Phx-Suns.Net

They both have strengths and weaknesses. Johnson is a much better driver to the hoop for example.

Split T wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 22, 2021 12:10 pm

Game 5 haunts me the most. We played so well offensively in that game…It’s just hard to understand how we lost. It took Jrue going nuclear and us having a massive meltdown with Ayton on the bench for 3 minutes.

That was such a weird game. I mean, Ayton only said about a minute in the 1Q, then 3 minutes to start the 2nd. But Giannis sat to start the 2nd, too. And the Bucks still won those 3 minutes by 8 points, and continued to kill us the rest of that quarter no matter who we played.

bate. have to love flex.

Speling is hard.

Goddammit. He better be vaccinated.

Jeremy beat you to the scoop and we're discussing in the media day thread.

Better now than during the season.

I hope he can be, but we need to see a lot more extended minutes for him. I am hoping Paul takes some nights off this season.

Payne will need to get a LOT better as a distributor before I'd trust him as a starting NBA PG. Too often last year he'd just put his head down and charge to the basket, where every player on both teams knew he was going to try a layup no matter what. If he improves his awareness and is willing to pass out of those plays, I think it'll help his game a lot.

I'm excited to see how he develops from here. He's found the perfect situation in terms of coaching and teammates to learn from and knows how to put the work in now. I don't think we need the next Chris Paul at PG necessarily since Book has proven to be good enough on the ball and as a distributor. A scoring combo guard like Payne might be the right fit in a few seasons. Adding the midrange shot would open up a ton more for him, just not sure if he has the mechanics to add that kind of pullup jumper.

I am not concerned about his ability to distribute. I think part of that is by design. We don't have many offense creators on our team. When he was out there, sometimes his orders were to put his head down and get to the rim. But when you are used to watching guys like Chris Paul or back to Steven Nash as your PG, everyone will pale in comparison.

As far as the numbers go:

Of guys that played off the bench last year, he was 3rd in assist percentage behind McConnell and Tyus Jones.

If you don't care about advanced stats and just look at assists per game, he was 2nd in the league for bench players behind McConnell, but McConnell played 50% more minutes per game than Cam.

Shamet article...a lot has been said about his relationship with Monty and it came out on Media Day that we tried for two seasons to get him. You can never have enough shooting and he brings that. Also want to see what he can do in terms of playmaking and some dribble drive offense.

Good article on Cam P

I am glad to know he's well aware that he's gonna be on the scouting report and especially that teams/defenders know he goes for that quick scoop layup with his left. He started to struggle getting that off as the Playoffs went on so as he said, looking forward to see adjustments and hopefully he has enrolled in Book's off hand finishes course
Don't feel like looking at the numbers or revisiting the story lines but do wonder what the drop off was with his stats after the ankle injury because he wasn't the same.

Either way, fore last season I asked Why for once can't we find a diamond in the rough/late bloomer.....
Glad to see kid built on the bubble and I expect him to continue to grow

Side note - I do think the opportunity will be there as I can see why CP3 wanted his imprints fully on the squad and setting a new standard for our play but I have to believe that him, Monty and Jones know that it benefits him and the team to give the keys to the others more often during the season. His comments about recruiting Payton also lead me to believe that him and Monty realize that a combo guard (E'twaun) to run point if need be was not sustainable so that he will have a role

Not a headline that you would want to see but we discussed this during the Playoffs and it was evident in pivotal moments
It's a solid article and to follow up on my last post, the likes of Shamet, My Avatar Bros along with Payton going to have to join Cam P as consistent dribble drive threats. Again, it would be wise to scale it back with our All Star duo and give these guys the opportunities running sets for them and what's not.

Don't worry JeremyG, this just a perimeter player post

Thad Young is a phenomenal passer for a big. He might give us a different offensive look alongside Ayton and Cam.

Reportedly, Bridges has been working on his handles to take people off the dribble better.