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Re: Game Day: Suns (6-3) vs Blazers (5-5), Wed 10-NOV-2021

Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2021 10:32 am
by ShelC
One is a basketball player, the other plays basketball. Monty, James, CP know this.

Re: Game Day: Suns (6-3) vs Blazers (5-5), Wed 10-NOV-2021

Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2021 10:42 am
by Split T
I’ll say this, I think teams pay more attention to Ayton when he rolls than to Frank or Javale, so it’s not a straight forward comparison.

I am looking forward to this video. Feel like Ayton being a weapon out of the short roll would be very helpful.


Re: Game Day: Suns (6-3) vs Blazers (5-5), Wed 10-NOV-2021

Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2021 10:54 am
by LazarusLong
Not that Kaminsky is better, or that Ayton is stupid, but a good player continues to learn and refine his craft.
Kaminsky makes the most of his somewhat limited skills.
Ayton might get insights on how to improve his game by watching the success of other, less gifted players ...

Re: Game Day: Suns (6-3) vs Blazers (5-5), Wed 10-NOV-2021

Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2021 10:58 am
by Indy
I will be watching for that video. I feel like I've grown accustom to thinking we just aren't great at getting a pass into our center in the paint. But last night I was in awe of seeing how often and quick and easy it seemed to get the ball into Frank or McGee.

Re: Game Day: Suns (6-3) vs Blazers (5-5), Wed 10-NOV-2021

Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2021 11:01 am
by Superbone
"I want to be who I think I am." -Frank Kaminsky

I love this quote from Frank.

Re: Game Day: Suns (6-3) vs Blazers (5-5), Wed 10-NOV-2021

Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2021 11:01 am
by Mori Chu
Really happy for Kaminsky. He's had a great stretch of games here when we really needed help.

I do think one smart thing he's done is to slim down and become a more nimble, athletic version of himself. I remember him being bigger and more plodding early in his career. Teams seem to tell centers to "bulk up" so they can bang in the post. But I think Frank's not really built for that. I think he's much better as a lighter and more agile big man. He's in pretty good shape these days and has clearly been trying to stay fit and light so he can play his best; that's paying off. There's also a certain confidence that comes from being on the same team for a while, getting to know the guys, knowing what your role is and what each teammate's strengths are.

To throw a tiny drop of cold water on all the Kaminsky praise: Portland is absolutely horrendous on defense, so it's not like Kaminsky lit up Giannis or Anthony Davis or Gobert or whomever. But still, congrats to him.

I was really happy watching that video of the guys celebrating for Kaminsky in the locker room after the game. Glad they celebrated it with him and were so happy for him. We have a good team chemistry; this is a group of guys I feel good cheering for.

Re: Game Day: Suns (6-3) vs Blazers (5-5), Wed 10-NOV-2021

Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2021 1:12 pm
by Indy
Superbone wrote:
Thu Nov 11, 2021 11:01 am
"I want to be who I think I am." -Frank Kaminsky

I love this quote from Frank.
That whole speech he gave, which clearly wasn't practiced, was wonderful. It is like a kid that has been given everything he wanted his entire life, realizing at some point, you need to grow up and take responsibility for who you want to be, and make it happen. Kudos to him (and whomever helped him realize this).

Re: Game Day: Suns (6-3) vs Blazers (5-5), Wed 10-NOV-2021

Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2021 1:37 pm
by The Bobster
AmareIsGod wrote:
Thu Nov 11, 2021 9:16 am
Dude was the 2015 NCAA College Player of the Year with Wisconsin.
But so was Jimmer Fredette

College awards don't mean anything in the NBA.

Frank will gets minutes if he's not playing soft like he did last year. He can help them with his shooting, and he can give them some size at forward if they choose to play him there. But he's not a defender or rebounder, so if he's not scoring he needs to sit.

Re: Game Day: Suns (6-3) vs Blazers (5-5), Wed 10-NOV-2021

Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2021 2:50 pm
by Superbone
The Bobster wrote:
Thu Nov 11, 2021 1:37 pm
AmareIsGod wrote:
Thu Nov 11, 2021 9:16 am
Dude was the 2015 NCAA College Player of the Year with Wisconsin.
But so was Jimmer Fredette

College awards don't mean anything in the NBA.

Frank will gets minutes if he's not playing soft like he did last year. He can help them with his shooting, and he can give them some size at forward if they choose to play him there. But he's not a defender or rebounder, so if he's not scoring he needs to sit.
And Charlie Ward won the Heisman.

