Game 11: Chicago Bulls (7-3) @ Phoenix Suns (6-4)

[TeamTragic]

Kieff made a couple of mistakes in the first quarter that cost us. thankfully, he made up for them. there's that one time where he tipped out of bounds that you all probably remember, leaving Chicago with 2.6 seconds on the shot clock. as long as he brings it, i can handle the mistakes. that said, Bled and Knight are in this. they're all the way in, playing with every fiber of their being trying to win games. Kieff? i can't say that. feels like he's playing with 50% of his fibers, at the most.

Leuer plays with more energy. Goodwin. Booker. Everyone on the team. Kieff just doesn't care and needs to be shipped out ASAP.

[SunsRback4Good]

What a player Butler has become he improved so much starting last season. I read somewhere were last off season he and some buddies trained hard for like a month at a remote location away from the noise and distractions in the city and it definitely helped his gay.

?

"GAME".. I fixed it.

[alldayeveryday]

Bought tickets to the Warriors/Suns game when I visit. We'll give them our first loss and Keef will drop 30+.

lol.

[SunsRback4Good]

Hornacek should of noticed that Kieff is struggling and yet played him for 29 minutes. We should of had Leuer in the final 3+ minutes. I'm not saying the outcome would of been different but its better playing 5-5 than one having a one man disadvantage.

[sunskerr]

Yeah, I think the majority wanted Kieff to come off the bench, and in this game it kind of made sense, coming back from injury. He looked pretty active early, tipping passes out of bounds and stuff, going for steals, and even later dove on the floor and called that timeout.

But then most of the time he looked like he didn't belong on the team...everyone hustling all over the place, except him. But read the last few pages and you will see no one is really defending him at this point.

Markieff has always looked like he plays in cruise control and that's not the problem really. It's his inability to keep the ball flowing which grinds the offense to halt. He also cannot shoot the 3 reliably so the defenses don't really need to key in on him (i.e. he doesn't space the floor). I certainly agree with the general sentiment of him not looking like he's on the same page as everyone else.

[Christine-In-AZ]

Everybody played their hearts out except Markieff. He does not give a damn about this team. I cannot believe some of you guys say he is the third scorer this team needs and that you expected a big night from him. What are you looking at? Seriously, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LOOKING AT? I have been insulted more times than I can remember since July begging for this team to trade him. Cutting him off the team would be an improvement. Not only did he have just 6 points and 5 rebounds in 29 minutes on terrible shooting and embarrassing mishandles, but everyone scored on him at will.

I am sure some of you guys will say wait he dove a couple times. He had some steals. Oh he was rusty because he has not played for a while. Wake up. Did you see when Butler hit the three over him in the corner. He ran down the court like he did not care. No emotion. The most emotion he showed all game was when he argued with the refs early in the game.

At this point, Markieff is not the disgrace. This is what he told them he was going to do. Gambo said he will make it so no one wants him. You know who is the disgrace? Ryan McDonough. You have brought shame upon this organization with your lies and you unwillingness to accept reality. Markieff drags the entire team down. I could see it in Hornacek when he almost pulled Markieff for Leuer towards the end of fourth quarter after Markieff had just come back in. What a shame. Markieff will kill this season. There is no doubt in my mind. If the Suns had a starting power forward that wanted to play, they might have won the game.

Yeah, I admit it's getting to that time we need to get something for him. He looked pretty good at times, especially early, sticking his hand out disrupting passes but other times he looked like he didn't care. He took mostly decent shots. He looked rusty offensively, but clearly the rest of the team is FULLY vested and he is not.

I'm just not sure what we can get for him right now.

Trying to force any trade before December 15th is REALLY limiting the possibilities. McD is not dumb or has any real need to panic with this team.

[SunsRback4Good]

Bought tickets to the Warriors/Suns game when I visit. We'll give them our first loss and Keef will drop 30+.

lol.

Don't make the same mistake I made.

[bwgood77]

Another thing...Bledsoe should not have taken so many shots tonight. He was 7-22. At one time Knight was hot and he was passing up Knight wide open on the perimeter to drive into traffic while Knight was waving his hands.

I almost felt he wanted too much to have a huge game after Knight's huge game. I hope that's not the case and he doesn't take so many shots...he should never shoot below 33% on 22 shots.

[letsgosuns]

There has to be someone out there the Suns can trade Markieff to. If no one wants him, suspend him for conduct detrimental to the team. Cite "Does Not Care About Winning" as the reason for it.

