Suns Lineups

[bwgood77]

Do you really believe Warren can play defense? Can guard someone more dangerous, than bencher SF's?
P.J. made brilliant job last season versus Harden, he also can guard top physical SF like LeBron. He should start couse he is only real Suns perimeter defender. Booker can't guard sf, so I assume he will play very limited minutes on that position. Also, Tucker will make his life easier, guarding Wiggins or Beard - big strong wings. Devine doesn't seemed ready for really hardcore match-ups

Also, Dudley as starting PF only means that your team has so poor roster, that you have to trust PF position to guy, armed with hustle only, no skill, no size.

Yes, Len is not PF, but, he didn't look terrible paired with TC. Better he will guard KAT than Dudley or Warren.
I'm not sure Bender or Chriss are ready to play big minutes and contribute, (the only rooks, that really can help right now is Uliss) but if I have to chose, I would take Bender. His speed and size for 4 are very impressive, and he seemed to be coachable. Not vs Brow or Griffin or Boogie/LMA (they will slice and dice him), but vs smaller teams he can fit.

Knight was good last season, when in second unit - he could be upgraded version of J.Crawford. This could be our advantage - 20ppg from the bench.

Against big teams like Mem, SAS, Sacto, Jazz I would definitely like to see big line-up
Bledsoe - Booker-PJ-Len-TC - yes, lack of scoring, but this team can play defense
Against smaller teams - in october probably we don't have other option, than
Bledsoe-Booker-Dudley-Tucker-TC - but in January I hope to see Bender starting to benefit with his unique blend of size, speedy feet and 3pt shot.

I agree with a lot of what you say. I like PJ more than most fans, and he should start the season, but I would like to see TJ Warren earn the starting role fairly quickly, regardless of how well he plays defense, and hope he learns. It would be nice to see Bender starting by January, but I think that's a lot to wish for. It would be great if he showed enough talent to be a legit starter that quickly, but he might get a few starts later if/once we fade out of the playoff race. I hope Bledsoe and Chriss develop some good alley oop plays. Booker and Chriss as well and Ulis and Chriss. Another great thing about Bender is his ballhandling, passing and being able to dribble so well and even lead the fast break. Obviously it will be tougher against premier nba players but he looked darn good for his age. And welcome to the forums!

[KLEON]

I haven't seen a game since Watson was named the head coach. My question is, what is Watson's playing style? Is it uptempo, half-court or what?

[lumes]

First thing - he was trying to play defense. But it only worked for stretches. Also, with squad limited with injuries (especially - point guards), its very difficult to show style and temp that you want. Ronnie Price was point - so you can only guess, how Watson team would look with Eric or Brandon as a point. The thing, that he really improved were boards, Suns looked good in rebounding in the second half of the season. Also we were taking a lot of 3pt shots. Partially because Teletovich was our best offensive player, partially because it was the only way, that opponents defense left for our attacks.

[Zelaznyrules]

I haven't seen a game since Watson was named the head coach. My question is, what is Watson's playing style? Is it uptempo, half-court or what?

I don't think we really know. He had no preseason and by the time he took over the team, most of our talent was unavailable. He was defensive minded as a player so I expect that to continue but offensively, no clue.

[Zelaznyrules]

There are a lot of lineups I'm looking forward to watching this season. For me though, it might be more about the lineups I don't want to see. I don't want to see Chandler and Len on the court at the same time for even a moment unless Len is playing point and Chandler's lined up as our shooting guard. A video of that might be even more entertaining than it was to watch Mark Grace pitch for the DBacks a decade ago. And I don't want to see Tucker and Chandler in the starting lineup together unless Tucker is playing the 4 spot. Offensively, it just puts too much pressure on our guards. And I absolutely don't want to see Tucker, Dudley and Chandler all in the starting lineup together.

I guess I'd mostly like to see Bledsoe, Knight, Booker, Warren and Len get serious court time together although it's anyone's guess whether that will be a great lineup or a scary bad one. We have no idea if Warren can play the 4 even for short stretches but it's a question we really should get answered this season as I think Booker may well add another inch or two before he finally stops growing. I doubt he'll have the foot speed or the agility to play the 2 full time if that happens.

[Jdiddy701]

Bledsoe
Booker
Dudley
Chriss
Chandler

I hope at one point that's the way we go.


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[batsmasher]

What I'd like to see:
Bled-BK-Book-Duds-Len
Bench: Bled/BK-Leandro-TJ-PJ-Chandler

What I expect to see:
Bled-BK-PJ-Duds-Chandler
Bench: Leandro-Book-TJ-PJ/Duds-Len

[jcsunsfan]

This place is going to come unglued when Book is not in the starting lineup on opening night.

[batsmasher]

This place is going to come unglued when Book is not in the starting lineup on opening night.

too many already sniffing da glue.

yes, he's great.

what he did was on a team with no expectation and no pressure on the back half of a season. all while playing no defense.

i repeat, he's great. but recency bias is too real.

