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2021-22 Season Discussion and Speculation

Moderators: bwgood77, Qwigglez, lilfishi22

Do you truly expect the Suns to win the finals this year?

Yes
18
55%
No
15
45%
 
Total votes: 33

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Re: 2021-22 Season Discussion and Speculation 

Post#1081 » by Slim Charless » Thu Nov 25, 2021 6:57 am

Bogyo wrote:
bwgood77 wrote:
Slim Charless wrote:
I don't think KL us coming back this season... I'm also not sure pg13 can keep this up. I think he fades and the Clips might be a play in team honestly. Lakers are the Lakers but I maintain that the scariest team in the west is a fully healthy Denver team. They're stacked:

Joker
Murray
MPJ
Gordon

That's beastly. Obviously no one is sure if Murray and Porter will play this year but if so..... that's the team that worries me the most.

Alot of people will say the Dubs, but let's see if they can't keep this pace up. Now, they have a lot of young talent they can move in a potential deadline trade, and if so then watch out but for now we'll see.

I cannot wait for our games against them next month.


Murray will be back. Klay will make the Warriors even tougher and I imagine at least the option of playing Wiseman will help too.


Don't forget the Jazz. They might have solved their biggest problem this offseason. They could not match up with smallball. This offseason they got Paschall and Gay, so if those fit in and they practice stuff a bit they could play / survive without Gobert for streches.
But generally you guys are right, a healthy Denver and a healthy GS is the two scariest teams for us in the west.
(PJ Dozier just suffered a torn ACL, so the "healthy Denver" thing is not about to kick off... might be just cancelled altogether with Porter out for season likely, Dozier out for season likely, not sure if/when/how Murray comes back this season,,,)


If Porter is not coming back then forget I mentioned them. He is needed as a 3 headed offensive monster. That, plus Gordon playing defense makes them as good as any team in the league. Who knows whats gonna happen there. It only November so lots of time left for guys to come back.

Gotta say Golden State looked impressive tonight. It was a team minus Biid, Ben and Tobias so not really sure what to make of it. I think next week is game 1 vs them....
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Re: 2021-22 Season Discussion and Speculation 

Post#1082 » by wheezy » Thu Nov 25, 2021 5:21 pm

King4Day wrote:
bwgood77 wrote:
cberry78 wrote:For those that are interested, $1/mos for 12 mos Athletic subscription: https://theathletic.com/checkout2/intro12monthly/


Nice, I just got a renewal charge for $72


You should still be able to cancel and get whatever is left credited.
Worst case, just contact them and complain. They'll hook you up

It's about $20/yr if you renew today.
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Re: 2021-22 Season Discussion and Speculation 

Post#1083 » by Ghost of Kleine » Thu Nov 25, 2021 7:22 pm

Matt Petersen (@TheMattPetersen) Tweeted:
Suns during 14-game win streak:

Scoring: 1st
FG%: 1st
3FG%: 5th
OffRating: 7th
DefRating: 2nd
Net rating: 2nd
Assist/TO: 2nd
Pace: 3rd
Opp FG%: 3rd
Assists-to-pass ratio: 1st
Paint touches: 3rd
Paint touch points: 1st
Elbow touch points: 2nd
Corner 3pt defense: 1st
Box-outs: 5th
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Re: 2021-22 Season Discussion and Speculation 

Post#1084 » by bwgood77 » Thu Nov 25, 2021 9:35 pm

From Joe Vardon, The Athletic:

Spoiler:
CLEVELAND — The Phoenix Suns’ winning streak began at home last month, on Devin Booker’s birthday. He made sure it continued on to New York, through Thanksgiving.

Booker, the centerpiece of the Suns’ present and future, helped beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 120-115 Wednesday night with 35 points — his second-largest scoring output in a streak that is now 14 games long.

