Game 6: Phoenix Suns @ Portland Trail Blazers, Saturday, October 28th, 7PM PT

[RedIndian]

I saw the game in patches, but I was quite impressed by Booker's defense today.

Palpable improvement in the team and individual games of all the young guys since Triano has taken over. However, I will expect that to plateau at some point during the season.

[jcsunsfan]

I think I would be willing to trade Chriss in the right situation right now. There is some hype about him, but I really do like Bender long term. Better rebounder, better defender.

[RedIndian]

Love the effort , Portland is annoying tho, good team but will never get out of the West , stuck in a treadmill. At least we can build through lotto.

Think Portland will be top 5 in the West this year.

[thamadkant]

This is a good loss.

Because it gave the players a sniff of winning. This keeps them motivated.

They played hard until the end.


Being blown out early and outplayed thoroughly is demotivating and its one cause of players quitting on the team and likely wanting out.


Close games that demand the players to play hard til the end keeps them hungry and motivated.

[garrick]

We needed a second scorer tonight as TJ was really struggling with his shot, at least they played hard and kept it close till the end which is all you can ask from a young team.

[Saberestar]

We needed a second scorer tonight as TJ was really struggling with his shot, at least they played hard and kept it close till the end which is all you can ask from a young team.

Yeah, we needed Warren's scoring in the last few minutes but he did not make his shots. He needs to step up on those moments.

It was a winnable game and that is good news. We are better than we showed in the first three games of the season, I really see this team winning at least 30 games at the end of the season.

Bender gives us more things on the court that Chriss IMO.
We are better defensively and we move the ball better with him, he just needs to be more agressive going to the rim and not hesitate.

We can win the next one against the Nets, GO SUNS!

[NavLDO]

Sorry if this has already been mentioned, but this is a prime example of how useless +/- can be as a metric or statistic.

Who had the better game? Len with his -11, or Chandler with his +2

Chandler - 7/5 with 2 BLKs, 3 TOs and 6 PFs
...or...
Alex Len - 12/8 with 1 BLK, 1 TO and 2 PFs

Basically, how many minutes did Len play with Daniels vs how many did he play with Booker. I can only assume ALL of Chandler's minutes were while Booker was on the floor.

Anyway, nice to see Booker have a statement game, even in a loss. Warren didn't have his best game, and Jackson was even worse, at least offensively.

If Bender can keep producing like this, however, we are in for a pleasant surprise. I hope Triano mixes it up next game and starts:

Ulis/Booker/Warren/Bender/Len

What do we have to lose at this point; starting Chandler at this point is just nauseating, and I just do not get it. If nothing else, wouldn't it make sense to start Len to see what we have in him before next year's draft?

[m1chal]

We can win the next one against the Nets, GO SUNS!

It's a must win. When the Cavs cave in and trade the Nets pick to us for Bled it's going to be this little bit better

[Bogyo]

Sorry if this has already been mentioned, but this is a prime example of how useless +/- can be as a metric or statistic.

Who had the better game? Len with his -11, or Chandler with his +2

Chandler - 7/5 with 2 BLKs, 3 TOs and 6 PFs
...or...
Alex Len - 12/8 with 1 BLK, 1 TO and 2 PFs

Basically, how many minutes did Len play with Daniels vs how many did he play with Booker. I can only assume ALL of Chandler's minutes were while Booker was on the floor.

Anyway, nice to see Booker have a statement game, even in a loss. Warren didn't have his best game, and Jackson was even worse, at least offensively.

If Bender can keep producing like this, however, we are in for a pleasant surprise. I hope Triano mixes it up next game and starts:

Ulis/Booker/Warren/Bender/Len

What do we have to lose at this point; starting Chandler at this point is just nauseating, and I just do not get it. If nothing else, wouldn't it make sense to start Len to see what we have in him before next year's draft?

I don't really get that either. The only logical (?) explanation is that he is an old dude, and if he properly warms up before the game you don't want to sit him in the first 10 minutes of the game, as his muscles would cool down, and have a higher chance of injury when he comes in... But even this this explanation is pretty lame.

As for the +/- : agreed most of the times, but when you see Bender's play and that he is usually one of our best in this category it also makes sense, as he always makes the right play, he is in the right place, and always does the little things that do not show up on the stats - only in the +/- ,as these "plays" benefit the TEAM, and it's other players - not necessarily the guy who made them.

[RunDogGun]

I don’t mind starting Chandler, but he should be subbed out quickly if he isn’t boarding like a monster. I also like the pairing of Len and Bender, so them coming off the bench together is a solid move. To be honest, when everyone is clicking like they should, I really like our front court groups TJ, Chriss, Chandler and JJ,Bender, Len. Len is more offensive minded and JJ and Bender are good point forwards. With that in mind, I’d almost want to start Ulis instead of James, since James is more of a scoring guard.

[churqui]

These were the Suns I like to watch, I prefer a win, obviously, but a worthy fight is the minimun we can hope. I also hope Bender keep working like yesterday and he has better minutes on court.

[bwgood77]

If nothing else, wouldn't it make sense to start Len to see what we have in him before next year's draft?

Regardless of what Len does it shouldn't impact next year's draft. He will be an unrestricted free agent and can sign where he wants. I don't imagine the market will be very good for him regardless since there are several other free agent centers and few teams with cap space, but even if we wanted to sign him, it's far from a certainty he would sign with us, particularly since we wouldn't give him a new contract. I don't think anyone who has played on the qualifying offer has signed again with that team.

I always thought we should give him a small deal for 2-3 years with maybe a team option but we decided not to (or maybe we did offer it and he declined thinking he could get more elsewhere next offseason).

