Suns News: Week 14 1/14-1/20

[specialsauce]

Jackson is growing on me.

I just think Oubre is what Jackson is trying to get to, and I’d rather have the sure thing. They’re very similar players IMO.

And I’ll take the defense of Bridges over the offense of Warren.

[In2ition]

Jackson is growing on me.

I just think Oubre is what Jackson is trying to get to, and I’d rather have the sure thing. They’re very similar players IMO.

And I’ll take the defense of Bridges over the offense of Warren.

I agree that they are very similar. I would also agree that I take Bridges defense over Warren offense.

[ShelC]

Jackson can be a legit point forward. Moreso than any of the other guys because he's got the best handles. I think Bridges might be a much better player on a better team. Oubre might be the most complete player right now.

[Superbone]

I don't want to give up on Jackson now. He's shown improvement and he has the desire. Like EJ keeps saying, once he puts on some more muscle, watch out! He's still got a lot of potential.

[JeremyG]

Even if he makes mistakes, at least Jackson is aggressive. We need more players like that on our team. He was certainly a better pick at #4 than Bender was at #4!

[Shabazz]

Of all of our wings, Jackson is by far the best (or at least most willing) passer.

[Mori Chu]

I like all of the things that Jackson does well. But his vaunted defense hasn't really been consistent in the NBA, and his shooting is atrocious. I don't think his shot can be fixed; his form is just wrong and he doesn't seem able to fix it consistently.

I love having some playmaking from the 3 spot. But ultimately I think we need 3-and-D much more from that position to win. I want the ball in the hands of my (hypothetical future) PG, and Booker, and sometimes dishing it in to Ayton. I need the forwards to be good outside shooters to spread the floor, and I need the 3 and 4 to be great perimeter and interior defenders respectively. Josh Jackson is awful (ish) at 3s and only fair as a defender. Having him hog the ball doesn't really negate that. He also seems to become more shot-heavy when he gets more minutes and handles the ball more, which is bad because his shot is the worst thing about his game. So I don't think he scales up very well to a bigger role. He might be good for running the offense of the bench unit, but that's a pretty disappointing outcome for a #4 pick.

I think ultimately Josh Jackson is still a net negative and that we should probably trade him to get some asset in return for him while we still can. The fact that we have three other SFs ready to go tells you that Jackson is ultimately replaceable.

[specialsauce]

I don't want to give up on Jackson now. He's shown improvement and he has the desire. Like EJ keeps saying, once he puts on some more muscle, watch out! He's still got a lot of potential.

So who do you want to get rid of? Warren and Oubre? Warren and Bridges? Bridges and Oubre?

We can’t have them all. We have them all playing now and we blow. It doesn’t work.

Just like people didn’t want to give up on Archie, Alex, DJJ, Bender, Chriss, etc. You got to identify your pieces for the future and trade the rest while they have value to complete your team.

[TOO]

Warren is too much of a negative defensively and on the boards to be a long term starter here IMO, he's on a good deal, would help a playoff team immensely IMO, he can go. I think the only SF we are for sure keeping is Bridges, Jackson/Oubre are redundant and we might get rid of both if we end up drafting someone not named Zion. I think Jackson still offers a more well rounded skill set than Oubre, but I find Oubre to be more reliable. I'd still keep Jackson next year just because he wont cost an extension to keep. So I'd go with Bridges/Jackson and hope we can add a 1 and 4 in the offseason.

[Superbone]

I like all of the things that Jackson does well. But his vaunted defense hasn't really been consistent in the NBA, and his shooting is atrocious. I don't think his shot can be fixed; his form is just wrong and he doesn't seem able to fix it consistently.

His defense will get better as he puts on muscle and gets stronger. I disagree about his shot. I watch every game and it has improved. They used to be all over the place but now they're usually on line.

[Superbone]

I don't want to give up on Jackson now. He's shown improvement and he has the desire. Like EJ keeps saying, once he puts on some more muscle, watch out! He's still got a lot of potential.

So who do you want to get rid of? Warren and Oubre? Warren and Bridges? Bridges and Oubre?

