Game Day: Suns (11-50) @ Heat (26-32), Mon 2/25/19

[Nodack]

I feel good for the team finally breaking the skid. It was like déjà vu in the fourth quarter. I was thnking here we go again, but they pulled out the win somehow.

The Heat losing to the Suns at home and continuing their home losing streak must really suck for them.

[Superbone]

I feel good for the team finally breaking the skid. It was like déjà vu in the fourth quarter. I was thnking here we go again, but they pulled out the win somehow.

The Heat losing to the Suns at home and continuing their home losing streak must really suck for them.

It didn't help their playoff chances. That's for sure. Charlotte lost giving them a chance to move up.

[LazarusLong]

If we are going to come back it's going to be with this lineup. Id actually but Holmes in for JJ.

Actually, thank god for Troy Daniels in the 2nd half. ...

Yes, on a team that is dead last in shooting threes, why doesn't Daniels play more?
He's only like the fifth or sixth best three-point shooter (percentage-wise) in franchise history ...

[ShelC]

Just like previous games, they battled. This isn't a team that's given up IMO. But this is what we've seen most of the season. We have stretches of some really good basketball, just never over a full 48 minutes.

We still play defense like we've never practiced it. Just flat out losing track of guys, getting beat on cuts, awful PnR defense. I thought that would've been one of Igor's strengths but we've shown no improvement on that end. Some of it's personnel, most of it is scheme/coaching IMO. Our offense is still nearly non existent. We have no PG, we pass the ball around the perimeter 3-4 times and then a jack a 3, we can't even play PnR properly because of lack of spacing and ballhandlers.

Having Crawford out there as a steady hand helped a ton. We panicked late against the Hawks and lost and it was lining up that way against the Heat but Craw hit some midrange Js late off PnR to extend the lead. That's all well and good, but we're relying on a 40 year old vet to close our games for us. I can see Igor/management wanting to throw Book into the fire in those late game situations to get better, but he's terrible. It's just not his game and he was giving the ball away again last night. He literally picked the ball up at halfcourt because of Josh Richardson's defense and then threw the ball away that resulted in points the other way. It's stuff you see in middle school.

Tyler Johnson looked good and hit some timely 3s. I think he brings a toughness and know-how at point. Not saying he's the answer and maybe he looks so good because we've looked so bad but he's been helpful. The more comfortable he gets in the offense, the more people will like him.

[azsportsfan]

I can see Igor/management wanting to throw Book into the fire in those late game situations to get better, but he's terrible. It's just not his game and he was giving the ball away again last night. He literally picked the ball up at halfcourt because of Josh Richardson's defense and then threw the ball away that resulted in points the other way. It's stuff you see in middle school.

Huh? He was double teamed and pressed to the half-court line. The closest Suns was picking his nose at the corner 3 spot. Didn't pay attention or come to help. Booker tried to pass it to him and failed. Coaches talked with him and the next time the double came he went at Whiteside and got him out of the game with his 5th foul.
I hate TOs, too. Booker is the only decent assist guy on the team (9 for the game - Bridges surprisingly with 8 this game!) and he is definitely not a combo-guard. Can't dribble for crap and half of his TOs come from poor crossovers. I understand the frustration and I yell at him as well, but to say he is terrible is just not true. He leads in assists partly because teams double him. There is no one else that the opposition currently games for. I hope that changes.

[djy2j]

Tyler Johnson looked good and hit some timely 3s. I think he brings a toughness and know-how at point. Not saying he's the answer and maybe he looks so good because we've looked so bad but he's been helpful. The more comfortable he gets in the offense, the more people will like him.

I agree with everything but the last part. I like his toughness and he plays hard. I just will never like the guy because he makes 19 mil per year. He will never produce the stats or intangibles to justify paying him that IMO. If you can block that out of your mind, yes he is't all bad.

