Nashty & Cactus: Game 41 vs Jazz

[batsmasher]

Standings

How it works

y'all gotta appreciate our real tank commander has been in the starting lineup this whole time.

[DRK]

+3 Bledsoe
+2 Booker
+1 PJ

HM: Watson getting these young guys to play so alot more intensity than Ive seen in a long time. Defence was really good.
No Cactus for me. Everyone gave alot of effort tonight. Feel too sorry for Chriss to Cactus him as Im sure he feels bad enough already

[kennydorglas]

+3 Bled
+2 Book
+1 PJ

-6 Watson

[lilfishi22]

+3 Bledsoe - All-around great game from him. He played like the floor general and star today that I wish he always plays as
+2 Booker - Stepped it up in the 2nd half after being fairly quiet in the first. Need him doing more than scoring though.
+1 Tucker - Rebounds, hustle, defense and efficient scoring off the bench. Nothing more, nothing less

HM: I'm with DRK, as much as I enjoy ragging on about Watson, he did play our young bigs decent minutes and I especially enjoyed watching Bender play

[Zelaznyrules]

+3 Bled
+2 Book
+1 PJ

-6 Watson

For what? They played hard and almost beat a good team and that's after a long trip back from Mexico City.

[Zelaznyrules]

+3 Bledsoe
+2 Booker
+1 PJ

HM: Watson getting these young guys to play so alot more intensity than Ive seen in a long time. Defence was really good.
No Cactus for me. Everyone gave alot of effort tonight. Feel too sorry for Chriss to Cactus him as Im sure he feels bad enough already

Ditto on the Nashty numbers and the comment.

[Christine-In-AZ]

+3 Bledsoe
+2 Booker
+1 Tucker

[Qwigglez]

+3 for Bledsoe
+2 for Booker
+1 for PJ

Don't really have cactus awards right now.

[Saberestar]

+3 Bledsoe
+1 Booker
+1 Tucker
+1 Warren

-3 Chriss
-2 Ulis
-1 Barbosa

[MilotheSlayer]

+3 Bledsoe
+2 Booker
+1 Warren -put the ball in the basket and looked good on D

-1 Len - Gobert ate him alive
-2 Ball movement - 13 assists, 9 from one guy
-3 N/A

+40 Knight-DNP

[bwgood77]

+3 Bledsoe
+2 Booker
+1 Bender

-3 Chriss
-2 Watson for playing Chriss in crunch time
-1 Ulis

HM Nashty -Tucker stepping up with rebounds. Warren with an efficient shooting night but it would be nice if he was able to do more..touch though with so many iso players. Bender beat them out mostly for shooting, perimeter D, and 2 blocks which really is stellar in 25 minutes.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

+3 Bledsoe
+2 Booker
+1 Warren
HM Bender

-3 Chriss
-2 Watson

I think we would have won if coach had played either Bender or Len instead of Chriss down the stretch. No number of mistakes was sufficient to get him off the court; no amount of trust placed in him prevented Chriss from making another mistake the following play. We had earned a win, and Chriss lost it.

Loved the defensive intensity, however, as well as the newfound consistency on offense. Just wish it had come with a win.

EDIT: Oh and one more thing. Earl talking about how much we missed Tyson on the glass bothered me. If you wanted rebounds, why did you go with Chriss at the 5 to end both halves? Between Len and Chriss, who is the better rebounder? A strange complaint, sir, given your rotations.

[Jarlaxle0204]

+3 Bledsoe
+2 Booker
+1 Bender

[darealjuice]

+3 Bledsoe: Great game by him outside of that Shaqtin a Fool turnover when he would have had a layup. He's been playing some great basketball lately, if only we could trust him to stay healthy every year.
+2 Booker: His scoring has been really good lately, but his defense is still not where it needs to be and he isn't contributing much outside of scoring. I like his aggressiveness, but I think he needs to start looking to kick out more when he draws a crowd of defenders instead of take a fading toward the baseline one-handed floater.
+1 Warren: Really efficient on offense. He deserves more consistent touches, but it's tough when Bledsoe and Booker are putting up 20+ shots each. I like the effort he was putting into defending Hayward. He did a solid job on him last night, although he might have gotten away with a foul on that last steal lol.

