Game 68: Phoenix Suns @ Washington Wizards, Friday 07/31/20, 1:00 PM PT

[Saberestar]

Memphis right? We need to pass Portland first, and then finish within 4 games of Memphis.

We want Memphis to beat every team they're playing that is below them in the standings.

Yeah that's what I thought, we basically need Memphis to beat all direct opponents and then lose against everyone else.

If Memphis wins this game, we're 2 games behind Portland and 6 games behind Memphis.

I see Memphis winning just a couple of games. This first loss is gonna tough to swallow.

[King4Day]

Bridges is someone we need to hang onto long term. We'd never get a player with next years Heat pick like him.

Do you think he'll be better than Ariza or a poor mans Scottie Pippen type of player?

I'm not seeing signs that he can be the type of #2 Pippen was, but he's easily a 'glue guy on a championship team' caliber. Hopefully that's with us

[NapoleonII]

Come on Lillard!

[bwgood77]

Stats is not the right way to look at things. He was strangely passive and could not catch the ball in the first half. Hot potato.

Players will go through slumps. I think he just had to get in a rythmn..he didn't get nearly as many opportunities early and had picked up 2 quick fouls, which likely got into his head a little bit. I thought he looked a lot better overall than he did in the 3 scrimmages...I think he just needs a few games to really get going when a season starts.

Yeah, he played real well down the stretch. He did not play well at the beginning of the game. I feel like pointing out both of those things in real time is fine. It doesn't mean we don't like him.

I agree it's fine to point out things and many do so...I just meant more as...it's nice to see him end up with a line when people don't even think he was playing that well for some or most of it....he obviously can continue to be more assertive consistently, but he really started to show it down the stretch of the first half.

[sunsbg]

Jaren Jackson shot 5/11 from 3. Crazy.

Hes popping off

A pf with only 2 reb in 37 min of play.

He's basically a tall SG. You'll probably always have to put a more traditional big next to him because of such remarkably poor rebounding.

[SlovenianDragon]

so portland winning what does it mean now?

[bwgood77]

Bridges is someone we need to hang onto long term. We'd never get a player with next years Heat pick like him.

Do you think he'll be better than Ariza or a poor mans Scottie Pippen type of player?

I'm not seeing signs that he can be the type of #2 Pippen was, but he's easily a 'glue guy on a championship team' caliber. Hopefully that's with us

I've never thought Pippen as much, but can see him becoming a poor man's Kawhi/Paul George type...I won't really put a ceiling on him though. He's already a premier defender and his efficiency on offense is amazing...best on our team....and he's getting better every day.

[bwgood77]

so portland winning what does it mean now?

We gained a game on Memphis and stayed the same behind Portland. What exactly do you mean? Pelicans losing was good too.

[NapoleonII]

Bridges to me is a Frankenstein of a young Kawhi (his physical tools mostly), a Bruce Bowen perimeter defender and a Pippen-esque finisher.

Probably no chance he ends up as good as Pippin or Kawhi, but that's a good **** problem to have in a young draft pick.

We need to keep him in a Suns uniform and next to Booker and Ayton for as long as possible, especially with his winning pedigree.

[SlovenianDragon]

so portland winning what does it mean now?

We gained a game on Memphis and stayed the same behind Portland. What exactly do you mean? Pelicans losing was good too.

Im just saying wouldnt it be better for Portland to lose so we can get the play-in spot with the 9th seed?

[SlovenianDragon]

or is it better that Memphis lost because we are closer to the 8th seed?

[cberry78]

It's great to see Ayton with a 24 pt, 12 reb, 3 block, 3 ast game, especially when people were complaining about him through the game thread. I wonder what kind of line he'd have to get for people not to complain.

Maybe something like his would be enough: https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/chambwi01/splits/1962

[Saberestar]

It's great to see Ayton with a 24 pt, 12 reb, 3 block, 3 ast game, especially when people were complaining about him through the game thread. I wonder what kind of line he'd have to get for people not to complain.

Maybe something like his would be enough: https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/chambwi01/splits/1962

[PharmD]

so portland winning what does it mean now?

Portland has to lose 3 more games than the Suns going forward.

Memphis had to lose 2 more games than the Suns. 1 more to go.

[Stark]

I have such a love/hate relationship with this board. I love y'all Suns fans from around the world but sometimes i seriously don't understand why some people root for a team when all they do is finding reasons to hate for the players.

