Phx-Suns.Net

I don’t know if I would blame game 5 on him. He had his issues but I think we collectively were caught off guard by the Zubac injury. With all of his strengths, Ayton still isn’t the greatest at catching in traffic and they sent multiple smaller players to crowd him, making catches more difficult. The refs were letting them manhandle him during offensive rebounding chances and any time he did get a finger on one they had three guys knock it out of his hands. After that first offensive foul they called on him where he put Morris on his ass, the Suns stopped going to him.

agreed the loss is not all on him.

I put the loss mostly on Williams. They weren’t prepared for the Clippers. The Clippers made adjustments and we didn’t. They came out ready to play and we didn’t.

They don’t play a Center to start and Ayton is there to guard the rim and get rebounds. That worked great game one. The Clippers went to starting Zubac until he got injured. The Clippers were forced to play small ball again setting up Ayton for another big rebound night but, the Clippers decided to crash the boards with multiple players and one always blocking Ayton out and that turned the Suns advantage into a disadvantage. With most of the Clippers rebounding and not getting back you would think there was a risk of them getting burned by fast breaks. The Suns run almost never and slowly walk the ball up the court on 99% of their possessions so, there is virtually bo risk for them there. Suns counter move? No counter move.

Ayton goes out and Counsins comes in and has hurt us bad twice with a forward Sarić guarding him. People here countered with so what? Cousins is a defensive liability. Well, after two of those games I am still waiting for the Suns to take advantage of his defensive liabilities. Once again, Clippers advantage. I would have put Ayton on Cousins right away, even if he just came out.

Yes George and the Clippers have been getting away with a lot of crap like George pushing off a LOT. He got ONE foul for that the entire series. We can’t make the refs call fouls so, that is something the Suns will just have to deal with.

I kept hearing how Lue is a master at adjustments and I have to say he is winning on that front big time.

Agree that Ayton needs to defend Cousins at all times. Even if that means not starting him. Whatever it takes.

Nodack wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 30, 2021 11:08 am

I put the loss mostly on Williams. They weren’t prepared for the Clippers. The Clippers made adjustments and we didn’t. They came out ready to play and we didn’t.

They don’t play a Center to start and Ayton is there to guard the rim and get rebounds. That worked great game one. The Clippers went to starting Zubac until he got injured. The Clippers were forced to play small ball again setting up Ayton for another big rebound night but, the Clippers decided to crash the boards with multiple players and one always blocking Ayton out and that turned the Suns advantage into a disadvantage. With most of the Clippers rebounding and not getting back you would think there was a risk of them getting burned by fast breaks. The Suns run almost never and slowly walk the ball up the court on 99% of their possessions so, there is virtually bo risk for them there. Suns counter move? No counter move.

Ayton goes out and Counsins comes in and has hurt us bad twice with a forward Sarić guarding him. People here countered with so what? Cousins is a defensive liability. Well, after two of those games I am still waiting for the Suns to take advantage of his defensive liabilities. Once again, Clippers advantage. I would have put Ayton on Cousins right away, even if he just came out.

Yes George and the Clippers have been getting away with a lot of crap like George pushing off a LOT. He got ONE foul for that the entire series. We can’t make the refs call fouls so, that is something the Suns will just have to deal with.

I kept hearing how Lue is a master at adjustments and I have to say he is winning on that front big time.

Cousins is a -11 for the series so far. Last game was the only game this series where he had a positive night.

Indy wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 30, 2021 11:17 am

Nodack wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 30, 2021 11:08 am

I put the loss mostly on Williams. They weren’t prepared for the Clippers. The Clippers made adjustments and we didn’t. They came out ready to play and we didn’t.

They don’t play a Center to start and Ayton is there to guard the rim and get rebounds. That worked great game one. The Clippers went to starting Zubac until he got injured. The Clippers were forced to play small ball again setting up Ayton for another big rebound night but, the Clippers decided to crash the boards with multiple players and one always blocking Ayton out and that turned the Suns advantage into a disadvantage. With most of the Clippers rebounding and not getting back you would think there was a risk of them getting burned by fast breaks. The Suns run almost never and slowly walk the ball up the court on 99% of their possessions so, there is virtually bo risk for them there. Suns counter move? No counter move.