“I wish I could be playing a little more efficiently, but I’m just trying to find ways to win,” Booker told me Wednesday. “That’s what it comes down to. That’s the reputation I’ve been trying to break after my first few years in the league, of being at the bottom of the NBA, so if you want to see winning basketball, you tune into the Suns. We play together. It’s a ‘we score’ mentality. We have a lot of talented players, and any night could be anybody’s chance.”

Booker entered the game leading the NBA in clutch shooting (shots taken with the score within five points and under five minutes to go), and drilled two of his three attempts in this latest tight game. We spoke hours before tipoff in Cleveland, and he was lamenting his slightly below-average (for him) scoring for the season (23.1 points) and lower field-goal percentage (.437). But the Suns’ reputation he referenced has, of course, entirely changed over the past year, and he deserves a ton of the credit for that. This season alone, he’s seen an uptick in rebounds (5.5 per game, a career high). Chris Paul, 37, a catalyst of the Suns’ present, is leading the NBA in assists (10.4 per), and delivered 12 more with 17 points against Cleveland. It’s a deep, balanced team with a strong bench, made even stronger by the addition of JaVale McGee, an Olympic gold medalist and three-time NBA champion.

The Suns’ current streak is tied for third-longest in franchise history. It’s one short of the second-longest, a mark the team could tie on Black Friday against the Knicks, and it follows last season’s surprise Finals bid. The streak has also lived on almost entirely while the organization has been in the shadows of an NBA investigation into allegations of racist, misogynistic and belligerent behavior from team owner Robert Sarver.

ESPN detailed those allegations, levied by former Suns coach Earl Watson and more than 70 unnamed sources, in a 7,000-word report on Nov. 4 — five days after the winning streak began. Through press releases, Sarver has strongly denied the allegations. In the aftermath, Suns players met with coach Monty Williams and general manager James Jones as a group. The purpose: for information, for venting and for resolve.

“We have a communicative group,” Booker said. “We talk to each other a lot. We keep everything in house. It’s a tight-knit group. We speak on everything, and we share with each other how we feel about it, and nobody else finds out how we feel about things.”

To the extent that the Suns players have said anything about Sarver in light of ESPN’s report, they have only said they hadn’t witnessed any of the alleged behavior in their time here. Booker is Phoenix’ longest-tenured player, in his seventh season on the Suns. But it was made clear Wednesday what Suns players had read and heard about the team owner bothered them.


Devin Booker drives to the basket Wednesday, during the 14th game of the Suns’ streak. (Ken Blaze / USA TODAY Sports)
“They know the door was open for them to come talk to me about anything if they needed to, and we did — there were private conversations,” Williams said. “We’ve said wins and losses and nothing will affect our culture. That’s how we approach it. That doesn’t mean we aren’t aware of the allegations and all of that stuff, but we just kept it moving as far as our culture, but we also were aware that there was some serious business being handled, and the league was going to take care of it.”

The weight of losing a Finals can be a heavy burden to carry, and on the first day of camp, Williams called the players together and “shared my hurt.”

“The vulnerability in front of the players was something I felt like I needed to do, and I’ve turned the page,” he said, insisting the Suns haven’t talked about the Finals since.

But the first four games of this follow-up campaign were not good for Phoenix. The Suns lost three of those games. And there was drama. Deandre Ayton did not get the lucrative contract extension he wanted just before the regular season began. A controversy like the one involving Sarver could easily have been the ingredient that shoved the Suns down a bad path.

“First and foremost, I think that’s just coincidence,” Paul said. “Our plan wasn’t to start out 1-3. … We just got a great group, a great locker room. Players, coaching staff, everybody. I’ve never seen anything like it. You just enjoy being around each other.

“We talk about everything. Ain’t no guessing how this guy feels. It’s nice to be with a group like that.”

When the season started poorly, Williams said he was concerned he was “complicating things” for the players. Booker said he wanted to draw on his Olympics experience, playing for coach Gregg Popovich and winning gold in Tokyo, to help the Suns turn it around. Things like trying harder, talking more, diving for a ball, stretching a little farther to try and tip a missed shot back to a teammate — all of the things that were stressed to a collection of NBA stars in the fight of their lives to squeak out (which is what happened) a gold medal.

