Game 8: LA Clippers (5-2) @ Phoenix Suns (3-4)

[bwgood77]

There were two of them. The first one said something like "Some things I will never understand." The second said something like "Tell me one thing, do something else. That is not real."

I am tired of marginal players acting like they deserve something. You have to earn your opportunities in the NBA.

After deleting those tweets, Archie did clarify that they weren't related to basketball.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

Sounds like relationship issues to me.

[PackSuns]

Tj shooting over 50% from the field and 36% from deep. He had to shoot a long 3 at the end of the quarter a few games back He would be at 40% without that shot. Pretty good improvement. Now if we can keep him on the court he will have more 10pt bursts. That's what he does. His D was suspect last night. I admit.

[MrMiyagi]

Brandon Knight & Eric Bledsoe are becoming one of the best back courts in the league. It's fun to watch them dominate so far in this young season. Whenever both combine for 45+ points I have a good feeling Suns will win.

Reggie Miller was right that we need that 3rd guy, and I think Kieff, despite his flaws, can provide that scoring punch and make our squad tough to beat. Say what you will about Kieff, he can get ~17 a night and get his own shot. It hasn't been falling so far, but hopefully it does soon.

[RunDogGun]

Warren is playing 20-25 minutes with the reserves, and in that situation he is the primary or secondary scoring threat on the floor. That is probably a better way to prepare him for stardom than playing him with the starters and having to defer in scoring to Bledsoe, Knight, and Morris.

I figure we could start him if we dealt Keef for more of a defensive, athletic type. Say, Thad Young (see Trade thread).

Thad Young isn't known for his defense. He is basically the same player as Kieff, just shorter.

[RunDogGun]

Tj shooting over 50% from the field and 36% from deep. He had to shoot a long 3 at the end of the quarter a few games back He would be at 40% without that shot. Pretty good improvement. Now if we can keep him on the court he will have more 10pt bursts. That's what he does. His D was suspect last night. I admit.

He was stuck guarding Crawford a bunch of times. He at least puts forth effort on that end. It would be great if Warren and Tucker could work with each other on their deficiencies. Together they make an incredible player.

[ATTL]

Knight is settling into his role on the team, its early but he's playing much better this year compared to how he played for us last year.

[bwgood77]

Brandon Knight & Eric Bledsoe are becoming one of the best back courts in the league. It's fun to watch them dominate so far in this young season. Whenever both combine for 45+ points I have a good feeling Suns will win.

Reggie Miller was right that we need that 3rd guy, and I think Kieff, despite his flaws, can provide that scoring punch and make our squad tough to beat. Say what you will about Kieff, he can get ~17 a night and get his own shot. It hasn't been falling so far, but hopefully it does soon.

Did you hear Reggie (I think) say that Hornacek said that Kieff seemed to be in a different mindset once the Detroit game was behind him? He certainly looked like his old self to me in the early minutes last night.

[NTB]

Lol i just want to watch Bled's and Knight's highlights all day long.

[King4Day]

Bledsoe is so good. He really took his game to another level.

This is a bit of a relief to me. I was concerned he may have already peaked. Good to see guys who got their contracts still trying to up their games.

[rsavaj]

Bad coaching performance tonight, Booker only played 1 minute.

He took a shot to the head and needed stitches.

Yeah but don't you remember when Hornacek headbutted him?

I bet he told the trainers not to use sterile sutures either.

[Revived]

Brandon Knight & Eric Bledsoe are becoming one of the best back courts in the league. It's fun to watch them dominate so far in this young season. Whenever both combine for 45+ points I have a good feeling Suns will win.

Reggie Miller was right that we need that 3rd guy, and I think Kieff, despite his flaws, can provide that scoring punch and make our squad tough to beat. Say what you will about Kieff, he can get ~17 a night and get his own shot. It hasn't been falling so far, but hopefully it does soon.

