Suns @ Hawks Wednesday game thread 5-5-2021

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Long-time Suns fans: Would you put the 2020-21 Suns in the franchise's top 10 all time incarnations? I don't think I would. This team just isn't that good. I'm excited about the regular season record, but if they're competitive in the second round of the playoffs, I'll be surprised. (I do think they'll get there, at least.)

Yeah yeah, only one game. But look carefully at the roster and compare them to the great Suns teams of old. Obviously Paul and Booker are a great start, and then Bridges and Ayton on their good days. After that, it drops off pretty fast. Are the #5-#9 guys on this roster as good as those of the late 80's Suns, or of the Nash era? Not even close.

I think they are a different type of “good.” They’re scrappiest defenders and they play their roles well. On a player by player basis it’s probably not as good as those teams. But as a sum of parts they may be. You don’t luck into being 1 game out of the best record in the nba. There’s too many other good teams.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Only go to get tougher. As I mentioned on another thread they have 6 games to play in less than 2 weeks so they will be going into the playoffs after a rough stretch against 6 teams all playing for playoff positioning so they aren't going to be any gimme games.

Luckily they get a bit of breather while the play-in games happen.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

We lost this game during the two prior games. This is too good of a hawks team to come in tired and we let two subpar teams tax our vets.

our bench was putrid tonight. And cam Johnson is just completely MIA. You can see it when he shoots. He’s aiming and not shooting. Teams are just going to leave him unguarded eventually at this rate.

craig is really best suited to an energy guy off the bench. Too many minutes exposes his warts.

as some predicted, capella made Ayton his b$#&h.

weird that saric didn’t play earlier, but truth is, he and frank will struggle against the big athletes the hawks roll out there.

bummer to be a game behind jazz. But let this one go and hopefully rebound against the knicks.

 

[Chaplin]

Long-time Suns fans: Would you put the 2020-21 Suns in the franchise's top 10 all time incarnations? I don't think I would. This team just isn't that good. I'm excited about the regular season record, but if they're competitive in the second round of the playoffs, I'll be surprised. (I do think they'll get there, at least.)

Yeah yeah, only one game. But look carefully at the roster and compare them to the great Suns teams of old. Obviously Paul and Booker are a great start, and then Bridges and Ayton on their good days. After that, it drops off pretty fast. Are the #5-#9 guys on this roster as good as those of the late 80's Suns, or of the Nash era? Not even close.

How can you even begin to think about that without a single playoff game on their resume? Of course you can’t say they are amongst the best teams.

They are a good regular season team this year, which is about on par for a team that up until 5 years ago was one of the winningest teams in NBA history without a title.

 

[Carolinacacti]

They really need to put Cam J. down for a few games to fix his head. Hard with Crowder out but play Stix, hell with the number one slot.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Long-time Suns fans: Would you put the 2020-21 Suns in the franchise's top 10 all time incarnations? I don't think I would. This team just isn't that good. I'm excited about the regular season record, but if they're competitive in the second round of the playoffs, I'll be surprised. (I do think they'll get there, at least.)

Yeah yeah, only one game. But look carefully at the roster and compare them to the great Suns teams of old. Obviously Paul and Booker are a great start, and then Bridges and Ayton on their good days. After that, it drops off pretty fast. Are the #5-#9 guys on this roster as good as those of the late 80's Suns, or of the Nash era? Not even close.

At this point in time, guys like Ayton, Bridges and Cam Johnson are another year or two away from being able to be fully judged.
Paul is of course an instant hall of famer...
Booker is very good, but I don’t believe he can be considered “great.” He is incredibly frustrating to me. He is certainly a prolific scorer, but definitely not from beyond the arc. He remains a careless turn-over machine. He continues to make more dumb plays than he should at this stage of his career. And he is definitely not a reliable closer. Yet, he can fill it up night in and night out at an incredibly high level.
I don’t particularly enjoy his anger he plays with. He seems to have a massive chip on his shoulder right from the opening tip-off!

Anyway... as I’ve said before, I would not at all be surprised to see this team not make it through the first round of the playoffs... In fact, I’d be more surprised if they did make it past the first round. Hard to believe I’m saying that about a team with the second best record in the NBA!

Oh, I also think Monty and James Jones could be one of the best Head Coach/ GM combos this franchise has ever seen. Not #1 of course, but could be top 3.

 

[Mainstreet]

yeah, they brought this loss on themselves after having to overextend on two truly pathetic teams they should have crushed.

One could see the loss coming. The Suns were waving the red flag.

This closing season schedule is brutal. They don't get any rest and the remaining opponents are all playoff teams or potential playoff teams.

 

[Hoop Head]

They really need to put Cam J. down for a few games to fix his head. Hard with Crowder out but play Stix, hell with the number one slot.

There's nothing wrong with his head. His shot is off and that sucks but he's playing well other than that. Sitting him because he's in a slump is not a good way to handle it. I guarantee he's giving us more than Stix would, even while slumping.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

They really need to put Cam J. down for a few games to fix his head. Hard with Crowder out but play Stix, hell with the number one slot.

