Dallas @ Suns Game 1 (R2) Monday 5-2-2022, 7 PM

[Chris_Sanders]

This is just unbelievable.

What in the hell gives these morons confidence the mavs will win the series after that game? Barring a major injury to the Suns there is literally no chance the Mavs can win.

Well he was predicting the Mavs in 6 before the game so he's just stubbornly sticking to his bias

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Can you imagine an in shape Luka? He’s pretty flabby for a top tier nba player.

Yeah if he had the speed he could have he would probably be MVP

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Let luka get 40 plus every gm he cant beat suns basically him few other mavs

Was at a family event last n couldnt watch gm so paul was guardin luka? I guess best option to try shut luka down lol

Hope kidd win as hc in poffs but not vs suns kidd one of my top 5 players ex sun

Everyone guarded him one on one. We basically invited him to hold the ball and drive rather than get his teammates going. They had only 16 assists as a team.

 

[Chaplin]

Well he was predicting the Mavs in 6 before the game so he's just stubbornly sticking to his bias

What's he going to say when the Mavs are down 3-0?

The guy is a tool and an idiot. And to think, he gets paid a lot more money then most of us here to do that crap. But hey, we can just call him BBNick because he's going to provide nothing but Bulletin Board material for the best team in the NBA.

 

[Ronin]

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[somethingshesaid]

And I think you’re overthinking with the start Payne experiment. That just doesn’t happen with a HOF PG where you decide to mess with his 18 years of minutes distro and deserved place as a starter.

It can happen one way: if they ask for and get Paul's approval. I think I once agreed that Paul is the overall best point guard in suns history, and I wouldn't disrespect him; so I supposed it would be understood that I meant Paul comes off the bench only if he agrees that it could be useful.

 

[Mainstreet]

It can happen one way: if they ask for and get Paul's approval. I think I once agreed that Paul is the overall best point guard in suns history, and I wouldn't disrespect him; so I supposed it would be understood that I meant Paul comes off the bench only if he agrees that it could be useful.

Does someone really want to put Chris Paul on the bench?

I'm at a loss for words.

 

[Cheesebeef]

It can happen one way: if they ask for and get Paul's approval. I think I once agreed that Paul is the overall best point guard in suns history, and I wouldn't disrespect him; so I supposed it would be understood that I meant Paul comes off the bench only if he agrees that it could be useful.

this just isn't realistic, angel. not only would you possibly be pissing off the leader of the team, but you would be completely messing around with lineups and rotations that have been wildly successful for two years... and doing so in the middle of a playoff run.

 

[Mainstreet]

For those who haven't seen it or what to see it again, here is JaVale McGee making a steal and initiating a one man fastbreak that ends when he SLAMS it home.

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[AZ due I love BBQ]

Just some things that have me cracking up

1) C Payne should start over CP3. Dumbfounded.

2) CP3 found a strategy to shut down Doncic. Dude scored like 45 points lol.

3) Luka, Dirk M, Barkley aren't athletic. They're super athletic. They're not Vince Carter athletic, they're not Manute Bol skinny, they're not Carl Lewis fast but they're definitely very athletic

Sidenote- if CP3 or Crowder on another team, vast majority of board would dislike their dirty / rough plays. Likewise, if Luka on Suns instead of Ayton, the city would love the guy. (Not a rip on DA)

 

[Hoop Head]

It can happen one way: if they ask for and get Paul's approval. I think I once agreed that Paul is the overall best point guard in suns history, and I wouldn't disrespect him; so I supposed it would be understood that I meant Paul comes off the bench only if he agrees that it could be useful.

I'm against the idea but I have a question for you to consider since you seem adamant that it could work.

How much more would Payne give if he were starting and how much less would we get from Paul? Compare that to a normal game like last night. Would the total really be that much greater?

I'd also add we don't know how Paul would perform as a reserve because he's literally never been one.

This experiment may hold water in his last season but until then, don't try to fix what isn't broken. Paul starting works extremely well. Payne will give us 10-15 points when he's on and 1-4 when he's not.

 

[AZ due I love BBQ]

I'm against the idea but I have a question for you to consider since you seem adamant that it could work.

How much more would Payne give if he were starting and how much less would we get from Paul? Compare that to a normal game like last night. Would the total really be that much greater?

I'd also add we don't know how Paul would perform as a reserve because he's literally never been one.

This experiment may hold water in his last season but until then, don't try to fix what isn't broken. Paul starting works extremely well. Payne will give us 10-15 points when he's on and 1-4 when he's not.

Reminds me of the experiment of let's try Carlton Fisk in left field so we can start Ron Karkovice for the White Sox. Karko turned out to be like a .230 hitter and Fisk a HOFer.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Just some things that have me cracking up

1) C Payne should start over CP3. Dumbfounded.

2) CP3 found a strategy to shut down Doncic. Dude scored like 45 points lol.

3) Luka, Dirk M, Barkley aren't athletic. They're super athletic. They're not Vince Carter athletic, they're not Manute Bol skinny, they're not Carl Lewis fast but they're definitely very athletic

Sidenote- if CP3 or Crowder on another team, vast majority of board would dislike their dirty / rough plays. Likewise, if Luka on Suns instead of Ayton, the city would love the guy. (Not a rip on DA)

I mostly agree with your side note although less so on Chris Paul. He does some dirty things and I did dislike him (greatly) when he was on the Clippers but IMO he's mellowed considerably. Now, he's more Raja Ball dirty instead of where he used to be. And I can live with Raja dirty. Jae is Draymond light, no excuse for some of the things he does.