Ayton goes out and Counsins comes in and has hurt us bad twice with a forward Sarić guarding him. People here countered with so what? Cousins is a defensive liability. Well, after two of those games I am still waiting for the Suns to take advantage of his defensive liabilities. Once again, Clippers advantage. I would have put Ayton on Cousins right away, even if he just came out.

Yes George and the Clippers have been getting away with a lot of crap like George pushing off a LOT. He got ONE foul for that the entire series. We can’t make the refs call fouls so, that is something the Suns will just have to deal with.

I kept hearing how Lue is a master at adjustments and I have to say he is winning on that front big time.

Cousins is a -11 for the series so far. Last game was the only game this series where he had a positive night.

We can't afford another one. Cousins and his team think they have it figured out.

Superbone wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 30, 2021 11:12 am

Agree that Ayton needs to defend Cousins at all times. Even if that means not starting him. Whatever it takes.

It probably doesn't feel this way, but when guarded by Saric, Cousins is only shooting 42% from the floor (5-12).

Indy wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 30, 2021 11:17 am

Nodack wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 30, 2021 11:08 am

I put the loss mostly on Williams. They weren’t prepared for the Clippers. The Clippers made adjustments and we didn’t. They came out ready to play and we didn’t.

They don’t play a Center to start and Ayton is there to guard the rim and get rebounds. That worked great game one. The Clippers went to starting Zubac until he got injured. The Clippers were forced to play small ball again setting up Ayton for another big rebound night but, the Clippers decided to crash the boards with multiple players and one always blocking Ayton out and that turned the Suns advantage into a disadvantage. With most of the Clippers rebounding and not getting back you would think there was a risk of them getting burned by fast breaks. The Suns run almost never and slowly walk the ball up the court on 99% of their possessions so, there is virtually bo risk for them there. Suns counter move? No counter move.

Ayton goes out and Counsins comes in and has hurt us bad twice with a forward Sarić guarding him. People here countered with so what? Cousins is a defensive liability. Well, after two of those games I am still waiting for the Suns to take advantage of his defensive liabilities. Once again, Clippers advantage. I would have put Ayton on Cousins right away, even if he just came out.

Yes George and the Clippers have been getting away with a lot of crap like George pushing off a LOT. He got ONE foul for that the entire series. We can’t make the refs call fouls so, that is something the Suns will just have to deal with.

I kept hearing how Lue is a master at adjustments and I have to say he is winning on that front big time.

Cousins is a -11 for the series so far. Last game was the only game this series where he had a positive night.

Game 1- 11 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block in 13 minutes.
Game 4 - 15 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal in 11 minutes.

The Clippers made it very obvious in the last game that they were going to attack Booker in the post using Morris. Morris has the size to shoot over Booker. I would have to watch the game again but, it seemed like Morris went after Booker and scored 5-6 times in a row before the Suns decided to send a double. After that Morris stopped posting up Booker. I get it that Morris hasn’t done that much in this series and the Suns probably didn’t worry about it too much until maybe the third time in a row that happened. I think Coach Williams is going to have to do a better or quicker job at countering the Clippers moves.

I talked about the Clippers gang rebounding on their offensive end to counter Aytons size advantage when they don’t play a center. How do we counter that? We can either send more people to help Ayton or we can really push the ball when Ayton does grab the rebound and make them pay for having too many guys at the wrong end. So far, we haven’t done anything to counter that.

Nodack wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 30, 2021 11:33 am

Indy wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 30, 2021 11:17 am

Nodack wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 30, 2021 11:08 am

I put the loss mostly on Williams. They weren’t prepared for the Clippers. The Clippers made adjustments and we didn’t. They came out ready to play and we didn’t.

They don’t play a Center to start and Ayton is there to guard the rim and get rebounds. That worked great game one. The Clippers went to starting Zubac until he got injured. The Clippers were forced to play small ball again setting up Ayton for another big rebound night but, the Clippers decided to crash the boards with multiple players and one always blocking Ayton out and that turned the Suns advantage into a disadvantage. With most of the Clippers rebounding and not getting back you would think there was a risk of them getting burned by fast breaks. The Suns run almost never and slowly walk the ball up the court on 99% of their possessions so, there is virtually bo risk for them there. Suns counter move? No counter move.

