DBreezy
- 71 comments
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Bio not provided
@hawki Absolutely considering that they probably 'shouldn't' have won the SA, MIN, and ATL games third is definitely within reach. They've got a lot of games coming up vs teams trying to solidify playoff seeds.
Well on the one hand it was nice to see triple digits on the scoreboard next to the Suns name. On the other, that was an amazingly painful game to watch for such a high scoring affair. Poor defense and a comedy of errors on both squads. No centers and home cooking for the higher scoring team on the season won the day. In other news the Dudley minutes meter continues to slip, wonder how long that continues to fly under the radar?
@john manhole You do realize that now that you said that, he's going to end up in San Antonio next season and shoot lights out for them as a bench sparkplug right!!!
@deathbycoffee I think Brown being here depends on his attitude right now, the draft and potentially free agency. Seeing as Shannon is going down the same road that Peaches did a few years back, right now it's hard for me to imagine him back next season, it's just a matter of when and how he departs. At this point if they know that it's going to be another long season next year, it wouldn't surprise me if they decided to bring a guy like Johnson back on a one year min deal instead. If not Wes, than someone along those lines who has remaining upside and is cheap. The unspoken added benefit is that someone like that is unlikely to complain about minutes in a youth movement. Shannon isn't the only one losing minutes due to this and he might not be the only one replaced by someone more down with the program.
@mileHighfan My expectation is that Hunter will be the coach next season, although there is at least one fan around here who believes that Golden State's lead assistant Malone will get the job. If Blanks is retained however, I think Hunter stays with a staff that's handpicked by the two. I think Lindsey is doing a solid job under the circumstances, but he's got a lot to learn about X's and O's, in-game management, and how to push buttons with veterans. I think he's definitely best suited for a young team at this point, hopefully with some good assistants to fill in the holes for him. He's definitely not afraid to try things though.
@mileHighfan I'd say pretty low. The Suns haven't been good at home this season and more importantly they struggle to score 100 points in a game. It took overtime to get 105 vs the Spurs and that was after only scoring 84 in an overtime game vs the Wolves. By my count, they've only gotten to 100pts 14 times this season. With the Nugs looking for playoff positioning and neither team playing the night before, I expect a fairly ugly loss for the Suns who also may not have a center beyond Hamed Hadaddi for that game.
@mileHighfan Whatup Sammi? You aren't alone in not watching many Suns games, it's been a tomb both at the arena and on the boards relatively speaking. The defense in general this year has been awful, probably worse than at any other time during the SSOL era. It's picked up a little bit because they changed coaches and they're also feeding a bit off the energy of bench players who hadn't been used much previously. I don't think they've used any zone since Hunter came on board, they used it sparingly with Gentry depending on matchups.
How has Shannon's value changed? He's a guy who is what he is and anyone interested knows it. He struggled to find acceptable offers when he left the Lakers, and he struggled to find ones when he was a free agent again last summer. His FG% has dropped every season since his career best .473 in 2008-2009 and he's shooting the worst 3pt % of his career this season. His career best ppg is due to a career best mpg average, a classic scenario on bad teams that other gm's and scouts are well aware of. He is what is he is and at this point that's basically someone who will likely have his greatest trade value as a contract that can be stretched by team needing cap relief for next season or later on as an expiring deal for a team looking to get itself under the luxury tax or salary cap for the following offseason.
I wonder what Demarcus will do on Friday? Gentry and D'Antoni were pretty relentless with double teams with this kind of mismatch and were generally pretty successful with it as long as teams weren't patient. If they either immediately reposted for a forced shot or kept the ball on one side of the floor the Suns typically forced low percentage shots and grabbed a few turnovers. If said team moved the ball around the perimeter for a shot or a repost it was a different story percentage and offensive rebounding wise. From what I've seen of Hunter, I don't think he likes doubles in the post all that much so it could get ugly especially if the Kings perimeter guys are on. Keith Smart's team doesn't exactly carry his namesake though, so it should be entertaining and a possible W.
@IowaPhXfan Also just saw that Gortat said that the doctors told him at least a few days, probably a few weeks. Hope he doesn't come back too soon and lower his trade value even further.
