Game Day: Suns (42-34) @ Hornets (40-36), Thurs 4/2/26

[Flagrant Fowl]

Suns have lost 8 of their last 11.

Beat just 4 good teams in the last two months by my count.

[The Bobster]

Out-rebounded 47-30.
Suns played with little energy and little flow after the first quarter.

Defense suffers when Green and Gillespie are on the court together along with Book.
Fleming playing just eight minutes is unwise.

Goodwin in the only dependable defender in the backcourt.

[ShelC]

It's not how you start it's how you finish.

[LazarusLong]

Now that Gillespie has his three-point record, sit him because he's worn down--most games he's played in his NBA career.

Ott needs to be an adult, now, and play the best mix, not just favorites or needy vets.

Maybe an offense/defense rotation, e.g. Goodwin, Fleming and Maluach coming off the bench in the late first early second.
Going back a bit, but remember when the Bad-Boy Pistons would bring Rodman, Salley and /or Mahorn once the first unit established a lead ...?

[AmareIsGod]

Maluach and Dunn, 0 minutes. Fleming with 4 minutes. What in the everliving fuck is going on.

[specialsauce]

We're not missing Bunnz.

But Fleming and ManMan yes.

[specialsauce]

Ott is just throwing all the vets in the game because their vets without any regard for fit or team identity. Hes turning into Vogel 2.0. Grow a fucking pair and play the young guys

[TOO]

Maybe this rag tag bunch just isn't THAT good.

[virtual9mm]

Too many players without clear roles for each. You need addition by subtraction.

Bigger name players should be the first to go for salary relief and draft capital. Grayson Allen, Jalen Green, and if this continues...Devin Booker. Mark Williams on a good deal keep, sign and trade otherwise. And Dillon Brooks should fetch a premium.

I want the Suns to grow around Gillespie, Dunn, Fleming, Maluach, Oso. Keep Goodwin, Booyeh, other cheap but hustling vets. If you can't move Green, let him be 6th man regardless of his salary. Clear roles, continuity, growth potential.

You could also keep Booker but I am growing tired of his hero balling in the 4th.

[Superbone]

Ott is just throwing all the vets in the game because their vets without any regard for fit or team identity. Hes turning into Vogel 2.0. Grow a fucking pair and play the young guys

Dunn is obviously the difference maker. No Dunn, no dice.

[Superbone]

Small victory, Brooks didn't get a technical foul.

[ShelC]

Postgame Quotes and Videos

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[Kryptonic]

Maybe this rag tag bunch just isn't THAT good.

Exactly…. Our records difference from last year to this year felt like we won 15 more games…. Because we played HARD for 48 minutes. Our defense has been a massive improvement, and even with dealing with one of our core players out the majority of the season (between brooks and green), we still did better than last year.

[ShelC]

Maybe this rag tag bunch just isn't THAT good.

Exactly…. Our records difference from last year to this year felt like we won 15 more games…. Because we played HARD for 48 minutes. Our defense has been a massive improvement, and even with dealing with one of our core players out the majority of the season (between brooks and green), we still did better than last year.

That's fair and very true but I don't think we played so well for 3/4s of the season just to all of a sudden reveal what we really are now. That would've happened after 20 or so games when the league would've caught up to us. I think the injuries have taken their toll for sure but also integrating Green has set us back some. I don't mean to blame everything on him but he's a major piece that's disrupted our flow on both sides of the ball and thrown off the rotations. That's just a fact we have to deal with.

I will place blame on Ott for this recent stretch because while he pushed all the right buttons most of the season, he's misplayed things with the subs and rotations of late. He's seemed intent on playing small and going with his shooters but it's come at the expense of defense and rebounding. And the strategy hasn't even worked offensively because we haven't been lighting teams up with those lineups either. So we're smaller, slower, shooting 3s that aren't falling and getting outrebounded during those minutes which have cost us winnable games.

We were beating good teams and hanging with the best teams most of the year. I don't think we're regressing back to the mean at this point in the year due to a lack of talent.

[The Bobster]

They have probably won more games than they should have considering the number of injuries. However now that they've got an almost complete compliment of players like Brooks, O'Neale, Allen and Gillespie are not producing like they were earlier in the year.

I don't see them making much of an impact in the playoffs. Maybe they get out of the play-in, but they'll be in big trouble in the first round playing OKC or San Antonio. The challenge will be to not be swept.

Which leads to the offseason. I think either Allen or O'Neale will be dealt to a team looking for more shooting since the Suns will be looking to shed some salary before re-signing Williams and Gillespie. I don't think either will be missed that much, but I would prefer trading O'Neale to Allen.

The three veterans who would bring the most in return - Booker, Brooks and Green are unlikely to be moved. It would take a blockbuster deal to move Booker, Brooks has bought some time by improving the team culture, and Green hasn't really had much of a chance to establish himself here.

So I think the Suns might make a minor deal or two, but most of the additions will come from bargain pick-ups (like Goodwin and Highsmith were) and they'll have to hope that their young players (Oso, Maluach, Fleming and Dunn) develop their games over the summer.

[Superbone]

I don't know. I'm starting to feel like our bench is better than our starters in general. Defensively, for sure! As soon as we went away from Dunn, Fleming, and Maluach + Goody, we regressed. No longer could get stops or create turnovers into easy offense. I just think we need a better mix. Reintegrating Brooks has also been painful. Overall, we just haven't had the defensive intensity we had earlier in the season. The team in general has relaxed on that end. We are getting punked by opposing offenses almost every time down the court.

[Superbone]

Who knows, maybe Ott's showing his starters that they don't have it so that down the line he can play the young guys more. I don't know. I do hold out hope due to him saying everything's on the table in the post game interviews.

[Split T]

Most important thing is reintegrating Brooks and Williams. None of these 5 games left really matter at all…unless we lose all 5, we aren’t dropping to 8th and unless we win all 5(and Minny loses all their games) we aren’t rising to 6th. We have the tiebreaker vs Portland and LAC already and are 3 games up in the loss column, so they’d need to make up 4 games on us to catch us.

Just spend these 5 games figuring out what rotations work the best. Also I’m hoping Portland edges out the clippers and we get them In the 7/8 game. The clippers scare me. Honestly I’m worried we lose two straight and drop out of the playoffs entirely. Would still be a successful season, but man that would be wildly disappointing.

[specialsauce]

Small victory, Brooks didn't get a technical foul.

Is it though? Was he a positive?

I would rather give his minutes to Fleming TBH

[Split T]

I did lie about having the tiebreaker locked up against LAC…I forgot we have an extra division game against the Lakers this year, so we need to win that game to lock it up.