2022-23 Season Discussion and Speculation 5 - The KD era begins

[garrick]

I'm still not convinced we have enough games left to get it together for a finals run, KD looked good but our bench struggled and we can't expect Book to be this efficient every game.

The backup center spot is a huge concern with how Jock has seemingly forgotten how to be a basketball player & we really should have just kept Dario because you know he's at least a threat to hit 3's and grab a few rebounds.

Jock just looks a bit slow and out of sorts and I can't understand why that is as he doesn't play a ton of minutes so fatigue is likely not a factor here.

[handsome salary]

I'm more worried about how bad CP3 looks 2/3 of the time. Can't shoot, throwing the ball away, slows down the offense.

[NavLDO]

Try as he might, Chuck Chowder will never again hit his likability peak anywhere like he had here. Bridge burning chump wont see a contract more than the Vet Minimum. We gave him his best deal. And this is the thanks???? Next stop is the soup line

It's such a Dragic...uh, I mean, tragic story...leaving the Suns under a cloud of whiny-ness..."I won't play!! I won't! I won't! I won't! I'm taking my ball and am gonna go play somehere else!"

(Look at that, BW...I was able to work-in another Dragic dig!!)

[SunsRback4Good]

I'm more worried about how bad CP3 looks 2/3 of the time. Can't shoot, throwing the ball away, slows down the offense.

It’s very concerning he’s no longer a threat from mid range like he was in recent history. As soon as he turned 37 last May everything began unraveling and going downhill. His three point shot is fine, it’s his 2 point fg % which dropped 7% from last 2-3 seasons a concern. Really need Paul to shoot around 45% in the playoffs cause anything below and we are in trouble. At this point his fg % is at 42.3 to be precise.

[Saberestar]

I'm still not convinced we have enough games left to get it together for a finals run, KD looked good but our bench struggled and we can't expect Book to be this efficient every game.

The backup center spot is a huge concern with how Jock has seemingly forgotten how to be a basketball player & we really should have just kept Dario because you know he's at least a threat to hit 3's and grab a few rebounds.

Jock just looks a bit slow and out of sorts and I can't understand why that is as he doesn't play a ton of minutes so fatigue is likely not a factor here.

I am not concerned.

Biyombo is good enough to play backup minutes on every single game and I think that we are gonna play KD some minutes as a small ball C too.

And we can try Bazley, he hasn't played a minute yet.

[SunsRback4Good]

Try as he might, Chuck Chowder will never again hit his likability peak anywhere like he had here. Bridge burning chump wont see a contract more than the Vet Minimum. We gave him his best deal. And this is the thanks???? Next stop is the soup line

It's such a Dragic...uh, I mean, tragic story...leaving the Suns under a cloud of whiny-ness..."I won't play!! I won't! I won't! I won't! I'm taking my ball and am gonna go play somehere else!"

(Look at that, BW...I was able to work-in another Dragic dig!!)

^^^ Sloveniandragon won’t be pleased with you.

[SunsRback4Good]

I'm still not convinced we have enough games left to get it together for a finals run, KD looked good but our bench struggled and we can't expect Book to be this efficient every game.

The backup center spot is a huge concern with how Jock has seemingly forgotten how to be a basketball player & we really should have just kept Dario because you know he's at least a threat to hit 3's and grab a few rebounds.

Jock just looks a bit slow and out of sorts and I can't understand why that is as he doesn't play a ton of minutes so fatigue is likely not a factor here.

I am not concerned.

Biyombo is good enough to play backup minutes on every single game and I think that we are gonna play KD some minutes as a small ball C too.

And we can try Bazley, he hasn't played a minute yet.

It’s more worrisome about our guard position at this point than PF/Center. Our three headed monster of Ayton/KD/Biyombo will do the dirty work in rebounding and blocking shots, but the guards worry me the most with Payne/Paul struggling. Payne was huge for us back in 21 we need him at least 70% of what he was that year and Shamet to nail a few threes here and there. Another huge factor is chemistry, we build great chemistry the last 3-4 years with Ayton/Cam/Booker/Bridges and now two of those players are gone. The last 20 games might not be enough but the deeper we go in playoffs the better it’ll get.

