Suns @ Cavaliers Wednesday game thread 1-4- 2023

[82CardsGrad]

I’ve given Bridges a lot of crap but this is reaching a truly bizarre place. Not stepping up is one thing. Completely melting down when more is expected of you is another.

Seriously… If you were to just look at his stat line, excluding his mins, you would think he’s producing as an average 6th or 7th man!

 

[82CardsGrad]

Thanks for thinking about me. I just got home. My wife has been in the hospital for awhile. Hopefully things are looking up.

Great to see Chris Paul hit that three pointer at the halftime buzzer.

Sorry to hear about your wife buddy… Really hope she gets better soon!

 

[82CardsGrad]

Bridges and Shamet 6 of 25.

Shamet is not a starter and he’s paid as such. He has had a few moments, but he is what he is.
Bridges on the other hand… Geeeez… he’s a grossly overpaid 6th man at best!

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Thanks for thinking about me. I just got home. My wife has been in the hospital for awhile. Hopefully things are looking up.

Great to see Chris Paul hit that three pointer at the halftime buzzer.

Thoughts are with y’all buddy

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

I’ve given Bridges a lot of crap but this is reaching a truly bizarre place. Not stepping up is one thing. Completely melting down when more is expected of you is another.

He is hands down the most mentally soft player I can ever recall on the suns.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Bridges 3/15. Jesus. He’s become downright atrocious on offense. Dude can’t handle pressure to save his life.

And so monty draws up the game tying attempt for . . . Bridges. On a night when he shoots 3/15. During a streak where bridges is shooting like he’s never seen a basketball before. Fire monty.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

I just can’t unload on bridges enough. He just sucks now. The notion that he could be a 20 point/game scorer has now been pretty much proven beyond a reasonable doubt to be utterly ludicrous.

Nice job by Ayton tonight but they needed to find a way to get him the ball more. Even if he did get swatted by love and levert.

Paul looked pretty good, but far from dominant Paul.

Was okogie injured? Expected to see him on Mitchell.

This team just doesn’t have enough players right now.

And did I mention that bridges is awful? I can’t recall any player dropping off the face of the earth at the rate he has absent a serious injury.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Not to beat a dead horse, but man… that last shot Bridges took was downright disturbing from a basketball perspective.

He has 3 inches on Mitchell who I believe is guarding him. He also has a step on him when he gets the inbounds pass. And instead of taking another dribble and attacking the rim (which I wouldn’t expect at all) or just going straight up and getting off a good shot, he fades and throws up a flailing out of control shot contorting his body almost immediately when he gets the ball.

That is a guy who wanted nothing to do with the shot, even though the play set him up to take a good one. And he’s NEVER been the guy in the pros who wants that shot which is BIZARRE because I remember him being a much cooler customer in college in the clutch.

 

[Phrazbit]

Not to beat a dead horse, but man… that last shot Bridges took was downright disturbing from a basketball perspective.

He has 3 inches on Mitchell who I believe is guarding him. He also has a step on him when he gets the inbounds pass. And instead of taking another dribble and attacking the rim (which I wouldn’t expect at all) or just going straight up and getting off a good shot, he fades and throws up a flailing out of control shot contorting his body almost immediately when he gets the ball.

That is a guy who wanted nothing to do with the shot, even though the play set him up to take a good one. And he’s NEVER been the guy in the pros who wants that shot which is BIZARRE because I remember him being a much cooler customer in college in the clutch.

He was a cool customer here, especially during the 2021 playoffs.

I am beginning to subscribe to the theory that Chris Paul just wears on people. The guy is so high strung that he makes everyone around him jittery.

Between the Crowder situation, the "laid back" personalities, like Ayton and Bridges, getting stressed out, a players coach like Monty seemingly being zoned out by the team... Maybe I am inventing an excuse (outside of the myriad of injuries) but Paul has been through similar situations with the Clippers and Rockets.

Paul scored his last points with 8 minutes left... with Booker out, we are not going to beat many teams with our back court going silent with 8 minutes to go in the fourth.

