Trail Blazers at Suns 10-5-18 (preason)

[CardsSunsDbacks]

One player should not make the difference between competitiveness and historically bad, especially with all of the other lottery picks on the roster. In any event, they look worse without Booker now than they did without Booker last year. This team continues to head in the wrong direction.

When it is by far the best offensive player on your team and one of the best in the league than one player absolutely can make a big difference. Booker is one of the best scorers in the league and probably the best passer on the team. He will and should make a big difference.

 

[SirStefan32]

JJ forgot that Chandler came in for Ayton. That lob was hilarious.

 

[Chaplin]

Apparently most of the board doesn't think it will be a big deal because Devin Booker will be the cure-all savior...

You just don’t get it.

 

[1Sun]

Of course it's going to impact them. That's true of every team in the league. Nash made everyone a lot better, Bledsoe made some players a little better and so on. It doesn't mean players can't be effective, especially once we add our best player to the lineup. And none of our stars are anywhere near the peak so we have youth working against us in addition to weak PGs.

And what do you think a full season of that will do to a team that already has a negative culture from last year? And what will it do to Kokoskov? And what will it do to our free agency prospects in 2019? Who would want to come into such a dysfunctional situation?

 

[Mainstreet]

The Suns are really struggling with their shot, especially Jackson. This contributes to the Suns woes. Can't get assists if the Suns are shooting 28%.

 

[1Sun]

You just don’t get it.

I'm afraid it is you who don't get it. What good free agent point guard in 2019 would want to come to a team that has displayed another season of this? Answer: None. A trade for an NBA level point guard, at any cost, is this team's only hope.

 

[1Sun]

The Suns are really struggling with their shot, especially Jackson. This contributes to the Suns woes. Can't get assists if the Suns are shooting 28%.

Or is it you can't shoot well if you are not getting the proper passes?

 

[Mainstreet]

Canaan with a nice pull-up jumper.

 

[SirStefan32]

I'm afraid it is you who don't get it. What good free agent point guard in 2019 would want to come to a team that has displayed another season of this? Answer: None. A trade for an NBA level point guard, at any cost, is this team's only hope.

Yeah, we are all crazy, and you are the only one who is right.

 

[Mainstreet]

Halftime:

Blazers 51 - Suns 42

 

[AzStevenCal]

Apparently most of the board doesn't think it will be a big deal because Devin Booker will be the cure-all savior...

Sorry but that's just nonsense and more than a little aggravating. Is someone saying we're going to be great when Devin comes back? If so, I haven't seen it. Booker will make us better. How much? Who knows? Most of us are predicting wins in the low to mid 30's, in large part because of our point guards (followed by our youth). We expect to lose games because of our shortcomings at the point, we just don't believe it's going to ruin the careers of the young guys. Or, at least, most of us don't.

 

[ArizonaSportsFan]

Or is it you can't shoot well if you are not getting the proper passes?

What the hell are you seeking? McD does not read this board. Your tirade is quite old. Yes, our PGs suck! Literally EVERYONE here knows this. No one is arguing this with you.

 

[Mainstreet]

Ayton with 10 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks.

 

[1Sun]

Sorry but that's just nonsense and more than a little aggravating. Is someone saying we're going to be great when Devin comes back? If so, I haven't seen it. Booker will make us better. How much? Who knows? Most of us are predicting wins in the low to mid 30's, in large part because of our point guards (followed by our youth). We expect to lose games because of our shortcomings at the point, we just don't believe it's going to ruin the careers of the young guys. Or, at least, most of us don't.

For me, what's aggravating is all of the posters here saying that observations and concerns are premature, or incomplete, or nonsensical because Booker isn't playing yet. Sounds to me like people counting on Booker to be a savior.

Meanwhile, the negative impact on the young players, especially Jackson, Okobo, Bridges and now Ayton, is palpable and getting more visible by the minute. What do you think 82 games of this will do to them?

