Suns News: Week 19 3/2-3/8

[BearHoward]

To be fair... look at the play again- Len slaps Whiteside in the face on that dunk. Whiteside intentionally falls on Len. Len grabs his jersey and yanks him off. Whiteside tackles Len.
They are both at fault and probably should have gotten the same fine- but at least Len isn't suspended.

[Superbone]

The thing is that Len didn't intentionally hit Whiteside in the face on the dunk. He's watching the ball the whole time. Whiteside intentionally collared him coming off the rim.

[In2ition]

I think that the NBA is missing this all together. They missed the first time Whiteside swung around on the rim so he could come down with two arms on top of Len. Len didn't like it, but left it at that. When it happened the second time, he should have every right to push him off of him. It took Whiteside instigating this twice before Len did anything. He used the turn the other cheek stance. Apparently, the NBA is totally unaware of what happens other than the initial fight and think what Whiteside did falling onto Len was entirely unintentional, and that is total BS.

[LazarusLong]

This is where the Suns' reputation for players who woof too much at the refs hurts Phoenix.
It's the NBA version of the "boy who cried wolf" ...all those technical make for bad kharma.

[carey]

Must listen.

Randy Hill of Fox Sports AZ on the Suns late game struggles X's and O's wise on the BSotS podcast: http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2015/ ... peramental

[Superbone]

Must listen.

Randy Hill of Fox Sports AZ on the Suns late game struggles X's and O's wise on the BSotS podcast: http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2015/ ... peramental

Do yourselves a favor and skip the first 0:47.

Oh, and thanks Carey for the link.

[Superbone]

Go to 12:50 for the start of the Hill interview.

[carey]

Basically if you don't want to listen Hornacek has dumbed down the sets for Bledsoe but he's still awful at reading defense & making the quick decision. Also Hill claims that Bledsoe's turnovers are mostly a result of constantly telegraphing his passes. He has no clue how to look off a defender like Rubio. The hosts suggest late game heroics will eventually be left to Knight because he makes quicker decisions. I've not seen any evidence of this myself but again he's had one practice.

[ShelC]

I maintain there are two kinds of players: There are guys that play ball and there are basketball players. We have too much of one and not enough of the other.

[iLLmatic]

I noticed this last game that Knight had the ball in his hands towards the end.

[Indy]

Basically if you don't want to listen Hornacek has dumbed down the sets for Bledsoe but he's still awful at reading defense & making the quick decision. Also Hill claims that Bledsoe's turnovers are mostly a result of constantly telegraphing his passes. He has no clue how to look off a defender like Rubio. The hosts suggest late game heroics will eventually be left to Knight because he makes quicker decisions. I've not seen any evidence of this myself but again he's had one practice.

After listening, the impression I got is that he has dumbed down the sets for EVERYONE, not just Bledsoe.

[carey]

Basically if you don't want to listen Hornacek has dumbed down the sets for Bledsoe but he's still awful at reading defense & making the quick decision. Also Hill claims that Bledsoe's turnovers are mostly a result of constantly telegraphing his passes. He has no clue how to look off a defender like Rubio. The hosts suggest late game heroics will eventually be left to Knight because he makes quicker decisions. I've not seen any evidence of this myself but again he's had one practice.

After listening, the impression I got is that he has dumbed down the sets for EVERYONE, not just Bledsoe.

You might be right. We don't have a collection of bright minds out there that is for sure. It wouldn't bother me if they constantly played hard but they can't even do that.

[SDC]

I apologized to Suns owner Robert Sarver. We had a good conversation—he was always there for me and my family. He knew that I was not going to re-sign with them, so I wanted to do something before the trade deadline and hopefully they could get some players or some picks. I really appreciated what he did—trading me. -- Dragic

[Gladiator]

http://hardwoodparoxysm.com/2015/03/06/ ... um=twitter

Article pumping up Markieff, especially his d. Can't see it myself, but here it is anyway.

However, Morris’ main strength to the up-and-coming Suns team rests with his abilities on defense. While his base stats aren’t exactly eye-popping (0.5 BPG and 1.3 SPG in 31 minutes per game), the impact that he has on the team’s defense is massive. Per Basketball-Reference’s on/off numbers, the Suns defensive efficiency is nine points better per 100 possessions when Morris is on the court (103.8) compared to when he’s sitting (112.9). To put that in perspective, that defensive efficiency when he’s on the floor is more than a full point better than the league average (105.4)

[The Bobster]

the only reason Markieff has a impact defensively is because they're using a SF at that position a lot of the time when he's not in.

He's no defensive juggernaut by any means.

[The Bobster]

To be fair... look at the play again- Len slaps Whiteside in the face on that dunk. Whiteside intentionally falls on Len. Len grabs his jersey and yanks him off. Whiteside tackles Len.
They are both at fault and probably should have gotten the same fine- but at least Len isn't suspended.

The difference is that Len was making a basketball play and that happens sometimes. Whiteside was coming down on someone (on two occasions) after the play - and it looked deliberate. What followed is what the NBA calls an altercation (basically just some pushing, grabbing and some bonus wrestling).

[Indy]

the only reason Markieff has a impact defensively is because they're using a SF at that position a lot of the time when he's not in.

He's no defensive juggernaut by any means.

Exactly. Of course our defense is worse when we don't have a PF on the floor.

[TOO]

Danny Granger will join the team with the focus of working with our trainers for next year.

[carey]

http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/n ... /24542133/

"I've got to shoot a little bit more of them. That's probably the cause of some of the turnovers I've been having. Sometimes, I get too unselfish. I'll pass up good shots. At the end of the day, I've got to play my game. My game is to be in attack mode, get players involved, score the ball when I have to and win the game."

O.k. Eric... that's what we've all been saying. How completely unselfish you are. Tone. Deaf.

Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough said Danny Granger will join the team in Phoenix after it comes home from this road trip, which ends Saturday at Cleveland.

Granger will do so with a focus on working with the Suns athletic trainers to get healthy for next season, for which he has a $2.1 million player option.

[JCSunsfan]

Grainger might be a vet presence that we could use right now.