Suns News: Week 15 2/2-2/8

[carey]

Our record long home stand ended with a 6-2 record. Not to shabby. We promptly celebrated by laying a giant turd on the road in San Francisco. Bummer. This week we face Memphis again (ugh), Portland who will be looking for revenge, and two bottom feeders in Utah and Sacramento. I'd settle for 2-2 but 3-1 would be better. If we go 3-1 this week and then take care of Houston at home the following Tuesday we can enter the All-Star break with a 32-22 record. I'd like our chances at making the playoffs a lot more if that were to happen.

Last Week.
January 28th vs. Washington WIN 106-98
January 30th vs. Chicago WIN 99-93
January 31st @ Golden State LOSS 106-87

This Week.
Monday, February 2nd vs. Memphis 9:00PM EST
Thursday, February 5th @ Portland 10:30PM EST
Friday, February 6th vs. Utah 9:00PM EST
Sunday, February 8th @ Sacramento 9:00PM EST

Suns News.
Suns recall Bullock & Goodwin after strong weekend with the Jam: LINK
Dave King has some potential trade targets prior to the deadline: LINK
Suns face tall task versus Grizzlies: LINK

[Mori Chu]

Not to be a Debbie Downer but I doubt we come out of this next 5-game stretch with a 4-1 record. But here's hoping!

[Sunsfan4life]

Im fine with a 3-2 wk. We're underdogs vs grizz,blazers n Rockets n the jazz have been playing extremly well recently

[Shabazz]

13 standouts you won't see in the NBA All-Star Game

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2015/2/3/79 ... stars-2015

4. MARKIEFF MORRIS

What LaMarcus Aldridge is to the Blazers, Markieff Morris is to the Suns. Morris isn't as good as Aldridge and the Suns' half-court offense isn't as pretty as the Blazers', but both players are essential hubs of their teams' attack. Without them, their teams have no balance.

Like Aldridge, Morris occasionally takes too many jumpers, but it serves a purpose. Phoenix needs the bailout option of him in the mid post sizing up his defender; otherwise, the half-court offense becomes even more predictable than it already is. Like Aldridge, Morris is versatile: he can run pick and pop and he has great touch on shots from all sorts of distances, especially on those tricky attempts in between the mid-range and the basket.

[ Image ]

Few options are better than Morris isolated in the mid-post against anyone, be it a smaller or bigger defender. Only one big man (Dirk Nowitzki) is more efficient on isolations than Morris, per Synergy Sports Technology.** Morris is a decent shooter off the catch (46.5 percent), but he's even better when he dribbles once (53.4 percent) and twice (51.8), per SportVU data. And because he can convert so many different kinds of shots, he also doesn't turn the ball over much.

That's critical in late-game and late-clock situation, where Morris thrives. There's no way to gameplan for shots like these.

[ Image ]

Like Aldridge, Morris is an excellent defender that still has room to grow. He's capable of switching onto smaller players, but possesses the length to go toe to toe with bigger ones. He's just as able to clamp Dirk Nowitzki's space...

[ Image ]
... as he is Monta Ellis'.

[ Image ]
Eric Bledsoe, Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas drive Phoenix's attack, but Morris makes the biggest impact on the team's success. The Suns outscore teams by nearly nine points per 100 possessions when he's in and get beat by nearly seven per 100 possessions when he's out, per NBA.com. He's the hub of their offense and one of the key cogs of their defense. At $8 million a season, he is one of the league's biggest bargains.

[ShelC]

I just don't see it with Markeiff.

[Indy]

I see what they are saying in there, and despite my disagreements about his defense, I think it is pretty close. The problem is, he doesn't fit right for us. If we could run 2004 Shawn Marion at the 3, and Len at the 5, then sure I think he could fit. But if he is your best or 2nd best player, you aren't going to be great.

[INFORMER]

The Suns outscore teams by nearly nine points per 100 possessions when he's in and get beat by nearly seven per 100 possessions when he's out, per NBA.com.

Who plays power forward when he isn't in there?! Anthony Tolliver? Marcus?! Tucker? Green?

Context.

[INFORMER]

In regards to the other name son that list, I'm not sure Jrue Holiday even belongs on that list; I think the Hornets are better with Tyreke Evans running the point.

And Danny Green is ranked too low.

[Shabazz]

The Suns outscore teams by nearly nine points per 100 possessions when he's in and get beat by nearly seven per 100 possessions when he's out, per NBA.com.

Who plays power forward when he isn't in there?! Anthony Tolliver? Marcus?! Tucker? Green?

Context.

You're looking for context for the second half of the sentence while ignoring the first.

[INFORMER]

The Suns outscore teams by nearly nine points per 100 possessions when he's in and get beat by nearly seven per 100 possessions when he's out, per NBA.com.

Who plays power forward when he isn't in there?! Anthony Tolliver? Marcus?! Tucker? Green?

Context.

You're looking for context for the second half of the sentence while ignoring the first.

No, I'm not, because the first part doesn't tell me anything about Markieff Morris. When Markieff is in the game, he is usually with very potent offensive weapons. So I don't think someone can say, "Hey, you know how awesome Markieff Morris is? The Suns outscore their opponents by 9 when he's on the court."

