Suns News: Week 9 2/15-2/21

Discussion of the league and of our favorite team.
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In2ition
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Re: Suns News: Week 9 2/15-2/21

Post by In2ition »

O_Gardino wrote:
Mon Feb 15, 2021 1:59 pm
I guess everyone else got disqualified for losing to the Suns this week.
Just had to only lose 1 game, and you would have been better. Must have been a bad week for the East.
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Split T
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Re: Suns News: Week 9 2/15-2/21

Post by Split T »

Terry Rozier, Bradley Beal, Zach Lavine...I’d have given it to one of them.

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Cap
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Re: Suns News: Week 9 2/15-2/21

Post by Cap »

Guess they didn’t want to go with the usual suspects. Guys like Giannis, Harden, Embiid and Young put up much better numbers.

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Split T
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Re: Suns News: Week 9 2/15-2/21

Post by Split T »

Did Detroit really go 3-1? That’s what did it

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carey
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Re: Suns News: Week 9 2/15-2/21

Post by carey »

Go Suns!

Og Snus!

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Mori Chu
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Re: Suns News: Week 9 2/15-2/21

Post by Mori Chu »

Nice avi, carey. :-)

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carey
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Re: Suns News: Week 9 2/15-2/21

Post by carey »

Mori Chu wrote:
Mon Feb 15, 2021 3:36 pm
Nice avi, carey. :-)
Thank you, everyone. I stole it off Twitter. :lol:
Go Suns!

Og Snus!

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Shabazz
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Re: Suns News: Week 9 2/15-2/21

Post by Shabazz »

Split T wrote:
Mon Feb 15, 2021 12:42 pm
Ya, he’s had a rough go...no summer league, short training camp, got Covid. I’ll wait till next year to make a judgement on him. We still should have taken Haliburton though.
The COVID thing is legit and who knows how it’s impacting him, but the training camp/Summer League excuse rings hollow since it’s true of every rookie. He’s also got 2 years of NCAA under his belt, unlike many rooks.

As for Hali and his opportunity here - he’s a stud. He would have been our 3rd best guard from the jump. And like others have said, we probably would have signed a big instead of Moore (or Carter). He could have easily averaged (and earned) 20 mpg. He’s just a winning player.

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Mori Chu
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Re: Suns News: Week 9 2/15-2/21

Post by Mori Chu »

Halliburton at a bare minimum would have gotten some of these minutes we've been giving to guys like Nader and Galloway. I like both of those guys, but Halliburton would probably be doing even better than they've done in the same minutes.

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pickle
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Re: Suns News: Week 9 2/15-2/21

Post by pickle »

I really don't think Mori was bagging Stix as he was pining for Haliburton, and frankly I'm with Mori on this one. Why not just do the easy thing...

And I don't think Haliburton needs to put up a ton of numbers to be a success. If he averages 2 fewer points and 1 fewer assist as the 3rd guard in the rotation behind Booker and CP3, that would've been quite nice. I'd worry a hell of a lot less about Paul's hamstrings if we had drafted him.

Still hoping for good things for Stix, but sigh.

Also, I really haven't read the rest of the board so I don't know if this has already been discussed anywhere... who are we interested in as a team in the trade market? Any chatter from people with links to the team? And does the board have any players we are collectively interested in?

I wouldn't mind seeing us go after Bjelica or McGee... and a bunch of other guys out of our price range.

Reading that Collins is available with a lottery pick...

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ShelC
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Re: Suns News: Week 9 2/15-2/21

Post by ShelC »

There's still the possibility that Haliburton asked not to be drafted by us, as he was rumored to have made that request to a few teams. We could've drafted him anyway but I don't think Jones or Monty would've brought someone in who preferred not to be here.

I don't have a ton of interest in Collins. Not a great rebounder or defender, suspended last year for PEDs, wants the max which is really won't worth.

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jonh
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Re: Suns News: Week 9 2/15-2/21

Post by jonh »

This article highlights how Ayton's lack of free throw shooting (or 3 point shooting) is really hindering his effectiveness. Suggests he need to either develop a much better 3 point shot or increase his free throw shooting.

My favorite quote: "Ayton is a good player, and his drop in points and usage rate this season makes some sense given the infusion of talent elsewhere on the roster. But he’s something of a tweener, lacking both the range of a stretch big and the power of a dominant interior scorer, and he’s still searching for his best NBA role. Given his pedigree and production to this point, he’ll probably get there someday. But Phoenix might struggle to balance that growth with the chance at a competitive breakthrough this season."

