Game 75: Phoenix Suns (17-57) @ Utah Jazz (43-30) - 9:00 PM ET

[Revived]

All the talk of "Jimmer has changed, he's realized that he needs to pass the ball and not just chuck it up each time" was for naught lol.

[Saberestar]

here's the onslaught of general board posters that haven't actually ever watched a Suns game posting about how Booker is the reason the Suns are bad because he's a selfish chucker. Saying the team will figure it out and turn it around if he's traded, not realizing how bad the team has looked in booker's absence, which there have been many of, due to all the tanking and weird injuries he's gotten. JOY.

Man, I feel so bad for him. His career will be a waste if he stays in Phoenix. Suns need to upgrade the team. It’s a shame.


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They really are wasting Booker, but at least he's about 6 seasons from his prime, so they have some time, but they don't even have a front office or any real structure in the franchise to have any inkling of faith that they will be able to put winning players around Booker.

Their absolute prime is at 26 now in the NBA. 28 was in the past.

A complete study was made during this last summer (IIRC) and the result was that players in the league have their best overall production individually and collectively from 24 to 28, with the highest at 26.
I don't know where is that article/study, but I remember pretty well the conclusion.

[Kerrsed]

All the talk of "Jimmer has changed, he's realized that he needs to pass the ball and not just chuck it up each time" was for naught lol.

Actually if you watched the game the first 5 minute stretch he got he only shot once.

When he was put back in later in the 4th he only shot twice (Both wide open corner 3's assisted by Booker driving to the hoop). The rest of the shots came much much later in the 4th, Utah started doubling Booker at halfcourt every possession even though he didnt have the ball. Jimmer was almost forced to shoot as Bridges/Bender wernt doing anything and the Jazz were leaving Jimmer shooting space (Still covering him, but giving him more space than others, just enough to get a solid shot off).

You can even read the beginning of the thread when people were wondering when Jimmertime was happening, because he came in and was facilitating and not shooting.

[bwgood77]

Is Jimmer our new Mike James?

I was going to mention this before because Mike James was a top scoring guard in a much tougher league...euroleague. At least Jimmer isn't the starting PG.

He can maybe be an ok Troy Daniels type I think off the bench when we need 3s but not a good start to his shooting career as a Sun.

This is not exactly important, but the best scorer in Euroleague is, like every year, Alexey Shved with 23.8 points, James is second with 20.4. Shved is at the moment not on the list, because he missed too many games. But if he plays 2 more, he will win the best scorer award with an ease again. James is playing insane amount of time, 34 minutes, for Euroleague standards. For comparison, Luka was playing 26 minutes last year. James scores many points just because he's shooting nonstop. His FG% is 41. 136th place in the league.

Yes, I know Shved is the top guy and I don't have high thoughts on James so none of that surprises me.

[Kemper]

Since Jimmer hasn't played at home yet, will the fans boo him when he comes in after the last performance--and perceived slight against Booker. I find it very interesting. I doubt he will play anymore.

[bwgood77]

Since Jimmer hasn't played at home yet, will the fans boo him when he comes in after the last performance--and perceived slight against Booker. I find it very interesting. I doubt he will play anymore.

I doubt it. Probably not too many people watched that Jazz game until the end.

[Maze]

General/casual fans seem to despise Booker.Every time he has a big game, it really get them riled up in the worst way

[itlnsunsfan]

Since Jimmer hasn't played at home yet, will the fans boo him when he comes in after the last performance--and perceived slight against Booker. I find it very interesting. I doubt he will play anymore.

I doubt it. Probably not too many people watched that Jazz game until the end.

The end of that game is precisely why I despise him.

[bwgood77]

Since Jimmer hasn't played at home yet, will the fans boo him when he comes in after the last performance--and perceived slight against Booker. I find it very interesting. I doubt he will play anymore.

I doubt it. Probably not too many people watched that Jazz game until the end.

The end of that game is precisely why I despise him.

Exactly, that's the main or only reason people would, but likely few people who attend Suns games watched that Jazz game until Jimmer time being that they were down 20+ most of the game.

[Saberestar]

Since Jimmer hasn't played at home yet, will the fans boo him when he comes in after the last performance--and perceived slight against Booker. I find it very interesting. I doubt he will play anymore.

