Road to a Championship start here, 2022 Draft.

[Whole Truth]

Give Ayton credit, Jonas needs to play better.

[Whole Truth]

Most bigs throw hip checks on their screens, in a close game you call a Crowder flop on a good screen..LMAO

In a tough spot. Love basketball, hate manipulated competition.

Maybe it's time to see if I can like baseball.

Good luck NO's

[Duke4life831]

A positive way to look at tonight is Ayton had a career game, CP3 went god mode in the 4th, and the Suns barely won.

With that said, I hope Willie finds a way to slow down CP3 getting wide open mid range shots at will. I think the game plan will have to be blitzing him constantly and letting the others beat the Pels.

Also I think its time that both Willie and BI come out and say if we are going anywhere its going to be on BI's shoulders. So far 3 games into the series CJ has taken 9 more shots (scored 11 less points). That needs to come to an end. No more 19 shots a game for BI. He needs to be going 25 shots per game and when he's on the floor the offense runs through him every possession. He moves the ball well enough where everyone will still get their touches and CJ will still be able to get 17-19 shots a game.

But ya BI is just too good at the moment. The offense just flows better when its being run through him at the moment.

[Whole Truth]

A positive way to look at tonight is Ayton had a career game, CP3 went god mode in the 4th, and the Suns barely won.

With that said, I hope Willie finds a way to slow down CP3 getting wide open mid range shots at will. I think the game plan will have to be blitzing him constantly and letting the others beat the Pels.

Also I think its time that both Willie and BI come out and say if we are going anywhere its going to be on BI's shoulders. So far 3 games into the series CJ has taken 9 more shots (scored 11 less points). That needs to come to an end. No more 19 shots a game for BI. He needs to be going 25 shots per game and when he's on the floor the offense runs through him every possession. He moves the ball well enough where everyone will still get their touches and CJ will still be able to get 17-19 shots a game.

But ya BI is just too good at the moment. The offense just flows better when its being run through him at the moment.

They exploited CJ & Jonas. If Paul is getting what he wants, Ayton will be getting his aswell this is part reason why I was not in favor of the CJ trade defensively. Not surprisingly, both Ayton & CP3 had good games but it's not why they ultimately won.

Suns won the game by 3pts & the 2nd Q by 12pts

8:19 mark Jonas is fouled at the rim trying to put the ball back, ruled side out of bounds instead of FT's, Pels 37-34. Instead of Jonas on the line for 2, he's then called for a charge on Crowder who IMO gave him no space to land, offensive TO intead of FT's, Suns score. This would have opened a 5pt lead & given momentum. Instead a lost possession sequence, 4pt swing

5 min mark, Hayes is ejected for a play they gave Cameron a regular foul just the game before. Rewind game 2 to his 2nd or 3rd personal. He jumps into his defender & throws the shoulder forearm trying to initiate contact. The Only differences being offball & Crowder charging Hayes in respionse. Refs take a dumb foul by Hayes & seize opportunity to eject someone everyone knew impacted game 2... Turning point.. Suns 45-44 after Crowder makes his 2 techs.

4:32 Paul clearly hooks Alvarado baseline but draws a foul instead. Next possession, now being in the penalty, he goes to the line on a rip through on what should have been an offensive foul & TO on Paul. Suns 47-45 after he makes his 2 FT's. If you're keeping score on these 2 highlighted plays in a Q Suns won by 12 & game by 3, these 4 calls on 2 possessions are an 8pt swing.

- Alvarado offensive charge. Crowder makes layup 51-45

- Jonas leaves the game at the 2:28 min mark & the score is 51-46 with the refs swinging 2 possessions in favor of Suns, so Ayton's big first half resulted in a 5 pt lead when Jonas exited, including the extra interference.

- Graham fouls 2 FT's

End of half (59 - 48). In the closing 5 min span after the Paul hook ignored & rip through calls, Alvardo's charge, Nance travel, Graham foul, led to a Suns 15-4 run to close the half, lots of refs influence.. Had me chirping & studying whether to watch the 2nd half.

Pels win the 3rd Q & get the game to within 2 after going down 11.

1 possession game heading into the 4th. Suns have another 7-2 call advantage down the stretch run.

10min mark Pels tie the game 83-83, next possession Paul 2 FT's, fair call

8:33 Alvarado makes a layup 88-86, next possession he's called for a foul on a clean strip. Fortunately Suns didn't score but it stopped a fast break opportunity with Pels up 2. BS call kept the ball in Suns hands.

