Suns Off-season Thread

[leclerc]

I think Ayton's made great strides but I too want to see a more aggressive playing style where he goes up strong/for the jam, especially when he's got a mouse guarding him.

 

[Finito]

But you have to have a base of aggressiveness to even consider developing the skill. He clearly doesn’t. Btw, in case you haven’t noticed, now your blaming Monty for Ayton’s lack of aggressiveness. First it’s the refs fault, then it’s the fault of the game in general today, and now it’s Monty’s fault. When are you actually willing to look at a 6’11 next level athlete and hold him accountable?

My stance has never changed. I mentioned Monty in my very first post responding to you.

We rank 29th out of 30 when it comes to free throws a game as a team. That right there tells you Monty doesn’t stress an aggressive style of basketball.

It’s like Amare being a horrible defender and rebounder. I don’t blame him at all. I blame D’Antoni. You have a raw lump of clay you need to mold. Don’t get mad when he does what you’ve taught him to do.

 

[Carolinacacti]

My stance has never changed. I mentioned Monty in my very first post responding to you.

We rank 29th out of 30 when it comes to free throws a game as a team. That right there tells you Monty doesn’t stress an aggressive style of basketball.

It’s like Amare being a horrible defender and rebounder. I don’t blame him at all. I blame D’Antoni. You have a raw lump of clay you need to mold. Don’t get mad when he does what you’ve taught him to do.

Booker should have gotten more free throws. But the Suns are a three point shooting team and it is what it is.

Ayton is undefendable with his play. Their was a time the Suns needed him to not foul out but not last year or the coming year..........
He better -=0=-0- kill it this year.

 

[Finito]

Booker should have gotten more free throws. But the Suns are a three point shooting team and it is what it is.

Ayton is undefendable with his play. Their was a time the Suns needed him to not foul out but not last year or the coming year..........
He better -=0=-0- kill it this year.

We are not a 3 point shooting team at all we are a mid range team and that makes it even more strange

 

[AzStevenCal]

My stance has never changed. I mentioned Monty in my very first post responding to you.

We rank 29th out of 30 when it comes to free throws a game as a team. That right there tells you Monty doesn’t stress an aggressive style of basketball.

It’s like Amare being a horrible defender and rebounder. I don’t blame him at all. I blame D’Antoni. You have a raw lump of clay you need to mold. Don’t get mad when he does what you’ve taught him to do.

First off, Amare wasn't a horrible rebounder, that's pure myth started or at least enhanced by a casual comment by Barkley. He should have been better on the boards but he was far from horrible at it.

As for Amare's poor defense, IMO that's mostly on Amare. They had him trying to play defense early on but he kept picking up early fouls whenever he tried which had him spending more time on the bench than he wanted. You can't get your slam dunks on ESPN all the time if you're not out there slamming. I blame the coaching staff for allowing him to prioritize his ego over the team's needs but when you have a special talent like he was, it's understandable.

And I don't think you can look at our free throw ranking without at least realizing that part of our low ranking is Ayton's unwillingness to draw contact. I think more is being made of it than should be but he clearly tries to avoid contact. So, big deal, he's not perfect.

IMO he can still become a generational player even without becoming noticably more aggressive. Just feeding him more will give the refs more opportunities to send him to the line. If I could change just one thing about his game, it would be his occasional lack of focus leading to fumbled passes and mishandled rebounds not to mention turnovers. Fix that, and he's eaasily in the argument for best center in the game even if nothing else about his game improves.

 

[Mainstreet]

My stance has never changed. I mentioned Monty in my very first post responding to you.

We rank 29th out of 30 when it comes to free throws a game as a team. That right there tells you Monty doesn’t stress an aggressive style of basketball.

It’s like Amare being a horrible defender and rebounder. I don’t blame him at all. I blame D’Antoni. You have a raw lump of clay you need to mold. Don’t get mad when he does what you’ve taught him to do.

Some of that is on the players too, as the Suns settle for a lot of mid-range shots when they could focus more on getting the ball inside.

The Suns could use a more physical presence at power forward and another shot creator.

 

[Finito]

Some of that is on the players too, as the Suns settle for a lot of mid-range shots when they could focus more on getting the ball inside.

The Suns could use a more physical presence at power forward and another shot creator.

I forget who it was breaking down teams but the argument was that the Suns can’t win a championship because we don’t shoot 3s and we don’t get layups pretty much nothing is easy for us.

 

[Mainstreet]

I forget who it was breaking down teams but the argument was that the Suns can’t win a championship because we don’t shoot 3s and we don’t get layups pretty much nothing is easy for us.

Suns need to punish a team when they collapse on defense.

I'm not sure if they have the shooters to do it consistently from 3-point range.

 

[GatorAZ]

Society peaked on this day:
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[Cheesebeef]

Society peaked on this day:
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Up 2-0… in the Finals… on my birthday. Man… so close.

 

[boisesuns]

Society peaked on this day:
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Ouch.

 

[Superbone]

I thought it was finally happening.

 

[DJ Tabooh]

I forget who it was breaking down teams but the argument was that the Suns can’t win a championship because we don’t shoot 3s and we don’t get layups pretty much nothing is easy for us.

Especially when we don’t shoot a lot of free throws. We’re a midrange team in a game that nowadays analytically, are some of the worst shots. Everyone nowadays preaches at the rim layups/dunks or threes.

We’re gonna need Mikal to take a leap offensively. He can disappear at times especially when CP3 and Book control so much of the offense. But the games where he scores less than 10 points can’t happen as frequently as they still do.

If he can get to 40% from three and get a little better with the ball in his hands, that would pay huge dividends for us this season.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Especially when we don’t shoot a lot of free throws. We’re a midrange team in a game that nowadays analytically, are some of the worst shots. Everyone nowadays preaches at the rim layups/dunks or threes.