When Mikal made the extra pass, saying "Oh NoW hE ıS sCaReD tO sHooT 3s cUz iT's A rEaL gAmE!!" is so absurd. Of course he is not going to turn into a Ray Allen but dude showed that he definitely improved his shooting a lot.

Also i love the hot takes about Ayton. All the Ayton haters should learn this. Ayton is not Amare,Shawn Kemp or Shaq. He doesn't have the quick first step of Amare or OF COURSE he doesn't have the strength or body that Shaq has. He is not even going to be a player like Richaun Holmes because of the way he is. He is Deandre Ayton. He is one of the smartest young bigs that i've ever seen actually, Yeah he doesn't push people and yell like crazy when he dunks but he is generally super calm and chill. You need players like that he doesn't get into foul trouble as a big and you cannot realize how hard it is as a young player to anchor the defence and also being away from foul trouble. He is also a very good passer. Not many young bigs can play like that. Today Ayton stayed in front of guys like Ish Smith and Hachimura and played excellent defence. Hachimura was blowing past Bridges and Cam easily but Ayton stopped him easily without fouling. His ability to defend the perimeter SO MUCH IMPORTANT THAN DUNKS. Dude started bombing threes and became a legit defensive player in a season, do you think he doesn't care that much. Amare never learned to play defence or get rebounds but yeah he was a savage dunker. Can we stop comparing him to other players and just enjoy having a guy with a huge potential.

NBA is back. Suns basketball is back. We have a great core with a roster of easy to root players. Just enjoy the ride.

*I was going to write more about the game but i wanted this post to be more about Ayton other than the game. However just want to say that Saric is a great player he showed a lot of heart today (again) i hope we keep him in the off-season.

[bigfoot]

It's great to see Ayton with a 24 pt, 12 reb, 3 block, 3 ast game, especially when people were complaining about him through the game thread. I wonder what kind of line he'd have to get for people not to complain.

He’s a frustrating player to watch. He can be the best big in the league if he wanted to. Good to see him have a better 2nd half, though.


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I was a really odd set of halves for Ayton. He definitely was passive in the first half and watched a few times on defense. Fortunately, he put up good non-scoring numbers with 10 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks. Then all that disappeared in the second half but his scoring picked up. I don't think he picked up the extra rebounds and block until later in the fourth quarter. He had a great line for the boxscore but some of the comments were spot on ... he played hot potato a ton with the ball throughout the game, otherwise, I think he could have had another 5-8 rebounds. I put that on him standing on his toes and reaching for rebounds trying to tip it to himself as opposed to jumping aggressively and just grabbing the ball.

[ATTL]

Jaren Jackson shot 5/11 from 3. Crazy.

He was 5/8 at one point.

Brandon Clarke also with 21 shooting 87.5 % from the field and the line along with a couple of blocks while leading the team in rebounding off the bench.

It's weird how little the GB brings up his rebounding when discussing him. Who was the last big with such **** rebounding? Bargnani?

[Jarlaxle0204]

Booker is relentless trying to score. He just can't stop trying to put the ball on the basket.

Michael Jordan did the same his first 6 years in the league until he realized team basketball wins games and championships. I'll be crucified for this comment but someone had to say it.

Is that the same Michael Jordan that couldn't win anything until he had another all star on his squad in Pippen (one of the 50 greatest players)?

The same guy who who when told their is no "I" in Team and responded with, "There is an 'I' in Win though".

You act like Jordan stopped trying to score at some point which led to them winning.

[Saberestar]

Jaren Jackson shot 5/11 from 3. Crazy.

He was 5/8 at one point.

Brandon Clarke also with 21 shooting 87.5 % from the field and the line along with a couple of blocks while leading the team in rebounding off the bench.

It's weird how little the GB brings up his rebounding when discussing him. Who was the last big with such **** rebounding? Bargnani?

Brook Lopez.

[SunsLyf3]

Jaren Jackson shot 5/11 from 3. Crazy.

He was 5/8 at one point.

Brandon Clarke also with 17 shooting 83.3% from the field and 87.5% from the line along with a couple of blocks.

It's weird how little the GB brings up his rebounding when discussing him. Who was the last big with such **** rebounding? Bargnani?

It doesn't fit their narrative.