Re: Suns News: Week 19 4/26-5/2
Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2021 7:53 pm
Yep, doesn't matter. You're going to have to go through tough teams to win it all.
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Suns News: Week 19 4/26-5/2
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Re: Suns News: Week 19 4/26-5/2
Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2021 7:53 pm
Suns News: Week 19 4/26-5/2
Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2021 8:40 pm
I can’t say for sure but I’m pretty sure leBron james adopts the idea that the playoffs are such a grind, so getting max rest before them is a good thing.Cap wrote:Champions don’t worry about which opponents they want to duck. They beat everybody.
I want HCA throughout, and I don’t care who we have to play as a result.
Not saying it is either, but he’s only ever played 82 games in a season once.
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Re: Suns News: Week 19 4/26-5/2
Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2021 8:40 pm
This is trueSplit T wrote:Well a win tomorrow helps us coast to 2nd still. Unless Utah keeps resting guys, I think they’d get the 1 seed, even if we win tomorrow. Jazz schedule is easier.
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Re: Suns News: Week 19 4/26-5/2
Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2021 6:57 am
Re: Suns News: Week 19 4/26-5/2
Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2021 10:17 am
I mean you kind of have to have that attitude at least as players and a team.
Re: Suns News: Week 19 4/26-5/2
Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2021 10:35 am
https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/ ... bully-ball
8. When Deandre Ayton and the Suns don't give up
A glance at Ayton's numbers would suggest a disappointing third season, and if the barometer is Luka Doncic, Ayton will always be something of a disappointment. Ayton's scoring is down, and he still doesn't get to the line as much as a behemoth should.
But if you watch, you know he's better -- polished, under control, and a little mean when he needs to be. Ayton remains one of the league's critical swing players -- the only traditional big in the Phoenix Suns' rotation, and the wild card who can propel them toward the championship now and later.Phoenix could face a money crunch soon. Devin Booker is locked into a well-deserved maximum contract. Chris Paul can enter free agency. Ayton and Mikal Bridges will be eligible for extensions this summer; most No. 1 overall picks start negotiations at "max or nothing," and rival executives expect Bridges' deal might approach $20 million per season.
Juggling four huge-money players means entering the luxury tax, and limited resources to fill the roster. Depending on the length of Paul's theoretical next contract, the Suns might face that dilemma in only one season -- 2022-23, the first year of potential new deals for Bridges and Ayton. But cobbling around three big contracts isn't easy, either.
Ayton is incrementally making his case. He has probably made greater strides on defense over the past two seasons than any other player. The addled rookie has become a solid rim-protector who can hang in space.
On offense, he and the Suns stick with it when Ayton has a good matchup in the post -- even after defenders take the first entry pass away.
[VIDEO]
In the past, Ayton may have given up there. He doesn't as often now, and the Phoenix guards don't let him. Phoenix has a ton of slick entry passers -- Paul especially -- capable of lobbing over fronts, and flashing for high-lows.
Ayton's post-up efficiency is middling, but you need every weapon against postseason defenses.
Re: Suns News: Week 19 4/26-5/2
Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2021 1:26 pm
Thanks for that Insider snippet. (Side note: That author way overuses, and misuses, the -- dashes.)
Re: Suns News: Week 19 4/26-5/2
Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2021 5:26 pm
I think in long form (like novels) or formal communications, I agree. But for something like this, I prefer to read it with em-dashes than commas or colons or even new sentences.
Re: Suns News: Week 19 4/26-5/2
Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2021 6:41 pm
Chris Paul has moved up to #4 in NBA.com's MVP rankings: https://www.nba.com/news/kia-mvp-ladder ... 30-edition
The Suns are the only team with 2 players in the top 10.
The Suns are the only team with 2 players in the top 10.
Re: Suns News: Week 19 4/26-5/2
Posted: Sat May 01, 2021 9:05 am
I think that means neither has a shot at winning it. It is Embiid's/Joker's to lose. I think it will be a really close vote between those two.JeremyG wrote: ↑Fri Apr 30, 2021 6:41 pmChris Paul has moved up to #4 in NBA.com's MVP rankings: https://www.nba.com/news/kia-mvp-ladder ... 30-edition
The Suns are the only team with 2 players in the top 10.
Re: Suns News: Week 19 4/26-5/2
Posted: Sat May 01, 2021 1:00 pm
Bright Side's guide for new bandwagon Suns fans:
https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2020 ... r-new-fans
https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2020 ... r-new-fans
Re: Suns News: Week 19 4/26-5/2
Posted: Sat May 01, 2021 1:43 pm
Nice little history. And I lived through all of it. And I was aware of all but maybe the coin flip and the first 5 years or so of the franchise as I was too young.Mori Chu wrote: ↑Sat May 01, 2021 1:00 pmBright Side's guide for new bandwagon Suns fans:
https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2020 ... r-new-fans
Re: Suns News: Week 19 4/26-5/2
Posted: Sat May 01, 2021 3:47 pm
I came in just after Nose Candy, although my first in-person game was in 82. I started following the team earnestly in 87-88, and used to have to tape the games on VHS and avoid all radio/TV in the 95-99 seasons as I was working to pay for college and ALWAYS worked during games. Getting home at 1am and preying you haven't used the tape too many times and that your cool 1.5x setting on the fancy VCR will allow you to get a little bit of sleep before your first class.Superbone wrote: ↑Sat May 01, 2021 1:43 pmNice little history. And I lived through all of it. And I was aware of all but maybe the coin flip and the first 5 years or so of the franchise as I was too young.Mori Chu wrote: ↑Sat May 01, 2021 1:00 pmBright Side's guide for new bandwagon Suns fans:
https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2020 ... r-new-fans
Re: Suns News: Week 19 4/26-5/2
Posted: Sat May 01, 2021 4:10 pm
“The Suns drafted Neal Walk at #2. Yeah, remember him? Me neither.”
