Suns News: Preseason 2017

[Superbone]

Preseason Suns' basketball starts on Tuesday! The Suns play at Portland on Tuesday, October 3rd.

Preseason schedule:

@Portland - Tuesday 10/3
@Jazz - Friday 10/6
vs Jazz - Monday 10/9
vs Portland - Wednesday 10/11
vs Brisbane Bullets - Friday 10/13

With our regular season getting underway Wednesday, Oct 18, at home against the Blazers.

[Superbone]

I am so stoked! I just planned out a trip to visit my son in NYC at the end of October and just bought tickets to see Suns @ Nets at the Barclays center and Suns @ Knicks at MSG!

[O_Gardino]

I am so stoked! I just planned out a trip to visit my son in NYC at the end of October and just bought tickets to see Suns @ Nets at the Barclays center and Suns @ Knicks at MSG!

YSFM!

[Superbone]

I am so stoked! I just planned out a trip to visit my son in NYC at the end of October and just bought tickets to see Suns @ Nets at the Barclays center and Suns @ Knicks at MSG!

YSFM!

[bajanguy008]

I am so stoked! I just planned out a trip to visit my son in NYC at the end of October and just bought tickets to see Suns @ Nets at the Barclays center and Suns @ Knicks at MSG!

Lucky you , one thing for sure is that you will see lots of buckets in those games lol

[bajanguy008]

As for the Preseason sched , I found it interesting that our first game is Blazers and we also playing them twice in the preseason as if 4 times a year isn't enough Actually just peeped regular season sched and we are gonna play them 4 times in October

[Superbone]

As for the Preseason sched , I found it interesting that our first game is Blazers and we also playing them twice in the preseason as if 4 times a year isn't enough Actually just peeped regular season sched and we are gonna play them 4 times in October

Wow, we are going to know them intimately after the first month of the season.

[In2ition]

As for the Preseason sched , I found it interesting that our first game is Blazers and we also playing them twice in the preseason as if 4 times a year isn't enough Actually just peeped regular season sched and we are gonna play them 4 times in October

Wow, we are going to know them intimately after the first month of the season.

4 times in Oct? That seems excessive. I giess we'll be able to see who's better, Bledsoe or Lillard, Booker or McCollum.

[carey]

Don't we always do a home & home with one of the West Coast teams in the pre-season? So we have a home and home with both Utah and Portland this year. Last year it was just Utah. The year before it was a bunch of different Western Conference teams. Maybe it's a new thing.

Anyways, did you know there is basketball being played right now? Denver & Golden State. In a bit the Lakers and the Timberwolves will be playing.

[JCSunsfan]

Don't we always do a home & home with one of the West Coast teams in the pre-season? So we have a home and home with both Utah and Portland this year. Last year it was just Utah. The year before it was a bunch of different Western Conference teams. Maybe it's a new thing.

Anyways, did you know there is basketball being played right now? Denver & Golden State. In a bit the Lakers and the Timberwolves will be playing.

I still don't understand why he NBA doesn't do series games like baseball. It would cut on the cost of travel and would be easier on the players.

[bajanguy008]

Don't we always do a home & home with one of the West Coast teams in the pre-season? So we have a home and home with both Utah and Portland this year. Last year it was just Utah. The year before it was a bunch of different Western Conference teams. Maybe it's a new thing.

Anyways, did you know there is basketball being played right now? Denver & Golden State. In a bit the Lakers and the Timberwolves will be playing.

Yup , you can actually find them on Youtube and start from the beginning. Both games been a bit sloppy as expected but all four teams really pushing the ball , Ingram seems really confident and been looking to attack

[azsportsfan]

I will be attending the game this Friday in Utah with my oldest son. Really looking forward to getting the season underway.

[Superbone]

As for the Preseason sched , I found it interesting that our first game is Blazers and we also playing them twice in the preseason as if 4 times a year isn't enough Actually just peeped regular season sched and we are gonna play them 4 times in October

Wow, we are going to know them intimately after the first month of the season.

4 times in Oct? That seems excessive. I giess we'll be able to see who's better, Bledsoe or Lillard, Booker or McCollum.

