Suns News: Playoffs Edition

[ShelC]

[pickle]

Well, I guess you are talking about Meloball, I was talking about how the metrics says that, outside the paint, IN AVERAGE, any shot is inefficient compared to going all the way to the paint, because, going all the way back to the 3pt line, the extra point this shot produces, it’s what compensates the lower odds to make it. And obviously, any shot you can make regularly is a good shot, and that’s precisely my point, we have two shooters very capable to make those shots regularly, but Shel C said it best. Practice is the key, both to be able to make the shot, but also to defend it. And we are taking advantage on both sides of it, a forgotten shot used effectively against defenses that stopped planning against it.

But right now, teams are taking notes about us and it will get harder and harder to use. That’s why I fully enjoyed the most seeing the Booker playmaker rather than the shooter, keeping the others involved was the key to keep LA defense honest, they tried to double team Booker scorer, and in the dark days we would have seen Devin trying to defeat a double and triple team by himself, yesterday he found his teammates again and again on all kind of passes. Beautiful.

Think you are responding to me ‘Tec. I wasn’t intending to disagree with you tho that might not have come out right. I fully agree with you that we play a different brand of basketball than other teams and was trying to add the additional point that through the eye test the 10-15 foot shot for CP3 and Booker is almost as efficient as a layup for most guards and is a particularly important tool for our back court because they aren’t as adept at attacking the basket.

[pickle]

Listening to a podcast with Broussard: says Morris tweaked his knee, and was unable to go in the 4th quarter as a result. He may or may not be available for Tuesday's game.

That said, Ty Lue is a master of adjustments.

He came back from being down 2-0 in both the first and second round. His team rallied furious to 4 straight wins on the Jazz with brilliant X's and O's coaching. I am dubious of pulling off a second win against the Clippers in Phoenix without CP3. (FWIW: when I said we couldn't beat the clippers without CP3, I meant for the series. We barely made it out of game 1 on the back of a monster Booker performance).

I get how you cope with your Suns fandom WW. I’ve been disappointed so many times that I tell myself we aren’t winning anything and wait to either be right or be thrilled to be wrong. But in this particular case I think you might need to look for another reason to temper your expectations. It’s been quite clearly established that CP3 isn’t going to miss the entire series. If you believe we can beat the Clippers with him, that means we are able to take 4 out of 7 with Paul on the court, it’s probably not too egregious to think we can win 3/5 with him, so we only need to split the two games he’s expected to miss, and we’ve already done that.

Maybe you should just stick to Lue being amazing and Paul George playing like Superman for your source of doom and gloom.

[Nodack]

8 in a row. Yes the Suns barely survived game one without Chris Paul. Then again the Clippers didn’t survive. They will make adjustments. So will we. George played out of his mind. Booker played better.

I keep saying it. The Suns mid range game is destroying the other teams. Sure they can adjust to try to stop that. Booker and Paul are quite good at shooting the three and going all the way to the rim. They don’t shoot mid range shots because that’s all they can do. They shoot mid range shots because the league in general focusses on 3 pt shots and drives to the hoop and leave that shot open for the most part. I watched all the games from the other teams playing and most players suck at the mid range game and I can see why it’s called inefficient. Book and Paul are the two best at it in the league. That’s a major problem for the rest of the league. A mid range shot counts the same as a monster dunk. Will the Clippers make an adjustment to stop it? Nobody has stopped it yet. Let them try. Booker can shoot the ball from anywhere on the court and from any hand. He will take what they give him and exploit that.

We were rusty to start the first game and a little out of kilter having a week off and no Paul. A bunch of early turnovers hurt and the sneaky move to bring in Cousins hurt us for a little while. The Suns will be making a few adjustments I’m sure too. Let the chess game continue in game 2.

[Wormwood]

Read the thread. Looks like CP3 is probably out until game 4, by which time we could easily be down 3-1 and returning to Phoenix to face elimination.

At best, there's an outside chance he returns for game 3.

[Nodack]

We could be up 3-0 too. 8-0 says don’t dismiss the Suns.

[Wormwood]

We could be up 3-0 too. 8-0 says don’t dismiss the Suns.

Clipps barely lost, and Lue has been a master of making adjustments between games.

[Split T]

Read the thread. Looks like CP3 is probably out until game 4, by which time we could easily be down 3-1 and returning to Phoenix to face elimination.

At best, there's an outside chance he returns for game 3.

There’s only fan speculation in the thread. We don’t know where CP3 is in the process, he could have the negative tests and just waiting for the cardiac test. Or he could not have any of the tests done. We simply don’t know

[Superbone]

Supposedly there will be an update on Paul's status on AZSports radio at 5.

[JeremyG]

Read the thread. Looks like CP3 is probably out until game 4, by which time we could easily be down 3-1 and returning to Phoenix to face elimination.

At best, there's an outside chance he returns for game 3.

If CP3 is back for game 4, why would you assume we'll lose that game to go down 3-1?

[Superbone]

Read the thread. Looks like CP3 is probably out until game 4, by which time we could easily be down 3-1 and returning to Phoenix to face elimination.

I know you're a pessimistic fellow but tough to be down 3-1 after 3 games.

[da_suns_fan]

Supposedly there will be an update on Paul's status on AZSports radio at 5.

Yeah..Gambo will say "he's still in health and safety protocols".

[Superbone]

Supposedly there will be an update on Paul's status on AZSports radio at 5.

Yeah..Gambo will say "he's still in health and safety protocols".

I'm hopeful to at least hear that he's had his first negative test. But I wouldn't put it past them to tease "news" and then give us the same ol', same ol'.

[Nodack]

We could be up 3-0 too. 8-0 says don’t dismiss the Suns.

Clipps barely lost, and Lue has been a master of making adjustments between games.

Barely losing happens a lot in the NBA, especially in the playoffs. Whether it was a 1 point victory or a 30 point blowout the stats still say 1/0. Lue will make adjustments and so will Monty. Sure we could lose. We could get blown out and Booker goes 0/30. I wouldn’t bet on it though.

[Furlanfufi]

[JeremyG]

[JeremyG]

Supposedly there will be an update on Paul's status on AZSports radio at 5.

Yeah..Gambo will say "he's still in health and safety protocols".

I'm hopeful to at least hear that he's had his first negative test. But I wouldn't put it past them to tease "news" and then give us the same ol', same ol'.

It’s just the official injury report at 5. So if he’s still in protocols the only update we will get will be “Out.”

[pickle]

Read the thread. Looks like CP3 is probably out until game 4, by which time we could easily be down 3-1 and returning to Phoenix to face elimination.

At best, there's an outside chance he returns for game 3.

There’s only fan speculation in the thread. We don’t know where CP3 is in the process, he could have the negative tests and just waiting for the cardiac test. Or he could not have any of the tests done. We simply don’t know

What he said.

[pickle]

We could be up 3-0 too. 8-0 says don’t dismiss the Suns.

Clipps barely lost, and Lue has been a master of making adjustments between games.

Barely losing happens a lot in the NBA, especially in the playoffs. Whether it was a 1 point victory or a 30 point blowout the stats still say 1/0. Lue will make adjustments and so will Monty. Sure we could lose. We could get blown out and Booker goes 0/30. I wouldn’t bet on it though.

And what he said.

You can always list out the worst possible scenarios and believe in your heart that that is going to happen. But it just felt a little extreme this time round.

[pickle]

If Paul is in protocols with a positive test, he’s supposed to stay home and not come in close contact with anyone other than his family, no? He certainly shouldn’t be allowed to sign jerseys for random kids ...