Suns @ Lakers Sunday game thread 3-16-2025

[Proximo]

It's not about how bad the Suns are. Teams are jockeying for draft position.

What's to be gained by the Mavericks winning?

Some players will actually want a new contract and try to perform well.

Management may want the mavs to lose, but their worst players effort will be 150% more than any of our veteran’s effort.

 

[Proximo]

I don’t think it’s Bud. It’s the players. This collection of players has no leadership and no mental toughness. That’s not going to change with a new coach.

It is absolutely both.

Bud seems to care just slightly more than the players. A new coach with these players won’t help, but a new coach with young players absolutely could help.

 

[GatorAZ]

Beal is only getting more injury-prone as he gets older. I’d rather have Jordan Poole’s bum *** on this team.

 

[Phrazbit]

Beal is only getting more injury-prone as he gets older. I’d rather have Jordan Poole’s bum *** on this team.

The only reason I'd take Poole over Beal is that you can waive Poole.

If Poole was on this team we'd be PRAYING for him to get hurt.

 

[BirdGangThing]

to try and diagnose this team's flaws in order of importance is futile - nothing works and bud isn't any closer to solving it then he was 4 months ago - they all need to go - book too - what good is book if luka and ant mentally and physically abuse him in every match up - tail between the legs patheticness and the rest of the league has caught on - the respect is gone - all while kd says it's not my fault - as he throws his customary 5th turnover of the game - ive had naps that are less lazy than kd's passes - these dudes just don't freakin care - they gave up - beal either - big 3 with 0 heart amongst'em - bud is just as bad if not worse - his ego has cost us wins - this guy is a bum - worse than vogel and he had more than vogel - all 4 need to go - have jj drive them to the station - change the locks before jj gets back - he gone too - funk this team

 

[GatorAZ]

The only reason I'd take Poole over Beal is that you can waive Poole.

If Poole was on this team we'd be PRAYING for him to get hurt.

We’re not winning anything with either guy. Give me the apron savings.

 

[Yuma]

It can be both. Sorry, I'm not a fan of bringing Budenholzer back.

Look at the Suns record with Monty, Vogel and now Bud.

A glaring weakness of the Suns is defense or lack thereof not to mention effort.

The common denominator in all those three coaches is they were hired with/by James Jones.

 

[Mainstreet]

The common denominator in all those three coaches is they were hired with/by James Jones.

And they all probably drank milk.

 

[Yuma]

Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal left Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers early due to left hamstring tightness.

Beal played 15 minutes in the first half and scored four points on 2-of-6 shooting. He also had two rebounds, one turnover and one foul.

Beal has missed 20 games this season.

 

[Mainstreet]

The Trail Blazers beat the Raptors today.

Help save us from the 10th spot. Somebody, anybody.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Bud should be fired immediately

 

[Yuma]

Bud should be fired immediately

All I can say is Bud and KD had one of those moments again. It looked like KD was full out yelling at Bud.

 

[Covert Rain]

It can be both. Sorry, I'm not a fan of bringing Budenholzer back.

Look at the Suns record with Monty, Vogel and now Bud.

A glaring weakness of the Suns is defense or lack thereof not to mention effort.

I am not a fan of constantly playing coach turnstile either when clearly these players lack the things we need. A coach can improve things that are there. Not magically bring things that don't exist.

 

[BirdGangThing]

All I can say is Bud and KD had one of those moments again. It looked like KD was full out yelling at Bud.

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[AzStevenCal]

I am not a fan of constantly playing coach turnstile either when clearly these players lack the things we need. A coach can improve things that are there. Not magically bring things that don't exist.

I've been disappointed by a lot of Bud's decisions but the only reason I wanted him is based on what he did in Atlanta with young players. Firing him now because our stars don't seem to want to win makes no sense to me especially on the heels of firing back to back coaches. Bad organizations do that, good organizations don't. We're a bad organization so I guess we might as well prove it once again but at some point it would be nice if we started acting like we had a clue.

 

[Mainstreet]

I am not a fan of constantly playing coach turnstile either when clearly these players lack the things we need. A coach can improve things that are there. Not magically bring things that don't exist.

The Suns roster will need to be remade in the offseason. I do not have confidence in James Jones making these decisions.
Hiring the right GM is the most critical decision to be made.

Next, is deciding who should be the head coach. IMO, Bud needs to go as well. He cannot get the team to play together, either offensively or defensively. This team looks totally disorganized.

IMO, if one makes a mistake, the best thing to do is correct it, even if it's 2-3 times in a row.

 

[GatorAZ]

The Suns roster will need to be remade in the offseason. I do not have confidence in James Jones making these decisions.
Hiring the right GM is the most critical decision to be made.

