Playoffs: Suns @ Nuggets Tuesday game thread 5-9-2023 - Game 5

[mhill1986]

I have no idea what will happen in game 6. I'm not overly down, nor am I confident. I didn't see us winning both games 3 and 4, so now I'm just along for the ride. Hope it's a good one!

 

[dscher]

****** barf...

This team is zilch without some sort of an interior game. Ayton is softer than tissue paper and is otherwise useless in that department.

They'll need to move his ass next season for any sort of sniff of deep playoff run while KD is here IMO..

 

[82CardsGrad]

KD had half our turnovers and was 0-for from three again… There is no way this team can win a playoff game when KD is this bad.
Ayton was yet again, a total non-factor and showed zero heart once again. I just don’t understand, and never will, how he can step onto the court, especially in the post season, and drift aimlessly as much as he does. Beyond pathetic.
And of course, aside from Ross, our bench was putrid. Jock provided his standard intensity, but really didn’t have much impact.
Somehow we allowed Brown to go off… while Denver shot nearly 50% for the game - including from beyond the arc.
That is likely not gonna happen at Footprint Center… But, if KD remains incapable of finding his shot, especially from 3-point land, and if Ayton chooses to not give a damn again, I can’t see how the Suns can win game 6.

 

[Sparky16]

Welcome to Phoenix Kyrie.

Trade Tissue Soft DA for Kyrie or just sign him if possible and trade Tissue Soft for someone like Julius Randle since NY wet the bed also. This team needs shot creators and for sure some physical presence.

 

[Sparky16]

This is nothing like the Dallas game last year. This series has been all about home court.

same as Dallas last years until game 7

 

[Germz249]

The hell happened

 

[Dr. Jones]

We may all be looking back at game two as our opportunity to flip this series.

A huge missed opportunity IMO.

 

[wagonmound464]

From the Sun's bench.... Shamlet, Payne, 2 Lees, Bismack, Warren, Ish,, no consistency and of little value to help out.

Suns need a smart, young, fast moving, point guard scorer like Tyrese Maxey [76ers] to complement Book and KD.

Clear out the dead weight on the bench for 1 valuable and quality p/g.

 

[Fitz4Ever]

the selling point on the KD trade was consistency and playoff numbers. Right now Im not seeing it and he only gets older from here.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Look, I’m not confident, but I don’t think this team unravels. That’s not book and KD this year. I’m 100% sure monty will evidence cluelessness again that hurts us, but this team stormed back in the first half after coming out like crap. Neither book nor KD had it going tonight and the refs really allowed them to play physically with us. But they didn’t fold. They just didn’t play well. And you just can’t let yourself get that far down at the beginning of the game. Took difficult time dig out and then keep up the pressure.

I agree but my concern is Booker's health. They doubled him often and played him physically all game but even still he started out 4 for 4 until he went down with the ankle/foot injury. He went 4 for 15 after that.

A lot of players excel even when they are dealing with a minor injury but that's not been the case with Devin. Hopefully treatment and a day off will get him back to 100% but if not, we won't have to worry about a return trip to Denver.

 

[BirdGangThing]

The hell happened

Bad game

 

[Yuma]

I am praying we get this to a seventh game. Then we have a shot at it. We lose in our house, it's going to be a LONG off season.

Not that we have given up hope in the Suns now in my household, but we almost feel like the off season is going to be more exciting. We lost two really good players who would have made a difference for us now. They weren't replaced. The off season is the only chance we have to do that. Just how much a Devin Booker and KD duo can attract talent to the Suns, we shall see. I feel we may have seen the last of CP3. I am less certain on Ayton. Everyone tells me we are trading him. I keep asking to where? Only one team wanted him last time he was on the market, and that team is probably not buying again. I will be amazed if we get anything of value for him. I expect it will be a typical James Jones deal where we have to trade draft picks to get a team to take him off our hands. I know it's hindsight, but probably the smartest move would have been to not match the Indy offer for Ayton. Unless we get a blockbuster trade in return, I think that's going to possibly be the best scenario we could have done. I hope I am wrong on this.

 

[Chaplin]

I am praying we get this to a seventh game. Then we have a shot at it. We lose in our house, it's going to be a LONG off season.

Not that we have given up hope in the Suns now in my household, but we almost feel like the off season is going to be more exciting. We lost two really good players who would have made a difference for us now. They weren't replaced. The off season is the only chance we have to do that. Just how much a Devin Booker and KD duo can attract talent to the Suns, we shall see. I feel we may have seen the last of CP3. I am less certain on Ayton. Everyone tells me we are trading him. I keep asking to where? Only one team wanted him last time he was on the market, and that team is probably not buying again. I will be amazed if we get anything of value for him. I expect it will be a typical James Jones deal where we have to trade draft picks to get a team to take him off our hands. I know it's hindsight, but probably the smartest move would have been to not match the Indy offer for Ayton. Unless we get a blockbuster trade in return, I think that's going to possibly be the best scenario we could have done. I hope I am wrong on this.

