Suns News: Week 19 2/27 - 3/5

[specialsauce]

You listen to Esposito?? Do you hate yourself? He makes Tom Leander sound legendary

He's such a good dude that I don't really like hating on him even if he can be super goofy.

I mean, yeah. But you can be a good dude that is unfortunately not very good at their job. Just like I wouldn't want him as the starting point guard for the team. He'd be a great kids zone MC or community outreach for kids. Or anything that doesn't require him to use his voice in analysis

[Superbone]

Wasn't aware of it. I might check it out. AZSports has the Empire of the Suns podcast on their app and the host is the most boring guy you can imagine.

There's several podcasts now. There's the BSotS podcast. There's the Suns Locked On podcast with Kellan Olson and Eddie House. Empire of the Suns is affiliated with KTAR and is hosted by Olson (again) and Kevin Zimmerman who has the enthusiasm of a door mouse.

Yeah, Zimmerman is the one. Good description!

[O_Gardino]

Apparently Gambo has reported that neither Chandler or Knight will play much the rest of the season. The Suns are committed at looking at all the young players and we may not see them at all.

Mood swings.

I would prefer to continue playing Chandler (and barbs and duds) 15 minutes or so, just because I think it's BS to bench a guy completely like that. But also because it's good for the young guys to share the court with a vet. But whatevs.

[Superbone]

Apparently Gambo has reported that neither Chandler or Knight will play much the rest of the season. The Suns are committed at looking at all the young players and we may not see them at all.

Awesome! Especially Knight.

[Mori Chu]

That's pretty shitty to do that to Chandler after he's been a pretty loyal soldier and played mostly well for us this season.

[Superbone]

That's pretty s*** to do that to Chandler after he's been a pretty loyal soldier and played mostly well for us this season.

I'm almost positive that he gave his blessings. McDonough all but said that on AZSports. Knight? Probably not.

[carey]

There was a sound bite of Chandler on one of the podcasts saying the ol' "whatever it takes to help the youngsters (pregnant pause) as long as I'm here."

[Split T]

From everything I've seen, Tyson Chandler seems to genuinely want to be here and relishes the opportunity to help out our young core. I imagine he has been fully supportive of his benching, although I hope we let him play from time to time.

I wonder if Dudley will be benched again when bender gets healthy? I'd also like to see us give Bledsoe a few games off and let knight start in his place. Preferably against the Lakers, so if he's terrible, we'll be rewarded with ping pong balls

[Indy]

You listen to Esposito?? Do you hate yourself? He makes Tom Leander sound legendary

He's such a good dude that I don't really like hating on him even if he can be super goofy.

That is how I feel about him too. I really roll my eyes at a lot of his puns/jokes/pop culture references, but he is very genuine.

[Indy]

From everything I've seen, Tyson Chandler seems to genuinely want to be here and relishes the opportunity to help out our young core. I imagine he has been fully supportive of his benching, although I hope we let him play from time to time.

I wonder if Dudley will be benched again when bender gets healthy? I'd also like to see us give Bledsoe a few games off and let knight start in his place. Preferably against the Lakers, so if he's terrible, we'll be rewarded with ping pong balls

I like that idea a lot.

[Mori Chu]

In this one type of instance I will condone losing to the Lakers.

[JCSunsfan]

You listen to Esposito?? Do you hate yourself? He makes Tom Leander sound legendary

He's such a good dude that I don't really like hating on him even if he can be super goofy.

That is how I feel about him too. I really roll my eyes at a lot of his puns/jokes/pop culture references, but he is very genuine.

I just cannot take the sound of his voice. Its all tight and airy, like he just ate a Thanksgiving dinner.

[O_Gardino]

From everything I've seen, Tyson Chandler seems to genuinely want to be here and relishes the opportunity to help out our young core. I imagine he has been fully supportive of his benching, although I hope we let him play from time to time.

I wonder if Dudley will be benched again when bender gets healthy? I'd also like to see us give Bledsoe a few games off and let knight start in his place. Preferably against the Lakers, so if he's terrible, we'll be rewarded with ping pong balls

lol

Unfortunately, Knight plays his best against the Lakers. In 13 games over his career, he has averaged 17.8 / 4.2 / 5.8. He also tends to play well against Charlotte, Indiana, Portland, Sacramento, and us.

[carey]

http://arizonasports.com/story/1037985/ ... n-changes/

The Phoenix Suns have played two games since returning from the All-Star break.

They’ve had chances to win both games, but fell short each time.