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2021/2/16 ... oenix-suns

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Split T
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Re: Suns News: Week 9 2/15-2/21

Post by Split T »

Yep...and on early returns, I think he should focus on being an interior presence...I don’t have a lot of faith in him as a shooter.

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Superbone
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Re: Suns News: Week 9 2/15-2/21

Post by Superbone »

His three point shot is very flat. Not only that but he struggles shooting it straight. He also seems to rush it.
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Split T
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Re: Suns News: Week 9 2/15-2/21

Post by Split T »

Ya it doesn’t feel natural for him...interesting they made a comparison to Vucevic in the article. He was another no 3pt attempts/no ft attempts big. He went the 3 point route, we’ll see what Ayton does.

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Mori Chu
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Re: Suns News: Week 9 2/15-2/21

Post by Mori Chu »

Yeah, well, DeAndre Ayton is still only 22 years old. He has lots of time to learn and improve. He's already improved several aspects of his game this season. I also don't think DA "needs" to learn to shoot 3s or get fouled a lot to be effective. It'd be nice if he worked on either of those things, but would his being a 3-point guy strictly improve his game? I like him close to the basket.

The article you're quoting suffers from a bit of a lack of imagination. I think DA is neither an interior bruiser nor a 3-point shooting center. He's something else. Let's call it a finesse interior player. He plays inside, with shots and moves close to the basket along with screen/rolls, oops, and putbacks. But he does it in a cautious way, going for comfortable / rhythm shots rather than trying to bash his way through the defender. He has a sharp eye for reading the defense and passing out if he feels like his own shot or path to the basket is too heavily contested. Sometimes this means he passes up shots we want him to take, or lays up / fades away when he should dunk. But it also means his FG% is sky-high and that he rarely hurts us by chucking up bad shots.

I'm often amazed to look at the box score and see that he's shot 8/11 or something gaudy like that. On a team with scorers like Booker, Paul, and all our 3-point-bombing wings, he complements the other guys really well. I don't know if it'd be better for him to scream for the ball and want to take 30 shots a game and bash through people on his way to the hoop. That'd be an exciting player, maybe more individually valuable and talented. But would that player help this team more? I'm not so sure.

I'm not settling for mediocrity from DA, nor am I trying to be overly defensive about him. I want him to work on his game, too, and he has a ways to go yet. But I just want to appreciate the many things he does well and the subtle aspects of his game that help the team where most other players would hurt us. I actually think he's really good and really want to keep him here.

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Split T
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Re: Suns News: Week 9 2/15-2/21

Post by Split T »

He doesn’t have to demand 30 shots...just be more aggressive on the shots he does get. Less fade aways and more attacking the rim.

I don’t think the article is saying he has to do one of those things to be valuable, but that he’d be more valuable if he did. His fg% is very high, but his TS% is pretty mediocre. That’s a better indicator of his efficiency as a scorer. I’d mind boggling to me that he only takes 2 free throws a game.

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Superbone
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Re: Suns News: Week 9 2/15-2/21

Post by Superbone »

Split T wrote:
Tue Feb 16, 2021 10:37 am
He doesn’t have to demand 30 shots...just be more aggressive on the shots he does get. Less fade aways and more attacking the rim.

I don’t think the article is saying he has to do one of those things to be valuable, but that he’d be more valuable if he did. His fg% is very high, but his TS% is pretty mediocre. That’s a better indicator of his efficiency as a scorer. I’d mind boggling to me that he only takes 2 free throws a game.
Yep, there is no doubt that him being more aggressive would benefit our team.
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jonh
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Re: Suns News: Week 9 2/15-2/21

Post by jonh »

Yeah, I didn't see anything in the article that argues he should be taking more FGA, just that he needs to either be more aggressive in his 2 point attempts, or dramatically increase his ratio of 3 point attempts to 2 point attempts.

I honestly think its a long-winded and more empirically-driven way to say "dunk the damn ball".

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Indy
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Re: Suns News: Week 9 2/15-2/21

Post by Indy »

Agreed. I mean, I would like to see his FGA swap with Paul's, but that isn't a big change. But there is no way Ayton should be taking the same amount of FGAs as Mikal but scoring less AND getting less FTAs than Mikal.

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