Suns News: Week 24 (3/30 - 4/5)

[Mori Chu]

Tom Izzo says Suns offered him head coach job last year: ‘A hard thing to turn down’

By Doug Haller

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/716479 ... -ios-share

Ott has turned out to be a good coach, maybe a great coach. But this Izzo revelation is proof that Ishbia was just going for guys with Michigan ties, just as some of us feared. Stupid.

[O_Gardino]

The Suns are 12-15 going back through Feb. Gotta gain some momentum going into the post-season. With 6 games left, at least 3 of them will be tough games. The Hornets, Rockets, and Lakers will all have a lot to play for. The Bulls and Mavs have only personal pride, and OKC might be resting the final game of the season. Can the Suns win 4? I feel like they need to. Gotta re-integrate Williams and Brooks, figure out rotations, and get better at closing.

Speaking of rotations, generally playoff rotations shrink and that's going to be a problem for Ott. Hopefully, he keeps confidence in the specialists who are farther down the depth chart. I think the top 8 is obvious, but we need the jolt of energy, defensive ferocity, and size that the reserves bring.

Guards: Book, Green, CG
Forwards: Brooks, Allen, O'Neale
Bigs: Williams, Ighodaro
Reserves: Goodwin, Dunn, Fleming, Maluach, Bouyea

[specialsauce]

I'm just going to say we will be worse off if Allen and Oneale are playing 30 mpg at the expense of Goodwin and Fleming. We absolutely need those two comfortably in our rotation.

[AmareIsGod]

I'm just going to say we will be worse off if Allen and Oneale are playing 30 mpg at the expense of Goodwin and Fleming. We absolutely need those two comfortably in our rotation.

Agreed. O'Neale shouldn't be a starter and he should only be getting maybe 20 minutes per game.

[Superbone]

I'm just going to say we will be worse off if Allen and Oneale are playing 30 mpg at the expense of Goodwin and Fleming. We absolutely need those two comfortably in our rotation.

All will be good as long as Brooks is hoisting up shots from behind the backboard while falling out of bounds.

[Superbone]

I'm just going to say we will be worse off if Allen and Oneale are playing 30 mpg at the expense of Goodwin and Fleming. We absolutely need those two comfortably in our rotation.

Agreed. O'Neale shouldn't be a starter and he should only be getting maybe 20 minutes per game.

O'Neale has been squeezed out of the starting lineup since Brooks is back. Once Williams is in there it will be:

Gillespie
Book
Green
Brooks
Williams

Book it!

[Superbone]

Play the man! Man!

[TOO]

If he were 6'4" he'd play 36mpg

[Superbone]

If he were 6'4" he'd play 36mpg

It is ridiculous. We are allowing opposing teams easy entry to the basket and Maluach is sitting right there! Best in the league at altering shots at the rim, Coach Ott! Let's go man! Gotta play what wins, not just vets. I know you don't want to piss off your vets but they'll get over it!

[Split T]

Tom Izzo says Suns offered him head coach job last year: ‘A hard thing to turn down’

By Doug Haller

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/716479 ... -ios-share

Ott has turned out to be a good coach, maybe a great coach. But this Izzo revelation is proof that Ishbia was just going for guys with Michigan ties, just as some of us feared. Stupid.

I don’t think that’s true at all. Izzo was Ishbia’s coach. He also pretty clearly stated he wanted the suns to have an identity and that identity was the hard working, hustle identity that he experienced playing for Michigan State under Izzo…I’m glad we didn’t bring in Izzo, but it does make sense to go to the source of the identity you want to create. It wasn’t the Michigan connection, it was the identity connection.

[specialsauce]

I'm just going to say we will be worse off if Allen and Oneale are playing 30 mpg at the expense of Goodwin and Fleming. We absolutely need those two comfortably in our rotation.

Agreed. O'Neale shouldn't be a starter and he should only be getting maybe 20 minutes per game.

O'Neale has been squeezed out of the starting lineup since Brooks is back. Once Williams is in there it will be:

Gillespie
Book
Green
Brooks
Williams

Book it!

