Game Day: Bucks (12-12) @ Suns (12-13), Mon 12/15/14

[The Bobster]

New Orleans passes the Suns, and Oklahoma City and Sacramento are now tied with them. Denver is one game behind them.

They are a game and a half from being #12 in the West.

[Gladiator]

I think we've established we play better when Thomas sits out, than when Dragic sits out. Now if we can sit Bledsoe for a few games and see how that goes, we'll know who to shop around for a functioning big man.

[Superbone]

This is a lottery team, folks. Pathetic. No heart. Can't even put down a bad team that loses one of its best players during the game. Well, at least we know Dragic's true value. I'm starting to not be able to stand our 70 Million turnover machine.

[Superbone]

DUDLEY!!

Oh wait.

I was feeling sorry for Dudley early on as his shot looked terrible but then he killed us in the end.

[Superbone]

Shit.

Another game they just gave away.

Well, it IS Christmas time.

[Superbone]

That's what happens when you let a team hang around and believe they're still a chance. It shouldn't come down to a last-second shot at home against the Bucks

Exactly. Pathetic. This team has lost all of its mojo. What a difference a year makes.

[LazarusLong]

[quote="The Bobster"]20 turnovers, 40% shooting. 38 3-Pt FGA.

Tom Chambers on the postgame show pointed to the overreliance on shots from the arc, instead of taking the ball to hoop and drawing fouls, the Suns are gutless and just chuck from the outside. Which is true...

[Ring_Wanted]

That's what happens when you let a team hang around and believe they're still a chance. It shouldn't come down to a last-second shot at home against the Bucks

Exactly. Pathetic. This team has lost all of its mojo. What a difference a year makes.

Indeed. We are used to watch Suns teams that play better than the sum of their parts, but this is exactly the opposite.

It's just too hard to win with the absurd hole we have inside. You can survive without defense or rebounding but not without both, especially when we turn the ball over so much.

Can't wait to see what's awaiting in the trade market.

[Phoenix219]

We won more games last year with basically the same big man line up - I still want to stress how much we have under-rated Frye's contributions, but Plumlee's step backwards can't be ignored, either.

The beginning of the season, IT did a lot of great things for us. I really want to see how things run without Bledsoe, with Dragic/IT/Ennis playing the 3 point guard roles, and Dragic sliding to be our other 2 guard along with Green. A rotation like: Dragic/Green/TJ/Kieff/Len with IT/Ennis/Tucker/Marcus/Plumlee subbing in sounds like a good experiment to try right now. Maybe throw Archie into the fire as well with the 2nd unit. Still wish we had another PF because Marcus/PJ aren't cutting it. About the only players on the team I have any love for at this point are Dragic and Green.

[Ring_Wanted]

We won more games last year with basically the same big man line up - I still want to stress how much we have under-rated Frye's contributions, but Plumlee's step backwards can't be ignored, either.

I've said that I regret letting Frye go, but to determine how much we actually miss him, we'd need to see the team playing a real big man in his place. Tolliver and Randolph are not that, but sadly that's the way he got replaced, besides the swap with IT3.

Plumlee has been the biggest individual disappointment so far. I was hoping that with an offseason to improve his conditioning and awareness he'd be able to sustain the level he showed the first half of the 13-14 season but he has been basically invisible. I don't care if he doesn't score a basket but his level of activity on the defensive end has been so poor. Len's emergence mitigames the long term impact of his regression but this season it's making us bleed more than we can make up for. You can't have every big man in the L getting career nights against us with 8-10FG shooting, free throws, easy rebounds and what not.

Another issue has been offesive rebounding. Last year PJ, Kieff, Miles and even Marcus would actually try hard to get them, but that's gone too. I don't know if it's designed that way by the coach, but 3-4 extra possessions can make a real difference, above all since we are prone to play tight games.

[Ring_Wanted]

By the way, Middleton's shot has broken us. The players were visibly dazed by the hit. This could be the end of the season right there. We have become the 2013-14 Wolves.

[OE32]

Coro says that Alex played a bad game. It's clear he has a lot of work to do - he doesn't know himself on offense yet - but he did have 6 rebounds and 3 blocks in 19 minutes (he was also +11, but I think that had as much to do with Kieff as Alex). Much more importantly, he held Larry Sanders to a statline of 0 and 1. I've heard people clamor for Larry. What would we think if that was the kind of production we got from a center?

Glad to see Plum's been bumped to spot duty in the rotation. Glad to see we're investing in our young guys. I've heard it said that players can develop just as much in practice - I don't think so. Alex being given the ball and allowed to make decisions lets him see how defenses will react, how they'll take his stuff away, how refs will treat him. Games are just different. And now that he's starting, I expect to see a lot more growth.

One last thing: I thought IT played well. I'm happy with losing any one or two of the Hydra, but if I had my pick, Bledsoe would be the one to go. So sick of the turnovers.

[Shabazz]

By the way, Middleton's shot has broken us. The players were visibly dazed by the hit. This could be the end of the season right there. We have become the 2013-14 Wolves.

Blake Griffin's shot was the one that broke us. We haven't looked right since.

[Shabazz]

One last thing: I thought IT played well. I'm happy with losing any one or two of the Hydra, but if I had my pick, Bledsoe would be the one to go. So sick of the turnovers.

He's good for at least 2 a games lately where he tries to split the defense and just loses his dribble.

[carey]

He's good for at least 2 a games lately where he tries to split the defense and just loses his dribble.

Loses it? He'd have to find it first.

[Ring_Wanted]

By the way, Middleton's shot has broken us. The players were visibly dazed by the hit. This could be the end of the season right there. We have become the 2013-14 Wolves.

Blake Griffin's shot was the one that broke us. We haven't looked right since.

Maybe you are right, but regardless this one just might be the final straw. The Bucks are considered a worse team, we were at home, the refs don't favor their players, etc.

PJ and Marcus, I believe, looked just melted down, almost about to cry, whereas against the Clippers the guys left with their head up.

[Indy]

Does anyone think this puts Jeff's job in jeopardy? I get that feeling, and I get the feeling the players feel bad about that. Maybe too many feelings on my part...

[OE32]

Does anyone think this puts Jeff's job in jeopardy? I get that feeling, and I get the feeling the players feel bad about that. Maybe too many feelings on my part...

I think he's safe. I think he handed the reins to our players to make decisions, and it hasn't worked out. I don't believe any of this is without consultation with and approval by the FO.

[Superbone]

Yeah, I think it's way too early to make a judgement on Hornacek. Management shares the blame as do the players to a lesser extent. We just get beat up repeatedly on the inside.

[Indy]

Chambers said on the post game that Jeff was yelling out plays all game that the players were not running. That is not a good sign.