NBA PLAYOFFS: Game 2 - (8) New Orleans Pelicans @ (1) Phoenix Suns l Tuesday l 7:00pm l TNT l Suns Lead Series 1-0

[SunsRback4Good]

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[PittsburghSuns]

I don’t understand why Crowder starts? I mean I understand all great teams need role players but what exactly does he do? Johnson should be starting and honestly Bam should be getting some PF mins. Monty should be using Bam and Holiday equally as much as guys like Payne Craig and Crowder. Those 3 aren’t doing anything to deserve the mins they are playing.

[lilfishi22]

I don’t understand why Crowder starts? I mean I understand all great teams need role players but what exactly does he do? Johnson should be starting and honestly Bam should be getting some PF mins. Monty should be using Bam and Holiday equally as much as guys like Payne Craig and Crowder. Those 3 aren’t doing anything to deserve the mins they are playing.

CamJo is a 6MOY finalist exactly because of how we use him, as an elite off the bench scorer. Unlike other 6MOY finalists, he has the defense to be a damn good starter as well so he has a solid case to be moved into Crowder's starting spot but unless the winning formula no longer works, I wouldn't necessarily push to make a major change. In particular, with Payne's offensive struggles, I don't think having CamJo's steady scoring punch off the bench is a bad thing.

[Revived]

I think Ingram’s probably gonna have a big game in this one at least starting off.

Hopefully we weather the storm early and then get to playing with similar style and effort as we did the first half of gm 1.

[lilfishi22]

I think Ingram’s probably gonna have a big game in this one at least starting off.

Hopefully we weather the storm early and then get to playing with similar style and effort as we did the first half of gm 1.

Someone eventually will. Whether it's JV with a 20/20 game or CJ/BI with a 40 piece. I don't expect all 3 to have quiet offensive games all series.

For me, the main thing we need to focus on is our defensive rebounding ie not letting them grab 25 offensive boards. We got away with the Pels not making a ton of shots but they kept it close by giving themselves an extra 20+ possessions on the offensive end. When they start hitting shots or one of their "big 3" has a big offensive game, they will be difficult to contain when they are also giving themselves more chances on that end of the floor.

That being said, we also didn't have a great game offensively. Booker was below average for me, Bridges was quiet, Ayton was slightly above average and Cam had an efficient but relatively low scoring game. Outside of CP3 in the 4th, we didn't look like we were clicking offensively. As a team, we have another notch or two would go move up

[PittsburghSuns]

I expect a better game from us tonight you had to expect a little rust with us off for a week. Hopefully Shamet can play tonight Payne and Craig are offensive black holes

[sunsbg]

I expect the role players who didn't play well in first game to show up for this one and it will get ugly for the Pelicans.

[Saberestar]

I don’t understand why Crowder starts? I mean I understand all great teams need role players but what exactly does he do? Johnson should be starting and honestly Bam should be getting some PF mins. Monty should be using Bam and Holiday equally as much as guys like Payne Craig and Crowder. Those 3 aren’t doing anything to deserve the mins they are playing.

All three deserve every minute that they play, you are talking about great role players.

Crowder specifically has started in 67 games this season playing over 28 mpg. Our most successful RS ever.

In the last playoffs he played 33 mpg and we went to the NBA Finals.

He doesn't get you raw numbers but he gives you wins playing his specific low usage role. He spaces the floor and stays within his role. His value on defense is huge. He nails every defensive rotation. He embraces tough covers. He defends well 2-4 and decently enough 1-5. Not too many players in the league can do that.

If you don't like him I can't help you, but Monty Williams is presumably COTY (and two times COTY for his peers) and he loves him on the court. Trust him.

[Revived]

Again can’t stress it enough but really hope Suns and Pelicans come out of this game away without any injuries.

[pj0tr]

I expect the role players who didn't play well in first game to show up for this one and it will get ugly for the Pelicans.

I agree. Some game 1 jitters for guys, especially on the offensive side, like for Bridges, Payne, and Craig.

I expect tonight for the 3s to be falling much more.

