Game Day: Suns (10-8) @ Mavs (8-12), Mon, 2/1/2021

[In2ition]

You can feel however you want. I take it that in your eyes he needs to know his place in the world. I would push back slightly on this though, as he wasn't "guessing" and it wasn't just "one thing" he got right. He was the first to report that Devin was playing last night, so it's obviously more than one thing. Felix Cruz is a good dude, and I just don't think he should be slandered because you don't know who he is. He has his own contacts within the League office and knows quite a few people on the team and within the organization. He doesn't go out attacking people or knowingly put out misinformation for the sake of fame or notoriety, so I don't understand the vitriol for him. It would be like if any one of us had this information and gave it out to our fellow Suns fans. He has to keep things he knows close to the vest at times and keep his own sources quiet.

Flex definitely has a connection...though I think it was more on the Chris Paul side than the team side...more specifically Chris Paul’s agent side. He’s a little too all is well and Phoenix can do no wrong, but he’s alright.

I didn’t say he’s a bad person. He’s a cornball with an ego. “First to report”- it was clear that Book was set to return as soon as they made him questionable. Talk about a captain obvious prediction

Ya didn’t mean to imply you thought he was a bad person. I think he had some real insider info and cashed in on it once and is trying to keep that going.

Sorry, In2 said “he’s a good dude.”

I would agree with you.

I don’t like how he talks down to Twitter followers and tells them to stay calm and patient and blah blah like he is above them. I had to unfollow him.

Yes, I didn't say that to mean you said he was a "bad guy", just talking about him, I think his heart is in the right place. I think you would agree with him about some things. Even in the summer time before the draft and FA, he thought that Oubre was in it for himself and wasn't being genuine about his love for the team or the team's love for him. I think a few of them saw through his schtick and not passing was a problem. He tries to stay positive about the Suns, and maybe that rubs people the wrong way. Him telling people to "stay calm and be patient", doesn't rub me as him talking down to people. I can see how that bothers you though.

[O_Gardino]

Devin looked a lot more focused out there tonight. I like aggressive Booker. Need to start getting his offense going more. Great shot to win it. Classic Booker

Booker looked more focused and engaged than the last 4 games, for sure. Pretty non existent until tonight.

Post of the thread.

[O_Gardino]

We've all been celebrating the win, breathing a sigh of relief, however u wanna put it but just checking the Mavs perspective and didn't realize that they are all harping on the fact that they had a foul to give and that was the main discussion in the timeout.....
Smh
League wide problem for players/coaches ?

I think it's pretty rare that a team has a foul to give at the end of the game. In our case against Denver and the Mavs against us, I just don't see a lot of opportunity to foul without the ball handler getting a shot up. I'd rather force a tough shot than give up FTs in that situation.

[O_Gardino]

What a relief to win a game in which so many guys played so poorly. Booker got better on both ends of the floor as the game went on, and CP3 had one of the better games of his career.

As other said, I think we still need to find the balance of letting CP3/Book create and running our sets with passing, screening, and cutting. Cam and Mikal play better when they are not just standing in the corner waiting for the ball. Getting back Saric and Payne will help a lot.

You could look at the box score and think that the guards ignored Ayton despite a good game. It really hurts the offense when the guys try to feed DA and he's just not ready. It's just so easy to get a hand on the ball while he waits for it to land in his hands. Very frustrating to watch.

I've been pretty relaxed about the refs over the last decade. The Suns stunk and didn't need any excuses. But this season, even in the wins, it's unbelievable how many terrible calls go against us. I'm really fucking pissed about it.

[O_Gardino]

Also meant to say that we aren't seeing that Doncic smile this season. He looks tired and frustrated. I get some joy out of knowing that even with the help of the refs he's not having fun.

[specialsauce]

Flex definitely has a connection...though I think it was more on the Chris Paul side than the team side...more specifically Chris Paul’s agent side. He’s a little too all is well and Phoenix can do no wrong, but he’s alright.

I didn’t say he’s a bad person. He’s a cornball with an ego. “First to report”- it was clear that Book was set to return as soon as they made him questionable. Talk about a captain obvious prediction

Ya didn’t mean to imply you thought he was a bad person. I think he had some real insider info and cashed in on it once and is trying to keep that going.

Sorry, In2 said “he’s a good dude.”

I would agree with you.

I don’t like how he talks down to Twitter followers and tells them to stay calm and patient and blah blah like he is above them. I had to unfollow him.

Yes, I didn't say that to mean you said he was a "bad guy", just talking about him, I think his heart is in the right place. I think you would agree with him about some things. Even in the summer time before the draft and FA, he thought that Oubre was in it for himself and wasn't being genuine about his love for the team or the team's love for him. I think a few of them saw through his schtick and not passing was a problem. He tries to stay positive about the Suns, and maybe that rubs people the wrong way. Him telling people to "stay calm and be patient", doesn't rub me as him talking down to people. I can see how that bothers you though.

