Suns News: Week 14 1/26-2/1

[carey]

Current record 26-20. Last week was not very kind. A buzzer beater loss to Houston and a shit-kicking by the Clippers. The win against an Aldridge-less Portland was nice though. 3 tough games this week before the Super Bowl. We really need to take these next 2 games to go 6-2 on our home stand. That would be much better than 4-4.

Last Week.
Monday January 19th vs. L.A. Lakers W115-100
Wednesday January 21st vs Portland W118-113
Friday January 23rd vs. Houston L113-111
Sunday January 25th vs. L.A. Clippers L120-100

This Week.
Wednesday, January 28th vs. Washington 10:30PM EST ESPN
Friday, January 30th vs. Chicago 10:30PM EST ESPN
Saturday, January 31st @ Golden State 10:30PM EST

Suns News.
Clippers run away to top Suns in the 4th: LINK
Going Gorilla, the starless Suns: LINK
Players talk technicals & loss: LINK

[carey]

https://twitter.com/FiveThirtyEight/status/559916520692666368

538th have us the 10th best team in the league, 7th best in the West.

[Mori Chu]

I think we can win the two games against the Eastern teams, WAS and CHI, but that Golden State will absolutely demolish us. I'll be attending that G-State game, and I hope it'll be close, but I could literally see them winning by 30 points. They are leaps and bounds better than we are, and they have enough former Suns on their coaching staff that they probably know all of our tricks and how to stop us. I think it won't be pretty.

[Cap]

10th best team in the league and 39.6% chance to make the playoffs?

[Superbone]

10th best team in the league and 39.6% chance to make the playoffs?

The perils of the West.

[virtual9mm]

Post by Kerrsed (posts here occasionally) on RealGM, kind of a doozy:

One of my IRL friends who has a bit of inside info informed me that the twins are on very thin ice with the FO. We have somewhat put them on the block for a few weeks now, and the recent attitude is because they know they are on the block and could be traded to different teams, splitting them up. McD is said to be trying to accommodate them and trying to keep them together in trade talks, but Keiffs value is much higher than Marcus's.

Like i said, this is info i got about a week and a half ago (The major reason i started putting MoBros in my trade ideas), and he told me that they have been on the block for a few weeks, thus putting the timeline to right around the Hornacek altercation. I was also informed at the same time that we might have a reason to believe that Dragic is ready to move on to another team. He has been very open in the media about FA, and that has somewhat killed what trade value he has/had. Teams that want him want assurance that he will re-sign there, and he hasnt been willing to commit to that, but instead reiterating his stance that all teams will have a chance at signing him. He is looking for that big payday. We know that.

http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtop ... start=1920

[Ring_Wanted]

Very interesting tidbit about the twins.

The Dragic stuff related to his FA status is not news. He has been saying for some time now that he will keep his options open and we know that his trade value is not high on an expiring contract.

[virtual9mm]

More fuel on the fire from NotTraxxe:

The Suns current preference is not to trade Dragic as I've stated earlier and took a little heat for via a funny bit of pictures (this is a change from their previous position) and they have not been willing to include him in offers at the moment.

There was a locker room altercation involving one the Twins. I don't know the details other than this is the second time it has happened (once during practice and one after a game). The team feels like Tucker and a few other players are feeding off their negativity. They were really happy when they got their extensions; we told them we wanted them to become leaders of the "youth movement" and that has backfired on us.

Anyway, we will trade them if we can get good value but we are not going to dump them for the sake of doing so. Bledsoe, Len, Dragic, and Tucker are pretty darn safe at the moment. I don't know why we don't want to trade Tucker. But we don't.

That said we will make any move if the price is right. McD is not an idiot.

http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtop ... e646b267fa

[carey]

Things sound rough over there. Doesn't sound like a team that was recently 14 out of 18.

[Ring_Wanted]

That's because our game has been ugly and there are not enough wins. Actually, there have been quite some avoidable loses and questionable behavior on and off the court and that has to take its toll.

I am glad the FO is seeing it as a problem too and is not afraid to look into making moves.

[ShelC]

Not a good situation. It'd be one thing if the Morris brothers were good, but they're pretty average and are still acting out. Being good isn't an excuse for that kind of behavior, but it makes it somewhat palatable. But i really hate when guys think they're better than they are and act like assholes. Dion Waiters is another one.

Sucks like a guy like Tucker would buy into that. He's a veteran and should know better. I could see there being a divide with guys like the Morris Brothers, IT3 and Tucker being in one camp and some other guys in the other. Just pure speculation on my part. I do think it's only a matter of time before something happens with IT3. He's getting his minutes and putting up some numbers, but I think he'll want to go somewhere and start. And we may push that off until we know what happens with Dragic.

