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Game 18: Phoenix Suns (14-3) @ Cleveland Cavaliers (9-9) l Wednesday l 5:00pm l BSAZ

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Re: Game 5: Cleveland Cavaliers (3-3) @ Phoenix Suns (1-3) l Saturday l 7:00pm l BSAZ 

Post#141 » by Mulhollanddrive » Sun Oct 31, 2021 4:31 am

The Valanciunis matchup is why we brought in a backup like McGee so he's going to get the chance it seems.
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Re: Game 5: Cleveland Cavaliers (3-3) @ Phoenix Suns (1-3) l Saturday l 7:00pm l BSAZ 

Post#142 » by JDJ26 » Sun Oct 31, 2021 4:32 am

The team still doesn't seem focused. Is there something going on behind the scenes?
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Re: Game 5: Cleveland Cavaliers (3-3) @ Phoenix Suns (1-3) l Saturday l 7:00pm l BSAZ 

Post#143 » by Frank Lee » Sun Oct 31, 2021 4:33 am

Later ✌️
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Re: Game 5: Cleveland Cavaliers (3-3) @ Phoenix Suns (1-3) l Saturday l 7:00pm l BSAZ 

Post#144 » by Ghost of Kleine » Sun Oct 31, 2021 5:27 am

SunsRback4Good wrote:
RaisingArizona wrote:I don't think Shamet was the missing piece.


We can still sign the missing piece before the trade deadline.


Yeah! it's still early on, But so far his contract is not looking all that much of a bargain. Hopefully he catches on with strong consistency, Otherwise it will be a poor investment. A few more games I believe to make an informed decision on whether he should stay, Or be a trade candidate!

If he can't get it together, Then I'll again suggest Sam Merrill as his replacement. If you look at their comparison:

https://stathead.com/basketball/pcm_finder.cgi?player_id2=merrisa01&player_id1=shamela01&sum=0&request=1
Merrill is pretty much better across the board. So if he doesn't improve, We should definitely target him via trade at a fraction of the price. Only issue would be in that given his current salary, We'd likely have to take another contract back for ballast.
https://fanspo.com/nba/trade-machine
Something like Shamet for Merrill and Kris Dunn. For salary ballast.
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Re: Game 5: Cleveland Cavaliers (3-3) @ Phoenix Suns (1-3) l Saturday l 7:00pm l BSAZ 

Post#145 » by SlovenianDragon » Sun Oct 31, 2021 6:31 am

weird game but we won...

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Re: Game 5: Cleveland Cavaliers (3-3) @ Phoenix Suns (1-3) l Saturday l 7:00pm l BSAZ 

Post#146 » by Bogyo » Sun Oct 31, 2021 6:50 am

JDJ26 wrote:The team still doesn't seem focused. Is there something going on behind the scenes?


Yeah. They did pull their heads out, but the focus / concentration is still not fully there as I see. Not sure if (and how much) should we be worried. At least we beat a team we were supposed to beat, that's a start I guess. But some of the plays, etc... are just still smh... CP missing 4 free throws? Wtf? Then again our D was good for some periods (when we got the lead and put them away).

Nice to see Jalen getting some burn, and providing the hustle, activeness and rebounding he did in sommer league and pre season (when he played). I guess he can be counted on for this stuff throughout the regular season. Hope he picks other useful stuff up along the way - and we see no more Frank the Tank. Maybe Frank can be this years Pat Burke? :)

Hope Ayton is OK. We only have our next game on the 3rd, but it's against the Pels. Bad team, but Val is there, so would be tough without DA.
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Re: Game 5: Cleveland Cavaliers (3-3) @ Phoenix Suns (1-3) l Saturday l 7:00pm l BSAZ 

Post#147 » by Revived » Sun Oct 31, 2021 8:24 am

This is gonna be a wash season imo. Suns are gonna be the exact same way the Miami Heat were last season. And for the same reason.
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Re: Game 5: Cleveland Cavaliers (3-3) @ Phoenix Suns (1-3) l Saturday l 7:00pm l BSAZ 

Post#148 » by sunsbg » Sun Oct 31, 2021 8:40 am

As long as they make the playoffs everything can happen. Too bad Ayton may be out after raising his play in last two games.
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Re: Game 5: Cleveland Cavaliers (3-3) @ Phoenix Suns (1-3) l Saturday l 7:00pm l BSAZ 

Post#149 » by Bogyo » Sun Oct 31, 2021 10:35 am

Revived wrote:This is gonna be a wash season imo. Suns are gonna be the exact same way the Miami Heat were last season. And for the same reason.


