Game 2: Phoenix Suns (1-0) @ Portland Trailblazers (1-0) l Friday l 7:00pm l BSAZ

[Qwigglez]

Jake Layman is still out there. Crazy that Wainright has a roster spot in the NBA and not Jake Layman?!?!

When I initially saw him I thought for sure we'd go for him.
I mean... Suns have never won a championship yet, and maybe that's because we've never had Jake Layman on the team. Coincidence... I think not.

You are right, Ish Wainright is more talented and would make ANY roster in this league. We are clearly holding him back from showing his full potential!! I mean, Ish was once a REAL prospect in this league unlike Layman ever............

James Jones has a type. Enjoys the broad shoulders of hybrid fours like Ish and Craig. Doesn't like slender players like Layman.


Okay, actually looking at Layman's career stats, his 3P% is actually quite disappointing, his best season was in 2019-2020 when he shot 33% with the Wolves. Last two seasons it's been under 30%. Though last season was probably at 22% because he had very inconsistent minutes and it's hard to just come in and snipe from downtown. His corner 3 ball is also not very good shooting at 24% for his career.

Ish actually shot 43% from the corner 3 last season, however it's on a very limited sample size. Going off rough math here, I think he made maybe 8-9 from the corner on about 20-21 shots. Probably mostly in garbage time or with little to no pressure situations.

[bwgood77]

That Simons dude was really clutch . AYTON needs to hit those FT’s man

Bridges too...we didn't even have to be in OT to begin with.

And Cam needs to stay healthy.

This and we were worried about trading either Cam or Mikal this off season, because they were so great.

Mikal has shown enough to want to keep but Cam has just shown flashes.

When are we going to start calling him Street Clothes #2?

I would trade either or both of them if it would return a legit #3 to pair with Booker and Ayton. If we think we are going to get anyone any good by trading just Crowder we are fooling ourselves.

Mikal has been awesome. He has been filling it...crashing the boards...averaging 9 per game.

But yeah, I don't understand people purely blaming Booker and Ayton. Even if Ayton makes both free throws it's a tie and we go to OT again.

Bridges makes his first free throw in regulation, it isn't even in OT to begin with.

That being said, it's dumb to blame anyone. People miss free throws.

I don't know if people remember, but Booker missed a bunch of free throws at the end of games last year. It was oddly strange.

But regardless of any of these guys, it happens.

It was a tough loss. What hurts us is Cam Johnson and the bench, and I am not complaining about Paul as much either, but I'd point to him before Bridges, Booker or Ayton who were the only 3 who really played well last night.

[bwgood77]

I really don't understand all the negativity. Lost in OT on the road. it happens. DA's first free throw was in and out and people acting like he airballed it. Followed by one of the best intentional misses I've ever seen.

We were balling before Cam Jo cramped up.

Posts calling every player on the team a loser - a team that won 64 games last season. Get a grip.

Exactly. We lost by them by what, 29 or 27 last year in game 2? We had like 3 guys carry the team last night and those 3 are the ones being called out? Very strange fanbase sometimes. Can someone else help them out?

Lee has been nice. Everyone else not so much. Landale had an easier miss at the end. But any of those Booker, Ayton, Landale misses just at best forces another OT.

Sucks Bridges couldn't win by hitting both free throws in regulation too. But those guys all balled. Portland is a pretty good team and that's a pretty tough place to play.

The next 3 games will be very tough..tougher than this one. All the negativity after this one...it might get a lot worse even though we are playing 2 or 3 contenders.

[Qwigglez]

I really don't understand all the negativity. Lost in OT on the road. it happens. DA's first free throw was in and out and people acting like he airballed it. Followed by one of the best intentional misses I've ever seen.

We were balling before Cam Jo cramped up.

Posts calling every player on the team a loser - a team that won 64 games last season. Get a grip.

Exactly. We lost by them by what, 29 or 27 last year in game 2? We had like 3 guys carry the team last night and those 3 are the ones being called out? Very strange fanbase sometimes. Can someone else help them out?

Lee has been nice. Everyone else not so much. Landale had an easier miss at the end. But any of those Booker, Ayton, Landale misses just at best forces another OT.

Sucks Bridges couldn't win by hitting both free throws in regulation too. But those guys all balled. Portland is a pretty good team and that's a pretty tough place to play.

The next 3 games will be very tough..tougher than this one. All the negativity after this one...it might get a lot worse even though we are playing 2 or 3 contenders.

I'd even say Lee did his part as I expect a veteran minimum player signing to do minimum stuff, but he got 8 points, 2-4 shooting from 3, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals. He was the only player on the bench to have a positive plus minus.

The FT discrepancy was huge though. 36 FTAs vs Suns 21 FTAs.

[Thor Buthox]

Cam Johnson needs to do a skin fold test. I don't mean the test that tests a person's fatness level. I mean literally grab some skin and fold it to see if it breaks like tissue paper would, because he appears to be made of tissue paper.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Would like to get Thybulle, we often do not have the best player on the court so need to bring that player down.

37% from the corner last year similar to PJ Tucker.

Paul, Booker, Thybulle, Bridges, Ayton looks like a killer lineup to close.

