Phx-Suns.Net

Yea I'm not exactly loving Nader's game at the moment. Feels like he's forcing things when he has the ball, hasn't been as good defensively. I get the feeling Monty is trying to use 10 guys early in the season to pull back on some minutes but I'd rather see the Cams and Shamet see a small bump in their minutes if possible because they need the minutes even if it means going smaller for a bit of a stretch.

I thought for sure the Suns were going to lose this one. Ayton out and McGee in foul trouble. Hawks scoring at will. Once again the tank playing well and covering. The Booker swag is back. I’ll take the win.

I think part of the reason I'm much more forgiving of these guys, Nader for instance, is the fact that I don't watch the games live most of the time. Tried that once with the Pelicans game and almost threw my iPad out the window, so that wasn't healthy.

I think Ayton's absence has proven that he's a significant piece to this team. We couldn't rebound and couldn't defend the pick and roll with McGee and Kamkinsky. Not that I expect that of those guys... At one point I felt like Ayton's impact is similar to that of Capela, I no longer thank that either, as Capela has really terrible lateral mobility and limited offense. He's extremely good at the few things that he does, but not as versatile as Ayton.

I'm okay with Payne pushing, though I felt like we shouldn't have completely shut down Payton 100% after the energy he brought to the court the previous couple of games. Otoh the minutes are hard to divvy up between the backups so that was understandable.

Cam J's shot will come around. He's getting good looks.

Nader pressing on offense I understand. Was a little frustrated that his defense seems much more about aggression than bball-IQ.

I didn't really get a chance to post much during this one. Having 3 little kids just makes life very noisy and unpredictable right now. I try my best to watch every game, though I usually have little ones crawling on me or screaming through most of it.

This was a really fun game. ATL is one of the best young teams in the NBA. They remind me of the Warriors about 8-9 years ago before they had quite figured themselves out. They have the similar exciting pair of young guards, Trae and Bogdan, to sort of mimic Steph and Klay. And they just have so much depth and young talent. Imagine how good they'll be when guys like Reddish and Hunter figure out what they're doing. I think they have all the pieces to be a nasty team for a decade. Just don't screw it up!

Booker had an amazing game in this one. I missed Ayton a lot. Yes, Kaminsky had a great game and good for him for doing so. And JaVale continues to be a very solid rotation big. But we can't depend on Kaminsky playing like that. Ayton would have really bolstered our defense and given us a little better scoring punch as well.

I'm also glad to see the older guys, CP3 and Crowder, rounding into form. They both looked pretty bumpy for the first 3-4 games. I think they were just getting their old beat-up bodies back used to game play again. But they're starting to look sharp. Crowder in particular seems to be getting his shooting and overall mojo back. We need him.

Bridges plays such amazing defense, but he can kind of disappear. 8 points and 3 rebounds, you'd expect more from him than that, especially with Ayton out. Cam Johnson also had a bumpy game other than a few amazing steals and layups early. Payne stunk but he's fighting through an injury so I'll give him some space. I think they should keep Elfrid Payton in the rotation even when Payne is back. Payton is a savvy passer and gets our bench guys involved. I think we need more of that.

Love Mikal but he just doesn't have a scorer's mentality. Glad we got him for 90mil because more than that would've been an overpay in expecting him to become a #2 type of scorer next to Book.

Stop playing Nader. I’d rather see Frank and Cam at the forward spots than watch Nader turn the ball over all the time.

Drewsprocket wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 08, 2021 9:02 am

Stop playing Nader. I’d rather see Frank and Cam at the forward spots than watch Nader turn the ball over all the time.

Nader has been really bad to start this season. But he was a lot better last year, and it's still very early in the season. And we would really benefit from last-year-Nader if he decides to show up. I think it's worth giving him a little more time to find his game. But I agree that if we don't see improvement in 10-12 games or so, we may want to cut him out of the rotation.

I think when we’re completely healthy, Frank has earned those minutes. So when Ayton comes back I think we drop Nader and let Frank play the 4. I don’t love him at the 4, but he’s played well enough that you gotta try I think.

I think we saw once again that we need another rebounder besides Ayton. It's the one glaring hole that still hasn't been fixed.

Mori Chu wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 08, 2021 11:03 am

Drewsprocket wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 08, 2021 9:02 am

Stop playing Nader. I’d rather see Frank and Cam at the forward spots than watch Nader turn the ball over all the time.

Nader has been really bad to start this season. But he was a lot better last year, and it's still very early in the season. And we would really benefit from last-year-Nader if he decides to show up. I think it's worth giving him a little more time to find his game. But I agree that if we don't see improvement in 10-12 games or so, we may want to cut him out of the rotation.

Nah. Burn him at the stake. He's a witch.