Where did I say “Ayton was the problem last night?”
Granted Bridges had a bad game and Ayton played much better, but Ayton did screw up pretty bad on a couple plays near the end that are just more important because they are at the end of the game where there is no margin for error.
I think the Suns problems are being exaggerated greatly by the fans and the media.Coaches are failing because they can't sufficiently correct the childish proclivities of today's spoiled players. It got the old-school Jeff Hornacek fired, and it's stymieing even the famously velvet-gloved Monty Williams. (I swear I'm going to barf if I see once more that photo of him hugging Devin Booker.)
If the Suns weren't injury-wracked, I would like coach to do what Tom Thibodeau is reportedly doing with his Knicks: punish players who aren't playing hard enough, by gluing their butts to the bench. (Except Ayton. His status allows him to hold his spot hostage and give as much or as little effort as he wants.) I don't know whether these allegations are true that Bridges isn't playing his famous defense (Covert calls him possibly the best defender in Suns history!), but coach would know; and if it's true, Bridges should not be immune to benching. I would like to see the "tenacious" Okogie get even more minutes as soon as he can play again. He should possibly be first off the bench for one of the guards. I don't care that he has no point guard skills, it's more important to favor players who give the most effort.
This is true. And while Mikal may have taken a step back defensively, I thought he did a good job on Bradley Beal. Beal shot 40% from the field and most of his points came at the line. He took advantage of CP3 in the 4th on some switches. It’s not like he was dicing Mikal up but that’s just me.
I would agree with some of this if not for the high expectations on this window and run. The team is 6 games away from being a .500 team. Yes, we have injuries. Yes, we have new pieces. However, so does everyone else. We have had some head to head games with teams in the same boat and they beat us. We have seen that playing by committee only works for a short period of time. We have also seen that some of the guys we acquired are not good enough to round out this bench come playoff time.
19.5 ppg on 17.8 shots per game and 39% shooting is PUTRID efficiency. All that shows is he needs a ton of shots to not even score 20 ppg over a six game stretch.
Landry Shamet has one amazing game and now he’s over performed? No. He’s been awful this season.
We certainly do but we’re number 3 in the West. No one’s really separated. The Warriors are banged up, Mavs are under .500. We don’t need to be peaking until April before the playoffs. Every game matters but there’s 50 games left lol.
That's more of a saving grace than a confirmation this team is OK and has what it needs to get it done. Last year we proved regular season success doesn't always translate to playoff success either.
Well let’s not absolve Ayton of screwing up. He owned it which is a good sign. In discussing this particular flare up it was on Ayton.
We’ve been talking about a specific clip. Stay attached to the conversation. Everyone likely agrees bridges was a much bigger culprit in the loss than Ayton.
Precisely...
His blinders to Ayton are what others are to Bridges. But a little worse. At least the fans that overinflate Bridges’ ability can admit some flaws every once in a while. Ayton can pretty much do no wrong. Hell, even when he was regularly stink-bombing the beginning of the season, the franchise was to blame for letheragic play instead of Ayton himself.
Finito I get what you are saying. Look, I have seen people here go way overboard on Ayton and Bridges. It's what they do. Having said that? Bridges has struggled for some reason this season after a good start but he will get back on track IMO. Ayton can put up huge numbers on his raw talent alone. One thing that cannot be denied? Ayton has consistently shown he has some problems when it comes to judgement, asserting himself and situation awareness. Ayton's inconsistency whether it's game to game, quarter to quarter or play to play has been a staple but I am not going to bag on him for last night after putting up 30/13.
Dallas made it to the conference finals last year with an inferior team - and technically they had a shot, all it would have taken is a Steph injury.
I will give you Shamet could easily go in the met expectations category as well - but I am comparing his performance to last years - which is what I was expecting and he has outperformed that. Is it where we want him to be performing, No it isn't.
Oh 100% agree. Am I concerned about the Suns…yes. We absolutely have to make a move to freshen up the roster. We all know that. But despite the dysfunction, we’re still in the thick of it and that’s with a 5 game skid.
Shamet?….
He went 8-20 (40%) and that is well under his season average. He unfortunately was diving into our guys and getting a ton of calls to get to the free throw line.
Small transaction isn’t going to get it done. The Suns need a consistent player who gives you a solid contribution night in and night out. You won’t get that from a small transaction. We already have too many inconsistent guys on this roster.
His percentages over that stretch are bad, but both his FG% and 3P% are heavily dragged down by that one putrid performance where he went 4-24 (2-10). He also had a 30 game stretch last year averaging 18.2 PPG on 56% shooting. He can score the ball, but just shouldn't be option 1 or 2. This is perfectly fine with Ayton playing the way he is lately and a with a healthy Booker out there as they can be that 1/2 scoring punch and allow Bridges to play off of them more.
Interesting exercise. I’ll take a stab:
