Celtics @ Suns Wednesday game thread 12-7-2022

[Yuma]

I don't remember the team, but I remember a fight was breaking out in a game, and Xavier came off the bench onto the court, and everyone stopped. Other players were literally scared of Xavier. He was a great guy to have on your squad.

 

[Yuma]

Other than Josh Okogie and sometimes Cam Payne, the Suns bench is an illusion.

I'm not even going to talk about the starters.

I didn't even expect shooting from Okogie. He is developing a shot on our squad. Either that, or his off season he really put in the work. Good for him.

 

[GatorAZ]

We need Pat Bev who’s with me?!?!?

 

[Yuma]

We need Pat Bev who’s with me?!?!?

DEJOUNTE MURRAY, I was pissed we didn't try for him.​

 

[Mainstreet]

Monty Williams really should think about games 6 and 7 against Dallas in the playoffs.

The Suns might have forgotten or lost something along the way.

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[Mainstreet]

We need Pat Bev who’s with me?!?!?

The Suns have a lot better player in Josh Okogie.

 

[Mainstreet]

Monty might want to think about giving Josh Okogie minutes at point guard. I think he might be able to play there.

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[Cheesebeef]

This team ain’t winning ish.

 

[Mainstreet]

It's encouraging to hear Chris Paul feels good physically after the game. He will need some time to get in game shape.

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[Mainstreet]

Suns need more than to flush the game. They need fixes.

IMO, they need more physical players and shooting. Suns can't afford slow starts.

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[Cheesebeef]

Folks… brace yourself for a harsh truth here… this team is the now Utah Jazz from the last couple years.

Actually, I’ll go back to my earlier prediction before the season. We’re the 2008 Suns post Horry hip-check, KT Trade, failed KG trade.

A solid team with a nice record that’s not really a legit title contender anymore and is probably on the verge of making a Shaq-esque desperation deal to try for one last gasp.

 

[GatorAZ]

The Suns are paying Crowder, Shamet and Saric a combined $30m this year. The Shamet trade/extension was a disaster and he’s probably unmovable.

 

[Cheesebeef]

The Suns are paying Crowder, Shamet and Saric a combined $30m this year. The Shamet trade/extension was a disaster and he’s probably unmovable.

Never made sense from the second we signed him to that deal. That money should have been earmarked and accounted for Cam Johnson down the road.

At least the other two guys were contributors to contending runs.

 

[Mainstreet]

The Suns are paying Crowder, Shamet and Saric a combined $30m this year. The Shamet trade/extension was a disaster and he’s probably unmovable.

Paying Shamet is indeed a problem. The Suns might include him in a larger trade with picks but that may be throwing away good assets.

Suns should think twice about trading draft picks because they own all of their future picks.

The good news is the Suns draft picks may have more value. The bad news they aren't invested in the draft.

 

[Cheesebeef]

this team was good enough to win a championship when Paul was their best player. But the window is closed. Bookers Peak will never be as high as Paul’s.

Booker is an AWESOME player, but he’s not an NBA title legend player. Just doesn’t have enough freakish ability in him. That’s not a knock. It is beyond rare:.. the Stefs, Giannis, LeBrons of the world aren’t plentiful.

And Title teams usually need not just one of those, but another KILLER #2 next to him. And we DEFINITELY don’t have that with 37000 year old CP3 anymore.

It’s why I wanted KD so bad in rh summer. Book could have been an absolute KILLER #2 next to a KD.

 

[Mainstreet]

If the Suns don't have a mission they need to find one.

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[GatorAZ]

Booker is an AWESOME player, but he’s not an NBA title legend player. Just doesn’t have enough freakish ability in him. That’s not a knock. It is beyond rare:.. the Stefs, Giannis, LeBrons of the world aren’t plentiful.

And Title teams usually need not just one of those, but another KILLER #2 next to him. And we DEFINITELY don’t have that with 37000 year old CP3 anymore.

It’s why I wanted KD so bad in rh summer. Book could have been an absolute KILLER #2 next to a KD.

Yeah you look at the best player on the last however-many-title-teams…
.
Curry
Giannis
Lebron
Kawhi
Curry/KD
Curry/KD
Lebron
Curry
Spurs had a combo of Kawhi/Duncan/Parker which is better than our big-3 (plus better role players; Green, Mills, Diaw, Ginobili)

 

[Cheesebeef]

Yeah you look at the best player on the last however-many-title-teams…
.
Curry
Giannis
Lebron
Kawhi
Curry/KD
Curry/KD
Lebron
Curry
Spurs had a combo of Kawhi/Duncan/Parker which is better than our big-3 (plus better role players; Green, Mills, Diaw, Ginobili)

Not to mention they had Pop. Monty’s a good coach. But he’s not Pop. Not a knock… there aren’t many coaches who have been in league history.

The closest our team has come was that first CP3 team and the closest team to any of those teams above was that Toronto team… but even there they had a better #1 with Kawhi, more depth and had FIVE legit shot creators with Lowry, Kawhi, Siakam, Van Fleet and Gasol. Whereas we had two legit shot creators and where Siakam and Van Fleet took major steps forward as young guys in the Finals, Bridges and Ayton fell flat on their faces as the series went on. And the reality is the only reason that Toronto won is because GS was a MASH unit at the end. Although, looking back maybe not… they were super deep also.

Reality is we just totally blew our opportunity against the Bucks. CP3 still playing at an All-Star level, Booker ascending, a full 2 months of consistent play out of Ayton and rode a great road through the playoffs, taking best advantage of every opportunity. Then CP3 became CPPee-on-me and the rest was history.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Monty might want to think about giving Josh Okogie minutes at point guard. I think he might be able to play there.

