Suns @ Warriors 3-10-19

[Proximo]

I never said I wanted Johnson to be our long term starter - I don't.

Just said he has been good enough - and mostly smart enough - to improve our team enough that we are now winning.

I said it was a good trade at the time, and I think it is a really really good trade now considering the utter garbage we gave up and the amount he has improved the team.

 

[Russ Smith]

Durant went down with a right ankle contusion per ESPN.

It happened at about the 2 minute mark.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26224915/durant-suffers-ankle-contusion-loss-suns


It detracts from coverage of the Suns win.

I think he landed on Bridges foot and they immediately fouled to stop so they could get him off the court.

Didn't look horrible but ankles are usually worse the next day.

 

[Hoop Head]

We can argue Johnson's strengths and weaknesses, but the euphemisms have to stop. It isn't that "he's not a great offensive player." He is a terrible offensive player, and his ball handling is barely better than Booker's.

I don't know what the PG solution is, but Johnson isn't it. This was a great win tonight, but the main reason the Suns won is that the Warriors were terrible from the three-point line. Johnson didn't have anything to do with that.

Russell will get the max from someone and isn't a great fit in Phoenix because he's a low-efficiency combo guard who looks for his own shot first.

McConnell is awful, and should be disqualified for having the same last name as the senator, even if there's no relationship.

The Suns' best hope is to keep their ears open for trades. Maybe Jackson can play well enough over the last few games to become a trade target, but that's asking for a lot.

If Johnson is as bad a ball handler as Booker why isn't he turning the ball over? His shot sucks but he's been an efficient ball handler for us. He's not our PG of the future but he isn't as terrible as you are claiming.

The Warriors weren't shooting well from 3, that's true, but to say Johnson did nothing to contribute to that completely ignores the defense he was playing on Steph. There are 5 guys on the court for both teams though and he wasn't the only good defender but he did guard a 2 time MVP good enough that he didn't torch us or bring the Warriors back into the game towards the end, like he normally does. Did you watch the game?

Again, Johnson isn't the answer long term but as we've seen the Suns can and have done a lot worse. Tyler Johnson is a stop gap option right now. He should not be kept in order to be our starting PG next season but if he's kept to be our backup PG that wouldn't be terrible, in fact we'd probably have the best PG rotation since Dragic and Bledsoe were together 5 years ago. That isn't a high bar but it's much higher than it's been recently.

I don't understand why you feel the need to crap on Johnson's role in tonight's game. No one called him THE difference maker but he did play a good sized role in the Suns win, which is all we can ask for right now.

 

[Mainstreet]

I think he landed on Bridges foot and they immediately fouled to stop so they could get him off the court.

Didn't look horrible but ankles are usually worse the next day.

The injury is unfortunate. Too bad this is the ESPN top story instead of the Suns win.

 

[Suns_fan69]

0 turnovers by Johnson again. I wish he could shoot somewhere approaching league average but having him take care of the ball and play tough nosed defense is huge for the team right now. Not bad for the corpse of Ryan Anderson.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

How does Ayton attempt 19 field goals and zero free throws?

Cause ******** refs

 

[Mainstreet]

0 turnovers by Johnson again. I wish he could shoot somewhere approaching league average but having him take care of the ball and play tough nosed defense is huge for the team right now. Not bad for the corpse of Ryan Anderson.

Ariza for Oubre. Anderson for Johnson.

It's pretty good for an interim GM that does not spend all day on a laptop.

 

[sdscard4]

0 turnovers by Johnson again. I wish he could shoot somewhere approaching league average but having him take care of the ball and play tough nosed defense is huge for the team right now. Not bad for the corpse of Ryan Anderson.

Tenacious D and he handles the ball well. Him allowing book to play off ball has been huge

 

[elindholm]

Did you watch the game?

Yes. Not everyone who asks for rational thinking is slinslin.

I don't understand why you feel the need to crap on Johnson's role in tonight's game.

Someone has an excrement fetish. What I objected to was the multiple posts saying things like "Johnson isn't the greatest shooter." The high of a big win isn't a license to spout nonsense. This team still has a huge hole at PG, and if we're going to talk about their future, I see no advantage in glossing over that.

 

[TJ]

Cause ******** refs

I think Ayton could be more assertive underneath, but he hardly ever gets the benefit of the doubt on fouls. At the end of the game, Draymond was shoving him for a rebound when Ayton had position.

Imagine what his game will look like when he goes to the line 8-10 times per game while hitting 75% of his attempts

 

[Mainstreet]

I think Ayton could be more assertive underneath, but he hardly ever gets the benefit of the doubt on fouls. At the end of the game, Draymond was shoving him for a rebound when Ayton had position.

Imagine what his game will look like when he goes to the line 8-10 times per game while hitting 75% of his attempts

It's amazing the amount the Warriors get away with pushing and shoving.

 

[Cheesebeef]

can I just say one more time how f'n awesome that game was?!

I just watched the 4th quarter again.

It's literally been over a decade since I did anything like that with this team.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Yes. Not everyone who asks for rational thinking is slinslin.



