Game Day: Suns (38-36) @ Blazers (47-25), Mon 3/30/15

[Superbone]

TJ, once again, looked awesome last night.

Alex has a lot of work to do this offseason. And our coaching staff has a lot of work to do if they want to get more out of him on the offensive end.

TJ is almost magical around the basket. He hardly misses on those floaters.

[OE32]

Did you see that and-1? Got the center up in the air with the pump fake, then made the layup with ease while deliberately taking the contact.

How many players can plan an And-1?

And who among you has said he will not average 25 PPG? Declare yourselves now, because TJ IS COMING. He's the biggest reason to be optimistic about the future of this team, IMO. I've said all along that I think he'll be a superstar.

[Superbone]

Bledsoe needs to be gone! What a sad state of affairs to see Dragic leave and Bledsoe run this team on a nightly basis. We were SOOOO much better last year with the ball in Dragic's hands. Sigh.

[Indy]

And who among you has said he will not average 25 PPG? Declare yourselves now, because TJ IS COMING. He's the biggest reason to be optimistic about the future of this team, IMO. I've said all along that I think he'll be a superstar.

That can be our other bet that takes forever to prove right/wrong. I can't see him ever averaging 25 ppg for an entire year (unless he only plays a partial season).

[Superbone]

Bledsoe needs to be gone! What a sad state of affairs to see Dragic leave and Bledsoe run this team on a nightly basis. We were SOOOO much better last year with the ball in Dragic's hands. Sigh.

You want to know why INF isn't here? This. INF was frustrated beyond belief.

[OE32]

And who among you has said he will not average 25 PPG? Declare yourselves now, because TJ IS COMING. He's the biggest reason to be optimistic about the future of this team, IMO. I've said all along that I think he'll be a superstar.

That can be our other bet that takes forever to prove right/wrong. I can't see him ever averaging 25 ppg for an entire year (unless he only plays a partial season).

OK. Settled upon the earlier of TJ's retirement or his averaging 24.6 PPG for a season in which he plays 60 or more games. The stakes: one year avatar shaming.

Can we make a Bled bet, too? I think, deep down, you know we'll get a good return if we trade him

[Robot]

If we trade Bled it will be like Bled our first rounder this year and TJ for 2 future mid 20s first rounder s Jose Calderon and a cob of corn

- R

[Superbone]

If we trade Bled it will be like Bled our first rounder this year and TJ for 2 future mid 20s first rounder s Jose Calderon and a cob of corn

- R

And you know what we're required to do with that cob.

[Robot]

If we trade Bled it will be like Bled our first rounder this year and TJ for 2 future mid 20s first rounder s Jose Calderon and a cob of corn

- R

And you know what we're required to do with that cob.

Once we're done with it Jeff will replant it in his Farmville crop.

- R

[Shabazz]

Warren would lead all rookies in True Shooting % if he qualified.

[carey]

And who among you has said he will not average 25 PPG? Declare yourselves now, because TJ IS COMING.

Pretty sure I was the first one to say it. That is elite scorer category and I said he wouldn't be able to do it without a 3-point shot and being able to get to the line a ton. I think he may be like Marion and average 19ppg or similar for several years but I doubt he ever averages 25.

[Indy]

And who among you has said he will not average 25 PPG? Declare yourselves now, because TJ IS COMING. He's the biggest reason to be optimistic about the future of this team, IMO. I've said all along that I think he'll be a superstar.

That can be our other bet that takes forever to prove right/wrong. I can't see him ever averaging 25 ppg for an entire year (unless he only plays a partial season).

OK. Settled upon the earlier of TJ's retirement or his averaging 24.6 PPG for a season in which he plays 60 or more games. The stakes: one year avatar shaming.

Can we make a Bled bet, too? I think, deep down, you know we'll get a good return if we trade him

Let's make it an even 25 ppg and 60 games.

As for a Bleds trade, I don't think we are saying something different. We are just very far apart on what we are willing to accept in a trade. I would happily take back all of his salary for another year and a late 1st rounder. Getting a player that fits into our team would be a bonus.

[Sunsfan4life]

You want to know why INF isn't here? This. INF was frustrated beyond belief.

I don't think Ryan Mcdonaugh is losing sleep that INF isn't posting on a message board.

[Superbone]

You want to know why INF isn't here? This. INF was frustrated beyond belief.

I don't think Ryan Mcdonaugh is losing sleep that INF isn't posting on a message board.

I'm sorry, but who said he was?

I think he's losing sleep because he's losing the interest of an entire fan base. He turned it from high to low in the matter of less than one season.

[Sunsfan4life]

I'm still pretty interested. I don't think he's made every right move, but beside that Laker Pick/Knight trade, which I am a 100% in agreement was a mistake, I think alot of the moves he made going into this yr can be justified.

