sunsbum wrote:Anyone else hoping Pelicans to win tonight? I honestly want the suns to have to prove it from rock bottom that they actually give a ****. They definitely don't deserve ANYTHING handed to them at this point.
I kind of want to have them earn it too in 1 off play in games...I mean, to stumble into the playoffs because you got to play the Clippers second stringers, the Pels without Ingram, the depleted Kings, and maybe the resting TWolves...nah.
Also, if they did get knocked out in the play in because they were just not good enough, they wouldn't win a series anyway, and it will serve as a wake up call (or should, though we have had countless wake up calls this season) and Ishbia would either fire the coach, possibly trade KD to stock up assets, OR we would really come in focused next season (hopefully).
We are really missing a leader. Now you won't find another guy like Chris Paul in that respect. I do think the best player to be a vocal leader that we have is actually Beal. Why? He is relatable, likable, outspoken, has a good attitude, will help young players, etc. Now I know several people hate him for whatever reason and will claim he did nothing in Washington as the lead guy, but he also had crap players. When he had Wall (who really was inefficient), a decent Porter, etc, who are not great players, they got to the 2nd round.
Having KD and Book is different.
But still, would KD and Book listen or at least allow him to lead the others, or not?
But really, without Paul we need a strong coach, and honestly, I do think Vogel is a solid defensive coach, but you need the right coach for your team.
With AD, LeBron, Caruso, KCP, even an older Dwight Howard, etc, he was a great coach because those guys are or can be solid defensive players.
Or even with Indy he was good and overachieved with a squad of guys who were solid defensively with George, David West, George Hill, Lance Stephenson, Hibbert...that team lost to the LeBron/Wade/Bosh Heat squad in 6 in the ECF two years in a row.
But for us, it's like Porter with Nash and SSOL....we need a guy to maximize offense like D'Antoni did and just outscore people so badly they can't keep up. Hopefully more of an offense like SSOL and not iso which is never as effective as finding the open shooter, who is always there with stars that are often doubled.
Then maybe try to have a couple of solid defenders like O'Neale. I mean KD is fairly solid...even better than average, and Beal can play solid D. We've even seen Book do it in the past.
Anyway, losing a play in wouldn't be the worst thing for this team...it would be a massive failure and I'd prefer they wake up and go on a run, but there are silver linings if we do lose...a massive wake up call for Ish, the team, and maybe we make big changes, whether it be trading KD while he still has a ton of value, making a coaching change, or something else.
I don't think we trade Booker yet...or maybe ever unless he wants out...which I suppose is a possibility if we traded KD..but if so we would get a massive haul and maybe could get a young and upcoming team. Not the best for many given we just got to the finals and won 64 games, but I don't know if anyone sees us getting better in the coming years and not having any picks...with 2-3 supermax contracts on the books.
And then the last slight silver lining...having a higher pick this coming draft.
Best case scenario would be Washington and Memphis jumping up to 1 and 2 in the draft and us jumping to 3. Would be hilarious because neither would want to swap.
