Game Day: Suns (3-1) @ Jazz (2-1), Thurs 12/31/20

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ShelC
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Re: Game Day: Suns (3-1) @ Jazz (2-1), Thurs 12/31/20

Post by ShelC »

Great win especially against the Jazz. We were shorthanded in the preseason against them and still figuring things out so part of me was a little concerned because they always play tough and the other part of me was like "these guys can't be this good". We locked down on everyone last night and kept them in check. Mitchell was frustrated most of the night and only shook free a few times but Ingles and Bojan were shut down and Clarkson was mental most of the game. Conley was OK but he's not a guy who really asserts himself and wasn't a big threat. It's crazy how good our defense was tho and not just taking away one thing but guarding everyone throughout an entire possession. Little breakdowns, no one taking a play off, no weak link. They made a bit of a run late but that was more because we started taking plays off on offense and putting up some quick 3s. Should've won by more as we were up by 19 at one point.

Ayton, despite the boxscore and some softness on offense, actually played a pretty good game I thought. I think he's done a good job protecting the paint and if he's not blocking shots, it feels like he's changing them just by being solid. Offense is another story as he looks completely out of sorts. Again, I don't think he's a PnR big and has trouble catching the ball on the move with enough coordination and orientation to score the way he needs to. It's almost like Shaq running PnR with Nash. Some bigs don't have the timing or footwork or hands. He's almost never ready to catch the ball or finds himself too far away from the basket or too far underneath when he catches it. He's certainly athletic and coordinated, just not in PnR situations. Gotta figure something out because he looks completely lost and almost dejected offensively. I don't think guys have quit on him by any means but they certainly are frustrated at times. I'm hoping he breaks out of it somehow or Monty schemes a way to get him some offensive to get him going touches. I'd be fine with his middy if he would just take it right away, in rhythm. Just looks like he's thinking too much and trying too hard to make the play in the paint that he's obviously not comfortable with. Take the jumper, take the fadeaway when it's there.

The rest of the team was really solid offensively. Book got it going near the end of the 1st half after looking like he was dragging. He took over down the stretch and it's nice having a guy to give the ball to as your "closer". Still too many TOs but I think those will get cut out over time. Paul was solid also, really playing some good defense and picking his spots in the midrange which really helps soften up the defense.

Our swings were dominant last night. Mikal and Jae 12-20 FGs and 8-15 from 3. 16pts, 6rbs and 2stls from each in 37 minutes. Terrific defense, Mikal took care of Mitchell most of the night. Love what these two bring. Cam Johnson was great in the 2nd half after a quiet 1st half. 4-4 FGs and 2-2 from 3. Cam Payne kept it going with some penetration and some 3s.

Dario's line was ugly but he was really impactful on both ends. Just solid defense on the interior and almost Boris-like with his passing and screening to keep things moving on offense. He's not super quick or athletic but just knows how to play and plays tough. I'm still concerned with our lack of size off the bench, but it's working for now.

Monty seems to have settled on a 8-10 man rotation on any given night with Payne, Johnson and Dario the core part of the bench and Gallo and Carter picking up some other minutes. He's also mixing up the lineups well and it seems like all the guys can play well with each other without any dropoff. I would like to see Cam Johnson pick up a few more minutes and get into that 22-25 minute range but with Mikal and Jae playing well it's hard to do.

Now onto Denver...if we can beat them it'll really put us the map I think.

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SunsRIt
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Re: Game Day: Suns (3-1) @ Jazz (2-1), Thurs 12/31/20

Post by SunsRIt »

djy2j wrote:
Fri Jan 01, 2021 12:35 am
Superbone wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 10:02 pm
iLLmatic wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 9:29 pm
Great team win. 4-1 feels good.
Just to win in Utah is big. The Jazz announcers complained about the missing fans.
Really levels the playing field w/o a bunch of racist homophobes in the stands
That’s a bit uncalled for.