-1 Watson: Bender wasn't playing particularly good defense when he got taken out from the fourth, so I understand him not being in, but I don't think Chriss was the person you want defending Gobert at the end of the game and setting ball screens for our team to get to the basket quick. I do like seeing 20+ minutes of Chriss and Bender and 15 minutes of Ulis though, and it was a competitive game against a good team. The team is definitely showing improvements on both ends.
-2 Len: Gobert always has great games when he goes up against Len. It seems like the Suns are trying to switch more on defense, but Len makes it really tough when he can't move his feet near quick enough to contest guards on 3s. I can remember at least 3 times he got switched out on the perimeter and they nailed a 3 over him. That might be why Chriss was out there at the end to be honest.
-3 Chriss: Tough game for him, those missed dunks will start to fall and he'll develop more consistency with his shot. He was put into a tough scenario at the end trying to get a quick bucket with Rudy in the paint, and it definitely didn't work out. He's played well lately and didn't look too bad before the fourth quarter, but he probably wasn't the right choice to be out there.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

+3 Bledsoe: Great game by him outside of that Shaqtin a Fool turnover when he would have had a layup. He's been playing some great basketball lately, if only we could trust him to stay healthy every year.
+2 Booker: His scoring has been really good lately, but his defense is still not where it needs to be and he isn't contributing much outside of scoring. I like his aggressiveness, but I think he needs to start looking to kick out more when he draws a crowd of defenders instead of take a fading toward the baseline one-handed floater.
+1 Warren: Really efficient on offense. He deserves more consistent touches, but it's tough when Bledsoe and Booker are putting up 20+ shots each. I like the effort he was putting into defending Hayward. He did a solid job on him last night, although he might have gotten away with a foul on that last steal lol.

-1 Watson: Bender wasn't playing particularly good defense when he got taken out from the fourth, so I understand him not being in, but I don't think Chriss was the person you want defending Gobert at the end of the game and setting ball screens for our team to get to the basket quick. I do like seeing 20+ minutes of Chriss and Bender and 15 minutes of Ulis though, and it was a competitive game against a good team. The team is definitely showing improvements on both ends.
-2 Len: Gobert always has great games when he goes up against Len. It seems like the Suns are trying to switch more on defense, but Len makes it really tough when he can't move his feet near quick enough to contest guards on 3s. I can remember at least 3 times he got switched out on the perimeter and they nailed a 3 over him. That might be why Chriss was out there at the end to be honest.
-3 Chriss: Tough game for him, those missed dunks will start to fall and he'll develop more consistency with his shot. He was put into a tough scenario at the end trying to get a quick bucket with Rudy in the paint, and it definitely didn't work out. He's played well lately and didn't look too bad before the fourth quarter, but he probably wasn't the right choice to be out there.

Tyson has played no better against Gobert. I don't think the -2 here makes sense. I thought Len played well and within the flow. He hit two jumpers in rhythm but didn't try to do anything outside his capabilities. It was clear Watson wants Chriss to show skills he's yet to develop - much like he did with Len last year. I didn't think it made sense, given Chriss's repeated mental errors, to keep him out there in crunch time. Len's long passed the point where he misses rotations.

[darealjuice]

+3 Bledsoe: Great game by him outside of that Shaqtin a Fool turnover when he would have had a layup. He's been playing some great basketball lately, if only we could trust him to stay healthy every year.
+2 Booker: His scoring has been really good lately, but his defense is still not where it needs to be and he isn't contributing much outside of scoring. I like his aggressiveness, but I think he needs to start looking to kick out more when he draws a crowd of defenders instead of take a fading toward the baseline one-handed floater.
+1 Warren: Really efficient on offense. He deserves more consistent touches, but it's tough when Bledsoe and Booker are putting up 20+ shots each. I like the effort he was putting into defending Hayward. He did a solid job on him last night, although he might have gotten away with a foul on that last steal lol.

