Game Day: Suns (22-50) @ Celtics (46-26), Fri 3/24/17

[EDC]

I'm pretty sure he will be back next year. I just hope we ditch the vets we benched and stick with the young guys.

Watson needs to change the offense as well. Enough with Len setting all the picks. If we run a pnr it should be Booker/Chriss all day long.
They should be doing that now to start building that chemistry. That combo has real potential.

[Mori Chu]

Props to Watson. He does a great job in that interview. I don't love the guy but he really understood this moment and what it means to Booker and the team, and he stuck up for his guy perfectly.

[jonh]

I'm pretty sure he will be back next year. I just hope we ditch the vets we benched and stick with the young guys.

Watson needs to change the offense as well. Enough with Len setting all the picks. If we run a pnr it should be Booker/Chriss all day long.
They should be doing that now to start building that chemistry. That combo has real potential.

From what I understand, its not a question of whether or not he is fired, but whether or not he will quit to take the coaching position at UCLA.

[EDC]

I'm pretty sure he will be back next year. I just hope we ditch the vets we benched and stick with the young guys.

Watson needs to change the offense as well. Enough with Len setting all the picks. If we run a pnr it should be Booker/Chriss all day long.
They should be doing that now to start building that chemistry. That combo has real potential.

From what I understand, its not a question of whether or not he is fired, but whether or not he will quit to take the coaching position at UCLA.

Lets hope that doesn't happen. Mostly because I'm sure Sarver will continue his trend of only hiring people with no experience. Probably go through the players twitters and see who they have said anything positive about. Cross off anyone with any experience whatsoever and then put all the names left into a hat and pick one out.

[jonh]

I'm pretty sure he will be back next year. I just hope we ditch the vets we benched and stick with the young guys.

Watson needs to change the offense as well. Enough with Len setting all the picks. If we run a pnr it should be Booker/Chriss all day long.
They should be doing that now to start building that chemistry. That combo has real potential.

From what I understand, its not a question of whether or not he is fired, but whether or not he will quit to take the coaching position at UCLA.

Lets hope that doesn't happen. Mostly because I'm sure Sarver will continue his trend of only hiring people with no experience. Probably go through the players twitters and see who they have said anything positive about. Cross off anyone with any experience whatsoever and then put all the names left into a hat and pick one out.

Speaking of which--looks like he will be sticking around after all.
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... a-hoosiers

[TOO]

Good, I like continuity.

[Aztec Sunsfan]

https://twitter.com/ESPNForsberg/status/845469937200222208 Watson handled that like a pro.

Yupp. Well done! That's the attitude/spirit of a good coach/leader right there. Love the quote. Good job.

I hate to say it, but I would be disappointed if Watson wasn't the coach next year. I think he is the coaching equivalent of a guilty pleasure--I know that I probably shouldn't enjoy his coaching as much as I do, but the platitudes and the talk about family has grown on me.

This was the single greatest thing he's said that has endured me to him while he's been with the Suns.

Agreed. It made me look at him under a different light for the first time since he arrived. A longer response could have showed him more as a talking head,but you can't make this up out of thin air in a live interview, you have to actually believe it.

This was a powerful line, that hopefully grows on our kids. I can even picture it in past games, when out of nowhere we start cutting on an early deficit... "You don't like losing? DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT". Now, we just need a power line to avoid early deficits!!!

[JCSunsfan]

This is pretty blatant fouling to just get booker 70, but who cares. Down 10 so it's almost justifiable

From the Celtics? I don't think it was intentional. They were actually pissed that he was going for 70. Like Eddie Johnson said, worry about your own game, Celtics.

No, I meant the suns fouling those last two possessions. Don't think we'd have fouled if booker wasn't close to 70

It happens in almost every milestone type of game. And this is a big milestone game. How many extra passes do you see when players are trying to log a triple double? Its no big deal.

[Cap]

You were so close, Superbone. Just a month after the All-Star break, and Watson finally seems to be starting to change perceptions around here.

[JCSunsfan]

https://twitter.com/ESPNForsberg/status/845469937200222208 Watson handled that like a pro.

Yupp. Well done! That's the attitude/spirit of a good coach/leader right there. Love the quote. Good job.

I hate to say it, but I would be disappointed if Watson wasn't the coach next year. I think he is the coaching equivalent of a guilty pleasure--I know that I probably shouldn't enjoy his coaching as much as I do, but the platitudes and the talk about family has grown on me.

This was the single greatest thing he's said that has endured me to him while he's been with the Suns.

I agree. It was the perfect response. It bought him a lot of good will with his players.

[EDC]

You were so close, Superbone. Just a month after the All-Star break, and Watson finally seems to be starting to change perceptions around here.

Not sure I would go that far. He has always talked a good game.