[bwgood77]

This place is going to come unglued when Book is not in the starting lineup on opening night.

I can think of one person who will become really unglued.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

1. Who do you think will be in the Suns starting lineup on opening night?

For me,
1. Bledsoe-Booker-Warren-Dudley-Len
...
Len over Tyson is the closest call. Tyson doesn't work well with Brandon, and frankly, I don't think they like each other. That supports starting Tyson with Knight off the bench. But I think that because we've identified Len as part of our core (we think and hope), and because we don't lose any rebounding or interior D with Len, we start Alex. It would be nice to have a scoring 4 off the bench, so here's hoping Chriss steps up big time.

I'm starting to change my mind on this one. As I mentioned, Chandler doesn't work well next to Knight (our flamethrower sixth man). But what's got me thinking is Alex - he's on a contract year. Pressure's on him to perform. I'd like to see him step up and give us some offense off the bench. Earn that payday, big fella.

[bwgood77]

1. Who do you think will be in the Suns starting lineup on opening night?

For me,
1. Bledsoe-Booker-Warren-Dudley-Len
...
Len over Tyson is the closest call. Tyson doesn't work well with Brandon, and frankly, I don't think they like each other. That supports starting Tyson with Knight off the bench. But I think that because we've identified Len as part of our core (we think and hope), and because we don't lose any rebounding or interior D with Len, we start Alex. It would be nice to have a scoring 4 off the bench, so here's hoping Chriss steps up big time.

I'm starting to change my mind on this one. As I mentioned, Chandler doesn't work well next to Knight (our flamethrower sixth man). But what's got me thinking is Alex - he's on a contract year. Pressure's on him to perform. I'd like to see him step up and give us some offense off the bench. Earn that payday, big fella.

Does make sense. And Chandler/Booker have that vet/rookie relationship if that video series means anything. I think Chandler on the court will benefit Book.

[edurham88]

1. Bledsoe - Booker - Tucker - Dudley - Chandler

2. Bledsoe - Booker - Warren - Chriss - Bender

I'm conflicted about whether I want Warren to end up as the starter at some point during the season. I'm still not convinced that he will have enough defense or shooting to last there. And his best long-term role may end up as a scorer off the bench. But I want to believe that he will come into the season showing enough improvement in both of those areas that he is passable.

I think playing Chriss or Bender at the 3 is ridiculous. Yes, they are both agile enough that they can conceivably handle some minutes guarding those types of players, but their appeal comes in being able to use that agility against bigger players. That and being able to stay in front of the ball-handler in the pick and roll. I think the way to get them both minutes is to have one of them at the 5. I'm not sure who would be better there, though. I want to say Bender because of his height, but he is just so thin. It will take him time to build up the bulk to be able to play there for extended periods. I think a couple seasons down the road he will be best playing at the 5. Chriss looks like he could eventually become an A'mare type small-ball 5, but I think he will be best at the 4.

[NTB]

I want to see Bledsoe - Booker - Dudley - Chriss - Chandler which makes 0-1-2-3-4 jersey numbers on the court at the same time. Seems rare.

[bwgood77]

I want to see Bledsoe - Booker - Dudley - Chriss - Chandler which makes 0-1-2-3-4 jersey numbers on the court at the same time. Seems rare.

I guess Knight changed his #? Because he is #3 in a picture on the Suns.com page (though I see Dudley is 3 on the roster page and Knight is 11). I know Dudley wanted to take someone's number but it was Bender's as I recall. Maybe Knight was nice enough to give up his number for Bender and then Dudley came in and took it away.

http://www.nba.com/suns/?tmd=1

[NTB]

I want to see Bledsoe - Booker - Dudley - Chriss - Chandler which makes 0-1-2-3-4 jersey numbers on the court at the same time. Seems rare.

I guess Knight changed his #? Because he is #3 in a picture on the Suns.com page (though I see Dudley is 3 on the roster page and Knight is 11). I know Dudley wanted to take someone's number but it was Bender's as I recall. Maybe Knight was nice enough to give up his number for Bender and then Dudley came in and took it away.

http://www.nba.com/suns/?tmd=1

Knight gave #3 to Bender and Bender gave it to Dudley.

[MathiasPW]

I want to see Bledsoe - Booker - Dudley - Chriss - Chandler which makes 0-1-2-3-4 jersey numbers on the court at the same time. Seems rare.

I guess Knight changed his #? Because he is #3 in a picture on the Suns.com page (though I see Dudley is 3 on the roster page and Knight is 11). I know Dudley wanted to take someone's number but it was Bender's as I recall. Maybe Knight was nice enough to give up his number for Bender and then Dudley came in and took it away.

http://www.nba.com/suns/?tmd=1

Knight used the #11 in Milwaukee. When he got here it belonged to Markieff. So now he got it back and the #3 was up for grabs. Bender took it then sold it to Dudley