Should Suns fans miss Frank Vogel?

Not only does it sound mind-boggling, but it also sounds like a good record, but the Phoenix Suns were 33-22 going into the All-Star Break last season. With the expectations going into the season, the team was underperforming, but not as drastic as this year. They were the fifth seed and had won 19 of 26 games going into the break since Christmas. From where the team started the season to where they were in February, they were an improved unit.

The same thing CANNOT be said for this year’s team.

Starting 8-1 and now 26-28, good for the 11th seed. The team is crumbling in front of the NBA’s eyes. With Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal’s names as possible trade candidates swirling before the deadline and a lot of midseason roster turnover with a lot of trades, the Valley and their ‘Big Three’ seem destined for a massive split this upcoming summer.

The team has lost six of their last seven games.

While the team has some new pieces, they are mostly the same core as a season ago. Kevin Durant and Devin Booker are averaging around what they did a year ago, and while he’s having one of the worst seasons of his career, Bradley Beal is still averaging 17.4 points a game.

What is the biggest change from last year? Mike Budenholzer is in as head coach, and Frank Vogel is out.

While many were frustrated with Vogel’s rotations, blown fourth-quarter leads, and questionable utilization of Kevin Durant’s abilities, the team’s floor was clearly higher. Losses to low-level teams were not as common, and Phoenix was more competitive against elite opponents, sweeping their regular season series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, beating the Denver Nuggets on the road multiple times, and even beating the 50-win New York Knicks without Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant at Madison Square Garden.

Unfathomably, the team was 10th in defensive rating last year. This season, they’re 22nd. The effort and turnover problems still were prevalent with Vogel, but he found a way to make Jusuf Nurkić more playable than Mike Budenholzer did and even got Durant an all-defensive team vote.

The team finished the season 16-11 after the All-Star break to go 49-33 for the year. If Phoenix wants to have that record for their season this year, they would need to go 23-5 down the stretch. With how the team is spiraling out of control and unable to get out of their way, is it fair to ask if Valley fans should miss Frank Vogel?