Jazz @ Suns Saturday game thread, 10-28-2023

[Mainstreet]

Beautiful pass by Saban Lee.

 

[Mainstreet]

Final:

Suns 126 - Jazz 104

 

[Proximo]

If Little was on an expiring deal, he wouldn't be in the rotation. With 4 years to go, may as well let him develop at the end of the rotation. He's stolen Bates-Diop's role. I thought KBD would be in the rotation in place of Watanbe tonight due to Utah's size but he's definitely the odd man out.

He didn't steal it. He has legit played better than KBD. Now Metu's spot in the rotation, that's debatable.

 

[Hoop Head]

Biggest takeaways from tonight,

The bench has started developing good chemistry with one another. It'll be nice to have Allen and Gordon on the bench but both found their shots and delivered.

Goodwin looks more like a PG the more he plays. He'll be leaned on to run offense for the bench so that's a big plus. Hope it keeps up.

Nurkic and Eubanks are solid at Center. They move, shoot when they got good shots, and rebound really well. They dont get lost and are always moving and working. Such a breath of fresh air.

Durant looked like Kevin Durant. Nice to sit him in the 4th. He played well tonight and wasn't carrying the team like he did in LA but he made shots when we needed them and didn't force bad shots.

Allen has better athleticism than I thought. He's feisty on both sides of the ball but needs to work on his passing some. I like how he stepped up more after taking a shot on that dunk. Love to see guys do that. He could be vital in the playoffs when the playoffs get more physical.

 

[BirdGangThing]

Keep in mind Nurk sat the entire 4th quarter due to Suns lead and Eubanks playing like a badass

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[Hoop Head]

He didn't steal it. He has legit played better than KBD. Now Metu's spot in the rotation, that's debatable.

KBD didn't play well in the preseason offensively but he was fine on defense. Little showed next to nothing in the preseason. Little's play didn't warrant a rotation spot. If it was based on play alone then Metu would have that spot. We'll see how it all shakes out as the year goes along.

 

[nashman]

KD 26 on 11 shots super efficient, and bench stepped up! Could’ve put up 150 if we didn’t sit the starters…

 

[Suns_fan69]

I love the adjustment that the team made with KD on offense. Instead of having him initiate with the ball at the top, they set him up on the post to see what the defense did. Good reads gave a whole bunch of open 3's which got Gordon hot early.

 

[Proximo]

KBD didn't play well in the preseason offensively but he was fine on defense. Little showed next to nothing in the preseason. Little's play didn't warrant a rotation spot. If it was based on play alone then Metu would have that spot. We'll see how it all shakes out as the year goes along.

I don't agree. Little did show something on Defense. KBD showed nothing. I was hoping he could be our 5th starter too, but from what I have seen I agree with him being benched.

Metu's issue is his defense I think, and Vogel is unforgiving on that.

Considering most of the time we should have the big three playing I understand emphasizing our best defenders as the players in our rotation.

 

[Absolute Zero]

Diamondbacks won

ASU won

Suns winning

Cards playing tomorrow at 1:25

Have all 4 teams ever won in a 24 hr span in October?

FIFY

 

[Superbone]

Diop gonna kick ass tonight

I like your tenacity!

 

[Superbone]

Eubanks is more of a dirt worker than a high-flyer.

He was the shortest guy in the top 10 for blocks last year. I knew he had hops.

 

[Superbone]

This is a nice experience at halftime. Mat Ishbia is doing it right.

They didn’t show it on NBA TV. I’m hoping it’s available on YouTube or Suns.com.

 

[BirdGangThing]

I like your tenacity!

I think I might be jinxing the poor guy at this point

 

[Mainstreet]

They didn’t show it on NBA TV. I’m hoping it’s available on YouTube or Suns.com.

Hopefully it will be available for viewing again. It's too important not to be.

Mat Ishbia honored everyone who should be honored in person or their representative.

I admire the foundation he is laying for Suns and Mercury basketball in the community and elsewhere.