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ShelC
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Re: Game Day: Suns (3-1) @ Jazz (2-1), Thurs 12/31/20

Post by ShelC »



Looks like a new one from Book









Dario no-look on the break













Bridges on the Dario pass


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bajanguy008
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Re: Game Day: Suns (3-1) @ Jazz (2-1), Thurs 12/31/20

Post by bajanguy008 »

Loved the Dario dime and seeing Mikal thought process n reaction is funny
SUNS Fan from the Land of Sun, Sea and Sand ;)

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bajanguy008
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Re: Game Day: Suns (3-1) @ Jazz (2-1), Thurs 12/31/20

Post by bajanguy008 »

SUNS Fan from the Land of Sun, Sea and Sand ;)

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Split T
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Re: Game Day: Suns (3-1) @ Jazz (2-1), Thurs 12/31/20

Post by Split T »

Love to see Mikal progressing like he has. Making up for Ayton’s invisibility on offense.

Do want to say, we rip Ayton for his offensive game, but I’m very pleased with him on defense. A lot of times I see guys and think how nice it would be to have their offensive game instead of Ayton on the court, but then I remember those guys usually suck on defense. We do still need Ayton to find a way to be valuable to our offense, but he’s pretty important to our defense.

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jonh
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Re: Game Day: Suns (3-1) @ Jazz (2-1), Thurs 12/31/20

Post by jonh »

Split T wrote:
Fri Jan 01, 2021 8:47 am
Love to see Mikal progressing like he has. Making up for Ayton’s invisibility on offense.

Do want to say, we rip Ayton for his offensive game, but I’m very pleased with him on defense. A lot of times I see guys and think how nice it would be to have their offensive game instead of Ayton on the court, but then I remember those guys usually suck on defense. We do still need Ayton to find a way to be valuable to our offense, but he’s pretty important to our defense.
Agreed--I think he plays a larger role in the team's defense than he can sometimes be given credit for. Hopefully the light switch comes on offensively sometime. I actually think the offense flows well when he isnt the focal point of the offense, but he might really start hurting the offense if teams start playing off of him.

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virtual9mm
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Re: Game Day: Suns (3-1) @ Jazz (2-1), Thurs 12/31/20

Post by virtual9mm »

SunsRIt wrote:
Fri Jan 01, 2021 6:37 am
djy2j wrote:
Fri Jan 01, 2021 12:35 am
Superbone wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 10:02 pm
iLLmatic wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 9:29 pm
Great team win. 4-1 feels good.
Just to win in Utah is big. The Jazz announcers complained about the missing fans.
Really levels the playing field w/o a bunch of racist homophobes in the stands
That’s a bit uncalled for.
Agree. Not cool.

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Indy
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Re: Game Day: Suns (3-1) @ Jazz (2-1), Thurs 12/31/20

Post by Indy »

SunsRIt wrote:
Fri Jan 01, 2021 6:37 am
djy2j wrote:
Fri Jan 01, 2021 12:35 am
Superbone wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 10:02 pm
iLLmatic wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 9:29 pm
Great team win. 4-1 feels good.
Just to win in Utah is big. The Jazz announcers complained about the missing fans.
Really levels the playing field w/o a bunch of racist homophobes in the stands
That’s a bit uncalled for.
Agreed on the generalizing (making it sound like it was all Jazz fans). But, like Boston, Utah fans are renown for this.

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O_Gardino
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Re: Game Day: Suns (3-1) @ Jazz (2-1), Thurs 12/31/20

Post by O_Gardino »

Indy wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 6:00 pm
specialsauce wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 3:54 pm
Superbone wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 3:46 pm
specialsauce wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 3:09 pm
I’m predicting 8 & 7 for DA, a close Suns W
LOL. Keep those expectations low!
Lol. It’s a prove me wrong type of situation at this point. I predicted a W though!
In his 4 career games against Utah, he is averaging 11.8 points and 7.5 rebounds... and 0.25 FTA.
10.2, 7.8, and 0.20 now

Obvs he didn't do anything on offense, but I thought he did well at sticking with his defensive rotations and meeting perimeter players even when struggling.
The league needs heroes, villains... and clowns. -- Aztec Sunsfan

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O_Gardino
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Re: Game Day: Suns (3-1) @ Jazz (2-1), Thurs 12/31/20

Post by O_Gardino »

ShelC wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 8:35 pm
Clarkson has been outwardly frustrated and that seemed to have rubbed off on O'Neal. Can't push a ref tho so he got a T and O'Neal's swipe looked unnecessarily aggressive which led to a flagrant so they're calling it tight.
I didn't think that was a flagrant, but I'll take it.
The league needs heroes, villains... and clowns. -- Aztec Sunsfan

