Pelicans @ Suns 4-5-19

[Proximo]

Pretty good game for bender, Spaulding, and Jackson.

I really want to keep bender. Honestly I want to keep him more than Holmes, I just think his potential is much better.

He finally has some confidence, and is getting better every game. I expect it to continue.

 

[Mainstreet]

Pretty good game for bender, Spaulding, and Jackson.

I really want to keep bender. Honestly I want to keep him more than Holmes, I just think his potential is much better.

He finally has some confidence, and is getting better every game. I expect it to continue.

How about those 7 blocks and 10 rebounds by Bender.

 

[Yuma]

Pretty good game for bender, Spaulding, and Jackson.

I really want to keep bender. Honestly I want to keep him more than Holmes, I just think his potential is much better.

He finally has some confidence, and is getting better every game. I expect it to continue.

I hope he finishes strong the last two games. He is earning a shot at an extension. I don't want to trade JJ either.

 

[Hoop Head]

Well it's about time. Westy should have been in long ago IMO.

I got excited and visited Adrian Wojnarowski on twitter for details.

Never saw him play live but I've seen replays of the 76 finals with Celtics & Suns and Westphal played almost exactly like I thought he would based on how he coached the Suns. He was a gutsy combo guard that played bigger than he was. It's odd that he played in the first triple OT game in the NBA Finals and also coached the second and only other triple OT game in the Finals as well.

The only time an NBA Finals game has even reached double OT was in 1974 with Bucks vs Celtics so there hasn't been a game that's come close to reaching a third overtime outside of when it happened with the Suns.

 

[Mainstreet]

Never saw him play live but I've seen replays of the 76 finals with Celtics & Suns and Westphal played almost exactly like I thought he would based on how he coached the Suns. He was a gutsy combo guard that played bigger than he was. It's odd that he played in the first triple OT game in the NBA Finals and also coached the second and only other triple OT game in the Finals as well.

The only time an NBA Finals game has even reached double OT was in 1974 with Bucks vs Celtics so there hasn't been a game that's come close to reaching a third overtime outside of when it happened with the Suns.

I remember Westy more of a coach than a player except for all those replays of the 1976 Finals.

 

[SirStefan32]

Dragan Mutombo!

 

[Hoop Head]

Pretty good game for bender, Spaulding, and Jackson.

I really want to keep bender. Honestly I want to keep him more than Holmes, I just think his potential is much better.

He finally has some confidence, and is getting better every game. I expect it to continue.

I have a feeling Bender will cost about half whatever Holmes does and if that ends up being the case then I'd agree with that fully. If Bender is willing to resign on a reasonable deal then I'm all for him returning. We should pack a deal with lots of incentives if we do look to resign Bender. I'd be fine with something like $1.5-2.0 million guaranteed with as much as another $1 million in incentives, so a total of $3 million next year with a similar amount guaranteed the year after on a player option.

We do hold Bender's bird rights but odds are we decline them when free agency starts because his cap hold will be around $5.8 million, which would have been his salary if his option was picked up. The Suns are unable to offer him more than that annually, and it's unlikely he gets it from us or anyone though. If he were to agree to a deal right off the bat that eliminates his cap hold and locks him in for $3 million that would free up $3 million in space because his cap hold would be gone and he's signed.

I think the league should change when a rookies 4th year option must be picked up. Move it to December 31st or January 15th when all contracts for that current season become guaranteed. That gives the drafting team a little longer to look at a rookie before making a decision on them. The October 31st date is odd because years ago the season hadn't begun at that point but now it's around 2 weeks into the new season.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I remember Westy more of a coach than a player except for all those replays of the 1976 Finals.

I remember him well, my favorite regular season memory until Booker's Boston game was Paul going for 48 against Denver. I swore more at McLeod in that game than I've ever done before or since. It seemed like he pulled him every time he'd get on a hot streak, he just missed 50 and only played 35 minutes or so. And keep in mind, this was in the late 70's so it was before the NBA adopted the 3 point shot.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I really want to keep bender. Honestly I want to keep him more than Holmes, I just think his potential is much better.

