Preseason Game 4: Nuggets @ Suns, Monday, Oct 14, 7:00 PM

[TheLogician]

This was really evident in college, and if people didn't see it in the regular season it was on full display in the tournament against Buffalo. People would blame coaching or bad defensive guard play, giving him a pass sometimes, but he has kind of always been this way.

That's why I was surprised that many UA fans wanted him over Luka. I know a large portion were ASU fans who may not have watched him as much, but was really was surprised about the UA fans if they had seen him.

But I guess that's why I am less disappointed in him than most since he is about what I expected. I hope he improves, and I don't really expect mentality or intensity to improve much, but I do think learning where to be on defense, and kind of improving his defensive iq is something that possibly can change to some extent. Maybe not for a guy that's been in the NBA for 4-5 years like Booker or Oubre, but for Ayton it seems more possible, and people are probably more in his ear about defense than they are with those other guys.

The bad thing is I think they all think they are good defenders because they are decent 1 on 1 defenders at times.

In retrospect, my opinion was skewed by Lauri the year before. He was not a great defender playing alongside Ristic but was competent as a rookie with the Bulls. Obviously they are totally different players, especially between the ears. But to be fair, I'd argue Ayton played with more intensity in college. Arizona does not win the Pac-12 title or conference tourney without Ayton.

Oh yeah, I agree they don't win it, mostly because of his offensive skills. But being a great player in college and in the NBA are completely different. Most anyone who makes it to the NBA was pretty great in college unless they were still mostly living off of high school rep. He just seemed passive at times and didn't have a lot of fire outside of when he was accused of taking the money. And his defensive awareness was bad. I hoped it would improve and still think it can, but I don't see him ever intimidating anyone or scaring anyone into not going to the rim. I really hope his screen setting gets better...this was also poor in college.

The fire was there, he carried the program on his back all year. I agree about the defense and screen setting, though.

[In2ition]

Nuggets are an example of good drafting. Suns are the opposite.

McD's departure came at least 3 years too late

The Nuggets took advantage of the Suns bad drafting.
They took Harris and Jokic after the Suns took Warren, Enis and Bogdanovic.
They took Murray after the Suns took Bender.

[lilfishi22]

Until Bridges or Oubre start consistently hitting 3’s.... I would prefer we don’t play them together.

Ouch..

Read on Twitter

?s=21

Yeah, this was pointed out in the game thread by multiple people. It was one of the more head scratching plays last night.

Low bbIQ play right there

[bwoolf2]

Until Bridges or Oubre start consistently hitting 3’s.... I would prefer we don’t play them together.

Bridges will. He is our best returning 3 pt shooter from last year and shot over 43% his last year in college. He has near perfect form and a high release. Sure they will all have games they don't shoot well, but over time he will have a % at least at 37% I believe and probably near 40%.

Oubre not sure. He's gone from 31% to 28% to 34% to 32% over his career so far so he's probably pretty settled into that range...maybe he can hit 34-35% or a little better hopefully.

This is why I would actually like to start Cam I think he is the best 3 pt shooter on the team and by the end of the year im not even sure its close.

That way you could bring Bridges and Oubre off the bench with Kaminsky Baynes and Ty Johnson, more shoot all around.

I did not understand starting Oubre and Bridges I would have started Kaminsky at the 4 for sure, needed his size and shooting.

Really hoping Bookers 3pt% is closer to 40% this year.

[bwoolf2]

Until Bridges or Oubre start consistently hitting 3’s.... I would prefer we don’t play them together.

Bridges will. He is our best returning 3 pt shooter from last year and shot over 43% his last year in college. He has near perfect form and a high release. Sure they will all have games they don't shoot well, but over time he will have a % at least at 37% I believe and probably near 40%.

Oubre not sure. He's gone from 31% to 28% to 34% to 32% over his career so far so he's probably pretty settled into that range...maybe he can hit 34-35% or a little better hopefully.

This is why I would actually like to start Cam I think he is the best 3 pt shooter on the team and by the end of the year im not even sure its close.

That way you could bring Bridges and Oubre off the bench with Kaminsky Baynes and Ty Johnson, more shooters all around.

I did not understand starting Oubre and Bridges I would have started Kaminsky at the 4 for sure, needed his size and shooting.

Really hoping Bookers 3pt% is closer to 40% this year.

[lilfishi22]

Until Bridges or Oubre start consistently hitting 3’s.... I would prefer we don’t play them together.

Bridges will. He is our best returning 3 pt shooter from last year and shot over 43% his last year in college. He has near perfect form and a high release. Sure they will all have games they don't shoot well, but over time he will have a % at least at 37% I believe and probably near 40%.

Oubre not sure. He's gone from 31% to 28% to 34% to 32% over his career so far so he's probably pretty settled into that range...maybe he can hit 34-35% or a little better hopefully.

This is why I would actually like to start Cam I think he is the best 3 pt shooter on the team and by the end of the year im not even sure its close.

That way you could bring Bridges and Oubre off the bench with Kaminsky Baynes and Ty Johnson, more shoot all around.

I did not understand starting Oubre and Bridges I would have started Kaminsky at the 4 for sure, needed his size and shooting.

