Suns @ Mavericks Thursday game thread 2-22-2024: Post All-Star Break

[BirdGangThing]

I considered the Dallas game a must win but they're playing at a high level - they were at home but we needed to beat Houston

 

[GatorAZ]

Maybe Durant is just old. Not everyone can have longevity like Lebron

KD was drafted 17 years ago and has played over 45,000 minutes regular season and playoffs.

Looking at the all time scoring list he’s 300 points shy of Shaq for 10th all time. It will be interesting to see if he can reach top-5 all time as a Sun. He’s 4,000 points behind MJ for 5th and scoring has never been easier in the NBA.

 

[Vacard]

KD was drafted 17 years ago and has played over 45,000 minutes regular season and playoffs.

Looking at the all time scoring list he’s 300 points shy of Shaq for 10th all time. It will be interesting to see if he can reach top-5 all time as a Sun. He’s 4,000 points behind MJ for 5th and scoring has never been easier in the NBA.

This didnt addressed what i said, though.

 

[Yuma]

With the amount of money Mat ishbia has invested in the team, players and luxury tax, it's hard for me to understand how he will let his investment sink for the lack of a head coach this season.

The Suns should be playing better than this, no matter how one looks at it. This team may not win a championship, but they
should be playing better with the amount of talent they have on the roster.

If the Suns want to try a temporary patch, search for a veteran point guard and hope he has something left in the tank.

Vogel doesn't seem to have confidence in Saban Lee. Of course, he was reluctant to play Bol Bol as well.

Well, this far into the season you ride with the coaches you have. Who is available now that's better? The good coaches are already coaching somewhere. It's not like there's a Bill Belichick sitting out there no one has hired yet. We are cooked in this season with what we have. Kevin Young has earned my ire. With the pieces we have, we should be one of the top scoring teams in the NBA.

Night in and night out Kevin Young sees teams trap us, and KD and Book getting hit on every play, because that's the way ALL teams will play us now. That's the scouting report on us. They should know this, too. KY hasn't figured out by know what to do? Book and KD holding the ball until the double gets to them is not acceptable strategy. Last night KD dropped an F bomb on Allen because he didn't cut to get open when KD was getting doubled. It seems this is KY's strategy, try and have Book and KD let the double come to them and try and pass over the top to an open player. The sad thing is now we have a 4 on 3 advantage and NO ONE gets open! We see that EVERY night. Geez, EVERYONE on this board can come up with better strategy than that!

Also, when we whip the ball around at the start of games we look like we can beat anyone. Then we sub. Then we never get back to what we did to start the game. Why?

Everyone can see we play better passing the ball around and not holding it in one spot. Like Book and KD start doing. Also, everyone talks how when we play with pace we look much better on offense. Who I mean by everyone is NBA analysts, the radio guys, fans on the internet, our forum, random people in every country on the planet. WHY doesn't our coaching staff NOT see that?

I think our problems ARE fixable. Most of our problems are on offense. This team was built to outscore opponents. We are not doing that. Someone, Mat Ishbia I am calling you, Devin Booker you too. There has to be a heart to heart SOON on how to make this thing work.

 

[Yuma]

Maybe Durant is just old. Not everyone can have longevity like Lebron

Ironically Durant is only scoring 2 points less than when he was 25, and the rest of his stats are almost identical to when he was 25. I think that's pretty well aged.

 

[GatorAZ]

Ironically Durant is only scoring 2 points less than when he was 25, and the rest of his stats are almost identical to when he was 25. I think that's pretty well aged.

That’s because it’s a lot easier to score now than it was even 10 years ago. Peak KD is probably averaging close to 40 ppg in 2024.
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[Yuma]

That’s because it’s a lot easier to score now than it was even 10 years ago. Peak KD is probably averaging close to 40 ppg in 2024.
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IDK if that's necessarily true. Why isn't every team scoring in the 120 range? We see it every night, refs allowing guys to get mugged bringing the ball up, guys getting knocked off the ball when they are dribbling, guys pushing and slapping guys arms for steals, and no ref whistles.

