Western Conference Round 2, Game 6: Suns (2-3) @ Nuggets (3-2), Thu 5/11/23

[SunsSince92]

Jones should be feeling some heat too. He left the Suns without any depth after the Durant trade.

The Suns coaching staff cetrainly didn't get all they could have offensively out of Bridges when he was here, and I don;t think they're getting as much as they can out of Ayton either (and that's not excusing his sluggish play in far too many qames).

The Suns had great success in 2021-22 mostly because of other-worldly cruch time numbers by Paul and Booker. It turned out to be unsustainable, just like depending on Booker and Durant for 60-70 points a game in the playoffs.

Agree with all of this.

I think you could also make the point that Jones dithering on the Durant trade in the summer left us chasing our tail when it came to adding depth. We left it so late that we ended up fishing through scraps to fill out the roster. Bringing in Landale, Lee and Washington Jr can't have been the master plan surely.

[Flagrant Fowl]

Mike Malone lost his voice, so he's clearly he's outcoaching Monty.

After what Ty Lue was able to get out of his team missing Kawhi and PG-13, I think it's fair to raise an eyebrow at Monty's coaching ability with back to back years of non-competitive elimination games on the Suns homecourt.

The Clippers lost 4 games in a row and were eliminated. I don’t get why this is seen as a negative point against Monty.

Sure, you can oversimplify it like that. But if you're going to play the bad circumstances card, I think you have to acknowledge the difference in the level of play the Lue got out of his team versus what Monty got.

The difference in level of play that resulted in a 4-1 series loss.

[TOO]

Jones should be feeling some heat too. He left the Suns without any depth after the Durant trade.

The Suns coaching staff cetrainly didn't get all they could have offensively out of Bridges when he was here, and I don;t think they're getting as much as they can out of Ayton either (and that's not excusing his sluggish play in far too many qames).

The Suns had great success in 2021-22 mostly because of other-worldly cruch time numbers by Paul and Booker. It turned out to be unsustainable, just like depending on Booker and Durant for 60-70 points a game in the playoffs.

Agree with all of this.

I think you could also make the point that Jones dithering on the Durant trade in the summer left us chasing our tail when it came to adding depth. We left it so late that we ended up fishing through scraps to fill out the roster. Bringing in Landale, Lee and Washington Jr can't have been the master plan surely.

You sure? His master plan twice before was Torrey Craig.

[SunsSince92]

Jones should be feeling some heat too. He left the Suns without any depth after the Durant trade.

The Suns coaching staff cetrainly didn't get all they could have offensively out of Bridges when he was here, and I don;t think they're getting as much as they can out of Ayton either (and that's not excusing his sluggish play in far too many qames).

The Suns had great success in 2021-22 mostly because of other-worldly cruch time numbers by Paul and Booker. It turned out to be unsustainable, just like depending on Booker and Durant for 60-70 points a game in the playoffs.

Agree with all of this.

I think you could also make the point that Jones dithering on the Durant trade in the summer left us chasing our tail when it came to adding depth. We left it so late that we ended up fishing through scraps to fill out the roster. Bringing in Landale, Lee and Washington Jr can't have been the master plan surely.

You sure? His master plan twice before was Torrey Craig.

Haha, true!

[INFORMER]

If you told me Payne would make 5 of 5 3's and 7 of 8 FG for 19 in the first half and that they'd still be down by 30, I would have laughed at you.

And then I would have remembered last year.

The missing 2/5 the starting lineup talk feels a little disingenuous. It ignores that we got an unbelievable performance from Cam Payne, that the only games we beat Denver were without Coach Paul, and that the talk of the entire series has been how disappointing Ayton has been. But now we're to believe missing those two players means we can't even be competitive?

What has been the case pretty much the entire postseason, regardless of who has played, is that we win with Booker and Durant playing like all-time greats. They brought their C and D level games tonight, and we experienced the consequences.

[INFORMER]

It's not as bad as how it ended last year but not too far off.

Yeah? We jettisoned Mikal Bridges and committed to being a partner in building the Brooklyn Nets through 2030 in order to end the season the same way we did last year.

I love how you make an appearance as they're getting closed out and throw your shit around.

Nah, I was here in the first round when Booker started going off. But I get what you're saying.

[INFORMER]

Mike Malone lost his voice, so he's clearly he's outcoaching Monty.

After what Ty Lue was able to get out of his team missing Kawhi and PG-13, I think it's fair to raise an eyebrow at Monty's coaching ability with back to back years of non-competitive elimination games on the Suns homecourt.

