Game 40: Phoenix Suns (16-23) @ Atlanta Hawks (8-32)

[SunsRback4Good]

Who: Phoenix Suns @ Atlanta Hawks

When: Tue, Jan 14th @ 5:30pm, FSNAZ

Where: State Farm Arena, Atlanta, FA







Phoenix Suns starting lineup:

C- Baynes

F- Saric

F- Oubre Jr

G- Booker

G- Rubio


Reserves: Ayton/Bridges/Okobo/Cam






Atlanta Hawks starting lineup:

C- Collins

F- Hunter

F- Reddish

G- Huerter

G- Young


Reserves: Bambi/Jones/Len/Crabbe/Carter

3 game winning streak on the line!!!




Good luck charm coming soon from BW.

[spanishninja]

They better defend the 3. Huerter is making up for lost time over there.

[hollywood6964]

The term is "couldn't care less".

[SunsRback4Good]

The term is "couldn't care less".

Fixed. Thank you.

[RunDogGun]

With the ATL line up, it would be smart to start Rubio, Booker, Bridges, Oubre, Ayton. We need to counter the young energy from ATL, with our own young squad. Then weave in the bench. End the game with the same squad.

Is Trae still out with a hamstring injury?

[Ghost of Kleine]

Let's go get this one! Now is the time to swing momentum to our favor. One win at a time! Playing every game as if it's for the championship.

[hollywood6964]

With the ATL line up, it would be smart to start Rubio, Booker, Bridges, Oubre, Ayton. We need to counter the young energy from ATL, with our own young squad. Then weave in the bench. End the game with the same squad.

Is Trae still out with a hamstring injury?

I hope so. Suns could use a break to really get the ball rolling.

[RunDogGun]

With the ATL line up, it would be smart to start Rubio, Booker, Bridges, Oubre, Ayton. We need to counter the young energy from ATL, with our own young squad. Then weave in the bench. End the game with the same squad.

Is Trae still out with a hamstring injury?

I hope so. Suns could use a break to really get the ball rolling.

They started Goodwin at the point, and he went 3-12, and 1-8 from three. They don't have a lot of depth from the point after Trae, and really no passers except Huerter at 3.4. Vince likes to have good games against us, so there is always a concern there. If we follow the game plan and don't try any hero ball, we should win this if Trae is out.

[RunDogGun]

I would match up Huerter with Bridges (shutting down Huerter will be the key, and putting Booker on him would be a mistake), and put Booker on Reddish . Oubre matches up nicely with Hunter, and if we start Ayton on Collins, it would be better than Baynes on him. Box out, and then run an up tempo game. Get out to an early lead, and keep up the intensity. Weaving bench players in like Saric, Baynes, Cam, and Okobo who are all decent three point shooters, should keep the game in our favor.

[bwgood77]

Collins was 2-11 and 0-5 from 3 for 8 points and also grabbed 5 boards. We should consider trading Ayton for him.

[Crives]

Win the next two and I think the season is saved... not in terms of being a playoff lock,
but in terms of making noticeable improvements that will keep the core players happy and culture moving in right direction.

[BobbieL]

Win the next two and I think the season is saved... not in terms of being a playoff lock,
but in terms of making noticeable improvements that will keep the core players happy and culture moving in right direction.

If they win the next two, will be 18-23 halfway through the season

Two years ago, they won like 21 games; last year 19. So, even though there have been some head scratching losses - the team seems like they have IMPROVED.

But as I said, the Suns are not a mature enough team to look at a schedule and say "we should beat team X Y and Z." I would not be surprised if they beat Boston in Boston. Just because they click that night. There are not gimme games with the Suns - even looking at the schedule.

[bigfoot]

Good luck charm??

Spoiler:

[Saberestar]

Collins was 2-11 and 0-5 from 3 for 8 points and also grabbed 5 boards. We should consider trading Ayton for him.

Collins played a bad game, but that trade wouldn't be a crazy trade. Collins is really good and is just one year older than Ayton.

Collins already has in his arsenal the 3p shot (he shots four per game at a decent clip) and he can put the ball on the floor consistently. And he plays with a high motor.

I think that their value around the league is pretty close. It isn't like comparing Ayton with Bamba, for example, who is looking more like a bust and a waste of a #6 pick.

[Revived]

Ayton needs to let it fly from 3. He talked in the summer how he’s gonna start shooting it more, he needs to do it when they leave him wide open. He’s been shooting way too much of it in practice and shoot arounds (and that’s just from what the media has shown us so I imagine he practices it even way more than that) that he can’t be worrying about his %s and needs to see how he can hit it.

If he can shoot that at like 32-35%, it would be a big help for the spacing.

[bwgood77]

Ayton needs to let it fly from 3. He talked in the summer how he’s gonna start shooting it more, he needs to do it when they leave him wide open. He’s been shooting way too much of it in practice and shoot arounds (and that’s just from what the media has shown us so I imagine he practices it even way more than that) that he can’t be worrying about his %s and needs to see how he can hit it.