Stix just further evidenced the fact that he’s not ready for the nba last night. He was atrocious.

 

[Mainstreet]

There's nothing wrong with his head. His shot is off and that sucks but he's playing well other than that. Sitting him because he's in a slump is not a good way to handle it. I guarantee he's giving us more than Stix would, even while slumping.

Cam Johnson is playing defense. Stix is a long way from being an NBA player.

 

[Hoop Head]

Some of the reactions to bad games have been a bit ridiculous. Things aren't the same as they've been the last 9-10 years. A loss is just a loss and not an indication of bigger issues that require drastic changes. No one needs to be benched and our game plan shouldn't change much, if at all, from what its been.

 

[mjb21aztd]

Ugh that blowout making hard to

They really need to put Cam J. down for a few games to fix his head. Hard with Crowder out but play Stix, hell with the number one slot.

I agree let him get his mind right what's it is bothering him out of system before real showdown begins. ..

Go suns!!!

 

[Mainstreet]

One tweak last night is that Monty brought Saric in the game after it was already over. I'm not sure if this means anything but I thought it was a curious move. The Suns could have used his size earlier in the game.

 

[Ronin]

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[taz02]

Loss to the Hawks is not a big deal, it happens.

Individually, they are not as good as the Nash or Barkley teams, but they are the best defensive suns team I can remember. I feel like their defense and style of play is more suited for the playoffs than the Nash era teams.

I believe their current record is inflated considerably due to opponent injuries but I really don't know what to expect in the playoffs. They should get out of the first round since our first round opponent should be beat up after 2 play in games. If they meet a healthy second round opponent they will be in trouble.

Anyway...... with veteran leadership, a couple star players and some luck anything is possible. can't wait to see how it turns out.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

One tweak last night is that Monty brought Saric in the game after it was already over. I'm not sure if this means anything but I thought it was a curious move. The Suns could have used his size earlier in the game.

I wondered if it was the first sign of load management. With saric having been out with ankle injuries for such long stretches and reinjuring it, I wonder if monty was keeping him safe on a back-to-back recognizing the stretch coming up.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Loss to the Hawks is not a big deal, it happens.

Individually, they are not as good as the Nash or Barkley teams, but they are the best defensive suns team I can remember. I feel like their defense and style of play is more suited for the playoffs than the Nash era teams.

I believe their current record is inflated considerably due to opponent injuries but I really don't know what to expect in the playoffs. They should get out of the first round since our first round opponent should be beat up after 2 play in games. If they meet a healthy second round opponent they will be in trouble.

Anyway...... with veteran leadership, a couple star players and some luck anything is possible. can't wait to see how it turns out.

With all the opposing players that have missed games against us I wonder this too. But then I recall that these players are often out against other teams too. So I wonder how our luck compares to other teams. If it’s similar, we’re all essentially in the same boat record-wise. That said, as much as every win counts (you can only play who is suited up against you), it’s entirely possible some/many wins are fools gold. It will become readily apparent what the case was in the playoffs imo.

 

[JCSunsfan]

With all the opposing players that have missed games against us I wonder this too. But then I recall that these players are often out against other teams too. So I wonder how our luck compares to other teams. If it’s similar, we’re all essentially in the same boat record-wise. That said, as much as every win counts (you can only play who is suited up against you), it’s entirely possible some/many wins are fools gold. It will become readily apparent what the case was in the playoffs imo.

This is a deep team so it has been able to manage lost games better than most AND has had less key player lost games than most. There is the chance that the same pattern will continue in the playoffs.

That all said, I would rather have depth than not. I would rather my team over-achieve than under-achieve. Like you all said. It will be interesting to see what happens.

 

[Mainstreet]

I wondered if it was the first sign of load management. With saric having been out with ankle injuries for such long stretches and reinjuring it, I wonder if monty was keeping him safe on a back-to-back recognizing the stretch coming up.

This is what I initially thought before Monty brought Saric in the game... that he was giving him a game off.

However, if the Suns were doing load management, why bring Saric in the game at all because the game was already decided except for the final score.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

This is what I initially thought before Monty brought Saric in the game... that he was giving him a game off.

However, if the Suns were doing load management, why bring Saric in the game at all because the game was already decided except for the final score.

It was limited minutes and everyone else had already played would’ve been my guess.

 

[Suns_fan69]

With all the opposing players that have missed games against us I wonder this too. But then I recall that these players are often out against other teams too. So I wonder how our luck compares to other teams. If it’s similar, we’re all essentially in the same boat record-wise. That said, as much as every win counts (you can only play who is suited up against you), it’s entirely possible some/many wins are fools gold. It will become readily apparent what the case was in the playoffs imo.

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We have been one of the healthier teams overall.

 

[Sunburn]

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We have been one of the healthier teams overall.

Brooklyn is terrifying. Atlanta is surprisingly good.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Brooklyn is terrifying. Atlanta is surprisingly good.

Yeah and for a few months, Atlanta was surprisingly not that good. Thanks to injuries and perhaps poor coaching, they really struggled but before the season a lot of people would have put them well above us. That's an impressive roster they put together in short order and if healthy, they are a top 4 team in the East IMO.