I really want Thybulle too for our perimeter and switch defense. I'd also look to add McDermott at the backup 3 offensively to balance out his defense. Then look to trade Saric/ Washington/ 2 protected 2nds for Mcdermott. Finally trade Shamet/ Craig/ Payne/ protected first to Minnesota for Russell ( Minnesota can then flip whatever to Utah for Conley or to Charlotte for Rozier if they like since they're not looking to extend Russell anyways! Ideally if we were to upgrade our bench too:

Russell/ Thybulle/ McDermott/ Howard/ Biyombo.
Walker/ Lee/ Okogie/ Niang / Landale.

We do this by doing these trades:

1- Phoenix/ Philly
Trade Crowder/ to Philly for Thybulle/ Niang/ 23' 2nd (via Atlanta, Charlotte, or Brooklyn).

2- Phoenix/ San Antonio
Trade Saric/ Washington/ 2 protected 2nds) for McDermott.

3- Phoenix/ Minnesota
Trade Shamet/ Craig/ Payne/ Ish/ lottery protected future first for D' Russell.

Sign on 1 yr vet min deals:
- Kemba Walker. Playmaking/ ballhandling/ shotmaking.
- Dwight Howard. Size/ physicality/ rebounding/ post defense.
Dwight Howard.

Howard ist so bad, that we have to sign him twice to get some value out of him?

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You don't think that on a 1 yr vet minimum deal, He could be serviceable as a post defender/ rebounder and physical presence off the bench per reputation?? His role would obviously be quite simplified to those specific attributes without needing him to go above and beyond. He'd offer solid value in that role I'd think.

[MrMiyagi]

Memphis is an awful team. I don't think Ja has what it takes to be a winner. His team is down by 28 at the half against Dallas. No sense of urgency, lack of killer instinct. No way they'll make it far in the playoffs, they're going to be lucky to even make it.

Awful take, right? Now think about some of the takes y'all had in this thread.

[RaisingArizona]

Memphis is an awful team. I don't think Ja has what it takes to be a winner. His team is down by 28 at the half against Dallas. No sense of urgency, lack of killer instinct. No way they'll make it far in the playoffs, they're going to be lucky to even make it.

Awful take, right? Now think about some of the takes y'all had in this thread.

I love your optimism, but the Suns have been on a steady decline since last spring. I hope they fare better than I think they will but there's real cause for concern given how CP3 has looked since the Mavs series and how Cam is generally injured. Pair that with a lackluster bench and yeah, that's why. It's not a one game reaction.

[bwgood77]

Memphis is an awful team. I don't think Ja has what it takes to be a winner. His team is down by 28 at the half against Dallas. No sense of urgency, lack of killer instinct. No way they'll make it far in the playoffs, they're going to be lucky to even make it.

Awful take, right? Now think about some of the takes y'all had in this thread.

I love your optimism, but the Suns have been on a steady decline since last spring. I hope they fare better than I think they will but there's real cause for concern given how CP3 has looked since the Mavs series and how Cam is generally injured. Pair that with a lackluster bench and yeah, that's why. It's not a one game reaction.

Yeah, they are not as good, though still a hell of a lot more enjoyable than what I watched most of the last 12 years. I enjoy watching the games and don't get worked up about a close loss, or any loss for that matter. It's one of 82. I'll be happy if we can get to the playoffs and have a competitive series or two. Anything better is gravy.

[RaisingArizona]

Memphis is an awful team. I don't think Ja has what it takes to be a winner. His team is down by 28 at the half against Dallas. No sense of urgency, lack of killer instinct. No way they'll make it far in the playoffs, they're going to be lucky to even make it.

Awful take, right? Now think about some of the takes y'all had in this thread.

I love your optimism, but the Suns have been on a steady decline since last spring. I hope they fare better than I think they will but there's real cause for concern given how CP3 has looked since the Mavs series and how Cam is generally injured. Pair that with a lackluster bench and yeah, that's why. It's not a one game reaction.

Yeah, they are not as good, though still a hell of a lot more enjoyable than what I watched most of the last 12 years. I enjoy watching the games and don't get worked up about a close loss, or any loss for that matter. It's one of 82. I'll be happy if we can get to the playoffs and have a competitive series or two. Anything better is gravy.

Very true. But on the other hand, I want a championship before I kick the bucket. I don't see this year's team being close to that and that's depressing me after they were so close for two years.

[Revived]

Memphis is an awful team. I don't think Ja has what it takes to be a winner. His team is down by 28 at the half against Dallas. No sense of urgency, lack of killer instinct. No way they'll make it far in the playoffs, they're going to be lucky to even make it.

Awful take, right? Now think about some of the takes y'all had in this thread.

Is there anyone here that thinks the season is over or that Suns are gonna miss playoffs now because of a game 2 loss? Haven’t read most of the GD thread but I’d be surprised.

[lilfishi22]

I'm expecting a worse regular season in terms of W's but that's no longer what we're chasing. It's nice to be a top 2 seed but if we end up 3-6, I don't think it's the end of the world. Ultimately, if we're good enough, we should be able to overcome adversity in the playoffs and take games on the road. We were the best road team last season so we know how to win on the road so it's not like a death sentence if we don't have HCA in the first round.

I would be very surprised if we were a play-in team, let alone miss playoffs entirely.