Game 63: Suns (20-42) vs Celtics (40-22)

[Qwigglez]

Suns Starters



Good luck charm!

Spoiler:

[Dirk]

[Saberestar]

This is gonna be a fun game. We are playing so well after the All Star that I seriously think that we can win today.

The Celtics are a really interesting team to watch.
They have some of my favorite two-way players in the league... Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown are three of them.

I would love to see that Ulis/Thomas matchup for a good amount of minutes.

[NTB]

I hope Alan Williams takes advantage of low-rebounding team Celtics.

[Zelaznyrules]

This is gonna be a fun game. We are playing so well after the All Star that I seriously think that we can win today.

The Celtics are a really interesting team to watch.
They have some of my favorite two-way players in the league... Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown are three of them.

I would love to see that Ulis/Thomas matchup for a good amount of minutes.

We are? Our second unit has played great but our starters have been less than impressive most of the time. We've caught a couple of teams by surprise and all told we're playing slightly better but I don't know that I'd go so far as to say we're playing so well. Regardless, the team is certainly a lot more fun to watch thanks to the 24 and under crowd.

[Qwigglez]

We can't afford any wins against good teams. We play enough bad teams the rest of the way we might end up regretting a win later. Also, will watch the replay tonight. Got to catch some Zzz's.

[kennydorglas]

Looking forward the IT vs DJJr matchup.

[Saberestar]

This is gonna be a fun game. We are playing so well after the All Star that I seriously think that we can win today.

The Celtics are a really interesting team to watch.
They have some of my favorite two-way players in the league... Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown are three of them.

I would love to see that Ulis/Thomas matchup for a good amount of minutes.

We are? Our second unit has played great but our starters have been less than impressive most of the time. We've caught a couple of teams by surprise and all told we're playing slightly better but I don't know that I'd go so far as to say we're playing so well. Regardless, the team is certainly a lot more fun to watch thanks to the 24 and under crowd.

We are 2W-3L after the All Star, but we would be easily 4W-1L if Booker and Chriss made their free throws against the Bulls and the Bucks.

We are playing way better recently IMO, more ball movement on offense and better tight defense.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

We are 2W-3L after the All Star, but we would be easily 4W-1L if Booker and Chriss made their free throws against the Bulls and the Bucks.

We are playing way better recently IMO, more ball movement on offense and better tight defense.

We can't afford any wins against good teams. We play enough bad teams the rest of the way we might end up regretting a win later. Also, will watch the replay tonight. Got to catch some Zzz's.

I want to win these games, because I want our players to play well. It's hard for me to get as excited about increasing our odds for a top pick when we have so many young players already on the roster: the long-term success of the team depends so much more on how good these guys are than on how high that pick is. Besides, the more drafts you watch, the less you believe that where you draft determines the quality of the player you receive. The one player I'd love for us to draft is Marquelle Fultz, so of course, I'd love to get lucky and make the #1 pick. After that, I don't have a great feel for who among the next 12 players on the board will be the best NBA player.

The #1 pick is the only thing worth tanking for, and the best case scenario on that front would be having a 20% chance at it, while the worst case scenario for us in this respect is having a 1% chance at it. Of course, if we had a huge win streak, that could position us to make a huge leap next year.

I recommend we chill about the tank and enjoy the bouquet of young talent blossoming before us. I think we have close to 50/50 odds of winning tonight. And that's a good thing. Here's another question - would you trade Bender for Brown or Ingram? Just curious.

Final thought - the MIA picks are a huge security blanket for me. No matter how good we are, MIA could suck enough in 2019 or 2021 that we could still end up with the #1 pick in those drafts. I love that. I don't want to deal those picks, but I'd love to start competing next season. We've diddled around in the lottery quite enough for my taste.

[Saberestar]

Here's another question - would you trade Bender for Brown or Ingram? Just curious.

I am not sure about it, but I think that Ingram and Brown are gonna be All Stars in the future and Bender is gonna be more like an all around player without star status (ala Boris Diaw).

I am torn but I would probably trade him for one of them. I think that they are more of a "sure thing".

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Here's another question - would you trade Bender for Brown or Ingram? Just curious.

