Game 38: Memphis Grizzlies (17-18) @ Phoenix Suns (25-12) l Monday l 7:00pm l FSNAZ

[irish22022]

We're really gonna wish we had signed Payne to a longer deal.

[TouchPassDario]

4/30. Like I said. Pen to paper. Tomorrow.

[TouchPassDario]

It’s always funny how folks still think the turnover grenade is an individual turnover. I legit think the players don’t know.

[lilfishi22]

I think our bench is as big a reason as any for our massive shift in the last 12 months. It all started with Carter and Payne in the bubble and grew from there. Our bench allows Monty to work w/e advantages he can on mismatches and doesn't give the other team any break when they bring their bench guys.

Yeah, we go from strength to strength. I'll take our bench against any bench in the NBA, I think we're the deepest team in the league and it makes us really hard to beat because its one thing to have 2 or 3 guys that can get hot on your roster, it's another to have 6 or 7. We've also got a great mix of hustle, tenacity and just straight up scoring, its pretty much the perfect bench combination.

I agree 100%

Our bench supplements our starters perfectly. Good thing is, aside from Payne none of them should cost too much to resign either. These guys should all be reasonably priced to re-up.

What's surprising is that our two best bench players, Dario and in particular Payne really weren't that special before they came here. Dario was smart, skilled but unathletic and he was just a decent big, nothing special. You could argue he'll soon become underpaid if he keeps up this level play with extended minutes.

Payne was seen as one of the worst rotation guards in the league at one point and even played in China and the G-League for a stint before we picked him up.

One part of it is our system and their roles but I think a large part of it is just bringing them onboard at the right time in their career. Dario, Payne, Nader, Gallo, Moore and Frank are all in their mid to late 20's (Moore was 31 when we picked him up), they've all been on at least two other teams in their career, they all have good reputations as professionals and they all have a certain level of maturity and NBA skills to help them fit in and just needed a place to really contribute. Jones and Monty have seemingly fostered an environment that values maturity, professionalism, fit, culture and the team concept that everyone has bought into. Guys like Gallo and Moore could probably be getting more regular minutes on some other team but I've heard nothing but positive reports from them despite getting random DNPs, inconsistent PT and minutes in garbage time, yet when the are called upon, they come in to do their job. There's no Mike James out there trying to be the next Kobe, there's no Okobo or Melton out there learning how to play PG in real time or Jimmer trying to be Steph. Just pro's pros

[Slim Charless]

Yeah, we go from strength to strength. I'll take our bench against any bench in the NBA, I think we're the deepest team in the league and it makes us really hard to beat because its one thing to have 2 or 3 guys that can get hot on your roster, it's another to have 6 or 7. We've also got a great mix of hustle, tenacity and just straight up scoring, its pretty much the perfect bench combination.

I agree 100%

Our bench supplements our starters perfectly. Good thing is, aside from Payne none of them should cost too much to resign either. These guys should all be reasonably priced to re-up.

What's surprising is that our two best bench players, Dario and in particular Payne really weren't that special before they came here. Dario was smart, skilled but unathletic and he was just a decent big, nothing special. You could argue he'll soon become underpaid if he keeps up this level play with extended minutes.

Payne was seen as one of the worst rotation guards in the league at one point and even played in China and the G-League for a stint before we picked him up.

One part of it is our system and their roles but I think a large part of it is just bringing them onboard at the right time in their career. Dario, Payne, Nader, Gallo, Moore and Frank are all in their mid to late 20's (Moore was 31 when we picked him up), they've all been on at least two other teams in their career, they all have good reputations as professionals and they all have a certain level of maturity and NBA skills to help them fit in and just needed a place to really contribute. Jones and Monty have seemingly fostered an environment that values maturity, professionalism, fit, culture and the team concept that everyone has bought into. Guys like Gallo and Moore could probably be getting more regular minutes on some other team but I've heard nothing but positive reports from them despite getting random DNPs, inconsistent PT and minutes in garbage time, yet when the are called upon, they come in to do their job. There's no Mike James out there trying to be the next Kobe, there's no Okobo or Melton out there learning how to play PG in real time or Jimmer trying to be Steph. Just pro's pros

This is why I have faith that the Jalen Smith won't bust. I think that they know what they were doing with that pick and we will start to see the benefits being reaped next season.