I wonder where Bledsoe is in all this? Granted I haven't seen so many games, but he's not vocal on the court which is worrisome. I get that some guys aren't demonstrative, but as a PG he should be barking at guys and getting them in line when they're complaining to the refs and getting Ts. Maybe he's just not comfortable with that yet, maybe it's just not his personality but I do think there's a void in the lockerroom from a leadership perspective.

[LazarusLong]

If there is a problem with the twins, the FO contributed to it significantly. The PR focus on them, the extension and other events have no doubt made the Bros. Morris feel entitled. Consequently, now they are behaving like spoiled children. Gee, what a surprise.

Instead of building a better product, the Suns have been squandering resources on this sideshow. Kieff has a certain amount of value, but his brother essentially is an oversized perimeter player who can't defend and can't rebound.

If they trade the twins, maybe they can throw in Blabby as part of the deal. The guy is a pox on the franchise.

[Superbone]

Being good isn't an excuse for that kind of behavior, but it makes it somewhat palatable.

You lost me there.

[Indy]

When you are a Suns fan in 92-93 and you hear Charles is taking practices off, and taking Oliver Miller and Majerle out at night to party until the wee hours of the morning before a big game, and gets into altercations at clubs, but we are winning, it doesn't bother you nearly as much as when you would hear about mildly talented players doing that and we are losing. I don't like that it is true, but it is.

[EDC]

The twins looked like good locker room guys before the season. Going to the Summer league games cheering on the young guys they seemed truly happy to be with the Suns.

We don't know if the altercation thing is true or not but the on the court stuff with all the technicals and the yelling at coach has been a bit much. These are young guys themselves and I wonder if they are being influenced badly.

NotTraxxe says Tucker is feeding off of their negativity but I can't help wonder if that might not be the other way around. There were a lot of rumors about Tucker being an alcoholic and his bac was pretty high during that dui. He also missed the team bus earlier this season. All this from the guy touted as the locker room leader. On the other hand it could be the addition of IT or maybe Frye was a calming influence on them.

The truth is we will probably never know what is going on in there. We just know that coach makes a lot of comments about the team not following the game plan. The fact that the team just ignores the coach is a really bad thing. Hopefully coach and the front office sort this out soon before whatever it is badly influences our younger guys.

[INFORMER]

If they trade the twins, maybe they can throw in Blabby as part of the deal. The guy is a pox on the franchise.

Thank you.

[ShelC]

I think we're kind of at a crossroads as a team. We have to determine who we are and who we're rolling with. Even though Tucker and the Morris Bros got contracts, you get the feeling they're more tradeable assets than part of a future core. Maybe they sense that too.

There's also a different dynamic from last year at play. I feel like last year, you knew Goran, Channing and Tucker were the lockerroom leaders, pros who led the way. Bledsoe was trying to prove himself as a talented starter and worthy of a contract, the Morri Bros were looking to take that next step and secure contracts, Plumlee was a young big looking to break out, and Green was looking to re-establish himself playing in an uptempo system.

This year, things are off. Bledsoe got his extension and Goran is the one whose future is in question, so maybe there's a leadership void there. The Morris Bros got their extensions, are a year older and maybe don't feel like they need to follow or be kept in line. Green is a FA so he probably gunning for his next deal. And his name's come up in trade talk as well.

The team feels splintered.

[Superbone]

The team feels splintered.

And plays that way a lot of the time. There is just not enough sharing of the basketball and making the right basketball plays. When they do, they can be formidable. Unforunately, it seems to be the exception rather than the rule.

I also do not like the growing divide between the players and coach. Last year, they all said to a man that they'd run through a brick wall for Hornacek. This year, that seems to eroding. If the Morris Bros are behind that, ship their asses out of here. I don't care if it was in the heat of the moment. Getting in your coach's face during a game is inexcusable. I don't care how good either one is, it's not palatable to me as a fan.

[Ring_Wanted]

The team feels splintered.

And plays that way a lot of the time. There is just not enough sharing of the basketball and making the right basketball plays. When they do, they can be formidable. Unforunately, it seems to be the exception rather than the rule.

I also do not like the growing divide between the players and coach. Last year, they all said to a man that they'd run through a brick wall for Hornacek. This year, that seems to eroding. If the Morris Bros are behind that, ship their asses out of here. I don't care if it was in the heat of the moment. Getting in your coach's face during a game is inexcusable. I don't care how good either one is, it's not palatable to me as a fan.

Agree 100%

[INFORMER]

The Morris Bros got their extensions, are a year older and maybe don't feel like they need to follow or be kept in line.

They don't need to follow or be kept in line. They have the most special relationship in the league, which is the hallmark of this franchise. Markieff is awesome, worth every penny! FOE!!!