Game Day: Mavericks (0-0) @ Suns (0-0), Wed 12/23/20

[Furlanfufi]

For me it's 16 years since Sose's site. It's great to have a place like here.

[INFORMER]

Haven't been impressed with CP so far.

Crunch time is where he's a difference maker. He's already paying dividends.

That's a very expensive steal and close range jumper combo.

Sometimes you've got to pay top dollar to put yourself over the top. It's the little things he does that makes a difference. He's also teaching the other guys what it takes to be a winner. He probably won't have super impressive stats this year but it's not always about that. He's also a veteran who's going to improve with his new teammates as the season wears on.

It's just one game, and I think he is just rusty and not in the best shape, but the Mavs were awful and Coach Paul is one of the reasons they stayed within striking distance.

The narrative around Chris Paul's winning acumen is a little rich. He was a key facilitator of the underachieving, petulant Clipper culture for years. I think his first year in Houston, he truly elevated the team, but year two was very lackluster, and he was again complicit in that team not being able to defeat an injured Warriors squad. His work with the Thunder last year was unquestionably impressive though.

[specialsauce]

I just want Paul to be a steady consistent hand at the PG spot and place CJ Bridges and DA In positions to succeed. Not looking for him to be #2 to DBook, that’s not what we need from him.

[INFORMER]

Booker won’t have many more 8 turnover games.

Probably not, but he has started to show hints of trending towards the Harden Turnover Factory mode. It would really help if he could keep it in the 2-4 range, with 4 being his bad nights. But nights where he turns it over 5 or more times, that really helps the opposition.

[INFORMER]

Oh I didn't talk about Stix, like most said definitely was nervous but some decent stuff from him. As a small ball 5 might be worth looking at
Have to take a big L for predicting Jones to be solid lol but next game is Kings and we can't throw Stix against Whiteside so quick chance at redemption is coming.....

Yeah, Stix box score won't jump out at you, but he was solid and kind of steadied the ship at the 5 with the way Jones and Ayton were playing in the first half. I loved his fast break finish.

[INFORMER]

* Saric: where does he fit in? Someone's going to lose minutes. Hope it's not Cam or Smith (for entirely different reasons). Jones will lose his (thank goodness). But, if it's Crowder, why did we pay him so much? In truth, Jones and Crowder deserve less minutes. Smith deserves some time to develop. Cam is making huge strides, and that no look pass was jaw dropping. Unlike Crowder, Cam has great shooting and create a little for himself, and may be on the verge of becoming someone who creates well for others.

If Saric was available against the Mavs, we would have seen him at the 5, and probably wouldn't have seen much of Jones or Stix. I think the minutes will eventually go to whoever is playing well, once Monty can get past guys' reputations.

But, if it's Crowder, why did we pay him so much?

Because Jones struggles at accurate valuation. He loves guys that the image of his career, and he is willing to give up premium resources to get them here.

Crowder made Booker happy, so there is some value in that. But as Houston is showing, you can give a star whatever he wants, but if it doesn't lead to contention, it ultimately means nothing.

[rhylek]

I think it's a matter of time and success. We were a "I don't wanna be here" team, now we're quickly becoming a "I want to be here" team. With success, we'll be a "I want to be here and take a discount if needed", just like the spurs were in the past.

[Mori Chu]

Wasn’t the purpose of the rebel avatars for a reason other than moving to Sose’s phxsuns.net? Was it somehow related to Mori’s inappropriate avatar somehow? I don’t remember the details. Wasn’t it about the threat of litigation from the Suns and Mori’s avatar set it off? It’s starting to come back to me. When does the history of phx-suns.net book come out, anyway? Bobster? Anyone?

I thought the rebel avatars were not related to my dildo picture scandal. Honestly I don't think many users of the site were on my "side" in that one. Folks were worried that I was putting the site in jeopardy since the team threatened the site owner, Sose, in response to my avatar picture. I had to change it quickly.

[Superbone]

Wasn’t the purpose of the rebel avatars for a reason other than moving to Sose’s phxsuns.net? Was it somehow related to Mori’s inappropriate avatar somehow? I don’t remember the details. Wasn’t it about the threat of litigation from the Suns and Mori’s avatar set it off? It’s starting to come back to me. When does the history of phx-suns.net book come out, anyway? Bobster? Anyone?

I thought the rebel avatars were not related to my dildo picture scandal. Honestly I don't think many users of the site were on my "side" in that one. Folks were worried that I was putting the site in jeopardy since the team threatened the site owner, Sose, in response to my avatar picture. I had to change it quickly.

I think it was that the Suns' lawyers were worried that the site would be associated with the Suns and that avatar put it over the top. We were no longer allowed to have Suns avatars and those rebel avatars were the result of that. Eventually they loosened the standards as long as we kept them appropriate.

[Nodack]

* Saric: where does he fit in? Someone's going to lose minutes. Hope it's not Cam or Smith (for entirely different reasons). Jones will lose his (thank goodness). But, if it's Crowder, why did we pay him so much? In truth, Jones and Crowder deserve less minutes. Smith deserves some time to develop. Cam is making huge strides, and that no look pass was jaw dropping. Unlike Crowder, Cam has great shooting and create a little for himself, and may be on the verge of becoming someone who creates well for others.

