Suns @ Nuggets 10-20-18

[Suns_fan69]

Couple notes:

• Team as a whole was extremely sloppy with the ball. Box score says only +1 turnover vs Denver but it felt like all of ours were live ball turnovers that turned into easy transition layups/3s.
• At one point we were down 10 with 11 missed free throws. Complexion of the game would have been a lot different with a few more at the charity stripe.
• Bridges was great. Nevermind the 3s, he played great defense. Got a few deflections, played tough on-ball D as well as crisp quick rotations to help out his teammates. He looked to me like the best defender by far.
• Andersen gets a lot of heat but he had a really good game. He got Ayton 2 easy dunks and made generally smart decisions on offense.
• Altitude/fatigue was a factor. You could see it in the 4th when the team started jacking long jumpshots and nobody going for rebounds.

 

[SirStefan32]

Well that was ugly. Booker has got to attempt to play defense, Ayton needs to learn to front good low-post players. If Jokic catches the ball in the low post, he will destroy you. Jackson is a clown, and I hope he finds himself with Bender's roommate in Igor's doghouse soon. Bridges looked great, and he definitely earned himself some playing time. Canaan was solid again.

 

[Hoop Head]

Ariza needs to sit when he sucks like he did tonight. I know Igor stuck with him and he's a veteran but he should have been yanked for the whole second half. I suspect Jackson's up and down play with Bridges only seeing his first minutes was why Ariza wasn't sat entirely. Igor doesn't have a go-to replacement at this point but Ariza looked like Chandler out there, not leaving his feet and little effort.

Chandler shouldn't play. I've seen all I've wanted to from him at this point and hope he doesn't see the court again. He will not leave his feet on defense. He has good positioning and gets boards that way but he has to be one of the worst rim protectors in the league. I suspect he was last season amongst starting Centers. I know people would remark about Len being our best rim protector according to advanced stats and that alone should have been a sign of how done Tyson is. Hopefully he helps in practice with Ayton because I worry he's a bad influence as far as Ayton watching him just his reach rather than leaving his feet when he "contests" shots.

Ariza did the same thing tonight on D and Chandler was on the floor also which is why it probably bugged me so much. I know, fatigue and altitude but it's game 2.

For as down as some people are, I don't think it was as ugly as some might perceive from this thread. There were quite a few bright spots. It will get better but this is back to earth after game 1.

 

[1Sun]

I think Bridges earned more minutes. Canaan played solid. Booker not efficient, but he got to the line a lot to make up. JJ had some flashes. Maybe Igor needs to adjust some minutes.

I wasn't at all impressed with Igor's coaching tonight. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come.

 

[95pro]

One thing no one has mentioned was the amount of time Crawford got in the first half. Too many minutes to given to him. I know we started slow but JC might have thrown everyone off.

 

[SirStefan32]

Eh, Crawford got seven minutes after the Suns got destroyed in the first quarter. Everyone was thrown off long before Crawford stepped on the court.

 

[TJ]

Couple notes:

• Team as a whole was extremely sloppy with the ball. Box score says only +1 turnover vs Denver but it felt like all of ours were live ball turnovers that turned into easy transition layups/3s.
• At one point we were down 10 with 11 missed free throws. Complexion of the game would have been a lot different with a few more at the charity stripe.
• Bridges was great. Nevermind the 3s, he played great defense. Got a few deflections, played tough on-ball D as well as crisp quick rotations to help out his teammates. He looked to me like the best defender by far.
• Andersen gets a lot of heat but he had a really good game. He got Ayton 2 easy dunks and made generally smart decisions on offense.
• Altitude/fatigue was a factor. You could see it in the 4th when the team started jacking long jumpshots and nobody going for rebounds.

Fatigue shouldn’t be a factor if you have 3 days between games. They got outplayed.

 

[1Sun]

Ariza was a -47 tonight. Is he already mailing it in?

 

[ColdPickleNachos]

Ariza was a -47 tonight. Is he already mailing it in?

I think the main issue is that he was in a lot of the same time as Jokic. Granted, he played poorly, but that stat is an outlier for sure.

 

[Chaplin]

Fatigue shouldn’t be a factor if you have 3 days between games. They got outplayed.

Fatigue is ALWAYS a factor in Denver, in all sports. You can’t simply ignore that fact.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Fatigue shouldn’t be a factor if you have 3 days between games. They got outplayed.

Altitude related fatigue is a factor even with a couple of days between games but yeah, they got seriously outplayed.

 

[TJ]

Fatigue is ALWAYS a factor in Denver, in all sports. You can’t simply ignore that fact.

I understand that, but we simply got our butts kicked. Wouldn’t have mattered had it been played at sea level or altitude. Tonight was a wake up call that this team is still a ways away

 

[AzStevenCal]

I understand that, but we simply got our butts kicked. Wouldn’t have mattered had it been played at sea level or altitude. Tonight was a wake up call that this team is still a ways away

I guess. If there were fans out there that thought we'd jump from one of the worst teams ever to near playoff status, games like this should help change their minds. New coach, new system, new players, and far too many of them are years away from hitting their stride.

