Suns News: Preseason 2019

[Indy]

Playoffs...really Monty? That would be ..ucking miracle! But why not? You are man of god, so you should know about miracles.

I think we have a better chance at making the playoffs than finishing with the worst record in the West. Or at least an equal shot.

[O_Gardino]

Monty's right. The Suns shouldn't be a night off for any team this season. They should fight to win every game. They should believe that every game is winnable if they play well.

[Democritus]

Man I don't get these quotes, especially when your team has just won 19 games last year. Why the talk? He is not like DA who can not contain himself while talking. No more talks please, just play consistent, hard fought basketball.

[Superbone]

Playoffs...really Monty? That would be ..ucking miracle! But why not? You are man of god, so you should know about miracles.

You like the alternative better? "Yeah, we're not good enough to make the playoffs. We'll do our best but probably come up short. Nah, I'm sure of it."

OK, thanks Eeyore. You get paid to play basketball?

If you're getting paid to play in the NBA, you had better damn well think you're good enough to make the playoffs! You're not out of it until you're mathematically eliminated. You play your butt off every night and continue to get better game by game. That's the attitude you should have.

[Superbone]

If you shoot for the moon, you are bound to land among the stars

I like that mentality, you have to have aspirations, no matter how unlikely, play for something more than one game.

Exactly.

[Superbone]

Sometimes, if you shoot for the moon, you blow up on the launch pad.

So, don't even bother trying then, right? Yeah, great way to go through life.

[Superbone]

Just a random question for you guys. I know that we have improved our starting five and I'm hopeful this year. But what about the defensive end? Is there a starting 5 in the NBA which is worse defensively than our 5 guys? I think that aspect of our team will determine our position in April.

Atlanta for sure. I can’t imagine the wizards, hornets, or Cavs having competent defenses either.

I think those are all good examples. But I don't know if you could come up with a list worse than we are in the West. Maybe Memphis.

I don't know who it is yet but I'll write out the list for you after a month. My guess would be at least three teams worse than us at that point.

[Superbone]

Man I don't get these quotes, especially when your team has just won 19 games last year. Why the talk? He is not like DA who can not contain himself while talking. No more talks please, just play consistent, hard fought basketball.

He was asked a question and he answered it. It's as simple as that. You are reading way too much into it.

[Wormwood]

Man I don't get these quotes, especially when your team has just won 19 games last year. Why the talk? He is not like DA who can not contain himself while talking. No more talks please, just play consistent, hard fought basketball.

While the Jim Mora response would be the most honest one, and certainly the most memorable, it probably wouldn't go over very well with Sarver who is still trying to convince people they're building a winning teams.

(Hint: they're not. Ayton and Booker are overrated because of their awful defense and lethargic play on one half of the court).

[Flagrant Fowl]

Sometimes, if you shoot for the moon, you blow up on the launch pad.

So, don't even bother trying then, right? Yeah, great way to go through life.

Just saying. Sometimes fans tend to be homers who think everything is going to work out well.

Don't get me wrong, I like that Monty is saying these things. He must say them. It's in his best interest to say them.

But as a fan, with little at stake in the situation, being objective is how I keep my sanity with sports.

[Democritus]

Man I don't get these quotes, especially when your team has just won 19 games last year. Why the talk? He is not like DA who can not contain himself while talking. No more talks please, just play consistent, hard fought basketball.

While the Jim Mora response would be the most honest one, and certainly the most memorable, it probably wouldn't go over very well with Sarver who is still trying to convince people they're building a winning teams.

(Hint: they're not. Ayton and Booker are overrated because of their awful defense and lethargic play on one half of the court).

LOL That's gold worm....really made my night here...
How did Mora's team performed that year?

[Superbone]

Sometimes, if you shoot for the moon, you blow up on the launch pad.

So, don't even bother trying then, right? Yeah, great way to go through life.

Just saying. Sometimes fans tend to be homers who think everything is going to work out well.

Don't get me wrong, I like that Monty is saying these things. He must say them. It's in his best interest to say them.

But as a fan, with little at stake in the situation, being objective is how I keep my sanity with sports.

I get you. But he's saying it, not you. I don't think they're likely to make the playoffs either but I'm not going to rule it out at this point. In a month? Maybe... But I wouldn't expect any other answer from coach.

[In2ition]

Wow, Mora's team was 4-6 at the time in a league that only plays 16 games and only 6 out of 16 teams in each conference make the playoffs. You guys are already giving up when the record is 0-0? After filling nearly every major hole on the team and improving the team from top to bottom? You guys are all crazy if you've given up already.

[Aztec Sunsfan]

But I wouldn't expect any other answer from coach.

This, one thousand times this.

You can lead a team by lowering the expectations, in such case, you are just an administrator of mediocrity. Part of my job every election year, is to take ordinary people and making high performance teams out of them. An specially key ingredient is to set High Performance goals for everyone, noy just allow them to sail passing by the posible. The better ones are challenged to rise to the top, the medium guys to scale up to the elite, the mildly bad ones are asked to at least get out of the low half an into middle class, and even with the worst of all of them, before taking harsh decisions, I challenge them to scape from the very bottom.

This team, every game, DO HAVE a shot at winning as long as we have Devin freaking Booker on the lineup. This guy has been fully capable of torching any defense wiith next to zero support in the past (on and off the court), so yeah, this year I’m not expecting championships or even playoff, but we should definitely must be competitive every night, no more games ended by the half after a disastrous series of 20-2 runs. and if we can build on being capable to win every given game, then playoff are within reach next year, perhaps even this one if the perfect storm hits on Phoenix.

You have to reach for higher goals every time you try something, even if you fail, you will likely still be better than you were to begin with.

[Cap]

The oddsmakers see the Suns as having something like a 5% chance to make the playoffs. It’s a long shot, but a realistic chance. Gotta go for it.

[Democritus]

Of course, as a whole team just play and go for it in silence and persistency, even if the odds are against you. If the chance is really 5% to make the playoffs, then by talking about the playoffs now, you are risking your reputation and you may look like Earl Watson in December.

[Mori Chu]

The NBA media likes two kinds of teams: ones that were good last year, and ones that made splashy acquisitions. So they'll overrate a team like the Lakers or Nets, and they'll underrate a team that keeps its strong core intact like the Blazers, or a team that quietly gets incrementally better, like the Suns.

[In2ition]

I think the Blazers are overrated by the media. The loss of Nurkic to injury, Harkless and Aminu were pretty big, imo. There defense is going to suffer quite a bit until Nurkic comes back.

[SDC]

Zach Lowe on Rubio signing: I was a bit puzzled by the choice; three years seems like too much since Rubio isn’t an ideal fit next to Booker because he struggles as an off-ball shooter.

[Superbone]

Zach Lowe on Rubio signing: I was a bit puzzled by the choice; three years seems like too much since Rubio isn’t an ideal fit next to Booker because he struggles as an off-ball shooter.

Lowe will understand soon enough.