Suns @ Magic 3/4

[ASUCHRIS]

For those bagging on the FO for not signing Channing, he certainly didn't look like an 8 million dollar man last night. Sounds like that signing has been pretty universally been considered a big mistake, his numbers and D have been awful.

 

[AzStevenCal]

For those bagging on the FO for not signing Channing, he certainly didn't look like an 8 million dollar man last night. Sounds like that signing has been pretty universally been considered a big mistake, his numbers and D have been awful.

I don't know that anyone here fits that description other than perhaps me. I think they made a mistake not signing him but it's mostly hindsight. At the time, I didn't have a problem with letting him go given the cost of re-signing him but he had more value to us than any of us realized. He was a perfect fit with Goran and he was all we had in the way of leadership, apparently.

Steve

 

[slinslin]

I wish Bledsoe would show some type of improvement in not turning the ball over. I don't think he quite realizes the importance of every single possession and that's key for any PG running the offense to know.

Apart from the turnovers, if you look at his stat line it was pretty decent.

Of course he realizes that.

Turnovers are often not just 1 persons fault alone.

We have terrible spacing, terrible off-the ball movement. We turn the ball over a lot just by handing it off around the perimeter.

Bledsoe's turnovers will go down naturally with experience, better team spacing, better movement and less pressure to carry the team offensively which I think is one of the main reasons his turnovers are way up.
Thankfully Knight finally stepped up with a good game.

 

[sunsfan88]

I hope Knight can build from this game. His injury seems to have fully healed.

I'm the biggest Goodwin fan here but I was disappointed with him not attacking the rim once. He let the defense off the hook a couple times.

Bledsoe seemed to struggle guarding Oladipo, at one point Hornacek switched Tucker on to Oladipo. Bledsoe can afford to have bad/mediocre night defensively though, he's been a rock on that end in the past how many ever games.

Kieff came in "attack mode" turned on. He humiliated Vucevic on a couple plays. I wish we fed Kieff the ball in the post more like we did last season.

I can't wait till the day Warren moves ahead of Marcus in the rotation.

 

[82CardsGrad]

I wish Bledsoe would show some type of improvement in not turning the ball over. I don't think he quite realizes the importance of every single possession and that's key for any PG running the offense to know.

Apart from the turnovers, if you look at his stat line it was pretty decent.

7 more turnovers... Incredible that at this stage of the season, he hasn't figured it out...

 

[JS22]

Of course he realizes that.

Turnovers are often not just 1 persons fault alone.

We have terrible spacing, terrible off-the ball movement. We turn the ball over a lot just by handing it off around the perimeter.

Bledsoe's turnovers will go down naturally with experience, better team spacing, better movement and less pressure to carry the team offensively which I think is one of the main reasons his turnovers are way up.
Thankfully Knight finally stepped up with a good game.

Bledsoe is totally out of control. Most of his turnovers come from him trying to pass out of a wild shot at the last second. Or just lazy play. He seems to simply lose the dribble a lot and give up the ball.

 

[95pro]

Bledsoe just doesn't have a smooth game. No sense of when to pass, when to shoot, when to push it and to slow it down, bad time management sometimes and does his stupid jump passes.

 

[devilalum]

Bledsoe just doesn't have a smooth game. No sense of when to pass, when to shoot, when to push it and to slow it down, bad time management sometimes and does his stupid jump passes.

But the Suns have another player on their current roster who seems to have a handle on these things.

I really liked what I saw from Knight last night especially in the second half when he seemed to take over the main ball handling duties. He may need to be the lead PG.

 

[Covert Rain]

Damn....I am really liking Knight. He is fun to watch.

 

[AzStevenCal]

But the Suns have another player on their current roster who seems to have a handle on these things.

I really liked what I saw from Knight last night especially in the second half when he seemed to take over the main ball handling duties. He may need to be the lead PG.

I don't think so. He's safer with the ball than Eric but his decision making is nothing to write home about. Both of these guys need to improve in this area and until they do, our end game is always going to be an adventure.

Steve

 

[elindholm]

Here's what I don't get about all of these combo guards. Once you've figured out that you aren't going to be big enough to be a true NBA SG, why not put a ton of time in becoming a better ball handler? Someone should have told them, "Look kid, you've got NBA athleticism, but because of your size, your only chance to make it is as a PG. So get on it." Or they should have figured it out for themselves.

I thought Dragic was a good player, but it always baffled me that he didn't use the off-season to become a better ball-handler, if he saw himself as an NBA PG. But now I realize that there are a whole lot of players in his same situation -- and not just on the Suns. If any of these guys learned how to get elite with the ball in his hands, they'd be deadly. Instead they settle for being drive-and-dish "combo guards" who are a poor fit at either position.

All I can think is that it's laziness. It just can't be that hard for a 6' 3" NBA player to become an excellent dribbler. Make it a commitment, design some drills, practice, and practice some more. Otherwise, sign up for a mediocre career and don't gripe when your team is constantly looking to upgrade you.

 

[JS22]

Some guys just don't have the vision or natural instincts to be a "true" PG. I think Knight will fill in nicely as a combo guard / part time PG. But he needs a distributing PG next to him. That's not Bledsoe. I like Bledsoe but I don't see this team going anywhere with him running the show.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Some guys just don't have the vision or natural instincts to be a "true" PG. I think Knight will fill in nicely as a combo guard / part time PG. But he needs a distributing PG next to him. That's not Bledsoe. I like Bledsoe but I don't see this team going anywhere with him running the show.

