Here Comes the Suns GDT

[Shumway]

21 free throw attempts. I don't care what anyone says, that's special.

Andre Drummond laughs at 21 FT attempts. He goes quiet when talking about FTs made... but disagrees about 21 attempts being special.

[Shumway]

We have a terrific starting 5. These 5 can compete with any starting unit in the league. The key is to get the right coach and add 2-3 more quality rotation guys. Ideally, we add a pf/c that is better than dieng and add another 3 and d wing and a pg that can play with rubio at times. Right now, I see the starters as keepers while the rest could be upgraded.

Agree with this. The pillars look like they are in place. The top line talent appears to be here. Time to start being a bit more selective about 'team fit' in our moves from here on.

[MikkeMan]

I'm trying to think what we did wrong defensively and I'm coming up fairly empty. Our guys worked their asses off. Phoenix was making a lot of contested shots.

Here's a nitpick....Why is it that whenever Bjelica is involved in screen and roll, he just automatically switches onto the guard? He almost never hedges and recovers. To me, this is less about Bjelly's ability to guard on the perimeter and more about putting our guard at a serious disadvantage in the low box. None of our other bigs do this unless they have to (or it's an explicit strategy, like against Steph Curry). That type of play burns us a lot.

I noticed that too. Teletovic was really abusing Lavine in post after those switches. Teletovic has hit some big shots this season. I really like his game. Even tough he is not much of defender, he has confidence for his abilities in both ends of floor. I remember how he blocked LeBron's shot attempts several times while playing for New Jersey/Brooklyn.

BTW. In this particular game I really liked that Sam replaced Dieng with Prince after Dieng took that awfull offensive foul. Teletovic had just hit two big three pointers and scored already 10 points in 4th quarter. After Sam switched Prince on him, he scored just one point from free throw.

[AbeVigodaLive]

As usual, a few nuggets:

- Again, the starting 5 scored at a torrid pace. So much more fun.
- Jim Peterson is NOT a fan of Brandon Knight. He basically called him a "good stats on bad team" guy or lucky. Only about 37 times.
- Ronnie Price. Wow. Where'd that come from. He was a one-man wrecking crew out there on defense in the 4th. He gave Rubio (who was in the middle of a great game) fits. It's telling that the Suns came back without Knight on the court despite all his scoring. Price was relentless. Kudos to the Wolves to FINALLY try something else since Rubio was smothered. Playing matchups and going after Budinger with Wiggins bailed out the team. It was also good to see a wobbled Rubio battle back with a couple of huge plays after taking those heymakers from Price.
- Now, the flipside. The Wolves backup PG makes no impact. I know he's young. And I really want him to succeed... but I'm worried about Mr. Jones. Even at his best, he's "not hurting you." Sometimes, you need a backup PG to be better than the starting PG. That's when you know you have a good one. Being a placeholder won't be enough moving forward.
- Wiggins let the game come to him... and then took over. As Q noted, that rebound he grabbed in the scrum stood out, considering what many here consider to be his weakness. Now... we need to see that same effort in a game where he has 8 points on 3 - 12 shooting as we did when he was in at the end of a 30 point night.
- Booker is really good.
- Didn't Phoenix give up I. Thomas AND a high #1 pick for B. Knight? Ooops.
- I feel for T. Chandler. Wrong time at the wrong time of his career.
- Bad, bad defensive game. But combined with young talent made it fun.


[Note: Towns. Meh. Ho-hum. Just another game for him.]

[Coolbreeze44]

21 free throw attempts. I don't care what anyone says, that's special.

Andre Drummond laughs at 21 FT attempts. He goes quiet when talking about FTs made... but disagrees about 21 attempts being special.

Shum, I should have stated, special for non-centers or anyone who gets hack-a-........

[Hicks123 [enjin:6700838]]

As usual, a few nuggets:
- Ronnie Price. Wow. Where'd that come from. He was a one-man wrecking crew out there on defense in the 4th. He gave Rubio (who was in the middle of a great game) fits. It's telling that the Suns came back without Knight on the court despite all his scoring. Price was relentless. Kudos to the Wolves to FINALLY try something else since Rubio was smothered. Playing matchups and going after Budinger with Wiggins bailed out the team. It was also good to see a wobbled Rubio battle back with a couple of huge plays after taking those heymakers from Price.
- Now, the flipside. The Wolves backup PG makes no impact. I know he's young. And I really want him to succeed... but I'm worried about Mr. Jones. Even at his best, he's "not hurting you." Sometimes, you need a backup PG to be better than the starting PG. That's when you know you have a good one. Being a placeholder won't be enough moving forward.

Yeah Abe, we need to land a PG in FA. Jones is simply not the player I want. The good news is that there are always a few guys that fall through the cracks. I see a few guys I like for next season that won't break the bank:
Sessions - Just solid vet player. Nothing spectacular...but will always be solid
Chalmers - Especially coming off Achilles injury
Lin - Bad defensively, but good glue guy for 2nd team offense
Shelvin Mack - TO prone...but has been solid for the Jazz at times.
McCallum - Young with some upside
Dellavedova - He may be too pricy...but a gritty guy I like. Would be willing to spend a bit here.

With the exception of McCallum, all of these guys have several years experience, and I would feel comfortable with them playing extended minutes when needed. McCallum is kind of an upside pick....not sure I target him. We really need a guy to stabalize that second unit.