[WeekapaugGroove]

I don’t mind starting Chandler, but he should be subbed out quickly if he isn’t boarding like a monster. I also like the pairing of Len and Bender, so them coming off the bench together is a solid move. To be honest, when everyone is clicking like they should, I really like our front court groups TJ, Chriss, Chandler and JJ,Bender, Len. Len is more offensive minded and JJ and Bender are good point forwards. With that in mind, I’d almost want to start Ulis instead of James, since James is more of a scoring guard.

I think a big reason Len is coming off the bench is they want him paired with ulis. Tyler seems to understand how to get len the ball better than any pg they've ever played with Alex. Now an argument can be made that ulis should be starting too.

Another reason could be they are showcasing chandler to try and salvage a little trade value.

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[lilfishi22]

Only watched the last quarter but I was impressed with the team. They made stops, found open shots, got some tough calls against them (typical) and played more like a team. The players shouldn't be fazed by the loss. We were right there against arguably the leagues best starting guards (Wall/Beal is better imo) and we were beaten by the better team that night.

On to the next!

[lilfishi22]

I don’t mind starting Chandler, but he should be subbed out quickly if he isn’t boarding like a monster. I also like the pairing of Len and Bender, so them coming off the bench together is a solid move. To be honest, when everyone is clicking like they should, I really like our front court groups TJ, Chriss, Chandler and JJ,Bender, Len. Len is more offensive minded and JJ and Bender are good point forwards. With that in mind, I’d almost want to start Ulis instead of James, since James is more of a scoring guard.

I think a big reason Len is coming off the bench is they want him paired with ulis. Tyler seems to understand how to get len the ball better than any pg they've ever played with Alex. Now an argument can be made that ulis should be starting too.

Another reason could be they are showcasing chandler to try and salvage a little trade value.

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Good point regarding the Ulis/Len pairing. Also add in JJ who's now also coming off the bench, that adds another ballhandler and potential playmaker who could make nice passes into Len.

I think right now, it's not a terrible idea to start Chandler but keep his minutes low.

[RunDogGun]

I don’t mind starting Chandler, but he should be subbed out quickly if he isn’t boarding like a monster. I also like the pairing of Len and Bender, so them coming off the bench together is a solid move. To be honest, when everyone is clicking like they should, I really like our front court groups TJ, Chriss, Chandler and JJ,Bender, Len. Len is more offensive minded and JJ and Bender are good point forwards. With that in mind, I’d almost want to start Ulis instead of James, since James is more of a scoring guard.

I think a big reason Len is coming off the bench is they want him paired with ulis. Tyler seems to understand how to get len the ball better than any pg they've ever played with Alex. Now an argument can be made that ulis should be starting too.

Another reason could be they are showcasing chandler to try and salvage a little trade value.

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Solid point about Ulis and Len, but I thought with Jackson and Bender being good/decent point forwards the same effect could be had, while adding a more scoring guard in James to the second unit.

[lilfishi22]

I don’t mind starting Chandler, but he should be subbed out quickly if he isn’t boarding like a monster. I also like the pairing of Len and Bender, so them coming off the bench together is a solid move. To be honest, when everyone is clicking like they should, I really like our front court groups TJ, Chriss, Chandler and JJ,Bender, Len. Len is more offensive minded and JJ and Bender are good point forwards. With that in mind, I’d almost want to start Ulis instead of James, since James is more of a scoring guard.

I think a big reason Len is coming off the bench is they want him paired with ulis. Tyler seems to understand how to get len the ball better than any pg they've ever played with Alex. Now an argument can be made that ulis should be starting too.

Another reason could be they are showcasing chandler to try and salvage a little trade value.

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Solid point about Ulis and Len, but I thought with Jackson and Bender being good/decent point forwards the same effect could be had, while adding a more scoring guard in James to the second unit.

Potentially but I don't think either Bender nor JJ are ready to make plays consistently. Right now they are rather opportunistic whereas Ulis is actively looking to set guys up. Neither Bender/JJ have the experience and that's evident with some of the very risky passes they make. I like James starting because he has the size to defend NBA PG's whereas Ulis is a bit more pesky which is better suited against 2nd string PG's at this stage in his career imo.

[WeekapaugGroove]

James starting also makes sense because Ulis is wasted playing off the ball while they let booker run some of the offense.

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[RunDogGun]

I think a big reason Len is coming off the bench is they want him paired with ulis. Tyler seems to understand how to get len the ball better than any pg they've ever played with Alex. Now an argument can be made that ulis should be starting too.

Another reason could be they are showcasing chandler to try and salvage a little trade value.

Sent from my SM-G930V using RealGM mobile app

Solid point about Ulis and Len, but I thought with Jackson and Bender being good/decent point forwards the same effect could be had, while adding a more scoring guard in James to the second unit.

Potentially but I don't think either Bender nor JJ are ready to make plays consistently. Right now they are rather opportunistic whereas Ulis is actively looking to set guys up. Neither Bender/JJ have the experience and that's evident with some of the very risky passes they make. I like James starting because he has the size to defend NBA PG's whereas Ulis is a bit more pesky which is better suited against 2nd string PG's at this stage in his career imo.

Ulis did very well last year in the 15 games he started 16.1/3.6/8.5 against starting caliber guards. As for JJ and Bender, I think they will get better and better as the season goes on. Either way, it’s fun to actually see the potential turning into actual play with all our young guys.

[denial]

I know we wanted warrens scoring down the stretch. But he was off and it was pretty obvious. We should have left jj in iirc. We were playing well until we swapped jj/tj. Because tj hogged all the shots and he was off.