Suns News: Week 3 10/30-11/5

[Split T]

https://twitter.com/bencfalk/status/925719294557777920

[O_Gardino]

Bender is starting to get it on offense, too.

In the last 6 games, Bender is shooting .440 overall and .421 from 3. For those worried about the advanced stats around his FT shooting, he hasn't missed one yet this season. It's not a high volume of attempts, but he and his teammates are getting more confident in his shot.

[Mori Chu]

Bender's slow and steady subtle improvement is one of the brighter spots so far this year.

[ShelC]

I feel like Bender's defense has always been ahead of his offense and he's still finding his offensive game. It's part confidence and part finding his comfort level. Good to see him coming along. He may not be a natural offensive player, but he's got the fundamentals it seems.

[LazarusLong]

I don't think Watson thought much of Bender, while Chriss seemed to be the favored child.
Bender seemed to play like he was on a very short leash.

With Triano, now Bender is playing with more freedom and confidence.
Chriss still roams around like a kid on Cocoa Puffs and Jolt cola ...

[In2ition]

Yeah, it felt like Bender was a burden to Watson and he didn't want to deal with it, like a stepfather that "had" to deal with their wife's kid. Whereas Watson felt and said that Chriss is destined to become one of the BEST EVA.

I think both have been up and down, and I hope that both end up being consistently very good every game. Maybe that's too much to ask, since they came into the league at the same time, same team and same position.

[Superbone]

Um... https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/spo ... c6bc63df17

3. The Phoenix Suns could be the next team to be sold

There are already rumblings around the league that Robert Sarver, who bought the team from Jerry Colangelo for $401 million in 2004, is looking to cash out. While the NBA would never publicly admit it, the league would likely be quite happy if Sarver chose to move on, given the complete collapse of the franchise under his watch.

Despite never winning a championship, the Suns were long one of the league’s top franchises, making the playoffs in 24 of their first 36 seasons. Since Sarver took over, the Suns have missed the playoffs eight times in 13 seasons — a number that’s almost certain to grow this year to nine whiffs in 14 seasons, given Phoenix has already fired its coach, Earl Watson, and appears destined for yet another high draft pick.

Given the recent sales of the Rockets and Nets, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Sarver get somewhere close to $2 billion for the team — five times what he initially paid, enough return on investment to make anyone think long and hard about moving on.

Wow, I got careyed by carey himself! That's an honor.

[Superbone]

Chriss still roams around like a kid on Cocoa Puffs and Jolt cola ...

LOL!

[Split T]

Bender is being a little more aggressive and I like that. His shot is falling right now and defenders have to cover him which is allowing him to attack the basket a little bit and use his crazy length to finish. He needs to keep that up and then the next step is to limit his turnovers. All the advanced efficiency stats hate him because he has a very low usage rate and a very high turnover rate.

I'm concerned about Chriss. He seems to just be floating through games, not doing much of anything. He had that one good game under triano where we went to him early and got him involved in the offense from the jump. Maybe that's the key with him.

Lastly, I think we need to reign in Jackson on offense a little bit. He's isolating too much and that's not his game right now. I like him handling the ball in the open court and coming off screens and attacking the rim, but he's taking too many 1 on 1 pull up jumpers right now.

[ShelC]

In an ideal situation, Chriss would've been brought along more slowly last year, playing behind a veteran he can learn from. Instead he was handed the starting gig by Watson. Now I feel like Chriss is going to be the guy who loses minutes to Bender and blames Triano for it.

[JCSunsfan]

I don't think Watson thought much of Bender, while Chriss seemed to be the favored child.
Bender seemed to play like he was on a very short leash.

With Triano, now Bender is playing with more freedom and confidence.
Chriss still roams around like a kid on Cocoa Puffs and Jolt cola ...

I agree with this. Watson favored Chriss over Bender and unjustly so. He treated Bender like he was a threat to Chriss' future.

Which he is, if they both stay on the same team.

[O_Gardino]

Still can't believe we are 3-1 under Triano.

[JCSunsfan]

Still can't believe we are 3-1 under Triano.

And that Portland game was winnable.

[Cap]

Still can't believe we are 3-1 under Triano.

And that Portland game was winnable.

IIRC, our over-under was 25 wins. If you'd told the oddsmakers that Bledsoe would be shut down after three games, it would probably have been even worse. Now it's starting to look like this roster is better than anyone realized.

[Split T]

In an ideal situation, Chriss would've been brought along more slowly last year, playing behind a veteran he can learn from. Instead he was handed the starting gig by Watson. Now I feel like Chriss is going to be the guy who loses minutes to Bender and blames Triano for it.

Ya, it's way, way early to get worried, but if Bender keeps improving and proves to be better than Chriss, we might just have to move Chriss.

[Superbone]

Still can't believe we are 3-1 under Triano.

And that Portland game was winnable.

IIRC, our over-under was 25 wins. If you'd told the oddsmakers that Bledsoe would be shut down after three games, it would probably have been even worse. Now it's starting to look like this roster is better than anyone realized.

Except Sarver.

[carey]

I'm glad you are all team Bender today. It's going to be a bumpy ride but I think we'll get somewhere around 15/8 with good defense from him down the line.

[Superbone]

https://twitter.com/nbastats/status/925746865030815744

[Superbone]

https://twitter.com/TheMattPetersen/status/925580363035967488

[Cap]

https://twitter.com/TheMattPetersen/status/925580363035967488

+1