[Indy]

That's true, INF, but that argument negates what you posted before. If it doesn't matter who is playing PF when he isn't in there, why ask who is?

In the end, it is a comparison of the team with and without Keef on the floor. Simple as that.

[Cap]

Yeah. Point is we're much better with him on the floor than without him. That's a testament partly to his effectiveness, and partly to the utter ineffectiveness of his backups at PF.

That's all these net plus-minuses do, they compare you to your backups at the same position.

[Mori Chu]

I actually like Markieff and don't think he is the problem. The lack of ball movement and ridiculous 3-PG system is the problem IMO. Morris is perfectly good enough to be the starting PF on a title team. He doesn't even have to be "our best guy" or "second-best guy" or whatever. He's getting paid a paltry $8m a year; for that price, as long as he gives us starter-quality performance, he's worth it.

The problem is our guard rotation. We start two guards who are not successful together. One (Bledsoe) claims to be the PG but makes poor decisions about managing the game, turns it over too much, and isn't a good enough shooter. The other (Dragic) is a much truer PG but is inexplicably being used at SG, where he seems bored and underutilized out there. This worked last year when Bledsoe was injured or when Bledsoe would exit the game early, allowing Dragic to slide to PG and run the team at the end of the 1st and 3rd quarters. They don't do that any more. And then when either of the aforementioned guards sits, we bring in two me-first chuckers off the bench in IT and G.Green who just look for their own shot almost 100% of the time. Doesn't help that neither of the bench guards play much defense.

It's toxic and leads to a team philosophy of one-on-one ballhogging and getting up your own shots at the expense of the team. The only times I get really excited are during brief spurts where the guys seem to remember how to pass and actually involve each other. But it's too rare, too few and far between. I also wish they would run the pick and roll a LOT more than they do now. They just don't seem to do it much, and when they do, they seem to misunderstand how it works. Can't they practice this simple but effective play?

I would much rather see a traditional single-PG system with Dragic, paired with a rugged 3-and-D shooting guard like say Aron Afflalo or similar. Keep a guy like Tucker as your SF; I can live with him as long as he is told NEVER to bring the ball up the floor. Dump Bledsoe and one of IT/Green; you can live with one chucker off the bench but not two. I'd prefer to dump IT and let Ennis have some minutes at backup PG. Then you have a Dragic/Ennis PG rotation, two guys who actually share the ball. It'd be contagious. I'd love it if this team had a rotation that was something like:

PG: Dragic/Ennis
SG: Afflalo/Green/Goodwin
SF: Tucker/MarcusMorris/Warren
PF: MarkieffMorris/Wright
C: Len/Plumlee/Wright

Don't think that team is flawless but I like its guard rotation and feel a lot better than what we are trotting out now. Another guy I'd be fine with at starting SG would be Avery Bradley, if Afflalo were totally unattainable.

[Mori Chu]

One more thing. I know there are several folks here saying we should "blow it up" and trade almost everybody on the roster. I agree that we need some changes, but I'd prefer tweaks. My counterargument would be that we seem like a roughly 50-win team each year, and that is pretty impressive. And we should only get better the next few years.

Everybody talks about how loaded the West is, but really about 2-3 of those good teams are due to drop out of the playoffs in the next 1-3 years. The Spurs, Mavs, and maybe even Thunder seem to me like teams that aren't going to be near the top for much longer due to age and/or roster upheaval. And I don't see a ton of new young teams taking their places. The Pelicans, and our Suns, that's about it. If we keep this team together, we're going to be making the playoffs every year and learning from that experience. I suspect we can have a slow growth where we are the 8 seed one year, the 6 seed the next, the 4-5 the next, and so on. I don't think this team is going to be mired in mediocrity forever so long as we make the right tweaks.

[OE32]

This Week.
Monday, February 2nd vs. Memphis 9:00PM EST
Thursday, February 5th @ Portland 10:30PM EST
Friday, February 6th vs. Utah 9:00PM EST
Sunday, February 8th @ Sacramento 9:00PM EST

That Utah game scares me. Screams let down.

[Indy]

My counterargument would be that we seem like a roughly 50-win team each year, and that is pretty impressive.

But it isn't. It puts us middle of the pack, not middle of the competing pack. That is average, not impressive.

And we should only get better the next few years.

What about this current roster tells you we will be better? Are you just hoping the guys start getting smarter?

[Indy]

So there is a rumor floating around that HIbbert is being shopped and we are on the short list of interested teams, trading away Goran.

Not sure if it has any merit, or maybe a little, or even a lot, but here it is.

[Superbone]

This Week.
Monday, February 2nd vs. Memphis 9:00PM EST
Thursday, February 5th @ Portland 10:30PM EST
Friday, February 6th vs. Utah 9:00PM EST
Sunday, February 8th @ Sacramento 9:00PM EST

That Utah game scares me. Screams let down.

This team can't afford a let down.

[carey]

Makes no sense for us to move Goran for Hibbert.

[Indy]

Makes no sense for us to move Goran for Hibbert.

Depends on if we think he is as good as gone anyway.