Thunder @ Suns Wednesday game thread 1-27-2021

[GoldGloveschmidt]

Monty needs to take the team back from Chris Paul. Paul's offense does not work. You can't play strictly slow paced half court offense for the whole game while the other team uses full court. Our pace is horrendous and Monty needs to be a COACH and tell Paul that he needs to adjust. Was much better with Rubio who actually ran the fast paced, ball movement offense that Monty wants.

 

[Mainstreet]

Until Jalen Smith develops, all the Suns forwards have a small forward game. They are basically shooters.

The only small forward willing and able to consistently drive the ball to the basket is Abdel Nader.

 

[Proximo]

dude the last seven games it’s been oh we could of won is this or that happened fact is we didn’t win because this whole team sucks

i don’t think the team sucks. Almost every loss has been single digits.

it’s more like this team sucks for stretches and too often those stretches are at the end of the game.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Monty needs to take the team back from Chris Paul. Paul's offense does not work. You can't play strictly slow paced half court offense for the whole game while the other team uses full court. Our pace is horrendous and Monty needs to be a COACH and tell Paul that he needs to adjust. Was much better with Rubio who actually ran the fast paced, ball movement offense that Monty wants.

It’s interesting because this offense definitely is not what monty sold last season.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Until Jalen Smith develops, all the Suns forwards have a small forward game. They are basically shooters.

The only small forward willing and able to consistently drive the ball to the basket is Abdel Nader.

So far Jalen has only exhibited a small forward game as well. We haven’t seen him in the post.

 

[Hoop Head]

Monty needs to take the team back from Chris Paul. Paul's offense does not work. You can't play strictly slow paced half court offense for the whole game while the other team uses full court. Our pace is horrendous and Monty needs to be a COACH and tell Paul that he needs to adjust. Was much better with Rubio who actually ran the fast paced, ball movement offense that Monty wants.

Honest!y I think this is the issue and its more apparent now that Booker is out. I thought the same when Book was playing but didn't want to believe it but its painfully obvious now.

 

[Mainstreet]

Needless to say, Monty was very upset after the game.

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[Mainstreet]

So far Jalen has only exhibited a small forward game as well. We haven’t seen him in the post.

One of Jalen's best skills is shooting but he has the ability to play inside. Suns need to work with him on that. He can rebound, block shots and score near the basket.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Paul played "well" because there was no confusion
about which All Star guard was running the team
with Booker out.

If Ayton fulfilled his role on offense, we would have won.

there it is. WE LOST. TO A BAD TEAM. JUST LIKE WE LOST TO BAD TEAMS WITH BOOKER.

your self-fullfilling prophecy is as big of a joke as is your blaming Kobe Bryant for killing eight people.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

We should suspend talk of playoffs until we are back in at least the 8 slot. We suck.

 

[TJ]

Needless to say, Monty was very upset after the game.

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He should be. The team looks very disjointed at times and evaporates big leads faster than I can blink. However, I hope Monty also recognizes that much of it is his coaching and substitutions. Like, why is Langston Galloway not playing? Why is it that when outside shots aren’t falling that they don’t get Ayton involved more? Why does he never use timeouts? Love Monty, but the poo he does can drive me crazy at times.

 

[Mainstreet]

Monty needs to take the team back from Chris Paul. Paul's offense does not work. You can't play strictly slow paced half court offense for the whole game while the other team uses full court. Our pace is horrendous and Monty needs to be a COACH and tell Paul that he needs to adjust. Was much better with Rubio who actually ran the fast paced, ball movement offense that Monty wants.

The problem is, the Suns paid Chris Paul $85 million over two seasons. They knew his game when they traded for him. He is 35 years old. A little too late to say oops.

 

[Mainstreet]

He should be. The team looks very disjointed at times and evaporates big leads faster than I can blink. However, I hope Monty also recognizes that much of it is his coaching and substitutions. Like, why is Langston Galloway not playing? Why is it that when outside shots aren’t falling that they don’t get Ayton involved more? Why does he never use timeouts? Love Monty, but the **** he does can drive me crazy at times.

When the Suns didn't add a more traditional power forward in free agency and then rely upon a former G-League point guard who had some good games in Orlando as a backup, is asking for trouble.

 

[Mainstreet]

Here is Monty postgame.

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[Cheesebeef]

What is ridiculous about knowing who is running the offense? With CP3 not sharing that role,
we were not blown out. And could have won if Ayton played offense.

we scored 97 points and lost to a bad team at home. The offense outside of Paul’s SCORING sucked. I mean, you prattle on about what a pure PG can do and tonight that pure PG had FIVE assists.

“we were not blown out”. I mean... WTF does this have anything to do with anything? We weren’t getting blown out with Booker, We were losing close games with Book and so far we are losing close games without him.

 

[TJ]

Just saw that Jae Crowder chucked 11 threes. Who gave him a Steph Curry green light?

 

[Cheesebeef]

Honest!y I think this is the issue and its more apparent now that Booker is out. I thought the same when Book was playing but didn't want to believe it but its painfully obvious now.

yeah... I’ve been thinking for a while that there was just ZERO offensive flow and it’s the same with or without Booker.