4:33 After Paul makes a jumper, Suns go up 96-93, next possession, in a one possession game late, Jonas is called for a moving screen on a Crowder flop, offensive TO, where even the announcer managed to call it into question. Paul makes jumper it's now a 2 possession game. BS call. All the illegal screens being set across the league they call an offensive on a good screen in a close game, you understand why ... Suns score off the TO making it a 2 possession game.

3:33 Ingram pulls it to a 1 possession game again, next possession Nance fouls, Corwder makes it 100-95 & that was game.

I posted the plays to specifically show, with every good play NO's made down the stretch the response was impacted by officiating, In a Q Suns had a 7-2 advantage.

All that to basically say, Suns didn't win this one on their own.

[Whole Truth]

Shame because this has the makings to be a good series.

[Whole Truth]

The 1-5 matchup Siuns are exploiting.

Ayton vs Jonas
Paul vs CJ

Last game Ayton had a big game, Jonas was invisible.

Ayton had 28pts on 20 shots & he did much better on the boards with 17 eliminating some of NO's control on the boards.

Jonas had all of 5 shots 3 off of 5 offensive boards as he was attacked on the defensive end with Paul getting where he wants. Teams want to take away Jonas ability to impact the game offensively & attack him defensively. Problem is, Suns don't have too. Since trading for CJ, Jonas touches & involvement has dropped drastically. That would be fine if those touches were more efficient. They aren't or haven't been.

CJ (11-23) 2 TO's for 7 assists
BI (11-19) 2 TO for 2 assists
Jonas (1-5) 2 off 5 offensive boards.

While defensively, Paul is getting where he wants & setting up Ayton where he wants to be. CJ is doing half the Suns job taking Jonas out the game for less efficiency while CJ is also not the best perimeter defender on the team.

First 3 games vs Suns

CJ = (23-66) 8 TO's for 21 assists, a near 2-1 TO rate when he decides to try & facilitate.
Paul = (27-50) 2TO's for 38 assists, a 19-1 TO rate, shows he's not being disrutped, 0 TO's in his last 2 games.

Here's where I'd like to show how many of Ayton's looks were set up with Pauls 19-1 assist rate but don't know where to find it.
Jonas = (12-35) 49 boards, 21 offensive, (12-28) adjusted for missed tips/put bacls
Ayton = (27-41) 35 boards, 7 offensive

Jonas 12 made shots in 3 games is well off his efficiency & scoring average. Suns are a good defensive team but CJ is looking for his shot taking 66 attempts so far with a near 2-1 TO rate through 3 games, is a good reason why.

I don't want to rag on CJ seems like a good person & Jonas has his share of the blame in this matchup but this story has a familiar narrative. "Jonas is the problem while the volume gaurd, shooting inefficiently (23-68) for the series, while playing no D & not facilitating (21 assits to 8 TO's) vs Paul (38 assits to 2 TO's) isn't. A good part of why Ayton is out playing Jonas, is the Paul, CJ matchup on both ends.

If I was Green, I'd try to separate the 2 more, stagger the lineups more. Put Jonas on McGee more, with Alvardo facilitating him. Get Nance ability to guard in space to cover for CJ not being able to pressure the perimeter. Which Green has done at points. Maybe consider starting Nance ?.

[Whole Truth]

Short summary of the post

BI should be getting the most shot attempts
Jonas shouldn't be averaging 5 attempts, when his strength is his offensive efficiency
CJ has to get his teammates better involved being the primary ball handler & veteran presence.

I realize the Suns have a very good defensive team but 66 attempts through 3 games suggests a scoring G, trying to be a scoring G.

Pauls 38 asstist, 19-1 TO rate showing he's getting everything he wants & to where he wants.

Jonas needs to play better also but he's not THE problem.

[Whole Truth]

Just saw some comments about how Pels had a 31-27 FT advantage, LMAO. Talk about simple MF's

Refs have patterns in the way a game is officiated. Everything they did in this match was to do 2 things, Prevent NO's runs & theur crowd from getting involved.

This is why I showed above every play NO's made in the 4th Q was followed by a foul, listed both good & bad calls, it disrupts the flow of the game, takes the crowd out of a free flowing game & slows it down for Paul.

