My bet is that if this team comes back this way, that Saric plays a bit more of PF next to Ayton to have big lineups, especially against teams like Minnesota, Dallas and even the Lakers.
That would be unfortunate because we have tried that before and Saric struggled to be effective. So to try it again after he has had a major injury seems like a great plan. But it is in keeping with the current philosophy of trying the same things and expecting different results.
You are correct, it's not a great plan and didn't work well in the past. Do we know if this was tried vs big lineups or small lineups? Just curious, as I can't recall correctly.
He started alongside Ayton as a 4 most the season during his 1st year. He was mostly disappointing and it had become pretty clear we would move on. I believe he was replaced in the starting lineup at some point. In the bubble we had no Aron Baynes, so he became the backup 5 by necessity and we unlocked something there. Enough so that we re-signed him and made that his new role.
Here's some stats:
In 51 games as a starter, Saric averaged 11.1/6.5/2.0 on 46/35/84 splits for a .571 TS%. That's not bad, but...
in 15 games off the bench he averaged 9.3/4.9/1.4 on 56/42/85 splits for a .701 TS%.
Just go post all-star break and he was 13.4/6.6/1.8 on .57/52/83 splits. A .698 TS%
Some of that post-all star stuff was still as a 4 next to Ayton/Baynes though. He started the last 7 games of the season before the bubble. So it looks like he did figure some stuff out playing next to a 5, but ultimately he still looked much better as a 5.
I don' think it is realistic to expect something out of Bridges we haven't seen. He will likely never be a guy that gets you 15-20 points a game. Our offense isn't designed around him, and he doesn't dribble. If he is here and can be a 1st team all-defensive guy that hits +38% of his 3s, that is great. Just not all-star worthy.
As for Ayton, I don't see him making an all-star team unless the better centers are injured. Jokic, Towns, and Gobert are all still in the West.
Counting on "internal development" for a 2nd consecutive off-season is not going to get us where we want to be. We don't like acknowledging it, but we got very lucky to get to the Finals. Every team along the way was missing their (arguably) best player.
I’m not saying we should count on it. I’m just saying it’s a possibility. I definitely would prefer improving the roster.
But I don’t think it’s much of a leap for either player. Before Ayton missed games last season he was being mentioned as an all-star, and then there was serious talk about Bridges being an injury replacement in the all-star game.
I think both players will still elevate their games. I don’t think they’ve reached their peak yet. And Bridges will never score 15-20 points a game? He averaged 14.2 last year.
"All-Star" is a nebulous benchmark; there are always guys that get out on the team that don't really play at an All-Star level.
Bridges is a role player - the next level for him that actually would mark a significant team elevation is if he became a consistent impact scorer who could initiate/create consistently and at a high level. So basically he would have to become another player.
Ayton has the potential to reach a star player, but there are some significant hurdles in his way, most of them self-imposed. He doesn't "play with force," he plays to avoid contact, and he hasn't developed enough one-on-one moves that he can consistently execute. If the Suns are winning at a high level, he'll always be in the mix to make the All-Star team because the league/fans likes awarding the top teams with multiple All-Star selections. So I don't think it is an accurate barometer to just look for an All-Star selection as a true indicator of what level a player has reached.
Saric was a part of 6 5-man lineups with a positive rating in 2019-2020. None of them had Ayton in them as well. One had Saric in place of Ayton with the starting lineup(Rubio, Booker, Bridges, Oubre), 3 of the others had Saric playing next to Baynes, and the other 2 had him playing next to Frank. His best Ayton lineup was exactly neutral and had him with the starting lineup in place of Oubre. Rubio-Booker-Bridges-Saric-Ayton. But the Rubio-Booker-Bridges-Oubre-Ayton lineup was our best lineup that played at least 100 minutes. The only lineup that played at least 50 minutes and was better was the Rubio-Booker-Bridges-Oubre-Baynes lineup.
But point is, Saric did not play well with Ayton. He played ok at the 4 if he had a floor spacing 5 next to him though.
