Suns @ Nuggets Sunday game thread 12-25-2022 (Christmas Night)

[Phrazbit]

Ayton had 6 turnovers.

At least 2 of those came because Ayton got a board, the rest of a team bolted in transition while he had 3 guys trying to rip the ball away. They've got to give him a hand in those spots and give him an easy out.

 

[95pro]

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

This is from the Finals 4 years ago. They overturned a KD charge on LeBron to a block. Same thing happened tonight. Watched the first half and last 6 minutes. CP3 doesn’t have it anymore. He needs to come off the bench when Cam Payne is healthy. Our offense just hasn’t been right since he came back back.

Ayton…..stop bringing the ball down. He has hands of stone. Bridges as we’re seeing doesn’t have the mental fortitude down the stretch. It’s a miracle we were even that close and it took Landry Shamet going berserk. This team needs to find itself and find itself fast because without Book, it’s gonna be a drag to win these close games.

Weird because Shamet was obviously and very clearly not in the restricted. But I can see how this rule becomes useful for the refs.

 

[GatorAZ]

Weird because Shamet was obviously and very clearly not in the restricted. But I can see how this rule becomes useful for the refs.

Clearly a loophole to correct bad calls. Shamet’s right leg was sliding as Gordon went up. Tough final sequence for Shamet who was the Suns best player tonight.

 

[Cheesebeef]

There’s only one person in the NBA who can successfully stop DA - Monty Williams

You live in a fantasy land. He got ANNIHILATED by Jokic tonight and tires after halftime.

Also, another great performance from our potential 20 ppg all defensive team blowhard. Throw some more 3-ball signals the next time you hit a big shot Bridges.

Which has been never so far in your career.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Over the summer, People were indignant about trading Bridges for KD STRAIGHT UP.

And were still saying they wouldn’t include him for Siakam.

We ALL watch a TON of Suns basketball, but sometimes I truly wonder what some of you guys are doing while you’re watching these games.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

BRidges may be the least clutch sun ever. And we’ve had lots of unclutch suns. And I want to hear again how he’s a 20pt/game scorer. What a joke. He’s getting worse.

Ayton could’ve ended game with the FT he missed. And yeah, the dude still has ZERO handles as I’ve been saying . . . well . . . forever. Also this: I’ve never seen an athletic 7-footer get the ball on the run with a clear path to basket wuss out like he did tonight when he got blocked by I think Murray. Soooooooft. And he let jokic just go ham on him 41/15/15.

Paul doesn’t have it anymore. He’s an average to slightly above average player at this point.

Craig gives his all every game. Lee and shamet played really well tonight.

Booker came back too soon. This is twice now. You can’t keep playing yo-yo here. He’s got to sit for awhile. Yeah this team is gonna take some beatings because there’s no real stars left on it. And apparently - judging from Monty’s pregame words - the heart left with mcgee and crowder.

Unless this team is full healthy and all in love with each other it has no shot at anything substantial any longer. And monty is done imo. He’s taken them as far as he could take them. He’s a good, not great, coach.

 

[Finito]

I passed out it was a long day. These 8:30 games kill me. I’m so damn washed.

I don’t think people really understand Joker right now. He’s on another planet. Honestly we might be watching the most skilled big man in the history of the sport. These triple doubles he’s putting up in the modern era are unheard of. He’s the best player in the league and I don’t think it’s really up for debate.

Looking at the box score this was a close game against the 1 seed missing half our damn team. The broadcasters said were missing 50 points out of our line up.

Ayton 22/16 on 50%
Lee 18/8
Shamet 31 on 10/20
Paul 17/16

Shamets trade value has never been higher. DO IT!

Bridges 13 points but I think all 13 came in the 1st.

Lee has been a great surprise. He’s what Monty thought Shamet would be.

 

[DJ Tabooh]

I passed out it was a long day. These 8:30 games kill me. I’m so damn washed.

I don’t think people really understand Joker right now. He’s on another planet. Honestly we might be watching the most skilled big man in the history of the sport. These triple doubles he’s putting up in the modern era are unheard of. He’s the best player in the league and I don’t think it’s really up for debate.

Looking at the box score this was a close game against the 1 seed missing half our damn team. The broadcasters said were missing 50 points out of our line up.

Ayton 22/16 on 50%
Lee 18/8
Shamet 31 on 10/20
Paul 17/16

Shamets trade value has never been higher. DO IT!

Bridges 13 points but I think all 13 came in the 1st.

Lee has been a great surprise. He’s what Monty thought Shamet would be.

Joker is amazing no doubt about that. But as a 2-way player, Giannis, Tatum and Embiid are all better defensively. What he’s doing as basically a point-center is incredibly unique. And with Murray regaining confidence, they’ll be a tough out if they stay healthy.

As we saw last night, Aaron Gordon is their X-factor. Not a great shooter or floor spacer but his ability to defend multiple positions while also getting out in transition as we saw with Landry is still really good.

