Game Day: Suns (28-20) @ Hawks (20-27), Fri 2/2/24

[Superbone]

I'm going to call it right now. Young with a 30 footer in the last two seconds to beat us. (I've seen it before.)

Little did I know he’d be raining 30 footers all night long. No late game heroics required.

[Gladiator]

Suns only down by three, but that's two 33 point quarters they've given up.

Got to play better defense than that.

Couldn’t get a stop all night. We’re not going far playing like that.

I think this is the crux of our problem to solve. We are good to very good if our offense is clicking and everyone is keyed in and putting in on D - during the regular season.
Assuming we get there, the deficiencies we’ll need to make up on the defensive end when everyone is putting in full effort in the playoffs leave us with a near impossible tight rope to navigate. Basically, we have to play perfect offense which we have shown that we are not likely to hit that often.

[Superbone]

Suns only down by three, but that's two 33 point quarters they've given up.

Got to play better defense than that.

Couldn’t get a stop all night. We’re not going far playing like that.

I think this is the crux of our problem to solve. We are good to very good if our offense is clicking and everyone is keyed in and putting in on D - during the regular season.
Assuming we get there, the deficiencies we’ll need to make up on the defensive end when everyone is putting in full effort in the playoffs leave us with a near impossible tight rope to navigate. Basically, we have to play perfect offense which we have shown that we are not likely to hit that often.

If we could just play average defense, it would go a long way. And it is so frustrating when we finally do get a stop and then we can’t get the defensive rebound and they invariably score anyway on 2nd and 3rd attempts.

[ShelC]

Postgame Quotes and Videos

Spoiler: show/hide

[ShelC]

The team had no juice, maybe the road trip is catching up with them. The guys were out there playing, but everyone seemed flat. The Hawks had more pop. Same issues as always with TOs , 16 to their 9. Hawks made three more 3s than us and we lost by 9 so the math is mathing there. It's not that I'm overly concerned about this loss in particular, it's that we don't seem to be making progress anywhere. We've had a good stretch of games lately that we've won, but it still doesn't feel like things have clicked. We still don't really have an identity or seem great at anything. We know Book and KD can score but we're not overpowering teams with our offense or locking down defensively when we need to. We don't have any hustle players who can change a game with their energy or defense. And while the point guard position doesn't seem to be a priority for the org, it does feel like we're missing an organizer and steady ballhandler at certain points in the game.

[In2ition]

If Beal just had an average game, the Suns win.

[Democritus]

If Beal just had an average game, the Suns win.

I was waiting for someone to tell the truth. Thank you!

[ShelC]

The truth is that we gave up 129 points to the Hawks with multiple defensive breakdowns. That shouldn't be acceptable.

[TOO]

The truth is that we gave up 129 points to the Hawks with multiple defensive breakdowns. That shouldn't be acceptable.

This. The team doesn't defend well at all.

[In2ition]

Yes, there were a lot of things that caused the loss, and many things by themselves would have turned it to a win. It was a bad game all around

[Democritus]

The Hawks are 3th in scoring points. Saying we should stop them is easier than done. Just like with Indiana, most of the nights you have to outscore them. We are not a defensive team period. A team with Beal, Book and KD cannot be defensive team.

[Cap]

The Hawks are 3th in scoring points. Saying we should stop them is easier than done. Just like with Indiana, most of the nights you have to outscore them. We are not a defensive team period. A team with Beal, Book and KD cannot be defensive team.

Then it cannot be a championship team.

[The Bobster]

Shades of 7 second or less, without the fun.

You don't win without some defense, no matter how high octane your offense is, and this offense has been less than the sum of its parts, especially late in games.

Put those two issues together and it doesn't bode well for any postseason success.

[Mori Chu]

The Hawks are 3th in scoring points. Saying we should stop them is easier than done. Just like with Indiana, most of the nights you have to outscore them. We are not a defensive team period. A team with Beal, Book and KD cannot be defensive team.

Then it cannot be a championship team.

I think that's the long and short of it. This is a pretty darn good team, but the suboptimal mix of top players (including the lack of a facilitator on offense) means we don't get the most out of our talent. And we have optimized heavily for offense at the expense of defense, meaning that if we don't grossly outscore our opponents, they just come back in the 4th and beat us. I don't think a team that is this repeatedly bad defensively can be a true title contender. I like at least 5-6 teams better to win the title than the Suns at this point. We've improved a fair amount since the low point of the season, but we still aren't close to where we need to be.

[The Bobster]

The Suns have somewhat painted themselves into a corner personel-wise, they desperately need another big body who can contribute with consistancy, and a point guard who can help with the ball security. The problem is if they acquire a point guard who can play minutes at crunch time it forces them to play Booker at SF, since Beal isn't going where with his no-trade clause.

The reports that their main interest is requiring a swingman is puzzling because they seem to have much bigger needs elsewhere.

[Split T]

I'm curious why so many still think we need a pg. Again we have a 130 offensive rating with our starting lineup…Do we realize how good that is? It’s best offense of all time good and it’s not close.

We need a swing because we have 6 playable guys right now and 4 are guards. We need an option that doesn’t make us tiny when Nurk is played off the floor. We also need a reliable backup for KD and Nurk.

[Mori Chu]

Maybe the talk about wanting a swingman is smoke so we aren't openly admitting we are desperate for a PF/big and undermine ourselves in negotiations.

[Split T]

I think we’re getting Bridges

[ShelC]

I'm curious why so many still think we need a pg. Again we have a 130 offensive rating with our starting lineup…Do we realize how good that is? It’s best offense of all time good and it’s not close.

We need a swing because we have 6 playable guys right now and 4 are guards. We need an option that doesn’t make us tiny when Nurk is played off the floor. We also need a reliable backup for KD and Nurk.

It's not necessarily about the starting lineup tho. I wouldn't trade for a PG looking for him to start, but to steady the bench unit and get better quality shots for KD and Beal when Book sits. I'd also maybe look for that someone to possibly close some games when the pressure defense pops up. Tyus Jones might go a long way in that regard but also maybe a vet like Patty Mills.

[Split T]

I get that…I still think we’re better off having Beal/KD figure that role out though. If we add a pg, who’s minutes are they taking? It would take minutes from other guys already in our top 6. And a guy like Tyus Jones is only acquireable if we trade Grayson. Is that what we want to do?