Ayton had that monster stretch that year that included the game at MSG (which might be his best regular season game ever), but outside of that, he was largely underwhelming that year, and the Suns were often better with Baynes on the court. Baynes as a 3-point threat and bully were definite difference-makers.
Ya I remember Ayton going out with the suspension and thinking that was the season, but Baynes kept us afloat for awhile. It still makes me wonder what this offense would look like with a stretch 5. But a stretch 5 that still had the size to anchor the paint on defense.
It's conceivable. Ayton has shown very small flashes of being able to shoot from 3, but I'm not sure planting him out there would be the best use of his skills. I still would prefer to get him dribbling. I love the development he's made with his hook and his middy, now I want to see him attack more from the mid-post. Fake the middy and drive to the rim more. Even the high post, fake the DHO and attack the rim. Make the defense guard you. We could try to turn him into a stretch 5, but we just paid him max money because of all the other stuff he does. Turning him into something he's never been doesn't seem smart.
Now I'm not opposed to him taking the shot more. He only took 19 last year. I think him taking that shot once a game seems like a good start. If he can still hit at roughly 35%, then by all means, keep firing away. But unless he's gonna be KAT and shoot 40%, I don't want him taking more than a couple a game.
Tell Ayton to shoot more threes and let's find out.
That would be a waste. It makes sense for guys like Baynes, because what else are they going to do to make the team significantly better. But having Ayton stand behind the 3-point line isn't as valuables as what he could be on the interior.
I mean CP3 hit the age of decline like 4 years ago. I really don’t think there’s much about his game that he can’t keep doing. He’s already lost his pull up 3, hasn’t been using it anyway. I think he’ll be able to hit that 15 foot elbow jumper until he’s 50. He doesn’t blow by people, he’s calculating and picks his spots.
What will do him in is he’ll get hurt and not really recover. That could happen next year, but I’m not really expecting much of a decline otherwise. I hope, especially if we get KD, he takes more of a backseat. I’d play him 25-28 minutes a game and either hold him out of back to backs or cut his minutes even more. Let Booker run more offense and definitely let Bridges and Ayton run more stuff to see if they can do it.
Well, he supposedly wasn't injured during the Dallas series and he played like Fat Raymond Felton. That's what a declining CP could look like.
Honestly it doesn't matter. Either he is declining, or he always has some injury issues, or both. None of those situations helps the team improve or even maintain the level of play we've seen the last two seasons.
Honestly it doesn't matter. Either he is declining, or he always has some injury issues, or both. None of those situations helps the team improve or even maintain the level of play we've seen the last two seasons.
The multiple players with covid + Monty played more Cowbell. And I’m going with that. Rotations sucked on offense, guys weren’t sharply helping and Monty just failed to adjust . The whole team looked like hot shit. It makes sense. IDK why act like it’s all that mysterious. Not everyone can have a Jordan “flu” game. I’m glad they’re hunting for KD. CP3 just needs to be a 25 mpg guy.
Honestly it doesn't matter. Either he is declining, or he always has some injury issues, or both. None of those situations helps the team improve or even maintain the level of play we've seen the last two seasons.
The multiple players with covid + Monty played more Cowbell. And I’m going with that. Rotations sucked on offense, guys weren’t sharply helping and Monty just failed to adjust . The whole team looked like hot shit. It makes sense. IDK why act like it’s all that mysterious. Not everyone can have a Jordan “flu” game. I’m glad they’re hunting for KD. CP3 just needs to be a 25 mpg guy.
Except it wasn’t just game 7. Everyone points to game 7. It should never have gone 7. Game 3, 4 and 6 were awful. We didn’t look right the entire postseason. We didn’t look right rolling into the playoffs. Our defense took a dive the latter half of the regular season.
Did we ever hire a X's and O's coach to replace Willie Green? Losing him really hurt the Suns in the playoffs.
I think Jarrett Jack replaced Willie Green…but I think Kevin Young is supposed to be more of our X’s and O’s guy.
Yeah I didn't think of Willie as our X/O guy. I thought he was our assistant head coach. I think of him as more of a natural leader than a bball strategy guy. Maybe I am wrong there.
