Suns News: Week 2 (10/27 - 11/2)

[Mori Chu]

Last Week's Games
(courtesy https://www.nba.com/suns/schedule ; all times MST/AZ time)
Wed Oct 22 vs Sacramento WIN! 120 - 116
Fri Oct 24 @ LA Clippers LOSS. 102 - 129
Sat Oct 25 @ Denver LOSS. 111 - 133

This Week's Games
Mon Oct 27 6:00 PM MST @ Utah (TV: Suns+, Arizona's Family 3TV / Arizona's Family Sports)
Wed Oct 29 7:00 PM MST vs Memphis (TV: Suns+, Arizona's Family 3TV / Arizona's Family Sports)
Fri Oct 31 7:00 PM MST vs Utah (TV: Suns+, Arizona's Family 3TV / Arizona's Family Sports)
Sun Nov 2 6:00 PM MST vs San Antonio (TV: Suns+, Arizona's Family 3TV / Arizona's Family Sports)

Suns Stories

Suns Guard Gillespie has path to starting role: https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angele ... e-injuries

Dillon Brooks joins Jalen Green on injury report vs Jazz: https://sports.yahoo.com/article/dillon ... 07501.html

Suns top pick Maluach reacts to first NBA basket: https://www.si.com/nba/suns/onsi/news/p ... nba-basket

Suns fan base wants fireworks, but team needs foundation: https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/suns ... a-analysis

Former Sun Cam Payne going to Euro League: https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/post/b3qT90IDDOiw

[Mori Chu]

[ShelC]

[Mori Chu]

I like Brea a lot and hope a stint in the GL can help him get reps and get ready to play. Maybe later this season he can be ready for rotation minutes. We do need more bench scoring so I think he could help us.

[ShelC]

So with Utah, Memphis, Utah, SA are we looking at 2-2 realistically? 1-3 would be disappointing and 0-4 would be real bad. I'd hope we can split the Utah games and beat Memphis. We're not a team that can overlook anyone and Utah's size could give us a lot of trouble. Memphis has Ja and JJJ, Cedric Coward is a nice rook to keep an eye on. SA looks like it's ready to make that leap this year and I don't know who's stopping Wemby.

[Mori Chu]

So with Utah, Memphis, Utah, SA are we looking at 2-2 realistically? 1-3 would be disappointing and 0-4 would be real bad. I'd hope we can split the Utah games and beat Memphis. We're not a team that can overlook anyone and Utah's size could give us a lot of trouble. Memphis has Ja and JJJ, Cedric Coward is a nice rook to keep an eye on. SA looks like it's ready to make that leap this year and I don't know who's stopping Wemby.

If we were playing well for the expectations of this team, 3-1 would not be crazy. Beat Utah both times and one of the others. Memphis is a bit shaky and beatable. But I think 3-1 may be too much to expect. We shall see. As always I just want to see the right guys playing the right way more than the specific W/L record.

[Superbone]

So with Utah, Memphis, Utah, SA are we looking at 2-2 realistically? 1-3 would be disappointing and 0-4 would be real bad. I'd hope we can split the Utah games and beat Memphis. We're not a team that can overlook anyone and Utah's size could give us a lot of trouble. Memphis has Ja and JJJ, Cedric Coward is a nice rook to keep an eye on. SA looks like it's ready to make that leap this year and I don't know who's stopping Wemby.

If we were playing well for the expectations of this team, 3-1 would not be crazy. Beat Utah both times and one of the others. Memphis is a bit shaky and beatable. But I think 3-1 may be too much to expect. We shall see. As always I just want to see the right guys playing the right way more than the specific W/L record.

The way I'm feeling at the moment, we'd be lucky to go 2-2. But that could change quickly with better play.

[Split T]

I think I’d rather see this team not worry about winning games and just develop their team. I’ll wait to really lock that opinion in until Jalen Green comes back, but I’m certainly not looking forward to watching Brooks take 20 shots a game as we fight to win 35 games and maybe sneak into the play in. Let me see Maluach and Fleming 20+ minutes a game.