Fair. His takes aren’t wrong, but the manner in which he talks to people does bother me, so I had to unfollow him. I’m not one to troll people on Twitter other than Martha McSally (shocking), I’ll just unfollow if I don’t have interest.

[specialsauce]

Also meant to say that we aren't seeing that Doncic smile this season. He looks tired and frustrated. I get some joy out of knowing that even with the help of the refs he's not having fun.

Yes. Overrated prick

[In2ition]

I didn’t say he’s a bad person. He’s a cornball with an ego. “First to report”- it was clear that Book was set to return as soon as they made him questionable. Talk about a captain obvious prediction

Ya didn’t mean to imply you thought he was a bad person. I think he had some real insider info and cashed in on it once and is trying to keep that going.

Sorry, In2 said “he’s a good dude.”

I would agree with you.

I don’t like how he talks down to Twitter followers and tells them to stay calm and patient and blah blah like he is above them. I had to unfollow him.

Yes, I didn't say that to mean you said he was a "bad guy", just talking about him, I think his heart is in the right place. I think you would agree with him about some things. Even in the summer time before the draft and FA, he thought that Oubre was in it for himself and wasn't being genuine about his love for the team or the team's love for him. I think a few of them saw through his schtick and not passing was a problem. He tries to stay positive about the Suns, and maybe that rubs people the wrong way. Him telling people to "stay calm and be patient", doesn't rub me as him talking down to people. I can see how that bothers you though.

Fair. His takes aren’t wrong, but the manner in which he talks to people does bother me, so I had to unfollow him. I’m not one to troll people on Twitter other than Martha McSally (shocking), I’ll just unfollow if I don’t have interest.

LOL, totally warranted I'm sure.

[ShelC]

Also meant to say that we aren't seeing that Doncic smile this season. He looks tired and frustrated. I get some joy out of knowing that even with the help of the refs he's not having fun.

Yes. Overrated prick

I don't think he's overrated. I just don't think the roster is strong. Porzingis can't stay healthy and their next best guys are THJ and JRich who are streaky at best. Powell, Kleiber, DFS, Burke, James Johnson, WCS, Brunson are essentially middle of the bench guys asked to start or contribute more than they should. Luka and Carlisle are the reason they've even been competitive.

[specialsauce]

If he didn’t get the privileged whistle, he would be an average player at best. Shooting 12 FTs or whatever it is per game and then having to have defenses completely let off him for fear of fouling has elevated him way beyond his actual talent level. Complete gimmick. Might as well be the WWE fabricating their next star.

[Indy]

If he didn’t get the privileged whistle, he would be an average player at best. Shooting 12 FTs or whatever it is per game and then having to have defenses completely let off him for fear of fouling has elevated him way beyond his actual talent level. Complete gimmick. Might as well be the WWE fabricating their next star.

That is silly. He isn't close to average on offense. He is probably a top 10 player on that side of the ball. And his FTA is about seven and a half a game this year. The same as Book last year.

[Mori Chu]

If he didn’t get the privileged whistle, he would be an average player at best. Shooting 12 FTs or whatever it is per game and then having to have defenses completely let off him for fear of fouling has elevated him way beyond his actual talent level. Complete gimmick. Might as well be the WWE fabricating their next star.

I don't think an objective observer who watches Doncic play would say this about him. He clearly has a lot of talent. He is great at driving to the hoop, absorbing contact and still finishing, passing, making big shots, scoring, and lots of other NBA skills. He's got flaws but he is clearly a top NBA talent, even without a friendly ref whistle. He gets a lot of those calls because he charges to the hoop and legitimately gets hacked and fouled, because he is really hard to stop. He may be a tad overrated, but he's still one of the very best young players in the NBA. Any team would love to have him. Saying he's a fabricated gimmick star is way underrating him and dismissing his sizeable talents.

[specialsauce]

You guys say the same tune about Harden, and you’re all wrong.

Defenses have to give these two an open lane and play basically no defense against them for fear of a bullshit foul call from their bitch ass antics. If you took that fear away, they’re just a couple of soft ass slow players who would get shut down easily. Especially Doncic, at least James is an elite shooter.

Their entire game is dependent on the whistle and defenses having to account for that by sagging on D and playing hesitant.

Also, his numbers are inflated as a product of him being so ball dominant and on a shit team. Westbrook 2.0
In that regard.

[INFORMER]

I love how if there is something about a player that irritates him, he is completely incapable of having a credible take about that player.

And let's be clear: Doncic is having a down year. He isn't in shape, his decision-making has been bad, and his shot has taken a step back.

Of course, that was the case a few weeks ago. His last 10 games he has been phenomenal.

[Furlanfufi]

And he acknowledges it's a down year for him. He said in an interview yesterday that he's not playing well, and asked how, with the numbers he put on, "my team is one of the last in the standings".
Only wish Ayton had this maturity.