Also I am going to say this about the fans and I think it is a major factor. While it was embarrassing how many fans were cheering for the Bulls (even with all the Chicago people living in AZ), the key is that the city does not believe in the Suns. Idk how many of you on here actually live in Phoenix, I mean it does not matter, but the vibe around town is that people do not believe in the team. They do not like the personnel. When fans are used to having a relevant team for the franchise's entire existence and then you suck for five years, people stop caring. The tickets are very expensive. And so many people I know say to me, I have no interest in the Suns and I do not watch the team's games anymore. These are people that have been going to Suns games for decades. This the state's original sports franchise.

Do you guys hear how loud the Arizona Cardinals crowd is? Those fans go nuts. Every game is sold out. People absolutely love that team. Fans in Arizona will cheer if they believe in the team. Unfortunately the Suns give them nothing to believe in. That is the sad truth. While the Suns effort tonight was great, the bottom line is that they still lost. And they lost at home again. And they lost to the Bulls without Derrick Rose. They have not beaten one quality team this entire season. That is what fans see.

[bwgood77]

Trying to force any trade before December 15th is REALLY limiting the possibilities. McD is not dumb or has any real need to panic with this team.

I agree and I may be overreacting. I just hope he starts playing better and puts in a little more effort. I'm skeptical about that happening, but who really knows.

I would be ok with him coming off the bench though.

[Revived]

Wish we could have pulled off the win but it is what it is.

This game showed why we ought to eventually find a superstar like Jimmy Butler. I'm not saying we're not trying or its easy, just saying.

When the Bulls needed a bucket, Butler delivered. For us, Bledsoe nor Knight could match or do the same.

Hopefully they grow into it or someone else will.

Tucker had such a good game, I don't think he's had many games like this before.

[bwgood77]

Wish we could have pulled off the win but it is what it is.

This game showed why we ought to eventually find a superstar like Jimmy Butler. I'm not saying we're not trying or its easy, just saying.

When the Bulls needed a bucket, Butler delivered. For us, Bledsoe nor Knight could match or do the same.

Hopefully they grow into it or someone else will.

Tucker had such a good game, I don't think he's had many games like this before.

Yes, obviously a star player would be nice, but the last three games, we had a huge triple double out of Knight, another game with 37 from him, and an almost triple double from Bledsoe. Yes, against depleted teams off b2b's so that helped, but you're still going against legit nba players unlike, say, half of Philly's starters.

[Revived]

Everybody played their hearts out except Markieff. He does not give a damn about this team. I cannot believe some of you guys say he is the third scorer this team needs and that you expected a big night from him. What are you looking at? Seriously, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LOOKING AT? I have been insulted more times than I can remember since July begging for this team to trade him. Cutting him off the team would be an improvement. Not only did he have just 6 points and 5 rebounds in 29 minutes on terrible shooting and embarrassing mishandles, but everyone scored on him at will.

I am sure some of you guys will say wait he dove a couple times. He had some steals. Oh he was rusty because he has not played for a while. Wake up. Did you see when Butler hit the three over him in the corner. He ran down the court like he did not care. No emotion. The most emotion he showed all game was when he argued with the refs early in the game.

At this point, Markieff is not the disgrace. This is what he told them he was going to do. Gambo said he will make it so no one wants him. You know who is the disgrace? Ryan McDonough. You have brought shame upon this organization with your lies and you unwillingness to accept reality. Markieff drags the entire team down. I could see it in Hornacek when he almost pulled Markieff for Leuer towards the end of fourth quarter after Markieff had just come back in. What a shame. Markieff will kill this season. There is no doubt in my mind. If the Suns had a starting power forward that wanted to play, they might have won the game.

Yeah, I admit it's getting to that time we need to get something for him. He looked pretty good at times, especially early, sticking his hand out disrupting passes but other times he looked like he didn't care. He took mostly decent shots. He looked rusty offensively, but clearly the rest of the team is FULLY vested and he is not.

I'm just not sure what we can get for him right now.

Trying to force any trade before December 15th is REALLY limiting the possibilities. McD is not dumb or has any real need to panic with this team.

If we keep playing and starting Kieff, we may find ourselves looking ugly by Dec 15th.

I'll take trading Kieff for even 2nd round picks (figurative) every single day if it means that our players play with better chemistry, energy and everyone's fully committed to winning.

[letsgosuns]

There has to be someone out there the Suns can trade Markieff to. If no one wants him, suspend him for conduct detrimental to the team. Cite "Does Not Care About Winning" as the reason for it.

