The Phoenix Suns’ loss to the Portland Trail Blazers in the 7–8 Play-In game was disappointing. In a season where the team overachieved, defied expectations, and rarely let you down, this one didn’t feel good. You can point to a lot of things that make your blood boil, even if it’s two days later. Devin Booker disappearing in the fourth. Deni Avdija getting downhill whenever he wanted. The Suns struggling at the point of attack. Jordan Ott going small against a team with size and length. All of it is fair. All of it played a role.
None of it means you fire the coach.
There’s a cycle to this. It happens every year. The team falls short, emotions spike, and the search for blame begins. In Phoenix, that cycle feels familiar. 58 seasons and no championship will do that to you. There is one thing we all share: every year ends with some level of disappointment. Then comes the reaction. The frustration. The need to point at something and say, “That’s the reason”.
I’m not immune to it. None of us are. You watch, you process, you try to explain why it didn’t work. And more often than not, that conversation lands on the head coach. That’s the easy target. That’s the normal cadence.
But this season, it doesn’t track.
Booker has a rough fourth quarter. Fire Ott. The rotations don’t match what you want to see. Fire Ott. Avdija cooks whoever is in front of him. Fire Ott. It becomes reflexive. It becomes lazy.
There have been times when moving on from a coach made sense. When the locker room is gone. When adjustments never come. When expectations aren’t met in a meaningful way. This isn’t that. What you’re seeing now, after one frustrating loss and a team that hovered around average after the All-Star break, doesn’t justify that kind of reaction. It doesn’t hold up. Calling for a reset here isn’t measured. It’s noise.
And the people pushing for it need to take a step back and let it breathe.
There are some people I wish didn’t have opposable thumbs and therefore couldn’t run to social media to give us their brain-rotting opinions. Go on a walk. Hug a friend. Move to the Austrian Alps, climb atop a grassy hillside, and sway your arms as you sing about the sound of music. Seriously people, fucking relax.
Have I agreed with Jordan Ott and his rotations late in the season? No. The team has consistently struggled at the point of attack and protecting the rim, and I believe the roster has pieces that could help address that. I’m not convinced that putting Jordan Goodwin on Deni Avdija is the best approach. There’s also an argument for leaning into the youth, letting them try to solve some of these issues while gaining experience.
But it’s not simple. It never is. If you play the rookies more to fix defensive gaps, other issues show up. The offense can stall. The balance shifts. Every decision comes with trade-offs. Ott and his staff are navigating that in real time, and even if I don’t agree with the choices, that doesn’t mean you move on from the coach.
Take a step back. Think it through. Look at the bigger picture.
The head coach position in Phoenix has been unstable for years. If you want to build something, stability matters. Ott is a rookie head coach, learning on the job, and it’s something we all understood coming into the season. This team was projected to win 30.5 games. They won 45. That’s a massive jump. That’s 50% better than expected.
This is a team finding its direction and building an identity with a young coach who understands the modern game and is laying a foundation. And the response is to want him gone because of rotation choices or the fact Fleming isn’t playing?! I’m worried about you if this is your conclusion.
I get the frustration. I feel it too. The tactics haven’t always worked, and the results haven’t always followed. But jumping back on the cycle, searching for the next coach you’ll eventually disagree with, that’s not a solution. That’s spinning your wheels.
Yes, I understand the thought exercise. That’s what we do at Bright Side. That’s what every fan base does. We look for ways to make the teams we care about better. But again, this isn’t that. This isn’t a real exercise. It’s futility. It’s wasted energy, wasted space, and pointless pixels on a screen. Because no matter what happens Friday against the Golden State Warriors, no matter what rotations Jordan Ott rolls out, the idea of moving on from him shouldn’t even be on the table.
This team took two steps forward this season. That part matters. Walking away from that now, after one game or one stretch, isn’t a pivot. It’s regression. It’s taking eight steps back.
