Celtics @ Suns 11-8-18

[ArizonaSportsFan]

In this alternate reality you have a different team as well?

 

[GatorAZ]

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Someone is either lying or the players can’t understand the coach when he speaks. Not sure which one is worse.

 

[slinslin]

i believe the criticism of Ayton is justified
but i also believe if he was being coached by a Popovich, Riley, or Phil Jackson
there would be less to criticize now, and progressively less throughout the season

as of today, there is more to criticize than when he started the season

No it is not he is a freak9ng rookie

Critizing him for not being able to cover up the horrendous perimeter defense of veterans is a joke, he has to defend Horford up to the 3pt line as well.

When Bookers layup got deflected it was Kyrie Irving who did it.

 

[Chaplin]

Most of this thread is crap. Ayton continues to be a whipping boy for no reason. His stats are BETTER than Anthony Davis as a rookie—and it is also a proven FACT that big men take longer to develop, let alone a big man with a single year of college ball PLAYING OUT OF POSITION.

The Suns don’t know how to win? Well, duh! Why is that so unusual? We KNEW this going into the season. We have had dismal quarters early in the game, the fact that we experienced the opposite in this game, against the Celtics by the way, is a net positive in my book.

Show of hands, how many armchair GMs in this board predicted we’d be up 20 on the Celtics for most of his game? NONE.

Sure it sucks we lost, but come on. After you get this venting out of your system you’ll see this was a positive game not a negative.

Still some coaching mistakes, and playing Canaan as much as he did has to be a regret, but there is still a lot to like in this game.

 

[Errntknght]

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Someone is either lying or the players can’t understand the coach when he speaks. Not sure which one is worse.

They didn't switch, they doubled Kyrie. Normally sensible but at that juncture they didn't need to double, just stay with him at the arc. No fouling during a shot would be correct but a non-shooting foul would have been a good move, as already mentioned. Not hard to imagine a young coach and young players not getting it all sorted out in the heat of the moment.

 

[1tinsoldier]

again. we can believe in Ayton, understand that he's a rookie, and criticize him too

and we can like what happened for 3 quarters
and criticize what happened after that

i agree with Yuma. i find ways to be entertained and look for things to root for, besides winning

one of the ways i'm entertained is bitching about the things that need to be fixed

 

[Hoop Head]

Is losing in OT to one of the best teams in the league better than getting blown out by 20+ at home vs the Nets? Of course but they're both losses and fans have a right to be upset. Considering we led virtually the entire game and had a 20 point lead in the 4th quarter but allowed Boston to come back and push it to overtime stings. Losing after having a lead like that makes it feel worse than a 20 point loss to the Nets right now but tomorrow we can look at it as a positive. There's nothing wrong with being upset to see them choke the game away.

 

[Sunburn]

I'm so sad.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I'm so sad.

Yep, sad it is.

 

[NashDishesDimes]

I dont know why nobody is mentioning theyre defense. Brooklyn went straight through the lane every time, kyrie did the same tonight driving and kicking. In OT every look they had was open. Thats why they lost.

 

[82CardsGrad]

I’m no expert, but along with Igor and no PG, what about the fact that this team currently plays with 4 small forwards and no power forwards? Warren, Ariza, Jackson and Bridges... yet, no PF??
I dunno... just seems like an oddly constructed team. My gut is that if we had a legit PG and PF, Igor wouldn’t be viewed as the problem as much as he is right now.

 

[1tinsoldier]

I’m no expert, but along with Igor and no PG, what about the fact that this team currently plays with 4 small forwards and no power forwards? Warren, Ariza, Jackson and Bridges... yet, no PF??
I dunno... just seems like an oddly constructed team. My gut is that if we had a legit PG and PF, Igor wouldn’t be viewed as the problem as much as he is right now.

well, no functional PG and no serviceable power forward:
Holmes plays like a center and we use him that way
Bender is a dead man walking
Anderson is a vet man walking

a more balanced team and more wins would indeed make Igor look better but i'd still be calling him out on the same issues

 

[slinslin]

I’m no expert, but along with Igor and no PG, what about the fact that this team currently plays with 4 small forwards and no power forwards? Warren, Ariza, Jackson and Bridges... yet, no PF??
I dunno... just seems like an oddly constructed team. My gut is that if we had a legit PG and PF, Igor wouldn’t be viewed as the problem as much as he is right now.

which makes it mind-boggling that Ryan McDonough justified trading Chriss by saying he was a poor fit next to Ayton.

Yes this team badly misses a real PF too, we are trend chasers trying to emulate teams that are not us.

 

[Hoop Head]

I’m no expert, but along with Igor and no PG, what about the fact that this team currently plays with 4 small forwards and no power forwards? Warren, Ariza, Jackson and Bridges... yet, no PF??
I dunno... just seems like an oddly constructed team. My gut is that if we had a legit PG and PF, Igor wouldn’t be viewed as the problem as much as he is right now.

Who is Boston's power forward? They don't really have one. You don't need an old school PF to be successful in today's NBA. You do need 5 competent players though. If Anderson was playing well we might have won one more game but that's it. That's mainly because we need a 3rd scorer most nights since Booker and Warren can't do it all by themselves.

PG is the hole that we need to fill, desperately. I'm not sure who and at this point I don't really care who, just get someone that is a real PG out there.

 

[Hoop Head]

which makes it mind-boggling that Ryan McDonough justified trading Chriss by saying he was a poor fit next to Ayton.

Yes this team badly misses a real PF too, we are trend chasers trying to emulate teams that are not us.