The Suns’ road stop before Cleveland was actually San Antonio, where Popovich still holds a day job coaching the Spurs. “It’s something I’ve reflected on a lot, and I usually don’t reflect on things this early or this fresh,” Booker said. “Even talking to Pop before the game, and playing against Keldon (Johnson, a Spur and end-of-bencher for Team USA), and JaVale is on our team. It’s memories everywhere.”

Phoenix plays the Knicks Friday and then faces a tough back-to-back the next night against Kevin Durant, Team USA’s top player, and the East-leading Brooklyn Nets. After that, it’s home for the West-leading Warriors. If they win all those games, the Suns will have tied the franchise’s record for winning streaks.

It’s a big “if,” but so was coming this far, given everything they were dealing with as the season began.

“I like our chances in a lot of games,” Booker said.
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Re: 2021-22 Season Discussion and Speculation 

Post#1085 » by matt131 » Fri Nov 26, 2021 3:22 pm

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/nba-finals-bucks-suns-covid-outbreak-giannis-antetokounmpo-1259277/amp/

Can't quite tell if this could have really affected the finals or not, but oh well. Would have been lame to win had Giannis been out due to being a Covid close contact. Still, even just getting one game without him would have been nice lol
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Re: 2021-22 Season Discussion and Speculation 

Post#1086 » by Ghost of Kleine » Mon Nov 29, 2021 4:35 am

Mike Vigil (@protectedpick) Tweeted:
https://t.co/oOG4TkonU0
Read on Twitter
?s=20

Mike Vigil (@protectedpick) Tweeted:
Wait a second… https://t.co/VyENo1HRcJ
Read on Twitter
?s=20

Thoughts?? :dontknow:
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Re: 2021-22 Season Discussion and Speculation 

Post#1087 » by Ghost of Kleine » Mon Nov 29, 2021 4:39 am

Mike Vigil (@protectedpick) Tweeted:
In clutch situations, according to the NBA’s website, Devin Booker is shooting 11 for 15. That’s an insane 73.3% and is an absurd +38. Both are leading the NBA.
Read on Twitter
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Mike Vigil (@protectedpick) Tweeted:
Top 5 FG% for isolation plays this season (at least 3 per game, according to NBA website):

DeRozan - 59.3%
Durant - 52.1 %
Booker - 50%
Beal - 49%
Siakam - 47.1%
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Re: 2021-22 Season Discussion and Speculation 

Post#1088 » by Slim Charless » Mon Nov 29, 2021 4:49 am

Ghost of Kleine wrote:Mike Vigil (@protectedpick) Tweeted:
https://t.co/oOG4TkonU0
Read on Twitter
?s=20

Mike Vigil (@protectedpick) Tweeted:
Wait a second… https://t.co/VyENo1HRcJ
Read on Twitter
?s=20

Thoughts?? :dontknow:


Soooo we'll be seeing Booker and Mikal in the next Avengers movie then? Also, maybe a DA appearance in Star Wars?

Just kidding....kinda. I guess if that happens we won't have to worry about ESPN ignoring us anymore, since Disney owns them as well.
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Re: 2021-22 Season Discussion and Speculation 

Post#1089 » by TeamTragic » Mon Nov 29, 2021 8:02 am

Ghost of Kleine wrote:
Read on Twitter


Thoughts?? :dontknow:


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Re: 2021-22 Season Discussion and Speculation 

Post#1090 » by SunsRback4Good » Mon Nov 29, 2021 8:10 am

GoranTragic wrote:
Ghost of Kleine wrote:
Read on Twitter


Thoughts?? :dontknow:


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This how close the Suns are to winning a championship with a new owner.

