Preseason Game 3: Houston @ Phoenix

[Revived]

TJ couldn't defend KJ McDaniels at all.(I could only watch OT)

He's not a good defender and I doubt he will ever be one. His limitations athletically may be too much to overcome to become good defensively but we'll just have to hope that he won't be a liability on that end always.

[Revived]

This is setting up like the Chargers/Steelers game last night where the Chargers lost on the last play which was brutal as a fan.

Still hurting a little bit.

Not to pour salt on the fresh wound but SF88 weren't you the one who said the Cardinals wouldn't be all that much better than your Chargers? We'll see how they do next week for comparison

Yea I was definitely wrong about that. I forgot how good Palmer was when healthy plus their secondary is much better. Arizona's a top 3 team in the league right now imo while the Chargers I doubt will even make playoffs.

[LukasBMW]

Booker is our 2 of the future
TJ is our 3 of the future

Archie...I'm not so sure.

I'd still rather have Dragic then Knight...and we'd still have a lottery pick from he Lakers coming due.

Keef for Jones? Is that still on the table? Where do I sign?

Mirza sucks. Leur is our backup 4.

[Mulhollanddrive]

Players value here is highest when you forget about how they play.

[asudevil]

There is only one stat that matters. The Suns gave up 135 points to a Rockets team that did not have their best players and also missed 18 free throws. So what if Chandler, Len, and Bledsoe did not play. That is no excuse to play defense the way the Suns did tonight. The interior defense was not just bad, it was non-existant. Off the top of my head, I cannot think of a power forward combination in the league that is worse defensively than Morris, Teletovic, and Leuer. Those guys literally got balls ripped out of their hands and were getting out of the way on drives to the hoop. Maybe sometime in the next fifty years the Suns organization might actually field a team built on defense and have a chance to win a championship because this team has no chance.

This is exactly why I said to take a chance on Tristan Thompson. You have nothing to lose. Might as well go all out for a defensive minded team. Don't the Suns get it? The Nash teams were some of the greatest offensive teams in basketball history and they never won because they could not get stops when it mattered most. Guys like Morris, Teletovic, and Leuer give you nothing defensively and the Suns will be held back because of it. Surely I cannot be only person that sees this. Chandler and Len cannot make up for the Suns lack of power forward defense themselves. Something has to be done immediately. Going into the season with this potential power forward combination will be a disaster.

I'll be honest. I stopped reading there.

You take away arguably our top three defenders and then complain about our defense.

[SunsRback4Good]

TJ couldn't defend KJ McDaniels at all.(I could only watch OT)

Lets give KJ McDaniels props he deserves. Maybe he should become Rockets starter.

[letsgosuns]

There is only one stat that matters. The Suns gave up 135 points to a Rockets team that did not have their best players and also missed 18 free throws. So what if Chandler, Len, and Bledsoe did not play. That is no excuse to play defense the way the Suns did tonight. The interior defense was not just bad, it was non-existant. Off the top of my head, I cannot think of a power forward combination in the league that is worse defensively than Morris, Teletovic, and Leuer. Those guys literally got balls ripped out of their hands and were getting out of the way on drives to the hoop. Maybe sometime in the next fifty years the Suns organization might actually field a team built on defense and have a chance to win a championship because this team has no chance.

This is exactly why I said to take a chance on Tristan Thompson. You have nothing to lose. Might as well go all out for a defensive minded team. Don't the Suns get it? The Nash teams were some of the greatest offensive teams in basketball history and they never won because they could not get stops when it mattered most. Guys like Morris, Teletovic, and Leuer give you nothing defensively and the Suns will be held back because of it. Surely I cannot be only person that sees this. Chandler and Len cannot make up for the Suns lack of power forward defense themselves. Something has to be done immediately. Going into the season with this potential power forward combination will be a disaster.

I'll be honest. I stopped reading there.

You take away arguably our top three defenders and then complain about our defense.

