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I think Bridges got hurt in the 2nd half of the Miami game. He landed a little funny on a layup or dunk after Butler fouled him (which the refs didn't call), and he didn't look right after that.

Last night was easily his worst game of the year.

He should sit if he is hurt. Can NOT afford to have Bridges playing hurt.

pj0tr wrote:I think Bridges got hurt in the 2nd half of the Miami game. He landed a little funny on a layup or dunk after Butler fouled him (which the refs didn't call), and he didn't look right after that.

Last night was easily his worst game of the year.

He should sit if he is hurt. Can NOT afford to have Bridges playing hurt.

People have bad games. Did he look hurt? He was chasing people. He just had some uncharacteristic turnovers and missed shots.

The most worrisome thing is he looked hesitant on some shots...and that is bad...if you are hesitant you will most likely miss and he's been BY far our best 3 pt shooter who plays a lot of minutes this year, except maybe some Crowder games lately. Galloway maybe better but doesn't play much.

I think Suns get these type of losses to bad teams because they think they can sleepwalk their way through games and still win on talent alone. The issue is that we aren’t that good or that talented. Teams like the Lakers or Clippers (with their stars playing) can afford to come out flat against bad teams and still find a way to win at the end. Even they lose some to bad teams as well but not as much as us (when they have their star players).

Imo we are a team that relies on playing the right way and focusing on the fundamentals and playing with effort.

This should be obvious even from those awful losses we’ve had earlier in the season. We can’t beat any team in the league on talent alone because quite frankly we don’t have that much talent on the team. We’re #2 because we play hard and fundamentally sound and in part because of all other teams having significant injuries while we’ve been good on that end.

Revived wrote:I think Suns get these type of losses to bad teams because they think they can sleepwalk their way through games and still win on talent alone. The issue is that we aren’t that good or that talented. Teams like the Lakers or Clippers (with their stars playing) can afford to come out flat against bad teams and still find a way to win at the end.

Imo we are a team that relies on playing the right way and focusing on the fundamentals and playing with effort.

This should be obvious even from those awful losses we’ve had earlier in the season. We can’t beat any team in the league on talent alone because quite frankly we don’t have that much talent on the team. We’re #2 because we play hard and fundamentally sound and in part because of all other teams having significant injuries while we’ve been good on that end.

Seriously underrated factor this season.

lilfishi22 wrote:

Revived wrote:I think Suns get these type of losses to bad teams because they think they can sleepwalk their way through games and still win on talent alone. The issue is that we aren’t that good or that talented. Teams like the Lakers or Clippers (with their stars playing) can afford to come out flat against bad teams and still find a way to win at the end.

Imo we are a team that relies on playing the right way and focusing on the fundamentals and playing with effort.

This should be obvious even from those awful losses we’ve had earlier in the season. We can’t beat any team in the league on talent alone because quite frankly we don’t have that much talent on the team. We’re #2 because we play hard and fundamentally sound and in part because of all other teams having significant injuries while we’ve been good on that end.

Seriously underrated factor this season.

Yeah, and I also had one super fan of another team ask me lately if we've ever played a completely healthy team? Especially the really good ones.

bwgood77 wrote:

lilfishi22 wrote:

Revived wrote:I think Suns get these type of losses to bad teams because they think they can sleepwalk their way through games and still win on talent alone. The issue is that we aren’t that good or that talented. Teams like the Lakers or Clippers (with their stars playing) can afford to come out flat against bad teams and still find a way to win at the end.

Imo we are a team that relies on playing the right way and focusing on the fundamentals and playing with effort.

This should be obvious even from those awful losses we’ve had earlier in the season. We can’t beat any team in the league on talent alone because quite frankly we don’t have that much talent on the team. We’re #2 because we play hard and fundamentally sound and in part because of all other teams having significant injuries while we’ve been good on that end.

Seriously underrated factor this season.

Yeah, and I also had one super fan of another team ask me lately if we've ever played a completely healthy team? Especially the really good ones.

Only two I think, Utah and one of the Philly games. I’m not completely certain though.

bwgood77 wrote:

lilfishi22 wrote:

Revived wrote:I think Suns get these type of losses to bad teams because they think they can sleepwalk their way through games and still win on talent alone. The issue is that we aren’t that good or that talented. Teams like the Lakers or Clippers (with their stars playing) can afford to come out flat against bad teams and still find a way to win at the end.

Imo we are a team that relies on playing the right way and focusing on the fundamentals and playing with effort.

This should be obvious even from those awful losses we’ve had earlier in the season. We can’t beat any team in the league on talent alone because quite frankly we don’t have that much talent on the team. We’re #2 because we play hard and fundamentally sound and in part because of all other teams having significant injuries while we’ve been good on that end.

Seriously underrated factor this season.

Yeah, and I also had one super fan of another team ask me lately if we've ever played a completely healthy team? Especially the really good ones.

Good question. We've been super lucky this season

^^Yup, my call before the season for us to be 4th-6th in the West was a more realistic outcome than this, although the higher end possibility judging by how we are playing now. Don't get me wrong, I like the team and the way we play, and our record - but lets not kid ourselves how this team is as good as it's record would indicate.

Bogyo wrote:^^Yup, my call before the season for us to be 4th-6th in the West was a more realistic outcome than this, although the higher end possibility judging by how we are playing now. Don't get me wrong, I like the team and the way we play, and our record - but lets not kid ourselves how this team is as good as it's record would indicate.

So then what is this team? They are 16-6 against teams above .500, 13-8 vs all others, and 2nd in the West.

No one knows how good they will be in the playoffs because they've never been there.

I hate how much our fanbase is trying to water down just what the Suns are doing after 10 freaking years of being in the dumps.

pj0tr wrote:

Bogyo wrote:^^Yup, my call before the season for us to be 4th-6th in the West was a more realistic outcome than this, although the higher end possibility judging by how we are playing now. Don't get me wrong, I like the team and the way we play, and our record - but lets not kid ourselves how this team is as good as it's record would indicate.

So then what is this team? They are 16-6 against teams above .500, 13-8 vs all others, and 2nd in the West.

No one knows how good they will be in the playoffs because they've never been there.

I hate how much our fanbase is trying to water down just what the Suns are doing after 10 freaking years of being in the dumps.

I think we are just being realistic. This team is a 4th-6th seed in this brutal, kickass, cutthoat West. Nothing to scoff at, with the LA teams, Utah, Portland, Denver, Dallas... we are still better than some of those teams, even if everybody were healthy. At least according to my prognosis from the beginning of the season. (Which seems to stick pretty nicely btw)
Just not finals/championship material. But there are only 2 or 1 team who does that every year, and some luck goes into it pretty much every year. So I'm very happy with what we have done this year so far - but that does not mean that I do not want more, or do not want to go for the title in this window that we have with CP. So I try to point out the flaws where we could get that edge, wether it be coaching, consistent play from our players (effort, defense, turnovers, shooting, whatever), or adjusting the team by the GM.
I want the whole enchilada, preferably in my lifetime.

*edit: also, us being really lucky with injuries compared to other teams when we are playing them is pretty factual. Not much to argue there imho.