Game Day: Suns (8-7) @ Nuggets (11-3), Sun 11/24/19

[rhylek]

Haven't watched the game yet but...

5th game in 7 days, second of a back to back, playing in Denver (altitude), I don't blame Book and Oubre for their off game. They carried the team and must be exhausted.
Plus missing 3 starters against one of the best team in the NBA, I expected a blowout.
I'm glad it didn't happen and pretty satisfied with the carreer games from Saric, Okobo and Diallo. Confidence booster for them and it can really help in the long run.

[3rdside]

Or maybe because they figured they couldn't win, that's why they decided to hang with MJ.

I have no real issue with players smoking pot during a season (so long as its not chronic) - it's long, it's tiring and they need something to alleviate the stresses of playing and travel, and pot is much better than booze in the long run for durability.

I just hope they pick their spots to do it ... playing Denver, in Denver, back to back, minus Rubio, Ayton and Baynes may not be a bad one!

[Mori Chu]

5. Standings are starting to take shape - it looks like 7th and 8th seed will be between us (8-8), Minnesota (8-8) and Sacramento (7-8).

New Orleans (6-11) might go on a tear once Zion is back and the Spurs (6-11) are probably, finally, not gonna make it.

I've been surprised at how bad Portland has been. I still think they might figure things out and get some wins. The 7-8 seed in the West aren't as competitive as the top 6, but it will still be tough to make it.

[3rdside]

Haven't watched the game yet but...

5th game in 7 days, second of a back to back, playing in Denver (altitude), I don't blame Book and Oubre for their off game. They carried the team and must be exhausted.
Plus missing 3 starters against one of the best team in the NBA, I expected a blowout.
I'm glad it didn't happen and pretty satisfied with the carreer games from Saric, Okobo and Diallo. Confidence booster for them and it can really help in the long run.

+/- needs to be treated with the large indifference it deserves, but a god awful +/- outlier might be suggestive, two of them together even more so. And they're both valley boyz and our other star player who is also valley boyz is suspended right now for some type of drug.

It could just be a coincidence of course, or they may have just taken it easy on Monty's instruction as it was a nailed on L.

[3rdside]

5. Standings are starting to take shape - it looks like 7th and 8th seed will be between us (8-8), Minnesota (8-8) and Sacramento (7-8).

New Orleans (6-11) might go on a tear once Zion is back and the Spurs (6-11) are probably, finally, not gonna make it.

I've been surprised at how bad Portland has been. I still think they might figure things out and get some wins. The 7-8 seed in the West aren't as competitive as the top 6, but it will still be tough to make it.

I like our chances over Minny, the Kings will be the favourite for the 7th seed for me.

And I like our chances over any team with Carmelo on it, but he's changed (again, apparently) and Portland's slow start is a little odd.

[ShelC]

I swear the Mavs just aren't that good. Record's inflated. And we'd be like 11-5 at least with a healthy squad. Part of me thinks we're more cautious and almost resting Rubio and Baynes during this stretch to save them for the backend, which is fine. I'd prefer that to stacking our record early and falling apart later in the year.

I think if we're healthy and get Ayton back in 2 weeks, we should really hit our stride around New Year's and can hopefully go on a nice run to breakout a bit.

[LazarusLong]

I swear the Mavs just aren't that good. Record's inflated.

I wouldn't underrate the Mavs. Doncic is a special player, and a reasonably healthy Porziņģis is also scary.
Carlisle is one of the best coaches in the NBA and will know how to make the best use of the remaining pieces.
Mavs may not challenge for the NBA championship this year, but they will be tough to handle.

[The Bobster]

The difference between last year and this is that last season, with a couple of starters out and Booker having an off game they wouldn't have been competitive against Denver on the road.

[Superbone]

The Suns played better for 3 quarters than I could have hoped. It was predictable that they would be beat in the 4th quarter.

[ShelC]

Doncic and KP are great, but that's really all they have IMO. The rest of the roster is pretty weak and they've had an easy schedule so far.

[ShelC]

The Suns played better for 3 quarters than I could have hoped. It was predictable that they would be beat in the 4th quarter.

I think at the 6 or 6:30 mark we missed a shot and they hit a 3 and it was game over. Even throughout the game when we were up, it felt like we were holding on instead of in control. Denver kind of stayed within striking distance and got hot as we ran out of gas.