Bledsoe, Chandler, and Len are the Suns top three defenders? I thought many fans on here (not me though) are adamant that Tucker is far and away the Suns best defender. And other fans argue that Knight is a really good defender. Even some fans on here say Markieff is a good defender, which I find insane. Anyway, if the Suns still supposedly had some good defenders out there, why are they giving up 135 points to the backups of the Rockets.

And Houston was missing its three best players, one of which is a top five player in the NBA. Harden, Howard, and Lawson. Those are their three main scorers (Lawson will be most likely). The Suns gave up 135 points to a bunch of role players, backups, and scrubs. If Houston shot their free throws better, they could have scored 150 points.

The Suns effort was horrendous. It took a miracle comeback in the fourth quarter when McHale pulled all of his players and put out a group of players I had never heard of for the Suns to make it respectable. I have been unimpressed with the Suns in the first three games. They do not look anything close to a playoff team. People forget that the Kings and Jazz suck. The Suns team make up is so flawed. It is like they are half competing for the eighth seed, half rebuilding. I like Chandler but they screwed up so many other things. Why do you need a guy like Weems when you already have Bledsoe, Knight, Price, Goodwin, Booker, Tucker, and Warren. I never thought this would happen but the organization has become a laughingstock. No wonder ESPN ranked them one of the worst organizations in all of sports yesterday. It is embarrassing.

[Revived]

I don't really care that we lost. They were missing Dwight, Harden and Lawson while we were missing the only 2 centers we have on the team and our highest paid player Bledsoe. Their backups are better than our backups, who cares.

If both teams were completely healthy, Houston is still obviously way better than the Suns. Their expected and supposed to be way better than the Suns. Losing to them isn't such a shameful thing imo.

[lilfishi22]

Just finished watching the game.

Few points:
- Archie is really useless when his man squares him up on defense and they challenge him to shoot the ball. His playmaking is still rudimentary at best and at this point, he really doesn't add a whole lot of value. I'm not blind to his slashing abilities but that skill alone is really not enough to be successful at this level.

- TJ Bucket's patented floaters have been a bit hit and miss. He used to be money with those but scoring comes easy to him so I'm not too worried. I am more worried about his 3 which I believe is essential (even at a mid 30% clip) for him to take his game to the next level.

- Booker looked awesome, absolutely fantastic! On offense. Once he gets more comfortable with the speed, pace and sets, he'll be nailing 3's with his eyes close. On the other hand, his defense needs a lot of work. I can see when he's facing up, he does the basics just fine; keeping low, hands up. But guys blow by him so easily. But when guys take a first step, he's either out of position or he doesn't react fast enough and without elite lateral quickness, guys will blow by him on the regular if he doesn't sharpen that aspect up. But it's early days and he's still 19 so not too worried at this stage.

- Mirza....perhaps I oversold him when he first signed but man, when he's not hitting 3's...he's kinda useless. Unlike hot-and-cold shooters like G Green and Frye, at least when they are having an off day, they can actually play some defense at their position. Mirza, is slow, he's very much athletic and he gives up (bails out) on defensive plays and just goes for the foul. He hasn't looked great so far this preseason.

- Weems has played his role perfectly. He's rebounding, slashing for dunks, handling the ball, defending well. He's basically a good glue guy who does a bit of everything but doesn't really get noticed unless he's out there dunking. I think he'll be a fine player for us.

- Knight looking good with his 3's but boy, that poster... He needs to just step away from those.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS9JvNDozq4[/youtube]

[King4Day]

I don't consider it a poster unless you are trying to contest a dunk. Knight tried to take the charge and wound up backpedaling so he wouldn't fall down.
If that's considered a poster then what was Rose's against Dragic or Amar'e against Toliver?

[King4Day]

Also, for those bringing up concerns, just remember it's preseason and many lineup configurations we see are experimental. So players aren't going to be completely on the same page with each other.

And yes, regardless of who we're playing, not having Chandler, Len, and Bledsoe is a major blow to our D. Not a great game to really critique and get worked up about. Neither team played D and both teams offenses were alive and kicking.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

TJ defended McDaniels as if he had rim protection. I thought he worked hard out there.

[Revived]

TJ defended McDaniels as if he had rim protection. I thought he worked hard out there.

