Game Day: Suns (17-37) @ Rockets (39-17), Sat 2/11/17

[UglyTruth]

Anyone still think it's a bad idea to just outright cut Knight like the Pistons did with Josh Smith (and they've NEVER regretted it since)?

Or trade the protected Miami pick with him and dump him.

I've never seen a bigger idiot trying to play basketball for the Suns and that's crazy because I've seen guys like Beasley, Telfair, Turkogku, Warrick and Childress all play basketball here.

Knight just has lower basketball IQ than all of them.

[Split T]

Anyone still think it's a bad idea to just outright cut Knight like the Pistons did with Josh Smith (and they've NEVER regretted it since)?

Or trade the protected Miami pick with him and dump him.

I've never seen a bigger idiot trying to play basketball for the Suns and that's crazy because I've seen guys like Beasley, Telfair, Turkogku, Warrick and Childress all play basketball here.

Knight just has lower basketball IQ than all of them.

Yes, it's still stupid to cut him. We owe him almost 50 million dollars still and he's not a negative influence, just playing terribly.

[carey]

Yes, it's still stupid to cut him. We owe him almost 50 million dollars still and he's not a negative influence, just playing terribly.

This is my take as well. He's just not good at basketball but he's not ruining the locker room (yet.) I also have seen the light go on for guys around 25 so there's still a chance he gets it at some point. What's concerning is that he seems to be regressing instead of progressing. If he continues on a downward trajectory I think it's fair to also point fingers at the player development staff.

[Mori Chu]

I am surprised at how serviceable Dekker has been. I assumed he'd take a few years to find his role in the NBA, but he looks good out there. Looks like he's averaging about 7.3 PPG this season.

Wait a minute, remember MDA never plays youngsters. Oh, that's right Houston has youngsters that can play unlike his time with the Suns. Capella, Harrell and Dekker have all played and done well. Mike also never plays bigs, yet Nene has been productive and he plays him.

I agree with you, but remember, Mike D has learned some things from his mistakes. 2007 Mike D would not be coaching the Rockets the way that 2017 Mike D is. One of several things he has learned is to trust young players more and give more guys minutes.

[Ring_Wanted]

Anyone still think it's a bad idea to just outright cut Knight like the Pistons did with Josh Smith (and they've NEVER regretted it since)?

Or trade the protected Miami pick with him and dump him.

I've never seen a bigger idiot trying to play basketball for the Suns and that's crazy because I've seen guys like Beasley, Telfair, Turkogku, Warrick and Childress all play basketball here.

Knight just has lower basketball IQ than all of them.

Yes, it's still stupid to cut him. We owe him almost 50 million dollars still and he's not a negative influence, just playing terribly.

Cutting Knight is a bad idea if you want to lose as many games as possible, this season at least. If you want to win and/or are watching the games, he needs to be removed asap. I think I've never seen a player with worse awareness. Always fumbling. A walking mess. The Javale of guards. At this point you probably can't give him away for an expiring.

This game was a prime example. The Rockets were torching us at the start of the game and it wasn't until Dudley, Ulis and Tucker came in that we started to play professional basketball. Unbearable.

[Superbone]

Right, forgot to mention that. We were a much better basketball team with Ulis in there rather than Knight. I think we are stuck with Knight. Who would want him and why?

[Ring_Wanted]

Right, forgot to mention that. We were a much better basketball team with Ulis in there rather than Knight. I think we are stuck with Knight. Who would want him and why?

We just need to find a team that is depleted at guard and/or scoring, while also having a big questionable contract they want to send out and under the illusion to win. Dallas or Sacto. Perhaps Charlotte.

[Aztec Sunsfan]

Losing your confidence is the worst. The poor kid is under a lot of pressure and scrutiny, HE CLEARLY KNOWS THAT, and is hard to perform live, under TV cameras and thousands of people ready to call you TRASH or worse the minute you step into the court. Anyone who teachs or performs in front of a crowd, know the difference between a warm environment and one that agresively wants to exhibit you. How many of us were performing at the highest level of our work field at 24 years old, and did it under that size of lamelight? We should let the kid alone for a month and see what happens, is not like we are risking our season. He clearly is forcing his play in an attempt to silence the people, I know I would be doing it, some sort of "All I need is a 50 pts performance an people will back off"

And this is why I agree that our development area should be call upon this. Knight and Booker are regresing (the streak was just a smoke curtain) both at the court and as Pro's. Chriss, Len and Warren are not showing signs of having learned anything resembling TEAM playing, and Bender is not even playing, injury aside. We have a bunch of tall athletic guys, running around like they just meet at the park and started pickup play.

