2023 West Semifinals | (1) Denver Nuggets VS (4) Phoenix Suns (DEN WINS 4-2)

[OxAndFox]

Devin Booker didn't show up in another elimination game...

I keep trying to say hes on Tatum's level, but there are clear levels to how good Booker is vs. Tatum.

Booker is clearly a level below Tatum, and possibly Jaylen Brown.

I know it's early etc and it's the second time he has a stinker in an elimination. BUT IMO Booker took a huge leap this PO run.

I mean look at what the guy was doing defensively. A lot of the time in this series he was the best defender on the floor along with the best or 2nd best offensive player.
He is averaging more than 28 points in playoff action in his short career and he is coming off an offensive run that statistically Kobe had never been able to produce and defensively neither.

As with that, a lot of people like to put him up against Kobe, or MJ. You know what though? Booker has never had the teammates those guys had. He has had talented players, but CP3 is just not that dude, nor is Ayton, yet and may never be.
KD has just got there and they had no time to gel. With an off-season it's going to be a lot different.
If I were a betting man I would be laying some money on Booker for MVP next season.

[Statlanta]

Feel bad for KD. He will retire with two rings with *

Now if only the media does the same with LeBron

[pj0tr]

Devin Booker didn't show up in another elimination game...

I keep trying to say hes on Tatum's level, but there are clear levels to how good Booker is vs. Tatum.

Booker is clearly a level below Tatum, and possibly Jaylen Brown.

I know it's early etc and it's the second time he has a stinker in an elimination. BUT IMO Booker took a huge leap this PO run.

I mean look at what the guy was doing defensively. A lot of the time in this series he was the best defender on the floor along with the best or 2nd best offensive player.
He is averaging more than 28 points in playoff action in his short career and he is coming off an offensive run that statistically Kobe had never been able to produce and defensively neither.

As with that, a lot of people like to put him up against Kobe, or MJ. You know what though? Booker has never had the teammates those guys had. He has had talented players, but CP3 is just not that dude, nor is Ayton, yet and may never be.
KD has just got there and they had no time to gel. With an off-season it's going to be a lot different.
If I were a betting man I would be laying some money on Booker for MVP next season.

Booker will never get MVP due to the "Devin Booker isn't good thing" going back to his lottery selection, and due to how good Jokic, Embiid, and Giannis are in comparison.

You have to be on that level to go for MVP, and Booker will never be as good as any of those 3.

[garrick]

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I said previously that people would instantly disregard anything Booker did this postseason as soon as the series ended. literally called it. He is clearly not Jordan or Kobe level but he still ended up avg 34/5/7 on 59/51/87. There are countless people whose face should be on this meme aside from Booker's.

Sick and tired of him constantly taking sole blame every time the team comes up short.

He had a pretty epic postseason run it's just a shame the KD trade gutted the roster and the Suns had to try to play guys that frankly would never get minutes on another playoff team.

Shamet, D.Lee, Ross, Okogie even Cam Payne for most of this series just could not buy a bucket and since the Nuggets decided to crowd the middle and force the Suns to beat them from 3 there was no way KD and Book were going to have an easy time to score.

We needed some actual talent coming off the bench that aren't washed up or rejected players on a 2 way contract. You can't expect these scrubs to show up to an elimination game to perform it's just not in them and JJ expecting them to hit big shots or not shrink is totally unrealistic.

This roster is deeply flawed and has been for the past several years and until we get a GM nothing is going to change.

[stoo]

stealing these 2 but:

Jok around and find out!

Did we really think Nuggets are gonna lose to the guys called Devin and Kevin?

[Ryoga Hibiki]

Read on Twitter

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I said previously that people would instantly disregard anything Booker did this postseason as soon as the series ended. literally called it. He is clearly not Jordan or Kobe level but he still ended up avg 34/5/7 on 59/51/87. There are countless people whose face should be on this meme aside from Booker's.

Sick and tired of him constantly taking sole blame every time the team comes up short.

please, this is absolutely fair game

[hippesthippo]

We back!

Time to move up another notch this season and make it to the Finals.

[Dominator83]

Devin Booker didn't show up in another elimination game...

I keep trying to say hes on Tatum's level, but there are clear levels to how good Booker is vs. Tatum.

Booker is clearly a level below Tatum, and possibly Jaylen Brown.

I know it's early etc and it's the second time he has a stinker in an elimination. BUT IMO Booker took a huge leap this PO run.

