NBA PLAYOFFS: GAME 1: (5) Los Angeles Clippers @ (4) Phoenix Suns l Sunday l 5:00 l TNT

[sunsbg]

No excuse for Monty to not play two of "big 4" at any time. I suggested after KD trade DA and CP3 are subbed early and then run the second unit. Have Biz provide rebounding and D, everybody here complains about, for the other starters. Clippers can't take advantage of hacking him early in 1st/3rd qtrs. But no, Monty plays 4 role players with Booker, who can become a TO machine playing with backups at any time. Even when he and KD were with the second unit it was Landale taking the shots. Then it was all about CP3 and DA PnR at the end of the game. All this looked super weird.

[Jesus_H_Macy]

Booker's last drive was one of the slowest I've ever seen. And the Suns needed three points, not two. Also, Westbrook was supposed to be a bad defender. However, he embarrassed Booker like Jrue, Jimmie and Luka have done before.

Book doesn't seem to know how to use change-of-pace. He's not fast enough nor does he have good enough handles to just blow by dudes very often. And in general I think he's pretty crafty, particularly when he posts up. But for some reason when he drives he he's not. If he just would've stopped for a split second once he got around Westbrook he would've got clobbered by Russ overzealous hyperactivity (which unlike other teams we somehow couldn't exploit at all as a team, not just Book) and at minimum got FT if not and And-1.

But as you mention we needed a three. It wasn't like he had a wide open lane or anything that mathematically you have to take advantage of and then keep playing the fouling game. It was already a poor decision.

I am just completely out of faith in this team. I have none left to give. Disappointment after disappointment. Don't get me wrong, the Clips are good and very deep. But they are missing George and Westbrook went 3-19. And we lost. If we couldn't win that game how are we going to win any game against this team? Same exact vibes I got with the NO series last year. We just did not look good or like a championship-level team then, and it was proven right. And it's looking the same again now. I think losing this series to the Clips with no George, which might now have gone beyond possible into likely, should be considered an abject failure. I don't care about the lack of time to gel, whatever other excuses. Too many excuses from this team. I think we have one more season after this to theoretically win a title, but if we go out like this to the Clips then I can already say that ain't happening.

[sunsfan1o1]

No excuse for Monty to not play two of "big 4" at any time. I suggested after KD trade DA and CP3 are subbed early and then run the second unit. Have Biz provide rebounding and D, everybody here complains about, for the other starters. Clippers can't take advantage of hacking him early in 1st/3rd qtrs. But no, Monty plays 4 role players with Booker, who can become a TO machine playing with backups at any time. Even when he and KD were with the second unit it was Landale taking the shots. Then it was all about CP3 and DA PnR at the end of the game. All this looked super weird.

Monty should just stop playing trash. Stop playing Shamet, Landale, Biyombo, Wainwright.

Play KD at the 5 when DA gets a rest. Plumlee will become useless and that helps us with rebounds and spacing.

[sunsbg]

Anyway, it's not the year. 8-0 record with KD always looked misleading because of the quality of teams played. If they faced good teams they would have the chance to work on the weaknesses. KD wouldn't be trying to be a playmaker and would rather focus on what he's been paid to do - score efficiently.

[sunsbg]

No excuse for Monty to not play two of "big 4" at any time. I suggested after KD trade DA and CP3 are subbed early and then run the second unit. Have Biz provide rebounding and D, everybody here complains about, for the other starters. Clippers can't take advantage of hacking him early in 1st/3rd qtrs. But no, Monty plays 4 role players with Booker, who can become a TO machine playing with backups at any time. Even when he and KD were with the second unit it was Landale taking the shots. Then it was all about CP3 and DA PnR at the end of the game. All this looked super weird.

Monty should just stop playing trash. Stop playing Shamet, Landale, Biyombo, Wainwright.

Play KD at the 5 when DA gets a rest. Plumlee will become useless and that helps us with rebounds and spacing.

