Preseason Game 4 - Phoenix Suns at Utah Jazz

[NaturalBuns]

So is the roster final? Who made it other than him? Is it Derrick Jones Jr or Jenkins? They were both listed on the game roster tonight.

I said if I see anyone jumpship. He was brutally bashed by most. No point to elaborate further I'll be watching

Well, I do agree Goodwin looked good tonight. In any case, nice to see you post on the Suns forum. Only seen you on the NFL forum lately.

Just waiting on the season to start.

[Qwigglez]

Watch on YouTube

[Qwigglez]

Watch on YouTube

[TeamTragic]

- Chriss looking really active on both ends (love the hustle)
- Len looked lost defensively (we need a defensive stopper)
- Goodwin with a nice game (won't get enough playing time on this team)
- Knight/Chandler (maybe we are trading these guys)

[Jdiddy701]

I finally got done watching the full game. I recorded it and turned my phone off because I didn't want to know who won. Archie!

Alex Len. Wtf bro. I want him to turn it around. You can tell he puts the work in the offseason. Just don't see improvement in his game though. I am worried about him.

Other than Booker and Chriss, everyone else looked bad. Chriss is going to play a bigger role than most people expected. He is ready to get minutes.

Bender is not and don't see him being ready anytime soon. Bledsoe has looked ehhh so far. I think he'll be ready to go when the season starts.

Watched Knight the whole game on the sideline and his face says it all. I think the Suns might have to deal him. Chandler was cheering for teammates at least.

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[letsgosuns]

I finally got done watching the full game. I recorded it and turned my phone off because I didn't want to know who won. Archie!

Alex Len. Wtf bro. I want him to turn it around. You can tell he puts the work in the offseason. Just don't see improvement in his game though. I am worried about him.

Other than Booker and Chriss, everyone else looked bad. Chriss is going to play a bigger role than most people expected. He is ready to get minutes.

Bender is not and don't see him being ready anytime soon. Bledsoe has looked ehhh so far. I think he'll be ready to go when the season starts.

Watched Knight the whole game on the sideline and his face says it all. I think the Suns might have to deal him. Chandler was cheering for teammates at least.

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I never looked at Knight on the bench. How did he look? Was he not cheering the team on?

[batsmasher]

All I can say is: this team BELIEVES in themselves. They are a family. They didn't flinch when they were down 30 and they cut the lead in half very quickly. All without relying on the 3 ball.

We are young. We suck defensively. But we are gonna win games just based on the chemistry of this team.

I'm much higher on Bled than most people this preseason. I think he's done exceptionally well with a lower usage. He comfortably co-exists with Book and allows Book to get his shots.

[Jdiddy701]

Letsgosuns - not one bit. He looked pissed, not even clapping. There were maybe three plays around the end he cheered for but for the most part he was a statue. Booker and Knight went back in the locker room around the end but Booker came back out after the Archie jam. I didn't see Knight back. Did anyone else? I think his mind is somewhere else or maybe I'm just looking too deep for something.


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[letsgosuns]

Letsgosuns - not one bit. He looked pissed, not even clapping. There were maybe three plays around the end he cheered for but for he most part he was a statue. Booker and Knight went back in the locker room around the end but Booker came back out after the Archie jam. I didn't see Knight back. Did anyone else? I think his mind is somewhere else or maybe I'm just looking too deep for something.


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Wow that is crazy. Idk what they are going to do with him. It really seems like he wants to be traded.

[RaisingArizona]

We won lol. hahaha CRAZY GAME

[Saberestar]

I can't stop watching the big play.

Read on Twitter

[King4Day]

Can't believe we won last night.

I agree, I am concerned about Len. The fact we haven't extended him yet shows the Suns brass is as well.
I wouldn't be surprised if we deal he and Goodwin at some point this season.

I wouldn't read too much into Knight. He knows it's preseason and it's a chance to get looks at other players and rotations. I think we'll play him a lot early on to build his value.

[kennydorglas]

My main beef with Len is: why in the hell he settles for fancy scores that he clearly cant manage to make?
Maybe he's trying to play up to his top5 pick potential but there's no need for him to even try it.

Just work in the PNR, dive hard for Oreb, cash-in some easy ones and maybe hit a wide open mid range shot.
That's it.

Rebound, box out, protect the paint, rotate well enough to help off others and settle good screens.

[Jarlaxle0204]

Can't believe we won last night.

I agree, I am concerned about Len. The fact we haven't extended him yet shows the Suns brass is as well.
I wouldn't be surprised if we deal he and Goodwin at some point this season.

I wouldn't read too much into Knight. He knows it's preseason and it's a chance to get looks at other players and rotations. I think we'll play him a lot early on to build his value.

I'm not sure that not extending Len directly means the Suns brass is concerned about him. It could mean a number of things. Firstly, maybe they don't want to tie up that money without offering it to another potential free agent first during the offseason where they could then match an offer for Len afterwards. Maybe they, like others here, think there isn't a huge market out there for centers and are willing to allow another team to make the offer and dictate his market value.

It's possible they are concerned but I don't think that no extension offer directly means they are.