[ShelC]

I can see Igor/management wanting to throw Book into the fire in those late game situations to get better, but he's terrible. It's just not his game and he was giving the ball away again last night. He literally picked the ball up at halfcourt because of Josh Richardson's defense and then threw the ball away that resulted in points the other way. It's stuff you see in middle school.

Huh? He was double teamed and pressed to the half-court line. The closest Suns was picking his nose at the corner 3 spot. Didn't pay attention or come to help. Booker tried to pass it to him and failed. Coaches talked with him and the next time the double came he went at Whiteside and got him out of the game with his 5th foul.
I hate TOs, too. Booker is the only decent assist guy on the team (9 for the game - Bridges surprisingly with 8 this game!) and he is definitely not a combo-guard. Can't dribble for crap and half of his TOs come from poor crossovers. I understand the frustration and I yell at him as well, but to say he is terrible is just not true. He leads in assists partly because teams double him. There is no one else that the opposition currently games for. I hope that changes.

Might've misremembered the double but he was getting caught up at halfcourt more than once because he walks the ball up and teams are pressing him knowing he's not a great ballhandler and doesn't have the burst to get by his man. He doesn't play downhill or attack the defense so teams are more aggressive with him when he's on the ball.

[ShelC]

Tyler Johnson looked good and hit some timely 3s. I think he brings a toughness and know-how at point. Not saying he's the answer and maybe he looks so good because we've looked so bad but he's been helpful. The more comfortable he gets in the offense, the more people will like him.

I agree with everything but the last part. I like his toughness and he plays hard. I just will never like the guy because he makes 19 mil per year. He will never produce the stats or intangibles to justify paying him that IMO. If you can block that out of your mind, yes he is't all bad.

That's not his fault tho. And we didn't give him the contract.

[Cap]

Tyler Johnson looked good and hit some timely 3s. I think he brings a toughness and know-how at point. Not saying he's the answer and maybe he looks so good because we've looked so bad but he's been helpful. The more comfortable he gets in the offense, the more people will like him.

I agree with everything but the last part. I like his toughness and he plays hard. I just will never like the guy because he makes 19 mil per year. He will never produce the stats or intangibles to justify paying him that IMO. If you can block that out of your mind, yes he is't all bad.

That's not his fault tho. And we didn't give him the contract.

No, we gave AASE the contract, then traded it for Anderson’s bad contract, then traded that for Johnson’s. It’s tough to get rid of these things.

[n4th4n]

Tyler Johnson looked good and hit some timely 3s. I think he brings a toughness and know-how at point. Not saying he's the answer and maybe he looks so good because we've looked so bad but he's been helpful. The more comfortable he gets in the offense, the more people will like him.

I agree with everything but the last part. I like his toughness and he plays hard. I just will never like the guy because he makes 19 mil per year. He will never produce the stats or intangibles to justify paying him that IMO. If you can block that out of your mind, yes he is't all bad.

That is flat-out ridiculous dude.

[AmareIsGod]

Tyler Johnson looked good and hit some timely 3s. I think he brings a toughness and know-how at point. Not saying he's the answer and maybe he looks so good because we've looked so bad but he's been helpful. The more comfortable he gets in the offense, the more people will like him.

I agree with everything but the last part. I like his toughness and he plays hard. I just will never like the guy because he makes 19 mil per year. He will never produce the stats or intangibles to justify paying him that IMO. If you can block that out of your mind, yes he is't all bad.

That is flat-out ridiculous dude.

He didn't demand that contract. Nor did the Suns offer him that contract. You can't dislike a person based on what another team determined their worth to be. If he's contributing and helping us win, I'll get on the DJ bandwagon. It's better than the same salary we were paying Anderson to watch from the bench every night.

EDIT: just saw your reply. Disregard

[djy2j]

Tyler Johnson looked good and hit some timely 3s. I think he brings a toughness and know-how at point. Not saying he's the answer and maybe he looks so good because we've looked so bad but he's been helpful. The more comfortable he gets in the offense, the more people will like him.