ONeale 17 minutes
Allen 25
Fleming 4 minutes until garbage time
Man Man 0 minutes.


Yeah; not a surprising result.

This rotation plays NO DEFENSE. Pure trash. Ott is showing how rookie and pussy he is right now. Play your best players

There is NOT ENOUGH ROOM IN THE ROTATION for CG, Green, Allen and O'Neale. You have got to pick 2 of them and then incorporate Fleming and Goodwin for some defensive intensity in there. Although Goody may be out for a while after tonight

[ShelC]

In a perfect world the minutes might look something like:

CG (22) Book (33) Green (30) Brooks (30) Williams (25), Allen (20), Oso (22), Goodwin (14), Dunn (16), Sheer (16), ONeale (12)

That's 11 guys playing which is at least one too many. I'm fine with Kham not in the rotation while Williams and Oso are healthy and contributing but we also know there might be games Williams sits, or our bigs get in foul trouble and we need Kham for a few minutes, or maybe there's a matchup where Oso is less effective. So he could see spot minutes here and there.

But of that group above, I think it's just a matter of matchups and who's playing well amongst the wings. Generally tho, I would have Royce as the odd man out because he's older, slower, smaller and Allen more or less gives us the same skillset. So if you take those 12 or so minutes and give Allen a bump or maybe Dunn or Sheer when you want to go bigger and have more athleticism and defense out there, that's probably the way to go IMO.

And then of course you can tweak minutes here or there - drop CG down a bit if Goodie is playing well on a given night, bump Green or Brooks up a few minutes from Dunn or Sheer.

I think that should really be the rotation and group we go with from here on out. I don't think we're ready to commit 20-25 minutes to Sheer or start him, I don't think we should drop CG down to the bench and go heavy with Book, Green and Brooks. I think Dunn is worth giving minutes to because he has played well in his role.

[Mori Chu]

[Superbone]

[virtual9mm]

His defense has seemed solid to me.

[Wally_West]

Meh

[Split T]

I’d replace him with Royce

[Split T]

In a perfect world the minutes might look something like:

CG (22) Book (33) Green (30) Brooks (30) Williams (25), Allen (20), Oso (22), Goodwin (14), Dunn (16), Sheer (16), ONeale (12)

That's 11 guys playing which is at least one too many. I'm fine with Kham not in the rotation while Williams and Oso are healthy and contributing but we also know there might be games Williams sits, or our bigs get in foul trouble and we need Kham for a few minutes, or maybe there's a matchup where Oso is less effective. So he could see spot minutes here and there.

But of that group above, I think it's just a matter of matchups and who's playing well amongst the wings. Generally tho, I would have Royce as the odd man out because he's older, slower, smaller and Allen more or less gives us the same skillset. So if you take those 12 or so minutes and give Allen a bump or maybe Dunn or Sheer when you want to go bigger and have more athleticism and defense out there, that's probably the way to go IMO.

And then of course you can tweak minutes here or there - drop CG down a bit if Goodie is playing well on a given night, bump Green or Brooks up a few minutes from Dunn or Sheer.

I think that should really be the rotation and group we go with from here on out. I don't think we're ready to commit 20-25 minutes to Sheer or start him, I don't think we should drop CG down to the bench and go heavy with Book, Green and Brooks. I think Dunn is worth giving minutes to because he has played well in his role.

It’s tough to play 11 guys…I do think we gotta split up the Gillespie/Green duo. I think I’d start:

Booker, Green, Brooks, and Williams. That 5th starter I’d honestly go with Goodwin. Then off the bench:

Gillespie, Allen, Royce or Dunn, Fleming, and Oso

I think you play Royce and if he’s hitting shots and you need his shooting, you keep playing him. If he’s not hitting shots or you need some extra defense you go Dunn.

I would tie Gillespie and Oso together. I like bench units with them. Add Fleming for some added size and then I’d also want either Brooks or Green to stay on for those lineups to have someone who can create a shot if the offense doesn’t produce a good look. Royce or Grayson the 5th guy.