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

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

Post by 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
Go Suns!

Og Snus!

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

Post by 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).

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Mori Chu
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Re: Suns News: Week 5 1/18-1/24

Post by 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.

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

Post by Superbone »

Indy wrote:
Tue Jan 19, 2021 8:43 am
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.
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Danimal
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Re: Suns News: Week 5 1/18-1/24

Post by 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
Last edited by Danimal on Tue Jan 19, 2021 5:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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

Post by 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.

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

Post by 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.

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

Post by O_Gardino »

Yeah, the team just isn't good with Paul on the floor. Booker hasn't been good, either.
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Superbone
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Re: Suns News: Week 5 1/18-1/24

Post by Superbone »

Danimal wrote:
Tue Jan 19, 2021 4:14 pm
‘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?
"Too little, too late, too unbothered."
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"Be Legendary."

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Mori Chu
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Re: Suns News: Week 5 1/18-1/24

Post by 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.

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

Post by O_Gardino »

Mori Chu wrote:
Wed Jan 20, 2021 8:59 am
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.
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Pips
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Re: Suns News: Week 5 1/18-1/24

Post by Pips »

Booker would not be happy like he is now.

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

Post by Indy »

Pips wrote:
Wed Jan 20, 2021 9:09 am
Booker would not be happy like he is now.
Is he happy with his or our performance?

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

Post by 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.
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Re: Suns News: Week 5 1/18-1/24

Post by 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.


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

Post by specialsauce »

Mori Chu wrote:
Wed Jan 20, 2021 8:59 am
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.

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wpmiller42
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Re: Suns News: Week 5 1/18-1/24

Post by 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.

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

Post by Oatmeal »

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

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

Post by Indy »

ShelC wrote:
Wed Jan 20, 2021 11:30 am
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?

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

Post by ShelC »

Oatmeal wrote:
Wed Jan 20, 2021 12:22 pm
Jones seems to favor basketball junkies, Ayton definitely is not that.
Exactly.

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