 

[sunsfan88]

I kinda agree that this game is not as bad as the box score shows and lots of positives to build on.

But Ayton has A LOT to learn defensively. Jokic is a beast regardless but Ayton really offered very little, if any, resistance.

He got his ass thoroughly kicked and how he reacts to this in the next game will tell a lot imo.

 

[Finito]

Fatigue shouldn’t be a factor if you have 3 days between games. They got outplayed.

It's very much a factor in Denver. There home/away record is crazy lopsided

 

[Western Font]

Especially at the beginning of the season when not everyone is in full playing shape.

 

[Mainstreet]

I guess my biggest disappoint is the shooting of Josh Jackson. I'm not sure if he will ever be an adequate shooter. The other major disappointment for me was the Suns lack of defense.

Canaan is Canaan. He is the best PG on the Suns roster. I guess we will have to live with it.

I'm perplexed why the Suns used all their free agent money on Ariza. It really tied the Suns hands in free agency.

Anderson is about what is expected. The Suns traded Knight for him so I didn't expect much in return.

Warren is a solid scorer off the bench.

I think Ayton will be fine. Chalk it up as a learning experience against one of the best centers in the league in Jokic.

A real bright spot for me was Bridges. I had been waiting for him to show me something and he did.

The Suns best trio going forward may be Booker, Ayton and Bridges.

 

[Hoop Head]

Canaan is Canaan. He is the best PG on the Suns roster. I guess we will have to live with it.

As Suns fans we're spoiled by quality PG play. We had KJ, Kidd, and Nash all at the same time. Dragic, IT, and Bledsoe are all All-Star's or borderline. We had Marbury and Cassell also. We haven't had an "average" NBA PG for any length of time. I guess Bledsoe is the closest to that but he was our best player and had All-Star numbers in a very deep West guard race on a bad team. A year of Canaan will help us appreciate our next star more, I hope.



As for Ayton, he did have a sore ankle. Can't imagine that helped him when coupled with the elevation adjustment, fatigue, and a red hot opponent. He's never played against anyone like Jokic, now he has. It's hard to believe he's as young as he is because he's so good in so many ways but he's still just a rookie.

 

[gimpy]

Fatigue? Ahhh!

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

Ariza needs to sit when he sucks like he did tonight. I know Igor stuck with him and he's a veteran but he should have been yanked for the whole second half. I suspect Jackson's up and down play with Bridges only seeing his first minutes was why Ariza wasn't sat entirely. Igor doesn't have a go-to replacement at this point but Ariza looked like Chandler out there, not leaving his feet and little effort.

Chandler shouldn't play. I've seen all I've wanted to from him at this point and hope he doesn't see the court again. He will not leave his feet on defense. He has good positioning and gets boards that way but he has to be one of the worst rim protectors in the league. I suspect he was last season amongst starting Centers. I know people would remark about Len being our best rim protector according to advanced stats and that alone should have been a sign of how done Tyson is. Hopefully he helps in practice with Ayton because I worry he's a bad influence as far as Ayton watching him just his reach rather than leaving his feet when he "contests" shots.

Ariza did the same thing tonight on D and Chandler was on the floor also which is why it probably bugged me so much. I know, fatigue and altitude but it's game 2.

For as down as some people are, I don't think it was as ugly as some might perceive from this thread. There were quite a few bright spots. It will get better but this is back to earth after game 1.

It only being game two would actually make the fatigue factor more potent. It takes some time for players to completely get their legs under then in the season. That is largely due to the small amount of time they have for training camp and preseason.

 

[Carolinacacti]

Thank god Chandler will be gone next year. Maybe all the Vets should go except Warren. Should have traded Jackson when they could have, I do like his hustle

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

Thank god Chandler will be gone next year. Maybe all the Vets should go except Warren. Should have traded Jackson when they could have, I do like his hustle

Good god. Can JJ just have a good chunk of games where he is actually playing in some semblance of a real offence before people give up on him? He had a long stretch of solid play last year with no real help around him and with seemingly no real offensive system. This year we at least appear to have a decent system in place and it will take a while for everyone on the team to get it down completely.

 

[devilalum]

You guys are bipolar.

The Suns are not as good as the first game or as bad as the second. They're somewhere in between and are just starting out with 9 new players and a new coach.

Take a Prozac and relax. Its all about the ride not the destination.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

You guys are bipolar.

The Suns are not as good as the first game or as bad as the second. They're somewhere in between and are just starting out with 9 new players and a new coach.

Take a Prozac and relax. Its all about the ride not the destination.

Exactly. I would expect it will likely be about half the season before we start to see real consistency from this team and even then they may not execute well every game.

 

[Carolinacacti]

give up on him

I'm sorry hated the pick and never have given him a chance.