Ayton goes out and Counsins comes in and has hurt us bad twice with a forward Sarić guarding him. People here countered with so what? Cousins is a defensive liability. Well, after two of those games I am still waiting for the Suns to take advantage of his defensive liabilities. Once again, Clippers advantage. I would have put Ayton on Cousins right away, even if he just came out.

Yes George and the Clippers have been getting away with a lot of crap like George pushing off a LOT. He got ONE foul for that the entire series. We can’t make the refs call fouls so, that is something the Suns will just have to deal with.

I kept hearing how Lue is a master at adjustments and I have to say he is winning on that front big time.

Cousins is a -11 for the series so far. Last game was the only game this series where he had a positive night.

Game 1- 11 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block in 13 minutes.
Game 4 - 15 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal in 11 minutes.

His stats in a vacuum don't really tell the story.

While he is on the court, the Clippers have scored 56 points and the Suns have scored 67 points.

Indy wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 30, 2021 2:18 pm

Nodack wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 30, 2021 11:33 am

Indy wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 30, 2021 11:17 am

Nodack wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 30, 2021 11:08 am

I put the loss mostly on Williams. They weren’t prepared for the Clippers. The Clippers made adjustments and we didn’t. They came out ready to play and we didn’t.

They don’t play a Center to start and Ayton is there to guard the rim and get rebounds. That worked great game one. The Clippers went to starting Zubac until he got injured. The Clippers were forced to play small ball again setting up Ayton for another big rebound night but, the Clippers decided to crash the boards with multiple players and one always blocking Ayton out and that turned the Suns advantage into a disadvantage. With most of the Clippers rebounding and not getting back you would think there was a risk of them getting burned by fast breaks. The Suns run almost never and slowly walk the ball up the court on 99% of their possessions so, there is virtually bo risk for them there. Suns counter move? No counter move.

Ayton goes out and Counsins comes in and has hurt us bad twice with a forward Sarić guarding him. People here countered with so what? Cousins is a defensive liability. Well, after two of those games I am still waiting for the Suns to take advantage of his defensive liabilities. Once again, Clippers advantage. I would have put Ayton on Cousins right away, even if he just came out.

Yes George and the Clippers have been getting away with a lot of crap like George pushing off a LOT. He got ONE foul for that the entire series. We can’t make the refs call fouls so, that is something the Suns will just have to deal with.

I kept hearing how Lue is a master at adjustments and I have to say he is winning on that front big time.

Cousins is a -11 for the series so far. Last game was the only game this series where he had a positive night.

Game 1- 11 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block in 13 minutes.
Game 4 - 15 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal in 11 minutes.

His stats in a vacuum don't really tell the story.

While he is on the court, the Clippers have scored 56 points and the Suns have scored 67 points.

What's that stat for Game 5?

I think 'Dack meant game 5.

Indy wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 30, 2021 2:51 pm

I think 'Dack meant game 5.

I was asking you about your stat. Who outscored who and by how much during Cousin's minutes in Game 5?

If I were making adjustments, I’d be prepared to start Ayton, look for more ways to feed him, and if not effective pull him 3-4 min in and then have him come in against Cousins or whatever second unit they got going in order to throw a wrench in their prep.

Superbone wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 30, 2021 2:55 pm

Indy wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 30, 2021 2:51 pm

I think 'Dack meant game 5.

I was asking you about your stat. Who outscored who and by how much during Cousin's minutes in Game 5?

Cousins was a +6 in game 5.

Ya, I meant game five.

Ayton stayed in game six when Cousins came in at least until he ran out of gas.

There was a move Ayton made in the 3rd (I think) where he dribbled from the 3point line, avoiding barrelling into the defender and made the lay up. If he can add that kind of move to his repertoire consistently, then look out.

It was a high trap by the clips near the corner of the half court. Really good play. But maybe more the result of their aggressive trap than Ayton finding space with his dribble.

pickle wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 30, 2021 11:28 pm

It was a high trap by the clips near the corner of the half court. Really good play. But maybe more the result of their aggressive trap than Ayton finding space with his dribble.

I immediately thought of the discussion we had with Split when that happened. I was surprised at well Ayton figured it out.

He used the pass as a threat to kind of freeze the defense. I didn’t think he was going to go all the way but am quite thrilled that he got the points.