Game 2: Phoenix Suns (1-0) @ Los Angeles Lakers (1-0) l Friday l 7:00pm l ESPN

[Iceman36]

First quarter we started great and it was fun to watch. Second Q Nurk got us derailed with his TO's. In the second half, we played like last year without a PG despite having one on the field. Bud has to adress this and let 48 mpg control at least one PG the game.

By the way, Lakers got 38 FT in a not aggressive game? Are you kidding me? We should have gotten 50 against the Clips if the game was officiated the same. Lakers are way to much Refs favs...

[RedIndian]

First half saw the positives of Bud's new style - lots of sharing the ball, and 3 point shooting.

The hangover of last season - using Nurk and KD as initiators / playmakers - that HAS to stop

Bud needs to set some things in order:

Lead initiator - Tyus (most likely to make the correct play without turning the ball over)
Secondary initiator - Booker (best passer on the team, though not the best ball handler, hence his play initiation needs to be situational)
Initiator with the bench - Beal (played really well in this role through 2 games, and this should be his role full-time)

Durant's role - play finishing, catching off curls, one-dribble pull-ups, catch and shoot threes, and limited initiation only in the clutch. Reserve his energy for the tight half-court game at the end of games.

All other players - catch and shoot 3s and transition finishing only

The trouble is that Nurk is a complete misfit - he can't finish, his 3 point-spacing is fake and will not work, and his short-roll passing is totally unnecessary once you have an actual PG. I think we'll actively start shopping Nurk by December.

We're not going to get anything great in return, but a 25 min cheap center, who can simply sit in the dunker spot will be preferable than what Nurk is providing - I think we'd be better served having a C like Isaiah Stewart, Mark Williams, Day'ron Sharpe, Nick Richards etc.

That's the best possible value we can hope for Nurk, and frankly it'll probably be addition by subtraction.

If we need a quality starting level bigger player to come in, we need to be prepared to offer Grayson + #2031 (hint hint Deni Avdija).

[kennydorglas]

Losing to this trash ass Lakers team is bizarre

[Phystic]

Suns playing a center that is meant to give us size and rebounding, and yet still get ng crushed by size and on the glass is unacceptable. And again Nurks complete inability to finish a basic layup at the rim is completely bizarre.

[bwgood77]

Couldn't watch last night so watching now on League Pass. Crazy we are up by like 18 early looking great and we blew it. Not knowing what happened, I think maybe part of the problem is we have 3 guys who were always used to taking over in the 4th and we should just stick to Bud's system and not worry about anyone necessarily taking over unless someone gets on fire.

But I'll have to see how it plays out.

[handsome salary]

Im not worried . Suns have a Big Three who played together last year. A BIG THREE... hahaha to the rest of the league.

[garrick]

Fun fact: Warriors will have a better record than Phoenix this season.

That's not fun. That's just cold, hard truth. It's time for Ishbia to take a serious look at the mistakes his impetuous behavior has caused.

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The trade for Nurkic was a mistake.

His skillset never made sense on a team that thrives in a more fast free flowing offense. I don't see any team wanting him on 20M per year and the reckless Beal trade has locked us into the 2nd apron so we need to start looking at some possible big men in the undrafted class who could be a diamond in the rough.