People forget how bad we were before he took over, the franchise is in a much much much better place then it was before Mcdonuagh. The Dragic thing, I preference this by saying I still do love Goran, was about a blessing in disguise, because he isn't a max player and will want that this off-season. I think 95% of this board was on board with the IT signing that wound up disrupting chemistry and although I think most of us thought we gave Eric too much money, most of us still wanted him back and in the scheme of things I think they can easily flip him.

I really don't know what people expected out of the suns this yr coming in I expected us to be battling for the 8th seed....Thats exactly what happened...but we won't/will never compete for a championship with Bledsoe/Dragic/IT as our best player and I think the goal is to try and make a big splash be clearing up cap sapce and locking up assets/productive players on reasonable contracts so when that time comes we can try to pounce.

This notion that the suns have become a bottom dweller is only seen in Phoenix...are they mediocore right now? yes they are. Did you expect them not to be 2 years removed from one of the worst seasons in franchise history? Well....thats up to you.

[OE32]

*slow clap*

The worst part of this season for me was December-January. Clear enough that things we weren't going to shock the NBA with our awesome 3-PG system, but not yet clear that we would have the balls to blow it up. Waiting for Alex to start, waiting for TJ to play - that was tough.

I got to watch one game in person this season - @ Brooklyn. And you know what that asshole Jeff Hornacek did to me? He benched TJ, subjecting me to endless Marcuses. It was awful.

But I learned to forgive...

If that Lakers pick ends up shit, will you guys still be crowing about that trade? What if Bled is shipped for a better package than we sent out for Brandon, and Knight-Warren turns out to work phenomenally?

Disagreement's cool though. Lakers could end up #6 - enough to nab Porzingis. Is he better than Knight? I'm not sure. Not a huge fan of this draft.

[Aztec Sunsfan]

I'm still pretty interested. I don't think he's made every right move, but beside that Laker Pick/Knight trade, which I am a 100% in agreement was a mistake, I think alot of the moves he made going into this yr can be justified.

People forget how bad we were before he took over, the franchise is in a much much much better place then it was before Mcdonuagh. The Dragic thing, I preference this by saying I still do love Goran, was about a blessing in disguise, because he isn't a max player and will want that this off-season. I think 95% of this board was on board with the IT signing that wound up disrupting chemistry and although I think most of us thought we gave Eric too much money, most of us still wanted him back and in the scheme of things I think they can easily flip him.

I really don't know what people expected out of the suns this yr coming in I expected us to be battling for the 8th seed....Thats exactly what happened...but we won't/will never compete for a championship with Bledsoe/Dragic/IT as our best player and I think the goal is to try and make a big splash be clearing up cap sapce and locking up assets/productive players on reasonable contracts so when that time comes we can try to pounce.

This notion that the suns have become a bottom dweller is only seen in Phoenix...are they mediocore right now? yes they are. Did you expect them not to be 2 years removed from one of the worst seasons in franchise history? Well....thats up to you.

Very well said, sir. Reality check Works both ways. We are entitled to want more that we get this season, but let's not lose our head for it. McD is not as awful as his worst move, neither as awesome as his best.

[Superbone]

This notion that the suns have become a bottom dweller is only seen in Phoenix...are they mediocore right now? yes they are. Did you expect them not to be 2 years removed from one of the worst seasons in franchise history? Well....thats up to you.

Why go back two seasons? Why not start at the beginning of this one? We had a surprise season last year. My expectation was to build on that. Not take a step back which is what happened. We are a worse team now than we were at the end of last season. I'd say substantially worse.

[OE32]

This notion that the suns have become a bottom dweller is only seen in Phoenix...are they mediocore right now? yes they are. Did you expect them not to be 2 years removed from one of the worst seasons in franchise history? Well....thats up to you.

Why go back two seasons? Why not start at the beginning of this one? We had a surprise season last year. My expectation was to build on that. Not take a step back which is what happened. We are a worse team now than we were at the end of last season. I'd say substantially worse.

You're looking at cash flow, my brotha! Spot the balance sheet! We on the way up!

[Aztec Sunsfan]

This notion that the suns have become a bottom dweller is only seen in Phoenix...are they mediocore right now? yes they are. Did you expect them not to be 2 years removed from one of the worst seasons in franchise history? Well....thats up to you.

Why go back two seasons? Why not start at the beginning of this one? We had a surprise season last year. My expectation was to build on that. Not take a step back which is what happened. We are a worse team now than we were at the end of last season. I'd say substantially worse.

I think the problem was that we didn't built on last season.

We "rounded up" not one, but TWO logjams in the backcourt and at SF during the draft, then engage in a unicorn hunt with Lebron, later tried to outsmart ourselves with the IT signing to put pressure on Bledsoe and to some degree Goran, proceed to bring too many youngsters to the fold without a clear plan to develop them, and worse of all, we kept the coach on a playoff hunt, even after was clear that even if we make it, would be next to useless, because the team is deeply flawed as currently built and changes would come sooner or later. The front office should have reacted sooner and go back to the drawing table, either to reload for that playoff spot, or the make room for development and throw the towel on the season.