Pistons @ Suns 3-21-19

[Hoop Head]

I can't watch anymore. Ish Smith is running around and scoring on everyone. Typically the Suns make it close in the 4th but tonight they're letting the Pistons run away with it.

The Pistons look a lot better without Blake Griffin in there also, not sure what that's about. I hope we don't consider trading for him this summer. I don't know if they would shop him but on his contract I imagine they'd be open to moving him if someone was dumb enough to make an offer.

 

[Chaplin]

I can't watch anymore. Ish Smith is running around and scoring on everyone. Typically the Suns make it close in the 4th but tonight they're letting the Pistons run away with it.

The Pistons look a lot better without Blake Griffin in there also, not sure what that's about. I hope we don't consider trading for him this summer. I don't know if they would shop him but on his contract I imagine they'd be open to moving him if someone was dumb enough to make an offer.

To be fair, Griffin has been in foul trouble all night. I don't think I'd be interested in him either, but I wouldn't use this game to gauge his skill level.

 

[Mainstreet]

I can't watch anymore. Ish Smith is running around and scoring on everyone. Typically the Suns make it close in the 4th but tonight they're letting the Pistons run away with it.

The Pistons look a lot better without Blake Griffin in there also, not sure what that's about. I hope we don't consider trading for him this summer. I don't know if they would shop him but on his contract I imagine they'd be open to moving him if someone was dumb enough to make an offer.

I'd rather have Tobias Harris or Julius Randle than Griffin.

 

[FB94]

I honestly can say I haven’t seen Bender make more than 5 jump shots over the past two years. What a waste of a draft year that was.

 

[Mainstreet]

Final:

Pistons 118 - Suns 98

 

[elindholm]

Jackson probably done for the year now

At least that will partially offset the loss of Oubre.

 

[elindholm]

I honestly can say I haven’t seen Bender make more than 5 jump shots over the past two years.

You must not have noticed how smart he looks.

 

[Mainstreet]

Some final stats.

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[Sunburn]

Pretty clear we miss Oubre badly. He just gives this team a spark that no one else can. Perfect fit here.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Don't know if you wanted to see it or not, found this on Twitter. Looks a lot more serious than it was. It was reported as just a sprain.

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Thx poop. Happy just a sprain. Shut him down for the year.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Pretty clear we miss Oubre badly. He just gives this team a spark that no one else can. Perfect fit here.

We miss him and he does light a fire for these guys but it's also a numbers game. With TJ, Oubre and Tyler all out, we're short on actual NBA players out there.

 

[BC867]

I honestly can say I haven’t seen Bender make more than 5 jump shots over the past two years. What a waste of a draft year that was.

And now, 2 points and 2 rebounds in 32 starter minutes vs. the Pistons. Why would anyone want to keep him for next season?

Even if he plays fair defense at Power Forward, if his opponent scores 6or 8 points, Bender has been outplayed.

No matter how cheaply he might come, I don't want to see him tying up a roster spot next season.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Pretty clear we miss Oubre badly. He just gives this team a spark that no one else can. Perfect fit here.

Tyler, and Warren too.

 

[ArizonaSportsFan]

He wanted a foul. Every time he misses, throws it away, gets it blocked, he screams about how he was fouled.

Replay shows he was absolutely fouled, and quite hard, by Griffin coming down on his forearms.

 

[ArizonaSportsFan]

Bender passed it right to the Pistons. WTF? He should have shot it but instead he lobbed it right to them for an easy fast break. He was doing ok, for being Bender, and then he reminds you why he's been buried on the bench most of the season. He's our tank insurance.

It was a pass to the rolling Holmes, who happened to not be looking.
Although I do agree with you that he should have shot it instead.

 

[SirStefan32]

Replay shows he was absolutely fouled, and quite hard, by Griffin coming down on his forearms.

I am not disputing that. Just pointing out that he is in the top ten whiniest players in the NBA right now.

 

[Mainstreet]

Booker did not take the loss well nor should he as the frustration mounts over losing.

Here are some excerpts from a Duane Rankin article that is better read for context:



"Just not winning," Booker said. "Like I said, I want to finish this out the right way."

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"We're down a lot of bodies," Booker continued. "The odds are stacked against us, but we just have to get better every night. Play with each other and have fun."

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Booker finished with a game-high 26 points, but took issues with the officiating and his team's play all night. It reached a boiling point when rookie point guard De'Anthony Melton once again turned the ball over after stepping out of bounds.