We’re gonna need Mikal to take a leap offensively. He can disappear at times especially when CP3 and Book control so much of the offense. But the games where he scores less than 10 points can’t happen as frequently as they still do.

If he can get to 40% from three and get a little better with the ball in his hands, that would pay huge dividends for us this season.

40 from 3 would make him close to the best shooter in the league. That’s asking a lot. I just want him get better with handles.

Since we basically stood Pat, it’s imperative that both Ayton and Bridges don’t just take a step forward this season but a BIG step each. For Bridges that means being able to create off the dribble. For Ayton, that means playing with force consistently. He just got a MAX deal based off his overall solid play and stretches really showing his enormous potential. This is his fifth year. It’s time to start living up to it game in, game out… which is going to require both Ayton AND Monty to truly figure out how utilize the natural gifts he’s brings to the court.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I thought it was finally happening.

Yeah, so did I. Completely. I was so sure it was happening, that part of me thinks that this idea it didn't happen is all part of some alternate history I'm being forced to live through.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Yeah, so did I. Completely. I was so sure it was happening, that part of me thinks that this idea it didn't happen is all part of some alternate history I'm being forced to live through.

Yeah… I was telling friends this was finally it and I was so confident that I wasn’t worried that there was any way saying such could possibly jinx us.

Dumb.

 

[Mainstreet]

I don't like to look back at previous visits to the Finals except to learn from past mistakes.

 

[Cheesebeef]

For some reason last week, I watched big chunks of Game 4 Suns Bulls, where we were right on the verge of stunning the Bulls for the second time in a row in Chicago. They have us down most of the game but we just keep coming at them. MJ’s got 52 but he is doing everything and after Game 3’s triple OT thriller, there’s the slightest bit of doubt creeping in. They have a mini run to boost a 4 point lead and go up 10 with 3 minutes… but we just keep coming. Cut to the lead to 4 and After Chambers somehow misses a damn dunk, KJ runs a perfect pick and roll where Chuck fills the lane for a dunk that put us down 2. Then Chick comes up with a huge steal on a cross court pass, gets it up to KJ, throws it to Majerle for a layup that Pippen makes a great slap at the ball knocking it out of bounds. But we are COMING. The Bulls look like it, the crowd and announcers feel it.

We have the ball, 40 seconds left… and we boof the damn inbounds pass to KJ!!! It’s a MINDNUMBINGLY AWFUL MISTAKE. Ball turns over, leading to Jordan’s 3 point play (and 55 points) against Barkley to seal it with 13 seconds left, giving them a 3-1 lead, instead of tying up the series 2-2. Ugh. UGHHHHH!!!!

Watching that and 1993 Game 6 still burns much hotter and deeper than the 2021 Finals collapse and always will.

 

[JCSunsfan]

For some reason last week, I watched big chunks of Game 4 Suns Bulls, where we were right on the verge of stunning the Bulls for the second time in a row in Chicago. They have us down most of the game but we just keep coming at them. MJ’s got 52 but he is doing everything and after Game 3’s triple OT thriller, there’s the slightest bit of doubt creeping in. They have a mini run to boost a 4 point lead and go up 10 with 3 minutes… but we just keep coming. Cut to the lead to 4 and After Chambers somehow misses a damn dunk, KJ runs a perfect pick and roll where Chuck fills the lane for a dunk that put us down 2. Then Chick comes up with a huge steal on a cross court pass, gets it up to KJ, throws it to Majerle for a layup that Pippen makes a great slap at the ball knocking it out of bounds. But we are COMING. The Bulls look like it, the crowd and announcers feel it.

We have the ball, 40 seconds left… and we boof the damn inbounds pass to KJ!!! It’s a MINDNUMBINGLY AWFUL MISTAKE. Ball turns over, leading to Jordan’s 3 point play (and 55 points) against Barkley to seal it with 13 seconds left, giving them a 3-1 lead, instead of tying up the series 2-2. Ugh. UGHHHHH!!!!

Watching that and 1993 Game 6 still burns much hotter and deeper than the 2021 Finals collapse and always will.

Yep. BBAll mattered more to me then.

 

[Hoop Head]

Kemba is better than Elfrid, even with his bum knees. Kind of odd if we land another starting PG from the Knicks to be our 3rd string PG.

Phoenix Suns linked to point guard Kemba Walker as potential free agent signing

Would Kemba Walker be a good fit with the Phoenix Suns, should he become available in NBA free agency?

www.azcentral.com

 

[Chaplin]

Kemba is better than Elfrid, even with his bum knees. Kind of odd if we land another starting PG from the Knicks to be our 3rd string PG.

Phoenix Suns linked to point guard Kemba Walker as potential free agent signing

Would Kemba Walker be a good fit with the Phoenix Suns, should he become available in NBA free agency?

www.azcentral.com

I’d be ok with this, especially if it’s a short non-guaranteed deal.

 

[Hoop Head]

I’d be ok with this, especially if it’s a short non-guaranteed deal.

Its not even really a gamble. As a 3rd string PG Kemba would be more than adequate.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Its not even really a gamble. As a 3rd string PG Kemba would be more than adequate.

That dude is totally shot.

 

[Mainstreet]

I would hope Kemba Walker would be more than adequate as a 3rd point guard for $36,596,549.

No thanks.

 

[Hoop Head]

I would hope Kemba Walker would be more than adequate as a 3rd point guard for $36,596,549.

No thanks.

What are you talking about $36 million? Did you even read the article. He's a free agent and its rumored he might sign a non-guaranteed deal. He'd make the league minimum.