[O_Gardino]

Fist we gottta have a game where we are never down by 20.

[Superbone]

Fist we gottta have a game where we are never down by 20.

In the first quarter.

[Mori Chu]

If we were playing well for the expectations of this team, 3-1 would not be crazy. Beat Utah both times and one of the others. Memphis is a bit shaky and beatable. But I think 3-1 may be too much to expect. We shall see. As always I just want to see the right guys playing the right way more than the specific W/L record.

I would like to revise my prediction.

[Superbone]

If we were playing well for the expectations of this team, 3-1 would not be crazy. Beat Utah both times and one of the others. Memphis is a bit shaky and beatable. But I think 3-1 may be too much to expect. We shall see. As always I just want to see the right guys playing the right way more than the specific W/L record.

I would like to revise my prediction.

You thinking 4-0?

[Mori Chu]

4-0 is feeling good right now. Did I mention I'm dyslexic?

[ShelC]

I'm hoping we don't give up on Dunn. He's still just a 2nd year player, brings the energy and athleticism we need and is a really good individual defender. I'd rather see him starting with a lineup of Book, Green, and Brooks rather than Allen because we're too undersized with four 6-5 guys and a center out there. if we run Book, Green, Brooks, Dunn, Williams with CG, Allen, Royce, Oso/Richards I think we'll have better depth and balance all around.

[O_Gardino]

I have no complaints at all about Dunn.

He's not a great shooter? Guess who else isn't great this year. Everybody. Dunn is significantly better than he was last season, and he's worlds away from college. From 3, he's shooting better than NHD and Brooks. Overall, he's shooting better than O'Neal and Gillespie. Plus, he's one of our only guys who cuts for easy baskets. The kid is doing great.

There's def room for improvement, but he is improving and that's the whole point this season.

[Mori Chu]

One of the most important outcomes we could possibly have this season would be for Dunn to continue to grow as a player and become a great starting NBA forward. Absolutely start him and play him lots of minutes, shaky shooting be darned. (And have him work with a coach on his shooting.)

[ShelC]

His drop in minutes is concerning to me. It seems Ott is leaning into offense and Dunn would look a lot better next to scoring/playmaking 4 (which, ironically,we had last year but Bud benched him). I think he's still showing flashes of offense and has looked good getting downhill. Playing him next to Oso and asking him to guard bigger 4 probably isn't doing him much good either.

[O_Gardino]

Dunn hasn't really had a drop in minutes - they are just up and down a bit this season. He's had 25, 17, 23, and 17. There doesn't seem to be any correlation with his shooting.

I don't disagree with the concerns people have over the rotation and lineups, but I also think we are over focused on a couple of specifics. We just lack the star power to make the game easy for our role players, and the rookie head coach is still figuring out if he can coach in this league. I'm not sure Ott is making decisions based on the matchups and lineup concerns that we see.

I had this encouraging thought today: without Green and Brooks, our only asset on the court from trading Paul, Bridges, Cam, all of our forwards, and a dozen years of draft picks is Grayson Allen.

[specialsauce]

I'm hoping we don't give up on Dunn. He's still just a 2nd year player, brings the energy and athleticism we need and is a really good individual defender. I'd rather see him starting with a lineup of Book, Green, and Brooks rather than Allen because we're too undersized with four 6-5 guys and a center out there. if we run Book, Green, Brooks, Dunn, Williams with CG, Allen, Royce, Oso/Richards I think we'll have better depth and balance all around.

He's a fringe rotation player in this league. Sorry, it's the truth no matter how much you guys want him to be a core piece. We can waste 5 years hoping for it to be different, but it won't be.

[ShelC]

You might be right but it's still only his 2nd year and he's been on some dysfunctional teams and bad rosters. If he were on the Thunder, he's likely a guy we'd wish we drafted.

I'd also like to see him playing extended minutes with an actual PG like Gillespie, who can maybe get him some better/easier looks.