-1 Watson: Bender wasn't playing particularly good defense when he got taken out from the fourth, so I understand him not being in, but I don't think Chriss was the person you want defending Gobert at the end of the game and setting ball screens for our team to get to the basket quick. I do like seeing 20+ minutes of Chriss and Bender and 15 minutes of Ulis though, and it was a competitive game against a good team. The team is definitely showing improvements on both ends.
-2 Len: Gobert always has great games when he goes up against Len. It seems like the Suns are trying to switch more on defense, but Len makes it really tough when he can't move his feet near quick enough to contest guards on 3s. I can remember at least 3 times he got switched out on the perimeter and they nailed a 3 over him. That might be why Chriss was out there at the end to be honest.
-3 Chriss: Tough game for him, those missed dunks will start to fall and he'll develop more consistency with his shot. He was put into a tough scenario at the end trying to get a quick bucket with Rudy in the paint, and it definitely didn't work out. He's played well lately and didn't look too bad before the fourth quarter, but he probably wasn't the right choice to be out there.

Tyson has played no better against Gobert. I don't think the -2 here makes sense. I thought Len played well and within the flow. He hit two jumpers in rhythm but didn't try to do anything outside his capabilities. It was clear Watson wants Chriss to show skills he's yet to develop - much like he did with Len last year. I didn't think it made sense, given Chriss's repeated mental errors, to keep him out there in crunch time. Len's long passed the point where he misses rotations.

This has nothing to do with Tyson? I don't know where else you expect Len to be, I barely even put Watson on here and wouldn't have if Chriss wasn't in at the end. He wasn't on Gobert all game, but if the guy you're primarily defending ends with 18/17 with 6 offensive rebounds you probably didn't have a good game on defense. We needed him to replace Tyson's rebounding ability with the starting group, and he ended up with only 5 rebounds. Also, Len definitely is not past the point where he misses rotations lol he is terrible at rotating on pick and rolls and got exposed nearly every time he was switched on a perimeter player last night.

[Zelaznyrules]

+3 Bledsoe: Great game by him outside of that Shaqtin a Fool turnover when he would have had a layup. He's been playing some great basketball lately, if only we could trust him to stay healthy every year.
+2 Booker: His scoring has been really good lately, but his defense is still not where it needs to be and he isn't contributing much outside of scoring. I like his aggressiveness, but I think he needs to start looking to kick out more when he draws a crowd of defenders instead of take a fading toward the baseline one-handed floater.
+1 Warren: Really efficient on offense. He deserves more consistent touches, but it's tough when Bledsoe and Booker are putting up 20+ shots each. I like the effort he was putting into defending Hayward. He did a solid job on him last night, although he might have gotten away with a foul on that last steal lol.

-1 Watson: Bender wasn't playing particularly good defense when he got taken out from the fourth, so I understand him not being in, but I don't think Chriss was the person you want defending Gobert at the end of the game and setting ball screens for our team to get to the basket quick. I do like seeing 20+ minutes of Chriss and Bender and 15 minutes of Ulis though, and it was a competitive game against a good team. The team is definitely showing improvements on both ends.
-2 Len: Gobert always has great games when he goes up against Len. It seems like the Suns are trying to switch more on defense, but Len makes it really tough when he can't move his feet near quick enough to contest guards on 3s. I can remember at least 3 times he got switched out on the perimeter and they nailed a 3 over him. That might be why Chriss was out there at the end to be honest.
-3 Chriss: Tough game for him, those missed dunks will start to fall and he'll develop more consistency with his shot. He was put into a tough scenario at the end trying to get a quick bucket with Rudy in the paint, and it definitely didn't work out. He's played well lately and didn't look too bad before the fourth quarter, but he probably wasn't the right choice to be out there.

