Coast to Coast: The dominant Phoenix Suns, a fitting farewell for Coach K and more


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Senior guard Drew Peterson comes off a screen during USC’s loss against UCLA Saturday night. Peterson had 13 points in the loss. The Trojans lost consecutive games for the first time this season.  (Simon Park | Daily Trojan)

Why are we watching this? 

That’s a question many Los Angeles Lakers faithful likely asked themselves during an abject loss to the Pelicans last week. Luckily for us here at Coast to Coast, basketball is still fun to watch elsewhere.

Here are my thoughts on those other games, starting down in the Grand Canyon State.

The Phoenix Suns’ quiet dominance

What’s up with the Phoenix Suns? 

You’d be forgiven for thinking they’re in a down year with the complete lack of media coverage they receive. Take a gander at the standings, though, and you’ll be surprised to know they sit comfortably at the top of the Western Conference at 51-13. 

Contributions from around the squad have kept the team humming despite extended absences for point guard Chris Paul and star shooting guard Devin Booker, who both recently entered Health & Safety protocols. 

Forward Cam Johnson went for a career-high 38 against the Knicks last week, including a game-winning 3-pointer, picking up some of the scoring slack. Former Thunder guard Cameron Payne chipped in too, scoring 40 points over the Suns’ last two games.

Despite falling to the Bucks on Sunday, the Suns remain on course for a spectacular 65-win season.

Coach K says goodbye

For over 40 years, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski has been the face of college basketball coaches. By far the most successful coach in the modern era, Coach K has led the Blue Devils to five national championships and 12 Final Fours. On his way to racking up more wins than any other head coach in Division I history, Krzyzewski picked up six gold medals coaching Team USA. 

A student of the game, Coach K adapted to the one-and-done era of college basketball better than any of the old-school coaches. His Blue Devils famously recruited the top three recruits in the class of 2018, creating the greatest modern-day recruiting class of all time. 

Even before Krzyzewski was snapping up America’s top recruits, Duke saw sustained success. Coach K took home championships in three different decades, cutting down the nets in the ’90s, ’00s and ’10s. 

Duke, however, fell to UNC 94-81 last Saturday, a fitting conclusion to a storied run in the rivalry for Coach K. The Tar Heels have been a consistent thorn in Duke’s side, with former Head Coach Dean Smith posting a 24-14 record against Krzyzewski. 

The last installment of the series was supposed to be a walk in the park for the Blue Devils, but the Tar Heels were never ones to follow a script.

The battle for L.A.: 8th seed edition

What an era it was supposed to be for Los Angeles basketball. The scrappy Clippers picked up forwards Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in the summer of 2019 that saw the Lakers reload with forward Anthony Davis. The City of Angels would be the center of the NBA universe, conference finals played at Staples year after year. 

Alas, that golden dream never came to fruition. A championship season for the Lakers was followed by a couple of seasons of abject mediocrity. For the Clippers, a first conference finals appearance in team history has been followed by constant visits from the injury bug.

This season has been worse still for both teams — the Lakers, in particular, becoming difficult to watch. They’ve sunk so far the players are trash-talking their home fans. 

Some commentators have even asked if it’s time for the Lakers to explore a LeBron James trade. They mortgaged their future to support his championship pursuits, but they’re far from contention. A hard reset might be just what the Lakers need. 

A team that needs 56-point explosions from a 37-year old LeBron to snap a four-game losing streak is not a team ready to reach the promised land again.

USC Basketball takes a couple of haymakers

It was a rough week for the USC men’s basketball team as it was outclassed at home by Arizona and pulled up just short at UCLA. 

Currently a projected 6-seed, the Trojans will look to improve their seeding with a couple of wins at the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas this week. To have a shot at moving up the bracket, USC will likely have to avenge both losses they suffered last week.

It enters the Pac-12 Tournament as the No. 3 seed with a possible matchup against the Bruins in the semifinals Friday.

Yoav Gillath is a freshman writing about NBA and NCAA basketball. His column, “Coast to Coast,” runs every other Tuesday.