Grades Game 16- Suns

[FNG]

Very difficult to do after the collapse, and this will likely stir up some differences of opinion.

Randle C-
Jaden B+
Rudy C+
Donte C+
Ant B-
Naz C
Mike D+
Clark D+
Rob C

Jaden was our best player, but I can't hand out any A's after that loss.

[AussieWolf3]

Pretty hard to even know how to disagree on this one, given the weight of the mistakes.

For what ever it's worth I thought Ant had one of his best games of the season before the collapse, but the end game collapse was very much on him. Although I think Randle owns more of the blame.

This team continues to be an enigma

[60WinTim]

The bright side is you don't come out of this game thinking "we can't hang with these guys". You let one slip away. On to the next. Really looking forward to the OKC game. The Cup is still in play -- just beat OKC...

[FNG]

I just finished rewatching the last minute, and I have to downgrade Ant and Ju after watching...each of them had three critical mistakes when we needed them to step up.

Ant: 1) after Brooks' miss on a desperation trey, he made no effort to block out O'Neal, who then easily got the putback basket.
2) A terrible inbounding pass to Donte led to his 5th turnover.
3) And of course, the two missed free throws.

Ju: 1) Had the ball poked away on an ill-advised drive in the paint leading to a turnover.
2) A sloppy pass after getting the inbound pass led to another turnover
3) I'm not as critical of this one, but I didn't realize that Ju had a very good look at that final three just beyond the arc, He missed it badly.

These are the guys who are supposed to be carrying the team, and they failed badly when we needed them most. When you make three mistakes in a tragic last minute, it makes the good things you did throughout the game irrelevant. I give them both D's. Ju is a veteran who needs to show more poise in moments like that, and referring to the Ant thread which has generated a lot of discussion, he showed that he is not a top 10 player yet. Top 10 players don't lay an egg three times in a minute of crunch time.

[AussieWolf3]

Good recap FNG. I wish I could disagree but that really is the correct assessment of our two best players. I was wondering who missed the box out on the O'Neal put back, unfortunate to hear it was Ant.

I also rewatched the last possession, and yeah Ju took an awful shot on a great look. He also missed a wide open Jaden with a free path to the basket, hard to tell from the broadcast angle but the pass may have been tough to make. Jaden was calling for it tho

[Coolbreeze44]

Good recap FNG. I wish I could disagree but that really is the correct assessment of our two best players. I was wondering who missed the box out on the O'Neal put back, unfortunate to hear it was Ant.

I also rewatched the last possession, and yeah Ju took an awful shot on a great look. He also missed a wide open Jaden with a free path to the basket, hard to tell from the broadcast angle but the pass may have been tough to make. Jaden was calling for it tho

Jaden should have cut to the basket instead of setting up in the corner. It didn't matter though, Ju was hell bent on taking the 3.

[FNG]

Good recap FNG. I wish I could disagree but that really is the correct assessment of our two best players. I was wondering who missed the box out on the O'Neal put back, unfortunate to hear it was Ant.

I also rewatched the last possession, and yeah Ju took an awful shot on a great look. He also missed a wide open Jaden with a free path to the basket, hard to tell from the broadcast angle but the pass may have been tough to make. Jaden was calling for it tho

Jaden should have cut to the basket instead of setting up in the corner. It didn't matter though, Ju was hell bent on taking the 3.

I agree a cut to the basket might have been better. There were about 1.5 seconds on the clock when he had to decide whether to shoot or pass. I think a pass to Jaden might have been a grenade. I think Jaden didn't cut to the basket because Williams was there guarding Rudy. And I don't fault Rudy either...I think he was hoping he could beat Williams down the court for a dunk.

[AussieWolf3]

Julius also really slow dribbled into his shot and that's because he had already absolutely decided he was the going to shoot the 3. A very dumb predetermination if he had moved quicker I think he would have been able to make the pass to Jaden who was very much looking to break towards the basket for an easier shot.

Randle was looking for redemption and he certainly didn't find it

[FNG]

Fair comments by Aussi and Cool...that's why I have it as one of Ju's 3 disasters in the last minute.

[Coolbreeze44]

It's never been more evident we need a point guard. It has to happen.