Formula for success

[Larry Schweikart]

After four games, all of which the Suns should have won, it seems that there is a solid formula here for beating anyone save the Bucks for a particular reason.
1) KD and Booker look pretty solid to score 60-70 a game between them, even if one is a little off.
2) CP3 and Ayton look capable of adding another 25 between them on any given night.
3) Craig, Biambo, Okogie look to add another 25 between them.
110 should be enough to beat almost anyone.

Still, I think at some point sheer odds will catch up to the Suns bench and see Lee or some other bench player contribute more than has been the case so far

Ayton is holding his own offensively, and doing a decent job on the D glass. Without Craig and Okogie, however, we'd get few offensive rebounds.

The hustle factor by everyone, esp. CP3 at this point, is exceptional.

I don't think the Suns will see more than one more team with an unexpected/out-of-this-world performance as we've seen from Westbrook/Powell. We'll be in for some 40 point games, but
not consistently. We happened to catch a Westbrook determined to show he wasn't washed up.

The only team that matches up with us incredibly well is Milwaukee: they in essence have three KDs. Okogie/Craig would be overpowered by the Greek, Paul would match up poorly vs either Holliday or Middleton, and Ayton "should" match up well vs Lopez but doesn't. If someone knocks the Bucks out, this can be the year for the Suns.

 

[Zobaczcie suki]

After four games, all of which the Suns should have won, it seems that there is a solid formula here for beating anyone save the Bucks for a particular reason.
1) KD and Booker look pretty solid to score 60-70 a game between them, even if one is a little off.
2) CP3 and Ayton look capable of adding another 25 between them on any given night.
3) Craig, Biambo, Okogie look to add another 25 between them.
110 should be enough to beat almost anyone.

Still, I think at some point sheer odds will catch up to the Suns bench and see Lee or some other bench player contribute more than has been the case so far

Ayton is holding his own offensively, and doing a decent job on the D glass. Without Craig and Okogie, however, we'd get few offensive rebounds.

The hustle factor by everyone, esp. CP3 at this point, is exceptional.

I don't think the Suns will see more than one more team with an unexpected/out-of-this-world performance as we've seen from Westbrook/Powell. We'll be in for some 40 point games, but
not consistently. We happened to catch a Westbrook determined to show he wasn't washed up.

The only team that matches up with us incredibly well is Milwaukee: they in essence have three KDs. Okogie/Craig would be overpowered by the Greek, Paul would match up poorly vs either Holliday or Middleton, and Ayton "should" match up well vs Lopez but doesn't. If someone knocks the Bucks out, this can be the year for the Suns.

Not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but it seems that the Warriors and the Kings have at least 3 guys that can go off on any given night. If we manage to get to the WCF, its going to be a tough go even with our scorers, those teams can match us point for point.

If we do make it out of the West, it is interesting that the Bucks are fighting for their lives, down 2-1 to Miami with Giannis out, but Miami also losing Oladipo.

Bucks 99-121 Heat (Apr 22, 2023) Game Recap - ESPN

Expert recap and game analysis of the Milwaukee Bucks vs. Miami Heat NBA game from April 22, 2023 on ESPN.

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I have been thinking that the 76er's are more likely to get to the Finals over the Bucks, but that is really in question now with Embid down with a sprained knee.
https://www.espn.com/nba/recap/_/gameId/401541189 Perhaps that has flipped back around now.

The East is really turning into a battle of attrition, whoever makes it through may not be at full strength at this rate.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

Sacramento will have significant issues guarding the Suns, there is not one player on that team that can single up Book or Durant. Mitchell is a great defender but he is barely six foot, I'd say 5'11, there is no chance in hell he will be able to stop the size of Book. He will never see Durant, Durant would go for 45 against him. Sacramento has to just flat out outscore the Suns, and we know in the long run in the playoffs this never works, unless you have super stars.

Golden State is a really small team and also old, I think this series ends up 2-2 and Sacramento having to leverage home to beat the Warriors in seven. The Kings remind me of past Suns teams great offense, one really great defensive player who is a guard.

