Game 28: Phoenix Suns (8-19) @ Minnesota Timberwolves (7-19) - 8:00 PM ET

[PackSuns]

Great question

http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1496815

I saw the poll. I guess I am baffled with the results. Go Suns!!

Do you not like the draft picks?

I do to some extent. Most of the picks were no brainers. Nothing jumps out at me and strikes genius pick. Of course it's too early to determine. Have his trades been successful and has he picked up any marquee free agents? That's what I ask myself. Also, his handling of the revolving coaching staff seemed questionable to me. That goes for the hired and fired. The buck stops with him.

[bwgood77]

I saw the poll. I guess I am baffled with the results. Go Suns!!

Do you not like the draft picks?

I do to some extent. Most of the picks were no brainers. Nothing jumps out at me and strikes genius pick. Of course it's too early to determine. Have his trades been successful and has he picked up any marquee free agents? That's what I ask myself. Also, his handling of the revolving coaching staff seemed questionable to me. That goes for the hired and fired. The buck stops with him.

I like most all of his picks other than Ennis and Goodwin. However, he put his first coach in far too many bad spots to succeed. He waits too long to trade people (though I admit it is tough to do before the deadline so I can understand that...teams simply don't want to trade them). He came close to one impact free agent.

In my eyes he has made two major blunders. Signing IT, which was a value signing, and we got a first round pick out of signing him, but it probably wasn't the best idea to sign him and if you did, there needed to be better communication between the FO and players. Not just because they ended up being disgruntled but the coach had too tough a job with it. It seems similar to what is happening now in Philly with Noel.

Then trading for Knight. Given the circumstances with the other players, the Dragic and IT trades were fine, but there was zero reason to trade for Knight. Keep that pick, Ennis and Plumlee at that time.

I don't think he is a real good communicator (to the press he is) but just on a personal level (I cannot be sure of this) because of how players have talked about him. This is probably his biggest weakness. He could handle this MUCH better.

I don't mind that he hasn't made any big free agent signings because as he said in his most recent interview, he thinks building through the draft is the most sustainable, which I wholeheartedly agree with, and then you add that big free agent when the time is right.

[DaleyBlind]

McDonough has to go. Professional sports are all about results and he has failed HARD in his project. Four years is enough time to put a decent team on the court with plenty of upside, but the Suns are one of the worst teams in the league like when he took the job in 2013.

Dont agree with this, Look at where we 4 years ago compared to now.

Roster 4 Years ago
Dragic, Morris Twins, Tucker, Beasley, Shannon Brown, Dudley, Gortat, W. Johsnon, Marshall, Scola, J. O Neal, Telfair. GARBAGE TREADMILL CRAP

Roster Now
Bledsoe, Booker, Warren, Len, Knight, Chandler, Bender, Chriss, Dudley, Tucker.

Add the Miami picks as well, we are in a way better shape. Sure he has made some mistakes ( Knight/Laker pick trade) .
He has tried to get that star FA - Eric Gordon/Aldridge/Lebron...so its not via lack of trying.

We are going in the right direction. The only thing we have not done is add that Superstar he wants, but **** that aint an easy task.
I suppose im not as angry because i was not expecting a quick rebuild.

[lilfishi22]

Booker and TJ were to me the only great picks. They were taken later in lottery and were passed up by a whole bunch of teams.

The more I watch Chriss, the more I think he's not ready and we should be getting a proper veteran PF to play the 4.

[DaleyBlind]

Booker and TJ were to me the only great picks. They were taken later in lottery and were passed up by a whole bunch of teams.

The more I watch Chriss, the more I think he's not ready and we should be getting a proper veteran PF to play the 4.

Drafting Booker and Warren at 13/14 were masterstrokes. How he can downplay is baffling...

[bwgood77]

Booker and TJ were to me the only great picks. They were taken later in lottery and were passed up by a whole bunch of teams.

The more I watch Chriss, the more I think he's not ready and we should be getting a proper veteran PF to play the 4.

I think it's probably way too early to judge the rookies, but Chriss, although he has many flaws so far, has done FAR more than I expected already this year. He is terrible with bbiq but has shown many good things as has Bender and Ulis.