KD was at 5 with 7-8 mins left, score tied. Ish was at PF. He missed wide open 3 from the corner and then came Plumlee's And1 on the other end against him. DA entered the game after that. Problem is the starters need some rest, so Monty is forced to play the reserves, but it's his job to put them in best position to succeed. Personally I think Biz and Okogie's energy fits well with KD and Booker. CP3 should be able to get something out of the backups and control the game, draw some fouls when the teams are in the bonus.

[Jdiddy701]

Guys, we lost ONE game. Y’all need to relax. It’s a series not a single elimination game.


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[sunsfan1o1]

No excuse for Monty to not play two of "big 4" at any time. I suggested after KD trade DA and CP3 are subbed early and then run the second unit. Have Biz provide rebounding and D, everybody here complains about, for the other starters. Clippers can't take advantage of hacking him early in 1st/3rd qtrs. But no, Monty plays 4 role players with Booker, who can become a TO machine playing with backups at any time. Even when he and KD were with the second unit it was Landale taking the shots. Then it was all about CP3 and DA PnR at the end of the game. All this looked super weird.

Monty should just stop playing trash. Stop playing Shamet, Landale, Biyombo, Wainwright.

Play KD at the 5 when DA gets a rest. Plumlee will become useless and that helps us with rebounds and spacing.

KD was at 5 with 7-8 mins left, score tied. Ish was at PF. He missed wide open 3 from the corner and then came Plumlee's And1 on the other end against him. DA entered the game after that. Problem is the starters need some rest, so Monty is forced to play the reserves, but it's his job to put them in best position to succeed. Personally I think Biz and Okogie's energy fits well with KD and Booker. CP3 should be able to get something out of the backups and control the game, draw some fouls when the teams are in the bonus.

That’s the problem right there. Wainwright has no business being in the game

[Slim Charless]

That **** would be magic. Just watch Presti split Ayton into two role players and Ime having those two extra players to work with in his adjustments.

This is the way.

Watch on YouTube

Another positive to getting Presti is his eye for talent. Thanks to this trade, we have no picks but I think Ish will be fine buying low 1st/high 2nds from poorer owners and teams that just have a surplus and can't use all of them. We need someone who can hit on those picks.

Presti can do that as has been proven with all of the guys that are on this OKC team. It would require a massive financial commitment from Ish to sign him, but at this point *IF* Monty can't get us out of this then that's the process to move forward with youth.

[Sunlight]

Booker's last drive was one of the slowest I've ever seen. And the Suns needed three points, not two. Also, Westbrook was supposed to be a bad defender. However, he embarrassed Booker like Jrue, Jimmie and Luka have done before.

Book doesn't seem to know how to use change-of-pace. He's not fast enough nor does he have good enough handles to just blow by dudes very often. And in general I think he's pretty crafty, particularly when he posts up. But for some reason when he drives he he's not. If he just would've stopped for a split second once he got around Westbrook he would've got clobbered by Russ overzealous hyperactivity (which unlike other teams we somehow couldn't exploit at all as a team, not just Book) and at minimum got FT if not and And-1.

But as you mention we needed a three. It wasn't like he had a wide open lane or anything that mathematically you have to take advantage of and then keep playing the fouling game. It was already a poor decision.

I am just completely out of faith in this team. I have none left to give. Disappointment after disappointment. Don't get me wrong, the Clips are good and very deep. But they are missing George and Westbrook went 3-19. And we lost. If we couldn't win that game how are we going to win any game against this team? Same exact vibes I got with the NO series last year. We just did not look good or like a championship-level team then, and it was proven right. And it's looking the same again now. I think losing this series to the Clips with no George, which might now have gone beyond possible into likely, should be considered an abject failure. I don't care about the lack of time to gel, whatever other excuses. Too many excuses from this team. I think we have one more season after this to theoretically win a title, but if we go out like this to the Clips then I can already say that ain't happening.

