Game Day: Cavaliers (10-14) @ Suns (13-9), Mon 2/8/21

[bajanguy008]

Time: 7:00 pm AZ (6:00 pm PT/9:00 pm ET)
Place: PHX Arena, Phoenix, AZ
TV: FSAZ, NBALP

Well folks we are 2 for 2 in our 7 game homestand, next up a matchup against the Cavs. Since losing 3 straight and dropping to .500 at 8-8, Suns have gone 5-1 with contributions from different guys as we still manage our depleted roster. The Cavs are 1-4 in their last 5, Drummond is still a walking double double and Jarrett Allen is as solid as they come, add in their two young guards Sexton and Garland and I actually think they aren't too bad but their recent losses been all blowouts.

Think we have multiple guys getting in a decent rhythm at the moment, Avatar Bros, Book plus I find Frank and Moore contributions to be very steady right now. CP3 not on the tear he was week before but I don't worry about him and we all know every game is a roller coaster of frustration/appreciation when it comes to DA. So like he says, second game with fans in the house so you know It's gonna be Lit sigh

Go Suns!!!

Dis • cuss

[LazarusLong]

This should be a win, but Cleveland isn't a pushover.
A few keys: Make Sexton work for his shots, and don't be afraid to foul Drummond (60% FTs).

[ShelC]

Cavs have some nice young pieces but are still figuring it out and trying to put it together. Sexton or Garland can go off, Drum and Allen could really get off if DA doesn't show up. Those kinds of active, athletic bigs give him trouble. Nance was just put on IR for hand surgery so he'll be missing. Can't look past this team but hopefully we can put them away early. Book, Mikal, DA played 38-39 minutes yesterday so interested to see how they look.

[Mori Chu]

I feel like the "bad" teams in the league are pretty decent this season. The Cavs are bad, but they still have a decent amount of young talent and you can't sleep on them. The league has a lot of parity nowadays. Seems like a good thing, but it makes it hard to tell where your team stands at times.

Sexton is having himself a season. But he isn't my type of player. Still think he may be a good stats bad team guy. And Drummond is a total empty stats guy, way too much of an offensive liability.

[Superbone]

This should be a win, but Cleveland isn't a pushover.
A few keys: Make Sexton work for his shots, and don't be afraid to foul Drummond (60% FTs).

There are no "should"s for this team. We just have to continue the strong play.

[ShelC]

Also something to look for tonight, it looked like we were were running more of, or at least sticking to, last year's 0.5 offense and moved CP off the ball for more possessions while Book handled the ball more early on against the Celts. That led to more guys passing and cutting and better flow to the offense rather than it getting bogged down. Want to see if that keeps up and if so, can Paul become the 3pt threat we need in that role off the ball. He was 0-5 yesterday from 3 and doesn't look too comfortable right now in C+S situations. So that's an adjustment we need him to make and get better at.

[LazarusLong]

If Booker maintain the assist/TO ratio as he did against the Celtics, I'm all for it.

[specialsauce]

We gonna get our asssssss kicked

We gonna get our asssssss kicked

[O_Gardino]

Also something to look for tonight, it looked like we were were running more of, or at least sticking to, last year's 0.5 offense and moved CP off the ball for more possessions while Book handled the ball more early on against the Celts. That led to more guys passing and cutting and better flow to the offense rather than it getting bogged down. Want to see if that keeps up and if so, can Paul become the 3pt threat we need in that role off the ball. He was 0-5 yesterday from 3 and doesn't look too comfortable right now in C+S situations. So that's an adjustment we need him to make and get better at.

This is the most important thing I watch for.

[Nodack]

We gonna get our asssssss kicked

We gonna get our asssssss kicked

It worked last time. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Yes, we should win this game. These are exactly the kind of games we lose.

[Aztec Sunsfan]

They were talking about trapping defenses against CP3 and Booker, so that could also be a byproduct of teams denying the ball to Paul, and instead of forcing it, they are preferring to put it on Devin’s hands. Even if Paul is struggling with his 3pt shot, he still have a deadly mid range game, so teams have to respect it. We don’t need him to be a long range assassin, but to keep defenses honest as a prime ball handler capable to become a secondary handler as soon as Booker is getting trapped. We all saw past years, that having Booker as our only distributor was easily countered regardless of how many shooters we out next to him.

Booker under pressure can’t find the open man, he either forces the shot or gets in trouble, now he can use Paul (each other can as a matter of fact and we are seeing it more often) as a release valve and CP3 go find the open man (Books as a safety valve usually takes the first shot available, each on his own strengths) left by the help on Booker. No doubt they will get better at it, after breaking the muscle memory of doing it all by themselves.

[carey]

Ouch.

[Wally_West]

Probably no Chris Paul tonight.


BUT I HAVE GOOD VIBES ABOUT THIS, SUNS WIN!!!

[Indy]

This should be a win, but Cleveland isn't a pushover.
A few keys: Make Sexton work for his shots, and don't be afraid to foul Drummond (60% FTs).

Have you all seen the tweet that showed Sexton's and Book's stats on the year. They were nearly identical, but with Sexton scoring much more efficiently.


edit--here it is

[Indy]

Ouch.

If Paul and Payne are out, I am worried we see Book with 12934 TOs tonight. A third will be bad passes, a quarter will be dribbling into a double team, half will be offensive fouls, and 90% will be off of DA's hands.

[Wally_West]

Sexxxxton and Garland’s backcourt nickname is Sexland. Easily the best backcourt nickname out there.

[bajanguy008]

"much more efficiently" Indy ?

I know you're always focusing on Book's efficiency and he drives you crazy with the TOs at times but why does your post read like a criticism.
For me it's just a tip of the hat to yung fella Sexton because 50% from a SG is very very good. I'm also seeing .487 where I checked but that's neither here or there. Book shooting .474 is not inefficient in my books (Beal .473 and Steph .481), if you wanna say that Sexton shooting much better from 3pt is a shock to you or even a knock on Book well fair enough. I can agree that his 3pt misses leave me puzzled although this was always a key to his efficiency but it used to be off the dribble that was low % now he missing spot ups also.

Either way tho every time I look at Book's fg% I am surprised because there have been games when I felt like he was off, I think we might be all a lil guilty of harping on the 3pt misses but his overall shooting is the same avgs of around 54-55% from 2 and 47-48% overall. Yes is scoring is down a couple and like I said most of us on here feel the same way like Book been playing below or even well below his standard so just putting it out there that he isn't shooting as poorly as we think.

The assists are the big drop off from last season so hopefully last game is a sign that he might get back to that.
So yes we will see how the Point Book you so luv to see fares tonight

[Split T]

Sexton has always been a good scorer. He’s been getting ignored for being on a bad team like Booker did. Booker is a more complete player...though this year hasn’t been a great example so far.

[Indy]

bajan he is shooting 10% better from 3. (Oh, and I think that overall FG% was prior to their last game)

What surprised me as much as Sexton's efficiency was how much book's scoring, efficiency, rebounds, FTAs, FT%, and assists have dropped off this year, while actually increasing his TOs.

[Split T]

Just glanced at Book’s shooting splits...it’s just incredible how good he is shooting from all zones on the court...except from 3. If he ever figures out how to fix that, watch out.