[PackSuns]

McDonough has to go. Professional sports are all about results and he has failed HARD in his project. Four years is enough time to put a decent team on the court with plenty of upside, but the Suns are one of the worst teams in the league like when he took the job in 2013.

Dont agree with this, Look at where we 4 years ago compared to now.

Roster 4 Years ago
Dragic, Morris Twins, Tucker, Beasley, Shannon Brown, Dudley, Gortat, W. Johsnon, Marshall, Scola, J. O Neal, Telfair. GARBAGE TREADMILL CRAP

Roster Now
Bledsoe, Booker, Warren, Len, Knight, Chandler, Bender, Chriss, Dudley, Tucker.

Add the Miami picks as well, we are in a way better shape. Sure he has made some mistakes ( Knight/Laker pick trade) .
He has tried to get that star FA - Eric Gordon/Aldridge/Lebron...so its not via lack of trying.

We are going in the right direction. The only thing we have not done is add that Superstar he wants, but **** that aint an easy task.
I suppose im not as angry because i was not expecting a quick rebuild.

The right direction is winning more games than you did previous years. We are doing the exact opposite of going in the right direction.

[Sunsss]

Wait, I clearly missed it. Where's paul coro?

We don't know nothing. Another mystery like Warren's injury.

Read on Twitter

Weird to do midseason.

[PackSuns]

Booker and TJ were to me the only great picks. They were taken later in lottery and were passed up by a whole bunch of teams.

The more I watch Chriss, the more I think he's not ready and we should be getting a proper veteran PF to play the 4.

Drafting Booker and Warren at 13/14 were masterstrokes. How he can downplay is baffling...

Master Strokes seems a bit of an overstatement but you could be right in a few years. In todays NBA their are very few diamonds in the rough. Way more access to players these days to find that sleeper pick. Booker and TJ would have been gone soon after if the Suns didn't draft them. What has McD done for you as a fan to provide a better product on the floor? Not trying to bash him but I question the unbridled support. I also wonder if the everyday Suns fan is happy. People here know and study the game. We are different and aren't indicative of the general public.

[lilfishi22]

Booker and TJ were to me the only great picks. They were taken later in lottery and were passed up by a whole bunch of teams.

The more I watch Chriss, the more I think he's not ready and we should be getting a proper veteran PF to play the 4.

I think it's probably way too early to judge the rookies, but Chriss, although he has many flaws so far, has done FAR more than I expected already this year. He is terrible with bbiq but has shown many good things as has Bender and Ulis.

It would be unfair to judge this year's rookies right now considering how raw they are so I won't

I do however stand by the opinion that they aren't ready to contribute and I'd like to see an experienced 4 be brought in. Just because we're giving them more minutes than they deserve (mainly talking about Chriss here) doesn't mean they will become good players from it. Unfortunately, McD really did throw all the eggs in one basket and not only expected our rookie PF to play major minutes at the 4, he also didn't bring in a veteran 4 to take over in case they aren't ready. Compound that with the fact that Watson is a terrible coach who really has no system in place for the young guys to succeed in.

[bwgood77]

McDonough has to go. Professional sports are all about results and he has failed HARD in his project. Four years is enough time to put a decent team on the court with plenty of upside, but the Suns are one of the worst teams in the league like when he took the job in 2013.

Dont agree with this, Look at where we 4 years ago compared to now.

Roster 4 Years ago
Dragic, Morris Twins, Tucker, Beasley, Shannon Brown, Dudley, Gortat, W. Johsnon, Marshall, Scola, J. O Neal, Telfair. GARBAGE TREADMILL CRAP

Roster Now
Bledsoe, Booker, Warren, Len, Knight, Chandler, Bender, Chriss, Dudley, Tucker.

Add the Miami picks as well, we are in a way better shape. Sure he has made some mistakes ( Knight/Laker pick trade) .
He has tried to get that star FA - Eric Gordon/Aldridge/Lebron...so its not via lack of trying.