 

[Superbone]

Hopefully it will be available for viewing again. It's too important not to be.

Mat Ishbia honored everyone who should be honored in person or their representative.

I admire the foundation he is laying for Suns and Mercury basketball in the community and elsewhere.

Yep, and what Majerle said on the broadcast about feeling welcome was very telling.

 

[clyde2tw]

I don't agree. Little did show something on Defense. KBD showed nothing. I was hoping he could be our 5th starter too, but from what I have seen I agree with him being benched.
Metu's issue is his defense I think, and Vogel is unforgiving on that.
Considering most of the time we should have the big three playing I understand emphasizing our best defenders as the players in our rotation.

Little is a solid on-man defender, but lacks sufficient communication with teammates at swithching. His 3pt shot is suspect and he should learn from Okogie and work more with cuts and drives. Metu's D seemed fine to me, maybe his offensive role understanding is not to Vogel's liking. Also, as our guard/wing defenders are excellent and size-wise easily switchable, both he and KBD was igonored so far.
Allen's shot and play seems streaky, maybe a confidence issue. Utah's defense is really bad, so that both EG and GA got easy goings early on.
No praise for Okogie is undeserved. His boxscore may look lukewarm only, but his actitivity on court creates extra spacing and positions. Naturally he has the 2nd best +/- score after KD.
Also Saben is an excellent defender not far away from Okogie and Goodwin.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Hopefully it will be available for viewing again. It's too important not to be.

Mat Ishbia honored everyone who should be honored in person or their representative.

I admire the foundation he is laying for Suns and Mercury basketball in the community and elsewhere.

100% that's the real takeaway. Ishiba said without the past there is no future.

EJ flat said that the past wasn't welcome before.

I used to get so pumped that Sarver was just gone. That was the bar.

Now Ishiba just being the dude that any of us would be if we had billions. It's incredible

 

[Superbone]

100% that's the real takeaway. Ishiba said without the past there is no future.

EJ flat said that the past wasn't welcome before.

I used to get so pumped that Sarver was just gone. That was the bar.

Now Ishiba just being the dude that any of us would be if we had billions. It's incredible

And he didn’t even grow up here or grow up as a Suns fan which makes it even more amazing.

 

[GatorAZ]

Probably can’t take much away from a Jazz team that got into town at 4am but that was fun.

 

[95pro]

KBD didn't play well in the preseason offensively but he was fine on defense. Little showed next to nothing in the preseason. Little's play didn't warrant a rotation spot. If it was based on play alone then Metu would have that spot. We'll see how it all shakes out as the year goes along.

Yes right now I’m not happy with Little seeing the majority of playing time over Metu and KBd.

I think the lack of playing time has really hurt KBD and is digging him deeper in the bench role. But there may be some red flags coaching is picking up in practice.

 

[Hoop Head]

100% that's the real takeaway. Ishiba said without the past there is no future.

EJ flat said that the past wasn't welcome before.

I used to get so pumped that Sarver was just gone. That was the bar.

Now Ishiba just being the dude that any of us would be if we had billions. It's incredible

All of the legends looked relaxed. They were brought in occasionally to sell tickets but that was it. Under Sarver everyone seemed really tight lipped and buttoned up, which is funny considering who he was behind the scenes. Seeing Chuck, Majerle, KJ, and Nash tonight all in their own element was great. You could tell they were there tonight to have fun rather than being used as a draw, especially Chuck. He was in jeans and a buttoned shirt. He wasn't as reserved as he was in any of the times I saw him under Sarver's tenure.

It was great seeing everyone. Looking forward to Stat and Matrix being added. They definitely belong.

 

[Vacard]

Who locked up Clarkson??

 

[SunsTzu]

Who locked up Clarkson??

They were trapping and switching so much I don't think you could credit any 1 player.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Great to see Allen and Gordon play well. And yuta is better - at both ends of the court - than I could have imagined.

Goodwin is still my favorite player to watch at this point. When we have him and okogie both on the court at the same time it’s fun to watch the defense get cranked up.