Obviously I’m Suns all the way but if there is someone that I would cheer for to get outta the west it’d be the Nuggets.

 

[Finito]

Joker is amazing no doubt about that. But as a 2-way player, Giannis, Tatum and Embiid are all better defensively. What he’s doing as basically a point-center is incredibly unique. And with Murray regaining confidence, they’ll be a tough out if they stay healthy.

As we saw last night, Aaron Gordon is their X-factor. Not a great shooter or floor spacer but his ability to defend multiple positions while also getting out in transition as we saw with Landry is still really good.

Obviously I’m Suns all the way but if there is someone that I would cheer for to get outta the west it’d be the Nuggets.

Giannis yes but he’s a damn wrecking ball. They let him get away with everything. Embiid is good but he has serious issues down the stretch every year. Honestly I just don’t see it in Tatum. He’s nice but he was god awful in the finals I think he set the playoff turnover record.

Giannis is the only guy I’d consider over Joker and I’d still pick Joker to start my franchise if I had to pick one player.

Yeah I’m right there with you. I’d be really happy for Denver if they win it all. Those fans have always seemed pretty cool and they’ve always been a class organization.

 

[TJ]

And Monty should have thrown a fit at the refs over that review call... but just sat on his hands as usual.

I'm ready to move on from Monty.

Not ready to get rid of Monty because the injuries/no-shows to key players is challenging, but he has to make a few adjustments. James Jones needs to get that Jae deal done sooner rather than later. Craig’s best value is in the rotation. Mikal should be able to be benched when he plays like garbage.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Those fans have always seemed pretty cool and they’ve always been a class organization.

Especially after Suns In 4 guy took out the lone ********!

 

[Proximo]

Over the summer, People were indignant about trading Bridges for KD STRAIGHT UP.

And were still saying they wouldn’t include him for Siakam.

We ALL watch a TON of Suns basketball, but sometimes I truly wonder what some of you guys are doing while you’re watching these games.

He has obviously had a bad stretch of games recently, but to pretend this is the norm is really dishonest if you truly watch a lot of Suns basketball.

Also I have never said I would not trade Bridges for KD straight up, I would.

What I have said is I don't want to do it, and I still don't. But if that was a real possibility the Suns would have to do it. What you can't seem to grasp is he is my favorite player and I am biased, I want to continue to be able to watch him play, but me saying so has no effect on anything other than apparently pissing you off.

 

[Proximo]

This game sounds puzzling. The Suns seem to have played competitively, and might have won if Landry Shamet had played Booker's four minutes; but everyone seems unhappy at them anyway.

I was actually pleased with the Suns performance other than the first 6 or 7 minutes of the game. I feel like it was the best they have competed in quite a while, but again they did not come through in the clutch.

 

[Proximo]

I passed out it was a long day. These 8:30 games kill me. I’m so damn washed.

I don’t think people really understand Joker right now. He’s on another planet. Honestly we might be watching the most skilled big man in the history of the sport. These triple doubles he’s putting up in the modern era are unheard of. He’s the best player in the league and I don’t think it’s really up for debate.

Looking at the box score this was a close game against the 1 seed missing half our damn team. The broadcasters said were missing 50 points out of our line up.

Ayton 22/16 on 50%
Lee 18/8
Shamet 31 on 10/20
Paul 17/16

Shamets trade value has never been higher. DO IT!

Bridges 13 points but I think all 13 came in the 1st.

Lee has been a great surprise. He’s what Monty thought Shamet would be.

Why are you looking to trade Shamet when he actually is starting to produce?

Dude has always had talent, his entire problem is mental.

 

[Finito]

Why are you looking to trade Shamet when he actually is starting to produce?

Dude has always had talent, his entire problem is mental.

7 years in and he’s had 3 really good games history shows us he’ll be right back to where he was pretty soon

 

[Proximo]

7 years in and he’s had 3 really good games history shows us he’ll be right back to where he was pretty soon

Or, he becomes a productive player from now on. Kinda like Cam Payne or Clarkson or Seth Curry. There is actually a lot more potential upside on holding onto him and hoping this becomes the norm than selling at the first sign of a turnaround.

You must be one of those guys that buys a stock holds for years and when it just gets over your original buy price you sell it quick and then proceed to miss out on 10X your money.

The guy is actually a great shooter, he just has a habit of taking bad shots. That is not a problem that cannot be overcome. He also is a good ball handler, and pretty decent defender for his size.

I don't understand why you think a GM is suddenly going to be "fooled" by his recent performance, but you aren't. They are going to be every bit as skeptical.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Or, he becomes a productive player from now on. Kinda like Cam Payne or Clarkson or Seth Curry. There is actually a lot more potential upside on holding onto him and hoping this becomes the norm than selling at the first sign of a turnaround.

You must be one of those guys that buys a stock holds for years and when it just gets over your original buy price you sell it quick and then proceed to miss out on 10X your money.

The guy is actually a great shooter, he just has a habit of taking bad shots. That is not a problem that cannot be overcome. He also is a good ball handler, and pretty decent defender for his size.