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O_Gardino
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Re: Game Day: Suns (3-1) @ Jazz (2-1), Thurs 12/31/20

Post by O_Gardino »

ShelC wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 8:36 pm
Glad this one got posted because I wasn't sure if I saw it correctly

If DA goes up, he's at the FT line. It looked to me like he didn't think he had control of the ball. He doesn't believe in his own hands. Just conjecture of course.
The league needs heroes, villains... and clowns. -- Aztec Sunsfan

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O_Gardino
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Re: Game Day: Suns (3-1) @ Jazz (2-1), Thurs 12/31/20

Post by O_Gardino »

Superbone wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 8:40 pm
Indy wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 7:23 pm
It is tough enough to listen to Annie call a game, much less from afar.
It’s got to be a whole better than the Jazz announcers whom I’m forced to listen to on NBA TV. They are the worst. I was soooo glad that flagrant was called on O’Neale. They said over and over how there was nothing there.
Yeah, the audio wasn't fun.
The league needs heroes, villains... and clowns. -- Aztec Sunsfan

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Re: Game Day: Suns (3-1) @ Jazz (2-1), Thurs 12/31/20

Post by O_Gardino »

Furlanfufi wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 8:53 pm
The antichrist is great
I'm really happy with how quickly he got in the flow.
The league needs heroes, villains... and clowns. -- Aztec Sunsfan

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O_Gardino
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Re: Game Day: Suns (3-1) @ Jazz (2-1), Thurs 12/31/20

Post by O_Gardino »

ShelC wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 8:54 pm
Bridges hot from 3, Cam with a great take to the rim then Dario outlet to Bridges on the break. Nice mix of starters and vets with Payne, Book, Mikal, Cam, Dario.
Bubble Suns are still earning Monty's trust. That is already our 2nd most used 5 man lineup, and is a whopping +63.4/100 possessions.
The league needs heroes, villains... and clowns. -- Aztec Sunsfan

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O_Gardino
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Re: Game Day: Suns (3-1) @ Jazz (2-1), Thurs 12/31/20

Post by O_Gardino »

Furlanfufi wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 9:01 pm
Seems like the shooting practice after game worked for Jevon
It sure did.
The league needs heroes, villains... and clowns. -- Aztec Sunsfan

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Cap
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Re: Game Day: Suns (3-1) @ Jazz (2-1), Thurs 12/31/20

Post by Cap »

O_Gardino wrote:
Fri Jan 01, 2021 11:04 am
ShelC wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 8:36 pm
Glad this one got posted because I wasn't sure if I saw it correctly

If DA goes up, he's at the FT line. It looked to me like he didn't think he had control of the ball. He doesn't believe in his own hands. Just conjecture of course.
It looked to me like he did bobble the ball, and by the time he got control of it he might have been too far under the backboard to go up.

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O_Gardino
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Re: Game Day: Suns (3-1) @ Jazz (2-1), Thurs 12/31/20

Post by O_Gardino »

iLLmatic wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 9:29 pm
Great team win. 4-1 feels good.
The best part of the last 13 games is that they are not relying on Book to carry them.
The league needs heroes, villains... and clowns. -- Aztec Sunsfan

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Re: Game Day: Suns (3-1) @ Jazz (2-1), Thurs 12/31/20

Post by O_Gardino »

Flagrant Fowl wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 9:36 pm
That was a professional win.

I was worried the Jazz would go on a run when the Suns were up big with about 8 minutes left. I thought Monty used the timeouts well to keep things in order.

Why can't Ayton catch or dribble a basketball?
Perfect description.
The league needs heroes, villains... and clowns. -- Aztec Sunsfan

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Re: Game Day: Suns (3-1) @ Jazz (2-1), Thurs 12/31/20

Post by O_Gardino »

Furlanfufi wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 9:36 pm
Superbone wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 9:35 pm
Come on, Booker. Way too many unnecessary turnovers.
The team had 15, 6 by Booker
But he closed the game very well
I'm afraid to look up the stats, but it feels like 60% of Booker's TOs come in the 4th.
The league needs heroes, villains... and clowns. -- Aztec Sunsfan

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