Wait. "We lost two really good players who would have made a difference for us now. They weren't replaced." Huh?

 

[Yuma]

Wait. "We lost two really good players who would have made a difference for us now. They weren't replaced." Huh?

OK Mr. technicality. I will spell it out. Yes we got KD. However, we didn't have that 4th/5th and 5th/6th player in Bridges and Cam Johnson. We had buyouts and trade scenarios, but we failed to make up that end of the line up. None of the guys we got could replace the value of those two guys at the 4th/5th and 5th/6th spots.

 

[Chaplin]

OK Mr. technicality. I will spell it out. Yes we got KD. However, we didn't have that 4th/5th and 5th/6th player in Bridges and Cam Johnson. We had buyouts and trade scenarios, but we failed to make up that end of the line up. None of the guys we got could replace the value of those two guys at the 4th/5th and 5th/6th spots.

Name calling is beneath you.

But Bridges was replaced at the very least. And taken collectively, you can say that Cam AND Bridges were replaced by KD. Throw in Warren, and I don't see where you could say that.

 

[Yuma]

Name calling is beneath you.

But Bridges was replaced at the very least. And taken collectively, you can say that Cam AND Bridges were replaced by KD. Throw in Warren, and I don't see where you could say that.

I used it as a compliment! Warren hasn't proved to be the value of either of those two players. I like Warren, but Cam and Bridges were playing way better on the Suns before being traded than Tony has after being traded here.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

the selling point on the KD trade was consistency and playoff numbers. Right now Im not seeing it and he only gets older from here.

A) getting a coach who knows how to utilize KD and builds an offense around book and KD will materially help what we get outt KD

B) all those wide open 3s our role players are bricking is because KD and Boom are being crowded and beat up by a defense that doesn’t have to care about the other three on the court. If those players step up and just perform average we likely win these games going away due to the space book and KD create or due to the space role players hitting shots creates for book and KD

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

OK Mr. technicality. I will spell it out. Yes we got KD. However, we didn't have that 4th/5th and 5th/6th player in Bridges and Cam Johnson. We had buyouts and trade scenarios, but we failed to make up that end of the line up. None of the guys we got could replace the value of those two guys at the 4th/5th and 5th/6th spots.

Kd replaces one of those guys

 

[Mainstreet]

One player doesn't replace all the players and assets the Suns lost in the Kevin Durant trade. Again, it's not Durant, it's what the Suns gave up to get him.

The Suns had an open roster spot, and they did a terrible job of replacing Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder and Dario Saric, which was a cost saving move in a separate trade.

And the Suns converted Wainright to the 15-man roster.

Did I mention the 4 unprotected first round picks and a swap?

What in the world was James Jones thinking. You can't replace 5 players with one.

 

[Hoop Head]

One player doesn't replace all the players and assets the Suns lost in the Kevin Durant trade. Again, it's not Durant, it's what the Suns gave up to get him.

The Suns had an open roster spot, and they did a terrible job of replacing Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder and Dario Saric, which was a cost saving move in a separate trade.

And the Suns converted Wainright to the 15-man roster.

Did I mention the 4 unprotected first round picks and a swap?

What in the world was James Jones thinking. You can't replace 5 players with one.

Don't forget Darius Boszley or whatever his name is. I'll give JJ a pass on that. Would have been nice to get something more out of Dario but I can understand why that swap was made. It was a gamble worth taking.

 

[Chaplin]

Don't forget Darius Boszley or whatever his name is. I'll give JJ a pass on that. Would have been nice to get something more out of Dario but I can understand why that swap was made. It was a gamble worth taking.

Saric shouldn’t be included in this discussion.

 

[Mainstreet]

Don't forget Darius Boszley or whatever his name is. I'll give JJ a pass on that. Would have been nice to get something more out of Dario but I can understand why that swap was made. It was a gamble worth taking.

I think the trade of Saric for Bazley was a cost saving move.

Although other trades are technically separate, they were done in connection with the acquisition of Durant.

They likely would not have been made if the Suns hadn't traded for Durant.

 

[Chaplin]

I think the trade of Saric for Bazley was a cost saving move.

Although other trades are technically separate, they were done in connection with the acquisition of Durant.

They likely would not have been made if the Suns hadn't traded for Durant.

You have no way of knowing that. Saric was old and likely wasn’t going to be brought back this summer. Has nothing to do with Durant unless they expected Dario to be too expensive to bring back. It’s much more likely they did it to see if they can get something out of a young guy like Bazely and save few bucks to boot.

This trade was just as likely to happen whether they traded for Durant or not.

 

[Mainstreet]

The trade for Bazley and Saric don't match financially. This is why the Suns included a second round pick so OKC would absorb his salary.

It was all about saving sizeable money towards the luxury tax for the Suns.

 

[Chaplin]

The trade for Bazley and Saric don't match financially. This is why the Suns included a second round pick so OKC would absorb his salary.

It was all about saving sizeable money towards the luxury tax for the Suns.

Also possibly they new the new CBA would cause a problem to resign Cam Johnson, so he was expiring and we were going to lose him anyway.