Game Day: Magic (24-45) @ Suns (22-46), Fri 3/17/17

[Superbone]

At least Warren is starting to return to early season form. I'm a little disappointed that his 3 ball has been nonexistent.

Yeah, he was getting pretty good at it a year ago before he went down with his injury. Kind of strange.

[LazarusLong]

I think his range will improve once he gets totally comfortable and confident. Be patient.

[INFORMER]

If stupid Knight wouldn't be a bitch then we could've rested Booker and played him instead.

I don't blame Knight at all. The Suns have totally mismanaged him since he hit free agency. The Suns are getting what they deserve.

[TOO]

If stupid Knight wouldn't be a bitch then we could've rested Booker and played him instead.

I don't blame Knight at all. The Suns have totally mismanaged him since he hit free agency. The Suns are getting what they deserve.

So bitter.

[LazarusLong]

If stupid Knight wouldn't be a bitch then we could've rested Booker and played him instead.

I don't blame Knight at all. The Suns have totally mismanaged him since he hit free agency. The Suns are getting what they deserve.

Not a big Knight fan, but I have to agree. They traded for him and signed him to a starter's money contract. Then told him he was going to be a third guard. Then told him they were putting him on ice.

[Mori Chu]

In fairness, maybe they have been trying to get Knight to pass the ball more and stop being such a chucker who hurts the team, and he hasn't listened. If that's the case, I do put some of the blame on Knight. I don't think you can completely excuse his horrendous play on his being "mismanaged" by the team.

[O_Gardino]

In fairness, maybe they have been trying to get Knight to pass the ball more and stop being such a chucker who hurts the team, and he hasn't listened. If that's the case, I do put some of the blame on Knight. I don't think you can completely excuse his horrendous play on his being "mismanaged" by the team.

You are right that his play is his own responsibility. And I gree with those who say the pragmatic thing for Knight to do would be to play every minute he can.

But the Suns shouldn't have signed a chucker and expected him to become a passer, and the system and relationships here may be part of the reason he has had a career worst year. I mean, he took the same shots he took in MIL; he just made far fewer of them.

[Ring_Wanted]

I don't think you can completely excuse his horrendous play on his being "mismanaged" by the team.

I don't think he has been mismanaged by the FO. Before the season started, basically everybody was clamoring for Knight to play off the bench as a microwave 6th man (trying to make him pass the ball more? Come on). The team made that decision and it has backfired, because the player has not been able to adapt and perform at a role where he could have been a key member of the team. Plenty of chances. The team then made the right call benching him as he had turned into a clusterfvck on the court. Every time he touched the ball you had the feeling disaster was just waiting to happen. So they again made the right decision and removed him from the rotation. In that regard, I have to say that the player handled it like a pro, never making a scene out of it. Now that his number is being called again (for one reason or another), he should keep being a pro and just play. Hopefully he can improve those %s and earn a trade elsewhere, but in the meantime, he can't blame the FO for his misfortunes.

[Superbone]

How anybody can blame management for Knight's play is beyond me. Now bringing him here and signing him to a big contract is another story completely.

[specialsauce]

If stupid Knight wouldn't be a bitch then we could've rested Booker and played him instead.

I don't blame Knight at all. The Suns have totally mismanaged him since he hit free agency. The Suns are getting what they deserve.

Wow you couldn't be more off IMO.

He gets paid millions of dollars to be a player on the team.

Just STFU and do your job you entitled little bitch. If they want you in just for the last 2 seconds of a blowout win then you go in because that is what you're getting paid to do.

[carey]

That's what most of us would do but we're not professional athletes. None of these guys see themselves as employees. They see themselves as partners because that is what the CBA says. They wanted to be treated as such. Thus the attitude.

[Cap]

Employee or partner, what difference does it make? Either way, they have clearly specified duties.

[JCSunsfan]

Brandon Knight has been given way more opportunities than he deserves. He had a starting job handed to him and lost it to a rookie. He had the sixth man job handed to him and lost it to a rookie. His play has hurt his team on every level. The only reason he has been given more playing time was in the false hope that he could redeem some personal cred and be trade-able. He could not even do that.