[NTB]

Watch on YouTube

[NavLDO]

Shocking, I tell you, how I come in the day after the game, and see comment after comment about Len's 'suckiness', yet when I watched the highlights, I noticed that Len started, and was in when we were in the game early, then he leaves, and we fall apart, he come back in the 2nd, when we make our big run to get back in, and starts the 3rd, with a nice play or two during that period, and plays well in the 4th with our run there as well, and has some more nice plays (but of course, that was against scrubs--hate to tell you, but the whole game was against 'scrubs' with 4 starters not even playing).

Len had a +3 for a +/-, the rest of our starters had 'minuses', except Dudley, who was only in early. Chriss had a -14, Barbosa a -10, Booker, Bledsoe, and Warren with 'minuses'...

The point is, Len may not have looked good against, what has been argued, one of the top 5 Centers in the NBA...and has had to face him twice now in 4 games. So he's not as good as Gobert defensively...ok, we knew that. Gobert's a bad match-up for Len, but that's no reason dis Len over and over in every game thread. I didn't see many, if any, negative comments about Warren, Bledsoe, or Booker on their less than stellar nights, and certainly not nearly as many as Len.

Just amazing how fans here just pile on Len, when he didn't play any worse then the other 3, comparatively...and though I didn't watch the game, just the highlights, Booker and Warren were no better, and probably worse on the defensive end, and not much better on the offensive end (though Booker was, I suppose). I love Warren, but ZERO Rebounds, FTs, Asts, or Blks??

Len was 9/10 on FTs. Yeah, I know...big deal...but in a tight game like this, had he shot 70% instead of 90%, we would've lost this game. And Len fought hard down low on a few occasions and didn't give up on the play offensively, and that was good to see as well.

Anyway, it's just interesting how many more negative comments thrown Len's way than others, when he was on the positive end of the +/-, yet others were not. Len left the game, and the team fell apart, from what I noticed of the highlights. That's kind of telling to me, IMO...

[SideSwipe]

My main beef with Len is: why in the hell he settles for fancy scores that he clearly cant manage to make?
Maybe he's trying to play up to his top5 pick potential but there's no need for him to even try it.

Just work in the PNR, dive hard for Oreb, cash-in some easy ones and maybe hit a wide open mid range shot.
That's it.

Rebound, box out, protect the paint, rotate well enough to help off others and settle good screens.

I suspect with Len it's all about calming his nerves. He looked nervous out there last night. I also suspect the coaching staff has given him the green light to go for it offensively because in practice where he is more comfortable he is able to complete a lot of those shots.

He needs to settle down, get low, play low and let the game come to him more naturally instead of forcing it. Two inside, one outside. Not 1 inside, 3 outside.

[SideSwipe]

Shocking, I tell you, how I come in the day after the game, and see comment after comment about Len's 'suckiness', yet when I watched the highlights, I noticed that Len started, and was in when we were in the game early, then he leaves, and we fall apart, he come back in the 2nd, when we make our big run to get back in, and starts the 3rd, with a nice play or two during that period, and plays well in the 4th with our run there as well, and has some more nice plays (but of course, that was against scrubs--hate to tell you, but the whole game was against 'scrubs' with 4 starters not even playing).

Len had a +3 for a +/-, the rest of our starters had 'minuses', except Dudley, who was only in early. Chriss had a -14, Barbosa a -10, Booker, Bledsoe, and Warren with 'minuses'...

The point is, Len may not have looked good against, what has been argued, one of the top 5 Centers in the NBA...and has had to face him twice now in 4 games. So he's not as good as Gobert defensively...ok, we knew that. Gobert's a bad match-up for Len, but that's no reason dis Len over and over in every game thread. I didn't see many, if any, negative comments about Warren, Bledsoe, or Booker on their less than stellar nights, and certainly not nearly as many as Len.

Just amazing how fans here just pile on Len, when he didn't play any worse then the other 3, comparatively...and though I didn't watch the game, just the highlights, Booker and Warren were no better, and probably worse on the defensive end, and not much better on the offensive end (though Booker was, I suppose). I love Warren, but ZERO Rebounds, FTs, Asts, or Blks??

Len was 9/10 on FTs. Yeah, I know...big deal...but in a tight game like this, had he shot 70% instead of 90%, we would've lost this game. And Len fought hard down low on a few occasions and didn't give up on the play offensively, and that was good to see as well.

Anyway, it's just interesting how many more negative comments thrown Len's way than others, when he was on the positive end of the +/-, yet others were not. Len left the game, and the team fell apart, from what I noticed of the highlights. That's kind of telling to me, IMO...

These are all good points, and I had noticed that +/- score myself as well. His presence is felt defensively, we just need to get him to calm down offensively.

[Jarlaxle0204]

I might be one of the biggest Len fans on this board but there is no denying he had a pretty poor 1st quarter. I could argue he came out a lot better afterwards but the 1st quarter was bad. Again though, I agree that Gobert is a really bad matchup but I thought he did better in the 2nd and the beginning of the 3rd against him (drawing fouls and contesting shots, etc).

I'm interested to see how he does in the next matchup.

[dremill24]

I look awesome on highlight reels too