Ring_Wanted wrote: ↑Fri Sep 28, 2018 2:27 pm
Superbone wrote: ↑Fri Sep 28, 2018 1:17 pm
In2ition wrote: ↑Fri Sep 28, 2018 12:14 pm
Superbone wrote: ↑Fri Sep 28, 2018 11:47 am
ShelC wrote: ↑Fri Sep 28, 2018 11:33 am
NBATV is doing a 30minute Suns Team Preview in an hour. Pretty sure they'll show it a bunch more times but I saw it listed for 3:30EST.
I caught the last minute of it about an hour ago and one of the knuckleheads (some guy I've never seen before, not a player) said Booker is technically a point guard? WTF? I'm going to watch the whole thing but I get the feeling it'll be a surface level take on the Suns by 2 wannabes on NBATV.
I watched it last night. It was actually one of their better Suns season previews. You just happended to catch The Starters segment (Is Booker overrated?) where the Australian guy made that weird and wrong PG comment. He might be handling the ball a lot in Igor's system but that doesn't make him a PG.
The other strange part was at the end when Gooden predicted 21 wins for the team this year. Hayward predicted high 20s which is more believable although I'm putting my money where my mouth is and laying down a Benjamin today via a friend in Vegas on the Over. Don't know what my win total to beat is yet but as long as it's under 30 wins, I'm taking the bet.
The consensus is that the Suns don't get to 30 wins. This is pretty well established throughout all of national NBA writers and analysts, along with even local guys. They are so confident in that, that they even laugh about the Suns and their decisions this summer, from picking Ayton over Doncic, to throwing in the most valuable pick we've seen in the last decade ('21 unprotected Heat pick), to getting fleeced by Morey, signing Ariza to $15 Million only to inevitably be bought out after the All-Star game, signing Booker to a Max contract, not having an above replacement pg to start the year, and being so dumb to think a foreigner could reach these NBA guys with some Euro coaching. If I could get to Vegas, I would put money on the over, and feel it's easy money.
Totally agree with you. I remember Hornacek's first year as coach had similar predictions and we blew them away. I've never done one of these types of bets before but I too think it's easy money. Most of these national guys make their opinions on limited knowledge of the team and it's quite frustrating. They are paid for their strong opinions even if they don't have any facts to back them up. Gooden predicting 21 wins was laughable.
They focus too much on what didn't happen. We didn't draft Doncic, and he could very well be the best talent on the draft (Dallas was probably his best destination followed by us). But Ayton would have been a consensus #1 in 75% of drafts as a terrific prospect on his own, while also fixing (in theory) several holes on our roster.
We don't have a starting PG, true, but we are not void of options there. The key is that we have a proven role solved (defensive hound in Shaq) and Booker will handle the ball a lot anyways. Don't get me wrong, I still want a starter but not getting it is not as bad in my opinion (I personally have grrown very interested in seeing what we have in Okobo and Melton).
The rest of the roster is an obvious upgrade from what we had last year. And as pointed, we finally are dissease free, or almost, as there is a case of logjam at forward that could lead to some issues (I'm looking at you Warren and Jackson).
I want to see who else (RIP Sauce, wish you luck in BRY) gets cut. Daniels, Canaan? How much time are the rookie guards going to spend in the GLeague?
Kokoskov has a chance to be the moral leader of this group (this is totally ammo for the Doncic widows ajaja
).
The baad? LeBron is in the west now. George stayed. Minni seems like they will drop, which is something. Portland is due to some injury bug (don't want to put that evil on them, though). IT could give something to Denver; could be poison, could be Boston (or is it Stevens?). Will the Logo blow it up in LAC? Is MEM healthy? NOP looks solid if healthy, as well as Utah. Pop, Aldridge and DeRozan's revenge should be enough (warning: they have Rudy Gay too).
Say you are better than SAC and DAL. Say some others drop (LAC, DEN and MIN, for instance) and that it is you reaping the benefits, What are you, #10 in the west? Say you also beat every East non playoff teams but one or two.
Are we looking at a bottom lotto team? 35-40 wins?
I think the only teams that improved over the summer were us, LAL, MEM and DAL. LAL will obviously make the playoffs, I think Memphis does, but I don't think Dallas gets that far by adding only Doncic and Jordan. I think we finish ahead of them, as you do. I also can't see us behind LAC. Tobias is a nice player, and Bradley, Beverley and Williams are great complimentary players, but who's generating the offense there? Gortat is the Jeff Teague of centers, and if they're actually playing their rookies in the back court, those will be development (negative) minutes.
By contrast, I think the change to the SUNS coaching staff will pay especially huge dividends. The coaching, the improvements throughout our roster, and the thinness of the west, make me think we have a solid shot at the playoffs.
Several teams that made the playoffs last year have taken steps back - most significantly, San Antonio. Everyone's so focused on Kawhi that they seem to be ignoring the fact that they lost 3 of their top 6 players, not counting Kawhi. Danny Green, Manu Ginobili, Kyle Anderson and even Tony Parker. Is that still a winning club? I'm not so sure.
Minnesota is losing Butler. If you ignore whatever they'll get in return, their starting lineup currently appears to be Teague-Rose-Wiggins-Gibson-Towns. I just can't be afraid of whatever's going on in that locker room.
Portland's backcourt carries that team, but I'd take our bench over their starters at positions 3-5. I think Booker's better than McCollum. Lillard is magical, but atlas could shrug, and if that happened, that team would be nothing.
Same for Pelicans, but with positions 1-3. They got Jrue Holiday, E'Twuan Moore and not much else. If the Pels stumble out the gate, will Anthony Davis be able to carry that whole squad?
I believe in OKC because of Adams moreso than Westbrook. They'll be tough, so they'll be solid. I think Houston's taken a step back but they'll also make the playoffs. With GSW and UTA, that's 5 teams that are locks.
So for those last three spots, I think our primary competitors are just MEM and DEN. Memphis has a lot of overlooked, talented young players, and they've added Conley, Jackson and Anderson while losing only Evans. Gasol took a HUGE step back last year, and I'm curious whether he will truly recover. Denver obviously has that beast Jokic, I like Murray and Harris, and Millsap/Lyles is good at the 4 if healthy. I don't like their depth at the 2/3 spots at all, though, so you're really relying on IT to recover if they're going to be much improved over last season (when they missed the playoffs).
So yeah. I have us in that 6-8 range. But the thing about homerism is you can never tell if you're being a homer, because you're a homer. So whatever. Maybe Ayton will suck and TJ will brick threes and Anderson will get injured and Jackson will lose control and we'll bring in Daniels to try to save the day. But I don't think so. Not with this coach.