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Re: 2021-22 Season Discussion and Speculation 

Post#1091 » by Mulhollanddrive » Mon Nov 29, 2021 11:48 am

Would prefer a billionaire involved so paying $50m in luxury tax isn't a big deal.
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Re: 2021-22 Season Discussion and Speculation 

Post#1092 » by WeekapaugGroove » Mon Nov 29, 2021 6:25 pm

Mulhollanddrive wrote:Would prefer a billionaire involved so paying $50m in luxury tax isn't a big deal.
Absolutely. Should be noted with the extreme rise in franchise values to even get into the running to buy a team you need insane wealth. Sarver and his group wouldn't even be at the table in today's landscape.

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Re: 2021-22 Season Discussion and Speculation 

Post#1093 » by Slim Charless » Mon Nov 29, 2021 6:58 pm

WeekapaugGroove wrote:
Mulhollanddrive wrote:Would prefer a billionaire involved so paying $50m in luxury tax isn't a big deal.
Absolutely. Should be noted with the extreme rise in franchise values to even get into the running to buy a team you need insane wealth. Sarver and his group wouldn't even be at the table in today's landscape.

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I agree. If this happens, I want a billionaire-which I'm surprised the guy who was running Disney isn't. I looked up his net worth and he's roughly 700M...more than Booby, but a far sight less than Ellison or Musk.

I'd figured the Head Mouse would be worth at 10B or so. Weird.
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Re: 2021-22 Season Discussion and Speculation 

Post#1094 » by Slim Charless » Mon Nov 29, 2021 6:59 pm

WeekapaugGroove wrote:
Mulhollanddrive wrote:Would prefer a billionaire involved so paying $50m in luxury tax isn't a big deal.
Absolutely. Should be noted with the extreme rise in franchise values to even get into the running to buy a team you need insane wealth. Sarver and his group wouldn't even be at the table in today's landscape.

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I agree. If this happens, I want a billionaire-which I'm surprised the guy who was running Disney isn't.
I looked up his net worth and he's roughly 700M...more than Booby, but a far sight less than Ellison or Musk.

I'd figured the Head Mouse would be worth at least 10B or so. Weird.
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Re: 2021-22 Season Discussion and Speculation 

Post#1095 » by bwgood77 » Mon Nov 29, 2021 10:44 pm

Slim Charless wrote:
WeekapaugGroove wrote:
Mulhollanddrive wrote:Would prefer a billionaire involved so paying $50m in luxury tax isn't a big deal.
Absolutely. Should be noted with the extreme rise in franchise values to even get into the running to buy a team you need insane wealth. Sarver and his group wouldn't even be at the table in today's landscape.

Sent from my SM-G986U using RealGM mobile app


I agree. If this happens, I want a billionaire-which I'm surprised the guy who was running Disney isn't. I looked up his net worth and he's roughly 700M...more than Booby, but a far sight less than Ellison or Musk.

I'd figured the Head Mouse would be worth at 10B or so. Weird.


The wealth and true ownership of Disney probably resides with Disney's kids.
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Re: 2021-22 Season Discussion and Speculation 

Post#1096 » by lilfishi22 » Tue Nov 30, 2021 3:23 am

Was looking for some Bridges vs Harden highlights from the previous game but couldn't find any but found these instead. Both worth a watch if you have a spare 8min



And this nice little breakdown of his game

lilfishi22 wrote:More than ever....we are in the championship or bust endgame
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Re: 2021-22 Season Discussion and Speculation 

Post#1097 » by matt131 » Tue Nov 30, 2021 4:26 am

The most recent Lowe Post podcast with Michael Schwartz has about 30 mins of discussion on the suns. All positive and pretty insightful. Worth the listen if you have the time.

