JeremyG wrote: ↑Fri Aug 11, 2023 6:24 pm
I don’t need to poll anyone. Objectively speaking, it’s the greatest play in Suns history from a logical standpoint, through process of elimination.
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JeremyG wrote: ↑Fri Aug 11, 2023 6:24 pm
So that leaves us with the WCF. Ayton’s shot put us up 2-0 in the WCF which led to our third Finals appearance in franchise history. In a season they went to the Finals, the Suns have only had one other one-possession win in the WCF. But it was a defensive play (block by Heard to force a Game 7), which means there is no way to know whether it even altered the outcome or not (Wilkes may have missed the shot anyway):
I don't think you don't actually know as much about Suns history as you think you do. Did you only look at final scores? Did you not realize that in that same playoff series where Heard made that amazing block in game 6 to seal a win (and Alvan Adams hit a crucial go-ahead shot on the offensive possession just prior to that), the Suns, down 2-1 and playing at home, were trailing heading into the final seconds of game 4 - at which point, Keith Erickson hit a tying shot with 2 seconds remaining to get to overtime; Ricky Sobers then matched it, drawing a foul at the end of the first overtime and hitting two free throws to tie it again with 2 seconds left. The Suns went on to win in the second overtime, but if either of those plays don't happen, the Suns lose, go down 3-1, and are eliminated in the next game at Golden State.
By your own "logical", "process of elimination" standards, those are both greater plays than Ayton's, which, as you point out, put the Suns up 2-0 in a series they eventually won in 6 games. They weren't facing almost certain elimination with a loss, like the '76 team was, and in fact it's not too difficult to imagine a world where that Clippers series at worst goes to a seventh game in Phoenix and the Suns win anyways.
So why don't people talk about those plays? Why don't they seem to come up? I think it's because of the players: Erickson was a 6th man for a few years, then drifted out of Suns history. Sobers didn't fit in to the pattern offense that John MacLeod wanted to play, was traded and likewise became just another name. They're not on the level of Barkley, Nash, Walter Davis, Paul Westphal, and other Suns that had great playoff moments, and that game isn't considered with the triple-overtime finals game or the "Save The City" finals game or others that people hold onto. You've got to have a legacy for your contribution to last.
Is the same thing going to happen to Ayton? I think that's up to him. I think that the hope remains that he'll regain the level of play that he had in the playoff run that year. But there's always seems to be a reason why he doesn't or can't or won't, and if that stays the case, then he'll drift out of Suns history too, a disappointment and an enigma.
I appreciate that. Can I use it to ride the bus to the Golden Corral too for my 4 pm supper?
(Which is not exactly true of Keith anyway, as he later became Al McCoy’s color commentator partner on Suns broadcasts for several years. That’s like saying Tim Kempton drifted out of Suns history).