Did you hear Reggie (I think) say that Hornacek said that Kieff seemed to be in a different mindset once the Detroit game was behind him? He certainly looked like his old self to me in the early minutes last night.

I don't think he looked very good against OKC after that Pistons game either.

[Saberestar]

If Markieff improves his effort and shot selection we are a playoff team.Absolutely.

[sunskerr]

I cant make any conclusions about the team from this because A) 1 game, B) Clippers were missing their best guys

[thamadkant]

Austin Rivers was COMICALLY bad in this game.
Played 34 minutes, perfect opportunity to prove his talents.

Missed free throws, clank after clank.
Crossed over himself...

He doesnt have the athleticism to pull off the game style he wants to do. He should watch more games of George Hill or Billups, cerebral type players.

[Revived]

Now I understand why the crowd seemed so disappointed when Booker turned down the wide open 3

[tweet]https://twitter.com/paulcoro/status/665049939622232065[/tweet]

[Cutter]

Tj shooting over 50% from the field and 36% from deep. He had to shoot a long 3 at the end of the quarter a few games back He would be at 40% without that shot. Pretty good improvement. Now if we can keep him on the court he will have more 10pt bursts. That's what he does. His D was suspect last night. I admit.

I love that TJ has his efficiency back up over 50%. I said back in the offseason that I would like to see him take 15-16 shot attempts per game and see if he can maintain that efficiency on larger volume.

I am cautiously hopeful that he is improving his 3 point shot. He is currently shooting 36.5% from deep, but that is on very low volume. He is currently 4/11 from deep, and that's not enough shot attempts to determine how well he is shooting the 3.

Another area he needs to improve immediately in is rebounding. He is only rebounding something like 2 rpg, and needs to be at a minimum of 5-6 rebounds per game to be a serious starting SF.

If he maintains overall shooting above 50% efficiency, plus
Attempts 15-16 shots per game from the bench, plus
Has 3-4 three point attempts per game at 36% efficiency, plus
Improves rebounding to 5-6 per game, plus
Plays decent defensively and displays a high basketball IQ

If TJ does these things he will be our go-to SF for years and years to come. He is not that far off and if he can take his game to the next step he will be a beast.

[aIvin adams]

Tj shooting over 50% from the field and 36% from deep. He had to shoot a long 3 at the end of the quarter a few games back He would be at 40% without that shot. Pretty good improvement. Now if we can keep him on the court he will have more 10pt bursts. That's what he does. His D was suspect last night. I admit.

I love that TJ has his efficiency back up over 50%. I said back in the offseason that I would like to see him take 15-16 shot attempts per game and see if he can maintain that efficiency on larger volume.

I am cautiously hopeful that he is improving his 3 point shot. He is currently shooting 36.5% from deep, but that is on very low volume. He is currently 4/11 from deep, and that's not enough shot attempts to determine how well he is shooting the 3.

Another area he needs to improve immediately in is rebounding. He is only rebounding something like 2 rpg, and needs to be at a minimum of 5-6 rebounds per game to be a serious starting SF.

If he maintains overall shooting above 50% efficiency, plus
Attempts 15-16 shots per game from the bench, plus
Has 3-4 three point attempts per game at 36% efficiency, plus
Improves rebounding to 5-6 per game, plus
Plays decent defensively and displays a high basketball IQ

If TJ does these things he will be our go-to SF for years and years to come. He is not that far off and if he can take his game to the next step he will be a beast.

low volume but otoh it seems like he's takign 3's in the flow of the offense from any spot behind the arc.

his shot looks smooth from his legs to his release and all his makes came in the flow of the offense... i can recall a few of his missed threes coming at the end of the shot clock.

eye test says he's becoming a legit shooter.. he and booker in the future... <3333

[bwgood77]

Now I understand why the crowd seemed so disappointed when Booker turned down the wide open 3

[tweet]https://twitter.com/paulcoro/status/665049939622232065[/tweet]

But people here were praising him from turning it down, saying it was classy. Would have been nice to see that triple double though.