Hope not. CP (and this team) only has this season and next and CP ain't getting younger. Our team is deep(ish) we could sit and rest pretty much anybody for a hanful of games (a week or two depending on schedule, form, etc...) without much problems. Heck, we might already be seeing this with the Payne injury. This is a coaching issue as well. Monty's job.
Also if we would add another one or two players (vet min) those could help as well to overcome these fatigue and mental issues.
We have no time to waste, especially a full season.
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Re: Game 5: Cleveland Cavaliers (3-3) @ Phoenix Suns (1-3) l Saturday l 7:00pm l BSAZ 

Post#150 » by Saberestar » Sun Oct 31, 2021 10:57 am

A few nice things from this game:

Monty definitely has inserted Jalen Smith in the 10-man rotation. No more Nader for now and hopefully Smith can stablish himself in that role for the rest of the season.

Jalen played just OK, but that is enough for now. Minutes at PF in the first half and minutes at C in the second half with Ayton out.

CP3 and Book were themselves again. They played very well and looked physically in mid-season form to me.

Ayton dominated in his 24 minutes on the court. +30 and 17p-12r with great percentages and he was very active on defense.

The bench unit didn't play specially well but you can actually see their potential out there. Cam Johnson missed some easy shots for him and Shamet was too timid on offense yet but the ball movement was nice and they were playing selfless basketball.
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Re: Game 5: Cleveland Cavaliers (3-3) @ Phoenix Suns (1-3) l Saturday l 7:00pm l BSAZ 

Post#151 » by Slim Charless » Sun Oct 31, 2021 2:51 pm

I like the Ayton we've gotten the last 2 games. THAT guy is worth a max deal. He just needs to keep it up. Monty needs to let him freaking shoot the damn ball more too.
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Re: Game 5: Cleveland Cavaliers (3-3) @ Phoenix Suns (1-3) l Saturday l 7:00pm l BSAZ 

Post#152 » by Revived » Sun Oct 31, 2021 5:35 pm

Read on Twitter


Gotta imagine he stays in the rotation.
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Re: Game 5: Cleveland Cavaliers (3-3) @ Phoenix Suns (1-3) l Saturday l 7:00pm l BSAZ 

Post#153 » by Maze » Sun Oct 31, 2021 5:36 pm

Revived wrote:This is gonna be a wash season imo. Suns are gonna be the exact same way the Miami Heat were last season. And for the same reason.

I feel the same way.Maybe they'll wake up at some point.
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Re: Game 5: Cleveland Cavaliers (3-3) @ Phoenix Suns (1-3) l Saturday l 7:00pm l BSAZ 

Post#154 » by sunsbg » Sun Oct 31, 2021 6:07 pm

Maze wrote:
Revived wrote:This is gonna be a wash season imo. Suns are gonna be the exact same way the Miami Heat were last season. And for the same reason.

I feel the same way.Maybe they'll wake up at some point.


Revived was writing off the team mid-way during last season, so I like Suns chances to go to the finals again much better now. :lol:
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Re: Game 5: Cleveland Cavaliers (3-3) @ Phoenix Suns (1-3) l Saturday l 7:00pm l BSAZ 

Post#155 » by Revived » Sun Oct 31, 2021 6:16 pm

sunsbg wrote:
Maze wrote:
Revived wrote:This is gonna be a wash season imo. Suns are gonna be the exact same way the Miami Heat were last season. And for the same reason.

I feel the same way.Maybe they'll wake up at some point.


Revived was writing off the team mid-way during last season, so I like Suns chances to go to the finals again much better now. :lol:

Hope so man, if it works I’ll do it next year too then :lol:
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Re: Game 5: Cleveland Cavaliers (3-3) @ Phoenix Suns (1-3) l Saturday l 7:00pm l BSAZ 

Post#156 » by Revived » Sun Oct 31, 2021 7:01 pm

Read on Twitter


This play was crazy. I thought McGee jumped too early initially.
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Re: Game 5: Cleveland Cavaliers (3-3) @ Phoenix Suns (1-3) l Saturday l 7:00pm l BSAZ 

Post#157 » by bwgood77 » Sun Oct 31, 2021 7:37 pm

Saberestar wrote:A few nice things from this game:

Monty definitely has inserted Jalen Smith in the 10-man rotation. No more Nader for now and hopefully Smith can stablish himself in that role for the rest of the season.

Jalen played just OK, but that is enough for now. Minutes at PF in the first half and minutes at C in the second half with Ayton out.

CP3 and Book were themselves again. They played very well and looked physically in mid-season form to me.

Ayton dominated in his 24 minutes on the court. +30 and 17p-12r with great percentages and he was very active on defense.

The bench unit didn't play specially well but you can actually see their potential out there. Cam Johnson missed some easy shots for him and Shamet was too timid on offense yet but the ball movement was nice and they were playing selfless basketball.


I hope Jalen stays in the rotation but Monty seemed to indicate it was because of their size that he would be in it. But he definitely will be if Ayton is out. I hope he stays regardless though.
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Re: Game 5: Cleveland Cavaliers (3-3) @ Phoenix Suns (1-3) l Saturday l 7:00pm l BSAZ 

Post#158 » by bwgood77 » Sun Oct 31, 2021 7:40 pm

Ghost of Kleine wrote:
SunsRback4Good wrote:
RaisingArizona wrote:I don't think Shamet was the missing piece.


