Suns @ Heat Wednesday game thread 3-9-2022

[zett]

As stoked as I am to see us not only steady the ship, but cruise full steam ahead, this stretch has also given me hope for the post-CP3 future that we could have a ten year run of success ahead of us. That might not mean title contention every year, but this nucleus and coaching staff have staying power if Sarver ponies up the $$$ to let them stay together.

if Sarver is around that long!

 

[elindholm]

It probably has something to do with the game being flexed.

From New Jersey?

 

[GatorAZ]

Man... Jalen now averaging 13/8 on 56% shooting and 41.9% from 3 on 4 attempts per game.

Halliburton at 19/9/5 on 48/42.

Bummer we could had one of those guys and have neither. Both coulda been nice pieces in the present and future.

Hali on this squad wouldn’t be fair. The Bball Gods knew it and intervened.

 

[Phrazbit]

This is wrong, maybe he meant in Miami but the Suns beat them by 20 last year and even if he means over 20 point wins the Suns throttled them at least once with the Nash led teams where they were up by ~40 at half and won by nearly ~30.

Yeah, that stat surprised me, as a kid in the early 90s I worshiped the Suns and I have this vague memory of the Suns having a gaudy record against the Heat up until the middle part of the decade.

... Aaaaand I just looked it up, the Suns won their first 16 games in a row against the Heat, with a ton of them by over 20.

 

[Phrazbit]

From New Jersey?

Flex probably watched it on a channel that he can't wait to tell us about but can't quite yet, we may have heard about it... we might not have!

 

[JCSunsfan]

Hali on this squad wouldn’t be fair. The Bball Gods knew it and intervened.

And there would be no way to keep that bunch together financially. I am ok with being the best team in the NBA as a consolation prize.

 

[Ronin]

I am ok with being the best team in the NBA as a consolation prize.

This is where I am.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

As stoked as I am to see us not only steady the ship, but cruise full steam ahead, this stretch has also given me hope for the post-CP3 future that we could have a ten year run of success ahead of us. That might not mean title contention every year, but this nucleus and coaching staff have staying power if Sarver ponies up the $$$ to let them stay together.

This. Also Jones has shown a penchant for finding guys that can contribute on the cheap in free agency and in the draft. We should be able to keep a good stable of talent around the core.

 

[Mainstreet]

Man... Jalen now averaging 13/8 on 56% shooting and 41.9% from 3 on 4 attempts per game.

Halliburton at 19/9/5 on 48/42.

Bummer we could had one of those guys and have neither. Both coulda been nice pieces in the present and future.

Yeah. Suns would only need one piece, either point guard of the future or power forward of the future to not miss a beat.

 

[Mainstreet]

This may have been my favorite win of the year. We started off horribly. So many unforced turnovers and terrible defense on the 3 ball and in transition. But we battled back and fought hard to actually be up a deuce at half. Then we just workmanlike put them outta their misery in the second half.

Ayton was fantastic. Everyone hit the boards, crushing the heat there. That’s where we will have a big advantage on them every time we play them. Bridges and book and Ayton and mcgee with big rebound #s. Nice to see return of mcgee and book just play a supremely confident game within himself.

Barring Paul setback or other unlucky health this team is taking it all this year.

Suns embraced their defense last night and kept ratcheting it up until the Heat crumbled under the pressure. Miami started missing layups and easy shots while the Suns cleaned the boards.

No backing down. Suns got in their laps on defense and stayed there. It was a statement win for sure.

Also the Suns showed they can beat this style of play which we are sure to see in the playoffs.

 

[Mainstreet]

I could read this quote by Monty over and over again. Also the article again confirms Devin Booker was asymptomatic.


By ESPN News Services:


"I told the guys it was one of the best defensive performances I've ever seen," Suns coach Monty Williams said. "I've been around for a little bit."

Booker, returning from a four-game absence for virus-related issues -- he said he was asymptomatic and didn't have any problems -- flirted with a triple-double, finishing with nine assists and eight rebounds.

Suns, behind 'statement' win, first into playoffs

Devin Booker scored 23 points in his return as the Suns shook off a slow start to beat the Heat 111-90, becoming the first team this season to clinch a postseason berth.

www.espn.com

 

[JCSunsfan]

I could read this quote by Monty over and over again. Also the article again confirms Devin Booker was asymptomatic.


