Suns News: Week 2 10/22-10/28

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carey
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Suns News: Week 2 10/22-10/28

Post by carey »

Last Week's Games
vs. Dallas WIN 121-100
@ Denver LOSS 119-91

This Week's Games

Monday, October 22nd @ Golden State 10:30 PM EST
Wednesday, October 24th vs. L.A. Lakers 10:00 PM EST
Saturday, October 27th @ Memphis 9:00 PM EST
Sunday, October 28th @ Oklahoma City 8:00 PM EST

Suns Stories

Suns start tough week with road test vs. Warriors: https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/ ... 724755002/

Lesson Learned: Jokic shows Deandre Ayton how it's done: https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/ ... 718488002/

Suns wing Josh Jackson finding newfound range from 3 early: https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/ ... 700924002/

Center of the Sun: Suns finish Week 1 at 1-1 after winning season opener: https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2018 ... son-opener

Mikal Bridges deserves rotation minutes after strong debut: https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2018 ... oenix-suns
Go Suns!

Og Snus!

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JCSunsfan
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Re: Suns News: Week 2 10/22-10/28

Post by JCSunsfan »

With Jackson and Warren hitting threes and Bridges producing, we have a lot of ammo to trade for the pg we need.

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O_Gardino
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Re: Suns News: Week 2 10/22-10/28

Post by O_Gardino »

JCSunsfan wrote:
Mon Oct 22, 2018 11:05 am
With Jackson and Warren hitting threes and Bridges producing, we have a lot of ammo to trade for the pg we need.
Or a PF.

I'm hoping beyond reason that LBJ will decide he needs veterans to win in LA, and we can get Kuzma for Kevin Love Lite (aka Ryan Anderson) or Ariza.
The league needs heroes, villains... and clowns. -- Aztec Sunsfan

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pickle
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Re: Suns News: Week 2 10/22-10/28

Post by pickle »

Even if we package both of them we aren't getting Kuzma...

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specialsauce
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Re: Suns News: Week 2 10/22-10/28

Post by specialsauce »

Bender deserves an extension? Trading Ryan Anderson for Kuzma? This board is on some seriously good shit tonight.

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specialsauce
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Re: Suns News: Week 2 10/22-10/28

Post by specialsauce »

pickle wrote:
Tue Oct 23, 2018 1:13 am
Even if we package both of them we aren't getting Kuzma...
We’d have to package Anderson with a first round pick to even get them to take him without giving anything back in return. Now you want to talk about getting Kuzma in return? Try throwing in Jackson or Warren at the very least in addition to a first rounder plus Anderson’s terrible contract and maybe the Lakers don’t immediately hang up.

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Re: Suns News: Week 2 10/22-10/28

Post by Flagrant Fowl »

Or they'd counter with Lance Stephenson for Trevor Ariza.
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JCSunsfan
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Re: Suns News: Week 2 10/22-10/28

Post by JCSunsfan »

Bender does not deserve and extension, but I might extend him anyway. If Anderson was playing better, I might think differently.

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Split T
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Re: Suns News: Week 2 10/22-10/28

Post by Split T »

JCSunsfan wrote:
Tue Oct 23, 2018 9:12 am
Bender does not deserve and extension, but I might extend him anyway. If Anderson was playing better, I might think differently.
Anderson is not the future. His play should have zero impact on what we do with Bender. Surprised there is still so much Bender support. He looked worse this off-season than he did as a rookie. I'm joining specialsauce, Bender is just not an NBA player.

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Mori Chu
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Re: Suns News: Week 2 10/22-10/28

Post by Mori Chu »

Split T wrote:
Tue Oct 23, 2018 9:21 am
JCSunsfan wrote:
Tue Oct 23, 2018 9:12 am
Bender does not deserve and extension, but I might extend him anyway. If Anderson was playing better, I might think differently.
Anderson is not the future. His play should have zero impact on what we do with Bender. Surprised there is still so much Bender support. He looked worse this off-season than he did as a rookie. I'm joining specialsauce, Bender is just not an NBA player.
He might or might not be an NBA player. But I think that since we are a bad team anyway, we should play him as much as we reasonably can to see if he's capable of getting there. What's the point of giving 25+ minutes a night to Ryan Anderson? Why not give those minutes to Bender and just see if he can figure it out?