Much along the same lines. What is perhaps the most annoying is that the Clippers have a buy out player in a very big role, as we saw yesterday when Westbrook won the game by blocking supermax Booker. Also Kevin Love played an excellent game. The Suns' Terrence Ross barely got on the court. At the point when Durant was acquired, the depth of the Suns team was lost, but at the same time, I imagined that a few buy out veterans want to come to the Suns with a minimum salary, especially to hunt for a ring when Durant, Booker and CP3 are here. I don't know if it was JJ or Monty who completely screwed up the whole thing. After all, we have Ross, but he doesn't play. And now there is a real minimum Wainright on the court and not a real NBA player who knows how to play at the NBA level and especially in the playoffs. And who has been paid at least tens of millions in his career.

[Calvin Klein]

I see everyone is still panicking. See you tomorrow

[bwgood77]

This is the way.

Watch on YouTube

Another positive to getting Presti is his eye for talent. Thanks to this trade, we have no picks but I think Ish will be fine buying low 1st/high 2nds from poorer owners and teams that just have a surplus and can't use all of them. We need someone who can hit on those picks.

Presti can do that as has been proven with all of the guys that are on this OKC team. It would require a massive financial commitment from Ish to sign him, but at this point *IF* Monty can't get us out of this then that's the process to move forward with youth.

I was just posting a clip because of you saying "this is the way"...

I don't see Presti leaving OKC at all. He has built up a great young team and has a boatload of picks. We have no assets. I imagine we are exactly the type of team he would want to avoid. There isn't much he can do here but go down within a couple years. With OKC, he is building and GMs love the draft and having the assets to make a big trade if need be.

I don't think I see Jones going anywhere. I don't really expect Monty either, but if we lose in the 1st round, there is probably a pretty good chance.

Not sure where we would go though. Not Ime. Probably not another guy who disappointed in the playoffs when Utah had the best record, losing to the Clips without Kawhi and then the first round last year vs Dallas. If he would have been our coach you would have called for his head too.

[bwgood77]

I see everyone is still panicking. See you tomorrow

Yeah, I'm not surprised, especially with this fanbase, but fans in general panic after 1 game in the playoffs and many change their predictions for the entire series, even having seen so many playoff series, where with good teams, it doesn't mean a lot. Now if we go down 2-0, that's bad. I can easily see us winning tomorrow and then getting one in LA.

Kawhi isn't a guy that will go down easy though which is what scared me about them. If they did beat us and got George back I think they'd beat Denver and then the Warriors, Kings, Lakers or Grizz and get to the championship and probably win.

It's very early to panic though.

KD started off shooting very poorly and I doubt that happens again. Book also missed 2 free throws down the stretch which was uncharacteristic.

[Slim Charless]

Watch on YouTube

Another positive to getting Presti is his eye for talent. Thanks to this trade, we have no picks but I think Ish will be fine buying low 1st/high 2nds from poorer owners and teams that just have a surplus and can't use all of them. We need someone who can hit on those picks.

Presti can do that as has been proven with all of the guys that are on this OKC team. It would require a massive financial commitment from Ish to sign him, but at this point *IF* Monty can't get us out of this then that's the process to move forward with youth.

I was just posting a clip because of you saying "this is the way"...

I don't see Presti leaving OKC at all. He has built up a great young team and has a boatload of picks. We have no assets. I imagine we are exactly the type of team he would want to avoid. There isn't much he can do here but go down within a couple years. With OKC, he is building and GMs love the draft and having the assets to make a big trade if need be.

I don't think I see Jones going anywhere. I don't really expect Monty either, but if we lose in the 1st round, there is probably a pretty good chance.

Not sure where we would go though. Not Ime. Probably not another guy who disappointed in the playoffs when Utah had the best record, losing to the Clips without Kawhi and then the first round last year vs Dallas. If he would have been our coach you would have called for his head too.

You guys have been loving you some Monty for the past year and I get called out all the time for bashing him. Alot of posters here have backed Monty. He's our Marc Jackson, like I've been saying for months. I'll be proven right there. Be it this summer (Hopefully) or sometime next season. We're not winning a title with him as our coach.

