Caught a break tonight with the guys out for the Clips, but you still have to take advantage and they did a good job of it.
I liked that they decisively won the first half of the fourth quarter with Book on the bench. That Green/Gillespie/Dunn/Grayson/Richards lineup seems too small (like most of the lineups this year), but it was really active and Dunn especially was all over the place. Green provides another halfcourt option that's sorely needed. He doesn't seem to have much of a filter as far as distinguishing good shots from bad, but he didn't play selfish and his effort was really good.
I don't know what to do about the Oso minutes, other than maybe give him some time in the G League to try to get his head together. The team continues to get killed pretty much whenever he's on the floor, and especially when he's the only big. Defensively he's just grabbing and fouling, and he's not providing anything offensively. I'd rather see Maluach get 10 minutes a game at this point, it seems like he could hardly be any less effective.
Extra glad tonight to have Beal fucking up the opposing team's energy. Having to pay him to go away was a crap option, but still better than having him around.
Oso brings all of the intangibles without any of the tangibles
Re: Game Day: Clippers (3-4) @ Suns (3-5), Thurs 11/6/25
I still very much want to trade Grayson and Royce…but the price is going up
I'm starting to wonder if it might make more sense to see what the Dillon market might look like, instead. Bigger contract this year, but his salary declines a bit next season and he's a UFA after that. So he provides some potential salary relief that might be attractive, and he has a rep as a defensive guy and instigator that a win-now team might want to look at. Suns could try to get somebody bigger and maybe younger, who might be a better team fit.
In any case, I think both Grayson and Royce have enhanced their value over whatever it might have been in the offseason. They're both around 40% from 3 on high volume, both playing credible defense within the team concept, and Grayson has mostly been okay as a secondary ball handler and creator. I don't know if you can get a first round pick for either yet, but they seem to be trending in the right direction.
Re: Game Day: Clippers (3-4) @ Suns (3-5), Thurs 11/6/25
I still very much want to trade Grayson and Royce…but the price is going up
They both look like they are new players. They no longer are waiting for Book and KD to dribble out the shot clock and getting a pass with 2 seconds left on the shot clock. If you haven't listened to Coach Ott's interview after this game you need to. It is on You tube. He wants everyone to be a threat on offense and wants everyone to play defense. That is a new thing for this franchise.
Is OKC any bigger than us? It really seems that we are playing like they play.
I see Grayson and O'Neale getting consistent minutes as long as they continue to play both ends like they are. Both are threats on offense and defense.
Now I can't wait to see what Dillon can add to this group, while Dunn continues to grow and we have a legit big.
Re: Game Day: Clippers (3-4) @ Suns (3-5), Thurs 11/6/25
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2025 3:30 am
by Uncle_Gene
Great win.
That's the Jalen Green I want to see. The one that uses speed and quickness to get to the basket. That's what the Suns were missing. A player that can will their way to the hoop.
Absolutely loved what I saw. Let's do it again Saturday.
Re: Game Day: Clippers (3-4) @ Suns (3-5), Thurs 11/6/25
I am looking forward to have Dillon back and seeing what the 3 can accomplish together...and wow, if Green can keep this productivity up...looks promising.
I do hope/worry we get something out of Maluach...he needs to play to get better. If its going to be a bunch of DNPs, they should stash him in the G league for a bit so he gets some time...
VT
He’s like 19, he’s a project.
No kidding...and guess what develops players...ummmm...playing? Thus, get him minutes in the G leagues is better than being a bench warmer...
Re: Game Day: Clippers (3-4) @ Suns (3-5), Thurs 11/6/25
I am looking forward to have Dillon back and seeing what the 3 can accomplish together...and wow, if Green can keep this productivity up...looks promising.
I do hope/worry we get something out of Maluach...he needs to play to get better. If its going to be a bunch of DNPs, they should stash him in the G league for a bit so he gets some time...
VT
He’s like 19, he’s a project.
No kidding...and guess what develops players...ummmm...playing? Thus, get him minutes in the G leagues is better than being a bench warmer...
Yea.. I don't get why he's not getting reps in G-league either. You'd think you'd want him taking as many reps as possible to get him up to speed.
Re: Game Day: Clippers (3-4) @ Suns (3-5), Thurs 11/6/25
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2025 6:31 am
by ShelC
Hopefully a promising sign of things to come with Green out there. He delivered what we hoped for - a true scoring threat from 3 and off the dribble. Takes the scoring load off Book and helps take attention away from the other shooters. Can't ask for more than 29pts in 23 minutes on 50% from the field and 3. I thought there were a few bad shots later in the game which he'll have to be more disciplined with. We can't waste possessions against better teams.
