Game 15:Phoenix Suns (7-7) @ Minnesota Timberwolves (8-7), Sat Nov 23, 3pm, MST

[Dual]

As some said it was an ugly much needed win.
I'm still thinking we owe this to the Wolves, they defended Booker poorly as a team(worst game to do it so far), and that's unforgettable to a team that want to be in the playoffs.
In the other hand I'm worried about Tyler Johnson, but no so much as he can be a trade chip in some days to improve our roster.
It felt so nice this win, even being so ugly .

[Bogyo]

Much needed win, it was ugly but I'll take it.


(Also - I think that if we are being realistic we can chalk one W up for ourselves (FINALLY!) from the FT disparity for the Suns in this game. I've seen 3-4 obvious shooting fouls not called on us, which could have resulted in 8 FTA for the wolves... Wolves fans probably saw another 3-4, but that's just the way the league is somethimes with all the sucky refs out there)

[LesGrossman]

[/b]
He's killing his own game. The guy turned himself into only being a 3 pointer shooter. He rarely post up and shoot mid-range shots anymore. He needs to mix it up

Thats because he is a soft big baby, feeling entitled as the #1 pick, always crying and screaming for fouls on the slightest of contact. He gladly agreed when coach asked him to stay behind the 3pt line.

31pts, 16 rebs, 4 asts - what a soft baby


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Hes a center chucking threes, and he cries like a girl when he misses snd doesnt get a call, instead of hustling back to help on D. Another spoiled kid creating big empty stats. He tricked you obviously.

[King4Day]

Just finished watching this.
I didn't see this as an ugly win as much as a hard fought one.
We staved off every rally they had. Both teams have been struggling and we're missing 3 of our best players, yet we were able to win a game on the road, in the midst of an ugly stretch of losses.

[King4Day]

Thats because he is a soft big baby, feeling entitled as the #1 pick, always crying and screaming for fouls on the slightest of contact. He gladly agreed when coach asked him to stay behind the 3pt line.

31pts, 16 rebs, 4 asts - what a soft baby


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Hes a center chucking threes, and he cries like a girl when he misses snd doesnt get a call, instead of hustling back to help on D. Another spoiled kid creating big empty stats. He tricked you obviously.

Careful there. You might be criticizing a future Phoenix Sun

[Fo-Real]

Starting to think Kaminsky has some dirt on Monty.

real dirt.

Okobo too. How's he getting minutes over Carter?

We have to be giving a team a look at him as part of a trade. There is not one way in goddamn hell that Okobo is a better option than Carter!

[WeekapaugGroove]

May not be a popular opinion but I think the Suns should load manage Booker and Oubre for tomorrow. Both guys played heavy 38+ mins today and chances of beating Denver is slim to begin with anyway with Baynes and Ayton out. Why risk another injury to a top player.

Let the young guys use up all the minutes and see what happens.

For the record, there have been non title contender teams that have done load management as well which is why I’m suggesting it for the Suns.

I was actually thinking the same thing. Booker has been injured a lot over the year in due to the load he needs to carry. The last thing we want is these guys to get injured around the time that Rubio, Baynes and Ayton return - because they were overworked during this 10 game stretch.

I don't think you outright sit them but if you get down big early it would make sense to punt this game and not play them much or at all in the second half.

It's cruel to make a team play a second game of a b2b in Denver lol

I'm curious to see if the suns bring one or both of Harper and lecque to Denver. If they would want to rest booker they would need an extra guard.

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[ImNotMcDiSwear]

real dirt.

Okobo too. How's he getting minutes over Carter?

We have to be giving a team a look at him as part of a trade. There is not one way in goddamn hell that Okobo is a better option than Carter!

Carter's not getting minutes because he's been poison on offense, and as hard as he works on defense, he struggles to stay in front of people and his size gets exploited often. I think Okobo's outplayed Carter this season overall.

[hollywood6964]

Okobo too. How's he getting minutes over Carter?

We have to be giving a team a look at him as part of a trade. There is not one way in goddamn hell that Okobo is a better option than Carter!

Carter's not getting minutes because he's been poison on offense, and as hard as he works on defense, he struggles to stay in front of people and his size gets exploited often. I think Okobo's outplayed Carter this season overall.

I think with how limited they both are, I'd play one or the other depending matchups and what the team needs at that moment.

[WeekapaugGroove]

Okobo too. How's he getting minutes over Carter?

We have to be giving a team a look at him as part of a trade. There is not one way in goddamn hell that Okobo is a better option than Carter!

Carter's not getting minutes because he's been poison on offense, and as hard as he works on defense, he struggles to stay in front of people and his size gets exploited often. I think Okobo's outplayed Carter this season overall.

Okobo shot poorly yesterday and his shot selection as a whole is cringe worthy at times but I'm still intrigued by him as a long term prospect. He has an elite ability to get where he wants with the ball and his defense is underrated and has untapped potential because of his size. It wouldn't surprise me if he ends up a decent 3rd guard at some point.

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[bwgood77]

Just finished watching the game. Oubre was dynamic. Played with tons of energy, took mostly quality shots, and was very active defensively. I didn't think our bigs played as poorly as the box score indicates as I felt they did their best defensively and weren't hugely targeted on that end.
I think the Wolves did a very poor job of scouting our team. Booker didn't make any threes, so he kept driving to the basket and the Wolves allowed him to go one on one all game. More importantly, they didn't execute at all on the pick and rolls with Book. Where we've seen most teams hedge Booker on the pick and roll and basically trap him, the Wolves didn't do that once I feel, allowing Booker to basically do whatever he wanted. Booker should have had a triple double, but our guys missed many wide open opportunities. They also didn't post up KAT very much, and with our thin frontcourt they should have been doing that all game.
I like how we still won without 3 rotation guys, while the Wolves were only missing Covington. We are seeing just how deep our bench is and when guys play within their game such as Diallo and Okobo, they are able to impact the game positively. These are the kind of wins that can help gel our team together.