[Sunsfan4life]

Earl Watson....LIKE A BOSS. I'm still not a big fan of his rotations and adjustments, but absolutely applaud him for these comments. Love that not trying to make friends attitude. Booker has that too.

[Superbone]

You were so close, Superbone. Just a month after the All-Star break, and Watson finally seems to be starting to change perceptions around here.

Heh, I was thinking the same thing. Would have been a weird quote though. "About a month after the all-star break..."

[O_Gardino]

You were so close, Superbone. Just a month after the All-Star break, and Watson finally seems to be starting to change perceptions around here.

Heh, I was thinking the same thing. Would have been a weird quote though. "About a month after the all-star break..."

Even weirder: "Watson will change your minds about him when Booker scores 70."

[Superbone]

You were so close, Superbone. Just a month after the All-Star break, and Watson finally seems to be starting to change perceptions around here.

Heh, I was thinking the same thing. Would have been a weird quote though. "About a month after the all-star break..."

Even weirder: "Watson will change your minds about him when Booker scores 70."

I'd be buying lottery tickets had I done that.

[TOO]

I honestly dont get the Watson hate, I really dont. The players seem to like him, play hard, sure he needs work on his rotations and play calls, but he's learning on the job. I swear people only hate him because the UA fans wanted their boy Walton.

[JCSunsfan]

I honestly dont get the Watson hate, I really dont. The players seem to like him, play hard, sure he needs work on his rotations and play calls, but he's learning on the job. I swear people only hate him because the UA fans wanted their boy Walton.

I would love him to get a quality x's and o's assistant--his own Tex Winter. I think that would really help Watson.

[Indy]

I had to defend the Suns and Booker in several chat groups on instant messaging today, and I'm here to vent. People are so stupid. I probably can't score 70 points one on zero in a gym by myself, and I'm pretty sure most guys who complain about this can't do the same one on zero on 40 shots and 24 free throws. So what if we intentionally fouled twice to add two possessions? He still actually had to make those shots right? So what if we did this in a losing effort? The team is not in a good place right now and the young kids need something positive to hang their hat on. Very disappointed in Crowder and Thomas. The Boston Garden fans had class. Enjoy a good moment and celebrate when you can. Don't become a grouchy old man before you turn 30, Jae and Isaiah.

To be fair to Crowder and IT, you should be pissed if an opponent drops 70 on you. And you should be upset that the crowd was cheering him on. That doesn't mean you don't do what the crowd did. Of course you do. But you have every right to be upset if you are a Celtic player.

[pickle]

I respectfully disagree. It's one thing if you are Ricky Davis shooting at your own basket to get a triple double. It's one thing if you are losing to someone by 20 and they run up the score because they can. The Suns are in a unique situation where the team is clearly not going anywhere and the string of losses and injuries/personnel management probably didn't leave anybody particularly happy. We aren't the Kings but we have our share of problems (even if I always advocate patience I'm not blind to what's going on). Under that context, and given that they won the game, I really don't see any reason why they can't be happy for a young man who made this otherwise meaningless game memorable for himself and the fans. Even with this scoring record nobody would mistake the Suns for contenders so IT's comment is particularly idiotic to me. If you really are that worried about the playoffs then why do you have more energy to waste on how a bottom dwelling team chooses to find the positives in their season? And for Crowder, if you are a winner then why would you bother replying to the post of a group of people you consider losers? Could you not take a cue from the garden crowd who was cheering every Booker shot after about the midway point of the fourth? To be a great competitor you are supposed to get angry when you lose as a team not when someone puts up a good stat and perhaps outshined you personally. Besides, as Booker stated so eloquently, you can't guard him.

[Cap]

I had to defend the Suns and Booker in several chat groups on instant messaging today, and I'm here to vent. People are so stupid. I probably can't score 70 points one on zero in a gym by myself, and I'm pretty sure most guys who complain about this can't do the same one on zero on 40 shots and 24 free throws. So what if we intentionally fouled twice to add two possessions? He still actually had to make those shots right? So what if we did this in a losing effort? The team is not in a good place right now and the young kids need something positive to hang their hat on. Very disappointed in Crowder and Thomas. The Boston Garden fans had class. Enjoy a good moment and celebrate when you can. Don't become a grouchy old man before you turn 30, Jae and Isaiah.

To be fair to Crowder and IT, you should be pissed if an opponent drops 70 on you. And you should be upset that the crowd was cheering him on. That doesn't mean you don't do what the crowd did. Of course you do. But you have every right to be upset if you are a Celtic player.

Some of our own players have been known to have inappropriate angry outbursts directed at opponents when they don't like how things are going, and they don't always wait until the game is over.

It's a normal human response when you're a very competitive person and adrenaline is running high.