Game Day: Suns (1-0) @ Lakers (1-0), Fri 10/25/24

[Gladiator]

Nurk tries to do too much on offense. He seems to think it's his mission and he takes it personal to try to back down and go 1 on 1 at his defender. It's infuriating at times. And his piss poor finishes around the hoop are a joke. If he's now launching 3's and can't make those, he's a zero on this team. I hope they can figure out what to do with that position well before the trade deadline.

His turnovers from either carelessness or over confidence with passing are really starting to annoy me (already, two games in!). Nurk, you are not Nikola Jokic!!!

[Uncle_Gene]

Kaminsky wouldn't give you much of anything else though. And I shudder to think what the rebounding would be like without Nurkic.

Perhaps, but I'm still shocked the Suns decided to keep Ty Ty Washington over Frank Kaminsky. They need more size.

[The Bobster]

Kaminsky wouldn't give you much of anything else though. And I shudder to think what the rebounding would be like without Nurkic.

Perhaps, but I'm still shocked the Suns decided to keep Ty Ty Washington over Frank Kaminsky. They need more size.

They could sign Washington to a 2-way contract. Kaminsky they couldn't.

[ShelC]

Aggravating loss, same sht as last year. Nurk's the easy target and he always struggles against the Lakers because of their size and athleticism. But he wasn't the main issue. It's either the coach or the players - Is Bud running the same offense as Vogel did last year or are the players just not running offense and ISOing? 4 straight possessions in the beginning of the 4th of KD ISOs 30ft away at the top of the key with everyone watching. Then it was Beal's turn. With about 6-7 minutes left in the 4th Jones passed it off to Beal, then ran down the lane and flashed to the middle of the paint where Beal got him the ball and he got blocked by AD. Is that really a play? Sending our 6-0 PG flashing to the middle of the paint for a shot attempt in the 4th qtr? With 5:45 left in the 4th ESPN puts up a graphic that Tyus had scored the last 9 points. That's a joke when we have KD, Book and Beal on the floor. $!50mil for 3 guys who can't score or run offense in the 4th.

We took 37 threes and KD said we need to take 10 more. The number of 3s is irrelevant - we can cross halfcourt and take a 3 every possession but it's still bad offense and won't win us games. Just like last year, we had a nice flow going early in the game and built a lead only to give it away by not playing defense and being stagnant on offense. Yea the Lakers shot more FTs but they actually slash and get to the basket. We're content to shoot 3s or dribble into traffic and turn the ball over. The offensive spacing is still off so everything is crowded which makes it easy on the defense. Maybe that can be fixed and get better with time. Same with guys looking around and not knowing there to go with the ball. I can understand that adjustment with a new offense and working in some new players. But we brought in Bud for his offensive genius and so far nothing's changed as games have progressed. And in the post game interviews, it's the same guys giving the same answers as last year too.

We're a small team and that's going to be the case every night. But I don't understand keeping Beal on LeBron defensively. And going small with KD at the 5 only works if the offense is clicking and we're looking like the 2017 Warriors - which we're not. Play Oso, play Dunn, play Plumlee and take some of the offensive hit if it means more size and defense. Jones, Beal, Book and Royce and KD can't be a lineup if it's ISO for one shot and then playing halfcourt defense. Bud's gotta figure it out and make sure guys are getting the message. Play the subs more in the 4th if they're working the offense and getting better shots. He can't be scared to coach while JJ is getting thru to guys like LBJ and AD as a rookie head coach.

[ShelC]

Postgame Quotes and Videos

Spoiler: show/hide

[bajanguy008]

Well finally finished. Just don't understand how we get so stagnant

Fun Fact
My girlfriend popped in at the start of the 3rd quarter
"What you watching, wanna watch a movie ?"

Lakers had already cut the lead to 2 and I was like yeah, have to know when to pick your battles
We watching what she wants

Such a poor two and a half quarters.....
And as I keep saying, the fact that it's Mavs tonight is like the two teams I hate losing the most.

[ShelC]

I'm not here to defend Nurk but a lot of those plays are either poorly designed sets or asking him to do more than he should be doing. He shouldn't be handling or passing 30ft from the basket.

At the 11second mark, Book needs to shoot. Same as last year, they're passing up open shots that lead to a TO or worse shot. The play after that, Nurk does the same thing passing up an open 3. The 3pt shot at :33 is an open shot within the offense, he just misses it. The play at :37 is another spacing issue. Beal is at the FT line screening for some reason when Book is cutting thru and it's Beal's defender who comes up with the steal. That's a tough pass to make regardless so maybe Book should just cut thru and Beal's screen opens something up for Royce at the top of the key? But Royce doesn't re-balance or move off his spot either so you have 3 defenders at the top of the key. The shot at :48 is an open 3 off the pick and pop, which he should be taking regardless of the time left on the shotclock.

[TOO]

I've seen enough, Booker to the bench, Dunn to start, Nurk to China.

[Split T]

I’’m not going to make any judgements during the first couple weeks, but they have dampened my expectations a bit…Nurk isn’t doing much to change my mind that we need to replace him

[Superbone]

The opposing defenses have figured out Nurk's and KD's pocket passes and yet they continue to attempt them for a turnover every time. Very frustrating!

Also, at least Beal knew the facts and said the right things. They got complacent after getting the big lead and they quit moving and running the offense. That's got to stop. Have a little killer instinct. Keep moving the ball. Frustrating night. Let's just hope they learn from it.