Tyson has played no better against Gobert. I don't think the -2 here makes sense. I thought Len played well and within the flow. He hit two jumpers in rhythm but didn't try to do anything outside his capabilities. It was clear Watson wants Chriss to show skills he's yet to develop - much like he did with Len last year. I didn't think it made sense, given Chriss's repeated mental errors, to keep him out there in crunch time. Len's long passed the point where he misses rotations.

This has nothing to do with Tyson? I don't know where else you expect Len to be, I barely even put Watson on here and wouldn't have if Chriss wasn't in at the end. He wasn't on Gobert all game, but if the guy you're primarily defending ends with 18/17 with 6 offensive rebounds you probably didn't have a good game on defense. We needed him to replace Tyson's rebounding ability with the starting group, and he ended up with only 5 rebounds. Also, Len definitely is not past the point where he misses rotations lol he is terrible at rotating on pick and rolls and got exposed nearly every time he was switched on a perimeter player last night.

Len didn't even play 21 minutes so while it wasn't a great rebounding performance, it's not like those 5 rebounds are ridiculously low. And Bender actually played more than either Len or Chriss despite all the haranguing on the game thread about Watson playing Chriss at the end. We were shorthanded and we were playing a pretty good team, I'm very happy with the performance last night. Sure, Chriss got burned but it wasn't the first time and won't be the last. Might as well give him every chance to learn what it's like to play at this level. Maybe he'll learn, maybe he won't but I'd rather go through with it now then watch him struggle in a season or two when the wins and losses might actually mean something to us.

[darealjuice]

Tyson has played no better against Gobert. I don't think the -2 here makes sense. I thought Len played well and within the flow. He hit two jumpers in rhythm but didn't try to do anything outside his capabilities. It was clear Watson wants Chriss to show skills he's yet to develop - much like he did with Len last year. I didn't think it made sense, given Chriss's repeated mental errors, to keep him out there in crunch time. Len's long passed the point where he misses rotations.

This has nothing to do with Tyson? I don't know where else you expect Len to be, I barely even put Watson on here and wouldn't have if Chriss wasn't in at the end. He wasn't on Gobert all game, but if the guy you're primarily defending ends with 18/17 with 6 offensive rebounds you probably didn't have a good game on defense. We needed him to replace Tyson's rebounding ability with the starting group, and he ended up with only 5 rebounds. Also, Len definitely is not past the point where he misses rotations lol he is terrible at rotating on pick and rolls and got exposed nearly every time he was switched on a perimeter player last night.

Len didn't even play 21 minutes so while it wasn't a great rebounding performance, it's not like those 5 rebounds are ridiculously low. And Bender actually played more than either Len or Chriss despite all the haranguing on the game thread about Watson playing Chriss at the end. We were shorthanded and we were playing a pretty good team, I'm very happy with the performance last night. Sure, Chriss got burned but it wasn't the first time and won't be the last. Might as well give him every chance to learn what it's like to play at this level. Maybe he'll learn, maybe he won't but I'd rather go through with it now then watch him struggle in a season or two when the wins and losses might actually mean something to us.

I'm only saying Chriss shouldn't have been in at the end because he was defending Gobert, who's a bit of a mismatch for him on defense and is a much better rebounder than Quese. I'm fine with the minutes that they all got and liked what I saw from everyone. I only gave negatives because that's the point of the thread, I think it was a good experience for Chriss to be in at the end and get the opportunity to help bring the game back for us, and I don't think Len was particularly bad either.

There just aren't many options, PJ played well, Bender played well, and Barbosa and Alan barely played. I guess Ulis shot poorly and could get a negative instead, but he only played 10 minutes and it's not like he was turning the ball over or getting killed on defense.

[Sunsss]

+3: Bledsoe (finally realized that first halves count too... his first quarter performance was critical)
+2: Booker
+1: PJ

[batsmasher]

Final:

3. Bled
2. Book
1. PJ

-3. Chriss
-2. Watson
-1. Ulis