Game 36: Phoenix Suns (12-23) @ Sacramento Kings (12-20)

[saintEscaton]

Rondo is having himself a career renaissance in Sactown. He proved me wrong. Ride or die Suicide Squad

[Mulhollanddrive]

Letting Cousins get to the rim too easy.

Give him anything mid range.

[bwgood77]

Our two headed monster at center having quite the game in the first half

C'mon, they have a combined 1 point, 2 rebounds, 0 blocks, 4 turnovers, and 5 fouls. Some of that is Knight's fault though. He just fails to get guys involved in the right ways enough.

[RaisingArizona]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/NBA/status/683423702843654144[/tweet]

[AtheJ415]

Seriously, I don't understand why Knight is so bad. He is shooting below 42% this year and below 34% from 3. Also with 3.4 turnovers a game. McD usually has been pretty good about finding players that may be undervalued but this just looks more and more like a clear misfire. You can't have a guy like that be your primary ball handler and guy who shoots the most. Obviously when Bledsoe plays he isn't the primary ball handler. I mean even guys like Kidd, Rubio and Rondo, who couldn't shoot well, knew not to shoot a lot. I know he needs to take some shots to spread the floor and keep defenses respectable but he needs to pass more and shoot less.

Yes, he can't the primary ball handler, but he wasn't brought here to be that. He's a 2 guard. Part of his struggles may be the offense forcing him into a position that doesn't suit his strengths. He plays like a 2 guard, but we don't always use him like one. His shooting is in a slump, but it's not like he's been a bad shooter all year. He's just really hit a funk the past 2-3 weeks or so, which has dropped his numbers across the board. I'm really not worried about much with him other than defense and turnovers. His previous number of seasons shows what kind of shooter and scorer he is, which for me drastically outweigh the first 30 or so games here.

[Mulhollanddrive]

Knight's shooting better than his career FG% and FT% this season.

More points, assists, rebounds, steals, blocks too.

This is just how he is.

[AtheJ415]

Our two headed monster at center having quite the game in the first half

C'mon, they have a combined 1 point, 2 rebounds, 0 blocks, 4 turnovers, and 5 fouls. Some of that is Knight's fault though. He just fails to get guys involved in the right ways enough.

Have to disagree as it applies to this game. These guys haven't scored because they've been awful today. Unnecessary fouls, suspect D, and clearly frustrated by Cousins. Tyson can't really get involved in this offense. He has to hang near the rim to do anything offensively, and since he's almost always on the floor with Tucker or Price and sometimes both, the defense shrinks in towards the rim. The same happens sometimes with how Knight's been struggling to shoot.

Len can and should be able to score regardless. He just needs to stop fouling so he can play long enough to get into a rhythm. He's gotten the ball this half and not done much in the few minutes he was in. I thought he touched it most possessions.

[Mulhollanddrive]

Knight career 41.7% shooter, 42.0% this season.

We got what we bought.

[AtheJ415]

Knight's shooting better than his career FG% and FT% this season.

This is just how he is.

That's just because there have been more 2s. His 3s are down.

[kennydorglas]

Tyson Chandler thinks he's guarding Omer Asik, I suppose.

[AtheJ415]

Knight career 41.7% shooter, 42.0% this season.

We got what we bought.

Career 36% from 3, shooting like 33% this year. 3% is a big difference when you shoot as many 3s as he does.

[ATTL]

Suns playing with...heart?

[AtheJ415]

I think we've actually done okay this game in terms of getting people involved relative to our usual play. People are getting touches. Most the turnovers have come from our bigs getting owned by Cousins.

We do not run an offense conducive to assists or sharing, and I think people blaming the guards are missing the problem. It's always been a problem. We've been bottom of the league in terms of assists going back to the Dragic/Bledsoe backcourt in its prime, and that's despite the fact that that duo overall should be above average in assists since both are better passers than most 2 guards by a wide margin, despite not being the best passing PGs. Factor in the extra possessions due to pace and the easy assist opportunities fast breaks should bring, plus our 3 point shooting over the past 5 years (last year we sucked, but the rest we've been pretty good), and we should always be near the top of the league in assists and ball movement. We aren't because it's not how we scheme. Our half court offense is based on beating guys 1 on 1 or off of the pick and roll, with our best players being guards, meaning they are shooting the most.

[ATTL]

Some really light foul calls today

[thamadkant]

Warren is becomming a mini Durant in regards to his scoring arsenal. Had he been more athletic he would dunking in traffic too.

But the floaters, mid range, 3pt, slashing etc. He can get a shot up and he isnt shy on taking them.
All Star right there.

[alldayeveryday]

Boogie just trying to punk our entire team, lol.

[Jdiddy701]

This game is getting entertaining. Just waiting for a brawl.


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[grumpysaddle]

The problem with this Suns team is that when things get bad, they get really bad, really quickly. That's their youth popping up. Luckily they'll get a chance to learn by playing through that this season (at least they should).

I mean... that was an 8-0 run by the Kings in about 35 seconds.

[AtheJ415]

Our offense is so predictable that I'm sitting here anticipating our sets. Can't imagine the Kings aren't doing the same thing. I hate our half court scheme. Our physical movement off the ball has 0 purpose 99% of the time. Thank god for the pick and roll or we wouldn't be able to score at all, and even then we're running it primarily with a non-shooting roller and at least 1 non-shooter on the wing.

[Mulhollanddrive]

Chandler will be fresh for Lakers.