Game Day: Pacers (10-11) @ Suns (6-15), Wed 12/7/16

[EDC]

Got to love that rebounding.

[carey]

We'll drop to 0-13 when losing after 3 quarters.

Also, that play by Tucker driving and missing the wide open guy (Knight?) at the top of the key was horrid. Like he was open by 10 feet.

[EDC]

Another loss closer to 30 minutes a game for Bender.

[virtual9mm]

We need a shake-up. The veterans (ehem, Tucker) who are supposedly here to instill good habits in the youngsters are actually ruining them.

At this point, I want to dump Knight for anything, as he is starting to harm the development of the rookies. Take the LAL pick (probably mid-teens) and write it off. Get anything for him.

Play Ulis 20 minutes per game, and let the young kids get into a rhythm to get the ball in their spots and help them succeed.

[The Bobster]

Earl Watson -
2015-16 - 9-24, .273
2016-17 - 6-16, .273
Total - 15-40 .273

That projects out to 22-60 over 82 games.

But at least the players like him.

[djy2j]

I watched the first half then really didn't pay attention in the 2nd half.

I don't believe Knight had a first half FG. (I don't believe I'm surprised.) -15 for the game at 30% shooting will get you 25 mins in the NBA I guess.

Ulis immediately came in and make plays. Which explains why he only played a minute or 2 in the 2nd half. He destroyed Indiana before. I'm kind of done with Watson on this issue. Dude is a former PG and isn't able to identify who his playmakers are. Total fuckery.

Game was pretty hard on the eyes. I knew going into the season there would not be alot of wins. I expected to see them improve, however. Right now I'm not seeing any improvement. Not much direction from coaching out there. Would love to see Watson taking the young guys aside during dead ball/FT's and actually demonstrate that he is trying to teach them. Maybe the camera doesn't catch it but I saw none of that at the Pacers game I went to.

I guess the only positive is that Bender played more. Albeit relegated to not being able to leave his corner. I actually saw him look like he wanted to make an instinctive play but then half way through his motion he remembered he was supposed to go stand in the corner and then immediately stopped and went there. Sad really.

[The Bobster]

Worst Coaching Records in Suns' History -

Jerry Colangelo - 59-60, .496 (interim coach)
Jeff Hornacek - 101-112, .474
Frank Johnson - 63-71, .470
Butch van Breda Kolff - 3-4, .429
John Wetzel - 28-54, .341
Lindsey Hunter - 12-29, .293 (interim coach)
Earl Watson - 15-40 .273
Red Kerr - 31-89, .258 (expansion team)

High Five!!!!

[The Bobster]

Knight - 24.9 Min, .372 FG%, .324 3Pt%, 2.9 Reb, 2.9 Ast, 13.0 Pts
Tucker - 24.3 Min, .372 FG%, .261 3Pt%, 5.5 Reb, 1.0 Ast, 5.8 Pts

(Long past) Time to move on from these two.

[O_Gardino]

Earl Watson -
2015-16 - 9-24, .273
2016-17 - 6-16, .273
Total - 15-40 .273

That projects out to 22-60 over 82 games.

But at least the players like him.

I'm cheering for a draft pick, but ...

How can a team starting Price and DLeague point guards have the same record as a team starting to guys we keep being told are borderline allstars? Was Ronnie Price the brains behind our offense?

[Mori Chu]

I told you guys how at that Warriors game I went to last week, Watson didn't even talk to the players during most timeouts. He just stood with his assistant coaches and talked to them for most of the timeout, then with about 10 seconds left in the timeout, he'd walk over to the players and slap Bledsoe on the back or something like that, and then the horn would sound and the players would go back in. He did this repeatedly. I saw almost no occurrences of him talking to players during the game, calling out plays, any sort of in-game strategy.

[O_Gardino]

I told you guys how at that Warriors game I went to last week, Watson didn't even talk to the players during most timeouts. He just stood with his assistant coaches and talked to them for most of the timeout, then with about 10 seconds left in the timeout, he'd walk over to the players and slap Bledsoe on the back or something like that, and then the horn would sound and the players would go back in. He did this repeatedly. I saw almost no occurrences of him talking to players during the game, calling out plays, any sort of in-game strategy.

Shel is being proved right. It's not that the high fives are wrong, it's that Watson doesn't seem to have much else to offer.

What I don't understand is why our offense looked better at the end of the year last year. I mean, it looked like we didn't have any shooters and only two guys who could score, but the ball did move and we did try a variety of plays.

Maybe Booker is just that much better with the ball than Bled or Knight. Maybe Price is a more solid floor general than people think. Maybe they still had the last remnants of Hrnacek's offense in place. I just don't know why we look worse under Watson this year than we did last year.