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Mainstreet, you gotta put this one to rest. Okogie is NOT a point guard. He’s just not. He’s not a good enough ballhandler. He doesn’t have great vision. He’s really usually somewhat outta control when putting the ball on the floor and dribbling into traffic with no agenda. He had a rare hot streak tonight and was the only player to play with any energy, but he is just not that good, and definitely not a point guard.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Let’s face it, this team as currently constructed has run its course. It isn’t winning anything without a major splash trade. Any talk not trading bridges for KD should be immediately laughed off the board. This is third loss in four with one a horrid loss to a horrid rockets team and the other two not even being competitive by the end of the first quarters.

Book allowed one bad game to grow into two.

For two games bridges looked like he completely lost all knowledge of, and ability to play, basketball. On both ends. His huge limitations offensively were on full display these past two games.

Paul is still waaaayyyy outta shape and frankly looks as bad as he did to start the season. I doubt we get really good Paul much the rest of the season. I wonder how engaged he is at this point.

Ayton. Jesus. Ayton. Y’all did a good job taking him to task for repeatedly bringing the ball down and getting it stolen, or just ripped outta his hands, over and over and over and over and over. Doesn’t he get embarrassed? Apparently not because he also loafed almost all game. I lost count how many possessions I didn’t even see him at the defensive end for the beginning of the shot clock. What an embarrassment he was. Hello Benoit Benjamin!

Craig is just being forced to play more minutes than he really should. Still like his hustle and energy.

The bench, well let’s just say it’s so far from championship caliber it’s not funny. Landale, shamet, Dario, ish, okogie are all really end of bench guys. Biz should ideally be a third center. Lee and Payne are legitimate bench players, but neither is really a true difference maker. And who knows what cam Johnson is gonna be when he returns - he was subpar after his last return from injury.

And monty, well monty was a terrific coach to get a young team to learn how to win. But I think he’s capped out his abilities. I think he misses willie a LOT. Perhaps too much.

And what do we have to look forward to next? I think we rack up two double digit losses to the pelicans next.

And I don’t think James jones has any answers.

 

[swagron]

Hope Tatum hurts himself out there idiot your up 40 and your chucking threes and trying to throw down embarrassing dunks

Not a good look for hoping for a player to be injured. It’s one loss. Take it like an adult, geez.

 

[boisesuns]

Monty Williams really should think about games 6 and 7 against Dallas in the playoffs.

The Suns might have forgotten or lost something along the way.

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It’s not a vibe, it’s reality monty

 

[Dr dumas]

This current team will struggle to make it out of the first round! I saw a team last night where nobody could stay in front of their man.. the Celtics broke down the Suns with ease.

 

[Proximo]

The Suns are paying Crowder, Shamet and Saric a combined $30m this year. The Shamet trade/extension was a disaster and he’s probably unmovable.

I don't think that is true, my understanding is several of the years on his contract are not guaranteed

 

[Proximo]

Let’s face it, this team as currently constructed has run its course. It isn’t winning anything without a major splash trade. Any talk not trading bridges for KD should be immediately laughed off the board. This is third loss in four with one a horrid loss to a horrid rockets team and the other two not even being competitive by the end of the first quarters.

Book allowed one bad game to grow into two.

For two games bridges looked like he completely lost all knowledge of, and ability to play, basketball. On both ends. His huge limitations offensively were on full display these past two games.

Paul is still waaaayyyy outta shape and frankly looks as bad as he did to start the season. I doubt we get really good Paul much the rest of the season. I wonder how engaged he is at this point.

Ayton. Jesus. Ayton. Y’all did a good job taking him to task for repeatedly bringing the ball down and getting it stolen, or just ripped outta his hands, over and over and over and over and over. Doesn’t he get embarrassed? Apparently not because he also loafed almost all game. I lost count how many possessions I didn’t even see him at the defensive end for the beginning of the shot clock. What an embarrassment he was. Hello Benoit Benjamin!

Craig is just being forced to play more minutes than he really should. Still like his hustle and energy.

The bench, well let’s just say it’s so far from championship caliber it’s not funny. Landale, shamet, Dario, ish, okogie are all really end of bench guys. Biz should ideally be a third center. Lee and Payne are legitimate bench players, but neither is really a true difference maker. And who knows what cam Johnson is gonna be when he returns - he was subpar after his last return from injury.

And monty, well monty was a terrific coach to get a young team to learn how to win. But I think he’s capped out his abilities. I think he misses willie a LOT. Perhaps too much.

And what do we have to look forward to next? I think we rack up two double digit losses to the pelicans next.

And I don’t think James jones has any answers.

I think this is an overreaction.

When we can't shoot we suck incredibly, but that is not the norm. Why do these games keep happening where the entire team can't make a damn thing, I have no idea.

It really would not surprise me at all if we go on a ten game winning streak starting on Friday - but probably not. My point is with this team they are hard to figure out - nobody thought they would stink it up last playoffs, and nobody thought they would start this year off this well. Now they are back to sucking for no apparent reason. Is that disturbing yeah - but this is also largely still the same team that went to the finals when no one expected that either.

We aren't going to gut this team, and we don't need to have the best regular season record either. We just need to be playing well when the playoffs start, and with this team that seems just as likely to happen as not. Not saying we don't need to make a few improvements, but it's going to be minor adjustments, not a major overhaul.