Suns Path to Playoffs

[suns12345]

#1 pick incoming!!

With our luck probably. No superstars in this draft

Unless we're drafting the next Lebron, i'd rather another really high level role player, as dumb as that sounds.

[KLEON]

The only thing that can stop Dame refs is LeBron refs. Dame will find that out soon.

[Dual]

All I can say is, our guys better be HUNGRY next season.

Honestly, I would call it a silver lining, but I think it is more than that. While the playoff experience would be nice, teams sometimes get there and then just expect to get back. The biggest lesson here is to not take any game in the regular season at all lightly...no personal agendas..you need to win..you cannot let others control your destiny.

Remember the Nuggets losing entering the playoffs 2 straight years and how that put them a chip on their shoulder. I expect the same for the Suns.
The Bubble has been so huge for this team...
Suddenly Booker is getting calls and Phoenix is a good place for FAs, also guys has been balling and are in a great place to keep growing, they are so young and talented.
Future is bright guys, as Ricky said one time, be happy.

Watch on YouTube

[sasquatchBob]

Read on Twitter

[DroughtsOverPHX]

Bummer. I now have to shift into just hoping the Lakers lose as my main interest in the bubble.

Ayton can get back to playing video games without that pesky basketball getting in the way. I wish he'd work, watch film of players who play team defense and stop trying to talk a good game. I don't want to see or hear him interviewed any more -- I want to see a different attitude on the court. He has all the tools below the shoulders that could dominate in this league.

[Crives]

Such a let down... maybe we end up getting that final piece in the draft now

[BobbieL]

#1 pick incoming!!

With our luck probably. No superstars in this draft

Unless we're drafting the next Lebron, i'd rather another really high level role player, as dumb as that sounds.

I get what you mean. Granted, I think you still have to go BPA - don't get cute. But the idea of a player that has a specific role, plays that role and just helps the team has a lot of merit. But I still think you got to go BPA.

[Dirk]

We need to sacrifice some users to appease the NBA gods and get the Suns back in the playoffs.

-Robert Sarver

[LukasBMW]

It sucks that we played perfectly and lost. Both of those final Blazer games could have gone either way.

- DeAndre looked great at times, but he was way too passive at other times. That's concerning, but I still have high hopes for him.

- I'd be OK bringing everyone back. Baynes for sure! Saric if we can keep him for a good price and a upgrade isn't available. Frank is underrated and I loved what he did this year. He's what we hoped Bender would turn into! I'm glad we have him on a 2 year deal!

- I wonder if we can package our #10 pick and some other BS for more firepower. Zach LaVine or Levert.

- If Cam and Bridges keep playing like they are playing, and Frank stays healthy, the 3/4 position starts to look pretty crowded. it might make sense to consider moving Oubre for a PG with star potential.

- Some guys might play well in the bubble, but struggle again in front of fans. The distractions do make a difference. We should keep that in mind on any trades.

[Qwigglez]

The worse thing about this for me is it's hard to keep this momentum going. With the playoffs right around the corner I think we could have easily scared the Lakers. I'm not saying we would have won, but we would have had a lot of confidence going into that series. It'll be hard to maintain this high throughout an entire season, but at the very least our guys have the confidence going into 2020-21 season knowing we can beat a lot of playoff teams.

I think we need to lower our expectations of Ayton. He's played fairly well in the bubble but obviously he didn't take that next step that all of us were hoping for. He still is probably one of the better centers in the league to have, I'm just hoping he can create more foul shots as his FTA's this year decreased from his rookie season. I'm not sure if it's part of the our game plan, but I hate when he grabs an offensive board and throws it back out to someone at the 3 point line. Unless we are down big I think I'd rather him just bang on the inside and possibly get an old fashioned three point play.

[bwgood77]

The worse thing about this for me is it's hard to keep this momentum going. With the playoffs right around the corner I think we could have easily scared the Lakers. I'm not saying we would have won, but we would have had a lot of confidence going into that series. It'll be hard to maintain this high throughout an entire season, but at the very least our guys have the confidence going into 2020-21 season knowing we can beat a lot of playoff teams.

I think we need to lower our expectations of Ayton. He's played fairly well in the bubble but obviously he didn't take that next step that all of us were hoping for. He still is probably one of the better centers in the league to have, I'm just hoping he can create more foul shots as his FTA's this year decreased from his rookie season. I'm not sure if it's part of the our game plan, but I hate when he grabs an offensive board and throws it back out to someone at the 3 point line. Unless we are down big I think I'd rather him just bang on the inside and possibly get an old fashioned three point play.