Idiot … Walk is fifth in career rebounding, and has the second highest season rebound total for a Sun. He was a solid offensive center and rebounder.
The author mentions nothing about the 78-79 team, which was a couple of plays away from going to the championship.
For all the headlines about the drug scandal, it was eventually much ado about nothing, given the context of the times. It was more a witch hunt by a publicity seeking county attorney.
Lame article.
Idiot … Walk is fifth in career rebounding, and has the second highest season rebound total for a Sun. He was a solid offensive center and rebounder.
The author mentions nothing about the 78-79 team, which was a couple of plays away from going to the championship.
For all the headlines about the drug scandal, it was eventually much ado about nothing, given the context of the times. It was more a witch hunt by a publicity seeking county attorney.
Lame article.
Re: Suns News: Week 19 4/26-5/2
Posted: Sat May 01, 2021 6:57 pm
Neal Walk was a pretty decent center (he peaked in 1972-73 when he averaged 20 points & 12 rebounds), but he became a vegetarian, lost some weight and was it was downhill from there. After a year-and-a-half with the Jazz he played three years with the Knicks and them moved on to Italy and Israel.
Certainly he was no Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and the only other stars in the draft were Jo Jo White, who went in the middle of the first round and Bobby Dandridge who went in the fourth round. So it's a choice that is really hard to criticize.
Certainly he was no Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and the only other stars in the draft were Jo Jo White, who went in the middle of the first round and Bobby Dandridge who went in the fourth round. So it's a choice that is really hard to criticize.
Re: Suns News: Week 19 4/26-5/2
Posted: Sat May 01, 2021 7:49 pm
I skimmed it and and didn't see that part. Horrible, lazy journalism. Like bobster said, he had two outstanding years before the vegetarian thing and fall off of play (which I only know about thanks to bobster). When talking about the history of Suns' centers, Walk is often forgotten about in spite of him having the best two years a Suns center has posted unless you want to count Amare as a center. (I don't recall Adams numbers off the top of my head but he was also a center in a forward's body.)LazarusLong wrote: ↑Sat May 01, 2021 4:10 pm“The Suns drafted Neal Walk at #2. Yeah, remember him? Me neither.”
Idiot … Walk is fifth in career rebounding, and has the second highest season rebound total for a Sun. He was a solid offensive center and rebounder.
The author mentions nothing about the 78-79 team, which was a couple of plays away from going to the championship.
For all the headlines about the drug scandal, it was eventually much ado about nothing, given the context of the times. It was more a witch hunt by a publicity seeking county attorney.
Lame article.
ETA: Just looked up Adam's stats. Funny enough, it appears that he had the best stats of his career in his rookie year, 1975 (might explain him getting rookie of the year
) :19 points, 9.1 boards, 5.6 assists, 1.5 steals, 1.5 blocks
BTW, this season was my first as a full fledged Suns fan if memory serves me right. I remember that year well, anyway.
Re: Suns News: Week 19 4/26-5/2
Posted: Sat May 01, 2021 9:45 pm
And no mention of the Connie Hawkins signing, which catapulted the Suns from a uninteresting expansion team into a national story.
Hawk was a mythic figure who had previously operated in the Twilight Zone of pro basketball ... ABL and startup ABA.
Hawk was a mythic figure who had previously operated in the Twilight Zone of pro basketball ... ABL and startup ABA.
Re: Suns News: Week 19 4/26-5/2
Posted: Sat May 01, 2021 11:58 pm
Yeah, very light on the early years of the franchise. Mostly due to ignorance and unwillingness to do any research. I read the book “Foul!” as a kid that told Hawkins’ life story up until finally making into the NBA and the Suns in his later, past prime, years.LazarusLong wrote: ↑Sat May 01, 2021 9:45 pmAnd no mention of the Connie Hawkins signing, which catapulted the Suns from a uninteresting expansion team into a national story.
Hawk was a mythic figure who had previously operated in the Twilight Zone of pro basketball ... ABL and startup ABA.
Re: Suns News: Week 19 4/26-5/2
Posted: Sun May 02, 2021 12:23 am
I read Joe Gilmartin's "The Little Team That Could" until my copy fell apart, so I know at least everything that was in that book about the early years of the franchise. Seems to be out of print now, it's a shame.Superbone wrote: ↑Sat May 01, 2021 11:58 pmYeah, very light on the early years of the franchise. Mostly due to ignorance and unwillingness to do any research. I read the book “Foul!” as a kid that told Hawkins’ life story up until finally making into the NBA and the Suns in his later, past prime, years.LazarusLong wrote: ↑Sat May 01, 2021 9:45 pmAnd no mention of the Connie Hawkins signing, which catapulted the Suns from a uninteresting expansion team into a national story.
Hawk was a mythic figure who had previously operated in the Twilight Zone of pro basketball ... ABL and startup ABA.