I don't understand why you think a GM is suddenly going to be "fooled" by his recent performance, but you aren't. They are going to be every bit as skeptical.

Yeah, if there's a buyer out there that's going to give us close to "Shamet on his good days" value then fine, move him. But right not he's probably valued at slightly above trade filler so I see no gain in giving up on him now.

 

[Dr. Jones]

Wow.... what a deflating watch.

We are making it much easier for the new owner to blow this up. God I hate Ayton roughly 65% of the time. That break/pass/jam miss just embodies everything I hate about his game. Meanwhile, Jokic just owns his ass all night.

We just have to weather this storm and hope our guys come back soon. DLee can't be counted on all year to be this hot and Landry maybe has 5 more games before he reverts back to his normal tissue soft self.

Meanwhile I ponder........ Will the Wizards sweep us this season?

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Why are you looking to trade Shamet when he actually is starting to produce?

Dude has always had talent, his entire problem is mental.

Becasue that’s what good GMs do. Maximize value. This isn’t a rookie that’s finally developed. This is a multi-year vet that has been bad-to-inconsistent at best. To think he’s suddenly emerged in his fifth season when all his stats are basically the same across all five seasons is a little kooky. That said, despite his recent two game explosion I don’t think anyone really wants him or would give anything of value for him so who cares.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Or, he becomes a productive player from now on. Kinda like Cam Payne or Clarkson or Seth Curry. There is actually a lot more potential upside on holding onto him and hoping this becomes the norm than selling at the first sign of a turnaround.

You must be one of those guys that buys a stock holds for years and when it just gets over your original buy price you sell it quick and then proceed to miss out on 10X your money.

The guy is actually a great shooter, he just has a habit of taking bad shots. That is not a problem that cannot be overcome. He also is a good ball handler, and pretty decent defender for his size.

I don't understand why you think a GM is suddenly going to be "fooled" by his recent performance, but you aren't. They are going to be every bit as skeptical.

A good shooter who takes bad shots makes his shooting less valuable.

I’d say his defense isn’t anything to be excited or upset about. It’s meh.

And his ballhandling is like carters - it’s window dressing. He goes nowhere with it. It’s not good enough to make him an actual weapon when dribbling. Lots of behind the back and between the legs to end up in exactly the same place he started . . . well guarded.

 

[Carolinacacti]

I stayed up till 2am to watch this ugh. Considering I thought it was going to be a blow out I was happy. To bad most people on the board are scrooges.......

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

I stayed up till 2am to watch this ugh. Considering I thought it was going to be a blow out I was happy. To bad most people on the board are scrooges.......

I dunno what to tell you if you enjoyed pissing away an 8 point lead, with multiple opportunities to salt it away, with 5:30 remaining. Some of us don’t enjoy losing. Who cares what expectations were at the start of the game? Those should change with the evolution of the game. This was a game there for the taking. And they gave it away. They had an 80% win probability (according to espn) with 1:46 to play and lost.

 

[Western Font]

Bridges is my guy and Durant isn’t. KD is an all-time great but I don’t much like him, and I don’t want Bridges traded for him straight up or in a package.

Wanting to cheer for players you like on a team you love isn’t some incomprehensible thing. At a certain point you might as well just cheer for a different contender every year.

 

[Chaplin]

Wow.... what a deflating watch.

We are making it much easier for the new owner to blow this up. God I hate Ayton roughly 65% of the time. That break/pass/jam miss just embodies everything I hate about his game. Meanwhile, Jokic just owns his ass all night.

We just have to weather this storm and hope our guys come back soon. DLee can't be counted on all year to be this hot and Landry maybe has 5 more games before he reverts back to his normal tissue soft self.

Meanwhile I ponder........ Will the Wizards sweep us this season?

While you have a point with the rest of your post, I'm tired of the "Ayton sucks because Jokic owned him" narrative. Jokic owns everybody. Even his close peers like Embiid. The guy is a machine.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Bridges is my guy and Durant isn’t. KD is an all-time great but I don’t much like him, and I don’t want Bridges traded for him straight up or in a package.

Wanting to cheer for players you like on a team you love isn’t some incomprehensible thing. At a certain point you might as well just cheer for a different contender every year.

Sorry, that last point is ridiculous. It isn’t some incomprehensible thing to want to cheer for a team that actually has a chance to win a title. This team’s window has shut with guys like Bridges and Ayton not taking steps forward to become the stars the team drafted them to be. KD would have improved those chances.

I mean, let’s go back in time… were you angry when the Suns traded Horny for Barkley? Should the fans who loved that trade have just cheered for someone else when it didn’t happen.

You can love watching our guys and lose. That’s your perogative and I won’t begrudge you. Won’t understand it, but won’t tell you not to. But when you basically tell the fans who’d rather rather win and upgrade at the cost of “our” guys they should go cheer for another team, well, then your questioning our fandom and that’s garbage. Period.