Post#145 » by bwgood77 » Sun Dec 25, 2022 1:58 pm
The main thing James Jones did was change the culture. We were a laughing stock that everyone talked about how players have to get out of there, etc, before Jones came on, and then hiring Monty was a big part of the culture change. Paul never would have come if it was still McD and whoever. We likely never go 8-0 in the bubble, etc. A championship run probably never happens. You can't just assume we would be where we are and then wouldn't have faced any struggles without others, and to decide they've taken the team as far as they can go is often short sighted, because it is very hard to find good GMs and coaches.
It's funny when Presti is brought up because it's suddenly the assumption that he would want the Suns and the Suns would want him. All based on a tweet that says they'd let him go to the Knicks (or elsewhere) if he was bought out. I mentioned if he left I wouldn't be surprised if he went to the Knicks, because of their market, the money, the history and all the draft picks they own. The Suns are probably not as appealing anyway for a guy like Presti (if he were to leave) because taking over a team without more than their own mid to late picks, no young assets, coming off a 64 win season and finals appearance, it's not too easy to go up from there. With the Knicks decent team, a lot of young players, picks, etc, that is something to work with and a fanbase that may be demanding but are also starved just to see a series win. For Suns fans if that's all you get you suck.
I can agree though that Jones has made his share of bad moves.
I will say though, as I said this summer that I don't believe the Nets were ever going to trade KD unless they got some sort of monster offer. I thought and they said (or what was reported) was that they would take it into the season and see how things go. You can always revisit later and he's under contract. If people really think they were ready to deal him if we throw in Bridges, I have a Bridge to sell you.
Monty is a solid coach. He may have some faults but so do a lot of coaches. I've also seen a successful team get rid of it's coach (us with D'Antoni) and make a terrible hire (Kerr hiring Porter).
Most good coaches are as good as their talent and while we have talent, when we are missing Cam, Crowder, then for the most part either Booker or Paul, then now Payne as well, we simply are not even close to as talented as most any team in the NBA, as most every team has NBA level talent, and when you are missing like 4 of your top 8 players, including your best player, shooter and your vet tough PF from the previous year, along with a backup PG (to an aging one), you will struggle against anyone, much less the best teams in the league like Memphis or Denver.
Of course Booker we did have 3 horrible losses in a row to Dallas, Boston and New Orleans, where Booker had the beginning of the worst stretch of his career, but it's probably pretty rare he has 3-4 bad games in a row.
But when we have 4 of Booker's worst games, surrounded by Booker being injured, it's tough. We needed a MONSTER great Booker game to beat a good team and since he's been out I don't know who would really expect us to win. It would be nice if we did but it's unlikely.
People say things like "People just don't realize Bridges isn't a second option..he isn't that guy". I haven't seen one person ever say Bridges is a second option.
There have been a few positives you can pull out though if you have been able to watch the games despite how bad many have been. Shamet has looked way better the last couple games and finally isn't afraid to shoot. This could really help off the bench and for our depth. I have always been mad we had this shooter that seemed scared to shoot. Okogie looked pretty good for a stretch. Ayton, despite his horrible last game, was averaging 26 and 12.5 in his previous 4 games before that, and has mostly been very solid in the last 20 games since mid November, aside from a couple in early Dec and the game he got injured.
Bridges offense definitely needs to be more consistent but these guys are more complementary guys..you can't expect them to really be #1 and #2 options suddenly, especially when our offense isn't set up that way.
Another thing is that we were missing Paul and starting Payne, and even without Cam and Crowder, we were in 1st. We had an easy schedule and I even mentioned here things would be a lot tougher and we were likely to lose.
But it also just coincided with a terrible Booker stretch that is unlikely to happen again. He may have a bad game here in there, but he likely won't have 4 terrible games in a row. Same goes for Bridges and Ayton. With Cam back soon, hopefully there is a lot less finger pointing at Bridges since he is more of a glue guy who plays hard defense, cuts and hits 3s. With Cam back it will also make things a lot easier for everyone since it will improve our spacing. Paul seems to gradually be getting better as well.
When asked how Fascism starts, Bertrand Russell once said:
"First, they fascinate the fools. Then, they muzzle the intelligent."
Good! 
