Phx-Suns.Net

The officiating is out of control but you also worry about injury. Our guys are getting hit, taking hard falls to the floor on drives and just expected to get back up and keep going. That's where Igor should be getting in the refs' faces.

JJ cost us this game all by himself.

You don't really believe that do you?

I do. Especially with his quote after the game. We lose by a single shot at the buzzer and his 4th quarter outburst was so stupid. His statement was "he was being disrespected, and he isn't going to let anyone disrespect him." no fucking accountability in his head. reminds me of his diary entry where he said just think how good he would be if he had a real PG and good coaching.

If he doesn't commit that flagrant, even if he just lets him get the easy layup, I think we go on to win.

I think there was much more than that going on in the game, especially after that play. We lost by one on a buzzer beating layup. TJ turned the ball over on the play before i think by putting his head down and barreling into 3 defenders (and didnt get a call of course). Pretty sure that wasn't the play Igor was screaming for as the ball was being brought up.

And you know what? I like that JJ responded like that. We signed Acy because we needed/wanted some physicality. Igor said Acy brings a nastiness, a confrontation...he knows we're playing soft. Ayton, as physically talented as he is, plays soft. Holmes, as much energy and hustle he brings, isn't nasty or intimidating. It took a 6-7 190lb SF to respond last night and stand up for himself and his teammates. I'm not condoning dirty play, but we gotta make a stand and stop getting pushed around and out-physical'd.

And let's keep perspective here too...we responded pretty well off a blow out to the Pacers. Took the Raps' best shot and still played until the end. The Raps are a top team on both ends this year and we hung tough.

djy2j wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 17, 2019 10:33 pm

Shabazz wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 17, 2019 7:00 pm

Melton and Bridges can't continue to be Benders out there. We can barely afford one offensive zero in the starting lineup. Two is untenable.

I cannot come up with any reasons why Bender is even on this roster. If he is still on the roster shortly after the trade deadline I will throw up.

He has a guaranteed contract. If we waive him, we still have to pay him. He’s not doing any harm sitting on the end of the bench collecting DNPs.

It seems very unlikely we’d be able to get anything in a trade for him except some other guy with a similar salary sitting on the end of the bench collecting DNPs.

However you feel about it, that was a heck of a drive & shot over an extended Ayton (who was just a fraction of a second too slow in rotating) by Siakam.

ShelC wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 18, 2019 7:02 am

I think there was much more than that going on in the game, especially after that play. We lost by one on a buzzer beating layup. TJ turned the ball over on the play before i think by putting his head down and barreling into 3 defenders (and didnt get a call of course). Pretty sure that wasn't the play Igor was screaming for as the ball was being brought up.

And you know what? I like that JJ responded like that. We signed Acy because we needed/wanted some physicality. Igor said Acy brings a nastiness, a confrontation...he knows we're playing soft. Ayton, as physically talented as he is, plays soft. Holmes, as much energy and hustle he brings, isn't nasty or intimidating. It took a 6-7 190lb SF to respond last night and stand up for himself and his teammates. I'm not condoning dirty play, but we gotta make a stand and stop getting pushed around and out-physical'd.

And let's keep perspective here too...we responded pretty well off a blow out to the Pacers. Took the Raps' best shot and still played until the end. The Raps are a top team on both ends this year and we hung tough.

Boucher wasn't showing anyone up. He was just doing his job. If JJ was doing his job he wouldn't have been yelling at the ref while jogging up court and gotten back in time. He was mad that we were not getting calls, so he decided to take it out on a skinny 4th string PF on a two-way contract who was just playing ball. That is petty, lazy and stupid; not physical or intimidating or helpful.

carey wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 18, 2019 7:32 am

However you feel about it, that was a heck of a drive & shot over an extended Ayton (who was just a fraction of a second too slow in rotating) by Siakam.

Agreed. I thought it was good defense from both Mikal and Ayton. We shouldn't have let it get so close.