As to the rest of your post, I think Jones has way more leeway. He didn't wanna do the trade and wanted to keep Mikal. I don't think it's really fair to fire him for something that was forced on him. Presti I admit is likely a pipe dream.

I am very curious as to why you (and others but you can only answer for yourself) constantly fight me on this Ime thing. What is about him that YOU feel is lacking?

[Ghost of Kleine]

Read on Twitter

[grumpysaddle]

I'm still fuming about **** Landry Shamet getting 25 minutes and Ish Wainright getting any minutes. Like... what the ****?

[bwgood77]

Another positive to getting Presti is his eye for talent. Thanks to this trade, we have no picks but I think Ish will be fine buying low 1st/high 2nds from poorer owners and teams that just have a surplus and can't use all of them. We need someone who can hit on those picks.

Presti can do that as has been proven with all of the guys that are on this OKC team. It would require a massive financial commitment from Ish to sign him, but at this point *IF* Monty can't get us out of this then that's the process to move forward with youth.

I was just posting a clip because of you saying "this is the way"...

I don't see Presti leaving OKC at all. He has built up a great young team and has a boatload of picks. We have no assets. I imagine we are exactly the type of team he would want to avoid. There isn't much he can do here but go down within a couple years. With OKC, he is building and GMs love the draft and having the assets to make a big trade if need be.

I don't think I see Jones going anywhere. I don't really expect Monty either, but if we lose in the 1st round, there is probably a pretty good chance.

Not sure where we would go though. Not Ime. Probably not another guy who disappointed in the playoffs when Utah had the best record, losing to the Clips without Kawhi and then the first round last year vs Dallas. If he would have been our coach you would have called for his head too.

You guys have been loving you some Monty for the past year and I get called out all the time for bashing him. Alot of posters here have backed Monty. He's our Marc Jackson, like I've been saying for months. I'll be proven right there. Be it this summer (Hopefully) or sometime next season. We're not winning a title with him as our coach.

As to the rest of your post, I think Jones has way more leeway. He didn't wanna do the trade and wanted to keep Mikal. I don't think it's really fair to fire him for something that was forced on him. Presti I admit is likely a pipe dream.

I am very curious as to why you (and others but you can only answer for yourself) constantly fight me on this Ime thing. What is about him that YOU feel is lacking?

I think he's a solid coach (though his replacement in Boston is doing about the same so far, so it may just be talent..Ime lost in the finals like Monty did).

I am not necessarily a huge Monty fan. It's just what I expect from the team. I think if we get knocked out first round there is a decent chance he is gone, but I don't know that we will lose. And if we did and the Clips went on to win it all, it wouldn't look terrible (except we lost to them without George).

As for Ime, the primary reason is because he got fired for having relations with a younger female staff member, and given the Sarver stuff I can't imagine they would risk hiring someone who had those issues. It would likely come with a lot of backlash. The owner would certainly want to avoid that.

[Jdiddy701]

I understand why there are complaints about Monty’s rotation but that’s not why we lost the game. Our star players had their share of mistakes that contributed to the loss.

-Booker’s turnovers
-CP3 patent mid range shot misses in the 4th
-KD not assertive enough
-Ayton’s rebounding
-KD and Book did not start the game well

I find it pretty crazy how everyone is pinpointing Monty for the loss but not holding the players accountable. Now Monty is not perfect, his biggest mistake was the lineup to close the 3rd quarter but everyone deserves some type of blame. We will figure it out and be better. Us fans need to be better, too.


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[grumpysaddle]

I understand why there are complaints about Monty’s rotation but that’s not why we lost the game. Our star players had their share of mistakes that contributed to the loss.

-Booker’s turnovers
-CP3 patent mid range shot misses in the 4th
-KD not assertive enough
-Ayton’s rebounding
-KD and Book did not start the game well

I find it pretty crazy how everyone is pinpointing Monty for the loss but not holding the players accountable. Now Monty is not perfect, his biggest mistake was the lineup to close the 3rd quarter but everyone deserves some type of blame. We will figure it out and be better. Us fans need to be better, too.