If he can shoot that at like 32-35%, it would be a big help for the spacing.

I think coaches tell the players they need to start shooting the 3 when open. I think they want him to focus on taking it to the rim before he starts launching more shots from further range.

[Revived]

Ayton needs to let it fly from 3. He talked in the summer how he’s gonna start shooting it more, he needs to do it when they leave him wide open. He’s been shooting way too much of it in practice and shoot arounds (and that’s just from what the media has shown us so I imagine he practices it even way more than that) that he can’t be worrying about his %s and needs to see how he can hit it.

If he can shoot that at like 32-35%, it would be a big help for the spacing.

I think coaches tell the players they need to start shooting the 3 when open. I think they want him to focus on taking it to the rim before he starts launching more shots from further range.

It doesn’t have to be one or the other though.

If he shoots it well from 3, teams are gonna guard him more tightly which will actually allow him to take it to the rim more. It’s basically been what KAT has been doing this season which is pretty smart.

Monty has said that he wants Ayton to shoot 3s because they’ve been working with him on it all summer and obviously in practices as well. It’s just the initial mental hurdle of shooting it, sort of the same thing that Ben Simmons deals with. Once he lets it fly, then it will be natural for him just like many other bigs like Towns, Embiid, Jolie, LMA, AD etc.

[bwgood77]

Ayton needs to let it fly from 3. He talked in the summer how he’s gonna start shooting it more, he needs to do it when they leave him wide open. He’s been shooting way too much of it in practice and shoot arounds (and that’s just from what the media has shown us so I imagine he practices it even way more than that) that he can’t be worrying about his %s and needs to see how he can hit it.

If he can shoot that at like 32-35%, it would be a big help for the spacing.

I think coaches tell the players they need to start shooting the 3 when open. I think they want him to focus on taking it to the rim before he starts launching more shots from further range.

It doesn’t have to be one or the other though.

If he shoots it well from 3, teams are gonna guard him more tightly which will actually allow him to take it to the rim more. It’s basically been what KAT has been doing this season which is pretty smart.

Monty has said that he wants Ayton to shoot 3s because they’ve been working with him on it all summer and obviously in practices as well. It’s just the initial mental hurdle of shooting it, sort of the same thing that Ben Simmons deals with. Once he lets it fly, then it will be natural for him just like many other bigs like Towns, Embiid, Jolie, LMA, AD etc.

It seems I've heard Minnesota fans say that all Towns wants to do is shoot 3s and they wish he'd take it to the rim more.

[Revived]

I think coaches tell the players they need to start shooting the 3 when open. I think they want him to focus on taking it to the rim before he starts launching more shots from further range.

It doesn’t have to be one or the other though.

If he shoots it well from 3, teams are gonna guard him more tightly which will actually allow him to take it to the rim more. It’s basically been what KAT has been doing this season which is pretty smart.

Monty has said that he wants Ayton to shoot 3s because they’ve been working with him on it all summer and obviously in practices as well. It’s just the initial mental hurdle of shooting it, sort of the same thing that Ben Simmons deals with. Once he lets it fly, then it will be natural for him just like many other bigs like Towns, Embiid, Jolie, LMA, AD etc.

It seems I've heard Minnesota fans say that all Towns wants to do is shoot 3s and they wish he'd take it to the rim more.

He’s shooting it at a great clip though (41%, better than Booker). His volume might be too high but I think he’s doing it out of necessity because they lack shooters.

[lilfishi22]

I think coaches tell the players they need to start shooting the 3 when open. I think they want him to focus on taking it to the rim before he starts launching more shots from further range.

It doesn’t have to be one or the other though.

If he shoots it well from 3, teams are gonna guard him more tightly which will actually allow him to take it to the rim more. It’s basically been what KAT has been doing this season which is pretty smart.

Monty has said that he wants Ayton to shoot 3s because they’ve been working with him on it all summer and obviously in practices as well. It’s just the initial mental hurdle of shooting it, sort of the same thing that Ben Simmons deals with. Once he lets it fly, then it will be natural for him just like many other bigs like Towns, Embiid, Jolie, LMA, AD etc.

It seems I've heard Minnesota fans say that all Towns wants to do is shoot 3s and they wish he'd take it to the rim more.

Given how many shots he takes from the 3 (9.1 per36!), KAT still manages to get to the line about 6.6 times per36 and that's on barely more than 2FGA per36 more than Ayton. Yes KAT is more of a focal point of their offense than Ayton so it's expected KAT would be able to draw more defenders (and thus fouls) but it just goes to show how far apart they are offensively from a skill standpoint. Being able to put the ball to the floor is a massive advantage because it allows KAT to utilise pump fakes, get by defenders on quick blow bys and also puts defenses in motion.

Ayton just can't do that at the moment, he's kind of a stagnant offensive threat. Either he can or he can't score from where he gets the ball, in contrast to KAT where he's essentially a threat from anywhere or he could get to a spot where he is a threat.