Suns @ Mavericks 1-31- 16

[Mainstreet]

The Suns play at the Mavericks tonight with a 5 p.m. Arizona start time. T.J. Warren will miss tonight's game reportedly due to a right ankle impingement. See more about the game from Paul Coro at the link below.

How bad are the Suns? Jordan McRae is the Suns leading active scorer.

Jordan McRae is the Suns’ leading active scorer. McRae has been a Sun for one game but his 12-point NBA debut gave him the best scoring average among active Suns, ahead of T.J. Warren’s 11.0 average and Markieff Morris’ 10.1 average. Eric Bledsoe (20.4) and Brandon Knight (19.7) were the Suns’ leading scorers for the season.

C: Tyson Chandler … Zaza Pachulia

PF: Alex Len … Dirk Nowitzki

SF: P.J. Tucker … Chandler Parsons

SG: Devin Booker … Wesley Matthews

PG: Archie Goodwin … Deron Williams

Key Mavericks reserves: Raymond Felton, J.J. Barea, Justin Anderson, Salah Mejri, Charlie Villanueva.

Key Mavericks injuries: Devin Harris (toe sprain) is questionable.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/spor...las-mavs-close-series-after-parting/79605518/

 

[BC867]

How bad are the Suns? Jordan McRae is the Suns leading active scorer.

Well, McRae was brought up as a scorer. Ironically, he proved to be our smoothest Point Guard of the season in his first game.

That, too, shows how bad the Suns roster has been.

 

[devilalum]

Archie passes like he's playin in an old guy rec league.

sent from a fone

 

[Catlover]

Booker started slow but now has 17 points and is keeping us in this game. Tele and Chandler have played well too.

 

[Zobaczcie suki]

Suns with the lead after 3, kinda surprised we are even in this game

 

[fatosber]

Booker is the steal of the draft


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Catlover]

We had that 5 point lead but a few minutes of Booker on the bench solved that problem.

 

[Bert]

Morris comes in and turns it over twice. Why is this clown still on the roster???? [emoji35][emoji35][emoji35]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Catlover]

Morris comes in and turns it over twice. Why is this clown still on the roster???? [emoji35][emoji35][emoji35]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Probably because we are plus 11 when he's on the court tonight. We're so shorthanded that if he wasn't on the roster we'd have to suit up a trainer or maybe the gorilla.

 

[Catlover]

Teletovic carried us early but he's been useless since his quick 14. Subbing him back in for Morris buried us.

 

[Zobaczcie suki]

oh well, more lottery balls

 

[Catlover]

Goodwin is not a point guard. It bears repeating. Goodwin is not a point guard.

 

[Bert]

Probably because we are plus 11 when he's on the court tonight. We're so shorthanded that if he wasn't on the roster we'd have to suit up a trainer or maybe the gorilla.

Except for the most critical points in the game, where he came in and turned it over and we lost the lead.

I wasn't suggesting cutting him and leaving him on the street. A trade should have been done a while ago. The guy sucks the life out of this team late in games I have seen it several times this season. He's the elephant in every room.

 

[Chaplin]

Hornacek's minute distribution makes no sense.

 

[Catlover]

Except for the most critical points in the game, where he came in and turned it over and we lost the lead.

I wasn't suggesting cutting him and leaving him on the street. A trade should have been done a while ago.

We lost a lot of leads tonight so yeah, he cost us one of them. But he was also on the court when we went up by 5 a few times. When he went out we were back on top and it quickly became a 4 or 5 point deficit with Tele. I'm not fond of his play but Goodwin and to a lesser extent Tucker were the main culprits tonight.

 

[Catlover]

Hornacek's minute distribution makes no sense.

In what way? Or specifically, what prompts this comment tonight? As shorthanded as we are I really don't know what options he has.

 

[Bert]

We lost a lot of leads tonight so yeah, he cost us one of them. But he was also on the court when we went up by 5 a few times. When he went out we were back on top and it quickly became a 4 or 5 point deficit with Tele. I'm not fond of his play but Goodwin and to a lesser extent Tucker were the main culprits tonight.

Fair enough.

I just feel like every day he's not traded and continues to get minutes means that MCD is still living under the delusion that we are somehow still a playoff team.

I would love them to treat this entire season like one big prolonged training camp for the young guys.

 

[Errntknght]

The Wolves are leading the Blazers so we have a chance to duck below them tonight...

 

[Catlover]

Fair enough.

I just feel like every day he's not traded and continues to get minutes means that MCD is still living under the delusion that we are somehow still a playoff team.

I would love them to treat this entire season like one big prolonged training camp for the young guys.

I don't think he believes that, I don't even think he really believed that when he mentioned it as a possibility not long ago. He has to have looked at the schedule and our roster and faced the inevitable. He's apparently able to dress himself and get to work everyday, he can't be so far removed from reality to still believe this is a playoff team. IMO Morris is playing either because we are so shorthanded or because he needs Markieff to have a good game or two to create a reasonable trade scenario.

