Suns @ Timberwolves Sunday game thread 2-28-2021

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

KAT would thrive in a Chris Bosh-type role on LeBron’s Miami Heat teams. Third wheel, who doesn’t really have to play defense, but can get timely field goals and be sneaky from outside and sometimes, pour it on when others are struggling.

Except Bosh was actually a pretty fait defender once he joined the heat from my recollection.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Ayton with 22-10 in 25 minutes. Towns with 21-10 in 33 minutes. I am good with that. One game at a time.

 

[Carolinacacti]

If your going to have a beef on this game it would be the 16 turnovers. 4 on Paul and I think 3 where in a row. Crowder OMG

 

[ColdPickleNachos]

If your going to have a beef on this game it would be the 16 turnovers. 4 on Paul and I think 3 where in a row. Crowder OMG

Yeah...It felt like there were more reckless passes by the Suns in this game than any I can remember from this season. Luckily, the talent disparity made it a moot point.

 

[Chaplin]

All I’m saying, and I’m the bad guy here, is that in a game we struggled for three quarters, we need more than 12 good minutes of play from Ayton.

We were just awful for 3 quarters. Glad we win, but you can’t simply ignore that.

 

[taz02]

Ayton led the team in rebounds and was second in scoring on 9 of 11 shooting. Smith, Crowder, Carter, Payne and Moore went for 0-14 in 55 min. Ayton wasn’t perfect but he isn’t the reason the suns struggled in this game.

 

[Mainstreet]

Saric was very effective in only 16 minutes scoring 13 points on 5-7 shooting. He had 3 rebounds.

 

[Chaplin]

Ayton led the team in rebounds and was second in scoring on 9 of 11 shooting. Smith, Crowder, Carter, Payne and Moore went for 0-14 in 55 min. Ayton wasn’t perfect but he isn’t the reason the suns struggled in this game.

No and I never accused him of such. But he and CP3 are the top 2 players that need to step up when we ARE struggling. He finally did it, but it took 3 quarters to do it.

And it isn’t normal either. He normally doesn’t step up, and that is the problem.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

All I’m saying, and I’m the bad guy here, is that in a game we struggled for three quarters, we need more than 12 good minutes of play from Ayton.

We were just awful for 3 quarters. Glad we win, but you can’t simply ignore that.

I don’t disagree.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

The game is being replayed at noon so I can watch it. Hard to complain about anything being 1 game out of second in the conference before the All Star break

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Suns move to #3 in the NBA in the Athletics power rankings.

 

[95pro]

Aytons scoring stats are efficient, but we need to see more than a jump shot or fadeaway when he's 4+ feet away from the basket. He's getting better at putting the ball in for a dunk, using pump/head fakes. Before he'd just toss the ball right back out.

Kat looks like crap, covid hasn't been nice to him. He looks bigger and has some conditioning to do.

Edwards from the Wolves looks like a keeper, he kept trying to dunk but suns actually stopped him from jamming on them.

Jalen Smith, could have at least hit the rim. Maybe its the eyes? Lasik? Goggles? Idk, but he shouldn't miss that bad.

Rubio is like eh, the Wolves roster is g-league. Jake Layman would look good on our bench though.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Suns move to #3 in the NBA in the Athletics power rankings.

I would not put them above the Lakers or Nets right now. If they can make noise this week, maybe next week they could move into the top three. It really should be about standings.

 

[AzStevenCal]

That's a fallacy. He had only 2 at halftime.

It's not a fallacy. Yes he had only 2 at halftime but he (and Booker) both picked up 2 fouls and went to the bench with minutes remaining in the first quarter. Prior to that Ayton was playing smart and hard. He backed off a bit after that but all told, I'm happy with the game he played. I was especially impressed by his willingness to match Kat's physicality early on, he hasn't usually done this.

 

[Cheesebeef]

It's not a fallacy. Yes he had only 2 at halftime but he (and Booker) both picked up 2 fouls and went to the bench with minutes remaining in the first quarter. Prior to that Ayton was playing smart and hard. He backed off a bit after that but all told, I'm happy with the game he played. I was especially impressed by his willingness to match Kat's physicality early on, he hasn't usually done this.

watched the game with Ouchie and we commented on the same thing. There was fight in that dog last night from the jump. Exactly what we are begging to see from him night in and night out.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

It's not a fallacy. Yes he had only 2 at halftime but he (and Booker) both picked up 2 fouls and went to the bench with minutes remaining in the first quarter. Prior to that Ayton was playing smart and hard. He backed off a bit after that but all told, I'm happy with the game he played. I was especially impressed by his willingness to match Kat's physicality early on, he hasn't usually done this.

I agree. I was really surprised how much the refs were allowing them to beat on each other. It was like watching WWF.

 

[Suns_fan69]

One subtle but encouraging thing was early in the game, Ayton got the ball at the elbow as he often does. Instead of just looking immediately for someone to pass to, he squared up and got in a triple threat position, even taking a jab step (IIRC). He ended up giving the ball to Book coming off a screen but even that simple action made the defense have to engage.

So often he gets that ball and the defense just knows he's not a threat so they sag off him or overplay passing lanes.

Edit* Found it:

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[Chaplin]

It's not a fallacy. Yes he had only 2 at halftime but he (and Booker) both picked up 2 fouls and went to the bench with minutes remaining in the first quarter. Prior to that Ayton was playing smart and hard. He backed off a bit after that but all told, I'm happy with the game he played. I was especially impressed by his willingness to match Kat's physicality early on, he hasn't usually done this.

I'll just have to be the bad guy on this then.

I loved that we won, and loved the aggressiveness he showed for about 12 minutes. The rest of it? We shouldn't have been in a position for a) having to turn it on in the 4th quarter and b) Book having to score 41 points.

Ayton shouldn't get a free pass because we won and he played well for about a 1/3 of the minutes he normally plays. That's not going to be good enough against better competition.

 

[Dr. Jones]

Ayton putting it on KAT tonight

Really good game by DA. You could see from the jump that he was bodying KAT and engaged. Solid D all game and helped close on O in the fourth.

Not sure if this has been mentioned, but Ayton's playng like he's tired of hearing those KAT for Ayton trade rumors.

Trade them for each other NOW!

 

[Finito]

Trade them for each other NOW!

In a heart beat

 

[Finito]

I'll just have to be the bad guy on this then.

I loved that we won, and loved the aggressiveness he showed for about 12 minutes. The rest of it? We shouldn't have been in a position for a) having to turn it on in the 4th quarter and b) Book having to score 41 points.

Ayton shouldn't get a free pass because we won and he played well for about a 1/3 of the minutes he normally plays. That's not going to be good enough against better competition.

oh god

 

[AzStevenCal]

Trade them for each other NOW!

In a heart beat

I think it would go down as one of our worst trades ever.

 

[Hoop Head]

I think it would go down as one of our worst trades ever.

Would you rather pay Ayton the max or KAT?

I think if you're paying that much, KAT is more likely to earn the contract than Ayton. Signing Ayton to the max scares me. It could be one of the worst contracts in franchise history.

 

[Chaplin]

oh god

What about my post do you disagree with?

 

[AzStevenCal]

Would you rather pay Ayton the max or KAT?

I think if you're paying that much, KAT is more likely to earn the contract than Ayton. Signing Ayton to the max scares me. It could be one of the worst contracts in franchise history.

They are both risks when it comes to max deals (and for similar reasons) but Ayton plays both ends of the court (sometimes). The big advantage on the Kat side is the Booker connection but unless that's a make or break issue, I'd rather have the inconsistent but sometimes elite defender who is almost 3 years younger.