[Indy]

I don't think you can completely excuse his horrendous play on his being "mismanaged" by the team.

I don't think he has been mismanaged by the FO. Before the season started, basically everybody was clamoring for Knight to play off the bench as a microwave 6th man (trying to make him pass the ball more? Come on). The team made that decision and it has backfired, because the player has not been able to adapt and perform at a role where he could have been a key member of the team. Plenty of chances. The team then made the right call benching him as he had turned into a clusterfvck on the court. Every time he touched the ball you had the feeling disaster was just waiting to happen. So they again made the right decision and removed him from the rotation. In that regard, I have to say that the player handled it like a pro, never making a scene out of it. Now that his number is being called again (for one reason or another), he should keep being a pro and just play. Hopefully he can improve those %s and earn a trade elsewhere, but in the meantime, he can't blame the FO for his misfortunes.

It is a big gamble to trade away your best asset for a guy, give him a big long term contract, and then ask him to play a different role than he has been successful at in the past. Ryan gambled, and lost. Sure, it is on Knight that he didn't develop into a different player than he was in college, or DET, or MIL. But you have to look in the mirror when you bring in a guy and ask him to change for you what he has been doing for at least the last 5 years, and he doesn't.

[Indy]

Brandon Knight has been given way more opportunities than he deserves. He had a starting job handed to him and lost it to a rookie. He had the sixth man job handed to him and lost it to a rookie. His play has hurt his team on every level. The only reason he has been given more playing time was in the false hope that he could redeem some personal cred and be trade-able. He could not even do that.

Only on this team. He was successful at UK, DET, and MIL. But we asked him to be a different player, and it backfired. It is the kind of thing you try knowing it could blow up, or be good. But you don't do that with your best asset.

[O_Gardino]

I agree with Indy. We got the player we traded for.

[Mori Chu]

Management deserves some blame for having unrealistic expectations. But we aren't even getting Detroit/Mil Brandon Knight. His shooting percentages have been horrid in Phoenix. If he were the same player as before, we could just use him as a bench microwave.

[Indy]

Management deserves some blame for having unrealistic expectations. But we aren't even getting Detroit/Mil Brandon Knight. His shooting percentages have been horrid in Phoenix. If he were the same player as before, we could just use him as a bench microwave.

He has never played that way before. He has always been the lead guard, with the ball in his hands. He is still the same player. If Bleds went down before our year started, and Knight started in his place, he would likely produce. But we have asked him to do something different, and it hasn't worked.

[Split T]

Management deserves some blame for having unrealistic expectations. But we aren't even getting Detroit/Mil Brandon Knight. His shooting percentages have been horrid in Phoenix. If he were the same player as before, we could just use him as a bench microwave.

He has never played that way before. He has always been the lead guard, with the ball in his hands. He is still the same player. If Bleds went down before our year started, and Knight started in his place, he would likely produce. But we have asked him to do something different, and it hasn't worked.

While I think Knight should be able to figure out how to be effective in the role we have placed him in, Indy is right that we've asked him to do something he's never really done in his life, so we get a lot of the blame with his situation. It's unfortunate, in theory, he could be really good as a prime barbosa/lou williams type 6th man.

[O_Gardino]

Management deserves some blame for having unrealistic expectations. But we aren't even getting Detroit/Mil Brandon Knight. His shooting percentages have been horrid in Phoenix. If he were the same player as before, we could just use him as a bench microwave.

Prior to this year, we had the Detroit BK. He did play significantly better in MIL under Kidd, and I suppose management thought that was his growth trajectory. But this season, under Watson and with the new role, he has been even worse than he was in DET. Maybe he just lost the will to improve, maybe his confidence is shot, maybe he really has been playing hurt. But his style of play isn't any different than it always was. He takes the same crazy off balance long jumpers. He just doesn't make as many.