[Revived]

We started really badly and the team just looked out of synch in the 1st qtr against a tired Grizzlies team. But we came out in the 2nd with more urgency and then hit our rhythm in the 2nd half to put the game away.

Important to get this win simply because a sign of a good team is always about how they react to losses/adversity. Not that losing one game to Pacers after winning like 7 straight is “adversity” but still recovering from a loss is very important.

[SunsRback4Good]

If Jalen Smith becomes 60-75% of what Draymond Green is for the Warriors with a better jumpshot I'll be extremely happy with the outcome. We just cant rush to assumptions calling him a bust until we see him play another 120+ games.

[irish22022]

We'll be in 1st place in the west by the end of March. Got 2 easy ones coming and we'll make quick work of the AD-less lakers too. Utah has a couple tricky ones coming up.

[RedIndian]

The depth on this team is a thing of beauty. The fact that Galloway and Carter are our 12th and 13th men is insane. The Suns were playing without 3 players from their 10/11 man rotation, and the second unit was still as strong as ever is such a sharp contrast from previous years.

Both Carter and Galloway would have been averaging 33 minutes a game on this team 2 years ago.

Yep, gotta give credit where it's due. I've been critical of Jones on his drafting and some of his trades, but the way he's filled our bench is absolutely top notch. Great depth, and most of it due to Jones' eye for spotting great role players.

[starbosa10]

Great bounceback win. Agree with everyone on our bench being a massive strength for us

[starbosa10]

Valencunis was 13/12 at halftime since than he scored 11 but only grabbed 5 boards the rest of the way. We've been a great 2nd half team in the past 15+ games.

Also, glad to see Gallo finally getting minutes and producing with an opportunity. We have a very deep team it ain't no joke.

Monty making adjustments. If this continues he HAS to win COTY. Has to.

Yeah, he sure did make adjustments as we played tough team defense against him. Hope Monty does win COTY he certainly deserves it.

I hope he does as well. We'd have to keep a top 2 seed I think for him to have a chance

[AtheJ415]

If Jalen Smith becomes 60-75% of what Draymond Green is for the Warriors with a better jumpshot I'll be extremely happy with the outcome. We just cant rush to assumptions calling him a bust until we see him play another 120+ games.

Agreed. Also, the justification for the pick shouldn't be "not a bust". He needs to be legitimately good. He was picked in the lottery in a deep draft with players at positions of need who were obvious fits here. It's the same with Cam. The pick being surprising or criticized shouldn't lower the bar. Cam wouldn't have gone any higher in a redraft. Jones gets way too much credit for that. I'd much rather have Clarke to this day, but reality is we should have / could have easily had both.

[Saberestar]

We'll be in 1st place in the west by the end of March. Got 2 easy ones coming and we'll make quick work of the AD-less lakers too. Utah has a couple tricky ones coming up.

The Wolves are not an easy team anymore, they have won two of their last three games.

Anthony Edwards has improved a lot and he is looking a nice #1 pick.

[Mr Puddles]

I think our bench is as big a reason as any for our massive shift in the last 12 months. It all started with Carter and Payne in the bubble and grew from there. Our bench allows Monty to work w/e advantages he can on mismatches and doesn't give the other team any break when they bring their bench guys.

Yeah, we go from strength to strength. I'll take our bench against any bench in the NBA, I think we're the deepest team in the league and it makes us really hard to beat because its one thing to have 2 or 3 guys that can get hot on your roster, it's another to have 6 or 7. We've also got a great mix of hustle, tenacity and just straight up scoring, its pretty much the perfect bench combination.

I agree 100%

Our bench supplements our starters perfectly. Good thing is, aside from Payne none of them should cost too much to resign either. These guys should all be reasonably priced to re-up.

