Suns News: Week 4 11/14-11/20

[Nodack]

Suns 76ers today 5:30 AZ time on COX 1073.

Somebody didn't make a game day thread.

[Superbone]

Suns 76ers today 5:30 AZ time on COX 1073.

Somebody didn't make a game day thread.

Oh?

[Mori Chu]

You just heard "Cap on caps" ... a new feature on suns.net ...

I look to Superbone's upcoming series on fossil excavation, "Bone on Bones."

[Superbone]

You just heard "Cap on caps" ... a new feature on suns.net ...

I look to Superbone's upcoming series on fossil excavation, "Bone on Bones."

Followed up closely by Marty on Martyrs.

[O_Gardino]

What does everyone mean when they say Brandon Knight is a ball stopper?

I look at what other players do when Knight has the ball. Our playe5rs stop moving and start looking to grab the rebound. The opposing team settles in to deny the other guys and just let Knight go one on one.

Contrast that to Booker. Yeah, Booker shoots a lot, but everybody on the court keeps playing basketball when Book gets the ball.

[O_Gardino]

You just heard "Cap on caps" ... a new feature on suns.net ...

I look to Superbone's upcoming series on fossil excavation, "Bone on Bones."

Followed up closely by Marty on Martyrs.

Guy. Guys. I have so much to tell you about the landscaping and yard maintenance industries in Orlando FL.

[carey]

I got nothing. Carey on Caring? Carey on Care Bears? Carey on Keeping Calm and Carrying On?

[Mori Chu]

Maybe you can do a column on old baseball announcers. Episode 1: "carey on Harry Carey"?

[carey]

Maybe you can do a column on old baseball announcers. Episode 1: "carey on Harry Carey"?

I watched a lot of Cubs baseball growing up. I wore 23 for Ryne Sandberg!

[Mori Chu]

I had a bunch of baseball cards in the 80s, including a Ryne Sandberg card. I liked the cards more than the sport. Never did really get into baseball in my life.

[carey]

A Dave King article I agree with for once. Why the Suns are bad: http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2016/ ... uns-season

Youth Rules

Last night, in the fourth quarter of a blowout loss to the lowly Sixers, Earl Watson finally threw in the towel and played all his rookies at once.Dragan Bender (just turned 19), Marquese Chriss (19) and Derrick Jones Jr. (19) played together for a couple minutes along with fellow rookie Tyler Ulis (just turned 21) and second-year center Alan Williams (23) in one of the youngest lineups in league history.

No NBA team had EVER played three teenagers at one time, yet now the Suns have played two different iterations in the same season (swap Jones for Booker in the first two games of the season). This on top of giving tons of starter minutes to a just-turned-20 Devin Booker and 23-year old T.J. Warren. Both players rank in the top 30 in the league in minutes played per game this season.

As I wrote earlier this week, the Suns have given the most minutes to 20-and-unders among all NBA teams in the league. And by the end of the season, they will certainly set an NBA record for minutes played by 20-and-unders. Why does it matter how old they are? Because extremely young players with lots of talent almost always get significantly better as they approach age 23-27 versus when they were 18-22 years old.

There’s a reason Tyler Ulis (21 now) looks more game-ready on a consistent basis than his younger counterparts, but he’s also just scratching the surface of his potential NBA impact. It’s the same reason Alan Williams (23) looks like the same guy every time he gets out there. It’s the same reason T.J. Warren (23) looks like a much-improved player this season, and why Alex Len (23) might have finally figured out how to shoot better than 45% from the field. And the same reason Eric Bledsoe (27), while somewhat inconsistent, is still a better all-around player than Devin Booker on the balance of the season.

We know what we have in Knight, Bledsoe, Tucker, Dudley, Chandler and Barbosa. What we are still learning is what we might have in the young players. They might NOT get any better, but the chances are good that every one of them will be better in six months, two years, and four years than they are right now.

There’s a good chance Devin Booker grows out of this sophomore hiccup to become an All-Star level player. There’s a small chance one of T.J. Warren, Dragan Bender or Marquese Chriss or the Suns next top draft pick joins him on that path. They certainly have the tools to do so. It’s just a matter of time and development.

[Cap]

What's going on with Booker? He had that turf toe injury, game back with new shoes, put up back-to-back 38- and 39-point games, and looked ready for a breakout season. Since then he has struggled, going 32-87 over the last six games.

[carey]

What's going on with Booker? He had that turf toe injury, game back with new shoes, put up back-to-back 38- and 39-point games, and looked ready for a breakout season. Since then he has struggled, going 32-87 over the last six games.

He is playing on a team with no playmaker. I want to see some more Ulis-Booker-Warren line-ups.

[EDC]

What's going on with Booker? He had that turf toe injury, game back with new shoes, put up back-to-back 38- and 39-point games, and looked ready for a breakout season. Since then he has struggled, going 32-87 over the last six games.

I feel that he is pushing too hard to score even when it would be better to pass and get someone else involved. I think it comes down to playing with both Bledsoe and Knight. Last year he knew he was going to get a ton of touches. It also probably comes down to our shitty three point shooting. Why kick the ball out to an open shooter if you know they aren't going to make it. Not to mention now teams know they can basically sag off into the lane on anyone but Dudley. Not a lot of space in the lane if you can't shoot the three as a team.

[Superbone]

What's going on with Booker? He had that turf toe injury, game back with new shoes, put up back-to-back 38- and 39-point games, and looked ready for a breakout season. Since then he has struggled, going 32-87 over the last six games.

He had a pretty bad ankle sprain a couple games ago.

[da_suns_fan]

Knight passes plenty, especially to the other team.

Hey Cap any idea where I could buy the cap in your avatar?

NewEraCap.com

Thanks!

[Superbone]

Here's a quote for those of you wondering why Booker played so poorly in the last game:

"He struggled," Watson said of Booker. "He gave all he had. He knew he wanted to play because we didn't have T.J. He sacrificed his body. That's just the type of person he is. You could see he could barely move."

[Split T]

If he's hurt, he needs to sit. We gain nothing by having him tough it out.

[Mori Chu]

Agreed. We gain nothing by damaging our most prized asset. We have nothing important to play for. Sit the guy. Give the minutes to any of the other many players on the roster who would love to have more minutes (Knight, Ulis, Barbosa, etc).