I doubt it. Probably not too many people watched that Jazz game until the end.

The end of that game is precisely why I despise him.

Personally I didn't like that Kokoskov put Booker on the court again with just a couple minutes left being down by 30. It was a bit embarrassing to just go for the cold numbers at that point of the game.

[Kerrsed]

I doubt it. Probably not too many people watched that Jazz game until the end.

The end of that game is precisely why I despise him.

Personally I didn't like that Kokoskov put Booker on the court again with just a couple minutes left being down by 30. It was a bit embarrassing to just go for the cold numbers at that point of the game.

Booker said it was Crawford who told him to go back in and get him his 60. Igor said he was fine with it.

[cberry78]

The end of that game is precisely why I despise him.

Personally I didn't like that Kokoskov put Booker on the court again with just a couple minutes left being down by 30. It was a bit embarrassing to just go for the cold numbers at that point of the game.

Booker said it was Crawford who told him to go back in and get him his 60. Igor said he was fine with it.

The Suns weren’t even sure whether to keep Booker on the court as he shot past 50 points in the fourth quarter. With 5:12 remaining and Booker having piled up 56 points, Kokoskov benched him with the game out of hand.

But some pressing by the coaching staff and players, especially Jamal Crawford, led to the head coach reinserting Booker to go after the 60-point mark with just fewer than 3 minutes left.

“It was collective decision. Obviously, I have to make final decision but we were all on the same page,” Kokoskov said.

http://arizonasports.com/story/1889816/devin-bookers-59-point-outing-brings-curious-criticism-of-suns/

[Saberestar]

The end of that game is precisely why I despise him.

Personally I didn't like that Kokoskov put Booker on the court again with just a couple minutes left being down by 30. It was a bit embarrassing to just go for the cold numbers at that point of the game.

Booker said it was Crawford who told him to go back in and get him his 60. Igor said he was fine with it.

Yeah, well, I am not saying that is completely his fault but he is the one that is making the decision.

[lilfishi22]

Personally I didn't like that Kokoskov put Booker on the court again with just a couple minutes left being down by 30. It was a bit embarrassing to just go for the cold numbers at that point of the game.

Booker said it was Crawford who told him to go back in and get him his 60. Igor said he was fine with it.

The Suns weren’t even sure whether to keep Booker on the court as he shot past 50 points in the fourth quarter. With 5:12 remaining and Booker having piled up 56 points, Kokoskov benched him with the game out of hand.

But some pressing by the coaching staff and players, especially Jamal Crawford, led to the head coach reinserting Booker to go after the 60-point mark with just fewer than 3 minutes left.

“It was collective decision. Obviously, I have to make final decision but we were all on the same page,” Kokoskov said.

http://arizonasports.com/story/1889816/devin-bookers-59-point-outing-brings-curious-criticism-of-suns/

Feels like something a decade long lotto team would do

[DroughtsOverPHX]

Stat padding is not always fun to watch but it can be. Once the defense figures it out and they still can't stop it, it's a sight to behold and even opposing crowds cheer for it. I get why people find it annoying and of course I'd rather see Booker drop 35 in a victory.

I'm old enough to remember when David Thompson and George Gervin were down the wire on the scoring title and both teams did nothing but feed those guys so they could score 73 and 63 both in losses. I'm not sure it changes your place in history much.

[bwgood77]

Stat padding is not always fun to watch but it can be. Once the defense figures it out and they still can't stop it, it's a sight to behold and even opposing crowds cheer for it. I get why people find it annoying and of course I'd rather see Booker drop 35 in a victory.

I'm old enough to remember when David Thompson and George Gervin were down the wire on the scoring title and both teams did nothing but feed those guys so they could score 73 and 63 both in losses. I'm not sure it changes your place in history much.

Didn't David Robinson score like 71 in his last game one time to win the scoring title too?

Edit...yes, he did, though Shaq could have taken it back with like 68 points, but only scored 32. Brian Hill says they wanted him to win it but were not going to make a mockery of the game of it like they did in LA (Spurs had played the Clippers in LA).

https://theundefeated.com/features/david-robinson-1994-scoring-title-shaq/