[TeamRicky [enjin:6648771]]

As usual, a few nuggets:
- Ronnie Price. Wow. Where'd that come from. He was a one-man wrecking crew out there on defense in the 4th. He gave Rubio (who was in the middle of a great game) fits. It's telling that the Suns came back without Knight on the court despite all his scoring. Price was relentless. Kudos to the Wolves to FINALLY try something else since Rubio was smothered. Playing matchups and going after Budinger with Wiggins bailed out the team. It was also good to see a wobbled Rubio battle back with a couple of huge plays after taking those heymakers from Price.
- Now, the flipside. The Wolves backup PG makes no impact. I know he's young. And I really want him to succeed... but I'm worried about Mr. Jones. Even at his best, he's "not hurting you." Sometimes, you need a backup PG to be better than the starting PG. That's when you know you have a good one. Being a placeholder won't be enough moving forward.

Yeah Abe, we need to land a PG in FA. Jones is simply not the player I want. The good news is that there are always a few guys that fall through the cracks. I see a few guys I like for next season that won't break the bank:
Sessions - Just solid vet player. Nothing spectacular...but will always be solid
Chalmers - Especially coming off Achilles injury
Lin - Bad defensively, but good glue guy for 2nd team offense
Shelvin Mack - TO prone...but has been solid for the Jazz at times.
McCallum - Young with some upside
Dellavedova - He may be too pricy...but a gritty guy I like. Would be willing to spend a bit here.

With the exception of McCallum, all of these guys have several years experience, and I would feel comfortable with them playing extended minutes when needed. McCallum is kind of an upside pick....not sure I target him. We really need a guy to stabalize that second unit.

I am not yet sold on Jones either. I think he's ok offensively, but when he's out there with Bazz, he is not cutting it on defense. Lin and Chalmers would be nice, but if we want a young guy who I think makes the perfect backup to Ricky its, Gary Payton II. He's the best defensive point guard in college and he can pass and shoot efficiently. He's taller than Chalmers. Plus GP would be at all the games and he knows Zach, maybe he can help Zach learn a few tricks on defense.

[AbeVigodaLive]

As usual, a few nuggets:
- Ronnie Price. Wow. Where'd that come from. He was a one-man wrecking crew out there on defense in the 4th. He gave Rubio (who was in the middle of a great game) fits. It's telling that the Suns came back without Knight on the court despite all his scoring. Price was relentless. Kudos to the Wolves to FINALLY try something else since Rubio was smothered. Playing matchups and going after Budinger with Wiggins bailed out the team. It was also good to see a wobbled Rubio battle back with a couple of huge plays after taking those heymakers from Price.
- Now, the flipside. The Wolves backup PG makes no impact. I know he's young. And I really want him to succeed... but I'm worried about Mr. Jones. Even at his best, he's "not hurting you." Sometimes, you need a backup PG to be better than the starting PG. That's when you know you have a good one. Being a placeholder won't be enough moving forward.

Yeah Abe, we need to land a PG in FA. Jones is simply not the player I want. The good news is that there are always a few guys that fall through the cracks. I see a few guys I like for next season that won't break the bank:
Sessions - Just solid vet player. Nothing spectacular...but will always be solid
Chalmers - Especially coming off Achilles injury
Lin - Bad defensively, but good glue guy for 2nd team offense
Shelvin Mack - TO prone...but has been solid for the Jazz at times.
McCallum - Young with some upside
Dellavedova - He may be too pricy...but a gritty guy I like. Would be willing to spend a bit here.

With the exception of McCallum, all of these guys have several years experience, and I would feel comfortable with them playing extended minutes when needed. McCallum is kind of an upside pick....not sure I target him. We really need a guy to stabalize that second unit.

I am not yet sold on Jones either. I think he's ok offensively, but when he's out there with Bazz, he is not cutting it on defense. Lin and Chalmers would be nice, but if we want a young guy who I think makes the perfect backup to Ricky its, Gary Payton II. He's the best defensive point guard in college and he can pass and shoot efficiently. He's taller than Chalmers. Plus GP would be at all the games and he knows Zach, maybe he can help Zach learn a few tricks on defense.

Didn't Chalmers tear up his achilles? Late in the season? No thanks. He's not coming back even close to full strength in time for next season. Maybe ever.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I'm torn with Tyus Jones. As many of you know, I was not a fan of that trade. I felt giving up two high second rounders and a third one in a later year was too high of a price to pay for him.

On the other hand, that's water under the bridge and he's on the roster signed to a cheap-ish rookie deal. I like his natural PG instincts and potential as a shooter. He also seems to have picked up the intensity on defense a bit more lately.

Knowing that he's just a very young rookie with only one year of college under his belt, it seems reasonable to assume that he will continue to improve. But......what if Rubio gets hurt again and we're in the playoff hunt next season? Is Jones a guy that could step in and QB the team in his absence without too big of a letdown as quickly as next year? I'm not so sure.

By the way, I'm not sure Kris Dunn will be any better. And do we really want to use our FA/trade bullets on a backup PG or focus on wings and bigs?

Again, I'm torn on this one.

[Coolbreeze44]

That leap from rookie year to 2nd year player can be a big one. Look at Zach for example, it seems I was waging war a year ago arguing that Zach was going to be fine in this league. There was significant sentiment on this board that he wasn't ever going to be impactful.

So Tyus needs the opportunity to go through our offseason program, gain experience, and get stronger. He make look entirely different this time next year. That being said, I don't think you ignore the potential to upgrade the roster at the point guard position. Today, there is a huge dropoff when Ricky is on the bench. And I'd hate to see next season derailed if he were to miss significant time. Whether we use a large asset like our draft pick on another PG, or a lesser one like a veteran FA signing, something needs to be done.

If we keep our pick, I still think you have to take BPA. If that happens to be Chris Dunn so be it. If the BPA at your time to pick doesn't fit, you should trade out of that spot. But at this point in our development, I don't think you should be too focused on need. Our starting lineup may be great, but we still need multiple good NBA players to fill out the back end of the roster. You do that by maximizing your assets including your high lottery pick.