[TOO]

This team will always look bad when the PGs are Bledsoe and Knight. If your PG is shit, your team is generally hard to watch.

[Mori Chu]

Maybe Booker is just that much better with the ball than Bled or Knight. Maybe Price is a more solid floor general than people think. Maybe they still had the last remnants of Hrnacek's offense in place. I just don't know why we look worse under Watson this year than we did last year.

I think that's part of it. Bledsoe's injury probably actually helped us overall in terms of ball movement. Price actually was a semi-competent floor general, which was sometimes overlooked due to his lack of other standout skills. And we were probably still a bit in the "honeymoon" stage with our new coach where players do play harder during the transition. I don't really know.

[Indy]

Maybe Booker is just that much better with the ball than Bled or Knight. Maybe Price is a more solid floor general than people think. Maybe they still had the last remnants of Hrnacek's offense in place. I just don't know why we look worse under Watson this year than we did last year.

I think that's part of it. Bledsoe's injury probably actually helped us overall in terms of ball movement. Price actually was a semi-competent floor general, which was sometimes overlooked due to his lack of other standout skills. And we were probably still a bit in the "honeymoon" stage with our new coach where players do play harder during the transition. I don't really know.

A lot of it is due to our starting line up (especially with TJ out). Tyson isn't a ball-mover. Neither is Chriss (too young). Or PJ (more like a ball-stopper). So even if Bledsoe is playing well, and so is Booker, you are very limited in where the ball can go to help the team. That is especially true when we pull Chandler 25' away from the hoop to either just be a link in the weird passing chain we do around the 3 point line, or setting a pick that far away. And with the way PJ has been shooting, nobody has to guard him at the 3 pt line. So we get Bledsoe making crazy drives and doing some really amazing things to get a shot off at the hoop, or Booker trying to run around 3 screens to get an open look.

That is a long way for me to say it is about balance in our line-ups. I honestly have not been depressed by watching Bledsoe play this year (like I was the last couple). He isn't our PG of the future, but he is fine right now if we have Booker, TJ, Len and either Chriss or Bender out there. If our lineup were those 6 guys plus Barbs, Williams and Ulis, I think our offense would look much better.

[carey]

. He isn't our PG of the future, but he is fine right now if we have Booker, TJ, Len and either Chriss or Bender out there. If our lineup were those 6 guys plus Barbs, Williams and Ulis, I think our offense would look much better.

Plus set substitution patterns. His rotations are not good. Tucker should not be playing this much let alone entire quarters without a break.

[Shabazz]

Worst Coaching Records in Suns' History -

Jerry Colangelo - 59-60, .496 (interim coach)
Jeff Hornacek - 101-112, .474
Frank Johnson - 63-71, .470
Butch van Breda Kolff - 3-4, .429
John Wetzel - 28-54, .341
Lindsey Hunter - 12-29, .293 (interim coach)
Earl Watson - 15-40 .273
Red Kerr - 31-89, .258 (expansion team)

High Five!!!!

Having a worse record than Lindsey Hunter did with that 2013 team is a real accomplishment. That was an atrocious combination of coach and team.

[UglyTruth]

I just feel like Earl Watson is like a Byron Scott 2.0.

[UglyTruth]

I told you guys how at that Warriors game I went to last week, Watson didn't even talk to the players during most timeouts. He just stood with his assistant coaches and talked to them for most of the timeout, then with about 10 seconds left in the timeout, he'd walk over to the players and slap Bledsoe on the back or something like that, and then the horn would sound and the players would go back in. He did this repeatedly. I saw almost no occurrences of him talking to players during the game, calling out plays, any sort of in-game strategy.

Maybe that's why the players like him...he leaves them alone lol as opposed to the better coaches in the league like Pop, Kerr etc who constantly talk and sometimes even annoy their players during timeouts and such.

[specialsauce]

I definitely do NOT want Earl Watson fired. My goal this year is to suck as bad as possible. My only complaint this year is that Tucker and Knight are still on the team, and that falls on McD being stubborn/blind/unable to find a trading partner. I don't care about Watson's shitty coaching decisions and the fact that he just seems to be doing absolutely nothing with the team other than hippie crap. I WANT them to lose. I want a top 3 draft pick this year. No more of this narrowly missing out on a great player because of freaking Teletovic dagger 3's. Lets lose baby!! Then we can fire Watson when we actually have a team worth coaching.

[ShelC]

I'll say this about Earl: He's not the arrogant SOB Byron Scott is and doesn't carry himself like the 2nd coming of Red Auerbach. He is just a cheerleader tho.

And yea, the players like him because he's young, player friendly, has their backs, and is easy on them. Players always opt for a guy like that, but it wears out when they're losing consistently. IF our guys keep getting blown out by 30 every night and embarrassed, all the yoga and spin sessions in the world won't save his ass.