Kings @ Suns game thread 4-3-18

[pokerface]

I hope your not insinuating that Len and Chandler are the cause of the worst record in the league. Suns are a better team with Len on the floor only problem is he isn't. Or he is with the second unit witch is garbage.

Len is only good 50% of the time...or less.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Len is only good 50% of the time...or less.

I think that's about right and still, he was arguably our best player. Which goes a long ways towards explaining why we just won our 20th game in the final week of the season.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

I hope your not insinuating that Len and Chandler are the cause of the worst record in the league. Suns are a better team with Len on the floor only problem is he isn't. Or he is with the second unit witch is garbage.

Len is a better individual player than Chandler at this point, but I believe the team is better with Chandler on the floor. Reason being is that Chandler is a legit threat in the pick and roll. Though the defense likely is better with Len.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Len is a better individual player than Chandler at this point, but I believe the team is better with Chandler on the floor. Reason being is that Chandler is a legit threat in the pick and roll. Though the defense likely is better with Len.

There were times when this was true but it was hit and miss IMO. We always talk about Len's inconsistency but Tyson was all over the map too. There were games when he didn't even pretend to play defense, when his feet appeared nailed to the floor. And then there were the nights when he could close out on a shooter, defend in the box and make himself available to the PG.

 

[Hoop Head]

Chandler definitely took some games off this year but when the game was competitive and he was on the floor, he played hard. He didn't push the youngsters to get them playing hard early in games like I'd seen him do in the past. He wasn't the leader on the floor like he'd been in the past. I noticed he didn't appear to be talking to his teammates as often as I saw last year or the year before. I know he's made some comments about Devin taking over as the leader of this team and I wonder if that is part of it, not stepping on any toes and letting Booker be the rallying voice on the court for the Suns.

It wouldn't surprise me if he retires this summer, I hope he does. There were some talks about that in February when he was having MRI's done on his neck but he's returned to play so I imagine he's ok. Not sure how his salary would count against the cap if he does retire. That might open up some more money for the Suns in free agency if he does though. We've done well by him, asking if he wanted to be traded to a contender or if he's happy being a mentor on a rebuilding team and he's toughed it out here. There was talk of trading him at the deadline the last 2 seasons but he wanted to stay here but there wasn't nearly as much talk about that this year. Maybe he can repay the Suns by retiring before his contract is up to help them have more cash to spend in free agency. I wouldn't be opposed to him getting a job as an assistant coach with the team if he does retire. We could do worse in hiring a big man coach. I prefer Chandler to Mark West, who has been the default bigs coach with the Suns since Amare's rookie year.

 

[devilalum]

Chandler definitely took some games off this year but when the game was competitive and he was on the floor, he played hard. He didn't push the youngsters to get them playing hard early in games like I'd seen him do in the past. He wasn't the leader on the floor like he'd been in the past. I noticed he didn't appear to be talking to his teammates as often as I saw last year or the year before. I know he's made some comments about Devin taking over as the leader of this team and I wonder if that is part of it, not stepping on any toes and letting Booker be the rallying voice on the court for the Suns.

It wouldn't surprise me if he retires this summer, I hope he does. There were some talks about that in February when he was having MRI's done on his neck but he's returned to play so I imagine he's ok. Not sure how his salary would count against the cap if he does retire. That might open up some more money for the Suns in free agency if he does though. We've done well by him, asking if he wanted to be traded to a contender or if he's happy being a mentor on a rebuilding team and he's toughed it out here. There was talk of trading him at the deadline the last 2 seasons but he wanted to stay here but there wasn't nearly as much talk about that this year. Maybe he can repay the Suns by retiring before his contract is up to help them have more cash to spend in free agency. I wouldn't be opposed to him getting a job as an assistant coach with the team if he does retire. We could do worse in hiring a big man coach. I prefer Chandler to Mark West, who has been the default bigs coach with the Suns since Amare's rookie year.

Evaluating anybody like this in this environment is a mistake. Every player on the team knows the Suns need a top pick to get better. So how do you go about maintaining a positive environment AND lose as many games as possible on purpose. Nothing quite like this in the real world.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Hoop Head]

Evaluating anybody like this in this environment is a mistake. Every player on the team knows the Suns need a top pick to get better. So how do you go about maintaining a positive environment AND lose as many games as possible on purpose. Nothing quite like this in the real world.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I don't blame Chandler, not at all. I still like him as a player and don't hold his play this year against him. I don't blame him for not exerting himself as much as he did in the past when the team is awful and at the bottom of the standings. A few extra rebounds or a couple of blocked shots by him wouldn't change things for the Suns. He's been a pro since he's been here. It's got to be a tough spot for him to deal with. It was a mistake to sign him for 4 years when we did, 3 years with a team option should have been the most they offered, but it's too late to harp on that.

He's at the age where his NBA days are just about over. Perhaps he's able to roll back the clock and have a few more big games next season if he plays but I wouldn't count on that. I don't think he'll be a starter next year, whether he's on the Suns roster or not. If he hopes to continue playing in the NBA he's going to need to move to the bench. A player only has so many minutes his body can handle and I think Chandler is reaching that point right now. If he played on a contender the last couple of years I think he would be done already. Being with the Suns has extended his career some. The Suns have also sat him in back to backs and given him a good amount of time away outside of injury issues which I'm sure has helped him a lot.

His days are about done and I think playing a minimal role here for the last few seasons has allowed him to play a bit longer because he's not needed to play all out every game like he used to. Even at his peak he only played just over 30 minutes a game because he exerted a ton of energy on the court. He was never a shot blocker or had big stats but he's super long and finds really good positioning. He only averaged 9.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in the year he was Defensive Player of the year. He was DPOY because of what he was capable of stopping players from even attempting to score on him and get blocks. He plays smarter now, not exerting as much physically, and has a reputation amongst veterans that they don't even try him.