[Aztec Sunsfan]

If we dump BK, someone else is gonna milk that 50mill contract really well, a change of scenary ir urgent for this kid to save his career, and if he find it still on time, he will be a bargain at the minimum salary for someone else while we will be paying him his millions.

[Nodack]

Let's not overreact. The game last night stunk. As soon as I knew Bledsoe and Chandler were out along with it being a back to back against a rested Houston team I knew we were in big trouble. I will admit that I fast forwarded the game after it was clear we were going to get our ass kicked.

I am not a big fan of Knight either. This year to me is just another rebuilding year. When and if we actually compete for any ring I don't think Knight or Chandler will be on the team. For me this year its all about bringing up the young guys and that has been happening for the most part. Veteran journeymen come and go every year. They fill out rosters.

I think they had high hopes for Knight. He hasn't lived up to those hopes. It happens a lot in the NBA. Booker took his job right away. Booker has lived up to the hype imo. I suspect Knight will be moved but, whether that happens today or after the season won't make much of a difference in the big picture imo.

The core for me is Bledsoe, Booker, Warren. The second tier is Len, Chriss, Ulis, Bender. They have the potential to be core if they prove themselves. Everybody else can come and go.

Edit:Have become a big fan of Williams this year. I enjoy watching him play more than Chandler or Len. Has more offensive skills and more passion.

[JustWinBaby]

I am surprised at how serviceable Dekker has been. I assumed he'd take a few years to find his role in the NBA, but he looks good out there. Looks like he's averaging about 7.3 PPG this season.

Wait a minute, remember MDA never plays youngsters. Oh, that's right Houston has youngsters that can play unlike his time with the Suns. Capella, Harrell and Dekker have all played and done well. Mike also never plays bigs, yet Nene has been productive and he plays him.

I agree with you, but remember, Mike D has learned some things from his mistakes. 2007 Mike D would not be coaching the Rockets the way that 2017 Mike D is. One of several things he has learned is to trust young players more and give more guys minutes.

Just for the record the 2007/2008 team and what Mike had to work with.

The reason he mostly played only 7 guys. This what he had. The first 7 from that years team included both Shaq and Marion due to the trade, he had a first 7 of:

1. Shaq/Marion
2. Amare
3. Nash
4. Hill
5. LB
6. Boris
7. Bell

From there his choices were:

8. Giricek (Only had for 22 games and played him 20 minutes per night) not exactly a barn burner, the rest quite frankly sucked
9. Marcus Banks
10. Brian Skinner
11. Linton Johnson
12. DJ Strawberry
13. Alondo Tucker
14. Eric Piatkowski
15. Sean Marks

Who should he have played more minutes? In what way would the hiring of Thibodeau have improved the defense of any of these players?

Why doesn't the Timberwolves play better defense?

Take Iggy and Green off the Warriors and we will see what a genius Steve Kerr really is.

Bottom line Sarver along with Kerr did a lousy job providing the talent required to win a championship and continues to be one of the worst owners in sports.

What this team needed was a couple more key role players. Any one of Capella, Dekker or Harrell would have been a welcome sight as well as a PG to back up Nash. Yet Kerr and Sarver somehow escape blame and Mike is blamed for playing only 7 guys. You can only play the cards you are dealt.

