GT #42: WAS (20-21) in PHX (24-17), Fri Jan 24th 9pm, CSN+

[payitforward]

Unclear on the "controversy", or "criticism", of Wall who played a tremendous game last night.

Yes, he was off his feed the previous game, but... some nights guys just don't play well. Trying to squeeze a magnifying glass in there and see what one word or comment or whatever between him and the coach might mean in that context makes no sense to me.

I only got to see the last couple of minutes of the first half and then the 2d half. When we gave them a 6-0 run in the last 50 seconds of the first half, I got very worried. Then we played a great 3d quarter.

They jumped up to start the 4th quarter, then the Temple-to-Booker assist was a great play by both guys and took the wind out of their sails for a bit. Worth mentioning that play; it was big.

In all a great game and a terrific win. Got to get Utah now....

[hands11]

Beal is so clutch, 7 points in the final 2 minutes. We are such a good team on the road. Now if only we could take care of our home court.

exactly

quality win, I mean quality ROAD win. As a season tix holder dang I wish they
would play consistently like this at home. Maybe being on the road is what
we need to actually go over .500 with a winnable game at Utah tonight (Sat).

nice game from Beal for the finishing touches and from Ariza most of the game.
Wall played pretty well overall.

Frye was scary at the start but we ended up keeping him down enough.

Man that an interesting roster, coach and style PHX has going on there. I'm sure a lot here would want to swop teams.

As for winning at home, man, I just think there is something really stale about the Booth.

[hands11]

Dragic is good, but the flopping and whining get tired....

Gutty win by the team and good job by Wittman today w/ the minutes for Beal. I'm not entirely sure why Vesely didn't get a few minutes tonight. He could have helped with the stretch 4s and running the floor. I would have played him over Seraphin for sure. The ball found Nene a little too much for my liking. The backup pg play was horrendous. Temple was having a real hard time getting them into the offense. I don't know why its taking so long to upgrade here.

Otto shot poorly but I liked what I saw out of him today. He missed a few that at least on TV looked to be on-line w/ a smooth release. He was doing a lot of little things today that was reminiscent of his Georgetown days. I hope Webster is back ASAP but I'd like to see Otto get some run regardless.

agree with pretty much everything you said -
thought it might have been the type of game to play Ves some
Temple was struggling.
OP looked solid even though he didn't shoot very well.

Felt both last game and this game we should have seen some Ves.

Hey, they got the win so its all good, but Randy needs to expand the rotation to include Ves. He has been doing well. He shouldn't be getting iced like that.

[stevemcqueen1]

Otto Porter has a nose for the ball. It wouldn't surprise me if he lead the team in rebounding one day. Especially if he gains weight and plays some 4.

[pancakes3]

Porter is like a shark - he's constantly moving. He's NEVER stopped, even for iso plays. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Sometimes you just need to plant your feet and get position.

[stevemcqueen1]

Porter is like a shark - he's constantly moving. He's NEVER stopped, even for iso plays. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Sometimes you just need to plant your feet and get position.

If you're posting up or spotting up, yeah.

But in general, our offense is very stagnant. Our players don't move very much off the ball. The Suns broadcasters noted that about our offense last night, and coincidentally that's when Phoenix went on a big run. Their defense got our guys to stop moving and running off screens, which makes us easy to defend.

Contrast that to Phoenix's offense, where almost everyone was moving around and being very active. THAT's what playing with energy looks like. That's what a team with a lot of young players like us should be playing like.

That's another example of what good coaching brings to the table. It's another example of the failure of Wittman's system, and why we're far too reliant on Wall playing star ball, Nene creating something out of nothing for himself, and our shooters nailing jump shots.

It's part of why we consistently play farther from the basket than our opponents and don't get the same kind of dribble and pass penetration as them. Phoenix got a LOT of points in the paint and they don't have any legit low post threats and no big time slashers. They just get movement and as such, get the most out of mediocre bigs like Frye, Morris, and Plumlee.

So Porter's activity level could be a breath of fresh air.

[pancakes3]

I agree in theory but the thing with movement is that everyone has to do it. Last night there was a sequence when Porter popped out to give Nene room to operate and Wall was already there standing. Porter then went to the other side of the court but Beal already there standing. There was nowhere for him to go. On the plus side though, Marcus (or Markieff?) Morris picked up a couple fouls there trying to chase Porter around and running into people.

I honestly don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing. Just a thing.