Two preseason games and two regular season games.

[Superbone]

I will be attending the game this Friday in Utah with my oldest son. Really looking forward to getting the season underway.

Cool! Have fun and report back for us.

[jonh]

This is an enjoyable read. All aboard the Booker Hype Train!

http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/n ... 723712001/

That competitive spirit hasn’t waned. When Booker was a rookie he constantly asked Watson if he would be picked for the Rising Stars Challenge game to be played All-Star Weekend.
He made the team and was thrilled. So when Booker was selected for the game again last season, Watson said, “Hey, congratulations.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t make the All-Star team,” Booker replied.
“Just a year ago you were trying to make this game,” Watson told Booker. “He had surpassed that mentality. Not in an entitled way but in a driven way. He’s super competitive. He wants to win at everything.”

“This is my 17th year in the NBA and what stands out differently about him is that when you get in that huddle and there’s a big shot that needs to be taken a lot of guys put their head down. They don’t want to make eye contact with the coach,” Watson said. “We get in the huddle and the most difficult thing for me is I have two guys who always stare at me. (Eric) Bledsoe and Booker. It’s rare to have that in such a young player.”

[Split T]

https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2017 ... ntetokumpo

"I've seen a guy who's very aggressive offensively and defensively; Hates to lose. He has a will to win. I see that he's a hard worker,” Dudley said. “He's better at attacking the basket than I thought. He's also better at shooting the basketball- it’s a weird form; it goes in more than you’d think. I think he's going to have his ups and downs throughout the whole year. Confidence is going to be an issue and working {positive: consistently on improving his shot}, but he puts the time in like Giannis did. I've seen where it might not be this year or a couple years, but I think already one of our top wing defenders. And then offensively, he tries to dunk everything going to the basket. That way, it will help him get to the free-throw line."

“We were a bad passing team last year, so we’re trying to put an offense in that try to force you to move the ball. Forces you to swing it from side-to-side,” Dudley said. “We were a good offensive team in transition, but half-court, we would pass the ball once or twice and shoot bad percentages.”

Hopefully this last quote just isn't talk.

[EDC]

https://twitter.com/esidery/status/914959311343779840

I wonder if this is just a preseason thing. Hopefully not.

They didn't rebound well last season but they both have the ability if they focus on it. It will be nice to have a roll man that is an actual threat. Up to our guards to actually hit them though.

[Split T]

https://twitter.com/esidery/status/914959311343779840

I wonder if this is just a preseason thing. Hopefully not.

They didn't rebound well last season but they both have the ability if they focus on it. It will be nice to have a roll man that is an actual threat. Up to our guards to actually hit them though.

They actually ran Ulis with the 1's as well, so I wouldn't look too far into it.

[EDC]

“Alex Len is playing amazing,” Watson said. “He’s rolling to the rim, finishing at the rim, just doing the simple things. Simplifying his game has made him a more complete player which sounds like it doesn’t make sense but it does.”

http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/n ... 720210001/

Imagine that. One look at his post game and everyone could tell he wasn't good at it. Off balanced moves that he almost always finished with this right hand. He never responds to the defense. He just decides on a move then forces the shot. The problem is he moves pretty well sometimes and if he could keep his balance and react to the defense he could be good at it. Except we haven't seen any improvement on that front. Are the coaches even working on that with him?

I hate having to doubt our player development. The things we hear really make you wonder what they are teaching these kids. Thankfully we have some players that are talented enough to get better with just a pep talk.

[jonh]

Super interesting article with really interesting statistics about Chriss:

https://hoopshabit.com/2017/10/03/phoen ... s-2017-18/

Im a little shocked at some of the numbers for Chriss last season, given how high it seems some have been with him.
-The suns gave up 7.2 more points per 100 possessions with him on the floor
--263 total fouls on the season (2nd in the NBA), trailing only DeMarcus Cousins (despite playing 722 fewer minutes)
-62% free throw shooter
-Assist-to-turnover ratio of 0.56, which ranked 442nd out of 486 eligible players.
-32% Three point shooter
-4.2 rebounds a game

The man's got a lot to work on outside of his Dunks