Re: Game Day: Suns (6-3) vs Blazers (5-5), Wed 10-NOV-2021

Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2021 2:55 pm
by 3rdside
AmareIsGod wrote:
3rdside wrote:
Thu Nov 11, 2021 1:38 am
Split T wrote:
3rdside wrote:
Wed Nov 10, 2021 8:32 pm
ShelC wrote:We were something like 11-2 with Frank as our starting PF last season so we know he can play with this group. JaVale with 4 fouls in the 1st half is why he's not a reliable 30mpg player.

A little choppier with the other guys. Payne had a nice scoring stretch for us, Paul's looking for his jumper a bit more but Book and Mikal a little quiet and not a lot of flow offensively.
11-2? Damn.

More evidence that monty not playing frank in the finals was an increasingly large mistake.
Nah, the Frank we’re seeing wasn’t around in the finals. He got some chances in the finals and I remember him getting destroyed in game 3. He came back in probably game 6 and looked better, but nothing like what we’re getting now. I don’t know what has gotten into him, but he’s been awesome this year. We could have used this version for sure last year in the finals.

Do you think he always had this in him? Or did he make some serious improvements in the offseason?
I’m trying not to be a hindsight hero but we needed height - any height.

Kaminsky has probably always had some game in him,
I mean I can’t imagine he’s turned into something he never was before via a freak off season training program that we don’t know about.
Dude was the 2015 NCAA College Player of the Year with Wisconsin.
Weirdly, his final game in college as a senior is one of only a very, very few college games I’ve ever watched in full - I liked him a lot going into the draft and would not have been unhappy if we picked him.

He was also a reason I started reassessing how to gauge a player’s nba readiness, as he was more or less a bust i.e. a player’s speed / athleticism is really important.

Re: Game Day: Suns (6-3) vs Blazers (5-5), Wed 10-NOV-2021

Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2021 7:42 pm
by pickle
I'm with Split, I think teams tend to pay far less attention to Kaminsky when he rolls than when Ayton or McGee does. With McGee teams know that he is only effective within 3 feet of the basket, so they don't need to crowd him further out, whereas Ayton is quite lethal in the paint. If we are seriously comparing their impacts while rolling to the basket, we should probably look at how many open shots our wings get or can potentially get when Ayton rolls to the rim.

Kaminsky is clearly a lot more confident and decisive in the paint this year. I have no basis for this other than a hunch, but it feels like last year he was playing not to screw up, and this year he's just playing. He is a pretty decent passer and last night the floater game was working. He's never gonna be a power it up guy but acting as a playmaking hub 8 feet from the basket opens up a different dimension to our offense.

Unfortunately unless Ayton consistently shoots 3s it'll be tough for him and Kaminsky to both be maximized on offense when they share the court together.

Re: Game Day: Suns (6-3) vs Blazers (5-5), Wed 10-NOV-2021

Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2021 11:14 pm
by pickle
Also, I just want to add that Nader played decently. Apparently still a -4 net rating, but he made some nice hustle plays.

Re: Game Day: Suns (6-3) vs Blazers (5-5), Wed 10-NOV-2021

Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2021 1:57 am
by Flagrant Fowl
pickle wrote:
Thu Nov 11, 2021 11:14 pm
Also, I just want to add that Nader played decently. Apparently still a -4 net rating, but he made some nice hustle plays.
I meant to comment on this after watching the replay. He was 2-2 and gave CJ McCollum hell for like 4 defensive possessions in the first half. Outstanding by his standards. :lol:

Re: Game Day: Suns (6-3) vs Blazers (5-5), Wed 10-NOV-2021

Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2021 12:55 pm
by bajanguy008
I think we should not do that to Ayton
It's obvious Frank doesn't command the attention DA does and we know what his gravity is like.

I don't know about others but I'm just comparing Frank to Frank. That's exactly why it would be frustrating because he would be wide open as teams rather take away the others so good to see him capitalizing

Re: Game Day: Suns (6-3) vs Blazers (5-5), Wed 10-NOV-2021

Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2021 11:03 am
by Nodack
From what I have gathered, Frank was very aggressive offensively in College. It seems like he took a back seat and toned it down once he got in the NBA deferring to the more high profile players. That didn’t work out so well for him. He played for the Suns and liked it but found himself not on the team and picked up by another team only to be cut. The Suns took him back after nobody else wanted him. Now he’s the third string guy behind Ayton and McGee and barely clinging to an NBA spot playing for the minimum.

IMO, instead of sulking and maybe giving up he said F it and focused on training, made himself as ready as he could and waited for his time and said I’m going to show them all what I can do and become ultra aggressive like I was in college because it’s do or die time for my career. It’s paying off for him and I am happy for him and the Suns who have benefited from his play big time in Aytons absence.