"Take his ass out," Booker shouted across the court to Suns coach Igor Kokoskov. "Put Elie in the game"

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"That's my job," Booker said. "I'll get on people. That's part of it. It's tough love. You have to learn and there's different ways of learning. There's different ways of teaching. There's different ways of leading. My job is to get that point across."


https://www.azcentral.com/story/spo...uns-meltdown-loss-detroit-pistons/3242502002/

 

[AzStevenCal]

I am not disputing that. Just pointing out that he is in the top ten whiniest players in the NBA right now.

I wouldn't go that far. He whines too much but so do a hundred other players. He's obviously learned the lesson that the NBA has taught to thousands before him; keep your mouth shut and others will get all the free throws - whine and you'll start getting your share. But I watch a fair amount of non-Suns basketball and it's a rare game when I don't see at least a couple of other players meet or exceed his whininess.

 

[AzStevenCal]

"That's my job," Booker said. "I'll get on people. That's part of it. It's tough love. You have to learn and there's different ways of learning. There's different ways of teaching. There's different ways of leading. My job is to get that point across."

He's way over the top on this and has been since a handful of current and former players encouraged him to "demand greatness" from his teammates. He has no clue how to talk to people or motivate them if he thinks those kinds of comments are appropriate.

 

[Mainstreet]

He's way over the top on this and has been since a handful of current and former players encouraged him to "demand greatness" from his teammates. He has no clue how to talk to people, how to motivate, if he thinks those kinds of comments are beneficial.

We agree about this.

One of the reasons I posted his comments was to show Booker is reaching a boiling point. Suns need to shore up the point guard position and then some if they want to keep him happy.

The burden of carrying the Suns has worn on Booker. Oubre and Johnson were been a big help but now he is primarily carrying the burden alone.

 

[Chaplin]

We agree about this.

One of the reasons I posted his comments was to show Booker is reaching a boiling point. Suns need to shore up the point guard position and then some if they want to keep him happy.

The burden of carrying the Suns has worn on Booker. Oubre and Johnson were been a big help but now he is primarily carrying the burden alone.

He made his bed. He knows he's supposed to carry the Suns. The losing is what is worn on Booker, not leading them.

And him screaming to take Melton out? Good on him! Melton should NOT have 2 turnovers simply because he didn't watch where he was fricking standing on the court. Booker only said what the rest of us were thinking (outside of Igor, I guess).

At least Booker is trying, for god's sake. It would be pretty easy for him to just shut it down. He's in a damned if you do and damned if you don't situation.

 

[Suns_fan69]

Rewatched that play again to make sure but Booker threw the pass to Melton high who had to jump up to get it. He ended up landing out of bounds.

Booker often makes the right reads but his pass accuracy is atrocious. For him to get on someone's case after another off-the-mark pass is poor form imo.

 

[Chaplin]

Rewatched that play again to make sure but Booker threw the pass to Melton high who had to jump up to get it. He ended up landing out of bounds.

Booker often makes the right reads but his pass accuracy is atrocious. For him to get on someone's case after another off-the-mark pass is poor form imo.

It happened more than once. Melton should still have better control of his body. Not every pass, no matter who it's from is going to be perfect every time.

 

[Suns_fan69]

It happened more than once. Melton should still have better control of his body. Not every pass, no matter who it's from is going to be perfect every time.

It happened more than once. Booker should still have better control of his passes. Not every catch, no matter how good the pass is, is going to be perfect every time.

All snarkiness aside, I wish Booker took more of a Nash approach to leadership. Nash was quick to take blame for everything, even if it was clearly not his fault. That's not Booker's style, and there's not much we can do about it, but it does annoy me when he's trying to hold someone else accountable for his mistake.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

It happened more than once. Booker should still have better control of his passes. Not every catch, no matter how good the pass is, is going to be perfect every time.

All snarkiness aside, I wish Booker took more of a Nash approach to leadership. Nash was quick to take blame for everything, even if it was clearly not his fault. That's not Booker's style, and there's not much we can do about it, but it does annoy me when he's trying to hold someone else accountable for his mistake.

Not that I am disagreeing with you here, but we also never saw Nash have to deal with as much losing as Booker has endured. Obviously Nash was a huge part of why we were never a bad team while he was here, but we can't exactly expect a 22 year old Booker to have that same impact either. It is imperative that we make this our last terrible season because we will almost certainly be dealing with him asking out after next season if it goes similar to this season.