Suns News: Week 7 12/5-12/11

[carey]

Lets see if Ulis and Bender get some playing time this week with 4 games in 6 days.

Last Week's Games

vs. Atlanta W109-107
@ Golden State L138-109

This Week's Games

Tues, December 6th @ Utah 9:00PM EST
Wed, December 7th vs. Indiana 9:00PM EST
Fri, December 9th @ L.A. Lakers 10:30PM EST on ESPN
Sun, December 11th vs. New Orleans 8:30PM EST

Suns Stories

Center of the Sun - More Suns trade rumors than wins this week: http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2016/ ... the-season

Suns' Chriss gets kudos, kick out of Green: http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/n ... /95019596/

Suns' Chandler defies age to shine with Len: http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/n ... /94835862/

Locked on Suns Podcast takes on Brandon Knight's role: http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2016/ ... ght-s-role

[In2ition]

From ESPN Week 7 Power Rankings http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/1820 ... 7-rankings :

27. Phoenix Suns
2016-17 record: 6-14
Previous ranking: 28

This one legit surprised us: Despite the presence of Devin Booker, Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender on its roster, Phoenix began the week at No. 4 in terms of percentage of points scored by players 21 or younger. Minnesota not surprisingly leads the league at 64 percent, followed by Milwaukee (43 percent), Denver (34 percent) and then the Suns (27 percent). Maybe we shouldn't have been surprised, though, given that Suns coach Earl Watson is apt to rely on vets like Jared Dudley and P.J. Tucker as much as he's trying to help Chriss and Bender develop.


Now if they changed that to 20 or younger...

[Superbone]

Random thought of the day:

I can't wait until we have a winning team again. (It's been a loooong time!)

[specialsauce]

Random thought of the day:

I can't wait until we have a winning team again. (It's been a loooong time!)

I don't even need winning, I've lowered expectations so much I can't wait until I simply don't hate 4 of our highest used players

[Phoenix219]

We need a real point guard and we need to push the pace, PERIOD.

Add someone like a prime Nash to this team and we're instantly fun and in the playoffs. Even Dragic would probably get us in.

Shoot, I'm even curious what an IT/Ulis backcourt would have been producing right now. ANYONE but Bledsoe/Knight....

[Superbone]

We need a real point guard and we need to push the pace, PERIOD.

Add someone like a prime Nash to this team and we're instantly fun and in the playoffs. Even Dragic would probably get us in.

Shoot, I'm even curious what and IT/Ulis backcourt would have producing right now. ANYONE but Bledsoe/Knight....

I'm with you. McD backed the wrong horses. We had Dragic/Bledsoe/IT and turned it into Bledsoe/Knight. We would be so much better off if he had just ditched Bledsoe and kept Dragic/IT. Heck, I'd rather even have just Dragic or just IT instead of what we have now. IT/Ulis would be pretty tiny though.

[Mori Chu]

The Dragic+Bledsoe "two PGs" backcourt fooled our management. We didn't really play Bledsoe and Dragic at the same time very much because of injuries to both players that year as well as some staggering of the minutes. They fell for it and tried to put them both together full-time. Then they compounded their mistake by signing IT who didn't fit. Then they compounded THAT mistake by trading 2/3 of these PGs, arguably keeping the worst of the three. Ugh.

[carey]

We need a real point guard and we need to push the pace, PERIOD.

Add someone like a prime Nash to this team and we're instantly fun and in the playoffs. Even Dragic would probably get us in.

Shoot, I'm even curious what an IT/Ulis backcourt would have been producing right now. ANYONE but Bledsoe/Knight....

Have you seen Miami play? It's ugly man. Maybe our roster is a little better but with the way we are shooting the ball we'd find a way to lose to Miami. Take away Bledsoe or Knight and add Dragic and we're not much better. I'm surprised people think that. Also, he's not a pass first PG either. He's averaging a shade over 6 and a half assists per game which is the 2nd best mark of his career.

[O_Gardino]

Apologies if this has already been posted, but I hadn't seen it before.

Phoenix Suns score more hoops unassisted for NBA rarity

The Suns are wonderful about assisting a fallen teammate off the floor. They have back-line defenders who assist a teammate beaten off the dribble.

With the most fundamental assist of basketball, however, they are lacking.

The Suns score most of their baskets unassisted, and could join the 2012-13 Suns as the only NBA teams to register that statistic since 2011-12 when Oklahoma City reached the Finals with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden.

...

http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/n ... /94773950/

There are some really damning numbers and quotes in here. This is a nail in the coffin of Watson's tenure here.

The Suns are last in the NBA in assists and assists/turnover, despite being 12th in passes attempted.

Assists/game and assists/turnovers are both worse than last season. Worse than the season when we had 5 D league guards + Price running the point.

Worst of all, the quotes show that the players and coaches are not on the same page.

“We thought the ball moved a lot,” Suns coach Earl Watson said. “The assists will come...Our guards continue to move the ball but our guards also have to be aggressive. We can’t have them be too passive. We depend a lot on the activity from Bledsoe, Booker and Knight.”

“We have to play more team basketball,” forward Jared Dudley said. “We have to average 18 to 20 assists to give us a chance because right now we’re not a great shooting team. Because of that and because our assists are down, we have to make it easier... My turnovers are coming from looking for Alex (Len), looking to get drop-offs, looking to get lobs. We can work on those.”

