Game Day: Jazz (30-17) @ Suns (36-9), Mon 1/24/22

[LazarusLong]

Biyombo 16 points, 13 rebounds, 7/10 FG, 1 block

He's very active, and seems to get great position in and around the paint.
Now, about those free throws ...

[The Bobster]

Biyombo 16 points, 13 rebounds, 7/10 FG, 1 block

He's very active, and seems to get great position in and around the paint.
Now, about those free throws ...

He's basically a more athletic version of Mark West

[carey]

I’m not sure how much more time you give Shamet to figure it out. I hope he figures it out or they find a replace for him at the deadline and waive him. Weird situation with not being able to trade him but his yearly salary with the extension and team option makes him completely expendable. He’s one of those guys who will hurt you playing for you but also hurt you playing on another team.

What? He was extended off the rookie scale wasn't he? He got 4/43 with the last year with out guarantee?

[JeremyG]

Well Jalen Smith is definitely either in the doghouse for some reason or they are trading him.

[BKinSJC]

With this win over Utah, the Suns have now played and beaten every team in the West at least once. 23-7 overall against the West, with only one team (Golden State) having beaten them more than once.

14-2 against the East, with the only losses coming at Boston and home against Miami; Miami is the only team that they have played at least once and not beaten yet. Still have yet to play against Chicago, Milwaukee, Orlando, and Philly.

[iLLmatic]

Shamet 1/5 FG. I have absolutely no faith in him whatsoever.

He's booker on food stamps.

[Superbone]

Booker was horrible in the 4th.

It was strange. He got an easy 30 and then he suddenly reverted back to last game where he couldn’t hit the ocean from a boat.

[Superbone]

A very frustrating win.

Yeah, but I’ll take it. I was starting to get worried early in the 4th when the Jazz wouldn’t go away and then suddenly the Suns just turned the defense up to 11 and took care of business. Seemed like a great crowd tonight too.

[Vladimir_Taltos]

Biyombo...we are so fortunate to have landed him...just...wow!

[djy2j]

I’m not sure how much more time you give Shamet to figure it out. I hope he figures it out or they find a replace for him at the deadline and waive him. Weird situation with not being able to trade him but his yearly salary with the extension and team option makes him completely expendable. He’s one of those guys who will hurt you playing for you but also hurt you playing on another team.

What? He was extended off the rookie scale wasn't he? He got 4/43 with the last year with out guarantee?

There was some weird/conflicting details when he was extended. I am wrong. It appears it is guaranteed until the 2024 if season. Makes 9 mil starting next season. Not crippling but something they’ll have to try to move on from if this level of play from him continues.

[pickle]

I feel like Shamet is completely in his own head right now. He's too good a shooter to keep missing those shots. He needs to pick Cam J's brain on how to get himself right. It looks like he's just trying to do way too much, bodying people on defense, trying to make plays on offense. Just go back to the very basics and try to make shots. Start from spotting up, once you hit a few of those, move on to running off screens. Don't even think about making things happen off the dribble until you get to a respectable percentage on open shots.

He's passing up shots where there's some space to drive into crowds and forcing up errant passes.

[Mori Chu]

Having Payton and Shamet as our bench backcourt is going to be really rough. Neither one of them is cutting it. I think Shamet is my least favorite Sun. He is just awful to watch, and his shooting is completely unreliable. I can't remember the last time I saw a purported sharpshooter brick so many wide open 3s. I am giving up on the guy. Hope we can make a deadline deal to get an actual NBA quality shooting guard.

[Shabazz]

Booker has a bunch of points, but the ball started moving around better when he went to the bench ...

Dirty secret of the last few games.

[Shabazz]

Having Payton and Shamet as our bench backcourt is going to be really rough. Neither one of them is cutting it. I think Shamet is my least favorite Sun. He is just awful to watch, and his shooting is completely unreliable. I can't remember the last time I saw a purported sharpshooter brick so many wide open 3s. I am giving up on the guy. Hope we can make a deadline deal to get an actual NBA quality shooting guard.

EJ kind of shits on Shamet a bunch but goes out of his way to praise Elfrid. I’m not sure which Payton he’s been watching.

[BlaCkAdDa]

Difference is we gave Shamet $40m in the offseason.. strange stuff.

[bajanguy008]

Well I was coming here to "apologize" for maybe seeming like I nitpick at Book alot but glad to see that his uneven play has already been discussed.

The Jalen Smith thing is weird because every time we've been short handed EJ n Ray would always start from like pregame mentioning the opportunity for Jalen tonight. After his decent play they would be saying another chance for Jalen to build on his last game and so on.
It was crickets last night, at no point I remember a maybe Monty might look to Jalen or anything comment. It's like he wasn't even on the bench, really wonder what's going on there

[ShelC]

[bajanguy008]

Couldn't hit a shot to save his life late trying to ice the game but I appreciated this

[bajanguy008]

Lol

[ShelC]

Got the W. I don't really care that it should've been a blowout or whatever just because the Jazz backups were playing. Sometimes a wounded animal is more dangerous. They played hard, with nothing to lose and were knocking down their shots. It's the NBA. I don't think we were playing poorly or taking them lightly. I think we treated it like every other game and turned it on in the 4th when we needed to. They actually had better percentages than us, we just took about 20 more shots.

Book carried us early, CP carried us late. CP is literally in midseason form right now, putting up his best numbers on the season in January. He really knows how to pace himself thru the season. Earlier in the year he was dragging a bit, the shot wasn't falling and he was working himself back after the long playoff run. Now, he's a well oiled machine.

Javale with 6-9-2 (should've been 3 blocks) and Bismack with 16 and 13 in 31 minutes. It seems like Monty is content to start Javale and then just give Bismack starter-type minutes off the bench (not unlike starting Frank last year at PF for 15-18mpg and then playing Crowder more off the bench). Biyombo plays better with more minutes - he's a game flow type of guy whereas Javale is pure energy for shorts stints. Biyombo is probably still a low-end starter in the league. I do worry now he'll get some offers in the summer that we might not be able to match.

Cam Johnson looks better with each start. Love seeing his overall development and even tho he's still a bit undersized at the 4, he's always solid on the boards and inside defensively.

I didn't think Elf played terribly but I think we also limited his touches mostly by putting him with CP or Book and having him off the ball. Had a few nice cuts and made his layups. He's a like a PG/ballhandling Bo Outlaw or something. Nothing outside of 3 feet. Shamet is broken right now. Nothing looks like it's going in and he's out there just to give guys a breather. I still haven't fully given up on him, but this one could backfire on Monty going after one of his guys.

Our consistency on both ends is impressive. We don't waver when the other team is hitting 3s or taking the lead. Guys don't start jacking shots or gambling on defense. It's what separates us from other teams, even the good ones in the league.