[EDC]

Losing your confidence is the worst. The poor kid is under a lot of pressure and scrutiny, HE CLEARLY KNOWS THAT, and is hard to perform live, under TV cameras and thousands of people ready to call you TRASH or worse the minute you step into the court. Anyone who teachs or performs in front of a crowd, know the difference between a warm environment and one that agresively wants to exhibit you. How many of us were performing at the highest level of our work field at 24 years old, and did it under that size of lamelight? We should let the kid alone for a month and see what happens, is not like we are risking our season. He clearly is forcing his play in an attempt to silence the people, I know I would be doing it, some sort of "All I need is a 50 pts performance an people will back off"

And this is why I agree that our development area should be call upon this. Knight and Booker are regresing (the streak was just a smoke curtain) both at the court and as Pro's. Chriss, Len and Warren are not showing signs of having learned anything resembling TEAM playing, and Bender is not even playing, injury aside. We have a bunch of tall athletic guys, running around like they just meet at the park and started pickup play.

I am still amazed at how it seems like there is just so little coaching being done at the pro level. You see these glaring mistakes made by players game after game and you have to wonder wtf is going on. Don't they have tapes and coaches? Can't they address these issues with the players? This isn't just an issue with our team. It seems like most teams have problems like this.

[Ring_Wanted]

Bottom line Sarver along with Kerr did a lousy job providing the talent required to win a championship and continues to be one of the worst owners in sports.

What this team needed was a couple more key role players. Any one of Capella, Dekker or Harrell would have been a welcome sight as well as a PG to back up Nash. Yet Kerr and Sarver somehow escape blame and Mike is blamed for playing only 7 guys. You can only play the cards you are dealt.

Preach!

[UglyTruth]

Losing your confidence is the worst. The poor kid is under a lot of pressure and scrutiny, HE CLEARLY KNOWS THAT, and is hard to perform live, under TV cameras and thousands of people ready to call you TRASH or worse the minute you step into the court. Anyone who teachs or performs in front of a crowd, know the difference between a warm environment and one that agresively wants to exhibit you. How many of us were performing at the highest level of our work field at 24 years old, and did it under that size of lamelight? We should let the kid alone for a month and see what happens, is not like we are risking our season. He clearly is forcing his play in an attempt to silence the people, I know I would be doing it, some sort of "All I need is a 50 pts performance an people will back off"

And this is why I agree that our development area should be call upon this. Knight and Booker are regresing (the streak was just a smoke curtain) both at the court and as Pro's. Chriss, Len and Warren are not showing signs of having learned anything resembling TEAM playing, and Bender is not even playing, injury aside. We have a bunch of tall athletic guys, running around like they just meet at the park and started pickup play.

I am still amazed at how it seems like there is just so little coaching being done at the pro level. You see these glaring mistakes made by players game after game and you have to wonder wtf is going on. Don't they have tapes and coaches? Can't they address these issues with the players? This isn't just an issue with our team. It seems like most teams have problems like this.

How can you blame the coaching when Knight's making the same low IQ basketball plays that he's been making since entering the league?

Unless you think the Pistons, Bucks and Suns coaching staffs all do absolutely nothing.

I read this on the Rockets forum on saturday and it's true, Brandon Knight is the Javale McGee version of a guard.

And Booker is not regressing. His stats may not be that great but he's being defended completely differently now so taking that into account, he's actually progressing and learning to play through double teams.

[UglyTruth]

Losing your confidence is the worst. The poor kid is under a lot of pressure and scrutiny, HE CLEARLY KNOWS THAT, and is hard to perform live, under TV cameras and thousands of people ready to call you TRASH or worse the minute you step into the court. Anyone who teachs or performs in front of a crowd, know the difference between a warm environment and one that agresively wants to exhibit you. How many of us were performing at the highest level of our work field at 24 years old, and did it under that size of lamelight? We should let the kid alone for a month and see what happens, is not like we are risking our season. He clearly is forcing his play in an attempt to silence the people, I know I would be doing it, some sort of "All I need is a 50 pts performance an people will back off"

And this is why I agree that our development area should be call upon this. Knight and Booker are regresing (the streak was just a smoke curtain) both at the court and as Pro's. Chriss, Len and Warren are not showing signs of having learned anything resembling TEAM playing, and Bender is not even playing, injury aside. We have a bunch of tall athletic guys, running around like they just meet at the park and started pickup play.

This "poor kid"?

You know he's making $70 million right? Give me $70 million and all my confidence issues goes away because if I'm good enough to earn $70 million then I know I'm doing my job right.