If Saric was available against the Mavs, we would have seen him at the 5, and probably wouldn't have seen much of Jones or Stix. I think the minutes will eventually go to whoever is playing well, once Monty can get past guys' reputations.

But, if it's Crowder, why did we pay him so much?

Because Jones struggles at accurate valuation. He loves guys that the image of his career, and he is willing to give up premium resources to get them here.

Crowder made Booker happy, so there is some value in that. But as Houston is showing, you can give a star whatever he wants, but if it doesn't lead to contention, it ultimately means nothing.

Crowder is also a veteran who was a starter who played playoff basketball last year and veteran leadership is also a commodity for a young team such as the Suns. Crowder isn’t just there for leadership. He knows how to play and will have big games for us I suspect.

[Indy]

Wasn’t the purpose of the rebel avatars for a reason other than moving to Sose’s phxsuns.net? Was it somehow related to Mori’s inappropriate avatar somehow? I don’t remember the details. Wasn’t it about the threat of litigation from the Suns and Mori’s avatar set it off? It’s starting to come back to me. When does the history of phx-suns.net book come out, anyway? Bobster? Anyone?

That is exactly what it was. fun times. I doubt sose has forgiven marty for that yet.

[Indy]

Who had Jalen Smith to the FT line before Ayton?

The entire world.

[Indy]

So happy with Mikal’s production so far. If he can average 16-18 consistently this season, you better watch out!

I think it is going to go like this first 2 games. 15-20 half the nights, 5-10 others.

[Indy]

SportsCenter Highlights:

Doncic missed shots
Booker layup
Doncic possible ankle turn
Doncic floater
Chris Paul midrange jumper
Doncic fancy pass
Doncic spin move on Bridges and layup
Doncic shot over Booker plus bogus foul
Doncic floater over Coach Paul
Doncic missed 3 with a minute to go
Booker nail-in-the-coffin midrange jumper

Suns win

Doncic is a media darling. That's for sure.

For good reason. He is a generational talent.

[Indy]

Booker won’t have many more 8 turnover games.
Paul won’t shoot 3/9 very often.
Ayton won’t play only 24 minutes very often.

Our 3 best players had weird games. I feel pretty good still.

[Indy]

Here's to both Mori and Marty. You are the co-mvp's!

This makes him "Professor Moriarty" in my mind from now on, and I have to always assume there is a sinister plan in development.

[Indy]

Wasn’t the purpose of the rebel avatars for a reason other than moving to Sose’s phxsuns.net? Was it somehow related to Mori’s inappropriate avatar somehow? I don’t remember the details. Wasn’t it about the threat of litigation from the Suns and Mori’s avatar set it off? It’s starting to come back to me. When does the history of phx-suns.net book come out, anyway? Bobster? Anyone?

I thought the rebel avatars were not related to my dildo picture scandal. Honestly I don't think many users of the site were on my "side" in that one. Folks were worried that I was putting the site in jeopardy since the team threatened the site owner, Sose, in response to my avatar picture. I had to change it quickly.

I think it was that the Suns' lawyers were worried that the site would be associated with the Suns and that avatar put it over the top. We were no longer allowed to have Suns avatars and those rebel avatars were the result of that. Eventually they loosened the standards as long as we kept them appropriate.

Yeah, it brought attention to the site, then the banner and avatars gave them some ground to threaten Sose. I think he sat down and met with them at one point. I sent a letter to them and their chief legal counsel called me to talk about it. I assume the meeting Sose had got them to calm down, because in my phone call they agreed that they didn't care anymore if we used avatars and posted pictures from the games, but still didn't want us to use an official logo as the site header (but used terms like 'strongly prefer' instead of 'prohibited').

[Split T]

Booker won’t have many more 8 turnover games.
Paul won’t shoot 3/9 very often.
Ayton won’t play only 24 minutes very often.

Our 3 best players had weird games. I feel pretty good still.

He only had 7, so I’m still right, haha

[Indy]

silver linings!

[Superbone]

Wasn’t the purpose of the rebel avatars for a reason other than moving to Sose’s phxsuns.net? Was it somehow related to Mori’s inappropriate avatar somehow? I don’t remember the details. Wasn’t it about the threat of litigation from the Suns and Mori’s avatar set it off? It’s starting to come back to me. When does the history of phx-suns.net book come out, anyway? Bobster? Anyone?

I thought the rebel avatars were not related to my dildo picture scandal. Honestly I don't think many users of the site were on my "side" in that one. Folks were worried that I was putting the site in jeopardy since the team threatened the site owner, Sose, in response to my avatar picture. I had to change it quickly.

I think it was that the Suns' lawyers were worried that the site would be associated with the Suns and that avatar put it over the top. We were no longer allowed to have Suns avatars and those rebel avatars were the result of that. Eventually they loosened the standards as long as we kept them appropriate.

Yeah, it brought attention to the site, then the banner and avatars gave them some ground to threaten Sose. I think he sat down and met with them at one point. I sent a letter to them and their chief legal counsel called me to talk about it. I assume the meeting Sose had got them to calm down, because in my phone call they agreed that they didn't care anymore if we used avatars and posted pictures from the games, but still didn't want us to use an official logo as the site header (but used terms like 'strongly prefer' instead of 'prohibited').

Thanks for filling that in. I remember we even got some vouchers to go to a game.