Rockets @ Suns

[Mainstreet]

Babby did this same kind of talk before ultimately trading Nash. Luckily the Lakers wanted Nash so the Suns were able to get something out of him.

 

[FArting]

Got back from the game

Our defense sucks

How the heck are we holding onto the 8th seed?

 

[Mainstreet]

Got back from the game

Our defense sucks

How the heck are we holding onto the 8th seed?

Smoke and mirrors. It won't last unless some changes are made.

 

[sunsfan88]

Got back from the game

Our defense sucks

How the heck are we holding onto the 8th seed?

We had one of the easiest schedules in the NBA to start off the year.

 

[Sci Fi]

We had one of the easiest schedules in the NBA to start off the year.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2015.html


Seems unlikely.

 

[sunsfan88]

http://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2015.html


Seems unlikely.

What seems unlikely? That we had one of the easiest schedules?

Its not my opinion, its a fact.

 

[Sci Fi]

What seems unlikely? That we had one of the easiest schedules?

Its not my opinion, its a fact.

No, it's not a fact.

Sorry to disappoint.

Fairly average at this stage. Slightly below average.

You need to understand the west will always have below average schedules at this stage.

It's beyond most Suns fans to understand. Nothing new.

 

[sunsfan88]

No, it's not a fact.

Sorry to disappoint.

Fairly average at this stage. Slightly below average.

You need to understand the west will always have below average schedules at this stage.

It's beyond most Suns fans to understand. Nothing new.

I am so confused. What's beyond most Suns fans to understand?

And yes, we did have an easy scheule to start the year. It only picked up after mid Janury ish as we now have one of the toughest remaining schedules in the NBA.

Is that likely when the Suns are just 24-18? When they've already played one of the league's six easiest schedules, according to ESPN.com? When they have the fourth-most difficult schedule remaining?

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...-will-likely-decide-phoenix-suns-playoff-fate

Its not my opinion, its a fact that we had one of the easiest schedules in the first 2-3 months of the season.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Its not my opinion, its a fact that we had one of the easiest schedules in the first 2-3 months of the season.

According to someone on ESPN tonight even after that brutal stretch of games we just played that we still have the 2nd toughest remaining schedule. Clearly we had to have had the easiest schedule earlier to put us in this position.

Steve

 

[sunsfan88]

According to someone on ESPN tonight even after that brutal stretch of games we just played that we still have the 2nd toughest remaining schedule. Clearly we had to have had the easiest schedule earlier to put us in this position.

Steve

Yes absolutely, it's in the line I quoted in my previous post as well.

 

[marios13]

heh

look at ITs playing time and look at the score ...
http://www.popcornmachine.net/gf?date=20150210&game=HOUPHO

If he is not scorching HOT ... Thomas loses more points than he makes ...
I don't get Jeff not seeing this in every game where he is mediocre.

I would rather have Zoran in the 4th quarter than IT when the Suns are in the lead against Houston. He has proven he can stop Harden in the World Cup.

 

[slinslin]

heh

look at ITs playing time and look at the score ...
http://www.popcornmachine.net/gf?date=20150210&game=HOUPHO

If he is not scorching HOT ... Thomas loses more points than he makes ...
I don't get Jeff not seeing this in every game where he is mediocre.

I would rather have Zoran in the 4th quarter than IT when the Suns are in the lead against Houston. He has proven he can stop Harden in the World Cup.

Nothing is proven in FIBA basketball ever.

 

[slinslin]

The Suns only shot was to make Dragic the star.

You were wrong, along with McDonough, Hornacek and everyone else.

Sorry.

Dragic is not star material.

Amen. Free Dragic. Hopefully to a playoff team.

I can't watch the Suns anymore with Bledsoe at the point. Unbearable.

Dragic 13-14 5.9apg 2.8topg 35.1mpg usg24.5 38.1FTrate
Bledsoe 14-15 5.9apg 3.1topg 33.9mpg usg23.7 42.9FTrate

So Dragic played more minutes and dominated the ball more than Bledsoe but averaged the same number of assists and less free throws.

2013-2014 Suns - 29th in Assists
2014-2015 Suns - 20th in Assists

You are just a biased Dragic fanboy and a spamming troll on top of that.

 

[devilalum]

Suns are 9th or 10th best team in the west. They just don't have the juice to compete with good teams.

No way the current roster makes the playoffs this year. I wish they would recognize this and start playing for next year. They need to give the kids some minutes.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Suns are 9th or 10th best team in the west. They just don't have the juice to compete with good teams.