As for Denver, we will see, I think Denver win the series in seven right now, they have Brown who can actually body up, Jokic is going to get calls and probably average a triple double. However, Porter cannot outscore Booker and Gordan can't outscore Durant. The x factor is really how well Murray plays, without him the Suns win the series, with him it goes seven. If the Suns were to win CP3 would have to be more consistent. However, I don't hate the matchup. Denver is no defensive judge naught, Minnesota is full of regular season heroes. All Star game gimmick players like Gobert, Towns and Antman.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

After four games, all of which the Suns should have won, it seems that there is a solid formula here for beating anyone save the Bucks for a particular reason.
1) KD and Booker look pretty solid to score 60-70 a game between them, even if one is a little off. Agreed but these are top 10 NBA players. Durant hasn't even had a Durant game yet, it's coming.
2) CP3 and Ayton look capable of adding another 25 between them on any given night. CP3 is going to be inconsistent, this is just age. I think the two days rest helps him a lot for game five but over the grind CP3 is just going to be up one game and missing bunnies the second. Defensively it's the same, last night he was incredible, others he is awful, it's just age. If CP3 was 30 this series would be over. Actually it already is.
3) Craig, Biambo, Okogie look to add another 25 between them. Nope, JO is not an offensive player, I don't get why people think he is, he is clearly not. His peak right now is maybe 12 with 25 mins. I love his defense but there is a reason he isn't making Shamet money, his offense is inconsistent. Criag will regress to the mean, we are alreadying seeing it, Craig did great in Game 1-3 but no one expect Criag to shoot 60 percent from 3, he is a big body and the best we have at the true 3/4 atm. Biz is a defensive player, I love his defense his offense is really bad, plus he can't play extended minuets because his FT shooting is terrible.
110 should be enough to beat almost anyone. Not the Kings and Nuggets, Clippers and Lakers, yes.

Still, I think at some point sheer odds will catch up to the Suns bench and see Lee or some other bench player contribute more than has been the case so far Lee is a one way player, and he isn't getting the mins to get int a flow. He is a horrible defensive player, I watched him watch a ball hit his foot and he watched it roll out of bounds, he never dives for anything, he is soft defensively, this is why he floats around the league, sure he can shoot but he isn't a hustle guy. Which he should be. We know Shamet can't fill the role, no reason to bash a guy who is going to China in a year, everyone including YouTube
Jones

Ayton is holding his own offensively, and doing a decent job on the D glass. Without Craig and Okogie, however, we'd get few offensive rebounds. I know there are a lot of UA alumnus who love this guy, if he made 12 million yes I'd agree, Ayton is decent. He is decent but he is MAX PLAYER! MAX! MAX! MAX! You can't pay someone close to $40 million with the changes the NBA made this year and be just pretty good. I know there is a sunk cost fallacy going on with Ayton, but they guy is always going to be a jump shooter and an ok rim protector. If you look at the new cap rules he is the obvious choice to trade to get depth, remember the new rules punish teams like the Suns starting this offseason. I know the University of Robert Sarver stans are going to lose their ****, but take a step back and pretend Ayton played for like Oregon. And he is 1/3 of the cap. Think.

The hustle factor by everyone, esp. CP3 at this point, is exceptional. Agreed. I'd like Lee to dive more, he seems to be looming for his next check.

I don't think the Suns will see more than one more team with an unexpected/out-of-this-world performance as we've seen from Westbrook/Powell. We'll be in for some 40 point games, but
not consistently. We happened to catch a Westbrook determined to show he wasn't washed up. This series is over. It could have been a sweep.