And you know Knight's been with the Suns for 2 years now right? What is gonna happen in the next month that hasn't happened in the last 2 years?

He's one the most selfish players to even don a Suns jersey in franchise history. Passing the ball is like 200th instinct.

[Superbone]

Losing your confidence is the worst. The poor kid is under a lot of pressure and scrutiny, HE CLEARLY KNOWS THAT, and is hard to perform live, under TV cameras and thousands of people ready to call you TRASH or worse the minute you step into the court. Anyone who teachs or performs in front of a crowd, know the difference between a warm environment and one that agresively wants to exhibit you. How many of us were performing at the highest level of our work field at 24 years old, and did it under that size of lamelight? We should let the kid alone for a month and see what happens, is not like we are risking our season. He clearly is forcing his play in an attempt to silence the people, I know I would be doing it, some sort of "All I need is a 50 pts performance an people will back off"

And this is why I agree that our development area should be call upon this. Knight and Booker are regresing (the streak was just a smoke curtain) both at the court and as Pro's. Chriss, Len and Warren are not showing signs of having learned anything resembling TEAM playing, and Bender is not even playing, injury aside. We have a bunch of tall athletic guys, running around like they just meet at the park and started pickup play.

I am still amazed at how it seems like there is just so little coaching being done at the pro level. You see these glaring mistakes made by players game after game and you have to wonder wtf is going on. Don't they have tapes and coaches? Can't they address these issues with the players? This isn't just an issue with our team. It seems like most teams have problems like this.

How can you blame the coaching when Knight's making the same low IQ basketball plays that he's been making since entering the league?

Unless you think the Pistons, Bucks and Suns coaching staffs all do absolutely nothing.

I read this on the Rockets forum on saturday and it's true, Brandon Knight is the Javale McGee version of a guard.

And Booker is not regressing. His stats may not be that great but he's being defended completely differently now so taking that into account, he's actually progressing and learning to play through double teams.

I agree with both of your points. Knight needs to take responsibility for himself and Booker is doing great for a 20 year old kid handling NBA defenses designed to stop him.

[Superbone]

McDonough totally botched it with Knight. First to throw away a good pick to get him and then to pay him that kind of money when he hadn't shown he deserves it.

[carey]

McDonough totally botched it with Knight. First to throw away a good pick to get him and then to pay him that kind of money when he hadn't shown he deserves it.

It certainly looks that way. It is the shining black mark on his resume and may cost him his job. I'm just worried about his replacement. It's the devil you know for me right now since Sarver is famous for picking people new to whatever position he's hiring for in order to save money. I fear another learning curve will set the franchise back several years.

[Mori Chu]

McDonough totally botched it with Knight. First to throw away a good pick to get him and then to pay him that kind of money when he hadn't shown he deserves it.

Let's not forget that Knight would have been a free agent anyway, so even if we wanted to give him this current contract, we probably could have just pursued him as an UFA and signed him without having to give up the Laker pick and trade for him. The Bucks were making it clear that they didn't want Knight and weren't going to re-sign him. This is the part I can't get over.

[Cap]

McDonough totally botched it with Knight. First to throw away a good pick to get him and then to pay him that kind of money when he hadn't shown he deserves it.

Let's not forget that Knight would have been a free agent anyway, so even if we wanted to give him this current contract, we probably could have just pursued him as an UFA and signed him without having to give up the Laker pick and trade for him. The Bucks were making it clear that they didn't want Knight and weren't going to re-sign him. This is the part I can't get over.

Possibly the most idiotic trade in NBA history.

Usually when you see lists of worst trades, the trades are judged with the benefit of hindsight. But this was idiotic even without the benefit of hindsight.

The fact that he has turned out to be one of the worst players in the league makes it even worse in hindsight. But I don't think anybody here had any inkling how terrible a player he would turn out to be, and we still all judged it to be an incredibly stupid trade. Then it turned out to be a lot worse than we could have imagined.

One bad trade probably shouldn't end a GM's career... unless it's this one. Unless McD does something really impressive while still with the Suns, I don't know if he ever gets a chance with another franchise. Why would any franchise want to risk hiring a GM who might make a trade like that one, unless he has shown qualities that make him worth the risk? So far, he hasn't.