Suns @ Magic 3-4-16

[BC867]

I thought you would like it. And it is working.

The Guard situation is up in the air with Bledsoe and Knight as the reigning dual Guards, although there is plenty of time to replace them with a legitimate lead Point Guard for next season.

My feeling is that they both have to go for Booker (who better be our starting Shooting Guard) to excel. Even if only one of Bledsoe or Knight remain, neither is the facilitator to help Booker's development.

It will be interesting to see if Sarver and McDonough support the same-old-same-old or have the courage to abandon a failed experiment.

And hopefully the Small Forward situation will allow Warren a chance to win the starting job.

But there nothing in the way of a 3-man rotation at C/PF with Chandler starting at Center, Len as starting Power Forward/backup Center and a third spot (whoever of our possibilities occupies it) as backup Power Forward.

And that is not even considering a possible high draft pick or free agent signing or trade to further improve the lineup.

If Sarver and McDonough can put their egos aside, there is hope for the Suns to finally begin a steady climb to relevance.

And although I have supported the next permanent Head Coach as one with Head Coaching experience, well, Earl Watson is building experience. I concede that he just might be a good candidate to re-sign for the non-tanking 2016-2017 Suns and going forward.

And now, I am going to raise a controversial question. With NBA rosters primarily African-American, with the exception of the great holdover Coaches from the past, does a Black Head Coach (even with limited experience like Watson) have a natural chemisty advantage that Jeff Hornacek did not? What do you all think?

 

[Mainstreet]

I think it's far too small a sample size to draw any conclusions about how effective it is. And our recent 40 point loss to the Clippers came with just Len in the starting lineup but he and Tyson started and logged 60 minutes in that 34 point blowout to Charlotte.

Of course it is too early to draw any conclusions but it is my observation the Suns play better than before with the twin tower approach. The reason I feel better about it, it solves the Suns problem at PF in the short term. The Suns will still be looking for a PF in the draft or in free agency.

I hope the Suns can find a way to keep Teletovic. I like him coming off the bench. I'd prefer him over Leuer but Leuer is a nice bench player as well.

 

[devilalum]

They better hit the jackpot with their pick this year because next year they're gonna be back in the middle fighting for a playoff spot.

sent from a fone

 

[Mainstreet]

The Guard situation is up in the air with Bledsoe and Knight as the reigning dual Guards, although there is plenty of time to replace them with a legitimate lead Point Guard for next season.

My feeling is that they both have to go for Booker (who better be our starting Shooting Guard) to excel. Even if only one of Bledsoe or Knight remain, neither is the facilitator to help Booker's development.

It will be interesting to see if Sarver and McDonough support the same-old-same-old or have the courage to abandon a failed experiment.

And hopefully the Small Forward situation will allow Warren a chance to win the starting job.

But there nothing in the way of a 3-man rotation at C/PF with Chandler starting at Center, Len as starting Power Forward/backup Center and a third spot (whoever of our possibilities occupies it) as backup Power Forward.

And that is not even considering a possible high draft pick or free agent signing or trade to further improve the lineup.

If Sarver and McDonough can put their egos aside, there is hope for the Suns to finally begin a steady climb to relevance.

And although I have supported the next permanent Head Coach as one with Head Coaching experience, well, Earl Watson is building experience. I concede that he just might be a good candidate to re-sign for the non-tanking 2016-2017 Suns and going forward.

And now, I am going to raise a controversial question. With NBA rosters primarily African-American, with the exception of the great holdover Coaches from the past, does a Black Head Coach (even with limited experience like Watson) have a natural chemisty advantage that Jeff Hornacek did not? What do you all think?

I think Bledsoe is fine as the Suns starting PG. I think things got confused when Knight was considered as another PG to run the offense. Knight is more of a SG with some PG skills. I think if Knight would be content to come off the bench, the Suns would have a nice three guard rotation with Bledsoe and Booker starting and Knight coming off the bench. The pleasant surprise is that Booker seems to take well to ball handling duties and he may be able to play both SG and PG rather well.

I don't think the skin color of a head coach has anything to do with team chemistry. It's all in the coaching and the message the coach sends to the player that matters.

 

[Catlover]

Of course it is too early to draw any conclusions but it is my observation the Suns play better than before with the twin tower approach. The reason I feel better about it, it solves the Suns problem at PF in the short term. The Suns will still be looking for a PF in the draft or in free agency.

I hope the Suns can find a way to keep Teletovic. I like him coming off the bench. I'd prefer him over Leuer but Leuer is a nice bench player as well.

I can understand that but keep in mind our opponents apparently prepare for us like we're an exhibition game. I love putting them both out there because it's a way to get Len major minutes in addition to how good our defense has looked at times. But I don't know what will happen when our opponents try and make us pay for that pairing.

I'd like to keep both Teletovic and Leuer but I agree, I'd far rather lose Leuer than Mirza.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Also the Suns are playing better since the they started using the twin tower approach with Chandler and Len starting. It gives the Suns a better chance of winning being strong upfront.

I am not sure its a twin tower approach as much as the fact that Len does pretty well in a traditional power forward role. He has range out to 18 feet which keeps defenses honest and his length allows him to cover more ground defensively.

I am a bit amazed that his shot is not contested more often. He does not jump on it. But he is so long and his release is very high. He looks like he is 7-3, not 7-1. What's his wingspan these days?

 

[Catlover]

I am not sure its a twin tower approach as much as the fact that Len does pretty well in a traditional power forward role. He has range out to 18 feet which keeps defenses honest and his length allows him to cover more ground defensively.

I am a bit amazed that his shot is not contested more often. He does not jump on it. But he is so long and his release is very high. He looks like he is 7-3, not 7-1. What's his wingspan these days?

Teams aren't really scouting us but I'm convinced that Len can handle the power forward position offensively even when they start taking him/us seriously.

 

[sunsfan88]

Price had his best game for us last night, no way do we win that one without him. He played great defense in addition to grabbing 5 key steals and at least 1 block. I think we were trying everything possible to keep from breaking our all time road loss record. Hopefully Watson will go back to playing Goodwin big minutes now that we've stopped our two embarrassing streaks.

Eh I don't really think it matters that we should try so hard to stop these records from being. Regardless of which record gets broken or not, I think most Suns fans know/agree that this is the worst season in franchise history. So adding a dubious record to that isn't gonna change much. Yea I hope he goes back to playing Len, Booker and Goodwin all heavy minutes and forgets about records for rest of the season.

 

[sunsfan88]

And now, I am going to raise a controversial question. With NBA rosters primarily African-American, with the exception of the great holdover Coaches from the past, does a Black Head Coach (even with limited experience like Watson) have a natural chemisty advantage that Jeff Hornacek did not? What do you all think?

I don't think it matters cause if that were the case then you would see many successful African American coaches in the NBA.

Other than Doc Rivers who is despised by many Clipper fans, there really hasn't been any lately that have had much success. Dwayne Casey's been ok but many Raptors fans think the team is still underwhelming considering the talent that their GM Masai has gotten them.