Chriss is garbage. He's had a bad attitude since he got benched in his 2nd year after Watson gifted him a starting job in his rookie year. He can't rebound, he can't shoot, and he's not even very good at finishing dunks. We didn't need him when he was traded because he is a poor fit next to Ayton, in addition to being a bad locker room player. You can give up the Chriss love affair, he's no longer on the team and probably won't be in the league in 3 years.

 

[slinslin]

Chriss is garbage. He's had a bad attitude since he got benched in his 2nd year after Watson gifted him a starting job in his rookie year. He can't rebound, he can't shoot, and he's not even very good at finishing dunks. We didn't need him when he was traded because he is a poor fit next to Ayton, in addition to being a bad locker room player. You can give up the Chriss love affair, he's no longer on the team and probably won't be in the league in 3 years.

Watson did not gift him anything, Chriss outplayed Bender by a lot.

And how is he a bad locker room player? Compeltely baseless claim.

 

[Hoop Head]

Watson did not gift him anything, Chriss outplayed Bender by a lot.

And how is he a bad locker room player? Compeltely baseless claim.

He got the starting job 7 games into his rookie season, not because he played well but because Dudley as a stretch 4 was a bad idea by McD, Watson, and all who signed off on it. He averaged 5.3 points and 2.9 rebounds while shooting 47% in 13 minutes a game before he was made the starter. He was definitely more NBA ready than Bender but that doesn't mean he was ready to be a starter himself. This isn't about Bender, he doesn't factor into this at all. The only player who matters beside Chriss is Dudley because it's Dudley who was the starting PF until Watson gifted that to Chriss because he was the only player on our roster that had the size to man that position in a semi-decent capacity.

Here are his first 7 games in the league though, which performance earned him a starting job? If he wasn't gifted it why did he only play a minute and a half in the game before the change was made? That seems odd.

He never scored more than 9 points, grabbed more than 4 boards, or played more than 23 minutes in a game. His minutes were decreasing before he was made the starter.

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[slinslin]

Revisionist history, he had the best preseason of any rookie. Not even sure why I bother talking to you.

 

[Hoop Head]

Revisionist history, he had the best preseason of any rookie. Not even sure why I bother talking to you.

Oh, did the numbers not back up the nonsense you were spewing? I'm not sure why you try to talk about a game that you don't watch. Do you also talk about movies like you've seen them after you read a review?

 

[JCSunsfan]

One is gone the other will be as soon as the team can make it happen and we are still having this discussion?

 

[Carolinacacti]

Only watched the first 3 quarters, had to work but all I thought when I saw the score was first round pick. JJ needs to play more minutes and the Suns need a power forward that would take it to the Celtic's small lineup.

 

[AZCrazy]

Some spewing head are selling that the league is moving away from quaint notions like "positions", and everyone runs around in fluid form being a 'big', a 'wing', or a 'point'. Things tend to be cyclical in nature and the game will likely shift back, but it may be best for us to get ahead of the curve instead of following years behind it and always being out of position.
Having a dominant semi big PF next to Ayton who can defend and shoot would be a boon to this team. Think Karl Malone. Someone who resembles Zion.
Get that guy and the team will be ready in the front court. JJ's game will mature and he and Bridges can rotate as small forwards with growing levels success each year.
Most importantly, throughout its history this team has taken off from garbaggio to championship caliber competitiveness on the dates when it acquired a stellar point guard. From Paul Westphal to Dennis Johnson to Kevin Johnson to Steve Nash. Our team was an instant contender immediately upon their arrival. Nothing gonna happen until then this time around.

 

[JS22]

Most of this thread is crap. Ayton continues to be a whipping boy for no reason. His stats are BETTER than Anthony Davis as a rookie—and it is also a proven FACT that big men take longer to develop, let alone a big man with a single year of college ball PLAYING OUT OF POSITION.

The Suns don’t know how to win? Well, duh! Why is that so unusual? We KNEW this going into the season. We have had dismal quarters early in the game, the fact that we experienced the opposite in this game, against the Celtics by the way, is a net positive in my book.

Show of hands, how many armchair GMs in this board predicted we’d be up 20 on the Celtics for most of his game? NONE.

Sure it sucks we lost, but come on. After you get this venting out of your system you’ll see this was a positive game not a negative.

Still some coaching mistakes, and playing Canaan as much as he did has to be a regret, but there is still a lot to like in this game.

I am on the Ayton bandwagon but so far he is the king of empty stats. I've never seen anyone put up so many non-impactful double-doubles. It's weird and hard to explain.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

.
Most importantly, throughout its history this team has taken off from garbaggio to championship caliber competitiveness on the dates when it acquired a stellar point guard. From Paul Westphal to Dennis Johnson to Kevin Johnson to Steve Nash. Our team was an instant contender immediately upon their arrival. Nothing gonna happen until then this time around.

Man this is an interesting and spot-on point. In the past we’ve had talented teams that needed a rudder. Once we got one we contended. I mean it’s not like we’ve all not known we need a pg, but this post helps put it a little more in perspective.

 

[Chaplin]

I am on the Ayton bandwagon but so far he is the king of empty stats. I've never seen anyone put up so many non-impactful double-doubles. It's weird and hard to explain.

Define why you think they are non-impactful. Is it because he hasn’t gotten a crucial rebound at the end of a game? We’ve only been in a game at the end for what, 3 of them?

What about Warren? We are praising him to no end but nobody here is complaining about him not making any clutch shots. Why is that? He’s a veteran after all and is much improved.