The Clippers lost 4 games in a row and were eliminated. I don’t get why this is seen as a negative point against Monty.

Sure, you can oversimplify it like that. But if you're going to play the bad circumstances card, I think you have to acknowledge the difference in the level of play the Lue got out of his team versus what Monty got.

The difference in level of play that resulted in a 4-1 series loss.

Ok, I see how this is going to go.

For the record, I'm not calling for Monty to be fired, or saying that it is all his fault.

[iLLmatic]

It's not as bad as how it ended last year but not too far off.

Yeah? We jettisoned Mikal Bridges and committed to being a partner in building the Brooklyn Nets through 2030 in order to end the season the same way we did last year.

Hurts more than anything right now. The cupboards will be bare during books peak years.

[Flagrant Fowl]

But how could they get crushed with a superstar Cam Payne game?

[SunsSince92]

You just know Luka has that annoying smirk on his face right now.

[INFORMER]

But how could they get crushed with a superstar Cam Payne game?

Here we go.

[Flagrant Fowl]

After what Ty Lue was able to get out of his team missing Kawhi and PG-13, I think it's fair to raise an eyebrow at Monty's coaching ability with back to back years of non-competitive elimination games on the Suns homecourt.

The Clippers lost 4 games in a row and were eliminated. I don’t get why this is seen as a negative point against Monty.

Sure, you can oversimplify it like that. But if you're going to play the bad circumstances card, I think you have to acknowledge the difference in the level of play the Lue got out of his team versus what Monty got.

The difference in level of play that resulted in a 4-1 series loss.

Ok, I see how this is going to go.

For the record, I'm not calling for Monty to be fired, or saying that it is all his fault.

Would a full healthy Clippers team have won in round 1? Entirely possible. They’d also have had a better rotation than the Suns just like the Nuggets did. So how much outcoaching is really going on?

All I’m saying is the results matter and a bunch of people want to split hairs to justify their bad feelings about not winning a title.

[INFORMER]

KD's post-game press conference comments were interesting. I am glad someone asked him about his 3-point shooting. I thought he passed up a lot of good looks throughout the series in favor of aggressively attacking closeouts for midrange pull-ups. But then, at times, he would hunt contested pull-up 3s. I didn't get his shot selection.

In answering the question, KD said he felt he shot too many 3s once he came to the Suns, which I thought was strange.

[Nodack]

Ouch, this is definitely going to leave a mark. They have work to do in the off-season. I’ll let you guys sort it all out.

[Split T]

Mike Malone lost his voice, so he's clearly he's outcoaching Monty.

After what Ty Lue was able to get out of his team missing Kawhi and PG-13, I think it's fair to raise an eyebrow at Monty's coaching ability with back to back years of non-competitive elimination games on the Suns homecourt.

The Clippers lost 4 games in a row and were eliminated. I don’t get why this is seen as a negative point against Monty.

Sure, you can oversimplify it like that. But if you're going to play the bad circumstances card, I think you have to acknowledge the difference in the level of play the Lue got out of his team versus what Monty got.

You also have to acknowledge that the Clippers had significantly more depth. Ya they didn’t have their stars, but they also weren’t forced to play bad nba players.

[INFORMER]

You also have to acknowledge that the Clippers had significantly more depth. Ya they didn’t have their stars, but they also weren’t forced to play bad nba players.

Batum is pretty bad. Bones was way better in Denver, and he mostly struggled as a Clipper. And Westbrook had been deemed a disaster.

As to which combination of circumstances is more challenging, megastars/bad role players or no stars/good-to-great role players, that is debatable. Both situations present challenges, and ultimately, that's all I am talking about: how coaches deal with challenging circumstances.

I also want to make it clear this isn't just about the Suns losing. It's the way they played. Wins/losses don't always tell the story of how good a coach is. When a team plays like how the Suns have played in elimination games under Monty's watch, it personally gives me pause.

[Wally_West]

[Split T]

That’s fair. It makes me wonder too. Felt like to me Monty tried playing the better offensive guys hoping Denver would guard them. Denver still didn’t and Booker couldn’t save us with a ridiculous 80% shooting game in this one.

[INFORMER]

That doesn't surprise me. He really wanted it, but he had a bad night. Not a great look, but also not a big deal for me.

[TOO]

You just know Luka has that annoying smirk on his face right now.

Nah he's probably smoking a cigarette eating cake.