Suns News: Week 3 10/30-11/5

[iLLmatic]

https://twitter.com/nbastats/status/925746865030815744

He's a bad player though.

[iLLmatic]

Still can't believe we are 3-1 under Triano.

And that Portland game was winnable.

IIRC, our over-under was 25 wins. If you'd told the oddsmakers that Bledsoe would be shut down after three games, it would probably have been even worse. Now it's starting to look like this roster is better than anyone realized.

Yeah. Where do you put our win total? 35?

[iLLmatic]

In an ideal situation, Chriss would've been brought along more slowly last year, playing behind a veteran he can learn from. Instead he was handed the starting gig by Watson. Now I feel like Chriss is going to be the guy who loses minutes to Bender and blames Triano for it.

Ya, it's way, way early to get worried, but if Bender keeps improving and proves to be better than Chriss, we might just have to move Chriss.

I don't see it ending well. Likely another future malcontent on our hands.

[O_Gardino]

In an ideal situation, Chriss would've been brought along more slowly last year, playing behind a veteran he can learn from. Instead he was handed the starting gig by Watson. Now I feel like Chriss is going to be the guy who loses minutes to Bender and blames Triano for it.

Ya, it's way, way early to get worried, but if Bender keeps improving and proves to be better than Chriss, we might just have to move Chriss.

I don't see it ending well. Likely another future malcontent on our hands.

I hope the Suns learn from their mistakes and trade him before we draft another big. We can make it work this season, but not after the draft.

[O_Gardino]

I'm glad you are all team Bender today. It's going to be a bumpy ride but I think we'll get somewhere around 15/8 with good defense from him down the line.

It has been a nice week. I'm going to enjoy watching this young man grow into his game.

[Ring_Wanted]

Bender's been useful from day one due to his defense alone. I couldn't stand Watson giving Chriss the nod last season for no apparent reason.

[TOO]

https://twitter.com/nbastats/status/925746865030815744

He's a bad player though.

Not sure anyone has called him bad.

Inefficient, turnover prone, bad at defense, sure, and rightfully so. He seems to be progressing in some of those areas, which is great.

[specialsauce]

Please, please get rid of Chriss sooner than later.

You are not going to fix his lack of bball IQ or his piss poor attitude. He is Markieff Morris at his best. I hope the suns FO is not stubborn and ships him out if a trade with decent value in return presents itself.

For example, I'd love to send him + bledsoe out for Jabari Parker. I would absolutely take that trade in a heartbeat.

[jonh]

https://twitter.com/TheMattPetersen/status/925580363035967488

Stop it. I can only get so erect.

[TOO]

Please, please get rid of Chriss sooner than later.

You are not going to fix his lack of bball IQ or his piss poor attitude. He is M******f M****s at his best. I hope the suns FO is not stubborn and ships him out if a trade with decent value in return presents itself.

For example, I'd love to send him + bledsoe out for Jabari Parker. I would absolutely take that trade in a heartbeat.

For the record I'd definitely attach Chriss to Bledsoe to get Brogdon and Parker. Won't happen, but I can dream.

[carey]

https://www.basketball-reference.com/pl ... 01&y2=2018

[bajanguy008]

Bender is being a little more aggressive and I like that. His shot is falling right now and defenders have to cover him which is allowing him to attack the basket a little bit and use his crazy length to finish. He needs to keep that up and then the next step is to limit his turnovers. All the advanced efficiency stats hate him because he has a very low usage rate and a very high turnover rate.

I'm concerned about Chriss. He seems to just be floating through games, not doing much of anything. He had that one good game under triano where we went to him early and got him involved in the offense from the jump. Maybe that's the key with him.

Lastly, I think we need to reign in Jackson on offense a little bit. He's isolating too much and that's not his game right now. I like him handling the ball in the open court and coming off screens and attacking the rim, but he's taking too many 1 on 1 pull up jumpers right now.

Agree with all 3 of these. Bender was not only instrumental on D in the final minutes but that 3 with just over a minute to put us up 8 and seal the game has to make last night a real confidence builder for him. Like you mentioned, Bender possibly closing games for his D can very well become a trend and another hit to Chriss minutes
Finally the Josh 1v1 habit is becoming a concern for me. I love his fearlessness but he really is choosing the wrong times to attack in these last couple games. Hopefully it's just rookie mistakes and he will learn n adjust but right now when he calls for the PnR in halfcourt he hasn't been making smart plays

[JCSunsfan]

https://www.basketball-reference.com/pl ... 01&y2=2018

Just throwin that out there huh? Without a comment. I have been wondering about this too.

[Flagrant Fowl]

I'm completely fine with using James and Ulis this year. Trade Bledsoe for the best asset. There's no reason a PG must come back in the deal.

[Shabazz]

In an ideal situation, Chriss would've been brought along more slowly last year, playing behind a veteran he can learn from. Instead he was handed the starting gig by Watson. Now I feel like Chriss is going to be the guy who loses minutes to Bender and blames Triano for it.

Ya, it's way, way early to get worried, but if Bender keeps improving and proves to be better than Chriss, we might just have to move Chriss.

Maybe we can trade him for Skal, Bogdan and Papagiannis.

[JCSunsfan]

In an ideal situation, Chriss would've been brought along more slowly last year, playing behind a veteran he can learn from. Instead he was handed the starting gig by Watson. Now I feel like Chriss is going to be the guy who loses minutes to Bender and blames Triano for it.

Ya, it's way, way early to get worried, but if Bender keeps improving and proves to be better than Chriss, we might just have to move Chriss.

Maybe we can trade him for Skal, Bogdan and Papagiannis.

[Shabazz]

Apologies if this has been posted already:

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2017/10/3 ... ng-defense

[TOO]

https://www.basketball-reference.com/pl ... 01&y2=2018

That's great and all, but where was James last year when Brogdon won ROY? Sample sizes matter.

[Mori Chu]

https://www.basketball-reference.com/pl ... 01&y2=2018

Mike James doesn't have to be bad or worse this year for Brogdon to be a good player to acquire. Brogdon from what I've heard is better off the ball than James is. Brogdon won RotY for a reason. James has had like 6-7 good NBA games in his life. Glad he's doing well for us, but I want to pump the brakes on the idea that he'd be as good or better than Brogdon at this point. Maybe if he keeps it up for a full season or more.

[specialsauce]

James is a summer league God, nothing more. He’s a classic undersized shoot first PG who will have good scoring games now and again at the detriment of his team overall throughout the course of a season.