Really hoping Bookers 3pt% is closer to 40% this year.

I'd be OK with starting Cam (assuming his shooting stays efficient) while Mikal finds his shot. I still highly value Mikal's defense very highly and I think he covers for a lot of our team's defensive gaps especially in the starting line up.

Regarding Booker, I really hope he at least gets back to his .380 shooting from a couple of seasons back. If he does, I think he'll be on track to being a top 2 scorer in the league. Last season he averaged 27ppg on above league average efficiency despite shooting a fairly abysmal 32% from the 3. If he can bring that back up to 40%, he would've averaged 28ppg

[nevetsov]

I reckon we started bridges with Oubre because it's the small ball lineup we'll likely look to use in spurts during the season. May as well give it some burn while we had the opportunity.

[bwgood77]

I'd be OK with starting Cam (assuming his shooting stays efficient) while Mikal finds his shot. I still highly value Mikal's defense very highly and I think he covers for a lot of our team's defensive gaps especially in the starting line up.

Regarding Booker, I really hope he at least gets back to his .380 shooting from a couple of seasons back. If he does, I think he'll be on track to being a top 2 scorer in the league. Last season he averaged 27ppg on above league average efficiency despite shooting a fairly abysmal 32% from the 3. If he can bring that back up to 40%, he would've averaged 28ppg

I wouldn't worry too much about Bridges shooting. He just came back from injury and shot 2-4 from 3 last game and missed a few this past game, but no other starter made one either...Oubre was 0-4, Rubio 0-2, Booker 0-1 and Baynes was 0-2. Cam shot better than anyone else, at 37%, but the whole team shot pretty poorly. Bridges was our best shooter last year (of players who returned) and shot 40% over his college career like Cam did...they both shot better their final seasons (Bridges 43.5% and Johnson 45.7%). Now Cam is likely the better shooter but Mikal is far the better defender which is much more of a necessity, especially since he can space and shoot too. I don't think not shooting well in one or two preseason games should mean he's completely lost his shot. Maybe if it happened like 5 games straight or something but last game he was 2-4 from 3.

I don't expect the team to be very good, but we certainly won't be very good if we are starting rookies once again.

[Crives]

I reckon we started bridges with Oubre because it's the small ball lineup we'll likely look to use in spurts during the season. May as well give it some burn while we had the opportunity.

Definitely... and hopefully it works out... but right now I think Saric/Kaminsky look better playing the 4.

[lilfishi22]

I reckon we started bridges with Oubre because it's the small ball lineup we'll likely look to use in spurts during the season. May as well give it some burn while we had the opportunity.

Definitely... and hopefully it works out... but right now I think Saric/Kaminsky look better playing the 4.

At this stage, Kaminsky is looking pretty good as our starting 4. He's not as versatile as Saric but he knows his role, he's aggressive offensively and he's been known to make a pass or two (8 assist against POR).

I don't particularly like Oubre at the 4. I think with his energy and propensity to want to create his own shot, he's probably a better player off the bench.

[grumpysaddle]

It's just preseason. Guys are not going full-throttle, except rookies. Jokic played poorly today, and I don't think this game reflects how good he will be in the season.

Kaminsky is the only player on this rooster that hasn't looked below average. Baynes has looked very mediocre. I expect him to be a beast for our bench. Mikal has looked bad on defense. I fully expect him to be the defensive menace we know he's capable of. I am not worry.

Hello not worry, I'm dad.

[Crives]

I reckon we started bridges with Oubre because it's the small ball lineup we'll likely look to use in spurts during the season. May as well give it some burn while we had the opportunity.

Definitely... and hopefully it works out... but right now I think Saric/Kaminsky look better playing the 4.

At this stage, Kaminsky is looking pretty good as our starting 4. He's not as versatile as Saric but he knows his role, he's aggressive offensively and he's been known to make a pass or two (8 assist against POR).

I don't particularly like Oubre at the 4. I think with his energy and propensity to want to create his own shot, he's probably a better player off the bench.

True... I do think Saric may match up better defensively against starting 4s... I don’t wanna see Frank guard guys like Blake or Zion...

I would probably start Saric... but split the minutes 50-50 at the 4.

[Mystical Apples]

For reasons mentioned Kaminsky should come off the bench...hardly the ideal defensive 4, his offensive skill is muted next to Ayton, 1st unit already has plenty of usage, etc...

Primarily though for his lineup ceiling when paired with Tyler or you’d hope Booker. I’d bet on a minimum of a +4 3PA differential per 100 when he’s on the court and a spike in lineup assists rates. Those 2 are almost givens regardless of his individual stats.

IMO he should also play in a 3-man center rotation for maybe 4 or 5 minutes per game to start the season. As a pick n pop attacker his offensive value is directly correlated to the help defensive abilities of the opposing 4/5...as in when facing playoff caliber defenses which will be important for such young group of bench perimeter guys.

Getting those 4-5 minutes at C should also help Monty sneak the 11th rotation player on the court for spot minutes if that’s the goal.

[Crives]

I could see Kaminsky winning MIP if he builds of this preseason and gets 20+ minutes.