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

[RaisingArizona]

Time for a new game thread

[Bogyo]

Wolves just a dumb team with poor coaching

At times, yes, but give Memphis credit where credit is due. They fought hard to come back from that hole.

Sure they played hard but anytime a team blows multiple 20 point leads something wrong, Chuck said is best i just hate dumb basketball

Wolves should be howling for a coaching change. This team with better coaching would do a lot of damage.

[bwgood77]

At times, yes, but give Memphis credit where credit is due. They fought hard to come back from that hole.

Sure they played hard but anytime a team blows multiple 20 point leads something wrong, Chuck said is best i just hate dumb basketball

Wolves should be howling for a coaching change. This team with better coaching would do a lot of damage.

Well they are basically last year's team with a lot better coaching.

[Revived]

I’d like to see the following lineup at some point if we keep getting destroyed on the boards

CP3
Johnson
Bridges
Biyombo
Ayton

I don’t wanna hear about the lack of spacing because the Pelicans have the same lack of spacing with Valaciunas and Hayes. Actually they should have worse spacing since Ayton has mora range on his jumper than either of their front court guys. Yet it’s working pretty well for the Pelicans offensively and on the boards.

Monty needs to realize that Suns didn’t sign Biyombo for his good looks or hunky body. He was brought in specifically to help out in games like these against the Pelicans where the Suns are getting outplayed in the paint.

[Slim Charless]

I’d like to see the following lineup at some point if we keep getting destroyed on the boards

CP3
Johnson
Bridges
Biyombo
Ayton

I don’t wanna hear about the lack of spacing because the Pelicans have the same lack of spacing with Valaciunas and Hayes. Actually they should have worse spacing since Ayton has mora range on his jumper than either of their front court guys. Yet it’s working pretty well for the Pelicans offensively and on the boards.

Monty needs to realize that Suns didn’t sign Biyombo for his good looks or hunky body. He was brought in specifically to help out in games like these against the Pelicans where the Suns are getting outplayed in the paint.

There's no universe in which Cam can play SG for extended mins. CJ will go right him as we can't put Mikal on CJ since he needs to be glued to Ingram full time.

[sunsbg]

I’d like to see the following lineup at some point if we keep getting destroyed on the boards

CP3
Johnson
Bridges
Biyombo
Ayton

I don’t wanna hear about the lack of spacing because the Pelicans have the same lack of spacing with Valaciunas and Hayes. Actually they should have worse spacing since Ayton has mora range on his jumper than either of their front court guys. Yet it’s working pretty well for the Pelicans offensively and on the boards.

Monty needs to realize that Suns didn’t sign Biyombo for his good looks or hunky body. He was brought in specifically to help out in games like these against the Pelicans where the Suns are getting outplayed in the paint.

There's no universe in which Cam can play SG for extended mins. CJ will go right him as we can't put Mikal on CJ since he needs to be glued to Ingram full time.

Cam on Ingram and Mikal on CJ should be fine. Bottom line Monty needs to make lineup changes if Crowder continues to play bad. If there is a player who can make a lineup with Ayton/Biyombo work on offense that's CP3. You still have two shooters who are also good at cutting to the basket.

[Slim Charless]

I’d like to see the following lineup at some point if we keep getting destroyed on the boards

CP3
Johnson
Bridges
Biyombo
Ayton

I don’t wanna hear about the lack of spacing because the Pelicans have the same lack of spacing with Valaciunas and Hayes. Actually they should have worse spacing since Ayton has mora range on his jumper than either of their front court guys. Yet it’s working pretty well for the Pelicans offensively and on the boards.

Monty needs to realize that Suns didn’t sign Biyombo for his good looks or hunky body. He was brought in specifically to help out in games like these against the Pelicans where the Suns are getting outplayed in the paint.

There's no universe in which Cam can play SG for extended mins. CJ will go right him as we can't put Mikal on CJ since he needs to be glued to Ingram full time.

Cam on Ingram and Mikal on CJ should be fine. Bottom line Monty needs to make lineup changes if Crowder continues to play bad. If there is a player who can make a lineup with Ayton/Biyombo work on offense that's CP3. You still have two shooters who are also good at cutting to the basket.

I'm fine with Cam playing over Jae. I would think a line-up of

CP3-Graham
Holiday-CJ
Cam-Float and board
Mikal-Ingram
Ayton-Switch and harass anyone that gets in the paint.

With everyone, but especially CamJo focusing on boxing out/rebounding would be the best. I like Holiday's chances of bothering CJ more than any other guard. I think CP3 *could* do it, but we're gonna need him to do a lot to pull this series out, so I'd rather save his energy. Holiday can pull a Jrue impression on CJ hopefully. That allows Mikal to hopefully do work on Ingram.

[Revived]

I’d like to see the following lineup at some point if we keep getting destroyed on the boards

CP3
Johnson
Bridges
Biyombo
Ayton

I don’t wanna hear about the lack of spacing because the Pelicans have the same lack of spacing with Valaciunas and Hayes. Actually they should have worse spacing since Ayton has mora range on his jumper than either of their front court guys. Yet it’s working pretty well for the Pelicans offensively and on the boards.

Monty needs to realize that Suns didn’t sign Biyombo for his good looks or hunky body. He was brought in specifically to help out in games like these against the Pelicans where the Suns are getting outplayed in the paint.

There's no universe in which Cam can play SG for extended mins. CJ will go right him as we can't put Mikal on CJ since he needs to be glued to Ingram full time.

Johnson played pretty good defense on Ingram during his few opportunities defending him. Mikal can go with McCollum.