We can’t have them all. We have them all playing now and we blow. It doesn’t work.

Just like people didn’t want to give up on Archie, Alex, DJJ, Bender, Chriss, etc. You got to identify your pieces for the future and trade the rest while they have value to complete your team.

I think we can keep Oubre, Jackson, and Bridges and make it work. Depending on opponent lineups, two can be on the court at the same time. We do need to work in a real PF though.

[specialsauce]

We’re never going to get better if we don’t improve the parts.

It’s like thinking your car will magically start running well by doing absolutely nothing to repair the broken parts. We can’t trot out 80% of the same rotation and expect a drastically different outcome. Even if they get traded and improve elsewhere, it won’t happen here. You just can’t have so many young players and expect them to develop into winners together.

[TOO]

We’re never going to get better if we don’t improve the parts.

It’s like thinking your car will magically start running well by doing absolutely nothing to repair the broken parts. We can’t trot out 80% of the same rotation and expect a drastically different outcome. Even if they get traded and improve elsewhere, it won’t happen here. You just can’t have so many young players and expect them to develop into winners together.

The thing is, there is no reason to think we can improve the parts. The people running the show have shown nothing to suggest we'll ever dig out of this hole. We had the chance to get the next great thing and we missed it, period. So we'll suffer til the next opportunity arises and we have to hope they don't blow it, again.

[BigLewy]

I love TJ as a player, and he's on a great deal, but it might be time to cash out on him while his value is at its peak. We simply have too many wings, and I love what Oubre has brought to the team, JJ seems to be improving, and Bridges is going to be an excellent starter. Warren and the Bucks pick should be able to bring in a decent return.

[INFORMER]

You just can’t have so many young players and expect them to develop into winners together.

Except that is exactly what OKC and Golden State did.

It isn't the youth; it is the talent, roster construction, and coaching.

[iLLmatic]

You just can’t have so many young players and expect them to develop into winners together.

Except that is exactly what OKC and Golden State did.

It isn't the youth; it is the talent, roster construction, and coaching.

Can we pin the second sentence on this board please? Frame it, pin it, make tshirts out of it.

[Superbone]

You just can’t have so many young players and expect them to develop into winners together.

Except that is exactly what OKC and Golden State did.

It isn't the youth; it is the talent, roster construction, and coaching.

A lot of that is true but they didn't start winning until they were older. If I remember correctly, Curry's team didn't start winning regularly until he was 5 or 6 years in the league.

[Superbone]

He also got an owner change and better management about that time. We won't be so lucky. Sarver never seems to learn from his mistakes and is doomed to repeat them over and over and over.

[djy2j]

So who do you want to get rid of? Warren and Oubre? Warren and Bridges? Bridges and Oubre?

We can’t have them all. We have them all playing now and we blow. It doesn’t work.

We can't? Surely you haven't forgotten the past 10 years. We are the Suns. We CAN and we WILL keep them all. We may even add more if we feel so inclined

[Indy]

You just can’t have so many young players and expect them to develop into winners together.

Except that is exactly what OKC and Golden State did.

It isn't the youth; it is the talent, roster construction, and coaching.

A lot of that is true but they didn't start winning until they were older. If I remember correctly, Curry's team didn't start winning regularly until he was 5 or 6 years in the league.

Curry's 4th season saw them win 47 games and make the 2nd round of the playoffs. And the only reason they sucked his 3rd year is because he missed most of it with his injury.


Curry
1st 26-56 (Don Neslon coach)
2nd 36-46 (Keith Smart coach)
3rd 23-43 (Mark Jackson hired, equivalent of 29 wins in 82 game season)
4th 47-35 (2nd round of playoffs)
5th 51-31 (1st round exit--Jackson fired)
6th 67-15 (Kerr hired, win championship)


Booker
1st 23-59 (fired Horny, hired Watson)
2nd 24-58 (full Watson year)
3rd 21-61 (fired Watson, Jay most of year)
4th 11-51 (hired Igor, on pace for 17 win season)