@IowaPhXfan Tell us what you really think! I'm not surprised by Bassy's comments or feelings. The front office billed this team as something other than what it's become. Even when they were last in the West, mired in near back to back long losing streaks there was an article on AZC where the front office said that tanking isn't the plan and that they're still trying to be competitive while rebuilding. Guys like Wes Johnson and Marshall were buried. Guys like Beasley and Kieff got themselves benched when they didn't perform in individual games. Hard workers like PJ Tucker and Bassy got burn and that was pretty consistent with how the team was run in recent seasons.
I have no problem with the front office moving to look at the young guys and future plans, it's about time. However after selling a different vision both internally and externally for so long, some backlash seems inevitable when you keep so many veterans around-especially after letting Gentry go. I can understand Blanks wanting his own guy in there and someone younger to work with the youth movement, but there are consequences. I don't know if Gentry would have been better with the young guys or not, but I do think he and his staff (or Turner or Majerle) probably would have been better able to massage egos of veterans losing time to young guys. Especially when the young guys don't clearly show that they have more talent than the guys that they're putting on the bench either mentally like Beasley or talent wise with guys like Kieff, Marshall, and Johnson on the offensive end.
Bassy said what he felt out loud and Shannon Brown came very close before zipping his mouth(so far), but you can see it with others too. You can see it in Dudley's body language at times along with some of his 'discussions' with Lindsey. You can see it in Scola's slow walks to the bench at times and the fact that it seems like he doesn't want to be anywhere near a microphone these days. I also think that there was more to O'Neal's blowup with Blanks than they claimed in the cleanup story. To their credit they moved Bassy and tried to move or buyout O'Neal. However who's left is who's left and there will be some ego massaging to be done to keep things quiet externally. I wouldn't be surprised if there aren't more leaks or outburst from vets around this team between now and summer time. At least it gives us something to read!
I'm very interested to see how Lindsey handles Goran from here on out. Goran is not only the best player on the squad, he clearly represents the kind of hard work and hustling culture that Lindsey and the front office envisions(Yes, him starring in that role makes Blanks' comment when he was traded to Houston ironic!) That said, the Suns have been in a lot more blowouts since Lindsey took over. Games like last night that get away pretty quickly, seem like great opportunities to sit a guy like Goran for the majority of the game.
Not because he can't handle minutes or because he lacked rest, but because the guy goes so hard all the time in games that are pretty much meaningless at this point. He's gotten himself nicked up a bunch of times already this season and despite several days off, he still clearly had no lift from his injury from the last game. Why have him out there, especially when Lindsey has and will continue to run these guys hard in practice all the time between games? Whenever the Suns turn it around, I'd like Goran to still be Goran not some lesser version of himself due to getting banged up in games that didn't mean much for the franchise. Look at the Nets. At least Joe Johnson got himself banged up in games that meant something for the Suns and Hawks. Deron Williams and Gerald Wallace are shadows of themselves partly due to playing big minutes and going all out in games that meant nothing in Brooklyn and Charlotte. No need to treat Goran like a Faberge egg, but extend his useful life a little in games that get away from them.
@4everis2long What I liked most about this game Foreveris is that it was one of the few times this season I felt the game was over long before it was. Sure, I'll be honest and admit that a lot of that had to do with the fact that I really don't respect the basketball IQ of the Hawks in general, Smith in particular, but nonetheless it was nice sipping my beer early in the 3rd Q feeling comfortable about things for a change.
The rest of it is kind of surreal for me as a Suns fan. You know I watch a lot of league pass games, often from teams considered the dregs of the league. I've seen mini-streaks and flashes like this from a lot of deep lottery teams, many of which ended up going nowhere the next season. I've been a Suns fan since 89 and have never really seen a team like this before. Sure they've had down years before, but they've always had undeniable talent on their team. They've often lacked depth relative to the league, but they've always had that talent on the roster. Goran is trying hard to be that guy, but overall this roster just doesn't have that talent at the moment. It tends to make me think that there are a lot of moves yet to come and that outside of Goran I don't know who could be here when things finally turn around. So yeah I do love seeing the tough games and W's against the playoff teams, but I wonder if it's training for anyone but Goran as far as the Suns go.
Btw, you're right about Wes' defense he's been doing the job and the confidence on his shot is very encouraging.
Break em' up!!!!