This isn’t a lineup I’d go with extensively but just for short period(s) to see if it helps on the glass and defensively.

[Slim Charless]

Stopping Ingram and boxing out are the keys to this series imo. I mean if they're gonna shoot 55% from long distance the entire series with a team of mostly rookies then what can you do? Gotta stop what you can: Ingram and cut down on these damn offensive boards.

[RunDogGun]

I’d like to see the following lineup at some point if we keep getting destroyed on the boards

CP3
Johnson
Bridges
Biyombo
Ayton

I don’t wanna hear about the lack of spacing because the Pelicans have the same lack of spacing with Valaciunas and Hayes. Actually they should have worse spacing since Ayton has mora range on his jumper than either of their front court guys. Yet it’s working pretty well for the Pelicans offensively and on the boards.

Monty needs to realize that Suns didn’t sign Biyombo for his good looks or hunky body. He was brought in specifically to help out in games like these against the Pelicans where the Suns are getting outplayed in the paint.

There's no universe in which Cam can play SG for extended mins. CJ will go right him as we can't put Mikal on CJ since he needs to be glued to Ingram full time.

Bridges can play the sg spot. We did that the first game CP3 was out. I would do the same line up but have Craig in there to start. A group of Bridges, CamJ, and Craig can switch quicker on shooters, and all three can do an ok job on either CJ or BI. Craig needs to crash the boards on both ends, and when he gets a wide open shot, he needs to take it.

Biz should be used, but off the bench in the second quarter. I would bring in Biz with Holiday, to get that super energy boost to start the second, or near the start of the second. And later in the second give the Sham a few minutes. We need to have all the players we are thinking of using get some minutes in the first half to see our options for the second half. If anyone is stinking up the joint, they should sit the second half. Guys either give 100% or they get to watch the game from the sidelines. Time for tough love from Monty. And if he can't do it, the assistants need to say something.

Overall, Chowder needs to come off the bench. That bandaid should have been ripped off months ago. Its getting stinky.

[IamBBAnalysis]

The issue is that the Suns are not switching. Guys are working way too hard on defense trying to run through screens so that they can keep Bridges on Mcculum. Then Ayton is having to work super hard helping all the time. This is a different defense then they have played most of the year. I would rather see Ayton on Ingram off a switch then this defense they are playing now, leaving guys open everywhere. Gross.

[Revived]

The issue is that the Suns are not switching. Guys are working way too hard on defense trying to run through screens so that they can keep Bridges on Mcculum. Then Ayton is having to work super hard helping all the time. This is a different defense then they have played most of the year. I would rather see Ayton on Ingram off a switch then this defense they are playing now, leaving guys open everywhere. Gross.

The problem if they switch Ayton on Ingram is that then Ayton is out on the perimeter and any miss by the Pelicans immediately results in an offensive rebound by Valaciunas or Hayes.

This is the reason why many people thought this Pelicans team was a bad matchup for the Suns even with their 36-46 record or whatever.

[Puff]

Yeah, I really thought Monty would have our guys playing like champs until the end of the season. The drop off really affected some guys more than others.

and it wasn't even just rest either. you can tell that in some of those games he just simply didn't give a ****. just wanted to get through the 48 minutes. getting blown out by the Thunder who were resting their own starters was inexcusable, regardless of how hard you spin it as a meaningless game. Not so meaningless now huh?

And Memphis' B and C squads ate us up as well.

Yep the B and C squads ate us up. Isn't that where Cam Johnson plays?

+/-
Crowder Gm 1+11 Gm 2 - 7
Cam Johnson Gm 1 +3 Gm 2 -11

As we have mentioned both of these guys have sucked and they BOTH have to step up. I think that our 2nd unit has generally dominated our opponents. That is not happening against the Pels or I don't think we have.

If we do not rebound and the Pels continue to shoot +50% from three, we have no chance. Our defense is really the problem.

[IamBBAnalysis]

The issue is that the Suns are not switching. Guys are working way too hard on defense trying to run through screens so that they can keep Bridges on Mcculum. Then Ayton is having to work super hard helping all the time. This is a different defense then they have played most of the year. I would rather see Ayton on Ingram off a switch then this defense they are playing now, leaving guys open everywhere. Gross.

The problem if they switch Ayton on Ingram is that then Ayton is out on the perimeter and any miss by the Pelicans immediately results in an offensive rebound by Valaciunas or Hayes.

This is the reason why many people thought this Pelicans team was a bad matchup for the Suns even with their 36-46 record or whatever.

Of course that is the trade off. But did you really just say by changing the defense the Suns would have to worry more about rebounding? That ship has sailed. It could not possibly get any worse. When you switch guys are actually in a normal defensive position and it is easier to box out. When you run behind people you get out of position and that results in more offensive rebounds, and more scrambling. Basically the Suns have been playing against the biggest thing that has made them a great defensive team this year.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Well they faced a Minny team fresh off a win over LAC, so that played a hand in it. They regrouped quickly and won by 28 in game two. We were the opposite, we won by the heroics of one player, and then lost the next one, and our best player.

Now Memphis is getting rolled in Minny. Don't think the rest/rust thing has a concrete answer. It depends on the individual players how it acts them.

Well this comment didn't age well. A never say die attitude pushed Memphis from down 20 to win by 10.

It'd be nice if our team had that kind of attitude and sense of urgency, aggression.

[Ghost of Kleine]

has anyone else considered this similarity yet with Jose Alverado??

Could someone maybe call in a fake Dr. Pepper commercial meeting or something, So he will miss tomorrow's game?