Suns News: Week 11 (12/26 - 1/1)

[Superbone]

We needed Ayton to hit as a max player for this team to work. Or we needed CP3 to hold on as a all-nba player and to find value around the edges(Crowder/Saric/Shamet upgrades). Or we needed a breakout from CamJ or Mikal. None of that happened and so here we are…

I think it boils down to those 3 things pretty much exactly. Ayton needed to take a leap and didn't. CP needed to hold on and hasn't. Cam got injured. Mikal has regressed offensively and Crowder/Saric/Shamet are all just wasted cap dollars at this point. It's a testament to Devin Booker that this team is above .500 & they may not be for much longer.

Not at this rate!

[Superbone]

Here's one of the few positives right now.

[INFORMER]

A thread defending DA. Not saying I 100% agree, just posting for discussion.

Nice qualifying statement. You should be Kyrie's advisor.

[INFORMER]

We needed Ayton to hit as a max player for this team to work. Or we needed CP3 to hold on as a all-nba player and to find value around the edges(Crowder/Saric/Shamet upgrades). Or we needed a breakout from CamJ or Mikal. None of that happened and so here we are…

I think it boils down to those 3 things pretty much exactly. Ayton needed to take a leap and didn't. CP needed to hold on and hasn't. Cam got injured. Mikal has regressed offensively and Crowder/Saric/Shamet are all just wasted cap dollars at this point. It's a testament to Devin Booker that this team is above .500 & they may not be for much longer.

Not at this rate!

WEMBANYAMA!!!

[virtual9mm]

I think there is truth in all of these statements. He's underachieving but he's also the one chance for the team to really be a monster. He's also been denied opportunities to grow to some extent but he also needs to be more consistent.

Good Ayton is a max player. Bad Ayton is a pansy. Now that the team's screwed for the next month, why not force feed him and see how he does?

[virtual9mm]

We needed Ayton to hit as a max player for this team to work. Or we needed CP3 to hold on as a all-nba player and to find value around the edges(Crowder/Saric/Shamet upgrades). Or we needed a breakout from CamJ or Mikal. None of that happened and so here we are…

I think it boils down to those 3 things pretty much exactly. Ayton needed to take a leap and didn't. CP needed to hold on and hasn't. Cam got injured. Mikal has regressed offensively and Crowder/Saric/Shamet are all just wasted cap dollars at this point. It's a testament to Devin Booker that this team is above .500 & they may not be for much longer.

Not at this rate!

WEMBANYAMA!!!

If the team goes down fighting, the basketball gods may smile upon the team. Not rational by any means but I still think that Barkley brought OGW upon the team by saying God was on the Suns' side in the 93 Finals.

[Mori Chu]

Nice qualifying statement. You should be Kyrie's advisor.

I charge a very reasonable flat (Earth) rate!

[Mori Chu]

[Mori Chu]

We are officially in play-in territory. Gulp. If I'm being honest about this team, I think we belong in the 4-5 range, maybe ahead of the Kings and Clippers but under the Nuggets, Grizz, and Pelicans, roughly equal to the Mavs.

[Superbone]

We're going to continue to plummet until we get some players back and maybe some reinforcements. Are we now waiting until January 15th before resolving the Crowder situation? What a baby he is. I've lost all respect for him. We could use him right now and yet he sits at home collecting a paycheck. No doubt this is on the Suns organization too.

[SunsRIt]

I think the Warriors only won 15 of their last 30 last year because of a rash of injuries. And they won the title. I’m not going to really panic until the season is over and the Suns are out of the playoffs. Until they are out they have a chance at a title. The Warriors proved that last year.

[Wally_West]

Celtics were 17-19 and 9th place this same time last year and ended up with the 1st seed and made it the finals. There’s still lot of season left. Finals and a championship are unlikely but doesn’t mean we can’t still make some noise, just need to get healthy and nail these upcoming trades.

[ShelC]

[Split T]

That’s good to hear

[virtual9mm]

I think it is clear that Shamet is better as a starter than a backup. Not good enough to start on a high caliber team, though. But he might help right now.

[Mori Chu]

I think it is clear that Shamet is better as a starter than a backup. Not good enough to start on a high caliber team, though. But he might help right now.

I'd amend that to say that he plays better with (a) heavier minutes, rather than spot duty, and (b) ability to touch the ball more. In other words, he does well with a distributing PG or with no PG at all, so he can hold the ball in his hands more often. I think he needs to hold the ball and dribble it some in order to get his comfort and rhythm. What seems to ruin Shamet is when he plays with a shoot-first PG like Cam Payne, or only plays in short stints for a few minutes at a time.

I feel like Shamet's destiny is to go to some bad team like the Pistons or Hornets or wherever and increase his minutes and usage rate, and actually deliver some scoring for a team that needs help. He's not a bad player, but this is not a good situation for him, and he hasn't been able to adapt to be useful on this team.

[INFORMER]

I think it is clear that Shamet is better as a starter than a backup. Not good enough to start on a high caliber team, though. But he might help right now.

I'd amend that to say that he plays better with (a) heavier minutes, rather than spot duty, and (b) ability to touch the ball more. In other words, he does well with a distributing PG or with no PG at all, so he can hold the ball in his hands more often. I think he needs to hold the ball and dribble it some in order to get his comfort and rhythm. What seems to ruin Shamet is when he plays with a shoot-first PG like Cam Payne, or only plays in short stints for a few minutes at a time.

I feel like Shamet's destiny is to go to some bad team like the Pistons or Hornets or wherever and increase his minutes and usage rate, and actually deliver some scoring for a team that needs help. He's not a bad player, but this is not a good situation for him, and he hasn't been able to adapt to be useful on this team.

Good breakdown, Mori.

People have to remember that Shamet was a point guard in college. Due to his size and the catch and shoot ability he flashed in his first couple of seasons, teams moved him off the ball.

[Shabazz]

I think it is clear that Shamet is better as a starter than a backup. Not good enough to start on a high caliber team, though. But he might help right now.

I'd amend that to say that he plays better with (a) heavier minutes, rather than spot duty, and (b) ability to touch the ball more. In other words, he does well with a distributing PG or with no PG at all, so he can hold the ball in his hands more often. I think he needs to hold the ball and dribble it some in order to get his comfort and rhythm. What seems to ruin Shamet is when he plays with a shoot-first PG like Cam Payne, or only plays in short stints for a few minutes at a time.

I feel like Shamet's destiny is to go to some bad team like the Pistons or Hornets or wherever and increase his minutes and usage rate, and actually deliver some scoring for a team that needs help. He's not a bad player, but this is not a good situation for him, and he hasn't been able to adapt to be useful on this team.

Good breakdown, Mori.

People have to remember that Shamet was a point guard in college. Due to his size and the catch and shoot ability he flashed in his first couple of seasons, teams moved him off the ball.

He may have been a PG in college, but he doesn’t have NBA-level PG skills.

[carey]

Mori, have you gotten my e-mails or DMs about TOO’s .net account?

[virtual9mm]

I think it is clear that Shamet is better as a starter than a backup. Not good enough to start on a high caliber team, though. But he might help right now.

I'd amend that to say that he plays better with (a) heavier minutes, rather than spot duty, and (b) ability to touch the ball more. In other words, he does well with a distributing PG or with no PG at all, so he can hold the ball in his hands more often. I think he needs to hold the ball and dribble it some in order to get his comfort and rhythm. What seems to ruin Shamet is when he plays with a shoot-first PG like Cam Payne, or only plays in short stints for a few minutes at a time.

I feel like Shamet's destiny is to go to some bad team like the Pistons or Hornets or wherever and increase his minutes and usage rate, and actually deliver some scoring for a team that needs help. He's not a bad player, but this is not a good situation for him, and he hasn't been able to adapt to be useful on this team.

Good breakdown, Mori.

People have to remember that Shamet was a point guard in college. Due to his size and the catch and shoot ability he flashed in his first couple of seasons, teams moved him off the ball.

He may have been a PG in college, but he doesn’t have NBA-level PG skills.

Tis a shame, the team needs a pg