Someone has an excrement fetish. What I objected to was the multiple posts saying things like "Johnson isn't the greatest shooter." The high of a big win isn't a license to spout nonsense. This team still has a huge hole at PG, and if we're going to talk about their future, I see no advantage in glossing over that.

why are you bothering responding? Dude just looks to pick fights. I mean, earlier in this thread when everyone was ecstatic with the win he seemingly tried to preemptively start another one telling people they better not start talking about ruining our draft pick... even though LITERALLY NO ONE was doing this.

 

[SunsTzu]

Igor's odds of being coach next season have probably quadrupled in the last 2 weeks.

And I was wrong about Oubre, he's going to be a pricey resigning. He's been much more consistent than I thought he would be.

Oubre and Bridges should be the 2 guys the team commits to on the wing. If they can help balance out the roster by moving Warren and/or JJ they should definitely look at making a move.

Looking at how much better the team plays with a rotation quality guard next to Booker it's easy to envision how much better the team can be with a legit starting playmaker. Filling the hole at PF would also go a long way.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

0 turnovers by Johnson again. I wish he could shoot somewhere approaching league average but having him take care of the ball and play tough nosed defense is huge for the team right now. Not bad for the corpse of Ryan Anderson.

He is a career 37% 3 point shooter. He just hasn’t gotten it going with the Suns just yet.

 

[BC867]

Rely on Johnson and Morant, or just Johnson, at the point, and we are guaranteed to repeat this debacle of a season, especially if we also stick with Igor as head coach.

The good news is that Johnson is demonstrating that even a marginal NBA Point Guard (compared to our previous alternatives) makes all the difference.

Hopefully, the powers that be will get the message and use that as a stepping stone. Unfortunately, there is also the real possibility that they will lazily consider Johnson or a rookie to be the solution next season.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

What a fantastic win. The defense that this team is capable of is really pretty impressive. If they can keep it up and gain a legit reputation as a defensive team that will result in getting the benefit of the doubt more often and even the bs calls that we complain about against us. Would be such a change of pace for the history of this franchise.

Ayton played big tonight imo. He definitely deserved some calls. Still not entirely sure what to do against a wind in the post, bit hopefully that comes.

Book hero ball needs to go at the end of games. It’s a self-destruction mode and almost was our undoing tonight.

When we win we do it with defense because we just don’t get easy baskets. If tyler Johnson could shoot or if we had a legit pg who could create we would already be a pretty good team. It that this is news to anyone . . . but this is a really big offseason!

 

[Willie D]

this is the first time I've yelled at a Suns game in a LOOOOOOOOOOONG time.

I miss this feeling!

I don't know how long it will last, but it's more than a feeling!

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

 

[Phrazbit]

The good news is that Johnson is demonstrating that even a marginal NBA Point Guard (compared to our previous alternatives) makes all the difference.

Hopefully, the powers that be will get the message and use that as a stepping stone. Unfortunately, there is also the real possibility that they will lazily consider Johnson or a rookie to be the solution next season.

Agreed. Johnson is not a good player, but he is a solid defender and he doesn't try to do too much on offense... which is a drastic change from the has d-league guys we've been running out there.

@Poop Head Johnson limits his turnovers because he isn't trying to be a hero. IMO, Booker is a much better ball handler but he turns the ball over more because he tries to be cute and because he's often the focal point of the defense. It's kinda like the questions about how Holmes seems effective on offense... it's because he doesn't go outside his wheel house... and the defense is often content to ignore him.

Johnson is a big part of the team's upswing, but it's because he has a pulse, he's an actual rotation quality guard, he isn't the answer but he is at least making the question less difficult.

 

[sunsfan88]

The injury is unfortunate. Too bad this is the ESPN top story instead of the Suns win.

It’s ESPN, I wouldn’t expect it any other way.

 

[SirStefan32]

Wow, I got home, watched the first quarter, and almost turned the game off. Holy crap, that defense! Oubre and Johnson have changed this team. Bridges was outstanding too, and even Booker and Ayton played some good defense.
It is so bizarre watching the Suns win games with defense. Booker was a beast in the fourth until he started forcing things too. Give the ball to Johnson and run Thompson through some screens.

Don't know if Johnson is going to be the PG next year, but whoever the point guard is, he needs to be a scrappy defensive player. Same goes for every single veteran that they acquire. This defense has me excited!

 

[NashDishesDimes]

Theyre defense tonight was incredible. I could count on one hand the uncontested 3s which is tough to do with warriors ball movement and long offensive rebounds. They ran them off the line every time.

Only thing i still dont get is why Dragan is seeing an NBA floor let alone starting

 

[Matt L]

I didn't see the game but saw the highlights on YouTube. Do the warriors always look so smug? It looked like they were mean mugging after every play.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Durant went down with a right ankle contusion per ESPN.

It happened at about the 2 minute mark.

It detracts from coverage of the Suns win.

Fortunately it didn't really detract from the win itself as there was only 5 or 6 minutes left when it happened.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Theyre defense tonight was incredible. I could count on one hand the uncontested 3s which is tough to do with warriors ball movement and long offensive rebounds. They ran them off the line every time.

Only thing i still dont get is why Dragan is seeing an NBA floor let alone starting

Because we don't have a real power forward and with TJ out we no longer have a pretend power forward other than Kelly, so we need to make do with what little we have.