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So here are my unpopular opinions:

Booker is a great player for the Suns, but not a number 1 player on a playoff NBA team at this point in time.
Monty Williams is a terrible Head Coach due to his substitutions, not going with the hot hand , etc.
This team, when struggling on offense, needs to either run the ball through Ayton, using an inside out game, or have Booker just take over. No Oubre, No Saric, etc.
Lastly, This team is constructed almost as bad as the McDonough teams. No three point shooting, etc.

sundevil1999 wrote:So here are my unpopular opinions:

Booker is a great player for the Suns, but not a number 1 player on a playoff NBA team at this point in time.
Monty Williams is a terrible Head Coach due to his substitutions, not going with the hot hand , etc.
This team, when struggling on offense, needs to either run the ball through Ayton, using an inside out game, or have Booker just take over. No Oubre, No Saric, etc.
Lastly, This team is constructed almost as bad as the McDonough teams. No three point shooting, etc.

Monty is terrible mostly because he doesn't seem to hold players accountable. It seems they threw his offensive philosophy out the window a long time ago, or at least only use it on occasion.

If I was leading practice I would have everyone stand at the 3 pt line and have someone drive and kick it to them and coaches should close out fast, but the shooters should make sure they are in bounds and shoot immediately without hesitation before the defender gets there. If the defender IS too close, they should quickly pass it to the guy closest also on the line and that guy should shoot it.

They really need to practice shooting 3s.

And they need to practice going for 50/50 balls.

Another unpopular opinion, and I bet I am the only one on here who feels this. The offense should go through Ayton, and not Booker. I say this because we have been running this offense through booker for what 3 years now, and it doesnt seem to work effectively for anyone other than Booker. I wish they would feed the ball to Ayton, so he can either take his man, or he can pass it to an open shooter, assuming we have one on the court not named Booker. The outside in game does not work for this team, and although old fashioned, I think we might just be a better team if we worked inside out. Also , we might just find out if Ayton is legitimate or just a role player. It is hard when he gets a hot hand, and then Monty pulls him. I dont get that at all. If we find out he is just a role player ala Vucevic, then we can move on on or accept that.

scrubsville. I only disagree with the Booker take over. He cannot iso. Think of it this way. If he went against Jimmy butler 1v1, do you think he'd win? Hello no. May not even score a point. He's not good enough of an iso player and he's cannot play D..................

sundevil1999 wrote:Another unpopular opinion, and I bet I am the only one on here who feels this. The offense should go through Ayton, and not Booker. I say this because we have been running this offense through booker for what 3 years now, and it doesnt seem to work effectively for anyone other than Booker. I wish they would feed the ball to Ayton, so he can either take his man, or he can pass it to an open shooter, assuming we have one on the court not named Booker. The outside in game does not work for this team, and although old fashioned, I think we might just be a better team if we worked inside out. Also , we might just find out if Ayton is legitimate or just a role player. It is hard when he gets a hot hand, and then Monty pulls him. I dont get that at all. If we find out he is just a role player ala Vucevic, then we can move on on or accept that.

I don't know if I'd call Vucevic a role player. He was an all star and is a great passer and can hit the 3. He is Orlando's best player (though Isaac may pass him up soon). He's a great rebounder too.

But his defense isn't great. Ayton is better there already. I do think we should get it to Ayton more. The problem right now is that our players don't spread the floor well, and half of the time they do, they drive in after getting the ball open at the 3 pt line, bringing a defender in there....tonight Oubre did that and then did a rare thing by passing...but it was almost a hand off to Ayton...very short pass but there were 3 defenders there..Oubre brought his so Ayton couldn't do anything. He should definitely get more shots, and he is a good passer and sees the floor well on offense.

Part of me agrees with you Hollywood, if it was one on one him vs Butler, you would be 99% right. However, I also have seen him take over games. My current problem with him is when he needs to to, he usually doesnt in critical situations. I think a lot of that is the opposing coach telling his team to trap, and triple team him, because he is either going to turn it over, or pass to a teammate who cannot shoot consistently, like Rubio, Oubre or Saric. I like the players on this team actually, just not for THIS team. We need to focus on 3pt shooting in every position except Center. We also need a scoring specialist off the bench, not Oubre, but like a younger Crawford type. I am for getting rid of anyone not named Booker, Ayton, and surprisingly Cam Johnson. I would like to pick up a player like Evan Fournier for 6th man, start Cameron, and bring Oubre, and Bridges off the bench, until he develops a reliable outside shot. Heck, I dont think he a free agent, but even a Joe Harris type for 6th man. As much of a clown that I think he is, we were almost 500 when we lost Kaminsky. May want to pay him 5 mill to be a player off the bench. Also I really like Jevon Carter.