 

[Mainstreet]

Well, this far into the season you ride with the coaches you have. Who is available now that's better? The good coaches are already coaching somewhere. It's not like there's a Bill Belichick sitting out there no one has hired yet. We are cooked in this season with what we have. Kevin Young has earned my ire. With the pieces we have, we should be one of the top scoring teams in the NBA.

Night in and night out Kevin Young sees teams trap us, and KD and Book getting hit on every play, because that's the way ALL teams will play us now. That's the scouting report on us. They should know this, too. KY hasn't figured out by know what to do? Book and KD holding the ball until the double gets to them is not acceptable strategy. Last night KD dropped an F bomb on Allen because he didn't cut to get open when KD was getting doubled. It seems this is KY's strategy, try and have Book and KD let the double come to them and try and pass over the top to an open player. The sad thing is now we have a 4 on 3 advantage and NO ONE gets open! We see that EVERY night. Geez, EVERYONE on this board can come up with better strategy than that!

Also, when we whip the ball around at the start of games we look like we can beat anyone. Then we sub. Then we never get back to what we did to start the game. Why?

Everyone can see we play better passing the ball around and not holding it in one spot. Like Book and KD start doing. Also, everyone talks how when we play with pace we look much better on offense. Who I mean by everyone is NBA analysts, the radio guys, fans on the internet, our forum, random people in every country on the planet. WHY doesn't our coaching staff NOT see that?

I think our problems ARE fixable. Most of our problems are on offense. This team was built to outscore opponents. We are not doing that. Someone, Mat Ishbia I am calling you, Devin Booker you too. There has to be a heart to heart SOON on how to make this thing work.

I think it's the rotation, not necessarily the players.

I was shocked to see Bol Bol and Thadeous Young enter the game at the same time, two players that hadn't played together.

Young was new to the team and Bol Bol didn't play against Dallas. Plus, both players arguably played the same position.

I think Thaddeus Young deserves an opportunity to play, but he is slower than Nurkic. I'm not sure what Vogel was trying to accomplish.

 

[GatorAZ]

IDK if that's necessarily true. Why isn't every team scoring in the 120 range? We see it every night, refs allowing guys to get mugged bringing the ball up, guys getting knocked off the ball when they are dribbling, guys pushing and slapping guys arms for steals, and no ref whistles.

Not sure what sport you’re watching. 15 different guys have hit 50+ this year, 6 different players have hit 60+ and two hit 70. It’s still February.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

Not sure what sport you’re watching. 15 different guys have hit 50+ this year, 6 different players have hit 60+ and two hit 70. It’s still February.

The number one difference is the spacing and pace of the league. When Durant averaged 32 PPG he was scoring 30% of his teams points. If he was scoring 30% of the Suns points this year he would be averaging over 35 PPG. This doesn't even factor in how getting to his spots and into the lane would be easier with the current spacing as well. 40 PPG seems quite plausible when this is considered.

 

[Hoop Head]

IDK if that's necessarily true. Why isn't every team scoring in the 120 range? We see it every night, refs allowing guys to get mugged bringing the ball up, guys getting knocked off the ball when they are dribbling, guys pushing and slapping guys arms for steals, and no ref whistles.

The top 5 teams do average 120+ ppg. 10 years ago the top 5 teams averaged 106 ppg. 12 teams averaged less than 100 ppg. The lowest scoring team this year is Memphis at 106.9 ppg. 10 years ago they would be tied for #3 in the league scoring that much. Scoring has gone up and if you don't think teams are regularly going for 120+ then you don't check ESPN.

 

[Yuma]

The number one difference is the spacing and pace of the league. When Durant averaged 32 PPG he was scoring 30% of his teams points. If he was scoring 30% of the Suns points this year he would be averaging over 35 PPG. This doesn't even factor in how getting to his spots and into the lane would be easier with the current spacing as well. 40 PPG seems quite plausible when this is considered.

Durant could easily score more but he has Booker, Beal, Nurkic, Allen Gordon, etc. on this team. His numbers would naturally be lower because he is sharing the ball more.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

Durant could easily score more but he has Booker, Beal, Nurkic, Allen Gordon, etc. on this team. His numbers would naturally be lower because he is sharing the ball more.

He could average another 3-4 PPG right now, but I believe a 25 year old Durant could average about 40 in this league.