Spurs vs. Suns Saturday game thread (Mexico City) 12-14-19

[ArizonaSportsFan]

Well as bad as Cam is. It looked like he was the player the Spurs wanted to stop. And the Suns needed him to shoot. Nice try for a Sins team void of their stars

That's their name when the move to Vegas...

 

[Raze]

Forgive me if this was brought up before, but I was glad to see Ellie get the backup PG minutes over Ty. Ty was given a few games to prove that he was better than Ellie and I thought he failed to do so.

I was listening to Alonzo Mourning talk on The Jump and he was talking about players "earning minutes vs giving minutes" and how that is the Heat's culture. That should be our culture as well.

Ellie, quite surprisingly, has earned the minutes. He was really good in that 5 game stretch in November. The only reason he lost his minutes was because Ty came back. And I don't see any support that Ty has earned those minutes over Ellie.

Ellie looks a lot better on D (something he's obviously working on).
He's also got 17 assists and 1 Turnover in his last 100 minutes played, which is exceptional.
He's attacking the basket (although he needs a better FT%).
And if I could be subjective for a second, he just looks like an NBA player. Ty does not... yet.

I'll be interested to see where the back up minutes go from here on out.

 

[Mainstreet]

Everybody is ragging on Bridges and how he doesn't contribute offensively but he just finished a run of 5 games scoring 10+ a game. He had 11, 12, 15, 11, and 14. He came up short with 9 the next game. Would I like more? Of course but he only averaged 22 minutes a game in that stretch.

Bridges is coming along at the pace of most 2nd year players. It would be nice if he were farther along but he's not and dumping on him for not being more does nothing but highlight a part of the problem with the Suns over the last few years and that's giving up on young players far too soon. Yes, Bridges was an older draft pick but that doesn't change that he's in just his 2nd season and 1st with a real NBA level head coach. If a guy isn't ready for prime time within 20 games then it's time to move on. Most people prematurely expected him to supplant Oubre as a starter before the season started and 23-24 games into the year and apparently he's worthless because he's inconsistent.

I can't blame him for failing to stop Mills either. He had slipped and only gotten back to his feet to try and contest Mills shot. Rubio was stopped by an Aldridge screen but Mills was his man. It was a great shot by Mills but if anyone deserves blame then it should Ricky. I can't fault Bridges for trying, and failing, to cover for someone else's man. If he had been tasked with guarding Mills then I'd ask why our best perimeter defender is on Patty Mills at the end of the game. As it is, he had a split second to try and do something and couldn't.

For anyone who didn't see the play, it's queued up here at 2:10. I'm not sure what he could have done other than not slip before it happened.

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Patty Mills reminds me a lot of Fred VanVleet.

 

[leclerc]

I agree about Okobo over Jerome. I think Elie has earned it now, although Jerome might have better play making ability and outside shot when/if he adjusts to the NBA. Hoping for improvement from both of them. That's a good thing about this forum. We mostly cheer for our guys.

 

[Hoop Head]

Forgive me if this was brought up before, but I was glad to see Ellie get the backup PG minutes over Ty. Ty was given a few games to prove that he was better than Ellie and I thought he failed to do so.

I was listening to Alonzo Mourning talk on The Jump and he was talking about players "earning minutes vs giving minutes" and how that is the Heat's culture. That should be our culture as well.

Ellie, quite surprisingly, has earned the minutes. He was really good in that 5 game stretch in November. The only reason he lost his minutes was because Ty came back. And I don't see any support that Ty has earned those minutes over Ellie.

Ellie looks a lot better on D (something he's obviously working on).
He's also got 17 assists and 1 Turnover in his last 100 minutes played, which is exceptional.
He's attacking the basket (although he needs a better FT%).
And if I could be subjective for a second, he just looks like an NBA player. Ty does not... yet.

I'll be interested to see where the back up minutes go from here on out.

Okobo has been one of the biggest surprises this season. I know he's not playing a lot but like you said, he looks like a legit NBA player. We do control his future as well, with team options on the next 2 seasons for about league minimum money. I hope they keep him around for those 2 years because the kid is looking like a contributor now. He may not ever be a starter and that's fine, let him be the 4th guard in the rotation and get 15-20 minutes each night.

 

[95pro]

Okobo has shown some growth for sure. I like his ability to penetrate, i'm not sure if that's from lack of scouting him or he's quite better at it now. I think he's truly become a better player. I'd take him over Jerome any day for sure, although Jerome is the better pure shooter. I say Jerome is the better shooter only if he gets a wide open shot with time to shoot. I was liking Tyler at the start of the season, i'm not sure what to think of his lack of production. I believe that inconsistent minutes throughout the season are having an effect on his mindset and production being that he's the most tenured backup we have. Early on, it was a mix of Carter and Okobo, then everyone gets DNP's while Jerome is getting minutes. I'd be kind of upset if that was happening.

 

[Hoop Head]

Okobo has shown some growth for sure. I like his ability to penetrate, i'm not sure if that's from lack of scouting him or he's quite better at it now. I think he's truly become a better player. I'd take him over Jerome any day for sure, although Jerome is the better pure shooter. I say Jerome is the better shooter only if he gets a wide open shot with time to shoot. I was liking Tyler at the start of the season, i'm not sure what to think of his lack of production. I believe that inconsistent minutes throughout the season are having an effect on his mindset and production being that he's the most tenured backup we have. Early on, it was a mix of Carter and Okobo, then everyone gets DNP's while Jerome is getting minutes. I'd be kind of upset if that was happening.

Tyler's DNP's don't make a lot of sense. He started for Rubio a couple of games and now he can't get on the floor. I'm thinking there is either a trade in the works or Monty is trying to see what the younger players have before Ayton returns and he tightens his rotations.

When Ayton gets back they are out of excuses and Monty might be thinking it's time to get serious throughout the rest of the year. That would make some sense. I think that's more likely than a trade.

Trades can now take place involving new signings, that started yesterday but it being a Sunday and the league office being closed it really starts today. I read something about how 40% of the league were free agents this last summer and if that's true then it's no wonder there haven't been trades, teams are limited in who they can deal.

 

[SirStefan32]

I really think Monty likes to give players a few games to show what they can do. I am guessing that Jerome had his chance and isn't gonna see the floor much for a while now.

 

[95pro]

I really think Monty likes to give players a few games to show what they can do. I am guessing that Jerome had his chance and isn't gonna see the floor much for a while now.

I have no clue because Diallo had some good games/moments then never came back.

 

[Phrazbit]

Sadly, Cam to me looks exactly like Reed before his last injury here. And Reed was a smart player who didn't make boneheaded plays as well. I don't think Reed, at least before his last injury, was as terrible as you are saying, but he really didn't bring anything positive to the table, either...

Reed, who shot 30% and only once scored more than 7 in a game.

Uh huh.

Totally not a troll.