Suns to replace Porter with Gentry
You're out Porter, You're in Gentry
League sources say that team officials of the Phoenix Suns were meeting on Sunday afternoon with Alvin Gentry to finalize a deal for him replace Terry Porter as head head coach of the Suns.
As this deal is being finalized, Terry Porter said that he hasn’t heard anything from Suns officials and they will be meeting later today.
Gentry, who has had head coaching experience with the Los Angeles Clippers, Detroit Pistons and Miami Heat, is the lead assistant and will be taking over the Suns for the remainder of the season.
Reasons for the firing of Porter are obvious as he wasn’t able to bring the defensive mindset that the management was looking for when he was in Detroit. Another is that the whole offense of the Suns became too slow and was focusing too much on Shaquille O’neal. These led to the trading of D’Antoni’s favorite Boris Diaw and crowd favorite Raja Bell to the Bobcats for Jason Richardson and Jared Dudley in December. Coach Porter also loosened up the offense and it looked like they were winning again but losing 8 out of the final 13 games convinced management that it was time for him to go.
This could be great news for Phoenix Suns fans as Amar’e Stoudemire might not be traded after all. It also looks like they have a good relationship with coach Alvin Gentry as he has been with the Suns since 2004. Let’s just hope that Gentry learned a thing or two from D’Antoni’s run ‘n gun system as this will boost the production of all the Suns players except Shaquille O’neal.
If Amar’e stays, look for the Suns to go to him more and play Phoenix Suns basketball with all the running. Steve Nash’s career will be rejuvenated after it took a step back for half a season this year. Look for them to score more this second half and I’m pretty sure that fantasy owners of Suns players and Suns fans are all excited with this.