Mentioning Ayton as one of the best Centers to have....I can agree with that based on age. And we look at guys like Jokic, Embiid, Towns, Bam, KP, Gobert, etc, and in some areas, he has better skills them some of them, but most have a big strength he cant match.

But those guys are probably considered his main competition as the top Cs. Then you have a guy like Vucevic who puts up crazy numbers often...tons of rebounds, gets assists, 3s,etc..

No one considers JV to be nearly a top C, but do you see Ayton putting up a line like Jonas Valanciunas did yesterday? If he did I feel like the place would go nuts.

He had 26 pts, 19 boards and 12 assists, on 11-17 shooting and 2/3 from 3.

Ayton is a very good passer though. I do think he will average a decent number of assists, and has added the 3. The offensive versatility is nice, and if the defensive improvement we saw for much of the season can continue, that will be great. It would be nice if he would just take it to the rim and dunk it more often when he was close, and if he would really be more aware on help defense. It's weird...sometimes he will be on a guy going to the rim and chase him to the rim and try to block a layup even from behind. But he can be standing there in the paint as the last line of defense and just watch a guy drive by him for a layup...head turns and all without him moving. This wasn't happening nearly as much earlier this season pre bubble as it did last year, but I did notice it lately in the bubble.

[GoodBehavior]

The worse thing about this for me is it's hard to keep this momentum going. With the playoffs right around the corner I think we could have easily scared the Lakers. I'm not saying we would have won, but we would have had a lot of confidence going into that series. It'll be hard to maintain this high throughout an entire season, but at the very least our guys have the confidence going into 2020-21 season knowing we can beat a lot of playoff teams.

I think we need to lower our expectations of Ayton. He's played fairly well in the bubble but obviously he didn't take that next step that all of us were hoping for. He still is probably one of the better centers in the league to have, I'm just hoping he can create more foul shots as his FTA's this year decreased from his rookie season. I'm not sure if it's part of the our game plan, but I hate when he grabs an offensive board and throws it back out to someone at the 3 point line. Unless we are down big I think I'd rather him just bang on the inside and possibly get an old fashioned three point play.

Mentioning Ayton as one of the best Centers to have....I can agree with that based on age. And we look at guys like Jokic, Embiid, Towns, Bam, KP, Gobert, etc, and in some areas, he has better skills them some of them, but most have a big strength he cant match.

But those guys are probably considered his main competition as the top Cs. Then you have a guy like Vucevic who puts up crazy numbers often...tons of rebounds, gets assists, 3s,etc..

No one considers JV to be nearly a top C, but do you see Ayton putting up a line like Jonas Valanciunas did yesterday? If he did I feel like the place would go nuts.

He had 26 pts, 19 boards and 12 assists, on 11-17 shooting and 2/3 from 3.

Ayton is a very good passer though. I do think he will average a decent number of assists, and has added the 3. The offensive versatility is nice, and if the defensive improvement we saw for much of the season can continue, that will be great. It would be nice if he would just take it to the rim and dunk it more often when he was close, and if he would really be more aware on help defense. It's weird...sometimes he will be on a guy going to the rim and chase him to the rim and try to block a layup even from behind. But he can be standing there in the paint as the last line of defense and just watch a guy drive by him for a layup...head turns and all without him moving. This wasn't happening nearly as much earlier this season pre bubble as it did last year, but I did notice it lately in the bubble.

The last half of the bubbles was rough (including the miss test) for him, but I think it's important to keep things in perspective. Ayton is on schedule or ahead of schedule of where we want him to be (a top center in this league and a top 10 player overall).

Consistency is a problem for a young player. I would imagine it's more pronounced for a young big, so I am not concerned as some people are (not to say that my concerns are zero). We don't really have a good comparison since Embiid took two years off, and KAT only cares about offense. KAT probably stat-stuff his second year, he fell back to 21 pt in his third year. Embiid in his third year (rookie year) averaged 20pt. It would be shocking if Ayton in his third year (at age 22, comparable in age) doesn't meet or exceed Embid's or KAT's offensive output. Regardless of his anemic free throws.

