Nets @ Suns Thursday game thread 1-19-2023

[Yuma]

Cam J. The legend grows.

 

[mjb21aztd]

Awesome close w got dang tense at end

Great gm by cam good to see and ayton bridges Lee contributed

Bong rip hawainn dream kush to w sorry kyrie

 

[Mainstreet]

Some final stats.

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[TJ]

Simply having Cam back opened things up a bit without a true healthy PG playing. Ayton had a good first half on offense and overall great rebounding numbers as a result of all of the spacing. Mikal overall was fine, but still not being the defender he needs to be for this team to be successful; and he is useless late in the 4th.

 

[Phrazbit]

Having a dead eye, 3pt shooter who moves a lot off the ball AND plays solid defense... that is a big help.

And man... Ben Simmons sucks balls. Outside of when he was obviously hurting his team you wouldn't know that clown is on the court, if he hadn't been tossed I feel like we would have cruised by 20+.

Also, another Ayton game where he shows that he can dominate for stretches and then... poof, where did he go?

 

[Muggz]

Get me a PF that can consistently get 20 and 10 and this whole Efing thing is over for the rest of the NBA for a decade.

 

[95pro]

Ayton knew the new owner was in the building. His demeanor was different tonight. He actually looked happy.

Imagine if it was Crowder who came back tonight instead of CamJ, would we have won. This shows how good Cam can be. Just wish we signed him earlier.

 

[Muggz]

I see what you're saying but this team is 10X better w/ Crowder playing. Crowder is the player most teams need, I will not diss his game, he's that player that gets **** done on O and D. If I could have 10 Crowders on my team I would without a doubt. Very sad that it came to this but to me Crowder is a Valley Boy and part of one of the best teams this city has ever seen.

 

[Superbone]

I'm looking forward to it so he can get the rust off, get back into game shape and eventually be able to help us when other players return. In the past he's really struggled when he's returned from injuries (and he's had several).

Not tonight, baby!

 

[Finito]

Looking at the shooting numbers it looks like the Suns went ice cold in the second half.

 

[Mainstreet]

Looking at the shooting numbers it looks like the Suns went ice cold in the second half.

Like baseball, the Suns need a closer.

 

[Zobaczcie suki]

We tend to forget that this is a team game and how the absence of key players adversely affects the performance of the others on offense and defense. Cam J.'s presence last night was a good reminder of that. As each of our key guys come back, I expect our record to improve and we will make a run.

 

[Zobaczcie suki]

Like baseball, the Suns need a closer.

I know a guy that is averaging about 27 points a game that should be able to help in that department before too long.

 

[Mainstreet]

I know a guy that is averaging about 27 points a game that should be able to help in that department before too long.

Suns need that guy badly plus something more.

 

[Covert Rain]

As frustrating as Bridges has been to watch at times this year, he has actually been really good the last 5 games:

21.2 Points
4.8 Rebounds
6.2 Assists
1.2 Steals

IMO, people expected him to be something he is not. He simply isn't a "go to" type player. Having said that? He is playing really well the past 5 games and it would rank him among the best in the league at his position.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Over/under on FGA for Ayton in the second half?

4

Last nights game was Ayton’s inconsistency in a nutshell tale of two halves.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

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That was absurd

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

This has probably already been posted.

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Positive news

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Great to have another player who can get to the basket in Saban Lee.

It was a difference maker for sure. He seemed a lot more confident last night.

 

[Finito]

Last nights game was Ayton’s inconsistency in a nutshell tale of two halves.

Looked the whole team fell off in the second half. This team has a real problem with “getting happy on the farm” I think those little saying have run there course

 

[Chaplin]

Please discuss the Suns' defensive strategy in relation to how Mikal Bridges, personally, defends. Did he spend much time guarding Kyrie Irving--you know I couldn't watch and see for myself. If he was, why didn't he prevent Irving from dropping 30? If he wasn't guarding Irving, why not? Why shouldn't Bridges guard the opponent's best scorer?

I note that Irving didn't shoot terribly well--11 for 27. Does that mean this is another one of those games where a guy just went nuts, and all our best defender could do was force him to shoot poorly? I had to become familiar with that scenario in the 2000s: it was the best Raja Bell could do against Kobe Bryant.

Why don't you watch the games?? You constantly want us to describe to you what happened, but curious why you don't bother to watch the games yourself?

That said, offensive issues aside, I thought Mikal did a fine job on Irving through the first 3 quarters. But however much you think he's a weirdo, Kyrie Irving is a really good basketball player. In the 4th quarter, nobody could stop him, I don't care how good a defender you are. But he's only one guy and couldn't carry the load to get the win.

 

[Bufalay]

Having a dead eye, 3pt shooter who moves a lot off the ball AND plays solid defense... that is a big help.

And man... Ben Simmons sucks balls. Outside of when he was obviously hurting his team you wouldn't know that clown is on the court, if he hadn't been tossed I feel like we would have cruised by 20+.

Also, another Ayton game where he shows that he can dominate for stretches and then... poof, where did he go?

Ayton stopped playing defense when he got into foul trouble. His help on Irving in the 4th was awful.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Ayton knew the new owner was in the building. His demeanor was different tonight. He actually looked happy.

Imagine if it was Crowder who came back tonight instead of CamJ, would we have won. This shows how good Cam can be. Just wish we signed him earlier.

Good point. Ayton also twice made positive mentions of Monty in the postgame interview. That surprised me.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

As frustrating as Bridges has been to watch at times this year, he has actually been really good the last 5 games:

21.2 Points
4.8 Rebounds
6.2 Assists
1.2 Steals

IMO, people expected him to be something he is not. He simply isn't a "go to" type player. Having said that? He is playing really well the past 5 games and it would rank him among the best in the league at his position.

Agree. He’s not a closer. And can’t be a primary guy, but he is talented. This stretch may help him grow in the long run. But man is he bad at the end of a game.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

My greatest takeaway was cam Johnson coming back as an immediate impact. Didn’t happen in the past. Hope it holds.