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He played an 11 man rotation after talking about tightening the rotation up. In that 11 man rotation, **** Landry Shamet got 24 minutes and TJ Warren got 0. Messing with the starting lineup was Monty's fault. That 100% threw off the team and contributed to their abysmal first quarter. He's not responsible for everything in the loss, but he's definitely the main culprit.

[Jdiddy701]

I understand why there are complaints about Monty’s rotation but that’s not why we lost the game. Our star players had their share of mistakes that contributed to the loss.

-Booker’s turnovers
-CP3 patent mid range shot misses in the 4th
-KD not assertive enough
-Ayton’s rebounding
-KD and Book did not start the game well

I find it pretty crazy how everyone is pinpointing Monty for the loss but not holding the players accountable. Now Monty is not perfect, his biggest mistake was the lineup to close the 3rd quarter but everyone deserves some type of blame. We will figure it out and be better. Us fans need to be better, too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

He played an 11 man rotation after talking about tightening the rotation up. In that 11 man rotation, **** Landry Shamet got 24 minutes and TJ Warren got 0. Messing with the starting lineup was Monty's fault. That 100% threw off the team and contributed to their abysmal first quarter. He's not responsible for everything in the loss, but he's definitely the main culprit.

I disagree with that. The Suns have had a week to prepare. Torrey Craig played well and I know Kawhi absolutely killed is but Torrey played solid defense. With Payne out, it’s really no surprise he had to go to Shamet. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that’s watched the Suns. That’s a roster construction issue, not Monty. Who is our 3rd PG? Keep in mind that Saban Lee cannot play in the playoffs. Monty could play Ross and TJ Warren and we’ll still hear complaints about them, too.

The players that stepped foot on the court yesterday was enough to win the game. Period.


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[grumpysaddle]

I understand why there are complaints about Monty’s rotation but that’s not why we lost the game. Our star players had their share of mistakes that contributed to the loss.

-Booker’s turnovers
-CP3 patent mid range shot misses in the 4th
-KD not assertive enough
-Ayton’s rebounding
-KD and Book did not start the game well

I find it pretty crazy how everyone is pinpointing Monty for the loss but not holding the players accountable. Now Monty is not perfect, his biggest mistake was the lineup to close the 3rd quarter but everyone deserves some type of blame. We will figure it out and be better. Us fans need to be better, too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

He played an 11 man rotation after talking about tightening the rotation up. In that 11 man rotation, **** Landry Shamet got 24 minutes and TJ Warren got 0. Messing with the starting lineup was Monty's fault. That 100% threw off the team and contributed to their abysmal first quarter. He's not responsible for everything in the loss, but he's definitely the main culprit.

I disagree with that. The Suns have had a week to prepare. Torrey Craig played well and I know Kawhi absolutely killed is but Torrey played solid defense. With Payne out, it’s really no surprise he had to go to Shamet. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that’s watched the Suns. That’s a roster construction issue, not Monty. Who is our 3rd PG? Keep in mind that Saban Lee cannot play in the playoffs. Monty could play Ross and TJ Warren and we’ll still hear complaints about them, too.

The players that stepped foot on the court yesterday was enough to win the game. Period.


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It's the playoffs. You keep at least 2 of KD, Booker, Ayton, CP3 in the game at all times. Booker/KD are more than capable of playing the PG role. You MAAAAYBE go to 9 deep if you have to, probably preferable at an 8 man rotation. Shamet didn't handle the ball, didn't hit shots, sure he played slightly above average defense, but why play him when you have a better defender in Okogie just rotting on the bench? Craig played well, and I'm not slighting him, but it 100% threw off the small amount of chemistry the starting unit for the entire end of the season had. There is literally no excuse for playing Shamet and Wainright in the playoffs. In the regular season, fine, whatever... not in the fricking playoffs.