Also I am going to say this about the fans and I think it is a major factor. While it was embarrassing how many fans were cheering for the Bulls (even with all the Chicago people living in AZ), the key is that the city does not believe in the Suns. Idk how many of you on here actually live in Phoenix, I mean it does not matter, but the vibe around town is that people do not believe in the team. They do not like the personnel. When fans are used to having a relevant team for the franchise's entire existence and then you suck for five years, people stop caring. The tickets are very expensive. And so many people I know say to me, I have no interest in the Suns and I do not watch the team's games anymore. These are people that have been going to Suns games for decades. This the state's original sports franchise.

Do you guys hear how loud the Arizona Cardinals crowd is? Those fans go nuts. Every game is sold out. People absolutely love that team. Fans in Arizona will cheer if they believe in the team. Unfortunately the Suns give them nothing to believe in. That is the sad truth. While the Suns effort tonight was great, the bottom line is that they still lost. And they lost at home again. And they lost to the Bulls without Derrick Rose. They have not beaten one quality team this entire season. That is what fans see.

*Edit: Btw, I am not condoning what the fans in AZ do. I am just stating why I think the fan support is weak. There has not been much to cheer about and do not forget that the guy who insulted the fans and is playing like he does not care is still on the team.

[bwgood77]

There has to be someone out there the Suns can trade Markieff to. If no one wants him, suspend him for conduct detrimental to the team. Cite "Does Not Care About Winning" as the reason for it.

Also I am going to say this about the fans and I think it is a major factor. While it was embarrassing how many fans were cheering for the Bulls (even with all the Chicago people living in AZ), the key is that the city does not believe in the Suns. Idk how many of you on here actually live in Phoenix, I mean it does not matter, but the vibe around town is that people do not believe in the team. They do not like the personnel. When fans are used to having a relevant team for the franchise's entire existence and then you suck for five years, people stop caring. The tickets are very expensive. And so many people I know say to me, I have no interest in the Suns and I do not watch the team's games anymore. These are people that have been going to Suns games for decades. This the state's original sports franchise.

Do you guys hear how loud the Arizona Cardinals crowd is? Those fans go nuts. Every game is sold out. People absolutely love that team. Fans in Arizona will cheer if they believe in the team. Unfortunately the Suns give them nothing to believe in. That is the sad truth. While the Suns effort tonight was great, the bottom line is that they still lost. And they lost at home again. And they lost to the Bulls without Derrick Rose. They have not beaten one quality team this entire season. That is what fans see.

I know much of the Phx crowd is not into the team. I know people there who don't care much or follow them anymore. The city is kind of spoiled by such good Suns teams most all the time for like the prior 23 or so years before 2011. And even back in that bad time period before the KJ trade, we only had a bad team for a few years, because prior to that there was Westphal, Davis, Adams, etc....and Nance was a fun player even through the bad times. This Kieff thing is really screwing up a chance to start winning the local natives back.

I wouldn't suspend him, but I wouldn't be too upset with an "injury" that kept him out for awhile.

[sunskerr]

Pretty sure we didn't lose this game because we didn't have a star. In fact I'm pretty sure we've got a star (Bledsoe). Just gotta get rid of Markieff which is the main concern for now. He doesn't fit the system at all. If an opportunity presents itself to find another star, then of course go for it.

[batsmasher]

Good loss. Can't complain. Bulls hit some lucky ones early and some clutch ones late. Jimmy Buckets is really good at basketball.

[Qwigglez]

I say Markieff gets traded mid December with Archie. For who? I have no idea.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

I've been feeling this for a while now. I was really hoping the Rockets were gonna lose tonight. Make them crumble so they can trade us D-Mo for Kieff. Unfortunately they'd probably have to trade us Beverly in order for salaries to work. Unless they are willing to give us D-Mo/Jones and maybe McDaniels but I don't see it.

[RunDogGun]

I just watched the game, and while I've been very critical of Morris and his effort, I thought he tried pretty hard tonight. He had lots of tips and went after loose balls. Also, very good news that he is back on the court, for if we did want to trade him, it wouldn't happen if he was injured.

Chandler allowed too many open shots for Gasol, and we really missed out on many shooting fouls not called.

Bledsoe had a rough game.

Booker looked great out there, we should have tried to find him more shots. He bit on two head fakes, but he hustled, and had a nice block staying with the play.

I thought Len played pretty well.

Gasol and Noah are little bitches though. They sound like a women's tennis match with all their screaming when they are near the basket.

Price looked good, except for his shot. We really missed Warren's offense tonight.

Oops, forgot to mention that Tucker had a very good game, and because of switches, Knight didn't do poorly having to guard the sf most of the game. If Tucker could develop a post up game, it would really benefit our team.

[Saberestar]

"I told the guys that just got here that it's gonna be like that," forward P.J. Tucker said. "When you get the Lakers, Chicago, Boston, you know it's gonna be loud. It's how it is, welcome to Phoenix."