“It’s been stagnant at times,” Bledsoe said of the team’s passing. “But at the end of the day, everybody is happy with how the offense is going. The heart of our team is me, Brandon and Devin...we’ve got to have that extra pass once we penetrate instead of always going to the rim."

[Split T]

Dragic was incredible in 2013, but I think we overrate him because of that season. It's definitely an outlier when looking at the rest of his career. Bledsoe hasn't been what we hoped but he's a better all around player than Dragic right now. The 2013 version of Dragic doesn't exist anymore.

[Cap]

Of the three-headed dragon, IT is the one we should have kept. At least he's fun.

[The Bobster]

Of the three-headed dragon, IT is the one we should have kept. At least he's fun.

And had a great contract.

[ShelC]

Moving IT was the mistake but i also think he was signed with the intention of being used as an asset in a trade. I don't think McD was committed to keeping him long term. Just hedging his bets if he lost Dragic and Bledsoe. Remember, we also drafted Tyler Ennis that summer.

IT is legit, one of my favorite players. But you have to know what he is and what you're getting. He's not a true pass first PG but is a legit scoring PG with a good bball IQ. You have to build around him knowing he's going to have the ball in his hands and will be looking to score.

[specialsauce]

Of the three-headed dragon, IT is the one we should have kept. At least he's fun.

It was easy to hate him at the time, and I was one of his biggest haters. We had that great surprise season and it was easy to point to his acquisition as the reason we weren't able to repeat. It led to Dragic being unhappy, horrible chemistry, and we ultimately ended up with a complete disappointment of a season. In retrospect, IT at 7 million per year is a STEAL. Agree that we should've gotten rid of Bledsoe and/or Dragic and kept him around.

[carey]

http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/n ... /95123590/

“I’m just growing each and every day, trying to learn,” Bender said. “I know this is my first year and I’m 19 years old and I know it’s going to be tough for me. I’m just going to come each and every day and compete. I’ll try to go against anybody on the court. It doesn’t matter who it is in front of me. I just try to help win the games. My job is to play defense and hit the open shots and deliver the ball at the right time.”

[Superbone]

The kid has got a good attitude. I've been glad to see him get some meaningful minutes the last couple games.

[O_Gardino]

I still have my fingers crossed for Bender. He has the potential to be a very good player and teammate.

[Robot]

Interesting read all --

Suns braintrust confident about the future of the Phoenix Suns
by Terry Johnson , azsuntimesnews.com

Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver had a candid conversation this week with some of his inner circle. Looking at this young Suns team, Sarver feels his number one guys can do it this year "I think the team is really strong. Devin Booker or Bookerman as we call him around is doing super. I'm also very excited about what PJ Tucker is bringing. I'm hoping to see him on the court more" . Wearing a sequined penis jacket , Sarver sits amongst a lavish table decorated with flowers , all orange and purple "These colors are super" said Sarver.

Earl Watson, one in a long line of Sarver right-hand men has focused his attention on studying tapes of Jeff Hornaceks offensive schemes from the last few years "I think Jeff really knew how to take the life and fun out of basketball and I'm trying to find that formula. I believe the best offense is one that is by all accounts non-existent. It's strong, especially in today's NBA when other teams are doing stuff like running plays. It's novel to take a family approach"

Watson and Sarver come together once a week to study some old arcade games, most notably Basketball for the Atari 2600 . "The offense is wild!" said Watson "Coach Horny used to show me how to dunk a zucchini in Farmville and I thought that was so advanced, but this 2600 game is really out there "

Ryan McDounough has his own take on the Suns, specifically strong guard Brendan Knight "I believe Mr.Knight is playing exceptionally this year. He had a few off games, but so does LeBron. I would like to see him in the All Star game . It's logical that based on the data I acquired of him from previous playing ecosystems, he will excel in a 8.098 EPM. It will be of my service to make certain that BRENDAN KNIGHT will serve the Suns for many many many games and trades of him are just not logical. In fact, I wil not trade him at any point ever . He will remain a constant, shining example of my mind and my logical, analytical thinking that has lead to the development of a most wonderful Suns team for the last several years. All Hail Sarver"

The Suns braintrust feels extremely confident that this year or one in the next 10-12 years will be the time the once pereninal Playoff team Suns make it back "I believe in 10 years BRENDAN KNIGHT will be of his optimal condition and in All Star many games, then Suns will be of winning caliber " said McDonough . Earl Watson laughed and added "Ryan you are funny the way you talk but what isn't funny is family. You, and me and Robert. We are family and the Suns team are also family. Look I may not know that much yet about how offenses run but I do know that when you have family you have it all "

In a moment that felt like a toast - Sarver raised his challice filled with the tears of homeowners culled from the housing crisis to the air "TO THE SUNS" "AFFIRMATIVE TO THIS" shouted McDonough . Earl Watson took a sip of his grapejuice and smiled "We are coming for you Warriors!"

http://www.azsuntimes.com/nba/news/good ... ntrust.php

[Cap]

You can tell it's not real because Carey didn't post it first.

[Mori Chu]

LMAO! I needed that, Robot. I got a good belly laugh out of this post.

"I think Jeff really knew how to take the life and fun out of basketball and I'm trying to find that formula. I believe the best offense is one that is by all accounts non-existent. It's strong, especially in today's NBA when other teams are doing stuff like running plays. It's novel to take a family approach"