We can still sign the missing piece before the trade deadline.


Yeah! it's still early on, But so far his contract is not looking all that much of a bargain. Hopefully he catches on with strong consistency, Otherwise it will be a poor investment. A few more games I believe to make an informed decision on whether he should stay, Or be a trade candidate!

If he can't get it together, Then I'll again suggest Sam Merrill as his replacement. If you look at their comparison:

https://stathead.com/basketball/pcm_finder.cgi?player_id2=merrisa01&player_id1=shamela01&sum=0&request=1
Merrill is pretty much better across the board. So if he doesn't improve, We should definitely target him via trade at a fraction of the price. Only issue would be in that given his current salary, We'd likely have to take another contract back for ballast.
https://fanspo.com/nba/trade-machine
Something like Shamet for Merrill and Kris Dunn. For salary ballast.


I couldn't believe his contract when we gave it to him. He was worth the trade but that was a huge overpay. I was thinking maybe 3/$15 or something, not over double that.

I mean he's a sharp shooter who can score in other ways, but he can be streaky and doesn't do much else. Still a better backup behind Book than we had but not worth THAT salary we gave him.

Monty probably built him up too much. Obviously we wouldn't trade him for Merrill or at all or judge him too much after 5 games, and not a lot of minutes when we felt comfortable giving him all that money and for 4 years, but he better step up a little more.
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Re: Game 5: Cleveland Cavaliers (3-3) @ Phoenix Suns (1-3) l Saturday l 7:00pm l BSAZ 

Post#159 » by Ghost of Kleine » Sun Oct 31, 2021 8:37 pm

Slim Charless wrote:I like the Ayton we've gotten the last 2 games. THAT guy is worth a max deal. He just needs to keep it up. Monty needs to let him freaking shoot the damn ball more too.


To me personally,
I see it simply as a matter of keeping him engaged fully. Now most would probably say that's on him individually to remain engaged. But I'd disagree, And say that it's more a matter of us working to run the offense through him more and making him a focal point rather than running a guard centric style offense. Utilizing Ayton is just much better for our shooters to reestablish their potency on the perimeter due to the immense gravity he creates when the defenses are forced to collapse. But yes, Ayton WHEN UTILIZED CORRECTLY is absolutely worth the max. Although he still does have to working on his ballhandling ( ISO game) and his 3 pt shooting. :D

The big question is honestly whether or not the suns recognize and are willing to except this. Or will they continue to force the offense through Booker and Paul primarily with Ayton in a supplementary role?
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Re: Game 5: Cleveland Cavaliers (3-3) @ Phoenix Suns (1-3) l Saturday l 7:00pm l BSAZ 

Post#160 » by Ghost of Kleine » Sun Oct 31, 2021 9:07 pm

bwgood77 wrote:
Ghost of Kleine wrote:
SunsRback4Good wrote:
We can still sign the missing piece before the trade deadline.


Yeah! it's still early on, But so far his contract is not looking all that much of a bargain. Hopefully he catches on with strong consistency, Otherwise it will be a poor investment. A few more games I believe to make an informed decision on whether he should stay, Or be a trade candidate!

If he can't get it together, Then I'll again suggest Sam Merrill as his replacement. If you look at their comparison:

https://stathead.com/basketball/pcm_finder.cgi?player_id2=merrisa01&player_id1=shamela01&sum=0&request=1
Merrill is pretty much better across the board. So if he doesn't improve, We should definitely target him via trade at a fraction of the price. Only issue would be in that given his current salary, We'd likely have to take another contract back for ballast.
https://fanspo.com/nba/trade-machine
Something like Shamet for Merrill and Kris Dunn. For salary ballast.


I couldn't believe his contract when we gave it to him. He was worth the trade but that was a huge overpay. I was thinking maybe 3/$15 or something, not over double that.

I mean he's a sharp shooter who can score in other ways, but he can be streaky and doesn't do much else. Still a better backup behind Book than we had but not worth THAT salary we gave him.

Monty probably built him up too much. Obviously we wouldn't trade him for Merrill or at all or judge him too much after 5 games, and not a lot of minutes when we felt comfortable giving him all that money and for 4 years, but he better step up a little more.


Good points of course. And for sure I also think that he'll pull himself into form. I might have been a bit salty from diluting myself that Shamet would be impactful right away. And aside from my obvious Merrill infatuation, I agree that I can't see the suns making that deal after the contract they gave him, along with Monty's affinity towards him.

I do have concerns though ( even though it's a small sample size) that what little he's shown so far may allude to the reason he's been on so many teams in such a short span of time and constantly been traded. I mean if he's really that good and the consensus on him is wrong, Then why hasn't he stuck with anyone yet?? Again, I do hope that he proves people wrong on this. Because if he doesn't, it'll reflect pretty poorly on our front office for giving him that deal. Perception softened though once everyone realizes that the final two years aren't fully guaranteed! Still the first two years might absent of him showing out, might be a hard sell. :-?
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