Suns News: Week 5 11/24-11/30

[ShelC]

I think Len does need to play. Even if he picks up 2 quick fouls, let him get used to starting, let him adjust to the speed of the game playing against other starting centers, and maybe more importantly, let the refs get used to him being our starting center. It's the best way for him to learn.

And yea, Goran should be running offense more, with Bledsoe off the ball as a slasher. His first look should be attacking the basket, maybe off that opposite pass after Goran plays PnR and nothing is there. That's where you usually get a 3pt shot from the opposite wing, but put Bledsoe there, let him attack the recovering defender off the dribble and get in the lane. If nothing is there, he can still draw the defense and kick it back out, maybe for a 3pt shot in the corner.

[Ring_Wanted]

But guess what - when Ty Lawson is guarding Alex Len, you pass him the damn ball. I DON'T CARE if he doesn't catch it or if he fails to score.

Absolutely. That 'decision' by Bledsoe had me screaming at my screen.

Or we P&R and the guard gets turned back because the other team knows the big is not going to receive the pass. The three PG system isn't working because all our guards are so starved for touches that they can't pass up the opportunity for a shot.

Agreed.

It's fugly, and I thought Hornacek knew better. At this point, I think the biggest portion of blame has to fall on the Coach. He's overly deferential to his vets and relies on a system that doesn't appear to work for his players.

I don't know. I can design all the schemes I want but if at the end of the day there's no room for everybody to play their game something needs to happen roster wise.

Alex needs to start not because of how well he's been doing, but because of how bad Plumlee's sucked: the refs are treating him like Mark West, so it's not all his fault. But 2-guards have also been killing us. Every other night, Goran gets abused by the other team's 2. I actually like how the Morrises have looked on D: it's the 2 and 5 that are killing us.

Agreed, although Kieff is prone to craptacular defense too. Right now I'd say only Bledsoe, Marcus and Len are delivering. Specifically about Dragic, Hornacek opted for putting Gerald Green on Ty Lawson, instead of him so that tells you all you need to know. Right now he simply can't guard PGs and he can barely contain SGs. Plumlee's dropoff only compounds the problem.

Indeed dec 15 can't come soon enough, but I have the feeling that if something happens, it will be highly controversial.

[Indy]

The stat about Dragic's assist rate being so low is bogus because Dragic is basically playing SG 99% of the time right now. He isn't being asked to pass it; he's supposed to get himself open and wait for a pass and then shoot. If anything, it's a freaking miracle that the guy has 4 assists a game, given that he's barely even asked to do that any more. These stats about the 3 PGs fail the Eye Test big time. Most likely to get an assist when IT has the ball? Yeah, right. Something's rotten in Denmark.

Guys, the assist rate isn't the player's assist rate. It is the rate the team ends a possession with an assist while he is on the floor. Think about that for a moment.

I believe it. IT and Gerald may be ball hogs, but Bled and Dragic habitually refuse to pass to the big on the P&R. I know, I know, when a big was switched onto Steve Nash, Steve was money on the J. I get it. But guess what - when Ty Lawson is guarding Alex Len, you pass him the damn ball. I DON'T CARE if he doesn't catch it or if he fails to score. That's how offense works!! You get him the ball so he can develop, so the team can develop. At this point, no joke, I wish Tyler Ennis were our starting PG, because at least then I'd get to see how other players look on offense.

Our offense at this point is - the guards/wings pass the ball back and forth at the top of the three-point line, and one of them takes a jumper. Or we P&R and the guard gets turned back because the other team knows the big is not going to receive the pass. The three PG system isn't working because all our guards are so starved for touches that they can't pass up the opportunity for a shot.
It's fugly, and I thought Hornacek knew better. At this point, I think the biggest portion of blame has to fall on the Coach. He's overly deferential to his vets and relies on a system that doesn't appear to work for his players.

Plumlee isn't a starting center, but its worth having him off the bench. If Len becomes a true starter, Miles on the bench looks much better. It really is a shame that we didn't offer Frye something between what we wanted and he wanted - 6.5, maybe, because the continuity, familiarity, and floor spacing truly is missing this year.

First, Len already is a starting-level center.

Second, I agree we are missing something this year. But I would argue it isn't familiarity, or continuity. We basically changed out 1 guy from our rotation.

Third, I don't think it is simply floor spacing. Looking at our year/year differences across the board, it looks like we are basically the same except for defense. We are way down in steals and blocks and a bit down in rebounding. Our scoring, shooting (2s and 3s) and assists are about the same or better so far this year. But the other big drop is in FTAs. We are down 11% here but our opponents are up 14%. That is huge. And although our rebounding is only down 2% this year, our opponents is up 5%. Our steals are down 8% but opponents are up 10%. I know it feels like our offense is what is hurting us, the numbers say it is the defense that is killing us.

Another note, based on PER, we have 1 elite player, 3 above average, and one more right at the average. Those are, in order, IT, Green, Keiff, and Bledsoe, then Len.

And IT is actually a top 15 player in PER if you toss out the guys that haven't even played 250 total minutes yet.

Then you get to the slightly below average guys of Goran and PJ, then the not very good category of Marcus and Miles. The only other guy with meaningful minutes is Tolliver and his PER is less than half of the league average.

We are not a well balanced team when it comes to player efficiency, and the ones carrying that load are IT, Green, Keiff and Bledsoe.