Bledsoe has the age of a player entering his prime but the experience level of a second year guy. He isn't all that much different than Westbrook was a few years ago. Even last season, a lot of people (on this forum and elsewhere) mocked OKC for giving up Harden instead of Russell. There's no guarantee that Bledsoe will continue to develop like Westbrook did but I think it's too early to give up on him yet.

Don't get me wrong, if someone offered good value for Eric I'd move him in a second but for me, good value is something like a top 10 player would bring in return. Bledsoe isn't a top 10 player but in a year or two he'll either be among the best in the game or he'll be relegated to star on a bad team or bench player on a good one.

Steve

 

[Mainstreet]

Brandon Knight is a young 23. I'm not so sure he cannot develop into a very good PG given this role and the minutes needed. Of courses this leaves questions about Bledsoe's role.

 

[95pro]

Here's what I don't get about all of these combo guards. Once you've figured out that you aren't going to be big enough to be a true NBA SG, why not put a ton of time in becoming a better ball handler? Someone should have told them, "Look kid, you've got NBA athleticism, but because of your size, your only chance to make it is as a PG. So get on it." Or they should have figured it out for themselves.

I thought Dragic was a good player, but it always baffled me that he didn't use the off-season to become a better ball-handler, if he saw himself as an NBA PG. But now I realize that there are a whole lot of players in his same situation -- and not just on the Suns. If any of these guys learned how to get elite with the ball in his hands, they'd be deadly. Instead they settle for being drive-and-dish "combo guards" who are a poor fit at either position.

All I can think is that it's laziness. It just can't be that hard for a 6' 3" NBA player to become an excellent dribbler. Make it a commitment, design some drills, practice, and practice some more. Otherwise, sign up for a mediocre career and don't gripe when your team is constantly looking to upgrade you.

You can't teach an old dog new tricks. Ball handling comes from the beginning, especially pg skills.

 

[Covert Rain]

Brandon Knight is a young 23. I'm not so sure he cannot develop into a very good PG given this role and the minutes needed. Of courses this leaves questions about Bledsoe's role.

+1

 

[SirStefan32]

Here's what I don't get about all of these combo guards. Once you've figured out that you aren't going to be big enough to be a true NBA SG, why not put a ton of time in becoming a better ball handler? Someone should have told them, "Look kid, you've got NBA athleticism, but because of your size, your only chance to make it is as a PG. So get on it." Or they should have figured it out for themselves.

I thought Dragic was a good player, but it always baffled me that he didn't use the off-season to become a better ball-handler, if he saw himself as an NBA PG. But now I realize that there are a whole lot of players in his same situation -- and not just on the Suns. If any of these guys learned how to get elite with the ball in his hands, they'd be deadly. Instead they settle for being drive-and-dish "combo guards" who are a poor fit at either position.

All I can think is that it's laziness. It just can't be that hard for a 6' 3" NBA player to become an excellent dribbler. Make it a commitment, design some drills, practice, and practice some more. Otherwise, sign up for a mediocre career and don't gripe when your team is constantly looking to upgrade you.

I think it's stubbornness and arrogance for some players (Bledsoe is a good example), and wrong priorities (Dragic is a good example.) In Goran's case, I don't want to sound harsh because he's improved something every year, but I think ball-handling should be the first priority for a 6'3 combo guard who wants to be a point guard. He's gotten better, especially when it comes to not picking up his dribble when he is probing the defense after driving to the hoop, but his overall ball-handling skills are still not where they should be.

 

[Phrazbit]

Bledsoe needs to stop leaving his feet. Its a teachable problem and its got to account for like 30-40% of his turnovers. I wonder if it was a habit he got into playing along side Blake Griffin and Deandre Jordan, those to gobble up those "jump and bait the defender for the lob" plays.

But I think some of the recent turnover binge is a result of all the roster turnover. There have been a lot of miscommunication passes recently, guys passing where they expect a teammate to either rotate too and the guy does not move, or where they think a guy is going to plant but instead they roll.

 

[slinslin]

Bledsoe needs to stop leaving his feet. Its a teachable problem and its got to account for like 30-40% of his turnovers. I wonder if it was a habit he got into playing along side Blake Griffin and Deandre Jordan, those to gobble up those "jump and bait the defender for the lob" plays.

But I think some of the recent turnover binge is a result of all the roster turnover. There have been a lot of miscommunication passes recently, guys passing where they expect a teammate to either rotate too and the guy does not move, or where they think a guy is going to plant but instead they roll.

When nobody gets open when he is stopped on a drive to open passing lanes all he can do in that situation is trying to make the difficult pass over defenders somehow.

I don't have a problem with these turnovers, I think they are a team problem.

As a team we commit turnovers on in-bound passes a lot or simply hand-offs and such. I think this is a much bigger issue and all of that comes from people not moving their feet to get open for the pass.

Until the trade deadline Bledsoe's turnovers were pretty much in line with other top PGs. Somewhere between 3-4 turnovers per game is normal.

Improve the spacing on this team, the movement off the ball and the overall skill cap offensively and his turnovers will naturally go down.

Of course he will also improve individually. He is basically a 2nd year starter at best, you could even argue rookie as a starter. Bledsoe is FAR from a finished product.