Suns fans should thank Suzanne Gentry

When Mike D'Antoni left the Phoenix Suns to join the Knicks, he wanted to bring his entire staff with him and that included his top assistant, Alvin Gentry.

"He didn't want to leave Phoenix," D'Antoni recalled. "He had moved a lot and his kids were [older] and he agonized over it and he said, 'Mike, if they'll keep me in Phoenix, I've got to do it. My wife wants to stay and we've moved too much.' But that was his decision."

Gentry started his NBA coaching career in 1988-89 under Larry Brown in San Antonio. He then moved on to be an assistant with the Clippers in LA in 1990-91 and a year later moved to Miami to work with the Heat and replaced Kevin Loughery as interim head coach for 36 games in the 1994-95 season.

The following year he moved to Detroit to become an assistant coach under Doug Collins before he replaced him late in the 1997-98 season. He remained the Pistons head coach in 1999 and 1999-2000, before he was fired 58 games into the season. Then it was back to LA to coach the Clippers for three seasons.

Gentry then joined D'Antoni's staff in Phoenix in 2004. That's a lot of moving over 15 years.

So when D'Antoni came to Gentry with the offer to transfer once again, this time to New York, Alvin discussed it with his wife, Suzanne, and she preferred the family, with two school-age sons, in Arizona. Alvin agreed.

It turns out Alvin owes his current success to his lovely wife, whom I had the opportunity to meet when we were in Phoenix this season. Defensive-minded Terry Porter was doomed to fail in D'Antoni's wake and Gentry was right there waiting with the D'Antoni playbook in his hand when Steve Nash was furious and Steve Kerr was forced to make a change to appeal to his star player.

The smartest move of Gentry's 20-year NBA coaching career was the one he didn't make. Gentry is a great personality and I always enjoy talking with him about the game and the league and he's got a story for every subject. D'Antoni could have been jealous of Gentry for having success with "his" system and "his" team, but instead he said, "I'm happy for Alvin, he's done a terrific job" and credited Gentry for getting Amar'e Stoudemire "to buy in" on defense.

But what if Suzanne was open to coming to New York? What if Alvin came along with D'Antoni to the Knicks and wasn't there in Phoenix as the option to return to Seven Seconds or Less?

It's reasonable to believe that Nash, whose contract was to expire this summer, would have decided against signing an extension and strongly considered reuniting with D'Antoni in New York.

So, really,  maybe Phoenix Suns fans owe a debt of gratitude to Suzanne Gentry.

Just bloggin.

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* - BYU guard Jimmer Fredette, whom the Knicks brought in for a workout on Friday, announced on Monday that he will return to school for his senior year. The 6-1 guard, who has the type of game that would fit well in D'Antoni's system, showed up at the workout with a muscle strain and it flared up even more while he was warming up. He barely got into the workout, which was against Tennessee's Bobby Maze, before the Knicks told him to shut it down.

Fredette worked out for the Nets, Celtics and Thunder. He said though he received some encouraging feedback from NBA people, his reason for going back to school had to do with the fact that he couldn't guarantee himself a first-round selection. The Knicks have two second round picks, but they don't come with roster or financial guarantees like they do in the first round.

"If I was a second round pick and having to fight for a spot on a team," Fredette said, "it would be better for me to come back and have a great senior year."