Game Day (Exhibition): Suns @ Clippers, Wed 10/22/14

[Mori Chu]

I watched most of the second half on a stream. Don't care about the close loss or the no-call on Hawes assisting to himself. It's a preseason game. Fun to see our guys in what felt like a real national TV game. I still mostly hate Marcus Morris. It was good to see some Len time. I think our team is better but that our record/seed could be worse, as others have said. It's going to be a brutal West this year.

[SDC]

dvd season alert pass from the sportsguy33

[INFORMER]

Gerald Green....I just dont know. He seems just as likely to make a bone-head turnover as he is to make an impossible three.

That's because his bad plays frustrate you more than his good plays impress you.

[INFORMER]

Len looked good in the first half, not so good in his brief stint in the second half.

[Superbone]

Matt Barnes was one of the few guys I hated before, during and after his tenure with the Suns.

He had his moments. Won us a couple of games when he was on. He did make a lot, and I mean a lot, of just bad decisions with the ball. Bad shots, bad passes. Also, a lot of dumb technical fouls cause he's kind of a hot head (which is different from "fiery.")

One in particular cost us the playoffs.

[Superbone]

I'm liking Len's length below.

It's not bad above either.

[Superbone]

Based on tonight, Len sucks a lot less than Plumlee.

I thought Len looked pretty good out there and held his own.

[Superbone]

Question: Do the Lakers make the playoffs this year?

Nope. Not even close.

I'm not sure what's with that fan base but they're a delusional bunch. For a good laugh:

http://forums.lakersground.net/viewtopic.php?t=170142

At least the OP was somewhat modest with 6th seed and didn't go all fan boy and say Pacific division champs or something.

Lol very true. I got into it last night with a bunch of laker fans on ballstreams. I don't think a single Laker fan thought they were missing the playoffs this year.

They've got a rude awakening coming.

[SwingMan]

Nice play by Bled, man he looks like he's being shot out of a cannon when he turns it on in transition.

Him and Paul are playing like it's the conference finals.

Bledsoe is such a strong finisher. Loved the and-1.

[youtube][/youtube]

[SwingMan]

[youtube][/youtube]

[da_suns_fan]

The Morrii are killing my pre-season buzz.

[SwingMan]

The Morrii are killing my pre-season buzz.

Drink heavier.....

[da_suns_fan]

Overall it was a decent night. The Clippers played Blake and Paul significant minutes, they played very well, it was on the road and the Suns still had a chance to win.

Dragic was off but they should be able to withstand off nights from either Bledsoe or Dragic because theyre rarely off on the same night.

Markieff, on the other hand, was brutal. How does a forward have so many turnovers?!! Gerald Green also continues to do a lot of dumb stuff anytime hes not simply trying to score. I think Jeff Van Gundy said it best last night that it wasnt his strength. We have three really good point guards on the team and yet he feels the need to bring the ball up court on his own and try to make his plays.

If I was Hornaceck, I would give everyone on the team one of two sweat bands to put on their arms. If youre not a playmaker (Dragic, Bledsoe, IT, Warren, Archie, Marcus) you have no business trying to bring the ball up the court or make fancy passes. You either shoot or pass it back out to the playmakers.

[carey]

I wrote over at RealGM that turnovers are going to be an issue all season. Hornacek has stated that he wants the person closest to the ball to inbound and then to push it up the court as fast as possible. This leads to a lot of guys handling the ball that shouldn't be (your Greens, Tuckers, Morris twins) and more turnovers than you would like. Prime example was Markieff dribbling up the floor with Chris Paul hounding him. The result was basically what you'd expect.

THe second problem is that even though Bledsoe has cut down on his turnovers he is far, far too lazy and careless with the ball when advancing it. He needs to take much better care of it. I would be surprised if this isn't something Hornacek is hammering home as we speak.

[da_suns_fan]

I wrote over at RealGM that turnovers are going to be an issue all season. Hornacek has stated that he wants the person closest to the ball to inbound and then to push it up the court as fast as possible. This leads to a lot of guys handling the ball that shouldn't be (your Greens, Tuckers, Morris twins) and more turnovers than you would like. Prime example was Markieff dribbling up the floor with Chris Paul hounding him. The result was basically what you'd expect.

THe second problem is that even though Bledsoe has cut down on his turnovers he is far, far too lazy and careless with the ball when advancing it. He needs to take much better care of it. I would be surprised if this isn't something Hornacek is hammering home as we speak.

I hope so. I do believe we have a very competent coach. When I see whats happening with the Lakers Im reminded of that awful Terry Porter experiment that lasted half a season.

[Bruiser]

[youtube][/youtube]

If that was a step-back, I'd say it was a pretty good one. Sure, Cunningham did not need to stumble that hard - but still - I think that was pretty sick.

[Ring_Wanted]

...more turnovers than you would like. Prime example was Markieff dribbling up the floor with Chris Paul hounding him. The result was basically what you'd expect.

To be fair, Paul is allowed by the refs to do whatever he wants with his hands. It's no wonder he leads the L in steals. Anyway, Kieff was horrible making decisions, and he is looking constantly frustrated at the refs. Many times he is right, to some degree at least, but he needs to keep his head cool and stick to what he can do.

I agree about Bledsoe too. Too often his handle is too loose, and his passes too lazy.

[Xylus]

Markieff Morris seriously gave me apoplexy this game. He looks like he's reverted to his 2012-2013 form.

I'm not sure if it's normal or healthy to be this excitable over a preseason game, but I was up out of seat yelling at the TV in the 4th quarter. This is going to be a very stressful season for me.

[Xylus]

And Bledsoe continues to look better than ever. $70 million, worth every penny.

[Mori Chu]

And Bledsoe continues to look better than ever. $70 million, worth every penny.

I do think Bledsoe looks great so far, but we'll need multiple full seasons of productive play to be able to say that he's worth every penny. I agree that it's encouraging so far.