Suns News: Week 2 10/31-11/6

[carey]

Last Week's Games

vs. Sacramento LOSS 113-94
@ Oklahoma City LOSS 113-110
vs Golden State LOSS 106-100

This Week's Games

Mon, Oct 31st @ L.A. Clippers 10:30 PM EST
Wed, Nov 2nd vs Portland 10:00 PM EST
Fri, Nov 4th @ New Orleans 8:00 PM EST
Sun, Nov 6 th @ L.A. Lakers 9:30 PM EST

Suns Stories

Defense improving but not good enough: http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/n ... /93033288/

Strong defensive effort comes up short against Warriors: http://arizonasports.com/story/882770/s ... -warriors/

Bledsoe and TJ Warren shine (bright like a diamond): http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2016/ ... o-warriors

[Superbone]

My new prediction for our first win is against the Blazers on Wednesday. (Previously it was @New Orleans.)

[Cap]

Hah! It's tonight at the Clippers. Emotion wins out over logic. I'm ready for a win.

[Mori Chu]

I think we will be unpredictable from night to night. We'll lose to the Kings but beat the Spurs, that sort of thing. It's probably almost hopeless to try to predict.

[O_Gardino]

In another thread, someone said that Warren and Blendsoe are our best players through 3 games. Very true, and Bender gets honorable mention for the guy with too small a sample size to count.

Bender has the second best ws/48 on the team at .186 and the 3rd best BPM at a measly 0.2. I hope he gets a few more minutes this week.

On that note, we played 12 deep this past week. Anyone we can bench for the rooks? Seems like they all need minutes, either because they need experience or because they need to be traded.

[Gladiator]

https://twitter.com/paulcoro/status/793307665833332736

[Gladiator]

It will be interesting to see what kind of contract Len ends up getting, especially after Adams' incredible contract extension

[Mori Chu]

^ We probably won't like it.

[pickle]

Adams 25 mil, Gobert 25.4 mil, Dieng 16 mil... Centers are back in vogue, kind of.

[Shabazz]

Cody Zeller probably a better reference point for Len. He got 4/56.

[ShelC]

If the offer is reasonable let's match. We know bigs take a while to round into form and he's still 7ft tall. Even at 12-15 mil he'd be a solid option as a backup and spot starter. He's still just 23.

[Gladiator]

Article on azcentral about PJ Tucker's expanding role as he regains fitness. Yay!

Tucker: "With more minutes, my defensive intensity started getting back into people and doing what I do best."

http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/n ... /93143188/

Some interesting tidbits in there, including Knight's +/- so far (spoiler alert .. it's horrible)

The Suns’ usual starting lineup of Bledsoe, Devin Booker, Warren, Jared Dudley and Chandler has played opponents even over 55 minutes, 117-117. Chandler has the best individual plus-minus (minus-1 in 107 minutes) of the starters. Knight has the team’s worst plus/minus (minus-55 in 118 minutes)

[Mori Chu]

That stat does reinforce my eye test that Black Hole Knight has been horrible. But I think +/- is mostly a horrible and flawed stat. Knight is out there with ragtag lineups and put in at odd times in the game. I am not sure that the plus/minus is entirely his fault. Nevertheless I'm not trying to defend the guy and would be the first to push the button to trade his ass.

[ShelC]

Just by going off the posts here, it seems like Knight has the green light to a fault. Not sure if that's by design or what, but he's certainly not helping himself in terms of fighting to be a starter or showcasing himself for other teams. If he's unhappy with his role and has that "I'm gonna do me" attitude, well...

[azsportsfan]

Article on azcentral about PJ Tucker's expanding role as he regains fitness. Yay!

http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/n ... /93143188/

From same article: PJ Tucker - “T.J.’s confidence is sky high. He’s picked up his whole game. It’s why I wanted to get back to full power so we can have that one-two punch.”

Really? I didn't know whether to laugh or be concerned for Tucker's mental health. When I first read it, I thought the article had switched to Booker and his early season shooting struggles/injuries. It made sense. I went back and reread the quote and it was indeed Tucker. Does he really think he is, or even has been, part of a "one-two punch"?

[The Bobster]

He probably just means splitting time at SF, but he's nothing to get excited about there either.

[azsportsfan]

He probably just means splitting time at SF, but he's nothing to get excited about there either.

Yeah, I guess in the context of SF it makes more sense.

[Mori Chu]

I don't know what you want Tucker to say. "I suck; I hope TJ Warren takes all my minutes so that I can ride the bench." ? I think they can and should challenge each other and both try their best to contribute in the minutes they are splitting. Tucker isn't part of the team's long-term future, but he is a good soldier and is saying and doing the right things generally.

[UglyTruth]

Cody Zeller probably a better reference point for Len. He got 4/56.

Festus Ezeli is the best reference point for Len. What did he get?

[O_Gardino]

For those who missed the Suns vs Blazers broadcast, they explained Booker's toe injury. Apparently, his feet grew without him realizing it. He was wearing size 14 shoes when he needed 15s. Basically just stubbing his toe on the inside of his shoes any time he jumped.

If you forgot he was a teenager a week ago, here's a reminder that he is still growing and still needs someone to tell him when his shoes don't fit.