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Game 23: Phoenix Suns (19-3) @ Golden State Warriors (18-3) l Friday l 8:00pm l ESPN

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RunDogGun
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Re: Game 23: Phoenix Suns (19-3) @ Golden State Warriors (18-3) l Friday l 8:00pm l ESPN 

Post#261 » by RunDogGun » Mon Dec 6, 2021 5:53 pm

I felt Monty leaving in Payne was the game. Payne sucked so badly in this game on both ends of the court. Payton should have gotten those minutes. As for people wanting a swap of Paytons, why? Our Payton is much better for what we need from that position.
ImNotMcDiSwear
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Re: Game 23: Phoenix Suns (19-3) @ Golden State Warriors (18-3) l Friday l 8:00pm l ESPN 

Post#262 » by ImNotMcDiSwear » Mon Dec 6, 2021 6:25 pm

RunDogGun wrote:I felt Monty leaving in Payne was the game. Payne sucked so badly in this game on both ends of the court. Payton should have gotten those minutes. As for people wanting a swap of Paytons, why? Our Payton is much better for what we need from that position.


Kind of a weird take. Payne's our best bench player, and though he didn't play well, you gotta go with your best horse if you're going to win the race. Payton hasn't shown anything yet this season and was even a big negative against the Pistons of all teams.

The Warriors bench just played an awesome game. So much more energy than our squad. Bridges was limited, no Booker, no Nader even. We went with Ish, who is either too green or just bad, we'll see. Team was pushing him to take threes - he missed the one he took. Freaking Shamet kept us in the game early.

Warriors made a great decision to hack our bigs rather than let them get rolling (freaking hated all the comments complaining on the free throw disparity given it was obviously intentional!). Collapsed on Payne, forced him to take tough shots, denied him passing lanes (and he's not great at hitting outside shooters anyway). Payton and Ish were guys they didn't have to cover. And our guys were just gassed, plain and simple, playing a team with fresh legs and all the motivation in the world, having done nothing but study game film of their loss to us for the last two days while we were on the road and playing the Pistons the night before.

I really don't think we did anything wrong here. The streak couldn't last forever. We got a good look at the Warriors best approach while we were down one superstar in a schedule loss. When Mikal got injured, it was basically over.

We obviously need to add another wing, even if Ish starts to show something - two if he doesn't, since Hutch isn't NBA material. We might benefit from upgrading Payton too, but I'm damn sure Monty will roll with him. We could probably use another third string SG as well.

We have time to add third stringers, and I'm sure we will. As far as I'm concerned, Smith and Hutch are placeholders. So, likely, is Ish. Payton may be as well - though in his case, we'd give him the respect of trading rather than waiving him. Saric would probably be part of any trade where we receive significant salary in return, so you could think of him as a placeholder as well. That's 5 spots we're short. Only really need to fill 2 of them, though I'd hope to get up to 3 so we have the depth to compete in the case of inevitable playoff injury.
RunDogGun
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Re: Game 23: Phoenix Suns (19-3) @ Golden State Warriors (18-3) l Friday l 8:00pm l ESPN 

Post#263 » by RunDogGun » Tue Dec 7, 2021 3:44 pm

It was clear that Payne was having a horrible night on both ends. He ended with a negative 30. He wasn't our best horse that night, he was our worst horse. Payton has done very well with the up and down minutes and games played. He plays good defense, and is as Eddie Johnson said, "a triple double threat any night if given minutes." As for his poor performance in the less than ten minutes against Detroit, meh. I am not concerned. But if there is a chance to win a game, Monty should always go for the win. Payne was the biggest factor, besides GSW's play, for our loss, and Monty should have recognized it during the third, when Payne made mistake after mistake on both ends. He wasn't trying to get his team shots, he was forcing everything and trying to be a hero.

Now I really like Payne, and glad we have him, but when he sucks like he did against GS, Payton should be tried if there is still a chance for the win. It looked like Monty conceded the game in the third, by not taking Payne out after he caused a quick 5 point turn around, by poor offense and even worse defense.

We would be stupid to waive Payton. We got a starting point guard as our third string point guard, who can step in any night and play hard, and not be intimidated by other starting players. We need another big now that Frank is also out. Or we need to start incorporating Smith more in the second and third quarters, where you can give him some minutes with maybe a few starters.

Looking at stats, I didn't realize Payne is shooting 38% in fg%, and Shamet is even worse at 37.6%. Two guys that are heavy in the rotation that shoot the third and fourth worst fg% on the team. Hopefully they figure things out if they are getting that many minutes.

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