Suns News: Week 18 (2/14 - 2/20)

[Flagrant Fowl]

I'd be more worried if they tried to upgrade Payton with someone like Dragic right now.

[The Bobster]

Time for Payne to step up and play like last year.

[Split T]

I’d think about starting Holiday…I’d boost the Payne minutes still though. Honestly I guess let whoever you trust to run the offense more run the 2nd unit. Holiday having Booker play alongside him would be helpful I think, at least at first. Of course watch us start Payton

[Nodack]

This has been a magical season. Whenever someone went down, someone else came in or stepped up. Even all the way back to Frank Kaminsky filling in for Ayton and kicking ass. Ayton and McGee both go out and Biyombo and Stix play out of their minds. Paul goes out just as Shamet and Payne come back in.

It’s their density (BTTF)

[Flagrant Fowl]

Think he pretends to be an insider at times, but I do think he’s connected to CP3

Seems more like he's the designated damage control Tweeter for the Suns.

[bajanguy008]

[Split T]

Yep, CP3 should be fresh, just hope he has some time to get that shot back before the playoffs start.

[Flagrant Fowl]

[Mori Chu]

Well, at least CP3 will get a lot of rest right before the playoffs. In a way I think it's good for our prospects for a title because it avoids the chance of accumulating too many miles on his legs heading into the postseason. Hopefully he can rest up and come back full of piss 'n' vinegar.

[bajanguy008]

I think Jae or Mikal was asked what they were thinking when CP3 got ejected
The answer was "We've been here before" , they know how to rally without him, their usual next man up mentality

It would all sound cliche except we've witnessed these guys do it time and time again
I'm looking forward to Cam P, Holiday and Shamet getting higher usage which hopefully gets them all in a better rhythm.

This is still our situation



I also think I saw somewhere that our schedule isn't hard so without checking it and being humble about things, is 14-10 or that same 12-12 unattainable without CP3
I heavily doubt it

[Split T]

I’m still expecting 16-17 wins. 15 at a minimum.

[Split T]

Schedule isn’t too bad outside of a 5 game stretch from 3/23 to 4/1. We go Minny, Denver, Philly, GS, Memphis. With all but the Philly game on the road. Outside that we’ve got Milwaukee, Chicago, Miami, Toronto, and UtahX2. I think the other 13 games are against below .500 teams

[bajanguy008]

I’m still expecting 16-17 wins. 15 at a minimum.

Ok then
Either way the percentages are in our favour that we maintain the #1 seed.

Then like I said maybe this all results in the back up guards getting going.
Secondly it means higher usage for Mikal n Cam J also which is another possible benefit. We were all hoping that Monty would experiment more with running plays for the other guys to see who we can count on to create/score outside of our All Star backcourt.

Finally, we all talked about Wingstop/ Point Book lineup which closed the Rockets game
I expect this to be our closing lineup often - Book/ Mikal/ Cam/ Jae and DA. Obviously everyone knows I'm down with that and been hoping to see Monty experiment with this lineup more.

So I'm ready to see the developments

[Split T]

Could also see it with Craig instead of DA if we want to switch everything. The ultimate wing stop with everyone 6’5-6’8

[Split T]

Kinda crazy and pretty cool

[Split T]

He did miss Duncan Robinson at the top (65.1%)

[Drewsprocket]

I'd be more worried if they tried to upgrade Payton with someone like Dragic right now.

It’s risky either way. But boosting Payne’s meaningful playtime might resolve his performance issues before the playoffs. I also think Holiday is capable as well and could prove a worthy upgrade if Payne doesn’t pull through.
I once hoped that Dragic was going to have a long career as a Sun. I loved him early on and he cemented himself in memory when he went off against San Antonio in the 4th quarter to beat them. When he came back As our starter pg I thought he was our answer to losing Nash. But things couldn’t have been worse. So I’m fine leaving Dragic in the past. He will always be a special player in my mind but I wouldn’t risk the chemistry the team has.

[Superbone]

Well, there you go. A lot of you wanted Paul to get some rest.

It’s a good thing we have such a cushion coming out of the all-star break. It will be good for the guys to figure out how to win without Paul.

[ShelC]

We'll be fine. As young as this team is on paper, it's experienced enough now to know how to play/win without Paul for a stretch. We won in the playoffs without him, we've got the depth and versatility with lineups to find any combination we need against other teams. Maybe there are some bumps in the road but it won't be like when Nash would miss games and we'd be totally lost.

[Nodack]

We’ll be fine. Even Steven Suns.