 

[BC867]

I don't think he believes that, I don't even think he really believed that when he mentioned it as a possibility not long ago. He has to have looked at the schedule and our roster and faced the inevitable. He's apparently able to dress himself and get to work everyday, he can't be so far removed from reality to still believe this is a playoff team. IMO Morris is playing either because we are so shorthanded or because he needs Markieff to have a good game or two to create a reasonable trade scenario.

I think it might include that Markieff is a veteran, which usually means steadying a young team. Unfortunately, Markeiff is also not just a flake, but a flake with an attitude.

He does as much harm as good when he comes in. And, as always, when the ball reaches him, everyone else can expect to stand around.

He is a horrible example for young players. No matter how desperate we are for a veteran leadership, Markieff Morris is not that guy.

 

[GatorAZ]

Clutch loss tonight. Well done.

Keep playing Goodwin at PG and we'll reach the bottom-3.

 

[Catlover]

I think it might include that Markieff is a veteran, which usually means steadying a young team. Unfortunately, Markeiff is also not just a flake, but a flake with an attitude.

He does as much harm as good when he comes in. And, as always, when the ball reaches him, everyone else can expect to stand around.

He is a horrible example for young players. No matter how desperate we are for a veteran leadership, Markieff Morris is not that guy.

I'm guessing that you didn't watch the game tonight and that you're speaking in general? Because your description doesn't match his performance tonight. He actually played pretty well (for him) and compared to the other forwards was a stabiliizing force more often than not. He only played 26 minutes but he tied Booker for the team lead in assists with 4 and the team was +3 while he was on the court. Considering several of our key players were minus 16 or worse, a plus 3 isn't too bad.

 

[Mainstreet]

The game seemed to change when Dwight Powell came into the game in the final minutes and made a couple of easy baskets. He seemed to ignite them. I'm not giving him credit for the win but he did seem like a momentum changer.

In regard to Markieff, I thought he played better than usual which is always a plus if the Suns are shopping him. He seems to have some of the weakest handles I have seen in a player.

McDonough knows the Suns are not a playoff team although he threw out a token comment about it sometime back. If anything the Suns have perfected losing by playing without a PG that can run the team. The Suns cannot be blind to this fact.

_______________________

 

[Catlover]

The game seemed to change when Dwight Powell came into the game in the final minutes and made a couple of easy baskets. He seemed to ignite them. I'm not giving him credit for the win but he did seem like a momentum changer.

In regard to Markieff, I thought he played better than usual which is always a plus if the Suns are shopping him. He seems to have some of the weakest handles I have seen in a player.

McDonough knows the Suns are not a playoff team although he threw out a token comment about it sometime back. If anything the Suns have perfected losing by playing without a PG that can run the team. The Suns cannot be blind to this fact.

Powell certainly played a part but I think tired legs on our part also factored in. Booker had nothing left after he went to the bench (having played 35 minutes) before returning for the final 5 plus. He and Tucker both put in 40+ and neither of them are used to those kind of minutes. Goodwin's lackadaisacal play all evening put everyone under the gun.

Back to Goodwin. If you want to see one of the things that makes me doubt he'll ever be a factor, go back to the start of the game. I believe it's our second offensive possession. He crosses half court and makes a very lazy pass to Chandler near the top of the key which is easily picked off by Zaza. Okay, that happens. But his slow reaction back to defense worries me and then to top it off once he does react he matches pace with the much bigger player (hoping for a spectacular block perhaps?) when he could have easily hustled into position and stopped/turned the ball-handler. And I've seen him do something like this frequently. One bad mistake compounded by a second bad mistake and they were both the result of lazy play.

 

[Mainstreet]

Powell certainly played a part but I think tired legs on our part also factored in. Booker had nothing left after he went to the bench (having played 35 minutes) before returning for the final 5 plus. He and Tucker both put in 40+ and neither of them are used to those kind of minutes. Goodwin's lackadaisacal play all evening put everyone under the gun.

In regard to Powell, I noticed the game change immediately when he came in and promptly scored an easy basket. Just my perception. Perhaps his entrance into the game only coincided with the Suns backslide. Losing Booker was huge. He played his heart out. I couldn't help but be proud the way the Mavericks had to double team him.

Back to Goodwin. If you want to see one of the things that makes me doubt he'll ever be a factor, go back to the start of the game. I believe it's our second offensive possession. He crosses half court and makes a very lazy pass to Chandler near the top of the key which is easily picked off by Zaza. Okay, that happens. But his slow reaction back to defense worries me and then to top it off once he does react he matches pace with the much bigger player (hoping for a spectacular block perhaps?) when he could have easily hustled into position and stopped/turned the ball-handler. And I've seen him do something like this frequently. One bad mistake compounded by a second bad mistake and they were both the result of lazy play.

Archie Goodwin had a bad game tonight. Maybe it's because other teams are locked into his game now that he is a starter. Or maybe it's because Archie cannot take the next step forward and he is frustrated. No matter, I'm glad the Suns are giving him starter minutes to find out his ceiling.

Quietly Alex Len had a good game tonight. I was pleased with the Suns two centers tonight.