And as always, the Timeline podcast has the best Suns coverage and true analysis out there. They just released another episode today. Fun for gearing up for the warriors matchup
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Re: 2021-22 Season Discussion and Speculation 

Post#1098 » by Mulhollanddrive » Tue Nov 30, 2021 10:42 am

Bridges on Curry twice in a week is going to to be big for his All-Defensive credentials.
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Re: 2021-22 Season Discussion and Speculation 

Post#1099 » by Biff » Tue Nov 30, 2021 4:30 pm

People saying the Dubs aren't scary are dimwits. The Warriors are one of the best defensive teams in the NBA. If Klay is even 80% of what he was, they're going to be damn near unstoppable just like they were before. They will shoot us off the floor in a 7 game series. They'd likely go small and Ayton will have to camp out on the perimeter or chase Draymond around, minimizing his defensive impact in the paint.

Also, Curry absolutely owns CP3.
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Re: 2021-22 Season Discussion and Speculation 

Post#1100 » by ImNotMcDiSwear » Tue Nov 30, 2021 5:03 pm

Biff wrote:People saying the Dubs aren't scary are dimwits. The Warriors are one of the best defensive teams in the NBA. If Klay is even 80% of what he was, they're going to be damn near unstoppable just like they were before. They will shoot us off the floor in a 7 game series. They'd likely go small and Ayton will have to camp out on the perimeter or chase Draymond around, minimizing his defensive impact in the paint.

Also, Curry absolutely owns CP3.


Don't think anyone believes Dubs aren't scary. They have one of the top 5 players of all time, evidently still in his prime. They're 18-2 with Klay Thompson waiting in the wings. Surely they'll add a center off the waiver wire at some point to play situationally.

I'm very excited to see how Monty approaches this matchup. I would say we might hide our Plan A in anticipation of future matchups, but with the franchise record win streak on the line, I'm guessing we won't hold back. I'm guessing we put Mikal on Curry much of the time, with Booker on Wiggins and Paul on Poole, but you know everyone will get their turn guarding Curry, and I would expect to see Booker on him quite a bit as well.

Big question is how we handle the switch. Against nearly every other team we switch 1-5, but with Curry on the floor, that's just an invitation to get torched. Problem is, if you switch Ayton onto Curry or even Poole, then he has to choose between giving up the long ball or the rim, and either way we'll get wrecked. But how can we not switch? Not only is that the only way to eliminate open threes, but it's our damn identity. Expect to see a lot of Cam and Crowder patrolling the paint on drives when Ayton and McGee get stranded.

And then on offense, Dray and Looney will make keeping DA out of the paint their full time job. Crowder will get a lot of open 3FG attempts this game, I expect. If we slow things down, the Warriors could just blitz us and blow us out, and the upside to that approach is low since we won't be going on huge runs that way. OTOH, if we run, we're playing right into their hands and potentially running our own bigs off the court. Ayton's effort level is the X factor with this game. If he comes out and jogs around as he's done recently, I'm not sure we stand a chance. We need to see the full-speed, high energy version if we're going to win. You know Booker will get a shot up every time they don't plan Wiggins on him, as he'll light up Curry and Poole. The other X factor, then, will be Bridges, who will probably be guarded by Poole, and he needs to be able to take advantage of that matchup. If he scores 20, I think we win, but that assumes Cam Jo and Crowder match the Warriors' long ball and Cam Payne doesn't get eaten alive by that beast, Gary Payton II. (God I love that guy.)

Expect McGee to have a big game on offense. Just hope he's able to keep the Shaqtin moments to a minimum. With all the chaos we're bound to see, he'll be tempted to add to his lowlight reel. I also expect Shamet to ball out - but these guys playing well is just to keep us close to even. We ain't blowing these guys out.

This team - and how we play them in the playoffs - will be Ayton's biggest test. If he gets run off the floor and can't take advantage of his size against Looney and Dray, then I can't see how he gets his bag. This Warriors team will be hear next season, too, and the year after that. A lot of this is up to Monty and his staff - how can he use DA to our advantage rather than our detriment? If he can do that, we've got a better than even chance of beating this team. If not, we're in a shooting match with the GOAT.

I am PUMPED for this one.

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