At least Payne is back...

Ohh...

Wait...

 

[boisesuns]

The window is closed. There’s been something up with his team since last years collapse. Once we get guys back it’s possible we’re headed to the play in games if we’re not careful, and it will be even more pressure for those games.

were looking more like the nets of last year.

since we’re trying to get a culture change with the team ownership, why don’t we do that with the team itself?

it’s hard to see his after so many years of us being terrible. If there’s not at least some changes this year will have a worse result than last.

 

[95pro]

And Okogie doesn't play, another "why" concerning Monty.

A whopping 10/7 for Mikal in 36 minutes.

 

[Chaplin]

Shamet is not a starter and he’s paid as such. He has had a few moments, but he is what he is.
Bridges on the other hand… Geeeez… he’s a grossly overpaid 6th man at best!

He's overpaid, but Shamet isn't getting paid like a starter. LOL

 

[82CardsGrad]

He's overpaid, but Shamet isn't getting paid like a starter. LOL

That's what I said... or meant to say.

 

[Chaplin]

That's what I said... or meant to say.

Funny enough, Jae Crowder wasn't paid like a starter either. And that's partly why we're in the mess we're in with him.

 

[AzStevenCal]

He was a cool customer here, especially during the 2021 playoffs.

I am beginning to subscribe to the theory that Chris Paul just wears on people. The guy is so high strung that he makes everyone around him jittery.

Between the Crowder situation, the "laid back" personalities, like Ayton and Bridges, getting stressed out, a players coach like Monty seemingly being zoned out by the team... Maybe I am inventing an excuse (outside of the myriad of injuries) but Paul has been through similar situations with the Clippers and Rockets.

Paul scored his last points with 8 minutes left... with Booker out, we are not going to beat many teams with our back court going silent with 8 minutes to go in the fourth.

At least Payne is back...

Ohh...

Wait...

I don't know when his defense went south but Mikal has been a different player offensively since roughly the end of November. I just don't see how this could be CP3 related.

My money is on injuries, probably including the knee problem he experienced right around that time. That one would explain the drop on defense but I'm not sure that it explains his shooting other than it's probably why he's taking a lot more 3's now. But his efficiency has cratered from everywhere.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

He was a cool customer here, especially during the 2021 playoffs.

I am beginning to subscribe to the theory that Chris Paul just wears on people. The guy is so high strung that he makes everyone around him jittery.

Between the Crowder situation, the "laid back" personalities, like Ayton and Bridges, getting stressed out, a players coach like Monty seemingly being zoned out by the team... Maybe I am inventing an excuse (outside of the myriad of injuries) but Paul has been through similar situations with the Clippers and Rockets.

Paul scored his last points with 8 minutes left... with Booker out, we are not going to beat many teams with our back court going silent with 8 minutes to go in the fourth.

At least Payne is back...

Ohh...

Wait...

I can’t buy that excuse. Paul may eventually become irritating on a team but he doesn’t cause any player to become a worse offensive player and that’s what’s happened with bridges.

I think you have to go Occam’s razor here. What’s most obvious? Bridges has suboptimal handles, isn’t an explosive athlete, and shoes away from contact. As a result he struggles to create his own shot. He is likely keenly aware of how many of his drives to the basket get swatted. He has no confidence when he puts the ball on the floor. With more confident scorers out he knows he has to lift his scoring. So THAT places stress on him. Stress he very apparently cannot handle.

I take back my “bridges sucks” comment because he doesn’t “suck.” He’s just incapable of handling a bigger load or clutch shooting responsibilities when called upon for either. That doesn’t make him “suck” it just means he’ll always be a role player and any thought of him being untouchable should be discarded.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

And Okogie doesn't play, another "why" concerning Monty.

A whopping 10/7 for Mikal in 36 minutes.

The okogie thing, with a barrel king Mitchell on the other side, makes zero sense. I am fully out in monty. He did a fantastic job with a young team that needed to integrate Paul. But the high level chess match is beyond him.