I agree with everything but the last part. I like his toughness and he plays hard. I just will never like the guy because he makes 19 mil per year. He will never produce the stats or intangibles to justify paying him that IMO. If you can block that out of your mind, yes he is't all bad.

That is flat-out ridiculous dude.

I mean I'm not mad at the guy for taking the money. You have to take it. The Heat matched(i believe) because he had a good season and they thought he had potential. The CBA was still new and teams were just throwing stupid money at alot of guys. You'll just never convince me paying him 20 mil to play on this team is anything but an albatross contract. He doesn't fill any direct need other than a roster spot. Sure, he could turn things around and be a really nice player, not an impossible feat but the odds are stacked highly against him.

I like him better than Ryan Anderson's carcass on the bench every night. Overall, his contract could impact this team's ability to sign an impact player or 2 and build toward's the future. Tyler doesn't move the needle enough for me to be ok with that.

The Heat were paying him 5 mil per because they knew he wasnt worth 19 during their rebuild so they wanted to move them before they had to and they did. That's what savvy GM's do.

[ShelC]

He's an ending contract next year so we can flip him in the summer for Anthony Davis. Duh.

[Superbone]

He's an ending contract next year so we can flip him in the summer for Anthony Davis. Duh.

Obvs.

[djy2j]

He's an ending contract next year so we can flip him in the summer for Anthony Davis. Duh.

Obvs.

James Jones' greatest work is yet to come. Johnson and JJ for Davis.

[n4th4n]

Tyler Johnson looked good and hit some timely 3s. I think he brings a toughness and know-how at point. Not saying he's the answer and maybe he looks so good because we've looked so bad but he's been helpful. The more comfortable he gets in the offense, the more people will like him.

I agree with everything but the last part. I like his toughness and he plays hard. I just will never like the guy because he makes 19 mil per year. He will never produce the stats or intangibles to justify paying him that IMO. If you can block that out of your mind, yes he is't all bad.

That is flat-out ridiculous dude.

I mean I'm not mad at the guy for taking the money. You have to take it. The Heat matched(i believe) because he had a good season and they thought he had potential. The CBA was still new and teams were just throwing stupid money at alot of guys. You'll just never convince me paying him 20 mil to play on this team is anything but an albatross contract. He doesn't fill any direct need other than a roster spot. Sure, he could turn things around and be a really nice player, not an impossible feat but the odds are stacked highly against him.

I like him better than Ryan Anderson's carcass on the bench every night. Overall, his contract could impact this team's ability to sign an impact player or 2 and build toward's the future. Tyler doesn't move the needle enough for me to be ok with that.

The Heat were paying him 5 mil per because they knew he wasnt worth 19 during their rebuild so they wanted to move them before they had to and they did. That's what savvy GM's do.

... and now they are paying Ryan Anderson. The fact that we are paying Tyler Johnson 20 mil/year is because we signed Brandon Knight to a bad contract 3 years ago. Unless you want to surrender an asset, you don't get to drop bad contracts into the NBA. The moment we signed BK, this money was dead.

[Shabazz]

Tyler Johnson looked good and hit some timely 3s. I think he brings a toughness and know-how at point. Not saying he's the answer and maybe he looks so good because we've looked so bad but he's been helpful. The more comfortable he gets in the offense, the more people will like him.

I agree with everything but the last part. I like his toughness and he plays hard. I just will never like the guy because he makes 19 mil per year. He will never produce the stats or intangibles to justify paying him that IMO. If you can block that out of your mind, yes he is't all bad.

That's not his fault tho. And we didn't give him the contract.

No, we gave AASE the contract, then traded it for Anderson’s bad contract, then traded that for Johnson’s. It’s tough to get rid of these things.

Did you happen to watch any of Knight in the Suns-Cavs game? He did not look like an NBA player any more. It was pretty sad.

Tyler Johnson is $4M better than Brandon Knight.

[carey]

Yeah, it was very sad. Pre-injury Knight was better than Anderson and Bumpy Johnson. Is it possible he's not fully healed?