I think we all agree that our record obscures how bad we've actually been. When we finally play the playoff teams in the west, we're likely to get handled.

I agree about the defense - and it's mostly interior defense, with other teams' centers lighting us up on the regular. Alex needs to start not because of how well he's been doing, but because of how bad Plumlee's sucked: the refs are treating him like Mark West, so it's not all his fault. But 2-guards have also been killing us. Every other night, Goran gets abused by the other team's 2. I actually like how the Morrises have looked on D: it's the 2 and 5 that are killing us.

Extremely disappointing season so far. I don't have an emotional attachment to the vets on this team, so I'm open to trading any of them. I bet McD is too. December 15 can't come soon enough.

This. Except I do have an emotional attachment to Goran. And I really want to see what Len and Warren look like in 2-3 years. Oh, and as much as I have to shake my head at times, I really like Gerald on this team. He shows more emotion than anyone.

I'm done with Tucker, and he was my favorite last year.

[Shabazz]

But guess what - when Ty Lawson is guarding Alex Len, you pass him the damn ball. I DON'T CARE if he doesn't catch it or if he fails to score.

Absolutely. That 'decision' by Bledsoe had me screaming at my screen.

Same here. Awful play.

[SwingMan]

But guess what - when Ty Lawson is guarding Alex Len, you pass him the damn ball. I DON'T CARE if he doesn't catch it or if he fails to score.

Absolutely. That 'decision' by Bledsoe had me screaming at my screen.

Same here. Awful play.

That's perhaps the biggest problem - nobody's playing with their damn head up.

What happened to talking and calling out defensive rotations? What happened to Dragic and Bledsoe seamlessly switching back & forth with playmaking on the fly as the situation deemed? What happened to Bledsoe's unreal defensive anticipation?

And what the fuck happened to recognizing mismatches?You've got 7' 1" on 6' 0" and you look the fuck off of him?!?!?!?!?!?!

[iLLmatic]

This. Except I do have an emotional attachment to Goran. And I really want to see what Len and Warren look like in 2-3 years. Oh, and as much as I have to shake my head at times, I really like Gerald on this team. He shows more emotion than anyone.

I'm done with Tucker, and he was my favorite last year.

Right there with you. Thankfully we have had the crappy Lakers for two of those wins at the beginning of the year. There are no franchise players on this team so I'd be perfectly fine with gutting all of the veterans at this point with maybe the exception of Green and just letting our rookies play.

[Phoenix219]

But guess what - when Ty Lawson is guarding Alex Len, you pass him the damn ball. I DON'T CARE if he doesn't catch it or if he fails to score.

Absolutely. That 'decision' by Bledsoe had me screaming at my screen.

Same here. Awful play.

That's perhaps the biggest problem - nobody's playing with their damn head up.

What happened to talking and calling out defensive rotations? What happened to Dragic and Bledsoe seamlessly switching back & forth with playmaking on the fly as the situation deemed? What happened to Bledsoe's unreal defensive anticipation?

And what the fuck happened to recognizing mismatches?You've got 7' 1" on 6' 0" and you look the fuck off of him?!?!?!?!?!?!

Right - it doesn't seem like we are truly running a 2 point guard system anymore, and instead are just cycling single point guards in and out of the rotation, and eliminates all the ball movement and constant running that we started out attempting last year.

[Superbone]

But guess what - when Ty Lawson is guarding Alex Len, you pass him the damn ball. I DON'T CARE if he doesn't catch it or if he fails to score.

Absolutely. That 'decision' by Bledsoe had me screaming at my screen.

Same here. Awful play.

That's perhaps the biggest problem - nobody's playing with their damn head up.

What happened to talking and calling out defensive rotations? What happened to Dragic and Bledsoe seamlessly switching back & forth with playmaking on the fly as the situation deemed? What happened to Bledsoe's unreal defensive anticipation?

And what the fuck happened to recognizing mismatches?You've got 7' 1" on 6' 0" and you look the fuck off of him?!?!?!?!?!?!

Right - it doesn't seem like we are truly running a 2 point guard system anymore, and instead are just cycling single point guards in and out of the rotation, and eliminates all the ball movement and constant running that we started out attempting last year.

Yup.

[Phoenix219]

And the whole thing marginalizes Dragic and takes him out of the role he had last year - so thats two things - the floor spacing with Frye, and Dragic as a floor general.

Is this out of deference to Bledsoe and the new contract, or is Dragic not running on full at the moment? Is his (new role and/or the funk he is in) the cause or the result?

[virtual9mm]

It's all about knowing and embracing your role on the team. San Antonio has it down to a science, and there is a reason you call people "role players". The problem is that there's 3 alpha dogs at the PG position and none of them are comfortable with being anything less than a star. Nobody wants to distribute because they're not sure they'll get the ball back again. Hence, you end up with one-on-one iso plays instead of the team ball we saw last year.

I would bet that the management will ask Dragic about his plans. If they can work out an under-the-table deal in advance, then they'll trade IT. If not -- I think that Dragic is gone before the deadline.

Even if IT were traded for very little in return, the Suns might still be better off. That being said, IT has perhaps the best value-for-dollar contract in the NBA, meaning that the Suns could get a great deal back in return. A better-than-average young starting PG plus a young player or two could yield a very nice player or a very high pick.