Glad we got the win because we need to beat the bad and injured teams. Maybe I need to go back and re-watch but I didn't love the defense TBH. Felt like we gave up a lot of open 3s and couldn't stop Zubac inside. Also felt we were fouling a ton, and even tho we only fouled 4 more times than the Clippers they went to the line 11 more times than us. Their bench really hurt us and helped cut the lead down a bit in the 4th.
I like how aggressive Allen's been driving the ball. He's not settling for 3s and isn't showing any fear at the rim. I still wish he could develop a pull up jumper but as long as he's finishing at the basket we're in a good spot. Dunn played well off the bench, think he should be starting but we'll see if this is a longterm move. He's hitting his corner 3s, scoring in transition and always playing well on defense. CG struggled last night and I thought there were times he was impacted by Green. We need him on the ball and running offense getting others involved, not playing like Tyus Jones.
Not sure what we do with Oso. I still like him and like his skillset but he's not a 5. He saw some minutes at the 4 but was still a -12 overall. We really need a legit 4 in the worst way. We can get by for now if we're shooting well enough but we're just overmatched against the bigger teams with so many 6-5 guys playing heavy minutes.
Re: Game Day: Clippers (3-4) @ Suns (3-5), Thurs 11/6/25
I am looking forward to have Dillon back and seeing what the 3 can accomplish together...and wow, if Green can keep this productivity up...looks promising.
I do hope/worry we get something out of Maluach...he needs to play to get better. If its going to be a bunch of DNPs, they should stash him in the G league for a bit so he gets some time...
VT
He’s like 19, he’s a project.
No kidding...and guess what develops players...ummmm...playing? Thus, get him minutes in the G leagues is better than being a bench warmer...
Yea.. I don't get why he's not getting reps in G-league either. You'd think you'd want him taking as many reps as possible to get him up to speed.
The G League season starts today. The Valley Suns team will have two games over the weekend. Let's see which of the roster players, if any, spend some time there.
Re: Game Day: Clippers (3-4) @ Suns (3-5), Thurs 11/6/25
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2025 7:42 am
by Mori Chu
Really fun game. I still have deep concerns about us and our future, but you can see what the FO was thinking with the offseason changes. Green is much more athletic than KD and keeps the offense moving rather than it "sticking" in KD's hands leading to isos and turnovers. Book has been huge all season and "quietly" had 24 tonight while letting it be Jalen's night; loved his leadership and overall play to support his teammate having an awesome game. As others have mentioned, the fact that both Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale are having great seasons so far is a big part of why we have gotten these wins. And Mark Williams is a great starting center; very nice pickup. I criticized the move to sign him because we gave up a 1st and because of his health issues, but if he stays on the floor and plays like this, it's an obvious win. Dunn is also playing well despite the shooting not really being there for him consistently.
So my general take is that the starters (Book, Allen, Green, O'Neale, Williams), Dunn, and Gillespie are all playing well this season. Goodwin isn't super dependable but plays good defense and gives good effort. Nick Richards has also had some good games but has been more inconsistent. So I do think we have 8-9 guys who we can mostly count on in a rotation. You can throw in Brooks if you want, but I'm pretty concerned about containing his negative qualities. After that the other guys haven't been great, like Oso has had a really bumpy season, and the rooks haven't really found minutes or their stride yet. But that is a pretty decent amount of depth and players who are doing well in the system this year.
Coach Ott deserves some credit for playing to the strengths of his roster. He seems to be heavily emphasizing easy shots and lots and lots of 3s. That's the right way to play with a roster like this one that has a bunch of gunners like Allen and O'Neale. And we are playing non-traditional lineups (notably many minutes without a true PG) but we aren't super undersized because really only the 4 is the position where we don't have very many true PFs to play minutes. And there aren't a ton of big dominant PFs in the league right now to punish us for that, so we can mostly get away with it.
We are now 4-5 which isn't great, but arguably we've been missing our 2nd best player for 8 of those 9 games. So I'd like to see where we can get after around 20 games; I think we'll know a lot about this team by then. Say what you want about our various trades and buyouts and draft pick situation, but does literally anybody miss last year's team? Would anybody take that back over what we have today? I doubt it. So the FO deserves credit for that at least.
Re: Game Day: Clippers (3-4) @ Suns (3-5), Thurs 11/6/25
We are now 4-5 which isn't great, but arguably we've been missing our 2nd best player for 8 of those 9 games. So I'd like to see where we can get after around 20 games; I think we'll know a lot about this team by then. Say what you want about our various trades and buyouts and draft pick situation, but does literally anybody miss last year's team? Would anybody take that back over what we have today? I doubt it. So the FO deserves credit for that at least.