[Qwigglez]

Overall, I'm not too concerned about CP3. We now can offset always having one of Booker, Paul, and Durant on the court at all times. More importantly with just Booker and Durant. Chris Paul is now the Suns 4th offensive option as a starter and that is a powerful 4th spot. Terrence Ross will likely be a bigger factor for the Suns than what Craig was a couple of years ago when the Suns first obtained him. I think the Suns are one of the deepest teams in the league now but it will always come down to health and durability. Plus, I don't necessarily believe the depth will be that big of a factor since during the playoffs, teams tend to shorten their rotation anyway. It's good to have during the rest of the season to hopefully give our starters a much needed break.

I sincerely hope Landry Shamet comes back soon though as you can never have too many 3 point shooters off the bench.

[bwgood77]

Anyone see we have the Warriors/Bucks b2b in a couple weeks? Can’t imagine KD will play both, so it will be interesting to see which they choose.

I was looking for b2bs and noticed it and thought "of course it is two tough teams when we have one".

If KD is healthy and feeling good, I imagine he will want to play. I don't remember him ever sitting out b2bs...MAYBE when he came of Achilles injury but if he is feeling healthy and they feel completely healed, I don't see it really. He's played most of his games this year in the high 30s and even sometimes in the 40s this year. He is a guy that hates not playing.

[bwgood77]

I'm still not convinced we have enough games left to get it together for a finals run, KD looked good but our bench struggled and we can't expect Book to be this efficient every game.

The backup center spot is a huge concern with how Jock has seemingly forgotten how to be a basketball player & we really should have just kept Dario because you know he's at least a threat to hit 3's and grab a few rebounds.

Jock just looks a bit slow and out of sorts and I can't understand why that is as he doesn't play a ton of minutes so fatigue is likely not a factor here.

No WC teams have had GREAT seasons though outside of Denver, who don't particularly scare me. Memphis, in 2nd, is on pace for like 51 wins...the Kings, in 3rd, at 48. Heck, I think our 9th place 13-14 team won that many.

Then we are in 4th and teams behind us are all on pace to be around 500. The west is pretty open. Denver should expect nothing less than a WCF run and really probably feels they should make the finals, but we all know the team with the best record isn't guaranteed anything. Utah and then us both lost in the 2nd round the last two years and we may face Denver in the 2nd round this year.

[spanishninja]

Anyone see we have the Warriors/Bucks b2b in a couple weeks? Can’t imagine KD will play both, so it will be interesting to see which they choose.

I was looking for b2bs and noticed it and thought "of course it is two tough teams when we have one".

If KD is healthy and feeling good, I imagine he will want to play. I don't remember him ever sitting out b2bs...MAYBE when he came of Achilles injury but if he is feeling healthy and they feel completely healed, I don't see it really. He's played most of his games this year in the high 30s and even sometimes in the 40s this year. He is a guy that hates not playing.

if KD had to miss one of those two games, I would rather he plays the warrior game and sits the Bucks one. Don't really want to help Budenholzer strategize against us at full strength in case we meet in the finals.

[bwgood77]

Anyone see we have the Warriors/Bucks b2b in a couple weeks? Can’t imagine KD will play both, so it will be interesting to see which they choose.

I was looking for b2bs and noticed it and thought "of course it is two tough teams when we have one".

If KD is healthy and feeling good, I imagine he will want to play. I don't remember him ever sitting out b2bs...MAYBE when he came of Achilles injury but if he is feeling healthy and they feel completely healed, I don't see it really. He's played most of his games this year in the high 30s and even sometimes in the 40s this year. He is a guy that hates not playing.

if KD had to miss one of those two games, I would rather he plays the warrior game and sits the Bucks one. Don't really want to help Budenholzer strategize against us at full strength in case we meet in the finals.

I would rather play vs the Warriors too mainly because they are in the west and it's better to get wins against WC opponents...for several purposes..knock them down and maybe out, tiebreaker (though we may already have that and I doubt it comes into play anyway), etc.

I am not too worried about the strategy thing. If I was I might be more worried about a potential WC opponent because you'd have to beat them first, and of course they are the defending champs.