But for a young, last-place team, the final stretch of the 2016-17 season isn’t about wins and losses ultimately. It’s about evaluation; finding out what some of the seldom-used players can contribute with more regular minutes in the future.

For second-year head coach Earl Watson, that means shuffling his player rotation. In the last two games, Watson inserted Alex Len into the starting lineup at center. Rookies Tyler Ulis and Derrick Jones Jr. have seen increased minutes, while second-year big man Alan Williams has opened eyes with his play off the bench.

With opportunities for the younger players, veterans must accept decreased roles. In fact, center Tyson Chandler and backup point guard Brandon Knight didn’t step onto the floor in losses at Chicago and Milwaukee.

Knight’s situation is an interesting one. The fifth-year player’s name popped up frequently in trade rumors leading up to last week’s deadline, but no deal was struck. He has struggled this season in a bench role, shooting under 40 percent from the field, 32 percent from three-point range and playing a career-low 21.1 minutes per game.

He’s also got three years remaining on a five-year deal he signed in 2015 that will pay him almost $44 million. It stands to reason that either the Suns need to get Knight on the right track so he can contribute to the team moving forward or at least let him rebuild his stock around the league.

Watson joined Doug and Wolf Tuesday morning on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM and explained the organization’s thinking on shutting Knight down.

“I think Brandon Knight is a unique player in a unique situation, but right now our focus is on our group,” Watson said. “We want him to become better and we want to continue to push to make him better as a basketball player and better person.

“But we truly have to see if Tyler Ulis can be a dominant ball-handler in the second unit. To play Brandon Knight with Tyler right now makes no sense because Tyler will sometimes, if not half of the time, will end up being off of the ball. We need to see if Tyler can be that guy.”

Evaluating Ulis’ potential would have ripple effects on the rest of the Suns’ guard rotation, according to Watson.

“If Tyler is that guy and we understand that clearly, then we need to see if it’s better to have a two-guard like (Leandro) Barbosa, who can run the court, spread the court and play off the ball. Or is it better to have a secondary ball-handler like Brandon Knight, who can make plays alongside Tyler Ulis.”

While much older and a different position than Knight, Chandler is in a similar situation. The Suns have decisions to make on Len and Williams, who will both be restricted free agents this summer.

“We have to start putting together a clear, transparent, solid vision of our group and saying ‘this is step one of moving in the right direction,’ and start building with a purpose,” Watson said.

It’s never easy for a coaching staff to have to tell players their roles are being reduced, but Watson said both veterans handled the situation well.

“One thing about the NBA is, players are fine if you tell them the truth,” he said.

“It’s difficult for any basketball player, but eveybody’s been professional and that’s the positive of our group.”

[O_Gardino]

Watson is such a bad coach.

[Cap]

Yeah, but he's a good babysitter. The kids behave when he's in charge.

[Superbone]

Watson is such a bad coach.

How so? Please explain.

[O_Gardino]

Watson is such a bad coach.

How so? Please explain.

I should complain less. In this case, I don't like that he has coached this team all season and doesn't know what he thinks the rookies can do. I need to see Ulis play to know if he can be effective with the ball in his hands. Watson should know that after all the hours of watching his guys practice and play. A good head coach would know by now, and would use the rest of the season for teaching, not talent evaluation.

I will say that I think Watson can be a good assistant coach.

[Danimal]

Wasn't aware of it. I might check it out. AZSports has the Empire of the Suns podcast on their app and the host is the most boring guy you can imagine.

There's several podcasts now. There's the BSotS podcast. There's the Suns Locked On podcast with Kellan Olson and Eddie House. Empire of the Suns is affiliated with KTAR and is hosted by Olson (again) and Kevin Zimmerman who has the enthusiasm of a door mouse.

Yeah, Zimmerman is the one. Good description!

there seems to be an expanding number of nba podcasts of monotone white guys who occasionally call each other 'dog' or refer to a prospect as 'my boy' in an attempt to sound interesting.
I have no idea why the starters exists. Hey we have facial hair and a guy with an accent. We could put together a better show than that

[Superbone]

Watson is such a bad coach.

How so? Please explain.

I should complain less. In this case, I don't like that he has coached this team all season and doesn't know what he thinks the rookies can do. I need to see Ulis play to know if he can be effective with the ball in his hands. Watson should know that after all the hours of watching his guys practice and play. A good head coach would know by now, and would use the rest of the season for teaching, not talent evaluation.

I will say that I think Watson can be a good assistant coach.

I think you're taking it the wrong way. I think he's just saying they need more real NBA game time to evaluate where they're at. Do you disagree with that? You think we should continue to limit their minutes in favor of the veterans?