I am not sure about it, but I think that Ingram and Brown are gonna be All Stars in the future and Bender is gonna be more like an all around player without star status (ala Boris Diaw).

I am torn but I would probably trade him for one of them. I think that they are more of a "sure thing".

I have real doubts about Ingram. I agree that Brown is more of a sure thing. I think that Bender is the most exciting of the three because of his crazy unique skillset - and if it turns out in three or four years that he can actually play center, look the out. You'll have their center backing Dragan down on one end, followed by the same player either chasing Chriss down in the corners or chasing Dragan around perimeter screens. Point is, a year in, the difference between drafting #2-4 still hasn't been resolved.

#5, OTOH, ain't looking too hot. GOOD because we needed some kind of edge on the Timberwolves.

[NTB]

a comment from BSoTS. I knew Thomas was bad at defense but... wow.

[bwgood77]

Here's another question - would you trade Bender for Brown or Ingram? Just curious.

I am not sure about it, but I think that Ingram and Brown are gonna be All Stars in the future and Bender is gonna be more like an all around player without star status (ala Boris Diaw).

I am torn but I would probably trade him for one of them. I think that they are more of a "sure thing".

I have real doubts about Ingram. I agree that Brown is more of a sure thing. I think that Bender is the most exciting of the three because of his crazy unique skillset - and if it turns out in three or four years that he can actually play center, look the out. You'll have their center backing Dragan down on one end, followed by the same player either chasing Chriss down in the corners or chasing Dragan around perimeter screens. Point is, a year in, the difference between drafting #2-4 still hasn't been resolved.

#5, OTOH, ain't looking too hot. GOOD because we needed some kind of edge on the Timberwolves.

Not even a year in, and Bender has barely played. WAY too early to judge. We all knew (or should have known) most all of the other top players in the draft were more ready than Bender to adapt to the NBA (age, new country, court, language, etc). He's still very raw and just barely scratching the surface.

[ducler]

[ATTL]

I'm not a fan of IT, I liked signing him because it was a cheap contract. No other team wanted him that summer. Fans of other teams didn't want him at that deadline.
I'm glad there isn't too much rewriting of history about the trade to Boston.

[Christine-In-AZ]

If these post all-star games are meant to be a grand assessment of what we got, can Ulis and Len gets some significant time on the floor together? I usually roll my eyes when people start clamoring for a certain guy to start, because it doesn't mean much if anything, but in this case if it takes Williams starting to get Ulis's PT lined up with Len, sign me up.

Wish they'd sit Bledsoe for a week or two soon...for three sound reasons.

I think reality comes crashing down heavy on "the kids" today and probably against the Wiz too. That's fine.

[Gant]

Celtics starters: Amir Johnson, Jerebko, Crowder, Brown, Thomas

Bradley (hamstring) and Horford (elbow) out.

[Blackification]

If these post all-star games are meant to be a grand assessment of what we got, can Ulis and Len gets some significant time on the floor together? I usually roll my eyes when people start clamoring for a certain guy to start, because it doesn't mean much if anything, but in this case if it takes Williams starting to get Ulis's PT lined up with Len, sign me up.

Wish they'd sit Bledsoe for a week or two soon...for three sound reasons.

I think reality comes crashing down heavy on "the kids" today and probably against the Wiz too. That's fine.

I don't think so I think we give a strong fight tonight. Bradley and Horford are out.

[King4Day]

Gotta lose the games we should lose. Win this and we may as well expect a 5th or 6h place finish in a long lost season.

[Christine-In-AZ]

If these post all-star games are meant to be a grand assessment of what we got, can Ulis and Len gets some significant time on the floor together? I usually roll my eyes when people start clamoring for a certain guy to start, because it doesn't mean much if anything, but in this case if it takes Williams starting to get Ulis's PT lined up with Len, sign me up.

Wish they'd sit Bledsoe for a week or two soon...for three sound reasons.

I think reality comes crashing down heavy on "the kids" today and probably against the Wiz too. That's fine.

I don't think so I think we give a strong fight tonight. Bradley and Horford are out.

Didn't see that Bradley and Horford were out. Coin flip