Solid writeup, though they were missing 3 rotation guys too....in addition to Covington, Okogie (24.9 mpg) and Suns killer Jake Layman (26.4 mpg)....though Keita Bates Diop I imagine played a lot better than Okogie would have, though Layman would have likely played better than Vonleh and Kelan Martin, who usually combine for about his # of minutes

[bwgood77]

May not be a popular opinion but I think the Suns should load manage Booker and Oubre for tomorrow. Both guys played heavy 38+ mins today and chances of beating Denver is slim to begin with anyway with Baynes and Ayton out. Why risk another injury to a top player.

Let the young guys use up all the minutes and see what happens.

For the record, there have been non title contender teams that have done load management as well which is why I’m suggesting it for the Suns.

I was actually thinking the same thing. Booker has been injured a lot over the year in due to the load he needs to carry. The last thing we want is these guys to get injured around the time that Rubio, Baynes and Ayton return - because they were overworked during this 10 game stretch.

I don't think it's necessary with a break until Wednesday. And they certainly won't want to...or at least I doubt they would. Obviously I don't want injury but these occur more because of freak happenings on court...not too much play.

Now if you have nagging injuries, like Kawhi has had, or something, I definitely think it should be a consideration.

[Dual]

Yesterday I saw the game with my brother, was at 23h so it was ok to go to his home and watch it together.
We both agree that with Oubre we have the same feelings as bwgood77 said one day, every play he makes is:
"No,No,No...yes!"
He is all heart and has great aptitudes, I wish one day he will learn to make better choices, but we take him as he is, great player than can be greater with more experience and knowledge.

[sunsbg]

Yesterday I saw the game with my brother, was at 23h so it was ok to go to his home and watch it together.
We both agree that with Oubre we have the same feelings as bwgood77 said one day, every play he makes is:
"No,No,No...yes!"
He is all heart and has great aptitudes, I wish one day he will learn to make better choices, but we take him as he is, great player than can be greater with more experience and knowledge.

He looks out of control sometimes, but when he's hitting his 3s he's great.

The Suns made the right choice :

MPG FG% 3P% FT% PPG RPG APG BPG
31.4 46.2 34.4 82.3 18.1 6.1 1.7 0.6
33.5 47.2 28.6 80.6 16.5 3.6 1.1 0.4

Warren's stats below.

The intangibles don't even show in above stats. As I said in the past Warren is a one-dimensional 17-18ppg scorer and that's it, which is not the case with Oubre.

[NapoleonII]

Wow those assists and rebound numbers and 3PT% are putrid for Warren.

I know Indiana is short-manned (but so are we, so that's about even).

Cutting ties with Warren was 100% the right decision.

[Revived]

Booker should have had a triple double, but our guys missed many wide open opportunities.

Read on Twitter

Yup. Especially Saric, I feel like he gets the most open 3pt looks in the league yet he can never cash in as much as he should even though that’s the primary reason why he’s on the court.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Booker should have had a triple double, but our guys missed many wide open opportunities.

Read on Twitter

Yup. Especially Saric, I feel like he gets the most open 3pt looks in the league yet he can never cash in as much as he should even though that’s the primary reason why he’s on the court.

Well on the brightside, If he keeps up his poor play and inconsistencies, Then he'll definitely be cheap to resign. Ideally, He'd fit best as a backup 4, and Ksminsky as a 3rd string rotation big. A great upgrade would be to Danilo Gallinari. But could we actually trade Johnson for him?

Would Oklahoma even do that since he's an expiring too? Anf could Saric be included in any trades we do with us only signing his qualifying offer and being a restricted free agent? I'm unclear on our contractual options with him as it may pertain to trades.

[lilfishi22]

We have to be giving a team a look at him as part of a trade. There is not one way in goddamn hell that Okobo is a better option than Carter!

Carter's not getting minutes because he's been poison on offense, and as hard as he works on defense, he struggles to stay in front of people and his size gets exploited often. I think Okobo's outplayed Carter this season overall.

Okobo shot poorly yesterday and his shot selection as a whole is cringe worthy at times but I'm still intrigued by him as a long term prospect. He has an elite ability to get where he wants with the ball and his defense is underrated and has untapped potential because of his size. It wouldn't surprise me if he ends up a decent 3rd guard at some point.

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I'm on the fence with Okobo. I don't feel like he's being utilised correctly. I want to see him more as as scorer because a lot of the times when he's trying to play make for other, he just doesn't look comfortable. When he's attacking like a combo guard, that's when I feel like he's showing his value.

As for Carter, I still think he's a solid player to have and I don't think his defense is overrated. The problem is that with a pick heavy offense in today's NBA, it's just too easy to pick off a defender and take them out of the play. Offensively, he's probably better as an off-guard where he's not creating playing but more in a Pat Bev type shooting, defending and moving the ball around type of role.

At this point, I see Carter as having more value than Okobo because he has an NBA level skill which is his defense. Okobo is still a bit average to below average when it comes to NBA skills.