RealGM

Who: Phoenix Suns @ Utah Jazz

When: Wednesday, January 26th @ 8:00pm (10:00ET) l ESPN l BSAZ

Where: Vivent Arena, Salt Lake City, UT










Phoenix Suns starting lineup:


C- Biyombo

F- Cam

F- Bridges

G- Booker

G- CP3



Reserves: Shamet/Payton/Smith/Wainright






Utah Jazz starting lineup:


C- Whiteside

F- O'Neale

F- Bogdanovic

G- Forrest

G- Conley



Reserves: Clarkson/Gay/House/Butler

If Ayton does play, I will be excited to see what our best starting lineup will look like together. Hopefully they continue to get CamJo started early, and continue to get him open looks. Book can't go into hero mode, because it ends up hurting the flow. Elf has to step up at pg. He needs to make those driving layups and find guys in rhythm. Shamet needs to make those open shots, or screen like a mofo and be super aggressive on defense. Paul needs to be able to get more rest during the game. No point in over working him half way through the season. Book can run point a few times, as long as he makes smart plays, and doesn't try to hero ball it.

Bottom line: We cannot have a repeat performance of last night. A team effort is required as the Jazz are playing with a group of scrappy guys and a sense of nothing to lose and everything to prove. They nearly did so as we collapsed in the third as usual.

I'm interested to see how they continue to perform with Johnson in place of Crowder. While he's not as ruggedly built, he's a decent defender and a far better shooter in general than "Bossman camp the 3".

I expect another stellar outing from Biyombo. Man, that dude has been a godsend for our defense and second unit.

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So we can't claim hardship 10 day contracts when we have seven players on the injured list? Really?

RunDogGun wrote:So we can't claim hardship 10 day contracts when we have seven players on the injured list? Really?

The 10 day is specific to Covid protocols I believe. There "regular" hardship exception has limitations too

What is a hardship exception? It’s a temporary roster spot that must be granted by the league. It allows a team to exceed the 15-man maximum roster when it has at least four players who are sick or injured for longer than two weeks. Each of the four sick or injured players must miss at least three consecutive games during their two-week absence. An independent physician, not the team’s doctor, must decide whether each player is required to miss two weeks.

The Smack and Stix to the rescue!

Qwigglez wrote:The Smack and Stix to the rescue!

Indeed. Love to see Stix/Biz get quality minutes when our other bigs are out. Good thing Rudy is out cause he would be a handful for them to handle.


Btw, poll is up vote if you desire.

Go Suns!!!

We really did need 6 Centers.

Paul, Booker, Bridges, Johnson, Biyombo
Payton, Shamet, Wainwright, Smith

Missing - Ayton, Crowder, Payne, McGee, Kaminsky, Nader, Saric

Seems Utah will be without Mitchell and Gobert though.

I hope McGee's injury isn't something that we later find out needs surgery. Knee soreness can be scary

Booker been jacking up unnecessary shots lately. That's not how he has played for past couple of years. He wins player of the week then proceeds to average 30+ spg in last 2-3 games. He needs to relax a bit and trust his teammates.

King4Day wrote:I hope McGee's injury isn't something that we later find out needs surgery. Knee soreness can be scary

Yeah, with the way this team obfuscates the particular injuries our players have, knee soreness could be a 4 month injury like it was for Nader. That would suck super bad and be terrible luck as it would be our 3rd center with a long term injury. Thank God for Biyombo.

Poll is up you can vote up to three players if you like or just stick to one player who might propel this team to a championship.

Or pick ‘Stand Pat’?


Tonight is exactly the reason why you don’t trade Smith

Frank Lee wrote:Or pick ‘Stand Pat’?


Tonight is exactly the reason why you don’t trade Smith

A regular season game before the all star break is the reason we shouldn't trade a non-rotation player for a potential impact player for the playoffs?

I agree we shouldn't go crazy with trades, but if we make a trade, we can definitely pick up another center that can give us close to what Smith does. Jones has definitely proven he can find those guys.

Frank Lee wrote:Or pick ‘Stand Pat’?


Tonight is exactly the reason why you don’t trade Smith

That could be his plan. Maybe they wait until the buyout market.
Dragic is someone to monitor. Why would he pick Dallas at this point? If I'm him, I choose Phoenix and a chance at a ring. Then worry about Dallas, or wherever, in the offseason.

This will be a weird game.
Both teams are very thin. Of course Utah is missing more important players but that doesn't mean they can't find a way.

Figure Biz will start this game and Smith will come off the bench. If Smith doesn't play again, then there's no doubt he'll never step foot on the floor again with us.

You trade Smith he’s never coming back.

Quality centers lurking about jobless? Care to provide a list?

LetsPretendGM is alive and well

Frank Lee wrote:You trade Smith he’s never coming back.

Quality centers lurking about jobless? Care to provide a list?

LetsPretendGM is alive and well

Who had Biyombo coming over and averaging 15 and 10 for us? Do buyouts happen? Are there serviceable backups on small deals that could be added to bigger trades? Smith isn't the only playable 3rd string center in the league lol

Not saying I'm the smartest person around (I'm quite the opposite, actually), but I don't think Smith was what we were missing in the finals last year, nor will he be the missing piece this year. I think we needed another scorer who could get their own shot off when Booker and CP3 were clamped down.

Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) Tweeted:
#Suns getting up shots before facing #Jazz tonight. https://t.co/YXBpaEM6Cb ?s=20