I mean look at what the guy was doing defensively. A lot of the time in this series he was the best defender on the floor along with the best or 2nd best offensive player.
He is averaging more than 28 points in playoff action in his short career and he is coming off an offensive run that statistically Kobe had never been able to produce and defensively neither.

As with that, a lot of people like to put him up against Kobe, or MJ. You know what though? Booker has never had the teammates those guys had. He has had talented players, but CP3 is just not that dude, nor is Ayton, yet and may never be.
KD has just got there and they had no time to gel. With an off-season it's going to be a lot different.
If I were a betting man I would be laying some money on Booker for MVP next season.

Well for Suns fans sake I hope so. With Durant at the end of his prime and their lack of draft picks for the next several years, next season is basically do-or-die

[hippesthippo]

Read on Twitter

?t=XQtei4a8RBl0cArM_C1Lpw&s=19

I said previously that people would instantly disregard anything Booker did this postseason as soon as the series ended. literally called it. He is clearly not Jordan or Kobe level but he still ended up avg 34/5/7 on 59/51/87. There are countless people whose face should be on this meme aside from Booker's.

Sick and tired of him constantly taking sole blame every time the team comes up short.

He had a pretty epic postseason run it's just a shame the KD trade gutted the roster and the Suns had to try to play guys that frankly would never get minutes on another playoff team.

Shamet, D.Lee, Ross, Okogie even Cam Payne for most of this series just could not buy a bucket and since the Nuggets decided to crowd the middle and force the Suns to beat them from 3 there was no way KD and Book were going to have an easy time to score.

We needed some actual talent coming off the bench that aren't washed up or rejected players on a 2 way contract. You can't expect these scrubs to show up to an elimination game to perform it's just not in them and JJ expecting them to hit big shots or not shrink is totally unrealistic.

This roster is deeply flawed and has been for the past several years and until we get a GM nothing is going to change.

3.5/5 of the Sun's normal starters (Booker, KD, Paul, and Ayton) don't even look for attempts at the rim. They'd rather pull up from 8ft out. Sometimes those mid-range shots simply don't fall and you get results like this.

Oh, and I'm pretty sure every guy you listed actually has played playoff minutes on other teams. Just saying... Damion Lee even has a ring or two doesn't he? Every fan thinks their star's need better teammates when the truth is that they are just as good as the scrap Denver and most other teams (minus the Celtics) have on their bench.

[garrick]

I said previously that people would instantly disregard anything Booker did this postseason as soon as the series ended. literally called it. He is clearly not Jordan or Kobe level but he still ended up avg 34/5/7 on 59/51/87. There are countless people whose face should be on this meme aside from Booker's.

Sick and tired of him constantly taking sole blame every time the team comes up short.

He had a pretty epic postseason run it's just a shame the KD trade gutted the roster and the Suns had to try to play guys that frankly would never get minutes on another playoff team.

Shamet, D.Lee, Ross, Okogie even Cam Payne for most of this series just could not buy a bucket and since the Nuggets decided to crowd the middle and force the Suns to beat them from 3 there was no way KD and Book were going to have an easy time to score.

We needed some actual talent coming off the bench that aren't washed up or rejected players on a 2 way contract. You can't expect these scrubs to show up to an elimination game to perform it's just not in them and JJ expecting them to hit big shots or not shrink is totally unrealistic.

This roster is deeply flawed and has been for the past several years and until we get a GM nothing is going to change.

3.5/5 of the Sun's normal starters (Booker, KD, Paul, and Ayton) don't even look for attempts at the rim. They'd rather pull up from 8ft out. Sometimes those mid-range shots simply don't fall and you get results like this.

Oh, and I'm pretty sure every guy you listed actually has played playoff minutes on other teams. Just saying... Damion Lee even has a ring or two doesn't he? Every fan thinks their star's need better teammates when the truth is that they are just as good as the scrap Denver and most other teams (minus the Celtics) have on their bench.

Damion Lee didn't even play at all during the championship round because he struggled so much and you can't tell me you would swap your team's bench with ours and expect to have the same result. List any of those guys besides Lee that played a significant amount of minutes on a playoff team?

Truth is our bench is putrid and has been for quite some time.

[B-easy]

Big drop from Jokic to everyone else.

[hippesthippo]

He had a pretty epic postseason run it's just a shame the KD trade gutted the roster and the Suns had to try to play guys that frankly would never get minutes on another playoff team.

