Suns News: Week 20 2/27-3/4

[djy2j]

I was watching the Memphis feed last night. The number times they had to say that Chriss just didn't look like he wanted to be out there, and didn't belong, was astounding.

Gotta make your fans feel good about their own players while completing an 0 fer month. No better way than to harp on your competitors as they give you yet another beating.

To be honest, they weren't bagging on him. They were just saying what we all see. You just won't hear Suns announcers saying how disinterested he is because it is bad for business. Nothing they said was an insult. They praised his freshman year, too. But he seems completely lost out there, and doesn't even seem to want to be there unless he is going after a weak-side block.

Had the same observation during that game. I don't think he ever "gets it" if he stays in Phoenix. The argument here as always been, "He's young. Don't give up on him." But I just have seen enough players come through here with that attitude that don't ever work out. Archie Goodwin comes to mind. Different skillset but same problem. I'm tired of wasting time on players like this. I doubt he's Hassan Whiteside. I'm also tired of having to dream.

[Wormwood]

How good would Booker be if we had:

1. A distributing PG

2. Lots of other players who can consistently hit the 3?

[Nodack]

I think Chriss is just frustrated and down on himself. He needs to stop pouting and complaining and just play hard with some pride.

[LazarusLong]

"I think he can keep his Feb numbers up the rest of the year. That would put him at 25.78, giving him #2 all time. That is just crazy."

"February numbers -
7 games, 36.6 Min, 27.9 Pts, 5.7 Reb, 4.7 Ast (all impressive until you get to....) .405 FG%, .344 3P%, .840 FT% (all season lows for a month)"

Aside from Warren, the Suns have had no other consistent scorers to keep the pressure off of Booker.

Even Charlie Scott, playing on a 38-44 team, had a low-post scorer in Walk (having his best year), Van Arsdale and a fading but still effective Clem Haskins around him.

Chambers, Stoudemire, Barkley and Westphal all played on teams loaded with scorers and/or facilitators.

[da_suns_fan]

Chriss is a total bust. I dont expect him to be in the league in five years.

[The Bobster]

How good would Booker be if we had:

1. A distributing PG

2. Lots of other players who can consistently hit the 3?

3. Any kind of low post offense?

[In2ition]

How good would Booker be if we had:

1. A distributing PG

2. Lots of other players who can consistently hit the 3?

3. Any kind of low post offense?

I was thinking the same thing

[Danimal]

I thought we were going to give reed and peters a run the rest of the year? Back in the G league again though. We know what we have in Daniels and McDudley already.

[Indy]

How good would Booker be if we had:

1. A distributing PG

2. Lots of other players who can consistently hit the 3?

3. Any kind of low post offense?

Well our best low post scorer is Booker.

[INFORMER]

I'm not a big fan of the 2018 free agent class, but I would really like the Suns to pursue David Nwaba. I think he would be a tremendous role play for us, and it would really help to turn around the basketball culture.

[virtual9mm]

I'm not a big fan of the 2018 free agent class, but I would really like the Suns to pursue David Nwaba. I think he would be a tremendous role play for us, and it would really help to turn around the basketball culture.

Summer 2018 will be the right time to jettison non-performing assets and bring in veteran role players to complement a young core.

Implement a system around your core players, find (replaceable) veteran role players to fit them, and roll with the system. This has been the "magic" of San Antonio. It's not really that complicated.

I've also been trying to tune out the noise about Bender being a bust. Bender's coming along quite nicely for a 20-year old glue guy, it's annoying how he seems to hate the basket but he'll figure things out. It reminds me of the way I was at age 20 doing full-contact martial arts, actually. I used to really have a problem hitting sparring partners and opponents, and all of a sudden I "got" it in practice and started really enjoying it. He'll come around.

Chriss is another issue. I'd suspect that he might get it somewhere, but it might not be here. That being said, he's not causing chemistry problems (yet) and there is another year in which he can figure things out. Why not try to get his value higher? If he cannot perform in the year of grace he has left, it's not too late to kick him to the curb in 2019.

[Superbone]

I'm not a big fan of the 2018 free agent class, but I would really like the Suns to pursue David Nwaba. I think he would be a tremendous role play for us, and it would really help to turn around the basketball culture.

I've never even heard of him.

[carey]

I'm not a big fan of the 2018 free agent class, but I would really like the Suns to pursue David Nwaba. I think he would be a tremendous role play for us, and it would really help to turn around the basketball culture.

I've never even heard of him.

It's because no one pays attention to the Bulls much right now. He's going to be the next Thabo though. His defense is legit.

[carey]

I'll get the weekly threads up in a bit but just wanted to let you know that McDonough is appearing on the Suns facebook feed live in a couple minutes (was supposed to be noon but they are running late.)

[O_Gardino]

Interesting that Jackson's improved passing has coincided with Payton coming to the Suns. In 9 games, Payton is averaging 8.2 assists, and Jackson is averaging 2.4. Both numbers are significantly improved from their season averages.

[Mori Chu]

Despite Payton's bad shooting, I really like him so far. I think the team has a much better feel with him running the point. I hope we can keep him without breaking the bank.

[O_Gardino]

Interesting that Jackson's improved passing has coincided with Payton coming to the Suns. In 9 games, Payton is averaging 8.2 assists, and Jackson is averaging 2.4. Both numbers are significantly improved from their season averages.

In the same 9 game stretch, Bender is averaging 2.9 assists.

Booker's assists are down to 4.1, but his scoring is up to 31.1, and his fg% is up to .444.

Warren's assists are down a bit, but his scoring is also up a bit.

[carey]

Warren's assists are down a bit, but his scoring is also up a bit.

How do you go down from zero?

[specialsauce]

Interesting that Jackson's improved passing has coincided with Payton coming to the Suns. In 9 games, Payton is averaging 8.2 assists, and Jackson is averaging 2.4. Both numbers are significantly improved from their season averages.

In the same 9 game stretch, Bender is averaging 2.9 assists.

Booker's assists are down to 4.1, but his scoring is up to 31.1, and his fg% is up to .444.

Warren's assists are down a bit, but his scoring is also up a bit.

That’s because you have to pass the ball to get an assist. He doesn’t know how.

[O_Gardino]

Warren's assists are down a bit, but his scoring is also up a bit.

How do you go down from zero?

Pre-Payton, it was 1.4. Post-Payton, it's 1.0.