 

[Bufalay]

Bridges 3/15. Jesus. He’s become downright atrocious on offense. Dude can’t handle pressure to save his life.

I'm pretty sure he's injured. I agree that he might be a choker, but his production has tanked since he got hurt last month or whatever.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I'm pretty sure he's injured. I agree that he might be a choker, but his production has tanked since he got hurt last month or whatever.

Yeah and I keep saying this, it's important to note that his decline has occurred on defense too. I don't know how to document what's happened to his defense but the change on offense is easily measured. Through November 28th, Mikal was shooting 46% from 3 point range and 53% from everywhere else. Since then he's shot 36% from distance and 39% from 2 point range.

 

[Chaplin]

I thought defensively Bridges was pretty good last night. The problem is that he is not a threat on offense -- why he took the last shot last night was puzzling.

 

[Cheesebeef]

He was a cool customer here, especially during the 2021 playoffs.

I am beginning to subscribe to the theory that Chris Paul just wears on people. The guy is so high strung that he makes everyone around him jittery.

Between the Crowder situation, the "laid back" personalities, like Ayton and Bridges, getting stressed out, a players coach like Monty seemingly being zoned out by the team... Maybe I am inventing an excuse (outside of the myriad of injuries) but Paul has been through similar situations with the Clippers and Rockets.

Paul scored his last points with 8 minutes left... with Booker out, we are not going to beat many teams with our back court going silent with 8 minutes to go in the fourth.

At least Payne is back...

Ohh...

Wait...

He absolutely wasn’t a cool customer when he had one great game in the finals and then absolutely disappeared on offense and got abused by either Middleton or Holiday, depending on who he was trying to guard.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Yeah and I keep saying this, it's important to note that his decline has occurred on defense too. I don't know how to document what's happened to his defense but the change on offense is easily measured. Through November 28th, Mikal was shooting 46% from 3 point range and 53% from everywhere else. Since then he's shot 36% from distance and 39% from 2 point range.

Or maybe it’s because he’s not getting open looks anymore with our only **** creator out.

I swear, you guys have used phantom injury excuse every time Mikal fails to step up and then somehow when he plays well for a ten game stretch, your theories of injuries magically disappear just like his game does at crunch time.

The excuses being made for Bridges at this point are starting to rival those of the vocal Ayton fan club and just wreak of people pathologically unable to admit they’re wrong about a very silly stance that Bridges has the potential to be a legit scorer/creator, while being untouchable in trades for HOFers or All-NBA level players.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Problem with Bridges is come playoff time we have seen him repeatedly torched by Luka, Ingram, Middleton, PG13, etc and in a slower playoff game atmosphere he doesn’t get the easy transition buckets that he does in regular season. He’s a nice player for sure but sticks out not having a true #2 guy.

 

[Bufalay]

Or maybe it’s because he’s not getting open looks anymore with our only **** creator out.

I swear, you guys have used phantom injury excuse every time Mikal fails to step up and then somehow when he plays well for a ten game stretch, your theories of injuries magically disappear just like his game does at crunch time.

The excuses being made for Bridges at this point are starting to rival those of the vocal Ayton fan club and just wreak of people pathologically unable to admit they’re wrong about a very silly stance that Bridges has the potential to be a legit scorer/creator, while being untouchable in trades for HOFers or All-NBA level players.

He clearly got hurt earlier in the season and he clearly cares about his games played streak. This is a plausible explanation for his performance falling off a cliff.

 

[Bufalay]

Yeah and I keep saying this, it's important to note that his decline has occurred on defense too. I don't know how to document what's happened to his defense but the change on offense is easily measured. Through November 28th, Mikal was shooting 46% from 3 point range and 53% from everywhere else. Since then he's shot 36% from distance and 39% from 2 point range.

I can't find the numbers for his post injury defensive rating (DBPM), but his defensive rating for the last four seasons:

2019: 1.5
2020: 0.9
2021: 1.1
2022: 0.4

Mikal Bridges Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft Status and more | Basketball-Reference.com

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