But teams can watch tons of tape anyway to strategize and gameplan so I doubt it makes much of a difference. Even if it did, we get to do the same.

[WeekapaugGroove]

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My 'I have no interest in Christian Wood ever' stance feeling vindicated with this article. He's fools gold because he's talented but just not a winning basketball player.

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[bwgood77]

Maybe we'll get a 30 for 30 someday on that collapse and it'll explain what really happened with everything. What lead to Crowder sitting out this season. Whatever happened to CP between Game 2 and Game 3 (I agree that SOMETHING must have happened, it was just too drastic of a change from one game to the next and he hasn't been the same since). Why everyone completely **** the bed in Game 7. I still feel like we all deserve an explanation

We won't get a 30 for 30. I think mainly we just had a bad game...a terrible start, then kind of got freaked out digging a hole in game 7 and one nervousness set in, it was over. It seems like Book took a lot of shots early and he just missed a bunch to start...seems like he started like 0-7 or 0-10 or something. He does so well in so many playoff games, but those elimination games seem to get his nerves. They used to get KD's nerves too before he went to GS, but there was so little pressure there that it didn't matter. So hopefully we just cruise through the playoffs and don't even have to play elimination games. With each other though, it might be better. KD had Westbrook, and at least for a bit a really young Harden (who himself has been terrible in series clinching and elimination games himself)...having Book might be better and with KD, Book would feel less pressure in those moments.

Yeah I was listening to Mikal on a pod earlier this year and they asked about game 7. I was listening for a hesitation like there was something he wanted to say but couldn't but there wasn't any of that at all. He said they felt good and confident coming in so it was surprising. He did elude to them not taking that initial shot in the mouth well when Dallas was hitting everything.


Suns obviously sucked in that game but as suns fans we probably underappreciate just how well Dallas played that night. Like I'm not sure the suns would have won that game even if they hadn't completely pooped themselves.

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Yeah, Dallas may end up being the scariest team in the West this year. Knowing Luka thrives in big game moments and how he got over that hurdle last year in the NBA. Going back to his Euroleague championship when he was 17 or 18 and they were down 1-0 in a 3 game series and came back to win it.

And now they have Kyrie who we know is super clutch in huge games. If we face them I'd be pretty scared in a game 7, even with KD. I wonder how many games KD has faced elimination in and what his #s look like in those games. We know about the 3-1 lead vs GS they blew, but I don't know how he played in others. I think they beat the Clips one year but if I recall Chris Paul choked in that final game when they had a decent lead near the end and he had a bad turnover or two.

Then in Brooklyn he had that one big game vs the Bucks but I don't think he was facing elimination in that one. It may have been the next one..if so, not sure how he did in that one. Or the elimination game vs Miami in the finals.

One thing I can say is that if they interview Booker about a game 7 before they play, I doubt this year he says "Game 7 - greatest 2 words in sports."

[WeekapaugGroove]

We won't get a 30 for 30. I think mainly we just had a bad game...a terrible start, then kind of got freaked out digging a hole in game 7 and one nervousness set in, it was over. It seems like Book took a lot of shots early and he just missed a bunch to start...seems like he started like 0-7 or 0-10 or something. He does so well in so many playoff games, but those elimination games seem to get his nerves. They used to get KD's nerves too before he went to GS, but there was so little pressure there that it didn't matter. So hopefully we just cruise through the playoffs and don't even have to play elimination games. With each other though, it might be better. KD had Westbrook, and at least for a bit a really young Harden (who himself has been terrible in series clinching and elimination games himself)...having Book might be better and with KD, Book would feel less pressure in those moments.

Yeah I was listening to Mikal on a pod earlier this year and they asked about game 7. I was listening for a hesitation like there was something he wanted to say but couldn't but there wasn't any of that at all. He said they felt good and confident coming in so it was surprising. He did elude to them not taking that initial shot in the mouth well when Dallas was hitting everything.


Suns obviously sucked in that game but as suns fans we probably underappreciate just how well Dallas played that night. Like I'm not sure the suns would have won that game even if they hadn't completely pooped themselves.

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Yeah, Dallas may end up being the scariest team in the West this year. Knowing Luka thrives in big game moments and how he got over that hurdle last year in the NBA. Going back to his Euroleague championship when he was 17 or 18 and they were down 1-0 in a 3 game series and came back to win it.