Shamet, D.Lee, Ross, Okogie even Cam Payne for most of this series just could not buy a bucket and since the Nuggets decided to crowd the middle and force the Suns to beat them from 3 there was no way KD and Book were going to have an easy time to score.

We needed some actual talent coming off the bench that aren't washed up or rejected players on a 2 way contract. You can't expect these scrubs to show up to an elimination game to perform it's just not in them and JJ expecting them to hit big shots or not shrink is totally unrealistic.

This roster is deeply flawed and has been for the past several years and until we get a GM nothing is going to change.

3.5/5 of the Sun's normal starters (Booker, KD, Paul, and Ayton) don't even look for attempts at the rim. They'd rather pull up from 8ft out. Sometimes those mid-range shots simply don't fall and you get results like this.

Oh, and I'm pretty sure every guy you listed actually has played playoff minutes on other teams. Just saying... Damion Lee even has a ring or two doesn't he? Every fan thinks their star's need better teammates when the truth is that they are just as good as the scrap Denver and most other teams (minus the Celtics) have on their bench.

Damion Lee didn't even play at all during the championship round because he struggled so much and you can't tell me you would swap your team's bench with ours and expect to have the same result. List any of those guys besides Lee that played a significant amount of minutes on a playoff team?

Truth is our bench is putrid and has been for quite some time.

Well, that's not tough. Cameron Payne was a key piece in the Sun's run to the Finals only two years ago.

You want Jeff Green? We'll gladly trade him to you for Jock Landale.

EDIT: To be clear, I think Booker is still a top10 player in the league. I'd have to count it out, but he's an amazing player and his defense did look pretty good in the playoffs. He put in a lot more effort than I've seen from him in the past on that end.

Nobody is going to forget how good Booker was this year. Hell, we're still talking about Donovan Mitchell and Jamal Murray's playoff explosions years after the fact.

It's just annoying listening to every fan of every team blaming losses on their star players lack of help. Damn near every team is in the same situation, so just stop.

[Mavrelous]

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Giannis is European. So 3rd year.

Greece is technically in the Balkan, so he's been bamboozled by a different Balkan dude each year Addidas track suits will be in his nightmares.

[Me Like Lakers]

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Giannis is European. So 3rd year.

Greece is technically in the Balkan, so he's been bamboozled by a different Balkan dude each year Addidas track suits will be in his nightmares.

And1 for the reference

[CobraCommander]

Giannis is European. So 3rd year.

Greece is technically in the Balkan, so he's been bamboozled by a different Balkan dude each year Addidas track suits will be in his nightmares.

And1 for the reference

Losing to the real MVP with 33 PER is nothing to be embarrassed by. Look at books numbers- he needed KD tonight - he lost - no CP3, Ayton and KD didn’t show up..:: but it’s books fault the suns lost and NOT Jokic and the boys who were healthy and over powered the suns. Book and team would have swept the MAVs- wait the Mavs didn’t make the PLay in..:

Either way- I hate book - but this ain’t on him

[Mavrelous]

Greece is technically in the Balkan, so he's been bamboozled by a different Balkan dude each year Addidas track suits will be in his nightmares.

And1 for the reference

Losing to the real MVP with 33 PER is nothing to be embarrassed by. Look at books numbers- he needed KD tonight - he lost - no CP3, Ayton and KD didn’t show up..:: but it’s books fault the suns lost and NOT Jokic and the boys who were healthy and over powered the suns. Book and team would have swept the MAVs- wait the Mavs didn’t make the PLay in..:

Either way- I hate book - but this ain’t on him

Luka and caprpenters won't be swept by Devin Booker, give me a break, they are on different tiers...

[Big_Aristotle]

Very well deserved win by Denver. They were the best team in all games, they just got outgunned with incredible efficiency in two Phoenix' home games. Phoenix has no defense what so ever, they looked complete lost on that side.

[Zugzwang13]

Ayton is a complete bum. No heart, no drive, no desire to win at all.

[Big_Aristotle]

Ayton is a complete bum. No heart, no drive, no desire to win at all.

Yeah. Landale was playing much better than him. I fully expect Ayton to be traded by training camp.

[Charlesareed]

Ayton is a complete bum. No heart, no drive, no desire to win at all.

I’m shocked neither PHX or GSW didn’t trade for McGee who was good for both teams he’s rottin Dallas also he was good on the lakers suprised they didn’t inquire either