No way the current roster makes the playoffs this year. I wish they would recognize this and start playing for next year. They need to give the kids some minutes.

With the way the chemistry appears to be I'm not even sure we're the 10th best team in the west. I want to start playing the young guys too but maybe the front office is trying to work a deal that would be hampered by benching a veteran or two? Regardless, I don't see us staying with the status quo past the All Star break.

Steve

 

[82CardsGrad]

I could be wrong, but it sure seemed to me that prior to Len going down with the injury, the chemistry was better and the W's were falling our way. Particularly over the previous 5-7 games right before his injury, I thought the team was looking very good.
I know it sounds crazy as Len is still early on in his development, but I really believe his injury is a much bigger issue for this team than many seem to realize.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I could be wrong, but it sure seemed to me that prior to Len going down with the injury, the chemistry was better and the W's were falling our way. Particularly over the previous 5-7 games right before his injury, I thought the team was looking very good.
I know it sounds crazy as Len is still early on in his development, but I really believe his injury is a much bigger issue for this team than many seem to realize.

I agree the chemistry had been much better although I thought it started going south a few games before Len's injury. Markieff started disappearing more often and he took to spending most of his time 18 feet from where he does his best work. Marcus walked around with a never-ending scowl and Tucker looked and played uninspired. Goran went, almost overnight, from playing his best ball of the season to looking like he did back in November. Plumlee, at least, stayed consistent as he continued to focus primarily on grooming. I have to say, he's never looked better.

Steve

 

[devilalum]

With the way the chemistry appears to be I'm not even sure we're the 10th best team in the west. I want to start playing the young guys too but maybe the front office is trying to work a deal that would be hampered by benching a veteran or two? Regardless, I don't see us staying with the status quo past the All Star break.

Steve

We'll know in 8 days.

 

[82CardsGrad]

I agree the chemistry had been much better although I thought it started going south a few games before Len's injury. Markieff started disappearing more often and he took to spending most of his time 18 feet from where he does his best work. Marcus walked around with a never-ending scowl and Tucker looked and played uninspired. Goran went, almost overnight, from playing his best ball of the season to looking like he did back in November. Plumlee, at least, stayed consistent as he continued to focus primarily on grooming. I have to say, he's never looked better.

Steve

I agree about Markieff & Marcus... I think you're over-doing the Tucker situation. And I think Goran has rarely looked great all season... IMHO, he's looked lost and miscast just about all year.

IMHO, I really think losing Len has sent ripples throughout the entire team... We are softer, less physical and less capable on the boards and in the middle/down low.
It places even more pressure on the rest of the players to create and make shots, and hence, we are seeing more and more one-on-one stare-downs when the Suns are on offense...
And defensively, we have fallen off a cliff... not that we were great before hand, but with the void Len's absence has created, teams are totally fearless about getting to the rim.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I agree about Markieff & Marcus... I think you're over-doing the Tucker situation. And I think Goran has rarely looked great all season... IMHO, he's looked lost and miscast just about all year.

IMHO, I really think losing Len has sent ripples throughout the entire team... We are softer, less physical and less capable on the boards and in the middle/down low.
It places even more pressure on the rest of the players to create and make shots, and hence, we are seeing more and more one-on-one stare-downs when the Suns are on offense...
And defensively, we have fallen off a cliff... not that we were great before hand, but with the void Len's absence has created, teams are totally fearless about getting to the rim.

Goran averaged 14 points the first month of the season. From November 30th through January 11 he averaged 19.5 points per game and since then he's back to averaging 14 points a game again (14.5 actually). He had a several game stretch where he looked like the Goran of last year IMO.

I wholeheartedly agree about Len's impact on our team. It's probably not coincidence that we started struggling right around the time that Jeff mentioned he was limiting his minutes out of concern for Len's well-being. Besides worrying about his health, Len had hit the rookie wall. A handful of games later he gets injured and we just don't look the same.

I think the Tucker we saw for 3 quarters the other night was unusually bad but he just hasn't played with the energy I'm used to seeing from him this season. I'm not saying he's dogging it all the time but watch him for several minutes, he walks into the defense and the offense far too often. No longer is he the first one to the action and we NEED him to be that guy because he just doesn't bring much else to the table.

Steve

 

[Errntknght]

Okay then, sexy bra strap? Seriously though, I don't know what it is. I know that I came across someone talking about it recently and I just didn't pay attention to the explanation.