Well, at this exact point last season the team was 8-1. I'd take that, even though in retrospect that was pretty much a fluke. But even with all the terrible vibes around that team, it was still just a couple of games under .500 late in the season. They lost 9 of the last 10 to nosedive completely and ensure that the teardown was going to happen. I think it was mostly the performance relative to expectations, and the way the team failed to cohere and compete that made last season feel so memorably godawful.
This team's won 3 of 4 and been competitive in all but one game in the last six. It's a long season and a lot can happen, but at least right now I think we can say that they're playing better than expected. It's nice to see.
Re: Game Day: Clippers (3-4) @ Suns (3-5), Thurs 11/6/25
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2025 8:16 am
by Split T
I think Isaiah Stewart would be a trade target for me right now. He definitely plays with the mindset this FO wants and he’s big and can shoot a little. He can play some 4, but also can take those Oso minutes at the 5.
Not really sure why Detroit would trade him though…but I’d swap Royce/Richards for him in a heartbeat.
Re: Game Day: Clippers (3-4) @ Suns (3-5), Thurs 11/6/25
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2025 8:45 am
by ShelC
I've advocated for some Beef Stew in the past, just not sure if he'd be available. The Pistons kind of have the same problem we do in terms of having lots of skill on the perimeter but in need of size and toughness inside, which he provides. They could use a backup C, probably have less use for a SF like Royce and they also have Ivey working his way back from injury.
Re: Game Day: Clippers (3-4) @ Suns (3-5), Thurs 11/6/25
We are now 4-5 which isn't great, but arguably we've been missing our 2nd best player for 8 of those 9 games. So I'd like to see where we can get after around 20 games; I think we'll know a lot about this team by then. Say what you want about our various trades and buyouts and draft pick situation, but does literally anybody miss last year's team? Would anybody take that back over what we have today? I doubt it. So the FO deserves credit for that at least.
Well, at this exact point last season the team was 8-1. I'd take that, even though in retrospect that was pretty much a fluke. But even with all the terrible vibes around that team, it was still just a couple of games under .500 late in the season. They lost 9 of the last 10 to nosedive completely and ensure that the teardown was going to happen. I think it was mostly the performance relative to expectations, and the way the team failed to cohere and compete that made last season feel so memorably godawful.
This team's won 3 of 4 and been competitive in all but one game in the last six. It's a long season and a lot can happen, but at least right now I think we can say that they're playing better than expected. It's nice to see.
Last year's start was fool's gold and we know it. They won some games purely on talent but not because of execution or system/style. This year's team functions as a team with guys bought in, playing their roles and executing on both ends (more or less). We're 4-5 but 2 of those games were winnable so I think we're playing better than our record, whereas last year I felt the opposite. We need to see how the next 10 games go, hopefully Brooks gets back and we can get a real nice sample size of how the full team looks. I hope the younger guys like Oso and Dunn don't get squeezed when we're at full strength. The rooks I'm less concerned about right now.
Re: Game Day: Clippers (3-4) @ Suns (3-5), Thurs 11/6/25
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2025 9:36 am
by ShelC
Re: Game Day: Clippers (3-4) @ Suns (3-5), Thurs 11/6/25
I think Isaiah Stewart would be a trade target for me right now. He definitely plays with the mindset this FO wants and he’s big and can shoot a little. He can play some 4, but also can take those Oso minutes at the 5.
Not really sure why Detroit would trade him though…but I’d swap Royce/Richards for him in a heartbeat.
Beef Stew is terrible. (The food is great though)
Re: Game Day: Clippers (3-4) @ Suns (3-5), Thurs 11/6/25
I still very much want to trade Grayson and Royce…but the price is going up
I'm starting to wonder if it might make more sense to see what the Dillon market might look like, instead. Bigger contract this year, but his salary declines a bit next season and he's a UFA after that. So he provides some potential salary relief that might be attractive, and he has a rep as a defensive guy and instigator that a win-now team might want to look at. Suns could try to get somebody bigger and maybe younger, who might be a better team fit.
In any case, I think both Grayson and Royce have enhanced their value over whatever it might have been in the offseason. They're both around 40% from 3 on high volume, both playing credible defense within the team concept, and Grayson has mostly been okay as a secondary ball handler and creator. I don't know if you can get a first round pick for either yet, but they seem to be trending in the right direction.
It’s not NBA2k, as an organization, you can’t push so hard on the media a newly arrived player as your “new culture” banner bearer and proceed to trade him within weeks without backlash from the players community. Not even Green received so much coverage although considered the better player, and that’s probably because they were looking to flip him over during the offseason.
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