We are going in the right direction. The only thing we have not done is add that Superstar he wants, but **** that aint an easy task.
I suppose im not as angry because i was not expecting a quick rebuild.

I agree here. It seems some of the people who are mad and want to make major adjustments now really expected us to make the playoffs this year. I was surprised at how many did. I mean every writer, vegas over/unders, etc had us in the bottom 3 or 4 teams because of our youth and roster.

I'm not disappointed about the results, but more disappointed we are not just playing some of the younger guys more.

[bwgood77]

Booker and TJ were to me the only great picks. They were taken later in lottery and were passed up by a whole bunch of teams.

The more I watch Chriss, the more I think he's not ready and we should be getting a proper veteran PF to play the 4.

Drafting Booker and Warren at 13/14 were masterstrokes. How he can downplay is baffling...

Master Strokes seems a bit of an overstatement but you could be right in a few years. In todays NBA their are very few diamonds in the rough. Way more access to players these days to find that sleeper pick. Booker and TJ would have been gone soon after if the Suns didn't draft them. What has McD done for you as a fan to provide a better product on the floor? Not trying to bash him but I question the unbridled support. I also wonder if the everyday Suns fan is happy. People here know and study the game. We are different and aren't indicative of the general public.

Every day Suns fans (in the way you mean) are not fans right now. They are uninterested because the team was so fun for so long and now is not and hasn't been for a long while. The thing is, there are really no quick fixes. From the late 80s to the late 2000s the Suns were very good at making moves to keep youth around while people got older, but from 96-04 we were never really THAT good, and were more of a treadmill fan despite having some good players like Kidd, McDyess, Penny, Marion, Marbury, etc, and we never got our big piece until missing the playoffs, drafting Amare and then signing Nash in FA.

Marion and Amare were drafted about 4 spots higher than Booker and Warren and when we decided to give up on that Kidd team we dealt Rodney Rogers and Tony Delk for Joe Johnson. That's when we were able to add Nash the next year. Everyone else had 2-5 years in the league or so. When all of our young guys have 2+ years in the league, I think we can expect to be good and then get that impact free agent and really look good. I think this year could end up being a fun growth process during the stretch, next year could be a big step if all our young guys are what we think they can be, and then we could potentially add a FA in 2018 and our two first rounders and really get going.

Of course I didn't mention our pick this coming summer which should be good. I THINK once we get past this trade deadline, our core should be mostly set...but hopefully for sure after the summer. We need no more churning.

[lilfishi22]

McDonough has to go. Professional sports are all about results and he has failed HARD in his project. Four years is enough time to put a decent team on the court with plenty of upside, but the Suns are one of the worst teams in the league like when he took the job in 2013.

Dont agree with this, Look at where we 4 years ago compared to now.

Roster 4 Years ago
Dragic, Morris Twins, Tucker, Beasley, Shannon Brown, Dudley, Gortat, W. Johsnon, Marshall, Scola, J. O Neal, Telfair. GARBAGE TREADMILL CRAP

Roster Now
Bledsoe, Booker, Warren, Len, Knight, Chandler, Bender, Chriss, Dudley, Tucker.

Add the Miami picks as well, we are in a way better shape. Sure he has made some mistakes ( Knight/Laker pick trade) .
He has tried to get that star FA - Eric Gordon/Aldridge/Lebron...so its not via lack of trying.

We are going in the right direction. The only thing we have not done is add that Superstar he wants, but **** that aint an easy task.
I suppose im not as angry because i was not expecting a quick rebuild.

I agree here. It seems some of the people who are mad and want to make major adjustments now really expected us to make the playoffs this year. I was surprised at how many did. I mean every writer, vegas over/unders, etc had us in the bottom 3 or 4 teams because of our youth and roster.

I'm not disappointed about the results, but more disappointed we are not just playing some of the younger guys more.

I'll disagree with this. I don't think myself nor Packsuns nor the majority of Suns fans were expecting a quick rebuild or playoffs, far from it. I was, however, expecting improvement, which I haven't seen.

