Nets @ Suns Tuesday game thread 2-16-2021

Cheesebeef

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Can we please stop talking about how this team is a playoff threat? They'll probably get there, and be unceremoniously dismissed in the first round by an opponent that knows how to take every quarter seriously. That will be an accomplishment, but let's not make fools of ourselves by pretending that the ceiling is anything more than that.

Are there a lot of people talking about them as a legit playoff threat? I’ve seen playoff team, but that’s a different distinction.
 

AzCards777

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Still waiting for someone to tell me why CP3 didn’t take a shot in the last two minutes after he was the only one hitting at crunch time.

Because they took the ball out of his hands by double down on him. After that Monty went to Book. He just didn't have it in the 4rth and Brooklyn shot and played lights out!
 

Cheesebeef

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Because they took the ball out of his hands by double down on him. After that Monty went to Book. He just didn't have it in the 4rth and Brooklyn shot and played lights out!

he still could get shots off. He had the mid-range money shot that he kicked out to Bridges for a three that everyone knew wasn’t going in.
 

AzCards777

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Really? Your autocorrect rejects "whose" in favor of "who's"? If so, then I apologize.

Really? if it bother's you that much stop reading comments. This is a message board not an English class room. Who's Whose ... who gives a sh%# i understood him.
 
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Mainstreet

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The quick 3 point shot attempt by Crowder just under the 2 minute mark seemed to seal the Suns fate.
 

TJ

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Bull*hit. I've seen him move his feet. Ive seen him lock in defensively. We all have. He didn't even try. The other guys sucked, but at least they tried, died on their shield. Ayton froze, shrank, turtled. I know it when I see it, and I just saw it. At best it was stage fright, at worst it was cowardice. Without doubt, it was an uncommon display of mental weakness.

You’re all over the place. “He didn’t try.” “He shrank.” “He had stage fright.” “Cowardice.” sounds like overexaggerated ways of saying, “he had a rough game,” which is likely a more accurate way of discussing his play.

That still doesn’t touch upon my initial concern, which is - why is Monty setting up defenses that have Ayton at the perimeter all game long? Harden should be guarded by either Bridges or Booker with Ayton underneath the rim.
 

TJ

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Hoop Head

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Still waiting for someone to tell me why CP3 didn’t take a shot in the last two minutes after he was the only one hitting at crunch time.

The only thing I can think of is he didn't want to bail the team out. He was pissed at their effort and yelling at them after winning the game doesn't work the same as tearing into them when they lose.
 

Cheesebeef

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The only thing I can think of is he didn't want to bail the team out. He was pissed at their effort and yelling at them after winning the game doesn't work the same as tearing into them when they lose.

could be.
 

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You’re all over the place. “He didn’t try.” “He shrank.” “He had stage fright.” “Cowardice.” sounds like overexaggerated ways of saying, “he had a rough game,” which is likely a more accurate way of discussing his play.

That still doesn’t touch upon my initial concern, which is - why is Monty setting up defenses that have Ayton at the perimeter all game long? Harden should be guarded by either Bridges or Booker with Ayton underneath the rim.

The Nets pulled him out to get him switching on pick and rolls. Its really not that hard to figure out and not something that is all Monty's fault either. Did you watch the game or what?

That seemed to be the Nets game plan and other teams do it too.

Ayton's man goes out to set a pick for the ball handler in hopes of getting Ayton to switch onto the guard and then they have a free trip to the hoop.

Monty has also talked about players not following the game plan or listening all season. He doesn't say who but there's only one player without a real backup so he can't really be benched.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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You’re all over the place. “He didn’t try.” “He shrank.” “He had stage fright.” “Cowardice.” sounds like overexaggerated ways of saying, “he had a rough game,” which is likely a more accurate way of discussing his play.

That still doesn’t touch upon my initial concern, which is - why is Monty setting up defenses that have Ayton at the perimeter all game long? Harden should be guarded by either Bridges or Booker with Ayton underneath the rim.
Did you not watch the game? It wasn’t by design that Ayton was covering harden. They switched because of the picks that Ayton didn’t fight through. And they exposed him again and again. Should monty have come up with an alternative to avoid it after the first four times Ayton got burned? Yeah. But Ayton put forth no effort. Go watch the end of the game again. He was flat footed and allowed little to no resistance and zero recovery effort. It was startling how much of a zero he was defensively. If that’s the truth other teams are going to just do the same thing and scorch him mercilessly.
 

Sunburn

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You’re all over the place. “He didn’t try.” “He shrank.” “He had stage fright.” “Cowardice.” sounds like overexaggerated ways of saying, “he had a rough game,” which is likely a more accurate way of discussing his play.

That still doesn’t touch upon my initial concern, which is - why is Monty setting up defenses that have Ayton at the perimeter all game long? Harden should be guarded by either Bridges or Booker with Ayton underneath the rim.

I am not all over the place. I'm very consistent in my criticism. I'll repeat it again. That was one of the worst displays of turtling I've ever seen. A rough game is shooting 1-10 and fouling out. They happen. What Ayton displayed was more troubling. That was an example of nerves that manifested in slower foot speed, reaction time, decision making, and cognitive processing. It's why joe Ingles was able to blow past him, Jeff Green won the jump ball, and CP3 yelled at him for getting stripped again.

Ayton is one of our best defenders and one of the better perimeter defensive bigs in the league. We've seen him wall just about every perimeter threat the NBA has to offer. Whether the opponent gets a switch, or Ayton is the primary defender, he is able to hold his own. Tonight, he did not engage.
 
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Mainstreet

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Monty might want to rethink his decision to take Frank Kaminsky out of the starting lineup. Suns inability to stop interior drives came back to haunt them. The Suns need some size next to Ayton.
 
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