And yea, it's a credit to the coaching staff that we were still executing and getting our normal looks within the offense and other guys were stepping up. Wouldn't have happened the past few years.

[specialsauce]

Duck broken - and to add that we are no chance, with no discussion needed on that particular point.

Drugs are bad

He's not a native speaker, and he's doing his best. He is welcome here and I appreciate his posts.

Didn’t realize that. Thought it was autocorrect gone wrong. Sorry 3rd was just teasing

1. Tease away sir, I give a good as I get.

2. Drugs aren't all bad, just like booze, even though I do virtually none of the former and increasingly less of the latter.

3. Cheers for the defence Marty - no worries on holding my own however, as mentioned.

4. My duck was definitely broken (a cricket term for the uninitiated: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/break_one%27s_duck)

[Split T]

I swear the Mavs just aren't that good. Record's inflated.

I wouldn't underrate the Mavs. Doncic is a special player, and a reasonably healthy Porziņģis is also scary.
Carlisle is one of the best coaches in the NBA and will know how to make the best use of the remaining pieces.
Mavs may not challenge for the NBA championship this year, but they will be tough to handle.

Dallas is good, but I think they’re in the group with Minny, Phx, and Sacramento. Their current record would make it seem like they’re a top 6 team, but they’ve had a very easy schedule. I think the other 5 in that top 6 will separate and Dallas will be in that 6-9 range.

So 4 teams fighting for 3 spots..and I also am not ready to count out Portland, they’ll make a run. NO could maybe make a run, but I think that’s less likely. As for the spurs, they aren’t good. They’ve had the 2nd easiest schedule and they’re 5-11. Their playoff run is over.

[Wally_West]

Any interest in Aldridge?

[Aztec Sunsfan]

Any interest in Aldridge?

From a talent point of view, of course he would be an upgrade, but I’m not sure if he is the kind of veteran the current front office is trying to get here, seems like a high maintenance kind of guy from past events, someone that would resent accolades going to Booker, Ayton and Rubio.

[specialsauce]

Any interest in Aldridge?

Too similar to Deandre

[Flagrant Fowl]

I subscribe to the Chris Vernon roster philosophy of "get as many guys as you can who don't suck". Therefore, of course I'd like Aldridge on the Suns simply because he doesn't suck.

Dario sometimes sucks, and Kaminsky usually sucks, so the idea of upgrading to a guy who rarely sucks is very enticing to me.

[Mori Chu]

I subscribe to the Chris Vernon roster philosophy of "get as many guys as you can who don't suck". Therefore, of course I'd like Aldridge on the Suns simply because he doesn't suck.

I don't mean to shoot the messenger, but I dislike that roster-building philosophy. That is how you get guys like Hedo Turkoglu or Tyson Chandler or Trevor Ariza. None of them "suck," but you shouldn't sign them to any nontrivial money.

I would much prefer a team-building philosophy that's more like: get 2-3 real blue chippers you can build around, then surround them with reasonably priced role players who can shoot and defend. Houston did a great job of this in recent years; they threw big money at Harden, Paul, and Capela, then surrounded them with good 3-point shooters like Tucker, Eric Gordon, Gerald Green, Danuel House, etc.

[ShelC]

You need a PG and a big. Swings are a dime a dozen so unless they're a transcendent talent, don't draft them high or spend big money on them in FA.

[O_Gardino]

Any interest in Aldridge?

From a talent point of view, of course he would be an upgrade, but I’m not sure if he is the kind of veteran the current front office is trying to get here, seems like a high maintenance kind of guy from past events, someone that would resent accolades going to Booker, Ayton and Rubio.

Interesting thought, Wally.

I'm not sure the ego would be an issue at age 34. He's not the same guy he was in his 20's.

I subscribe to the Chris Vernon roster philosophy of "get as many guys as you can who don't suck". Therefore, of course I'd like Aldridge on the Suns simply because he doesn't suck.

Dario sometimes sucks, and Kaminsky usually sucks, so the idea of upgrading to a guy who rarely sucks is very enticing to me.

I'm also not 100% sure that is the case anymore. He plays about 7 more minutes per game more than Dario, but gets the same # of rebounds. He certainly scores more and blocks more shots. Doesn't stretch the floor, though, and he doesn't run much anymore, so I don't know how well he fits with what the team is doing.

Essentially, he would cost Tyler Johnson + One of Kaminsky, Bridges, Cam, or Baynes to match salaries. Dunno if there's a deal there that makes sense for both sides.