We don't have to be playoff better but c'mon, some consistency please. Show me our team recognise what our strengths is/are and exploit the crap out of it on the court. I haven't seen that. We have no system, certain players don't seem to play hard every game and we're just not fun to watch. Throw in a couple of RAW rookies who look like chickens running round with their heads chopped off and it's just ugly, non-fundamental basketball.

[PackSuns]

Drafting Booker and Warren at 13/14 were masterstrokes. How he can downplay is baffling...

Master Strokes seems a bit of an overstatement but you could be right in a few years. In todays NBA their are very few diamonds in the rough. Way more access to players these days to find that sleeper pick. Booker and TJ would have been gone soon after if the Suns didn't draft them. What has McD done for you as a fan to provide a better product on the floor? Not trying to bash him but I question the unbridled support. I also wonder if the everyday Suns fan is happy. People here know and study the game. We are different and aren't indicative of the general public.

Every day Suns fans (in the way you mean) are not fans right now. They are uninterested because the team was so fun for so long and now is not and hasn't been for a long while. The thing is, there are really no quick fixes. From the late 80s to the late 2000s the Suns were very good at making moves to keep youth around while people got older, but from 96-04 we were never really THAT good, and were more of a treadmill fan despite having some good players like Kidd, McDyess, Penny, Marion, Marbury, etc, and we never got our big piece until missing the playoffs, drafting Amare and then signing Nash in FA.

Marion and Amare were drafted about 4 spots higher than Booker and Warren and when we decided to give up on that Kidd team we dealt Rodney Rogers and Tony Delk for Joe Johnson. That's when we were able to add Nash the next year. Everyone else had 2-5 years in the league or so. When all of our young guys have 2+ years in the league, I think we can expect to be good and then get that impact free agent and really look good. I think this year could end up being a fun growth process during the stretch, next year could be a big step if all our young guys are what we think they can be, and then we could potentially add a FA in 2018 and our two first rounders and really get going.

Of course I didn't mention our pick this coming summer which should be good. I THINK once we get past this trade deadline, our core should be mostly set...but hopefully for sure after the summer. We need no more churning.

Thank you for the background. I still don't know my Suns history as well as I should. How many picks do we have this year? I remember drooling over this draft class 3-4 yrs ago. I believe I mentioned it early in my tenure on this board. I just hope we are developing a great culture in the organization. TJ and Booker are making me nervous these days. We need a home run in this draft. Go Suns!!

[PackSuns]

Dont agree with this, Look at where we 4 years ago compared to now.

Roster 4 Years ago
Dragic, Morris Twins, Tucker, Beasley, Shannon Brown, Dudley, Gortat, W. Johsnon, Marshall, Scola, J. O Neal, Telfair. GARBAGE TREADMILL CRAP

Roster Now
Bledsoe, Booker, Warren, Len, Knight, Chandler, Bender, Chriss, Dudley, Tucker.

Add the Miami picks as well, we are in a way better shape. Sure he has made some mistakes ( Knight/Laker pick trade) .
He has tried to get that star FA - Eric Gordon/Aldridge/Lebron...so its not via lack of trying.

We are going in the right direction. The only thing we have not done is add that Superstar he wants, but **** that aint an easy task.
I suppose im not as angry because i was not expecting a quick rebuild.

I agree here. It seems some of the people who are mad and want to make major adjustments now really expected us to make the playoffs this year. I was surprised at how many did. I mean every writer, vegas over/unders, etc had us in the bottom 3 or 4 teams because of our youth and roster.

I'm not disappointed about the results, but more disappointed we are not just playing some of the younger guys more.

I'll disagree with this. I don't think myself nor Packsuns nor the majority of Suns fans were expecting a quick rebuild or playoffs, far from it. I was, however, expecting improvement, which I haven't seen.

We don't have to be playoff better but c'mon, some consistency please. Show me our team recognise what our strengths is/are and exploit the crap out of it on the court. I haven't seen that. We have no system, certain players don't seem to play hard every game and we're just not fun to watch. Throw in a couple of RAW rookies who look like chickens running round with their heads chopped off and it's just ugly, non-fundamental basketball.