I don't have much faith in these assessments of these young players when we don't even really give them a chance to grow and improve. I especially feel this way about our young big men. We gave up on Alex Len and now he's being productive in Atlanta. (I know, that one works out fine because we have Ayton.)

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Split T
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Re: Suns News: Week 2 10/22-10/28

Post by Split T »

Marty [Mori Chu] wrote:
Tue Oct 23, 2018 11:19 am
Split T wrote:
Tue Oct 23, 2018 9:21 am
JCSunsfan wrote:
Tue Oct 23, 2018 9:12 am
Bender does not deserve and extension, but I might extend him anyway. If Anderson was playing better, I might think differently.
Anderson is not the future. His play should have zero impact on what we do with Bender. Surprised there is still so much Bender support. He looked worse this off-season than he did as a rookie. I'm joining specialsauce, Bender is just not an NBA player.
He might or might not be an NBA player. But I think that since we are a bad team anyway, we should play him as much as we reasonably can to see if he's capable of getting there. What's the point of giving 25+ minutes a night to Ryan Anderson? Why not give those minutes to Bender and just see if he can figure it out?

I don't have much faith in these assessments of these young players when we don't even really give them a chance to grow and improve. I especially feel this way about our young big men. We gave up on Alex Len and now he's being productive in Atlanta. (I know, that one works out fine because we have Ayton.)
This isn't a rebuilding situation anymore. We've lost two games to what might be two of the top 3 seeds in the west. I'm not ready to call is a bad team yet. We're trying to win games. Bender shouldn't get minutes unless he can help us win games.

You don't think Bender got a chance last year? He got plenty of time to grow and improve and he showed up to summer league/preseason looking absolutely awful. It's funny to me how many people are willing to give Bender chance after chance. Yet almost no one cared to give Chriss a chance. At least Chriss actually did stuff on the court from time to time.

Gave up on Alex Len? Len got plenty of opportunities here and he just wasn't that good. Maybe we made mistakes in his development (playing him at the 4) but he's nothing special. And 1 good game for Atlanta doesn't constitute being productive yet. He had good games for us from time to time.

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Cap
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Re: Suns News: Week 2 10/22-10/28

Post by Cap »

Split T wrote:
Tue Oct 23, 2018 11:33 am
This isn't a rebuilding situation anymore. We've lost two games to what might be two of the top 3 seeds in the west. I'm not ready to call is a bad team yet.
We’ve lost the last two games by a combined 48 points. That’s a bad performance no matter who the opponents are.

I’m not saying it’s time to give up on the season, but we’re definitely a bad team so far.

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ShelC
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Re: Suns News: Week 2 10/22-10/28

Post by ShelC »

I trust Igor right now. If Bender isn't showing him anything in training camp, preseason and practice now then he shouldn't playing.

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Split T
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Re: Suns News: Week 2 10/22-10/28

Post by Split T »

Cap wrote:
Tue Oct 23, 2018 11:57 am
Split T wrote:
Tue Oct 23, 2018 11:33 am
This isn't a rebuilding situation anymore. We've lost two games to what might be two of the top 3 seeds in the west. I'm not ready to call is a bad team yet.
We’ve lost the last two games by a combined 48 points. That’s a bad performance no matter who the opponents are.

I’m not saying it’s time to give up on the season, but we’re definitely a bad team so far.
There's a difference between being a bad team and having a bad game. I'm not sure I'd even consider the game last night a bad game. Our defense in the 1st quarter was bad, but losing by 20 to the most stacked team in NBA history isn't necessarily a bad game.

Regardless, my point wasn't that we didn't play bad. It's that giving up on the season because we had a bad game is stupid. You know who else lost by 20 already this year? Houston...should they start playing Chriss to see what he can do?