Now .. there are concerns for sure:

A. The game has not slow down for him. Miami threw a quasi zone at him, and he was a deer in headline. His jumpshot was automatic at the beginning of the bubble, but the second half, it's been all rushed. Kid is pressing, from what I gather. You hope the game slows down by year 3 for him.

B. Defensive mental breakdown when his offense game is not going well. I think this happens to everyone, but for a center, you can't have mental lapses on the defensive end. When things go well on offense, his energy level on the defensive end is very good. He has elite tools on both front, just need that mental fortitude to grind through. Can he in Year 3? We'll see.

C. His hands have been underwhelming. He miss two or three bunnies a game from bobbling passes. Not sure what is the cause (perhaps reason 1). If he can recapture those hands during his rookie year, he's easily a top 3 center in this league.

[PharmD]

Tyler Johnson brought it and then said nice things about the Suns afterwards:

On his former teammates

"Ricky, that's one of my favorite teammates I've ever had. He's just a really good dude and that's one of those things where sometimes in situations maybe it wasn't a good basketball situation for me, but I did meet some incredible people."

"Ricky. Little Ty Jerome. Dario. D-Book. Kells. DA. I met a lot of good guys when I was there."

On the Suns being eliminated

"I thought that those guys played their hearts out and deserved to have that opportunity to fight for a playoff spot. It's unfortunate that they're not going to be able to do that moving forward. I know I took the game seriously and I feel for those guys and all the work that they put in."

On the bright future Suns

"They're building something really good over there regardless of what happened with me and my situation over there. They are building a culture. They're building a program that's going to be able to compete moving forward."

How many teams can have a veteran you benched then bought out say such nice things about the team? The smiles and hugs are genuine and something special is growing imo.

[Qwigglez]

Tyler Johnson brought it and then said nice things about the Suns afterwards:

On his former teammates

"Ricky, that's one of my favorite teammates I've ever had. He's just a really good dude and that's one of those things where sometimes in situations maybe it wasn't a good basketball situation for me, but I did meet some incredible people."

"Ricky. Little Ty Jerome. Dario. D-Book. Kells. DA. I met a lot of good guys when I was there."

On the Suns being eliminated

"I thought that those guys played their hearts out and deserved to have that opportunity to fight for a playoff spot. It's unfortunate that they're not going to be able to do that moving forward. I know I took the game seriously and I feel for those guys and all the work that they put in."

On the bright future Suns

"They're building something really good over there regardless of what happened with me and my situation over there. They are building a culture. They're building a program that's going to be able to compete moving forward."

How many teams can have a veteran you benched then bought out say such nice things about the team? The smiles and hugs are genuine and something special is growing imo.

Just look how happy everyone is here!!


And then my gf and I not very happy in the back.

[Qwigglez]

The worse thing about this for me is it's hard to keep this momentum going. With the playoffs right around the corner I think we could have easily scared the Lakers. I'm not saying we would have won, but we would have had a lot of confidence going into that series. It'll be hard to maintain this high throughout an entire season, but at the very least our guys have the confidence going into 2020-21 season knowing we can beat a lot of playoff teams.

I think we need to lower our expectations of Ayton. He's played fairly well in the bubble but obviously he didn't take that next step that all of us were hoping for. He still is probably one of the better centers in the league to have, I'm just hoping he can create more foul shots as his FTA's this year decreased from his rookie season. I'm not sure if it's part of the our game plan, but I hate when he grabs an offensive board and throws it back out to someone at the 3 point line. Unless we are down big I think I'd rather him just bang on the inside and possibly get an old fashioned three point play.

Mentioning Ayton as one of the best Centers to have....I can agree with that based on age. And we look at guys like Jokic, Embiid, Towns, Bam, KP, Gobert, etc, and in some areas, he has better skills them some of them, but most have a big strength he cant match.

But those guys are probably considered his main competition as the top Cs. Then you have a guy like Vucevic who puts up crazy numbers often...tons of rebounds, gets assists, 3s,etc..

No one considers JV to be nearly a top C, but do you see Ayton putting up a line like Jonas Valanciunas did yesterday? If he did I feel like the place would go nuts.

He had 26 pts, 19 boards and 12 assists, on 11-17 shooting and 2/3 from 3.

