Phx-Suns.Net

Split T wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 12, 2023 12:54 pm

The nuggets announcers are idiots though. The guy just called Jokic, Nurkic

Huh? That's their own team!

Superbone wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 12, 2023 1:39 pm

Split T wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 12, 2023 12:54 pm

The nuggets announcers are idiots though. The guy just called Jokic, Nurkic

Huh? That's their own team!

Ya it was weird

Well I’ll say this, the Nuggets suck without Jokic. I’m not sure that makes him the mvp, but it reminds me of the suns when nash went out. We just looked like a different team. I think Denver needs a true #2 to keep them afloat in the non-Jokic minutes.

Split T wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 12, 2023 1:45 pm

Well I’ll say this, the Nuggets suck without Jokic. I’m not sure that makes him the mvp, but it reminds me of the suns when nash went out. We just looked like a different team. I think Denver needs a true #2 to keep them afloat in the non-Jokic minutes.

Is Murray not enough of a #2 for them? I hadn't checked in on his numbers much this season. It looks like he's averaging 20 ppg on 45 / 39 / 83 splits, 4 reb, 6 ast. A bit down from his peak but pretty decent numbers.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/pl ... aja01.html

He’s decent but I think he benefits playing off of Jokic. He was the guy today that played with the bench and they sucked. I don’t watch a ton of Denver though so I can’t speak to everything.

I just look at all the top teams and who has the weakest #2?

Boston has Jaylen, Milwaukee has Jrue, Phoenix has Book, Philly has Harden, Cleveland has Garland, Sacramento has Fox…I’d take all those guys pretty easily over Murray.

Jokic is killing the nuggets defensively right now. For some reason they are switching and getting him on ball handlers. Nuggets send help and Brooklyn just swings it to the open man for a wide open 3

Foot injuries are tricky and much easier to reinjure than a typical ankle or knee sprain.

HeAt CuLtUrE

Flagrant Fowl wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 12, 2023 8:02 pm

HeAt CuLtUrE

If you lose, you pout.

I mean there were 13 seconds left so it's not really "the middle of the game". And is it HeAt CuLtUrE or is Jimmy Butler just an asshole?

It resulted in a technical foul. He didn't have to walk completely off of the court.

They bring the Heat Culture criticism on themselves. It's stupid. He's their best player and pulls that move, so what are we supposed to think?

How is him walking off the court a reflection of the culture tho? It's a reflection of him IMO. They've been a successful, competitive, well run org for over 20 years so I think the culture thing is real and valid. You don't just luck into that kind of consistent winning. They were in the Finals a few years ago in the bubble and even now they're a 7 seed with hardly any top end talent (plus Jimmy missing 20 games). Maybe this is the beginning of the end or just the end of this current group's run. I just wouldn't rag on the culture because Jimmy Butler acts like a prick more often than not. His reputation should precede him at this point, but people usually chalk it up to "hE's a cOmPeTiTor". He was this way in Chicago, Minny and Philly.

That's fine, but, has that actually come up as a problem? Did we ever give MVP or DPOY to some guy who played in only 25 games? My guess is that they'll set the threshold low enough that it won't really matter.

Yeah, kind of weird. Never known that to be an issue for major awards. And why are they showing Jokic? He hasn't missed a whole lot of games from my recollection.

I think where it might matter is All-NBA

I’m listening to Bill Simmons pod talking about the All-NBA teams and they disqualified Booker, LeBron, Curry, AD, KD for not playing enough. This was a personal thing. Steph and Book can get to 55ish games. I do wonder what the games played mark would be. I’m kinda against it…at least it being super high like 65 or 70 games. I’d want it at like 55 games.

It’s just weird to me that Curry, who’s clearly a top 5 or 6 guy this year when he’s played, will not make an all-nba team. I’m just more about putting the best players on the teams, regardless of team record or games played. Those are more tie breaker stuff for me.

I’d be cool if they said, can’t win the mvp or 1st team unless you play 65+ games. 2nd team 60, 3rd team 55.

I think with some of the financial incentives tied to All-NBA Selections, they don't want a guy who missed 20-30 games making a 2nd or 3rd team and getting a bonus from it? I don't think it has as much to do with NBA or DPOY.

The players argue that they want to play and team staff are usually the ones telling them to sit certain games during the season to keep them fresh. Or maybe in our case, we might hold players out longer when they're injured as a precaution. Could Book have played sooner this year coming off the groin injury and the training staff held him out another 2-3 weeks? Would that impact his chances to compete for an All-NBA spot or MVP Award, which in turn could cost him money? Could it then become an issue between the player and team/training staff?

I think the bigger issue for owners is having guys making a ton of money and sitting out with questionable/mysterious injuries (Ben Simmons? Kawhi?) or having some other issues/falling out with the club and still getting paid (Kyrie?)

The real solution is to shorten the regular season and space the games out more, but they’ll never do that.

Split T wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 13, 2023 10:44 am

The real solution is to shorten the regular season and space the games out more, but they’ll never do that.

I also think there are some creative scheduling ideas that could work. It's happened a few times this season here and there, but the league should get rid of back-to-backs for traveling teams. Only home teams should play back to backs. And they should do more series where teams play each other twice (or even 3 times) over the course of a few days or longer. I know they get to travel by charter, but think of the wear you save your body from just traveling less... that could reduce injuries over the course of the season.