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Re: Suns News: Week 2 10/22-10/28

Post by O_Gardino »

ShelC wrote:
Tue Oct 23, 2018 11:59 am
I trust Igor right now. If Bender isn't showing him anything in training camp, preseason and practice now then he shouldn't playing.
+1
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Superbone
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Re: Suns News: Week 2 10/22-10/28

Post by Superbone »

I have to admit that I'm concerned about Ayton's defense and intensity. Yes, I know it's only three games and we have to be patient. I am currently having some flashbacks to Amare who had all the athleticism in the world but just wasn't that interested in defense and rebounding. I hope I'm wrong.

Those multiple uncontested dunks against us were embarrassing and I just hope the team was embarrassed and is making some adjustments.
"Be Legendary."

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Re: Suns News: Week 2 10/22-10/28

Post by bajanguy008 »

I'm trying not to think about tomorrow too much, especially a scenario where the guys don't come out with the right energy again but man oh man I so want us to keep Lakers winless. that would make me forget these two losses in a hurry
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ShelC
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Re: Suns News: Week 2 10/22-10/28

Post by ShelC »

I got on Ayton after the Mavs game for his energy and awareness and last night was more of the same at the start. He's got all the talent in the world and I'm glad we have him, but he needs to adjust his mentality to really bring it and set the tone to start games. It's fine if he's not a high energy, bouncy guy all the time, but he can't keep getting caught flatfooted and watching the ball during the first few possessions while guys are jumping over and around him. He either needs to adjust, or we need a guy like Holmes out there for the first few minutes to bring the energy level up and do the hustle/grind work Ayton isn't ready to do. This is still a learning period for Ayton so I'm OK with the growing pains.

And I certainly won't put it all on Ayton because we were getting beaten in transition which is a guard responsibility. I also feel like guys are still adjusting the defense Igor has put in. We were going against the best team in the league so we were going to get caught no matter what.

Usually, any team coming out flat to start a game or after halftime is on the coach. I say usually because I don't necessarily think it's Igor's fault. I think Canaan and Ryan are weak links for us and we need more pop at those positions. Canaan isn't really a speedy PG. He's kind of like a poor man's Bledsoe - which is probably why McD loved him so much. Ryan adds nothing and hurts our speed and athleticism. I'd put Ariza in the category as well but I trust him out there a lot more and think he'd be more useful with a PG who could set him up. But Nash was our energizer bunny, Amar'e and Shawn brought the speed and athleticism, we had success with Dragic and Green in running the floor. We don't have that yet.

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specialsauce
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Re: Suns News: Week 2 10/22-10/28

Post by specialsauce »

Marty [Mori Chu] wrote:
Tue Oct 23, 2018 11:19 am
Split T wrote:
Tue Oct 23, 2018 9:21 am
JCSunsfan wrote:
Tue Oct 23, 2018 9:12 am
Bender does not deserve and extension, but I might extend him anyway. If Anderson was playing better, I might think differently.
Anderson is not the future. His play should have zero impact on what we do with Bender. Surprised there is still so much Bender support. He looked worse this off-season than he did as a rookie. I'm joining specialsauce, Bender is just not an NBA player.
He might or might not be an NBA player. But I think that since we are a bad team anyway, we should play him as much as we reasonably can to see if he's capable of getting there. What's the point of giving 25+ minutes a night to Ryan Anderson? Why not give those minutes to Bender and just see if he can figure it out?

I don't have much faith in these assessments of these young players when we don't even really give them a chance to grow and improve. I especially feel this way about our young big men. We gave up on Alex Len and now he's being productive in Atlanta. (I know, that one works out fine because we have Ayton.)
Yawn on Alex Len. I poopoo all over this post

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Indy
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Re: Suns News: Week 2 10/22-10/28

Post by Indy »

Yeah, it is silly to say we gave up on Alex Len after 5 years here. He will likely be an average NBA center, maybe a bit below average. But he wasn't going to be that here.

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