Steve

Its probably kinesio tape. Its quite elastic - its stretched before application so it supplies a contracting force, which can diminish pain and help muscle relaxation. It contains no irritating chemicals like latex so it can be left on for several days at a time.

 

[Hoop Head]

Goran averaged 14 points the first month of the season. From November 30th through January 11 he averaged 19.5 points per game and since then he's back to averaging 14 points a game again (14.5 actually). He had a several game stretch where he looked like the Goran of last year IMO.

I wholeheartedly agree about Len's impact on our team. It's probably not coincidence that we started struggling right around the time that Jeff mentioned he was limiting his minutes out of concern for Len's well-being. Besides worrying about his health, Len had hit the rookie wall. A handful of games later he gets injured and we just don't look the same.

I think the Tucker we saw for 3 quarters the other night was unusually bad but he just hasn't played with the energy I'm used to seeing from him this season. I'm not saying he's dogging it all the time but watch him for several minutes, he walks into the defense and the offense far too often. No longer is he the first one to the action and we NEED him to be that guy because he just doesn't bring much else to the table.

Steve

I don't think we'll see Tucker play like he did the last 2 seasons anymore. He was a great energy and effort player the last 2 years but it seems giving him a good payday for the next 3 years plus the team headed back to the lottery has taken away his energy. His first year he was playing for a spot in the NBA and his second he was playing for a contract. Not that he's mailed it in or played really poor because he did play well off the bench to start the season, combined with Marcus playing poorly and inconsistently that earned PJ the starting spot back. I think he was inserted into the starting 5 in hopes of lighting a fire under Marcus but that didn't work and Tucker is a serviceable 3 & D player. The more the team has slipped in the standings though the worse Tucker has looked. Maybe that's just me though. He could be a contributor on a contender but on a lottery team he's just taking up minutes from younger players. Tucker is what he is, he's not going to become a great scorer or develop more in terms of his skill set.

I know he was resigned because the team was expected to take the next step and he was viewed as one of the leaders last year but all of his off the court behavior with his DUI and missing flights or busses has shown he wasn't the leader most fans thought he was. I think if the team was winning he'd be playing with more energy and fire but he doesn't really have anything to play for here. The lower the Suns fall this year the less energy he seems to be playing with.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I don't think we'll see Tucker play like he did the last 2 seasons anymore. He was a great energy and effort player the last 2 years but it seems giving him a good payday for the next 3 years plus the team headed back to the lottery has taken away his energy. His first year he was playing for a spot in the NBA and his second he was playing for a contract. Not that he's mailed it in or played really poor because he did play well off the bench to start the season, combined with Marcus playing poorly and inconsistently that earned PJ the starting spot back. I think he was inserted into the starting 5 in hopes of lighting a fire under Marcus but that didn't work and Tucker is a serviceable 3 & D player. The more the team has slipped in the standings though the worse Tucker has looked. Maybe that's just me though. He could be a contributor on a contender but on a lottery team he's just taking up minutes from younger players. Tucker is what he is, he's not going to become a great scorer or develop more in terms of his skill set.

I know he was resigned because the team was expected to take the next step and he was viewed as one of the leaders last year but all of his off the court behavior with his DUI and missing flights or busses has shown he wasn't the leader most fans thought he was. I think if the team was winning he'd be playing with more energy and fire but he doesn't really have anything to play for here. The lower the Suns fall this year the less energy he seems to be playing with.

Yeah, that's about how I see it. We heard from the players last year that PJ sort of scared players into giving their all but that Channing was the real leader. And I guess those of us that hoped PJ would pick up where Frye left off were being unrealistic. I guess now we can just hope there is a natural leader among our young players, maybe Ennis or Warren? I think it always helps if your point guard and/or best player can fill that role.

Steve

 

[FArting]

The All Star break couldn't come at a better time.

This team is frustrated. They all need a break from each other.

 

[elindholm]

According to someone on ESPN tonight even after that brutal stretch of games we just played that we still have the 2nd toughest remaining schedule. Clearly we had to have had the easiest schedule earlier to put us in this position.

Western teams have tougher schedules over the course of the year than Eastern teams do, so having a difficult schedule remaining does not imply that the schedule so far has been very easy.

Sagarin has the Suns' schedule at 15th most difficult so far this season, and Hollinger has them at 16th (http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/powerrankings/_/page/2/sort/sos). So they're right in the middle, league-wide.