I absolutely agree with most of what you say BWGOOD. I think Vucevic is good, just not great. And I think in my biased opinion Fournier is better than both him and Isaac based on seeing them play on TV.

Also, I see Cameron Johnson future comparison as Peja Stojakovic, maybe some of you young ones dont know who that is. LOL

sundevil1999 wrote:Part of me agrees with you Hollywood, if it was one on one him vs Butler, you would be 99% right. However, I also have seen him take over games. My current problem with him is when he needs to to, he usually doesnt in critical situations. I think a lot of that is the opposing coach telling his team to trap, and triple team him, because he is either going to turn it over, or pass to a teammate who cannot shoot consistently, like Rubio, Oubre or Saric. I like the players on this team actually, just not for THIS team. We need to focus on 3pt shooting in every position except Center. We also need a scoring specialist off the bench, not Oubre, but like a younger Crawford type. I am for getting rid of anyone not named Booker, Ayton, and surprisingly Cam Johnson. I would like to pick up a player like Evan Fournier for 6th man, start Cameron, and bring Oubre, and Bridges off the bench, until he develops a reliable outside shot. Heck, I dont think he a free agent, but even a Joe Harris type for 6th man. As much of a clown that I think he is, we were almost 500 when we lost Kaminsky. May want to pay him 5 mill to be a player off the bench. Also I really like Jevon Carter.

Bridges is over 46% from 3 in Feb (7 games) and he is one of two players (unless you count Diallo) on our team with over a 60% TS%. He finishes over 71% at the rim. He also is among the top defenders in the league and always guards the opposition's best player. With Booker at the 2, he is the perfect 3 next to him. Cam isn't much of a defender. We need defense too. Bridges is not high usage but is a smart good passer, our best defender and has vastly improved his 3 after working with coaches on removing that hitch.

sundevil1999 wrote:I absolutely agree with most of what you say BWGOOD. I think Vucevic is good, just not great. And I think in my biased opinion Fournier is better than both him and Isaac based on seeing them play on TV.

I like Fournier, and as far as scoring, if that is all you are looking at, he is their best. He's a pretty good passer too.

If Booker doesnt become an average or better defender we will never become a great team.

Trading Booker wouldn't be the end of the world depending on when they trade him and what they get for him.

The team will miss the playoffs again next year if they roll out the core 6-7 players they have now.

Ricky Rubio is one of the worst starting PGs in the league- 12 ppg is unacceptable and his lack of spacing hurts Booker and Ayton.

Booker's defense has singlehandedly caused us to lose games this year and if he's improved, then it's barely improved at all.

Ayton's impact offensively is massively overrated by Suns fans, and his quickness on the perimeter is overstated.

There is a better chance of Devin Booker developing competent point guard skills than him developing into an above-average defender. Bench Rubio. Start Dario (or maybe Cam). Sic Kelly and Mikal on the opponents two best perimeter players and hide Devin on the weakest one. Improve the spacing, size and floor balance all at once.

I trust Booker can someday eliminate the turnovers and poor reads off traps because that is a mental flaw, an experience issue, and it is on offense... Defensively, I don’t know that he has the raw tools to be a plus defender. To overcome his negative on the defensive side, you can try to get him to improve there or you can try to see if he can become the primary shot creator for an elite offense.

I just like the chances for the latter a lot more.

IzzyT wrote:There is a better chance of Devin Booker developing competent point guard skills than him developing into an above-average defender. Bench Rubio. Start Dario (or maybe Cam). Sic Kelly and Mikal on the opponents two best perimeter players and hide Devin on the weakest one. Improve the spacing, size and floor balance all at once.

I trust Booker can someday eliminate the turnovers and poor reads off traps because that is a mental flaw, an experience issue, and it is on offense... Defensively, I don’t know that he has the raw tools to be a plus defender. To overcome his negative on the defensive side, you can try to get him to improve there or you can try to see if he can become the primary shot creator for an elite offense.

I just like the chances for the latter a lot more.

I wouldn't mind giving point Booker another try for the sake of spacing and continuing Booker's offensive development. We're not making the playoffs this year so it might be time to prioritize developing our young guys (that includes Booker).

As for becoming a positive defender, that's going to take a lot of work. However, to become a neutral defender, it really just is about knowing where to be and what to do, and less about your physical tools. There are guys like Damian Lillard and Steph Curry who give up a tonne of size and strength on the defensive end, but still come out as slightly negative or neutral defenders. I think Booker can at least get there.

sundevil1999 wrote:Also, I see Cameron Johnson future comparison as Peja Stojakovic, maybe some of you young ones dont know who that is. LOL

Wow, you really has to be positive about Cam to make that comparison.