I don’t know how this gets fixed.

 

[Hoop Head]

yeah... I’ve been thinking for a while that there was just ZERO offensive flow and it’s the same with or without Booker.

I don’t know how this gets fixed.

The only offensive flow is when the second unit is in with Paul and Booker on the bench. Monty has them bought in to the .5 offense and they actually got out there and execute it efficiently.

 

[Chaplin]

This green light three chucking for everyone has to stop, especially for Jae Crowder and even if he didn't play tonight, Cam Payne as well. That is a coaching fail, especially if Monty is just letting Chris Paul dictate that it's ok that they keep doing that.

And they do it without any rebounding. Crowder is throwing up shots without anyone down low. Ayton was nowhere around to get offensive rebounds because our guys are shooting so early--basically Chris Paul holds the ball for 15 seconds, throws it to Jae and he chucks it up. That only works for Cam Johnson and, once every 3 games, Mikal Bridges. Not one attempt for a lob by Ayton, no dunks either.

I was happy that Paul was making his shots -- but it is confounding how we can go 40 minutes without any other help. E'Twan Moore getting a bunch of minutes? Why? In the 2nd half, why not insert Galloway when we needed points? Moore might end up being a good piece, but he wasn't tonight. Abdel Nader had a good game, but he can't be the #2 guy. It HAS to be one of Ayton, Bridges and Cam Johnson. That usually means Jae Crowder not bricking 3 point shots all the time.

AND it means Monty Williams needs to stop the bleeding. He didn't take the timeout in the 2nd quarter until OKC tied the game. We were up 17! And he didn't call a timeout until we were TIED?? And then in the 2nd half, we go on a 15-0 run and he takes Chris Paul out. And what happens? OKC starts going on a run. I like Jevon Carter, but if Cam Payne is out, you don't take Chris Paul out in that situation. Maybe he was saving him for tomorrow. Well guess what? We LOST this freaking game. It doesn't really matter. We need a win. And we should have found a way against this team. They are scrappy, sure, but they aren't nearly as talented on paper as we are. The offense is a joke and that's on Monty and CP3.

 

[Chaplin]

The only offensive flow is when the second unit is in with Paul and Booker on the bench. Monty has them bought in to the .5 offense and they actually got out there and execute it efficiently.

In general that may be true, but tonight it wasn't. Our best run was with Chris Paul on the floor, and it evaporated as soon as he left.

 

[Hoop Head]

In general that may be true, but tonight it wasn't. Our best run was with Chris Paul on the floor, and it evaporated as soon as he left.

I almost said when the second unit is being run by Cam Payne but in the games he's missed they've been pretty stagnant also.

I'm not sure how Monty can fix things but I believe the talent is there to turn this around.

 

[95pro]

Coaching, coaching, choaching...

Again, ive complained from almost game 5 or so of the season, whats with the substiution patterns? We went on a huge run in the first and second half so Monty decides to put out our own fire? He substitutes 2-3 guys at a time. I understand we have a lot of turnover of team personnel but why do we keep getting confused on defense? We are just allowing too many layups, Oubre will have a field day today getting to the rim as he has something to prove.

I'm still supportive of Cam but he's got to come off that second unit, he's not cutting it as a starter. I'd be okay with starting Smith or Nader, Smith gives us some height, muscle and aggression while he is also willing to attack on offense, Nader is a bit more seasoned than Cam and also has a nack for slashing, has good length and high IQ. I swear cam sucked at 3pt shooting last night but was 2 for 3, that miss was a big miss, he went 1-5 from 2pt land.

Back to coaching, wtf is Gallo???

CP3 still riding Ayton's arse, can't blame him. I swear Ayton was on ped's, guy just doesnt have the lungs and stamina, hope he doesnt find a Kardashian. If he could just go straight up for some shots or a pump fake here and there. Might also be a coaching issue as well.

I'll give Bridges a break, he usually plays elite D and has been emerging on the offensive end this year BUT lately he's expending more energy on offense and doesn't seem to be a lockdown defender anymore. It'll take time to develop consistent offense while play elite D.

Monty is just too relaxed on the sideline, can the guy get a T for some horrendous calls? Maybe this passive attitude he exudes translates to the court as well. I get it, you're life is based around morals and such but man show some fire every now and then!

 

[taz02]

Monty needs to take the team back from Chris Paul. Paul's offense does not work. You can't play strictly slow paced half court offense for the whole game while the other team uses full court. Our pace is horrendous and Monty needs to be a COACH and tell Paul that he needs to adjust. Was much better with Rubio who actually ran the fast paced, ball movement offense that Monty wants.

And its boring to watch

 

[mjb21aztd]

Pathetic horrible loss this team is not poff caliber and that hurts me to say

I even fell zzz before gm ended and what a shocker another choke job.....

Just so many bad seasons as a az sports fans im frustrated

And even when book comes back problems won't be much better

Wonder if suns can make any trades....

 

[Proximo]

One of Jalen's best skills is shooting but he has the ability to play inside. Suns need to work with him on that. He can rebound, block shots and score near the basket.

Does he? He sure hasn't shown it yet.