The "what went wrong" thread. Darksiders come on in.

[Covert Rain]

Saric was no world beater, but he absolutely would have been a help, even minimally, against Giannis. As Steve said, we lost the last 3 games by an average of 5 points. Even a scrub like Saric could have affected that outcome.

If that is the case I guess Frank would have won it for us had he been used more.

 

[Mainstreet]

Saric has no lateral speed. Giannis would have drove around him at the top of the key and get by him no problem. Plus, Monty never seemed to have patience with Saric. Seemed like when he picked up a quick couple fouls he would be out.

Saric would have been integral to building a wall to stop Giannis.

The Suns could have funneled the drives by Giannis into a planted Saric.

Saric was a key rotation player all season for the Suns.

 

[Covert Rain]

Saric would have been integral to building a wall to stop Giannis.

The Suns could have funneled the drives by Giannis into a planted Saric.

It’s not like Saric could park in the paint or that Giannis wouldn’t have kicked out to his shooters. That would have left Saric having to rotate out on a shooter on a kick out. No thanks.

 

[Chaplin]

If that is the case I guess Frank would have won it for us had he been used more.

"Won it for us"? Come on. You're better than that Covert. And at the time, Saric was twice the player as Frank.

 

[Hoop Head]

If that is the case I guess Frank would have won it for us had he been used more.

The difference between Saric and Frank is Saric was capable of playing with Ayton while Frank really wasn't, especially on defense.

I do think Frank should have been used more than he was though.

 

[Covert Rain]

The difference between Saric and Frank is Saric was capable of playing with Ayton while Frank really wasn't, especially on defense.

I do think Frank should have been used more than he was though.

We all did. The forums was lit for calls to get him off the bench but Monty was being Monty.

 

[Mainstreet]

It’s not like Saric could park in the paint or that Giannis wouldn’t have kicked out to his shooters. That would have left Saric having to rotate out on a shooter on a kick out. No thanks.

You are acting like Saric would be guarding Giannis one-on-one. Getting Giannis to kick the ball out or take a bad shot is what you want in that series.

Although Saric was never the most mobile player, the ACL injury considerably slowed him down. Also, Saric played the game with his brain as well.

 

[Hoop Head]

We all did. The forums was lit for calls to get him off the bench but Monty was being Monty.

And the forum was also celebrating a title after game 1. The forum isn't always right.

 

[Covert Rain]

You are acting like Saric would be guarding Giannis one-on-one. Getting Giannis to kick the ball out or take a bad shot is what you want in that series.

Although Saric was never the most mobile player, the ACL injury considerably slowed him down. Also, Saric played the game with his brain as well.

The knock on Saric has always been his lateral movement. It just got worse with injury.

 

[Covert Rain]

And the forum was also celebrating a title after game 1. The forum isn't always right.

I don’t recall that at all. I don’t remember in mass this forum celebrating after game 1.

 

[Cheesebeef]

That wasn’t the entire issue though. The Suns had trouble breaking up the double teams and taking Booker off the dribble. They were also disrupting the midrange by keeping a guy that would drop. Monty couldn’t figure that out either. Saric was not the difference maker.

our offense lit the bucks on fire the first two games. Giannis had 42/15/7 in Game 2 and we still won going away.

But then, the bucks totally adjusted their defense. started hounding CP3 full court and closed out on the corners pretty much shutting Cam and Bridges completely down. And games got tighter and sadly, Booker couldn’t finish, as is the case more often than anyone here would like to admit in the playoffs.

We NEVER figured out the offensive adjustment to the Bucks and that’s why they ripped off 4 straight. Not because we lost Saric.

 

[Mainstreet]

The knock on Saric has always been his lateral movement. It just got worse with injury.

Saric anchored the Suns bench rotation.

Watching Olympic basketball, one learns that in international play it's not all about athleticism. Saric brought the same smartness to the Suns with strong fundamentals.

 

[Covert Rain]

our offense lit the bucks on fire the first two games. Giannis had 42/15/7 in Game 2 and we still won going away.

But then, the bucks totally adjusted their defense. started hounding CP3 full court and closed out on the corners pretty much shutting Cam and Bridges completely down. And games got tighter and sadly, Booker couldn’t finish, as is the case more often than anyone here would like to admit in the playoffs.

We NEVER figured out the offensive adjustment to the Bucks and that’s why they ripped off 4 straight. Not because we lost Saric.

This.

 

[Cheesebeef]

The injuries to CP3, CamP and Devin hurt even more than the loss of Saric. And there's not much to figure out when you don't have a guard that can drive anymore. And while Saric was never what I'd call a difference maker, the difference between us and Milwaukee might well have been offset by even what little Dario brings to the game. Those last 3 losses were by a total of 15 points.

The phantom injuries and Covid excuses have to stop. Especially with Book. No one said jack squat about a hammy issue when he had 40 in Game 5 but still got stripped at the end of the game. And it’s a convenient excuse to blame his bad Game 6 performance on a bad hammy… only inconvenienced by the FACT that he immediately flew to China for the Olympics AND IMMEDIATELY STARTED PLAYING. Someone with a bad hammy doesn’t do that.

 

[AzStevenCal]

If that is the case I guess Frank would have won it for us had he been used more.

Maybe but Dario had played well in the first game, I can't recall Frank ever playing well against the Bucks.

Anyway, I'm not trying to say we were robbed or the better team, I'm just talking about why we won the first two games and then lost the next 4. Milwaukee was missing a player or two also. But our fortune changed in that series because our season long good injury luck went south in the playoffs, hitting a new low in that series.

 

[GatorAZ]

Momentum shifted in the Bucks playoff series with Giannis attacking the interior with Saric out. The Suns didn't have many interior options, although they might have used Kaminsky more, but I doubt it would have worked.

Momentum shifted in the finals the healthier Giannis got. He basically suffered the Paul George injury a week before our series and he missed two games in their conference finals series. I knew he was back when he had that insane block on the alley-oop attempt to Ayton.

 

[Sparky16]

Momentum shifted in the finals the healthier Giannis got. He basically suffered the Paul George injury a week before our series and he missed two games in their conference finals series. I knew he was back when he had that insane block on the alley-oop attempt to Ayton.

Put $ on DA getting traded, he would probably be worth less than zero after next year

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

our offense lit the bucks on fire the first two games. Giannis had 42/15/7 in Game 2 and we still won going away.

But then, the bucks totally adjusted their defense. started hounding CP3 full court and closed out on the corners pretty much shutting Cam and Bridges completely down. And games got tighter and sadly, Booker couldn’t finish, as is the case more often than anyone here would like to admit in the playoffs.

We NEVER figured out the offensive adjustment to the Bucks and that’s why they ripped off 4 straight. Not because we lost Saric.

Yup. Montys inability to adjust against effective defenses did us in two years in a row.

 

[Carolinacacti]

Yup, and that is what scares me the most. This team could use those picks to supply a bench until they are ready to develop into starters but they are completely screwed now.

This is so wrong. LA was completely screwed and wang bang their back. Suns are fine, just go get some of OKC players they can't keep.