We live in a cynical world of "what have you done for me lately". In sports and in the valley, Suns head coach Mike D'Antoni is taking a lot of heat for not being able to integrate Shaquille O'Neal into his system. I've actually heard whispers that he should be fired. That he had no control in his teams locker room. If you believe what you hear and read, you would think that Shawn Marion was some kind of a monster who didn't get along with anyone because he asked to be traded before the start of the regular season. That could not be farther from the truth. D'Antoni has not lost his team. He still has their ear yet some impatient people are actually calling for his ouster. This is the same Mike D'Antoni who has coached his teams to 62, 54 and 61 win seasons the last 3 years. He didn't become an idiot overnight. Another knock on Mike is his run, gun and fun system isn't good enough to win in the playoffs. Last year that system took them to the Western Conference finals and if not for untimely suspensions to Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw, I believe they could have gone to the NBA championship series. We'll never know that one but his innovative coaching style is incredibly entertaining.

I will be the first to admit in a previous blog that I thought the Shaquille O'Neal trade was a bad move. I still feel it's a bad move and the teams record and porous defense in some disturbing losses emphasizes my point. Mike D'Antoni said on the day of the trade that it would take some time for the big man to acclimate to his new teammates and his new system. Even Shaq asked fans to give him 10 or so games which is where we're at now. He has rounded, no pun intended, into better shape and his play has improved, unfortunately the team's record hasn't.

What the Suns faithful are faced with is showing patience during this work in progress. Steve Nash still has to figure out how to run his team with that massive body in the middle. So in this "what have you done for me lately" world, take a chill pill but you may want to keep I TOLD YOU SO, in your vocabulary to break out in a couple of months. gcruz@kpho.com

Gary Cruz
CBS 5 Sports Anchor