Yeah. Didn't we win close to 50 games a few years back? I don't expect us to be a playoff team but some progress would be nice.

[DaleyBlind]

Dont agree with this, Look at where we 4 years ago compared to now.

Roster 4 Years ago
Dragic, Morris Twins, Tucker, Beasley, Shannon Brown, Dudley, Gortat, W. Johsnon, Marshall, Scola, J. O Neal, Telfair. GARBAGE TREADMILL CRAP

Roster Now
Bledsoe, Booker, Warren, Len, Knight, Chandler, Bender, Chriss, Dudley, Tucker.

Add the Miami picks as well, we are in a way better shape. Sure he has made some mistakes ( Knight/Laker pick trade) .
He has tried to get that star FA - Eric Gordon/Aldridge/Lebron...so its not via lack of trying.

We are going in the right direction. The only thing we have not done is add that Superstar he wants, but **** that aint an easy task.
I suppose im not as angry because i was not expecting a quick rebuild.

I agree here. It seems some of the people who are mad and want to make major adjustments now really expected us to make the playoffs this year. I was surprised at how many did. I mean every writer, vegas over/unders, etc had us in the bottom 3 or 4 teams because of our youth and roster.

I'm not disappointed about the results, but more disappointed we are not just playing some of the younger guys more.

I'll disagree with this. I don't think myself nor Packsuns nor the majority of Suns fans were expecting a quick rebuild or playoffs, far from it. I was, however, expecting improvement, which I haven't seen.

We don't have to be playoff better but c'mon, some consistency please. Show me our team recognise what our strengths is/are and exploit the crap out of it on the court. I haven't seen that. We have no system, certain players don't seem to play hard every game and we're just not fun to watch. Throw in a couple of RAW rookies who look like chickens running round with their heads chopped off and it's just ugly, non-fundamental basketball.

You see, I dont see how thats McDonoughs fault. All that is Earl Watson and the coaching staffs fault. (I know McDonough hired Watson)

[PackSuns]

And if we are not going to play our rookies send them to the D league to get in game experience. We are a rebuilding team that refuses to rebuild by not playing our young players. This has been the MO the last few years.

[lilfishi22]

You see, I dont see how thats McDonoughs fault. All that is Earl Watson and the coaching staffs fault. (I know McDonough hired Watson)

[DaleyBlind]

You see, I dont see how thats McDonoughs fault. All that is Earl Watson and the coaching staffs fault. (I know McDonough hired Watson)

Yeah ok, fair enough. I hate Watson.

[bwgood77]

I agree here. It seems some of the people who are mad and want to make major adjustments now really expected us to make the playoffs this year. I was surprised at how many did. I mean every writer, vegas over/unders, etc had us in the bottom 3 or 4 teams because of our youth and roster.

I'm not disappointed about the results, but more disappointed we are not just playing some of the younger guys more.

I'll disagree with this. I don't think myself nor Packsuns nor the majority of Suns fans were expecting a quick rebuild or playoffs, far from it. I was, however, expecting improvement, which I haven't seen.

We don't have to be playoff better but c'mon, some consistency please. Show me our team recognise what our strengths is/are and exploit the crap out of it on the court. I haven't seen that. We have no system, certain players don't seem to play hard every game and we're just not fun to watch. Throw in a couple of RAW rookies who look like chickens running round with their heads chopped off and it's just ugly, non-fundamental basketball.

Yeah. Didn't we win close to 50 games a few years back? I don't expect us to be a playoff team but some progress would be nice.

We VASTLY overachieved that year due to coaching and we got rid of the most successful part of that the following offseason and trade deadline. That team though wasn't going anywhere and it needed to get worse before it got better. We got a couple of picks for Dragic, which is good for our long term future, but yes, trying to go forward and improve that team by making Markieff starting PF and trading a first rounder for Knight was a mistake. Obviously we tried to trade for LMA so Markieff wasn't viewed as a worthy starter so they tried.

The problem is, even if we had gotten Aldridge, we wouldn't have gone anywhere, and it would have probably been more depressing, being locked into, at best, a playoff team that loses in the first round.