[spanishninja]

i'm going to the game! will be my first time in the Footprint era. Taking the day off but didn't give my boss the reason, I'll let them think I'm going to a job interview; make them sweat a little.

[PittsburghSuns]

I don’t understand why Crowder starts? I mean I understand all great teams need role players but what exactly does he do? Johnson should be starting and honestly Bam should be getting some PF mins. Monty should be using Bam and Holiday equally as much as guys like Payne Craig and Crowder. Those 3 aren’t doing anything to deserve the mins they are playing.

All three deserve every minute that they play, you are talking about great role players.

Crowder specifically has started in 67 games this season playing over 28 mpg. Our most successful RS ever.

In the last playoffs he played 33 mpg and we went to the NBA Finals.

He doesn't get you raw numbers but he gives you wins playing his specific low usage role. He spaces the floor and stays within his role. His value on defense is huge. He nails every defensive rotation. He embraces tough covers. He defends well 2-4 and decently enough 1-5. Not too many players in the league can do that.

If you don't like him I can't help you, but Monty Williams is presumably COTY (and two times COTY for his peers) and he loves him on the court. Trust him.

Fair points however he struggles in two areas shooting and rebounding. The second one is especially concerning because that will be this teams undoing if they don’t get it fixed. Against a team like GSW you can’t have a guy playing 30 mins with no scoring ability or you will get run out of the gym. I’m ok with him in a limited role but not 30 a night. Same with Craig on a lower min scale obviously. Give me some Bam to rebound and try Holiday over Payne who clearly lost whatever he had.

[RunDogGun]

I don’t understand why Crowder starts? I mean I understand all great teams need role players but what exactly does he do? Johnson should be starting and honestly Bam should be getting some PF mins. Monty should be using Bam and Holiday equally as much as guys like Payne Craig and Crowder. Those 3 aren’t doing anything to deserve the mins they are playing.

CamJo is a 6MOY finalist exactly because of how we use him, as an elite off the bench scorer. Unlike other 6MOY finalists, he has the defense to be a damn good starter as well so he has a solid case to be moved into Crowder's starting spot but unless the winning formula no longer works, I wouldn't necessarily push to make a major change. In particular, with Payne's offensive struggles, I don't think having CamJo's steady scoring punch off the bench is a bad thing.

We shouldn't be playing a bench line up at all in the playoffs, so it shouldn't matter when Johnson adds his points. Monty for some reason can't give CamJo more minutes when he comes off the bench. So it depends on what is best for the team. I think its best to have our best three point shooter starting, as long as there isn't a huge difference in rebounding or defense between him and who he would be replacing. We should have 2 starters in at all times in the playoffs, and we should maximize the twins playing together.

We don't lose much of anything starting CamJo over Crowder, but gain a smarter player and better shooter.

The "if it isn't broken" is just a bad cliche. It is like saying, "why improve your team if you can win games?" We should always look to improve our team, and make it is easy for CP3, Book, and Ayton score, while not losing much defensively.

Now if Crowder was a beast on the boards, or a lock down defender, his inconsistent shooting might be overlooked.

Regular season awards shouldn't keep us from improving the starting lineup, who should get 30+ minutes in the playoffs.

[RunDogGun]

I don’t understand why Crowder starts? I mean I understand all great teams need role players but what exactly does he do? Johnson should be starting and honestly Bam should be getting some PF mins. Monty should be using Bam and Holiday equally as much as guys like Payne Craig and Crowder. Those 3 aren’t doing anything to deserve the mins they are playing.

All three deserve every minute that they play, you are talking about great role players.

Crowder specifically has started in 67 games this season playing over 28 mpg. Our most successful RS ever.

In the last playoffs he played 33 mpg and we went to the NBA Finals.

He doesn't get you raw numbers but he gives you wins playing his specific low usage role. He spaces the floor and stays within his role. His value on defense is huge. He nails every defensive rotation. He embraces tough covers. He defends well 2-4 and decently enough 1-5. Not too many players in the league can do that.

If you don't like him I can't help you, but Monty Williams is presumably COTY (and two times COTY for his peers) and he loves him on the court. Trust him.