The only team that matches up with us incredibly well is Milwaukee: they in essence have three KDs. Okogie/Craig would be overpowered by the Greek, Paul would match up poorly vs either Holliday or Middleton, and Ayton "should" match up well vs Lopez but doesn't. If someone knocks the Bucks out, this can be the year for the Suns. OK I am not with you here, they don't have three KD's. 3 KDs is an auto dynasty. The have a good roster but when Middleton is not 21 Middleton, his knee is messed up for sure (He isn't no KD lol). Holiday is fantastic I wish we had him! I would re position it as hey the Buck are super balanced and built right. compared to the Suns who have 2 tier one scorers one tier 4 scorer in Paul and 9 tier 5 scorers. But the Bucks do not have 3 KD's. That's wrong.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

Sacramento will have significant issues guarding the Suns, there is not one player on that team that can single up Book or Durant. Mitchell is a great defender but he is barely six foot, I'd say 5'11, there is no chance in hell he will be able to stop the size of Book. He will never see Durant, Durant would go for 45 against him. Sacramento has to just flat out outscore the Suns, and we know in the long run in the playoffs this never works, unless you have super stars.

Golden State is a really small team and also old, I think this series ends up 2-2 and Sacramento having to leverage home to beat the Warriors in seven. The Kings remind me of past Suns teams great offense, one really great defensive player who is a guard.

As for Denver, we will see, I think Denver win the series in seven right now, they have Brown who can actually body up, Jokic is going to get calls and probably average a triple double. However, Porter cannot outscore Booker and Gordan can't outscore Durant. The x factor is really how well Murray plays, without him the Suns win the series, with him it goes seven. If the Suns were to win CP3 would have to be more consistent. However, I don't hate the matchup. Denver is no defensive judge naught, Minnesota is full of regular season heroes. All Star game gimmick players like Gobert, Towns and Antman.

Watch Sac., today, their defense is hideous. Imagine trying to guard KD and Book. With a 7 foot big like DA. PLease tell me who is guarding KD? Then tell me who is going man on Book?

 

[Muggz]

That's a good Boston team as well, would be no walk in the park.

 

[Phrazbit]

That's a good Boston team as well, would be no walk in the park.

Boston and Milwaukee would be heavy favorites over the Suns.

 

[Proximo]

Well in my opinion Malone is a far inferior coach to Lue, and Denver is a much worse defensive team.

I think the Denver matchup is going to be an offensive battle. I could see that series go either way. I feel like CP3 will be the determining factor.

Whoever wins in the GS and Sac series will be the matchup in the Conference finals, both will be formidable challenges.

Going into the playoffs I had a lot of confidence the Suns would come out of the West, now not so much at all. We just aren't playing up to our talent level.

 

[Larry Schweikart]

Good comments, all. Yes, KD is due for a truly monster game.

But you know who else is due? Anyone on the Suns bench to go off for 25-30 points. Lee is capable. Although others haven't played, TJ or Ross are also capable shooters against the right D.

Sac gave us more problems than GS.

 

[Hoop Head]

Good comments, all. Yes, KD is due for a truly monster game.

But you know who else is due? Anyone on the Suns bench to go off for 25-30 points. Lee is capable. Although others haven't played, TJ or Ross are also capable shooters against the right D.

Sac gave us more problems than GS.

I think we'll see Ross and/or TJ more against Denver. Denver is bigger so their size will be needed more. Clippers have a fairly small team at the 1-4. MPJ at SF will require more size on him than Shamet could possibly provide. Okogie is roughly the same size as Shamet but he's so physical and in people's jerseys that he can probably disrupt him but I think we'll see more size off the bench. It's a game of matchups and we don't have the depth to dictate who plays and who doesn't on our side outside of Booker, KD, and Ayton and Denver has the personnel to match up with them and still have size to go around.

 

[Larry Schweikart]

Well, Ross disappeared. Craig disappeared. Virtually everyone (consistently) except KD and Book disappeared, as did our D.

 

[Mainstreet]

Well, Ross disappeared. Craig disappeared. Virtually everyone (consistently) except KD and Book disappeared, as did our D.

The Suns threw a bunch of mud at the wall and a lot of it washed off.

Too bad the Suns couldn't have gotten Reggie Jackson when he was bought out.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Too bad the Suns couldn't have gotten Reggie Jackson when he was bought out.

He would have played big minutes for us as well.

 

[JohnnyCakes]

Well, Ross disappeared. Craig disappeared. Virtually everyone (consistently) except KD and Book disappeared, as did our D.

You cant win with just 2 players, you need a bench and swing players. Thats why that KD trade was so dumb.