Suns News: Weeks 19 & 20 (2/20 - 3/5)

[Wally_West]

KD playing tomorrow. I know there’s some speculation if the Suns were going hold him out or not.

[Flagrant Fowl]

There aren't enough games left to sit him for rest. Maybe it'll happen right at the end of the season if the seeds are locked in.

[INFORMER]

The last bit about Durant being handcuffed to this mess is stilly. Our team is pretty solid.

"The mess" wasn't in reference to Phoenix; it was a reference to him being locked in long-term in Brooklyn and needing to demand a trade rather than being able to bolt via free agency.

[INFORMER]

Weird article.

I have never seen someone with as many bad takes as Vincent Goodwill. Even Stephen A. Smith gets it right once in a while.

I mean most of the article is KD quotes. I'm not sure what take in the article was bad. Goodwill didn't really go out on a limb or say anything groundbreaking.

[Superbone]

The stuff KD said about being a leader...I think it might have been Wilbon on PTI pointing out, and not in a bad way, that KD's never really been a leader on any of his teams. Not in OKC, not in GS with Curry/Klay/Dray and not in BK while Kyrie was being an ass. Fortunately he won't have that responsibility here with Book and CP on the floor.

Even Book said after the game that Durant is the type of quiet leader that leads by example.

[Flagrant Fowl]

The stuff KD said about being a leader...I think it might have been Wilbon on PTI pointing out, and not in a bad way, that KD's never really been a leader on any of his teams. Not in OKC, not in GS with Curry/Klay/Dray and not in BK while Kyrie was being an ass. Fortunately he won't have that responsibility here with Book and CP on the floor.

Even Book said after the game that Durant is the type of quiet leader that leads by example.

I listened to a bunch of podcasts with Suns content the past couple of days and someone talked about how Chris Paul is perfect for KD from a leadership perspective. KD isn't the type of guy to confront teammates when it's probably needed, but Chris Paul is more than comfortable doing it and probably enjoys it a bit too much sometimes. There aren't any ancillary tasks for KD on this team, just a heavy load of pressure due to the talent and assets the Suns used to acquire him. He's probably fine with pressure because his performance is the solution and it's very similar to the role he played in Oakland.

[Split T]

Let’s assume we go to a 2 of our 4 stars on the court at all times when it really matters. How would you guys stagger them? I originally thought about tying CP3 and Ayton’s minutes together, but now I’m thinking it would be better to fully stagger Book/KD. I’d leave Book/Ayton in the whole 1st, take CP3 and KD out early and bring them back to start the 2nd Q.

[ShelC]

[carey]

Bontemps is not high on the Suns. Says we have 4 guys and then a bunch of JAGs.

[In2ition]

Bontemps has been on my hater list for nearly a decade already.

[ShelC]

If we only have 4 guys - 2 of them KD and Book - what they hell do other teams have? Boston is Tatum and Brown. Philly is Embiid and Harden. Denver is Jokic. The Kings are Fox and Sabonis. The Bucks are the only team you can point to with more all around talent.

[In2ition]

Boston has a pretty deep team, imo. Brogdan, Smart, Timelord, Horford, White and then a bunch of JAGs.

[carey]

Boston has a pretty deep team, imo. Brogdan, Smart, Timelord, Horford, White and then a bunch of JAGs.

Yeah, Boston is in the same tier as Milwaukee imo.

[ShelC]

I ain't scurred of Boston.

[MightyMoog]

All this talk is stupid. Why are people so intent on deciding on who's winning just by looking at a roster list. We have to play the games to see what happens. That's what makes it fun. The league is finally in a great place again, after the mess Lebron created. I don't want to know which 2 teams are winning from the start of the season. I want 8-10 teams that are pretty evenly matched where how they play will make the difference. Basketball is finally fun again. Let coaching and playing matter more than GMing (be it by Lebron or any other Executive).

[specialsauce]

This guy probably watches more porn in his moms basement eating leftover pizza than basketball. Relax on his takes

[TOO]

This guy probably watches more porn in his moms basement eating leftover pizza than basketball. Relax on his takes

You had me at pizza.

[Aztec Sunsfan]

The new era on sports writing: The click baiting hot take, that nudges people into engage on the comment section. Then, no matter what is said, you have TRAFFIC, nowadays, that has become more important that actual content, or even to be remotely right.

[bajanguy008]

I enjoyed this video breakdown by Legler

It's crazy how because I've watched KD do his thing for so many years that it is just viewed as normal stuff. Just how he navigates to spots and rises up over defenders splashing jumpers. Peeping this video and seeing the still shots with what the D is trying to do and what KD is likely analyzing is just ridiculous
Really a cheat code



It also had me thinking about Book as learning to Play in Traffic was a big thing he worked on. Like couple seasons ago, he was mimicking the keeping the defender on his hip thing from CP3 but would still get the ball knocked away from behind sometimes or maybe get too far down into the paint and not get off a clear look.

Lots of those still shots in the video clip especially the 2nd one where our spacing is terrible would probably not have been ideal situations for Book. KD is something else man

[bajanguy008]

I also enjoyed this thread and going to be on the lookout for this offensive set tonight