Suns @ Grizzlies Monday game thread 1-18-21

[Mainstreet]

Our defense has nose dived. Remember when we were the best defensive team in basketball? Long gone

I get it if your going to play at a super slow pace you better be lock down and really efficient on offense and we are neither

Booker and Paul isn’t working. So Paul pretty much let’s the ball roll picks it up walks over half court and passes it to Booker every time. Paul isn’t really driving, breaking down a defense, setting guys up he’s just kinda out there a lot of the time

This is the biggest takeaway from my perspective. The Suns defense which was so effective in the bubble is missing. Suns used to be able to win games with defense which of course sparked the offense.

 

[Mainstreet]

Or the whole game (various roles) he is being forced to play is impacting his shooting. That sums up what I just posted.

CP3 bringing up the ball, then tossing it to Book (as Finito pointed out), makes Devin the de-facto distributor or forced
to go 1-on-1 to score, which adds to his being double-teamed and turnovers.

Devin is the victim of a team which has never been a serious championship contender.

I remember last season when Devin Booker mostly took 2-point shots get get his 3-point shot going. He may need to do this again this season.

Dieng's defense against Booker last night didn't help one bit when Booker tried to take it to the basket.

 

[Cheesebeef]

This is the biggest takeaway from my perspective. The Suns defense which was so effective in the bubble is missing. Suns used to be able to win games with defense which of course sparked the offense.

the biggest problem with their defense is that they aren't big... nor are they really athletic. that poses MASSIVE problems long term on defense. you can't be small and slow...ish. Then, on offense, you can't be a team that heavily relies on the 3 like we do... and only have two good 3 point shooters (Cam/Bridges) who consistently get big minutes and have the rest be average at best.

 

[Mainstreet]

the biggest problem with their defense is that they aren't big... nor are they really athletic. that poses MASSIVE problems long term on defense. you can't be small and slow...ish. Then, on offense, you can't be a team that heavily relies on the 3 like we do... and only have two good 3 point shooters (Cam/Bridges) who consistently get big minutes and have the rest be average at best.

A lot of wins came off the bench in the bubble with Payton and Carter applying the pressure at guard and Saric spreading the court with his shooting and passing. Over more than 8 games it's easier to figure out.

We agree aside from a few players the Suns are not very athletic nor a consistent 3-point shooting team. Opponents have learned to soften the Suns inside and shoot open 3s over the top especially without a strong defensive effort.

Booker has his own issues but I think he will snap out of it.

What the Suns have failed to address in the off season is a power forward with length (hoping Jalen Smith develops) to give them another threat when the 3s aren't falling. Too much falls on Ayton to be the Suns only threat in the paint. If he doesn't play well the Suns are in trouble.

 

[95pro]

Booker and CP3 just need to shoot that midrange instead of trying to get others going by forcing bad passes. The overdribbling while passing on a wide open midrange shot does two things: Forces bad passes, takes CP3/Book out of shooting/scoring rythym. Once the midrange starts going, the defense will collapse, then work the shooters and Ayton into it. We seem to want to get the outside working first.

Also Monty needs to get that 2nd unit out there all together, more platoon style, they seem to play better as a unit rather than staggering substitutions. The substitution pattern lately has been more reactive rather than having a solid game plan for the entire game.

 

[Finito]

Forget the bubble I’m talking about this season the first 7 games of this year we were amazing

and now we look like a lottery team

HOW SWAY HOW

 

[Muggz]

Booker and CP3 just need to shoot that midrange instead of trying to get others going by forcing bad passes. The overdribbling while passing on a wide open midrange shot does two things: Forces bad passes, takes CP3/Book out of shooting/scoring rythym. Once the midrange starts going, the defense will collapse, then work the shooters and Ayton into it. We seem to want to get the outside working first.

Also Monty needs to get that 2nd unit out there all together, more platoon style, they seem to play better as a unit rather than staggering substitutions. The substitution pattern lately has been more reactive rather than having a solid game plan for the entire game.

The second team plays well together because they play like they did last year at the same pace Montes .5 not CP3s 5.0.

I wonder if Booker would play better with Cam Payne running things? Any stats on that (wouldn't even know where to look). Too small of a sample size i suppose.

 

[Suns_fan69]

The second team plays well together because they play like they did last year at the same pace Montes .5 not CP3s 5.0.

I wonder if Booker would play better with Cam Payne running things? Any stats on that (wouldn't even know where to look). Too small of a sample size i suppose.

Bball ref has lots of lineup stats you can look at: https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/PHO/2021/lineups/

Cam Payne does well, 3 of the top 4 2-man lineups feature Cam Payne in it. The worst 2-man combo is Booker/Ayton. But, take it all with the grain of salt when there's only 12 games in (and Payne has missed a couple losses)