That doesn't speak well of his basketball IQ (and maybe even regular IQ) if he isn't able to realize that both Chandler and Len were in suits meaning they won't be playing. Plus he can look around when he's on the court and realize which players are playing and which ones aren't.

[Revived]

I don't consider it a poster unless you are trying to contest a dunk. Knight tried to take the charge and wound up backpedaling so he wouldn't fall down.
If that's considered a poster then what was Rose's against Dragic or Amar'e against Toliver?

annihilation

[NavLDO]

Also, for those bringing up concerns, just remember it's preseason and many lineup configurations we see are experimental. So players aren't going to be completely on the same page with each other.

And yes, regardless of who we're playing, not having Chandler, Len, and Bledsoe is a major blow to our D. Not a great game to really critique and get worked up about. Neither team played D and both teams offenses were alive and kicking.

Exactly, our 3 starter-level, supposedly best 3, players are not out on the court, and they are playing a playoff team, with THEIR starters out, that completely changes the dynamic of the game. And with it being pre-season, just like you said, the coach is trying a bunch of different combos to see what works, what doesn't, who plays well with who, etc.

And I did not watch either, but it appeared that Mirza had a ton of rebounds--like the only one who did rebound, did he not at LEAST look like a decent rebounder, or so the numbers paint an inaccurate picture of how those rebounds actually came about?

I'm thrilled that Booker is looking so good so early, and that Warren still looks good overall. They are both still developing and will make their share of mistakes, but those two look to be great selections for us in the late lottery, and if we can get lucky enough to find two starters with those picks, then our FO has to be given some credit for those selections, but we'll have to wait another 3 years to really know.

[LukasBMW]

I've thought a lot about this game.

Since Archie has come into the league, all he has ever been able to do is get to the rim. His finishing has improved, but he still can't shoot and still can't run an offense. He's still a project and he needs to develop as a 2. At this point, I stick with my BEST CASE SCENARIO of Barbosa as a comp.

TJ and Booker already showed off "big league" moves. I'm really really excited. I think we should all be excited!

TJ seems to have excellent work ethic so I think we can only expect his defense and 3 point shot to improve. Once that happens...look out! He really did remind me of Kevin Durrant during the game. When he starts hitting his 3 with regularity...look out! He'll be a guy who competes for the scoring title. Of 1st and 2nd year players who would you rather have? You could maybe make arguments for Parker and definitely Wiggins or KAT, but given where we drafted him, he's an absolute steal.

Booker reminded me of a smoother Dragic. His shot is butter and I'm impressed/surprised with his ability to penetrate. He's not super fast like Bledsoe, but he is crafty and controlled much like Dragic. He's going to make a lot of GM's wish they didn't pass up on him.

[Revived]

Warren needs to shoot more 3s. He's too reliant on scoring inside, that's not gonna be open to him against good forwards.

Warren needs to shoot more 3s even if he misses it to gain some confidence in just shooting it in the games. Fans also want to see if he's improved at all at it.

[NavLDO]

Warren needs to shoot more 3s. He's too reliant on scoring inside, that's not gonna be open to him against good forwards.

Warren needs to shoot more 3s even if he misses it to gain some confidence in just shooting it in the games. Fans also want to see if he's improved at all at it.

I agree. He does need to at least have a threat of a 3 point shot, or why would anyone come out? There's only so many places to 'run' inside. Even 35% would be enough to respect it, which is all he needs--30-32% on 1 or 2 attempts per game ain't gonna get it done.

[bwgood77]

Warren needs to shoot more 3s. He's too reliant on scoring inside, that's not gonna be open to him against good forwards.

Warren needs to shoot more 3s even if he misses it to gain some confidence in just shooting it in the games. Fans also want to see if he's improved at all at it.

I agree. He does need to at least have a threat of a 3 point shot, or why would anyone come out? There's only so many places to 'run' inside. Even 35% would be enough to respect it, which is all he needs--30-32% on 1 or 2 attempts per game ain't gonna get it done.

Yes, it will be hard to play him with Morris unless Morris plays almost strictly on the perimeter on offense.