Suns' future?

Tonight was a typical Suns/Spurs playoff match-up: Suns play just well enough to give you hope, and then end up caving to veteran players with veteran coaching.

Let's be honest here. The Spurs are world champs, playing with home-court advantage. If you were betting, you'd bet they'd win the series. (Okay, I wouldn't bet that way, but most sensible people would.)

But come on, Suns...if you're going to lose, at least lose in respectable fashion. You can't have players and coaches making rookie mistakes, as they did in Game 1. You can't have key role-players going 0-fer in Game 2. (Leandro Barbosa, that means you.) You can't melt under the Spurs' defensive pressure; you have to have a half-court offense that is capable of scoring with the shot clock below :08. Oh yeah, you also can't let Tony Parker score a billion points in the paint. I mean, seriously, ask yourself: how many points did Steve Nash and Leandro Barbosa score in the paint?

Despite all of that, there were two things to feel good about tonight: a) a couple of hard fouls on Ginobili and Parker in the lane, which is something I've always wanted to see from the Suns; and b) the fact that losing to the Spurs means we don't have to lose to the Lakers.

Once the Suns are excused from the playoffs, whether in this series or a later one, where does that leave them? I hope it leaves them with this conversation between Robert Sarver and Mike D'Antoni when the season is done: "Mike, I think you'd agree it was another disappointing season. I'd like you to have a full year with Shaq, though, just to see what you can do when you've got time to prepare with a genuine big man. But if we all end up being disappointed again at the end of next season, it will be time for sweeping changes in the organization. Those changes will start with a new head coach."