What's especially impressive is that non of the guys on our bench were especially highly regarded before joining the Suns

Cam Payne and Kaminski were with one foot out of the NBA door already.

Nader was basically a throw-in in the CP3 trade; many on this board had to google to find out who he was.

Moore and Galloway were signed for minimum contracts.

Jevon Carter was signed for a measly 3mil a year in an offseason where free agents were getting overpaid left and right.

Even Saric wasn't that highly regarded anymore when he was with the Wolves.

Here's a fun fact, the Suns are paying about the same for Cam Payne, Frank Kaminsky, and E'Twaun Moore COMBINED as the pistons are paying for Josh Jackson this year.

[Bogyo]

^^ On the back of these thoughts, and actually I have been talking about the same with my brother during the weekend.
Is there a trade/upgrade we can make you think, where we can unload some of these guys (too bad, cuz I love them) and get an upgrade in the lines of an above the rim 4-5? I mean in the playoffs there are only 8-9 guys playing, and now we have 13 useful NBA caliber players on our roster. Again, I love that, but I feel it's kinda useless a lot of the times, with Gallo and Moore and Nader and Carter getting DNP-CDs a lot.

[Saberestar]

^^ On the back of these thoughts, and actually I have been talking about the same with my brother during the weekend.
Is there a trade/upgrade we can make you think, where we can unload some of these guys (too bad, cuz I love them) and get an upgrade in the lines of an above the rim 4-5? I mean in the playoffs there are only 8-9 guys playing, and now we have 13 useful NBA caliber players on our roster. Again, I love that, but I feel it's kinda useless a lot of the times, with Gallo and Moore and Nader and Carter getting DNP-CDs a lot.

I think that we will not need to do that because there are gonna be a good amount of players bought out before the playoffs.

Players that I think will not be traded and will be available as a FAs in ten days:

Bjelica
Whiteside
Ed Davis
PJ Tucker
Drummond
Cousins
Ariza
George Hill
McGee
JJ Reddick
Aldridge

[Bogyo]

^^ On the back of these thoughts, and actually I have been talking about the same with my brother during the weekend.
Is there a trade/upgrade we can make you think, where we can unload some of these guys (too bad, cuz I love them) and get an upgrade in the lines of an above the rim 4-5? I mean in the playoffs there are only 8-9 guys playing, and now we have 13 useful NBA caliber players on our roster. Again, I love that, but I feel it's kinda useless a lot of the times, with Gallo and Moore and Nader and Carter getting DNP-CDs a lot.

I think that we will not need to do that because there are gonna be a good amount of players bought out before the playoffs.

Players that I think will not be traded and will be available as a FAs in ten days:

Bjelica
Whiteside
Ed Davis
PJ Tucker
Drummond
Cousins
Ariza
George Hill
McGee
JJ Reddick
Aldridge

I was (also) speaking in a bit longer terms. Not just this year, but try to get somebody who will help us in the next couple years.
While I agree that we should add a big from this list, this only makes our "problem" worse a bit.

[Mulhollanddrive]

Thinking of how we address these bigs so looked at how Valanciunas got his 24-17

Contested jumper on Ayton
Rebound and putback on Crowder
Rebound and shooting foul on Bridges
Dunk on Bridges
Rebound and putback on Crowder
Drive on Ayton
Rebound and putback on Booker
And 1 post up on Booker
Rebound and hook shot on Ayton
Contested jumper on Ayton
Runner on Ayton
Rebound and putback on Bridges

Our switching scheme shutdown Morant but we need a big forward to contest the rebounds.

[Barkley6]

Our next meaningful game is 6 days from now versus Lakers. Two games coming up against the worst team in the league. Hoping we take care of business in first half so CP3, Booker, Ayton rest until LA's game.

Can't look at it like that. They're all meaningful. Minnesota is still an NBA team, they aren't going to lie down. Utah has Boston and Washington on the road next, they lose those and we beat Minnesota...we're tied for first going into that Lakers game.

[Mulhollanddrive]

Their front court averages 6.4 offensive rebounds per 36 so another good test for our PF spot.