At the height of the ‘Cola Wars’ in the 1980s, blind taste tests were all the rage. An administrator would give an unknowing subject two unmarked beverages to drink and decide which tasted best before revealing what they had just sampled. It sounds creepy when you say it, or type it, but it apparently helped sway people's purchasing habits.
It’s an interesting thought experiment to say the least. So here, let the Retorter put his own PHX spin on it. I’ll give you two unlabeled options and you tell me which one leaves the better taste in your mouth.
The following are two scenarios in which the names have been removed to protect the innocent. Team A, through a two-year, 144 game stint, had a record of 82-66, an up-and-coming roster and were in the hunt for a playoff spot. Team B through the same time frame was 58-86 with an aging roster and a downward trajectory. Who, without knowing any other details, would you rather have as your home team?
The answer, like the answer Don Draper would tell you is the right one to the Cola Wars, Coke, is an obvious one. You’d rather be Team A 99 out of 100 times. It might surprise you, but guess what, Team A was the Suns over the first 144 games of the Ryan McDonough-Jeff Hornacek Era. Team B was Phoenix the 144 games prior to their arrival. It’s not too shabby for roughly the first two years of a rebuilding project. To put it in perspective, over the same amount of games the last two years the Philadelphia 76ers, a team in a similar position, were 33-111.
“We have the balance at position, age and we’ve got weapons all over. It is absolutely our best team.”
— Jeff Hornacek
Perspective is a funny thing. The smallest thing can shift it faster than changing the channel when a one-week fantasy league ad comes on. The Suns fell victim to this. The perception of things got skewed last season thanks to a failed experiment in the 3-guard system, physics defying buzzer beaters -- thanks DeMarcus and Blake-- and injuries that netted one win in the final 11 games.
But when you look at it without labels, and without the emotional baggage, you realize that the Suns are in a much better position now than three years ago and that’s before you look at the offseason moves. Moves that showed Ryan McDonough and the front office learned the lessons of the last two years. Moves that gave the roster the veteran leadership in Tyson Chandler, Ronnie Price and Mirza Teletovic, that it lacked and the balance across the board it needed to take the next step.
“The first year we had a bunch of guys who never really played before. We allowed those guys to spread their wings and show what they had,” Coach Hornacek said on media day. “We had a magical year. Last year we had the three guards we had to deal with for most of the year. This year we feel we’re well balanced. Last year we had a lot of youth. We were a really young. This year, Ryan added six veterans to the roster. We have the balance at position, age and we’ve got weapons all over. It is absolutely our best team.”
It’s high praise from the head coach. Praise that was, in part, earned when 10 players reported to Phoenix for workouts weeks before the traditional post-Labor Day arrival time.
This offseason took on a feeling of a group on a mission. Eric Bledsoe was in Phoenix almost as often as triple-digit heat this summer. Brandon Knight and the aforementioned Chandler signed within minutes of free agency beginning and guys like Teletovic and swingman Sonny Weems left more years or more money on the table to join the team. Draft pick Devin Booker has been compared to a young Klay Thompson and has impressed every step of the way on and off the court. T.J. Warren showed off more of what he can do in Summer League and Alex Len continued to grow his game and embrace Chandler as a mentor.
It has all helped put the Suns in a position to take that next step and win this season.
“The past couple years, last year especially, we were a little too young,” McDonough said. “We had too many young guys. It’s tough to win and compete in the Western Conference with a group of young players. Now we have some good young players we’re very excited about, guys like Len, Warren, Goodwin, Booker, those four are the future as well as part of the present. We have some more veteran guys now that we rounded out the roster with like Tyson Chandler, Mirza Teletovic, Weems and Leuer. We think those guys will help us win now.”
We Are PHX
It’s not just a one year goal of making it back to the playoffs that McDonough, Hornacek and the organization have their sights set on. They hope this offseason was just another step in laying the foundation for sustained success.
“We’re looking to build a sustainable core that can compete and win a lot of games now but also have the next wave of players ready to take their place and hopefully climb the ladder in the West and the NBA,” McDonough explained.
It doesn’t take a blind taste test to see that the Suns are on the rise again. It just takes a reminder of just how far we’ve come. Being around the team it’s clear that the camaraderie and energy are something special. Year three under McDonough and Hornacek seems like it’s well on its way to being the best yet.