 

[SweetD]

Sorry but that's just nonsense and more than a little aggravating. Is someone saying we're going to be great when Devin comes back? If so, I haven't seen it. Booker will make us better. How much? Who knows? Most of us are predicting wins in the low to mid 30's, in large part because of our point guards (followed by our youth). We expect to lose games because of our shortcomings at the point, we just don't believe it's going to ruin the careers of the young guys. Or, at least, most of us don't.

Not sure I have people say we will be great when Booker comes back. But you take your best shooter, 1:1 player out you will have a team running worse than if he is in.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

JJ must be making threes well in practice because he sure is firing them up tonight. Love the confidence, but he needs to start making them or stop firing them up so freely.

 

[ColdPickleNachos]

Ayton with 10 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks.

He is fantastic. Lots of mental mistakes this game, particularly on defense, but that is understandable for a rookie. He has exceeded my expectations thus far this preseason, and my expectations were unreasonably high.

 

[1Sun]

JJ must be making threes well in practice because he sure is firing them up tonight. Love the confidence, but he needs to start making them or stop firing them up so freely.

He is taking matters into his own hands due to the lack of facilitators on the team. Expect more of the same, if not worse, unless we bring in a competent facilitator.

 

[1Sun]

He is fantastic. Lots of mental mistakes this game, particularly on defense, but that is understandable for a rookie. He has exceeded my expectations thus far this preseason, and my expectations were unreasonably high.

Not mere rookie mistakes. He is already starting to lose interest and zone out. And I for one don't blame him.

 

[SweetD]

It is way to early to say this team "sucks/awesome/wtf" right now it is more about individual players. I am with 1sun though our PG is horrible. Maybe because I have been a Suns fan since 87' and never really had a horrible group of PGs... But I also have never had a player like Ayton to watch so I am much happier, than worried about the current group of PGs.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

For me, what's aggravating is all of the posters here saying that observations and concerns are premature, or incomplete, or nonsensical because Booker isn't playing yet. Sounds to me like people counting on Booker to be a savior.

Meanwhile, the negative impact on the young players, especially Jackson, Okobo, Bridges and now Ayton, is palpable and getting more visible by the minute. What do you think 82 games of this will do to them?

There will not be 82 games of this because Booker will make things run smoother. Does that mean the team will be spectacular when he returns? No, but it will certainly run smoother and thus your point is invalid because this will only exist with no Booker.

 

[1Sun]

Not sure I have people say we will be great when Booker comes back. But you take your best shooter, 1:1 player out you will have a team running worse than if he is in.

Worse? Of course. Historically bad and worse than last season without the same player? There is where I take issue.

 

[1Sun]

There will not be 82 games of this because Booker will make things run smoother. Does that mean the team will be spectacular when he returns? No, but it will certainly run smoother and thus your point is invalid because this will only exist with no Booker.

Like I said - The Booker will be our savior point. I will bet you just about anything that THIS will continue to exist with or without Booker if the point guards remain as is.

 

[elindholm]

Yeah, we are all crazy, and you are the only one who is right.

He's far from the only one with that opinion. He's just the only one making a hundred redundant posts a day about it.

The Suns cannot build a winning culture with their current PG rotation. It's not about contending for the playoffs or flirting with a free agent next summer. It's about having a coherent five-man squad on the floor.

If Booker is sacrificed to PG duties, it will stunt his development as a SG, and if doesn't blossom as a SG, you've wasted him. Over the summer, the front office promised that Booker would not have to play PG. The reasons for that were sound, and now it looks like they've painted themselves into a corner.

PG is the most critical position on the floor to run a functional offense. Anyone who has been paying attention can see how impaired the Suns are. It's not because Booker is out or Ayton is tentative or Bender is an idiot. It's because the ship is being captained by someone who's utterly unqualified for the responsibility.

The Suns' PG situation is a crisis, and a team with a crisis at the most important position on the floor is a team in crisis, period. Another season of crisis is going to result in a step backward, not forward, in a year when the Suns can least afford it.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

Worse? Of course. Historically bad and worse than last season without the same player? There is where I take issue.

Dude it is the third game of pre-season and there is like 9 new players and a new system. Do you honestly expect to see things running smoothly already?