Ayton is a very good passer though. I do think he will average a decent number of assists, and has added the 3. The offensive versatility is nice, and if the defensive improvement we saw for much of the season can continue, that will be great. It would be nice if he would just take it to the rim and dunk it more often when he was close, and if he would really be more aware on help defense. It's weird...sometimes he will be on a guy going to the rim and chase him to the rim and try to block a layup even from behind. But he can be standing there in the paint as the last line of defense and just watch a guy drive by him for a layup...head turns and all without him moving. This wasn't happening nearly as much earlier this season pre bubble as it did last year, but I did notice it lately in the bubble.

I'm not sure what is going on with Ayton. I think he just gets mental lapses and doesn't try. Sometimes he just gets lazy, or he doesn't even care. Would just like to see some some of that meanness that Amare Stoudemire would show.

I don't know if you remember this play or not, but at the 4:02 mark(ish) I thought Ayton did a nice job, even drop-stepped a bit, but noticed Turner was still right there. He should have just dunked in his face but instead went with the finesse shot and got his **** blocked.

Watch on YouTube

I think that one play shows a lot of what Ayton is capable of doing.

[Mr Puddles]

The worse thing about this for me is it's hard to keep this momentum going. With the playoffs right around the corner I think we could have easily scared the Lakers. I'm not saying we would have won, but we would have had a lot of confidence going into that series. It'll be hard to maintain this high throughout an entire season, but at the very least our guys have the confidence going into 2020-21 season knowing we can beat a lot of playoff teams.

I think we need to lower our expectations of Ayton. He's played fairly well in the bubble but obviously he didn't take that next step that all of us were hoping for. He still is probably one of the better centers in the league to have, I'm just hoping he can create more foul shots as his FTA's this year decreased from his rookie season. I'm not sure if it's part of the our game plan, but I hate when he grabs an offensive board and throws it back out to someone at the 3 point line. Unless we are down big I think I'd rather him just bang on the inside and possibly get an old fashioned three point play.

Mentioning Ayton as one of the best Centers to have....I can agree with that based on age. And we look at guys like Jokic, Embiid, Towns, Bam, KP, Gobert, etc, and in some areas, he has better skills them some of them, but most have a big strength he cant match.

But those guys are probably considered his main competition as the top Cs. Then you have a guy like Vucevic who puts up crazy numbers often...tons of rebounds, gets assists, 3s,etc..

No one considers JV to be nearly a top C, but do you see Ayton putting up a line like Jonas Valanciunas did yesterday? If he did I feel like the place would go nuts.

He had 26 pts, 19 boards and 12 assists, on 11-17 shooting and 2/3 from 3.

Ayton is a very good passer though. I do think he will average a decent number of assists, and has added the 3. The offensive versatility is nice, and if the defensive improvement we saw for much of the season can continue, that will be great. It would be nice if he would just take it to the rim and dunk it more often when he was close, and if he would really be more aware on help defense. It's weird...sometimes he will be on a guy going to the rim and chase him to the rim and try to block a layup even from behind. But he can be standing there in the paint as the last line of defense and just watch a guy drive by him for a layup...head turns and all without him moving. This wasn't happening nearly as much earlier this season pre bubble as it did last year, but I did notice it lately in the bubble.

I'm not sure what is going on with Ayton. I think he just gets mental lapses and doesn't try. Sometimes he just gets lazy, or he doesn't even care. Would just like to see some some of that meanness that Amare Stoudemire would show.

I don't know if you remember this play or not, but at the 4:02 mark(ish) I thought Ayton did a nice job, even drop-stepped a bit, but noticed Turner was still right there. He should have just dunked in his face but instead went with the finesse shot and got his **** blocked.

Watch on YouTube

I think that one play shows a lot of what Ayton is capable of doing.

Yes, I remember that play very well because it demonstrates Ayton's biggest weakness in the post IMO. He spins away from the basket, and when spinning doesn't use his body to keep the defender behind him. He ends up further away from the basket with a more difficult shot and it allows players to recover. Make a spin heading straight towards the hoop, use your body to keep the defender behind you and there is no way turner recovers on that play.

It's kind of a side effect of his soft touch to be honest - it's good that Ayton can hit shots a step or two away from the basket, but his first option should always be to go straight to the hoop. It's something that I had to work on as well, when practicing different shots you start to move away from the easy things that work for you. The same thing kind of happened with amare as well when he started to fall too much in love with his mid range jump shot.

Ayton needs to learn to read these situations better, which I'm sure he'll be able to improve on.