Sojakovic was ten times better than Cam Johnson. At the same age (24) Stojakovic was already an All Star and averaged over 21 points per game.

I mean...Cam Johnson reminds me of James Jones. And for now he is way worse on defense, so he is not there. Hopefully he can be as good as James Jones was (solid role player) in the next future.

Saberestar wrote:

sundevil1999 wrote:Also, I see Cameron Johnson future comparison as Peja Stojakovic, maybe some of you young ones dont know who that is. LOL

Wow, you really has to be positive about Cam to make that comparison.

Sojakovic was ten times better than Cam Johnson. At the same age (24) Stojakovic was already an All Star and averaged over 21 points per game.

I mean...Cam Johnson reminds me of James Jones. And for now he is way worse on defense, so he is not there. Hopefully he can be as good as James Jones was (solid role player) in the next future.

James Jones was a low end role. I'd hope like hell Cam Johnson has a better career as the #11 pick we traded the #6 for.

1. Booker does more harm than good for the team. While he may score 25 ppg, he's responsible for more than that through no help D, refusing to move sideways off the ball when his opponent cuts, can't defend laterally, and doesn't close out on shooters. All except the moving laterally he is choosing not to do.

2. Booker has far too much control on the team for someone who's been a perennial loser in the league for his career. If he threatens to walk, call his bluff and make him someone else's problem. If he sooks on court; bench him. If he doesn't follow coach's instructions; bench him.

3. Ownership should be asking Baynes what he wants to stay in terms of personnel. He's the culture guy. He's played on successful teams and unsuccessful teams. He will know what we need and he will push the teammates to their max. potential while also showing them that the self-appointed 'King' Booker is nothing more than petulant and a sook.

4. Monty would be a better coach is he was allowed to call the shots. He's hamstrung by ownership and 'King' Booker.

5. Oubre, Booker, Ayton and Diallo should be made to walk the Kokoda track over the offseason with Monty and Steven Blake.

sunskerr wrote:

Saberestar wrote:

sundevil1999 wrote:Also, I see Cameron Johnson future comparison as Peja Stojakovic, maybe some of you young ones dont know who that is. LOL

Wow, you really has to be positive about Cam to make that comparison.

Sojakovic was ten times better than Cam Johnson. At the same age (24) Stojakovic was already an All Star and averaged over 21 points per game.

I mean...Cam Johnson reminds me of James Jones. And for now he is way worse on defense, so he is not there. Hopefully he can be as good as James Jones was (solid role player) in the next future.

James Jones was a low end role. I'd hope like hell Cam Johnson has a better career as the #11 pick we traded the #6 for.

Yeah, I hope that too, what I am saying is that Cam for now is not as good as James Jones was in his career because of his bad defense.

James Jones was very limited on offense, (he was only a 3p specialist like Cam is for now) but defensively he was versatile and smart.

Since this is called "unpopular opinions" here is mine. First of all, i dont believe its very useful to debate changes in personnel. We havent seen any of them work together and this isnt a computer game. So whatever i write is based on the premise to get the most out of the staff at hand.

The main reasons for this team to fail are
- Monty not empowering the point guard to run the offense
- Monty putting the ball in Bookers hands to iso and make decisions, when Booker is a great finisher but not someone to run the offense
- Monty giving Oubre the green light for reasons beyond logic
- Monty not holding some guys accountable even if they keep making the same mistakes and show no signs of self reflection of concience, while putting a very short leash on others, will sooner or later lead to a two class locker room and toxic atmosphere
- Monty extremely slow at making adjustments, and if he does, he seems to push through were he sees less resistance, not where it would make the most sense (talking about benching Dario, but not benching Oubre)
- Oubre continuing to make selfish and dumb decisions as if posessions early in the game wouldnt matter, resulting in the team chasing huge deficits early
- Booker iso'ing for no reason, and letting his ego take over (all star topic, or "duels" with other stars who get hot),
- Booker showing zero effort on D, just standing around doing basically nothing, not even giving a good hard foul,
- Ayton missing large parts of the season; i see him progressing quickly and in linear fashion (very few downs), so theres good reason to assume he could be a lot better by now
- Dario, Rubio, Johnson's hitting slumps at unconvenient time
- Injuries (Baynes, Rubio constantly playing sub 100%)
- Poor bench performances and lack of balance on the bench (way too many PG's and no quality bigs)

Nontheless, the team has made a huge leap compared to the point booker results, so i am totally puzzled by guys requesting to go back to that. Booker in my view is a poor mans Klay Thompson (Klay is an elite defender) and noone in their right mind would want to run "point Klay".