Suns at Rockets Game Thread 3/14

[Chaplin]

Moral victories aren't worth crap at this point.

Are you one of the pro-tankers? I'd think you'd like moral victories if we lose in the end.

 

[Chaplin]

Yea Brooks did so well for the Suns -23 in the +/-. He is worth the 1st round draft pick and Dragic. If anyone needs to be fired on this team it is the person that thought that Brooks was worth anything more then pocket lint.

You're kidding, right? The guy has barely practiced with the team and now he has to run it from the start. And he's playing in the arena he started in and was playing in regularly just a couple weeks ago. Give the kid a break.

 

[Covert Rain]

The last couple games just highlights how bad the Suns need a 2nd star on this team. Nash is the closest thing we have to a star and it's not even close. Look at all the teams that are title contenders. They have 2 stars on those teams.

Just the mere thought of the Suns having a shot in hell against any real contender in the playoffs is so unrealistic it hurts.

 

[AzStevenCal]

The last couple games just highlights how bad the Suns need a 2nd star on this team. Nash is the closest thing we have to a star and it's not even close. Look at all the teams that are title contenders. They have 2 stars on those teams.

Just the mere thought of the Suns having a shot in hell against any real contender in the playoffs is so unrealistic it hurts.

Actually, I think those three words tell it all.

We definitely need another star and considering Steve's age and injuries we might as well start admitting we need 2 more stars. We have a lot of good complementary pieces but the NBA is a game for stars and superstars. We have none and have to take solace in the fact that our guys would be all stars in the NBDL.

Steve

 

[Mainstreet]

Actually, I think those three words tell it all.

We definitely need another star and considering Steve's age and injuries we might as well start admitting we need 2 more stars. We have a lot of good complementary pieces but the NBA is a game for stars and superstars. We have none and have to take solace in the fact that our guys would be all stars in the NBDL.

Steve

From the star aspect, the future looks bleak. The Suns may have to go the Atlanta route e.g., Joe Johnson, and overpay for a perceived star.

 

[Superbone]

From the star aspect, the future looks bleak. The Suns may have to go the Atlanta route e.g., Joe Johnson, and overpay for a perceived star.

They had that opportunity but they let him go.

Edit: I'm talking about Amare, not JJ btw.

 

[Covert Rain]

They had that opportunity but they let him go.

Edit: I'm talking about Amare, not JJ btw.

I was thinking about this the other day. I was wondering myself how good a team of Nash, Amare and Gortat in the starting lineup would be. I would have loved to have seen it.

 

[Mainstreet]

They had that opportunity but they let him go.

Edit: I'm talking about Amare, not JJ btw.

Joe Johnson could have been extended way back when for 55M if Sarver had the smarts. Also Sarver could have signed Amare to the maximum and then traded him before the trading deadline getting value in return. No guts, no glory.

 

[devilalum]

Joe Johnson could have been extended way back when for 55M if Sarver had the smarts. Also Sarver could have signed Amare to the maximum and then traded him before the trading deadline getting value in return. No guts, no glory.

Even if Sarver had signed Johnson for $55 million back then he would have had to sign him again last summer. The Hawks gave him something like $125 million. I'm guessing Sarver wouldn't have gone that high.

 

[Mainstreet]

Even if Sarver had signed Johnson for $55 million back then he would have had to sign him again last summer. The Hawks gave him something like $125 million. I'm guessing Sarver wouldn't have gone that high.

I agree Sarver would not pay JJ 125M but hopefully JJ would have helped the Suns win a championship before then.

 

[jagu]

Joe Johnson is overrated.

 

[BC867]

Joe Johnson is overrated.

Yeah, but not more so than the 2011 version of Vince Carter.

P.S.: Is there any less challenge on the court than asking a legitimate Shooting Guard to score around 20 every game?

 

[chickenhead]

There have been so many personnel missteps and corrections that there's almost no point in looking back at them anymore. I think you just sum it up with "Sarver" and move on.

But really, the thing is to build the starting 5, and when that is accomplished your 6th man and bench seem to materialize--if only for a advantageous change in pace. I realize this is a general statement but the Suns have managed to make it really specific with too many starters and bench players that are indistinguishable: or with players langushing on the bench because a double layer of wing players is in front of them.

Playoff hopes are fading right now, and who knows, if they go into the lottery maybe lightning strikes the way it never seems to in Phoenix. We have to many redundant contracts but still some moveable pieces...

 

[mojorizen7]

Joe Johnson is overrated.

I hear alot of that on this board. Why is that? Is it because of his inflated contract? Or is it because he chose to leave PHX to be the man 7 freakin years ago? LOL

I think JJ is an excellent basketball player. His "prime" has past him by at this point but still....he's the best 2guard the Suns have had in a long long time IMO(if he had stayed in PHX).

 

[sunsfan88]

I like Joe Johsnon too. I don't understand why so many hate him. He never talked **** about us once he left.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I hear alot of that on this board. Why is that? Is it because of his inflated contract? Or is it because he chose to leave PHX to be the man 7 freakin years ago? LOL

I think JJ is an excellent basketball player. His "prime" has past him by at this point but still....he's the best 2guard the Suns have had in a long long time IMO(if he had stayed in PHX).

I agree with everything you've said here but I too consider Johnson to have been overrated. He's a very good player (at times, excellent) but he's often put up there as one of the top 5/top 10 guys and I don't think he makes that cut, therefore overrated. He disappears too often and he has talked as if he wants the mantle of leadership and yet he pretty much refuses to lead (blaming and leading aren't the same thing).

I wish we had never lost him but this franchise would be in even worse shape than it already is if we had paid him like Atlanta has paid him.

Steve

 

[BC867]

I agree with everything you've said here but I too consider Johnson to have been overrated. He's a very good player (at times, excellent) but he's often put up there as one of the top 5/top 10 guys and I don't think he makes that cut, therefore overrated

As I posted earlier (I don't remember which thread), a Shooting Guard scoring around 20 every night is probably the easiest assignment on the court. He doesn't have to be one of the top 5/top 10.

At age 29 - 6'7" - 240 lbs. and stats so far this season of 18.8 PPG; 5.0 APG; 4.20 RPG, Joe Johnson sounds pretty good. I would like to see him back in a Suns uniform . . . just as we saw future 2-time MVP Steve Nash back in a Suns uniform.

 

[jagu]

I agree with everything you've said here but I too consider Johnson to have been overrated. He's a very good player (at times, excellent) but he's often put up there as one of the top 5/top 10 guys and I don't think he makes that cut, therefore overrated. He disappears too often and he has talked as if he wants the mantle of leadership and yet he pretty much refuses to lead (blaming and leading aren't the same thing).

I wish we had never lost him but this franchise would be in even worse shape than it already is if we had paid him like Atlanta has paid him.

Steve

This. He's a good player but I don't consider him a championship player and definitely not on this current Suns team.