Suns News: Week 5 1/18-1/24

[carey]

What a strange week for Suns basketball. This is just going to be a really weird season with entire weeks being lost for some teams due to either actual COVID diagnoses or contact tracing. I applaud the NBA's efforts but this has gotten super messy, very quickly. As for the Suns themselves, well... they are in a bit of a funk. The starting line up has legitimate issues on the offensive end. Devin Booker hasn't played like himself all season. We all think he'll figure it out at some point but I think I speak for all of us by saying the sooner the better, please. We don't lose that game last night if he doesn't have his worse shooting game in 3 years.

Last Week's Games

@ Washington Loss 128-107

This Week's Games

Monday, Jan. 18th @ Memphis LOSS 108-104
Wednesday, Jan. 20th @ Houston 9:30 PM EST ESPN
Friday, Jan. 22nd vs. Denver 10:00 PM EST ESPN
Saturday, Jan. 23rd vs. Denver 9:00 PM EST

Suns Stories

Suns controlling what they can after postponements during pandemic: https://arizonasports.com/story/2510858 ... -pandemic/

Aggressive Deandre Ayton not enough for Suns to beat Grizzlies: https://arizonasports.com/story/2511461 ... grizzlies/

Center of the Sun: Suns ready to get back to business after a week of inaction due to COVID protocols - https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2021 ... -protocols

[Indy]

Now I know why the NBA didn't release the 2nd half schedule. They knew they would have a ton of PPD (or at least planned for it).

[Mori Chu]

I hope Jalen Smith comes back soon. Missing Saric and Smith has left our frontcourt rotation pretty sparse. It would be nice to see our rook get some minutes and learn what he can do.

[Superbone]

Now I know why the NBA didn't release the 2nd half schedule. They knew they would have a ton of PPD (or at least planned for it).

Makes a lot of sense.

[Danimal]

‘Suns controlling what they can control” is a pretty funny headline. They just pissed away an easy part of their schedule. Wizards were without a bunch of players.

I think this team is struggling to deal with expectations. They are not used to it. No one expected anything of them in the bubble and they kicked ass. Booker was always the young star who just needed better players around him. There wasn’t serious pressure on winning. Now they play tight.

Monty and Paul need to lift in terms of leadership. That is what he was heralded for

[ShelC]

I don't think it's expectations weighing on them. I just don't see a lot of flow or chemistry yet with Paul. Jae is a roleplayer who fits mostly anywhere but Paul has really been a drag overdribbling and not looking for his shot. He's been bogging things down more than anything IMO.

[specialsauce]

I need Monty to tell Paul he cannot dribble at the top of the key for 10 seconds and shoot a contested mid ranger. It completely kills the flow.

[O_Gardino]

Yeah, the team just isn't good with Paul on the floor. Booker hasn't been good, either.

[Superbone]

‘Suns controlling what they can control” is a pretty funny headline. They just pissed away an easy part of their schedule. Wizards were without a bunch of players.

I think this team is struggling to deal with expectations. They are not used to it. No one expected anything of them in the bubble and they kicked ass. Booker was always the young star who just needed better players around him. There wasn’t serious pressure on winning. Now they play tight.

Monty and Paul need to lift in terms of leadership. That is what he was heralded for

I thought they were referring to Covid?

[Mori Chu]

I mean, would we really be worse off if we had kept Rubio, traded Oubre for a future pick, and started Cam? Could still sign a bench forward for shooting and depth. Rubio/Payne is a pretty decent PG rotation that doesn't break the offensive flow.

[O_Gardino]

I mean, would we really be worse off if we had kept Rubio, traded Oubre for a future pick, and started Cam? Could still sign a bench forward for shooting and depth. Rubio/Payne is a pretty decent PG rotation that doesn't break the offensive flow.

Not at this point. We might be better with DA having less adjustment to make and the cap space to throw at better free agents.

[Pips]

Booker would not be happy like he is now.

[Indy]

Booker would not be happy like he is now.

Is he happy with his or our performance?

[In2ition]

I just had a friend message me that Dave Pasch on the Doug & Wolf show this morning say that the Suns were shopping Ayton this past summer. Did anyone else happen to hear that?

It was replayed on the mid day show too.

[ShelC]

Yea came to post this...if true, not surprising at all TBH. We've seen the kind of players Jones targets and DA just doesn't seem to be it. Not a bad guy or a bad player, but doesn't fit the mold. And he didnt exactly endear himself to anyone missing the covid test in the bubble and then playing like garbage the rest of the games. I do wonder who we targeted. Now an issue could be, does his value drop a bit if it looks like he plateaus or even regresses playing with CP (and a better team overall). He should be the one benefitting the most but, at best, looks like the same player he's been.

[specialsauce]

I mean, would we really be worse off if we had kept Rubio, traded Oubre for a future pick, and started Cam? Could still sign a bench forward for shooting and depth. Rubio/Payne is a pretty decent PG rotation that doesn't break the offensive flow.

I don’t like how CP3 has looked in our offense at all, but I don’t miss Ricky either. I wanted FVV or a cheaper temporary option that could reliably hit an open shot.

We’re not going anywhere with Ricky as our PG in crunch time. Just could not rely on his J, way too streaky.

[wpmiller42]

I'm still optimistic that Ayton is going to turn into a perennial All-Star, All-Defensive team type player. I think big guys need a few extra years in the league, and the right coach and situation. I think he has the right coach and situation and just needs the time. Honestly, the rules in the league favor offense and guards; it's understandable that he needs time to figure out his place in the league.

Unfortunately, Ayton was in the same draft as Doncic and he's always going to have an extra level of scrutiny because of it until he becomes a respectable force of his own.

[Oatmeal]

Jones seems to favor basketball junkies, Ayton definitely is not that.

[Indy]

Yea came to post this...if true, not surprising at all TBH. We've seen the kind of players Jones targets and DA just doesn't seem to be it. Not a bad guy or a bad player, but doesn't fit the mold. And he didnt exactly endear himself to anyone missing the covid test in the bubble and then playing like garbage the rest of the games. I do wonder who we targeted. Now an issue could be, does his value drop a bit if it looks like he plateaus or even regresses playing with CP (and a better team overall). He should be the one benefitting the most but, at best, looks like the same player he's been.

Not that surprising, but the real question is: Did it not go anywhere because Sarver didn't like the package, or because Jones didn't? Or both?

[ShelC]

Jones seems to favor basketball junkies, Ayton definitely is not that.

Exactly.