I have a feeling Bender will cost about half whatever Holmes does and if that ends up being the case then I'd agree with that fully.

I'd like to keep Bender too but not if it cost us Holmes. Dragan had his best game ever tonight but that was a scrub laden team so it's probably not realistic to judge him from tonight's performance. If we can re-sign him cheaply, I'd like to have him in addition to Holmes. If Holmes has outplayed what we're willing to give him, then we'd still need someone that can backup our bigs better than Bender has to date.

 

[1Sun]

Sadly, Bridges is becoming the new Bender. He has been alarmingly bad lately.

 

[1tinsoldier]

...
when players or workers are invested -- when they share ownership -- they excel
1 + 1 = 3 (and there have been periods when it has this season)
...
*we've seen some team gelling when Booker was out
*we've seen some gelling of the 2nd unit when he's off the floor. Midseason they showed signs of being one of the league's best defensive benches.
*we've seen player's like Josh come to life when he's in more of a leadership role
*we've seen players watch and become complacent when Booker plays hero ball
...
it would be a mistake to discount this team as more Benders & Chriss's.

12 steals, 11 blocks, in this win by our 2nd and 3rd string with all starters out
even Bender stepped up

 

[BC867]

I remember him well, my favorite regular season memory until Booker's Boston game was Paul going for 48 against Denver. I swore more at McLeod in that game than I've ever done before or since. It seemed like he pulled him every time he'd get on a hot streak, he just missed 50 and only played 35 minutes or so. And keep in mind, this was in the late 70's so it was before the NBA adopted the 3 point shot.

Although I liked Westy (I met him with my younger son Paul -- loved the connection), I was OK with us replacing him with Dennis Johnson, who followed Westphal's backcourt partner Don Buse's 3 years of All Defense with 3 of his own.

Westy sits in with Tom & Tom pre-games a few times a season. I would much rather see him replace Chambers. Paul is much more knowledgeable than TC, has a more pleasing personality and sounds like he is sitting in your living room, whereas Chambers sounds like he is in a debate. His ongoing mock sessions with both Eddie Johnson and Tom Leander are wearing thin.

I'm happy Paul will be going into the HOF.

 

[sunsfan88]

Weren't you a huge Tobias Harris fan a few years ago? What happened? And it wasn't that long ago that he was being hailed as the next big thing in Clipper town. I've always had mixed feelings about his play but even still, he'd be a big improvement for us. Probably not enough to take us anywhere but he'd make us better.

I was a fan of his when was in Orlando and i wanted him as a SF. Now, we would be getting him as a PF.

I assumed he would improve as a defender but he hasn’t. He’s still awful on that end and has tunnel vision.

The Suns two best players are already absolutely dreadful on defense, it doesn’t make sense to add a third one to that.

 

[slinslin]

Sadly, Bridges is becoming the new Bender. He has been alarmingly bad lately.

???????????????????????????????

 

[sunsfan88]

I don't know the Pelicans roster very well but looking at their roster and tonight's box score, they were as short handed as we were. I believe they were missing 5 of their top 6 minutes eaters plus others.

I was expecting a 50/20 game at the minimum from Julius Randle (who is by far better than anyone who took the court for the Suns).

 

[Hoop Head]

Here's some highlights from Jackson. It's not just scoring for him, it features some nice assists he had as well.

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[AzStevenCal]

I was expecting a 50/20 game at the minimum from Julius Randle (who is by far better than anyone who took the court for the Suns).

Yeah the Pelicans were missing a lot of talent but even still I was expecting Randle and even Payton to dominate the game and blow us out. And it looked like it for awhile in the first half. I never expected Crawford to go off or that Bender, Jackson and Spalding would all have their best games ever - not that Gentry seemed to care one way or the other, he just seemed totally disinterested in the outcome.

 

[Hoop Head]

Yeah the Pelicans were missing a lot of talent but even still I was expecting Randle and even Payton to dominate the game and blow us out. And it looked like it for awhile in the first half. I never expected Crawford to go off or that Bender, Jackson and Spalding would all have their best games ever - not that Gentry seemed to care one way or the other, he just seemed totally disinterested in the outcome.

