition doesn’t just roll over and let the Suns get the looks they want, then they don’t know how to break them down.
It’s the reason why younger teams like the Orlando Magic – who won the season series 2-0 versus the Suns – were easily able to run them out of the gym when they played, and why tougher veteran groups such as the New York Knick are also able to quick grind them down. A depressing though, when you consider neither the Knicks or especially Magic are what you would consider truly elite.
Which is why it is painfully obvious this team misses Chris Paul.
Perhaps not even Chris Paul the player – because if you’ve watched the San Antonio Spurs this season – you’ll know it is criminal that he continues to start over rookie Stephon Castle. That young guard will be an All-Star one day, and ironically he too plays with the kind of aggression and “I’m better than you and I’m going to show it” attitude that the Suns are seriously lacking.
But everything about what Paul used to bring to Phoenix left the moment they sent him packing. On the court he was still underrated defensively given both his age and size, but he was the conductor on a roster that made it all the way to the NBA Finals. Even if that diminished version of Paul is no longer around – and he really isn’t – he has once again proven with the Spurs that he is a winner.