And most of us here already love Luka's game (on offense at least) but many of us here (along with a lot of Dallas fans) can't stand his non-stop whining to the refs. I hate that Booker whines as often as he does, I can't imagine watching Devin if he stepped up his game and started whining non-stop like Luka does. I never thought anyone would ever surpass Lebron when it came to whining to the refs but Luka blew by him.

 

[Ronin]

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[1tinsoldier]

i didn't like Chris Paul, mostly because i was jealous another team had him, but i respected his game and intensity. i'm jealous that the Mavs have Doncic and admire his skills but if he was a Sun i'd still be bitching about his ball domination, that's for sure.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

One can be un-athletic and good. Barkley was not athletic but he dominated. Nash wasn't. Dirk wasn't. Shaq wasn't. Luka is a great player but he's also not athletic, and that's fine. I never said a disparaging word about him except for that he's chunky and has a punchable face

Huh? Barkley was incredibly athletic. You don’t move that fast or jump that high without explosiveness. You don’t block shots of 7 footers when you’re 6’4 if you’re unathletic.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Reminds me of the experiment of let's try Carlton Fisk in left field so we can start Ron Karkovice for the White Sox. Karko turned out to be like a .230 hitter and Fisk a HOFer.

Fisk's hitting had been in steady decline since before he left the Red Sox and LaRussa wanted to get Karkovice's bat into the lineup. I'd imagine he'd hoped that Fisk (who had played a handful of games at left field while still in Boston) might bounce back as a hitter without the strain of catching daily. It didn't work but that team had other problems (age catching up to Tom Terrific for one thing).

My point is, it's really nothing like moving Paul to the bench. One was trying to solve a real problem, the other not so much. It would be nice if Payne showed on a regular basis the game he's shown in short stretches for us and then we could have the best of both worlds. We could cut Paul's minutes during the first 3 quarters and save his steady hand for the all important 4th quarter.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

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Keep it up big fella!

 

[AZ due I love BBQ]

i didn't like Chris Paul, mostly because i was jealous another team had him, but i respected his game and intensity. i'm jealous that the Mavs have Doncic and admire his skills but if he was a Sun i'd still be bitching about his ball domination, that's for sure.

Who on the Mavs should be handling the ball more? Doncic is ball hog because he has to be.

 

[AZ due I love BBQ]

Fisk's hitting had been in steady decline since before he left the Red Sox and LaRussa wanted to get Karkovice's bat into the lineup. I'd imagine he'd hoped that Fisk (who had played a handful of games at left field while still in Boston) might bounce back as a hitter without the strain of catching daily. It didn't work but that team had other problems (age catching up to Tom Terrific for one thing).

My point is, it's really nothing like moving Paul to the bench. One was trying to solve a real problem, the other not so much. It would be nice if Payne showed on a regular basis the game he's shown in short stretches for us and then we could have the best of both worlds. We could cut Paul's minutes during the first 3 quarters and save his steady hand for the all important 4th quarter.

Tom Terrific? He had zero impact on White Sox. Fisk had plenty good seasons after Boston. He was far from big decline. Plus, Fisk move to left was GM Hawk Harrison idea. It's why he was fired and returned to announcer booth.


Any talk about starting Cam Payne over CP3 is just comical.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Just some things that have me cracking up

1) C Payne should start over CP3. Dumbfounded.

2) CP3 found a strategy to shut down Doncic. Dude scored like 45 points lol.

3) Luka, Dirk M, Barkley aren't athletic. They're super athletic. They're not Vince Carter athletic, they're not Manute Bol skinny, they're not Carl Lewis fast but they're definitely very athletic

Sidenote- if CP3 or Crowder on another team, vast majority of board would dislike their dirty / rough plays. Likewise, if Luka on Suns instead of Ayton, the city would love the guy. (Not a rip on DA)

I think all of this is true.

 

[somethingshesaid]

The Suns' defensive strategy on Doncic, which would seem to be let him do whatever he wants but stop his teammates, obviously worked fine. Especially on that Dwight Powell guy--he was terrible.

It's just that they seemed to blatantly coast through the fourth quarter. It came relatively close to wasting a twenty-point lead for no good reason. I'm sorry, I've never been comfortable with this behavior since I noticed it: blowing off parts of games because they expect to win in the clutch. I try to tell myself the Suns are practicing a Spurs-like conservative approach, but some games go too far. Such as this game.

 

[somethingshesaid]

I think all of this is true.

I would not assume #2. It's possible that Paul and his teammates Paul knew eexactly what they were doing with Doncic. They let him score whatever he wants, but successfully prevented Doncic from helping his teammates score, assuming he cares about that.

If true, this actually smells like the same strategy the Spurs successfully used in 2005 to make a fool of Amare Stoudemire--and the entire Suns team. They let Stoudemire score 37.5 ppg but they somehow made that irrelevant. Figures that a coach who worked for the Spurs might possibly borrow their strategy.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Huh? Barkley was incredibly athletic. You don’t move that fast or jump that high without explosiveness. You don’t block shots of 7 footers when you’re 6’4 if you’re unathletic.

O wow. Yes. Barkley was incredibly athletic. He was Zion before Zion.

 

[Lorenzo]

I would not assume #2. It's possible that Paul and his teammates Paul knew eexactly what they were doing with Doncic. They let him score whatever he wants, but successfully prevented Doncic from helping his teammates score, assuming he cares about that.

If true, this actually smells like the same strategy the Spurs successfully used in 2005 to make a fool of Amare Stoudemire--and the entire Suns team. They let Stoudemire score 37.5 ppg but they somehow made that irrelevant. Figures that a coach who worked for the Spurs might possibly borrow their strategy.

Yeah I remember that series. that was him pre-knee surgery so Duncan could not handle him. That was also when Joe Johnson got hurt in the prior series vs. Dallas if I recall. I do think injuries and suspensions kept that Suns team from a championship.