Next, is deciding who should be the head coach. IMO, Bud needs to go as well. He cannot get the team to play together, either offensively or defensively. This team looks totally disorganized.

IMO, if one makes a mistake, the best thing to do is correct it, even if it's 2-3 times in a row.

.
If Jones gets fired Ishbia will bring in another lackey or promote Bartlestein. He wants to run the show. Suns fans want Bob Myers but that’s never happening.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Please, let's get rid of Bud now. He is the coach. I want to see a team that cares.

Then you should be all in favor of getting rid of KD and Booker because they are both quitting dogs.

 

[Mainstreet]

.
If Jones gets fired Ishbia will bring in another lackey or promote Bartlestein. He wants to run the show. Suns fans want Bob Myers but that’s never happening.

That doesn't paint a picture with much hope.

I only mentioned Bob Meyers because he is someone that I am more familiar with.

 

[AzStevenCal]

The Suns roster will need to be remade in the offseason. I do not have confidence in James Jones making these decisions.
Hiring the right GM is the most critical decision to be made.

Next, is deciding who should be the head coach. IMO, Bud needs to go as well. He cannot get the team to play together, either offensively or defensively. This team looks totally disorganized.

IMO, if one makes a mistake, the best thing to do is correct it, even if it's 2-3 times in a row.

Although I don't disagree with most of this I'm not sure we can just assume he's the problem with the dispassionate play. Maybe he is but I'd correct other problems first and then see what's going on. Also, I'm very much in favor of tearing this team apart so IMO we should only be focused on the development of young players. And if Bud is capable of doing that, he's the right coach. If he's not, bring someone in who is.

 

[GatorAZ]

Apparently Book is messing with Laker fans on Twitter but my social media acumen isn’t great so I can’t decipher it.
.

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[Mainstreet]

Although I don't disagree with most of this I'm not sure we can just assume he's the problem with the dispassionate play. Maybe he is but I'd correct other problems first and then see what's going on. Also, I'm very much in favor of tearing this team apart so IMO we should only be focused on the development of young players. And if Bud is capable of doing that, he's the right coach. If he's not, bring someone in who is.

The Suns definitely need to make changes.

If you are in favor of tearing this team apart, I don't see how Bud and James Jones are exempt. Mat Ishbia could do well to hire a good GM and let him run the franchise. Then, let the GM make player personnel moves.

I must say, Bud has not impressed me as a head coach. This team has massively underachieved and it's not based on opinion, it’s based on results.

The last time the Suns had a losing record was the 2019-20 season and that team had an upward trajectory.

 

[Covert Rain]

The Suns roster will need to be remade in the offseason. I do not have confidence in James Jones making these decisions.
Hiring the right GM is the most critical decision to be made.

Next, is deciding who should be the head coach. IMO, Bud needs to go as well. He cannot get the team to play together, either offensively or defensively. This team looks totally disorganized.

IMO, if one makes a mistake, the best thing to do is correct it, even if it's 2-3 times in a row.

Some of his decisions have been perplexing but many of them also feel desperate. He didn’t put together this team. The team will be completely different IMO.

At some point we have to stop blaming the coaches. Fire James Jones and hold these players accountable.

 

[AzStevenCal]

The Suns definitely need to make changes.

If you are in favor of tearing this team apart, I don't see how Bud and James Jones are exempt. Mat Ishbia could do well to hire a good GM and let him run the franchise. Then, let the GM make player personnel moves.

I must say, Bud has not impressed me as a head coach. This team has massively underachieved and it's not based on opinion, it’s based on results.

The last time the Suns had a losing record was the 2019-20 season and that team had an upward trajectory.

I'm not sure why you brought JJ into it, I've said many times he has to go. I just don't believe getting rid of him fixes our biggest problems.

Booker has been a huge disappointment this season and I don't think that's on Bud. I do blame Bud somewhat for not forcing/manuevering KD into playing within a team concept but really, what's his alternative - lose games because you've benched arguably your best player or lose games because you didn't bench him?

None of us are close enough to the situation to know for sure how much of this is on Bud but if those that are close believe he has to go, I certainly won't miss him. I just don't want to see us hire yet another coach with the supposed mandate to win now - we don't have the talent to win now and correcting that should be our primary focus. Everything we do should be aimed at developing young players and that's going to be challenging given our future draft pick situation.

 

[Mainstreet]

Some of his decisions have been perplexing but many of them also feel desperate. He didn’t put together this team. The team will be completely different IMO.

At some point we have to stop blaming the coaches. Fire James Jones and hold these players accountable.

Hiring a good GM and letting him run the team is where it all starts.