Game Day: Pacers (7-10) @ Suns (10-8), Tues 12/02/14

[SwingMan]

Ennis for air!

.....and then Warren for 3.

[LazarusLong]

Suns only had 9 TOs until late in the game when the bench cleared. Still finished with 12 ... better than the 18-20 they had been averaging for the last couple of games.

[SwingMan]

61 points for Dragic & Bledsoe - I sure as hell hope they've turned the corner. This is the most active I'd seen either of them all season thus far.

Same goes for Plumlee - I can live with 6/7 from him if he keeps up the activity. 3 blocks tonight as well.

And same for Tolliver, too - for once, he was a man on the glass (relatively speaking) and mixing it up.

So glad I didn't have to say "oh shit, here we go again" in the 2nd half.....

[SwingMan]

Oh - and how does 38 fast break points hit you?

[Superbone]

Wow, even Tolliver is playing well!!!

It was definitely his best in a Suns uniform. He did a little bit of everything tonight.

[Superbone]

Nice win tonight. The guys played with a purpose from start to finish. I'm surprised at you guys whining in the first half. Were you even watching? The Suns played pretty good defense but Indiana was just making tough shots. I knew it couldn't last an entire game. Dragic was in beast mode tonight and Bledsoe finished strong after a rough start. Good win.

Now is when it gets tough. 15 of the next 21 on the road. We'll really find out what this team is made of.

[OE32]

It's hard to get too excited about our performance when the opponent's starting back court looks like they were plucked from a rec league.

[Mori Chu]

It was good to see both Dragic and Bledsoe have good games in the same game. Lately it seems like we can have at most 1 PG do well in any given game.

[ShelC]

So, is it Thomas then?

[Ring_Wanted]

So, is it Thomas then?

Four games against poor competition for a 2-2 record is not exactly proof of anything, and the Orlando game was a total collective brain fart. But I think the rhythm between Dragic and Bledsoe has been clearly better, at times really looking the way it should.

Anyway, I've been open to moving IT3, Tolliver, Plumlee and maybe one protected pick, Tucker (if absolutely needed). Maybe a different direction could be Ennis-Green, but I really want to keep Gerald (and his trade value can't be high anyway as he is expiring) and Ennis could be perfect in the role Ish played last year.

It's probably too soon for most teams, although Charlotte is said to be already active in trade talks. Boston was reportedly the first team to inquire about Thomas in free agency and there is an obvious connection between FOs, but I don't know what type of move could interest Ainge. Detroit, Indiana, maybe Chicago would make good partners too. Maybe the 76rs too if they were into adding some vets to get respectability.

[JCSunsfan]

Its so funny to read these game threads after the fact.

All of our players are just horrible players at some point in every game.

[JCSunsfan]

IT's injury might be a blessing. It might be good to continue to work on the chemistry between Goran and Eric and then work IT in more slowly.

[djy2j]

Goran needs more mins plain and simple. He's our workhorse and has proven it in the past unlike Bledsoe.

[OE32]

I have vacillated on whether Bledsoe or IT needs to go, but one of them needs to go. I think Ennis can play, and should.

With Mook moving to the bench, TJ is buried. Frankly, this is BS - TJ is the most talented player on the whole roster. Put him in Philly and he'd average 25 - and they'd have won a game already. Problem is, I like Tuck and Mook too. And Mook's not going anywhere for obvious reasons. I'm extremely disappointed by the fact that Tough Buckets will be allowed to rot this whole season.

[SwingMan]

Gotta see the video description as well as the video of Dragic's performance last night :

"Gathered around a whiteboard in the locker room, the Phoenix Suns players reflected on their loss to the Orlando Magic, heads down.

Jeff Hornacek was displeased. "That was a disgraceful performance tonight. I'm totally embarrassed and totally ashamed. I've never seen such a collection of lazybones in my life. We are not leaving this room until you all write, on this whiteboard, what it means to work hard."

One by one, the various Suns players walked up and wrote what it meant to work hard. Gerald Green wrote, his expression dour, "Windmilling it when a regular jam would suffice". Isaiah Thomas, underneath, wrote "Trying to dunk it even one time." PJ Tucker, "Coming to practice as sober as possible, despite my crippling alcoholism." Bledsoe, "Playing with intensity even though the front office strung me along for several months." The Morris twins walked up together. Both grasping the same marker, they wrote, "Trying to separate our entwined identities so that we don't wake up confused thinking we are actually the other one."

Finally, the only person left was Goran Dragic, the leader and most well-respected player on the team. He stood up, grabbed the marker, and wrote one word only.

"Ball"

The others looked confused for a minute. Then, slowly, they started to nod, as if to say "He's right". No more words were said. The Suns left the meeting knowing what they had to do, their plan of attack for winning. It was all so simple, now."

[youtube][/youtube]

[Indy]

Thanks to whoever broke EJ's mic.

Darn, he's back.

Had it been Albert, I'd be right there with you.

Exactly. He's the new Gary Bender. Nice guys but don't add any character or substance to their calling of the game.

[ShelC]

Watching those highlights, seems like Goran's getting his legs back under him. A month ago, didn't look like he had that burst.

[Superbone]

Thanks to whoever broke EJ's mic.

Darn, he's back.

Had it been Albert, I'd be right there with you.

Exactly. He's the new Gary Bender. Nice guys but don't add any character or substance to their calling of the game.

The worst part about Albert is he makes the wrong call so often. "Dragic stepped out of bounds. Turnover. Ball back to the Magic... NOW, they're saying it was an illegal screen on Plumlee."

No Albert, the ref called the foul on Plumlee from the beginning. I saw it as plain as day from home. You just guessed at the call and then corrected yourself.

[Indy]

Thanks to whoever broke EJ's mic.

Darn, he's back.

Had it been Albert, I'd be right there with you.

Exactly. He's the new Gary Bender. Nice guys but don't add any character or substance to their calling of the game.

The worst part about Albert is he makes the wrong call so often. "Dragic stepped out of bounds. Turnover. Ball back to the Magic... NOW, they're saying it was an illegal screen on Plumlee."

No Albert, the ref called the foul on Plumlee from the beginning. I saw it as plain as day from home. You just guessed at the call and then corrected yourself.

The ones that bother me the most are the homer comments. "Look at that great defense on XXX!"

No, he clearly dribbled it off his foot out of bounds and nobody was within 5 feet of him.

[OE32]

What bothers me most about Albert is that it's clear he's not really a basketball fan. Pretty sure Al McCoy loves the game.