Game 78: Suns (22-55) vs Rockets (51-25)

[darealjuice]

Fun game tonight, great to see all of our main young players have pretty solid games. Management is obviously tanking with Chandler, Bledsoe, and Knight (even though he was sucking) sitting the rest of the year, but the team still comes out and fights every night despite being younger and physically outmatched every night. We need to bring that fight to the game from tip off next season though, because it feels like we start every game down 15+ and have to spend the entire game clawing our way back in. That's fine now since our season is effectively over and we're looking towards the draft, but eventually this team needs to start winning.

Chriss didn't shoot his best, but he's really getting a feel for protecting the rim and rotating to help on drives without over committing. Still a long way to go on the defensive end, but his shot blocking instincts have been flashing a lot since the ASB. This offseason will be big for him with so much to polish; he needs to do a lot of work on his dribbling, get a ton of shots up, hit the weight room hard, and get in the film room. I really think the sky's the limit for him if he puts in the work, and I'm sure he'll be in the gym plenty with Booker this offseason.

Bender came out looking a lot more aggressive on offense, which was nice to see. I loved seeing him take little guys down into the paint on switches for easy hook shots, and it looks like he put on a little bit of weight over the past 2 months. His statline says he shot 4-9, but 2 of his missed shots were from trying to tip in an offensive rebound that wouldn't stay down for him. I think he got a little banged up when he got fouled on that drive in the second half though; he was walking gingerly, didn't look too comfortable at the line, and I don't think he played after (although he may have been tired too).

Ulis was awesome tonight. Good to see him knocking down the 3 ball, and he was money from mid-range today. Wish he got the triple-double, but it's still incredibly impressive that a 5'9" 150 pound rookie put up 34-9-9-1 on great efficiency. This offseason is all about the weight room and the 3 point line for Ulis, as size deficiency and outside shooting are the only big knocks on his game right now. It's tough to say he won't be fighting for a starting job some day when he's putting up numbers like this as a rookie, but as of now I think we should at least have our backup point guard position locked down for the next 4 to 9 years. This kid was a steal in the second round, I'm really glad we locked him up like he was a first rounder.

[sunskerr]

FO better tank harder. Only lost by 7 points. That **** was too close. Even against the Blazers, they had that blowout down to 4 within a few minutes in the 3rd quarter. These kids are gonna ruin the tank if they get any better.

[SC923]

FO better tank harder. Only lost by 7 points. That **** was too close. Even against the Blazers, they had that blowout down to 4 within a few minutes in the 3rd quarter. These kids are gonna ruin the tank if they get any better.

They missed Harden and Ariza... this was a game we probably should've won.

[Frank Lee]

FO better tank harder. Only lost by 7 points. That **** was too close. Even against the Blazers, they had that blowout down to 4 within a few minutes in the 3rd quarter. These kids are gonna ruin the tank if they get any better.

Don't worry.... the supreme commander and master tanker Watson is still in charge. His efforts go largely unnoticed, but reflected here by a recent copy of his off season strategy sheet... obtained from an undisclosed source, but reportedly a reputable colored marker representative. Good things on the way.

[bwgood77]

FO better tank harder. Only lost by 7 points. That **** was too close. Even against the Blazers, they had that blowout down to 4 within a few minutes in the 3rd quarter. These kids are gonna ruin the tank if they get any better.

Don't worry.... the supreme commander and master tanker Watson is still in charge. His efforts go largely unnoticed, but reflected here by a recent copy of his off season strategy sheet... obtained from an undisclosed source, but reportedly a reputable colored marker representative. Good things on the way.

How nice they still have a PJ day on there.

Watson must also really like snow cones. I see he was sneaky and put it on there twice as options.

[Frank Lee]

I believe that includes a nacho building exercise