Oh, and on that missed foul on Oubrey that led to the stupid play by Josh, it was clearly a foul. It is just that while one dude was pushing Kelly in the back, the other guy hit the ball out of his hand. And the ref on the baseline couldn't see the hand in the back because it was behind Kelly, and the outside official was blocked by other players too. You also can't hear the hand on the back, but you can the big slap on the ball.

The refs were terrible. There were a number of incredibly easy calls that they could have made or didn't make that all seemed to have gone against the Suns. I'm calling you out #3 Nick Buchert, you suck! The Suns should have won this game by 10 pts, but kept getting screwed to keep the Raptors in the game.

With exception of the three PnRs in the middle of the 4th where his switch and rotation just needed a little tweak, Ayton actually had a really good game. The Suns actually made the fix at the end of the 4th and the PnRs didn't work anymore. There are things I would like to see him do better, but he had some very good defensive moments in this game that he didn't do earlier in the year. Would I have I liked to see him rotate over to Siakam quicker and go fully extended to contest that shot? Of course, but it was still a heck of a shot.

Is TJ going to ever learn how to pass to Ayton? He was full on tunnel vision hero ball at the end of the game. Did anyone see the stat that said that Ayton has the best 4th quarter fg% in the league since 1996? Yet, other then trying to lob it up to Ayton with three guys around him by Booker, they never looked for him, even though he was either wide open rolling to the basket a couple times or posting up 5'9" 195 lb FVV and still no pass.

It's amazing they were sill there at the buzzer against the top team in the East despite not getting Ayton a single FGA in the 2nd half and Jackson gifting them an 8-point possession down the stretch.

But this is a perfect example of how being undisciplined and not executing will beat you against good teams, even when you outplay them.

Well, just stating the obvious here but TOR played without Kawhi who would have most assuredly been on Booker. That plus the refs help & we lose by 10 instead of the 2.

Yet, other then trying to lob it up to Ayton with three guys around him by Booker, they never looked for him, even though he was either wide open rolling to the basket a couple times or posting up 5'9" 195 lb FVV and still no pass.

It's like half our offense is a lob pass. And we don't even have great passers.

And I keep saying it...how can we be throwing entry passes into the middle of the paint from near halfcourt while Ayton has three defenders collapsing on him? It's the most frustrating thing to watch. Sit his ass on the block and make an entry pass from the wing.

ShelC wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 18, 2019 8:57 am

Yet, other then trying to lob it up to Ayton with three guys around him by Booker, they never looked for him, even though he was either wide open rolling to the basket a couple times or posting up 5'9" 195 lb FVV and still no pass.

It's like half our offense is a lob pass. And we don't even have great passers.

And I keep saying it...how can we be throwing entry passes into the middle of the paint from near halfcourt while Ayton has three defenders collapsing on him? It's the most frustrating thing to watch. Sit his ass on the block and make an entry pass from the wing.

It's like it's not even on option in this offense. If he's not out 25 feet from the basket setting a pick they act like he's invisible most of the time.

carey wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 18, 2019 7:32 am

However you feel about it, that was a heck of a drive & shot over an extended Ayton (who was just a fraction of a second too slow in rotating) by Siakam.

Yeah, it wasn't an easy shot. We defended it fairly well. A lot of times Ayton gets that block at the end of a game.

Indy wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 18, 2019 7:44 am

Oh, and on that missed foul on Oubrey that led to the stupid play by Josh, it was clearly a foul. It is just that while one dude was pushing Kelly in the back, the other guy hit the ball out of his hand. And the ref on the baseline couldn't see the hand in the back because it was behind Kelly, and the outside official was blocked by other players too. You also can't hear the hand on the back, but you can the big slap on the ball.

The refs sure didn't have a problem making other calls they couldn't see against us.

The ref was facing the play and could see Oubre's back IINM. Oubre turned around to complain.

It will be interesting to read the 2-minute report when the NBA issues it.