And now they have Kyrie who we know is super clutch in huge games. If we face them I'd be pretty scared in a game 7, even with KD. I wonder how many games KD has faced elimination in and what his #s look like in those games. We know about the 3-1 lead vs GS they blew, but I don't know how he played in others. I think they beat the Clips one year but if I recall Chris Paul choked in that final game when they had a decent lead near the end and he had a bad turnover or two.

Then in Brooklyn he had that one big game vs the Bucks but I don't think he was facing elimination in that one. It may have been the next one..if so, not sure how he did in that one. Or the elimination game vs Miami in the finals.

One thing I can say is that if they interview Booker about a game 7 before they play, I doubt this year he says "Game 7 - greatest 2 words in sports."

I kind of want Dallas round 1. I think they are the most flawed of the potential teams and I also think the Suns play better when they are doubted and have a chip on their shoulder. I think they would feed off all the media talk about last year.

Yeah Kyrie is the type who can go nuclear and win a game but f-ing Dinwiddie was basically Kyrie for two weeks last series so maybe a wash there. No DFS probably helps too.

If they were to beat Dallas round 1 I think it could really help get their mojo going like beating LeBron did back in 21.

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[irish22022]

There's was a point as Nash got older I really wished they'd have just played him off ball.

We can absolutely do that Paul. Especially at the very least just let booker and KD bring it up. No more full court presses on Paul, you can see him getting tired right away. Run some quick screens to get him the ball up top or just let the guy spot up and shoot some 3s. Someone else said it - he's our 4th best player now. His contract value would suggest otherwise but for this year, he needs to play less and come off the ball.

As for Payne, I really don't mind him as much as a lot of you seem to. To me, he still passes the eye test. He is good ball handler and can initiate an offense very consistently. We have KD and Booker, we don't need him to go for 24.

[sunsbg]

Mavs are flawed and overconfident after last playoffs. Bad combination. On the contrary Suns players will be extra motivated. Bring on the Mavs in first round. I like our chances.

[spanishninja]

There's was a point as Nash got older I really wished they'd have just played him off ball.

We can absolutely do that Paul. Especially at the very least just let booker and KD bring it up. No more full court presses on Paul, you can see him getting tired right away. Run some quick screens to get him the ball up top or just let the guy spot up and shoot some 3s. Someone else said it - he's our 4th best player now. His contract value would suggest otherwise but for this year, he needs to play less and come off the ball.

As for Payne, I really don't mind him as much as a lot of you seem to. To me, he still passes the eye test. He is good ball handler and can initiate an offense very consistently. We have KD and Booker, we don't need him to go for 24.

for Chris to come off the ball he needs to get back to shooting well. right now he has little utility outside of running the offense.

[sunsbg]

What about Payne/Booker/Okogie/KD/Biyombo lineup. Nice mix of offense and defense. Payne has played better with the starters in the past and may find his floater with more space next to KD and Book. CP3 should still cook against backups especially if staggered with DA together.

[bwgood77]

There's was a point as Nash got older I really wished they'd have just played him off ball.

We can absolutely do that Paul. Especially at the very least just let booker and KD bring it up. No more full court presses on Paul, you can see him getting tired right away. Run some quick screens to get him the ball up top or just let the guy spot up and shoot some 3s. Someone else said it - he's our 4th best player now. His contract value would suggest otherwise but for this year, he needs to play less and come off the ball.

As for Payne, I really don't mind him as much as a lot of you seem to. To me, he still passes the eye test. He is good ball handler and can initiate an offense very consistently. We have KD and Booker, we don't need him to go for 24.

I would have Paul bring it up, or Okogie. Like was mentioned earlier, the great thing about having Okogie bring it up is that it means someone has to guard him. The same would apply to Paul. If Booker or KD bring it up, other defenders can more easily leave Okogie and Paul as lesser offensive threats to double KD and/or trap Booker.

Paul is also by far the best ball handler and still has an elite ast/to ratio at like 4.5 to 1 or something so you absolutely want him doing what he does best while drawing a defender. As long as he can get it past halfcourt in 8 seconds.