The Suns missed the playoffs in back-to-back years for the first time in 1988. They failed to have at least one sellout at home for the first time since US Airways Center was built in 1992. Even The Gorilla took a punch in the face during an appearance in Tempe on Wednesday.
Oh yeah, and Steve Nash and Grant Hill are likely headed out the door as unrestricted free agents. Other than that, everything is just peachy.
The Suns fought hard to stay in the playoff race. By the end of the season, they had a working rotation, a good home record at a real shot at grabbing the eighth seed in the West.
"This was a rewarding year. This was a positive season," Nash said. "Obviously I'm used to playing in the playoffs, and that's important to me, but you know, we took it about as far as we could this year. It's inevitable with a change, and from some of our flaws we weren't going to have a good start.
"We struggled, and the most important thing was the coaches stuck with us and never let us give up and found a way to make the pieces work to be greater than the sum of the parts. ... We hung in there. So there's reward to be had. It's not a championship, it's not the playoffs, and so we're disappointed in that. But when you look at it, we were greater than the sum of our parts, and we had a lot of guys who sacrificed and fought and made this a pretty good year."
The Suns will have a lottery pick and money to spend even if Nash -- who is looking for a three-year deal -- returns. But what they need is direction and identity. And if Nash leaves, they will need a soul.
SEASON HIGHLIGHT
After a 12-19 start, the Suns were 21-14 after the All-Star break and came up one win shy of a playoff spot. Players found comfort in their roles as the offense started churning out 100-point efforts. Three wins in three nights, including a big win in Los Angeles over the Clippers, represented a significant achievement but turned out to be not quite enough.
TURNING POINT
Losing Hill to a knee injury down the stretch hurt a team that needed a defensive stopper. He tried to play in the elimination game in Utah but lasted only three minutes.
NOTES, QUOTES
-- By not trading Steve Nash at the deadline, the Suns now face the prospect they faced two years ago with Amare Stoudemire -- a marquee asset walking away without getting a single thing in return. No players, no draft picks. Nothing.
Coach Alvin Gentry had planned on sitting Nash in the fourth quarter of the finale, but the crowd chanted "We want Steve" until Gentry brought him back for a brief 30-second cameo and final walk-off. No one knows if it was his swan song as a Sun, but it certainly felt like it.
"I've been with him eight years and I've always admired him," Gentry said. "He always tried to do everything really professionally. He is an unbelievable student of the game. He played with reckless abandonment. Got everyone involved in the game and I always thought he was a guy that made guys better. It's fun to watch him play.
"What he's done for my coaching career is priceless as far as I'm concerned."
-- While Nash was sent off with applause, Grant Hill's possible last game had much less fanfare. Sidelined after coming back too soon from knee surgery, Hill played only three minutes in his last five games as a Sun and, just shy of 40 years old, is a free agent as well.
Hill is still Phoenix's best wing defender and, even with plenty of wing options, a strong player who's a Gentry favorite. If Nash doesn't come back, it's hard to figure Hill staying either.
QUOTE TO NOTE
"It was an interesting year, the ups and downs over the course of the season. We had a rough start trying to get everyone acclimated to the system we were trying to run. Through all the struggles, I think we came out of it, roles were defined and guys began to play better." -- Suns coach Alvin Gentry.
ROSTER REPORT
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Steve Nash led the league in double-digit assist games (41) and finished 295 of 555 (.532) from the field for the season. That shooting percentage tied his career best and was the highest by a guard since 2007-08 (Ronnie Brewer) and the highest by a point guard since 2005-06 (Tony Parker).
MOST DISAPPOINTING PLAYER: Ronnie Price was supposed to be Nash's backup at point guard, but quickly lost his job to Sebastian Telfair and was on the outside of the rotation when the Suns turned their season around.
BIGGEST NEEDS: The Suns need a bona fide power forward to mentor Markieff Morris and keep opponents off the offensive glass. They also will need a new point guard and leader if Nash leaves, and they'll need shooters to again make the 3-point line an effective weapon in Phoenix.
FREE AGENT FOCUS: Nash and Grant Hill are the main focus, but Sebastian Telfair, Shannon Brown, Robin Lopez and even Aaron Brooks -- who chose to play the season overseas -- have completed their contracts.
PLAYER NOTES
-- G Steve Nash accepted the accolades of the US Airways Center crowd in the season finale with his future still up in the air. Nash will be a free agent for the first time since returning to Phoenix in 2004 and he wants to play three more years. Will the Suns do enough to prove to him that they are committed to winning, or will he head elsewhere?
-- F Markieff Morris had a very good rookie season and proved -- when he could avoid foul trouble -- that he fits the power forward spot well. He improved with each game, showed a strong 3-point shot and playing in 63 of 66 games. His emergence along with Marcin Gortat inside could make Channing Frye's future in Phoenix cloudy.
-- C Marcin Gortat finished the season poorly, with his shooting percentage down and his turnovers up. When he's right, he's a double-double machine and very effective. When he's not, he drags down the team in several areas and rarely can turn around a bad game while it's happening.
MEDICAL WATCH
-- F Channing Frye (subluxed right shoulder) will get right to rehab work. He's dislocated this shoulder before, so he knows the road.
-- F Grant Hill (right knee surgery) came back too soon from a minor procedure but should be fine -- wherever he plays -- as he approaches his 40th birthday.