Fair points however he struggles in two areas shooting and rebounding. The second one is especially concerning because that will be this teams undoing if they don’t get it fixed. Against a team like GSW you can’t have a guy playing 30 mins with no scoring ability or you will get run out of the gym. I’m ok with him in a limited role but not 30 a night. Same with Craig on a lower min scale obviously. Give me some Bam to rebound and try Holiday over Payne who clearly lost whatever he had.

I agree with a lot of what you are saying. The only wrinkle I have is Biz occupies the same space as Ayton with regards to rebounding. So while I like Biz, I don't know if playing him at the four gives us a better edge at rebounding. What we need is more of Craig actively crashing the boards. I know it is tough, because when he is in, he guards either CJ or BI. And we did a solid job negating Hayes's size, except at the start of the third, where we kept fouling him.

We need to rebound as a team, box the f**k out, and not watch shots. For this series, I hope that Bridges gets the back up two minutes, and give more minutes to CamJo and Craig. Payne should only be CP3's replacement, never the two.

I would start CamJo too, and then when CP3 sits, I would bring in Crowder to bring up the ball, and then let Booker run the offense. If we are having troubles, then bring in Payne to run point, unless he sucks again, then try Holiday. But I would go with Booker, Bridges, CamJo, Crowder, Ayton if CP3 sits first. We need to match their length, but still play our game. When Craig comes in, he needs to attack the glass on both ends, and hustle back on defense. If he is only playing 12-18 minutes, he needs to be running that whole time. Actually that should be the case for any guy off the bench playing under 20 minutes.

[PittsburghSuns]

We definitely need to rebound better as a team but I’m just concerned that guys like Cam Jo Crowder and Craig simply are not big enough to rebound from a 4 spot. The Biz option might not work but I’d like to at least try it. Cam Payne needs to wake the F up. He looked awful in game 1.

[bwoolf2]

We definitely need to rebound better as a team but I’m just concerned that guys like Cam Jo Crowder and Craig simply are not big enough to rebound from a 4 spot. The Biz option might not work but I’d like to at least try it. Cam Payne needs to wake the F up. He looked awful in game 1.

This being too small is the biggest bunch of bull ever the greatest possibility ever was 6 foot 7 maybe shorter that being Rodman rebounding is as much about position and effort as anything, Paul the shortest guy on the court had 7 rebounds last game. The effort on that end from Crowder, Johnson, and Craig simply wasn't good enough

[matt131]

Ah, Scott Foster and Tony Brothers tonight. I see that the NBA wasn't pleased with our game 1 victory.

1-1 heading to New Orleans.

[Ghost of Kleine]

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[Puff]

This thing about Cam Johnson starting over Crowder is nuts.

Crowder is streaky as hell, but he is very good at most everything else. Both he and Johnson need to rebound better and we need Johnson's points off the bench. Everyone needs to rebound better and that includes Ayton whom I think played very well for us on both ends of the court. I will be disappointed in Monty and our team leaders Booker and Paul if we do not improve in this area.

Cam Payne did suck and did not look good in the final games of the season. However, when right he brings lots of energy along with points and assists with few turnovers. I expect that he is getting special attention from our assistant coaches. We need him. No need to replace him with anyone at this point. If he continues to suck tonight, then yes less give Holiday or Shamet some of his minutes going forward.

When you look back on the first game only Ayton and Paul really showed up. Mikal had a fantastic night on the defensive end but was very quiet on offense. We have a lot of room for improvement on the offensive side of the ball. By in large our defense was great with the exception of rebounding.

Go suns.

[WeekapaugGroove]

We definitely need to rebound better as a team but I’m just concerned that guys like Cam Jo Crowder and Craig simply are not big enough to rebound from a 4 spot. The Biz option might not work but I’d like to at least try it. Cam Payne needs to wake the F up. He looked awful in game 1.

Why the **** would they wreck their spacing with Biz at the 4 just to grab a couple extra rebounds. That's crazy.

Payne needs to play better. I'm curious if Monty gives Shamet the Booker rest minutes tonight. If Payne isn't playing well no reason to have him share the court with CP.

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