I think Crawford is a forgotten commodity. He isn't who he was 5-6 years ago with the Clippers but he's capable of going off like he did last night every so often. He won't give you that nightly and he's not asked to play that role with us but he is definitely capable of doing it still. Last night showed he has gas in the tank still and I suspect we'll see that Crawford for the remainder of the season since he plans on playing next season, somewhere.

I doubt he'll return here but if he can still score 10-15 points off the bench for someone he'll find a home next season. He's probably earned a good rep for what he's done with us this year also so a team like the Nets or Kings that is right on the cusp of competing for a playoff spot might take a look at him despite passing over him this last offseason. No one expect him to be a solid mentor and good soldier throughout a tumultuous season.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Yeah the Pelicans were missing a lot of talent but even still I was expecting Randle and even Payton to dominate the game and blow us out. And it looked like it for awhile in the first half. I never expected Crawford to go off or that Bender, Jackson and Spalding would all have their best games ever - not that Gentry seemed to care one way or the other, he just seemed totally disinterested in the outcome.

Nice efforts by the guys. Unfortunately I think the only takeaway is that JJ, Spalding and bender can look good against awful talent. Which tells me zero about their ability to add anything to the team long term. Can’t help but view these performances in the proper context.

 

[Mainstreet]

I remember him well, my favorite regular season memory until Booker's Boston game was Paul going for 48 against Denver. I swore more at McLeod in that game than I've ever done before or since. It seemed like he pulled him every time he'd get on a hot streak, he just missed 50 and only played 35 minutes or so. And keep in mind, this was in the late 70's so it was before the NBA adopted the 3 point shot.

Regular as clock work McLeod would make lineup changes much like hockey. He believed in platooning to a fault.

 

[Mainstreet]

Here's some highlights from Jackson. It's not just scoring for him, it features some nice assists he had as well.

Jackson may yet turn into the player the Suns thought they drafted.

Ironically I think if he could learn to finish better at the rim on driving layups he would fare even better. He seems to miss a lot of easy baskets that way perhaps on indecision whether to dunk it or lay the ball up. Encouraging is he is shooting .329 from three point range this season.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Nice efforts by the guys. Unfortunately I think the only takeaway is that JJ, Spalding and bender can look good against awful talent. Which tells me zero about their ability to add anything to the team long term. Can’t help but view these performances in the proper context.

I know it doesn't tell us much but I was enjoying the game quite a bit right up until it became clear we were actually going to win the freaking thing.

 

[Superbone]

Nice efforts by the guys. Unfortunately I think the only takeaway is that JJ, Spalding and bender can look good against awful talent. Which tells me zero about their ability to add anything to the team long term. Can’t help but view these performances in the proper context.

Yeah, I don't totally agree. Bender basically had Randle's number in the 2nd half and OT and Randle is a quality starting PF who the Pelicans featured in this game.

 

[sunsfan88]

Yeah the Pelicans were missing a lot of talent but even still I was expecting Randle and even Payton to dominate the game and blow us out. And it looked like it for awhile in the first half. I never expected Crawford to go off or that Bender, Jackson and Spalding would all have their best games ever - not that Gentry seemed to care one way or the other, he just seemed totally disinterested in the outcome.

I think Gentry knows he’s fired in just a matter of days.

It would be awesome to get him and Luke Walton on the Suns coaching staff once the Lakers fire him. Replace Joe Prunty with one of them.

 

[sunsfan88]

Yeah, I don't totally agree. Bender basically had Randle's number in the 2nd half and OT and Randle is a quality starting PF who the Pelicans featured in this game.

Randle is a good player and better than anyone that took the court yesterday.

That said, Ouchie is right. Nobody’s performance from games like these matter.

These games between two non playoff teams are less competitive and meaningful than pre season and perhaps even summer league games. Didn’t Alec Peters go off for 40 last season or the year before in this type of game?