By ESPN News Services:


"I told the guys it was one of the best defensive performances I've ever seen," Suns coach Monty Williams said. "I've been around for a little bit."

Booker, returning from a four-game absence for virus-related issues -- he said he was asymptomatic and didn't have any problems -- flirted with a triple-double, finishing with nine assists and eight rebounds.

Suns, behind 'statement' win, first into playoffs

Devin Booker scored 23 points in his return as the Suns shook off a slow start to beat the Heat 111-90, becoming the first team this season to clinch a postseason berth.

www.espn.com

Booker rested and fresh.

 

[Cheesebeef]

And there would be no way to keep that bunch together financially. I am ok with being the best team in the NBA as a consolation prize.

It’s not really a “consolation prize” considering neither of those guys would have kept us from being exactly where we are right now, if not better.

And players playing well on rookie deals is what makes team success sustainable long term since you have their rights for at least four years. And then if they do end up looking really good, you can flip them for more picks to try and sustain that success.

 

[JCSunsfan]

It’s not really a “consolation prize” considering neither of those guys would have kept us from being exactly where we are right now, if not better.

And players playing well on rookie deals is what makes team success sustainable long term since you have their rights for at least four years. And then if they do end up looking really good, you can flip them for more picks to try and sustain

If we had kept Stix, he would be buried on the end of the bench now and nearly forgotten.

If we drafted Haliburton, we would not have had Stix. Would we have still signed CP3? Uhhhh. Probably. Not sure.

We, of course, would not have traded for Holiday if we had Haliburton. So, we have Torrey Craig and Aaron Holiday instead of either Stix or Haliburton. At this point in time, I would rather have Craig and Holiday over Stix. Haliburton would be better of course, but Craig and Holiday are working well with the chemistry. Not sure how Haliburton would work. Probably well, but don't know. What I do know is how good this team is as presently constructed. Hence the term "consolation prize."

My def of a consolation prize. Not the absolute top outcome, but still a nice result.

 

[Cheesebeef]

If we had kept Stix, he would be buried on the end of the bench now and nearly forgotten.

If we drafted Haliburton, we would not have had Stix. Would we have still signed CP3? Uhhhh. Probably. Not sure.

We, of course, would not have traded for Holiday if we had Haliburton. So, we have Torrey Craig and Aaron Holiday instead of either Stix or Haliburton. At this point in time, I would rather have Craig and Holiday over Stix. Haliburton would be better of course, but Craig and Holiday are working well with the chemistry. Not sure how Haliburton would work. Probably well, but don't know. What I do know is how good this team is as presently constructed. Hence the term "consolation prize."

My def of a consolation prize. Not the absolute top outcome, but still a nice result.

Drafting Halliburton wouldn’t have kept us from trading for CP3. Come on. Drafting Stix didn’t keep us from signing Jae at PF and extending Dario right after the draft.

And why would Stix be buried? He was getting time and producing this year and starting to get minutes at the 4 and at this point is a much better 4 than Craig is.

And you’d rather have Craig? Why? He’s been atrocious so far. And if we kept Stix, we still could have gotten Holiday. I’d much rather have Stix and Holiday than Craig and Holiday.

 

[Muggz]

Hali on this squad wouldn’t be fair. The Bball Gods knew it and intervened.

On paper yeah.
We would probably not play him much and when we did it would be at center.
Kidding of course
Haliburton would be awesome

 

[Ronin]

I could read this quote by Monty over and over again. Also the article again confirms Devin Booker was asymptomatic.


By ESPN News Services:


"I told the guys it was one of the best defensive performances I've ever seen," Suns coach Monty Williams said. "I've been around for a little bit."

Booker, returning from a four-game absence for virus-related issues -- he said he was asymptomatic and didn't have any problems -- flirted with a triple-double, finishing with nine assists and eight rebounds.

Suns, behind 'statement' win, first into playoffs

Devin Booker scored 23 points in his return as the Suns shook off a slow start to beat the Heat 111-90, becoming the first team this season to clinch a postseason berth.

www.espn.com

WD>WS