Watch the run aspect of it... Alvarado brings in energy makes a 2 for Pels to take the lead, comes back & strips the ball from a Suns player, they call a foul & Alvarado is like where was the contact. Up 2 he jars the ball loose, with no call as it should have been, he heads down for a transition basket, the fans get involved, Pels get a little momentum late, 2 possession game ....

A ref can litterally call so many things at any given time. Big men set all kinds of illegal screens across the league but they call a flop on a good screen in a one possession game late 4th which even the commentator had to pause, which ended up giving the Suns a 2 possession lead. Watch these described plays in their entirety & how they impacted the momentum of both teams.

Understand it... There's a clear pattern of behaviour & intent.

[Whole Truth]

Too bad Crowder didn't break his neck on that flop. CJ drained the 3, flop awarded 5pt swing.

Crowder 2nd flop awarded, 4 pt swing.

Crowder 3rd flop on Ingram, ignored, finally. Pels down 2 going into the half.

Crowder flopping for fouls is because he knows he's getting the calls.. which he doesn't deserve.

[Whole Truth]

Pels should trying running into screens & throwing themselves on the floor.. seems to work for Crowder.

That's not basketball.. It's shameful behavior, encouraged by rewarding it.

[akiman911]

Val beastn


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Whole Truth]

Nice bounce back game from Jonas - (9-15) 26 / 15 / 4 (5 offensive boards) team high +19. Makes a difference when he gets more than 5 touches partly due to his offensive rebounding.

Another great showing by BI. Both he & Herb are making names for themselves in this series & I'm loving every bit of it.

CJ another 8-21 (2-9 3pt) shooting night 2 TO's for 2 assists. A little too much hero ball led to some Suns runs in this game. He's now shooting ((31-87) with 10 TO's for 23 assits, 2-1 assist to TO rate.

Joseeee, Jose, Jose Jose.

Pels got a friendly whistle in this one despite Crowder earning 16pts on his flops & Paul not being ejected for intentionally swiping Herb's head. I guess that head shot is less flagrant than a Hayes shove, LMAO..

[Whole Truth]

If CJ has an efficient game it would be nice. Suns have been living off his inefficiency, high assist to TO rate & lack of defense. NO's need him to step up.. he does & Suns are cooked.

[Duke4life831]

If CJ has an efficient game it would be nice. Suns have been living off his inefficiency, high assist to TO rate & lack of defense. NO's need him to step up.. he does & Suns are cooked.

Ya that has to be a pretty big positive for the Pels. 3 out of the 4 games CJ has shot in the 30% range and its still a 2-2 series.

BI is great and showing the rest of the league that he is THAT guy. Loved how he had 20 shots going into the 4th. They need to stop with BI and CJ being 1a and 1b when it comes to the shot differential, BI needs to be #1 on the team in attempts every game.

In all honesty it should be closer of CJ and JV being 2a and 2b, then CJ being in the top tier with BI. Feeding JV early in the 4th was really something else to watch. When he is on like he was tonight, ya he's 2b to CJ's 2a. Because that dynamic of tossing it down to him and letting him just go to work is a great switch up for the offense, especially when BI isnt on the court.

[Whole Truth]

If CJ has an efficient game it would be nice. Suns have been living off his inefficiency, high assist to TO rate & lack of defense. NO's need him to step up.. he does & Suns are cooked.

Ya that has to be a pretty big positive for the Pels. 3 out of the 4 games CJ has shot in the 30% range and its still a 2-2 series.

BI is great and showing the rest of the league that he is THAT guy. Loved how he had 20 shots going into the 4th. They need to stop with BI and CJ being 1a and 1b when it comes to the shot differential, BI needs to be #1 on the team in attempts every game.

In all honesty it should be closer of CJ and JV being 2a and 2b, then CJ being in the top tier with BI. Feeding JV early in the 4th was really something else to watch. When he is on like he was tonight, ya he's 2b to CJ's 2a. Because that dynamic of tossing it down to him and letting him just go to work is a great switch up for the offense, especially when BI isnt on the court.

Jonas high low feeds to Ingram was good too, props to Green for the adjustment.

I mean, Jonas strength as a player is his efficiency, he's not a good defender in space. Getting 5 shots, with half coming off of offensive rebounds, while being constantly attacked defensively there was no rythym to his game. A big reason for the Suns big men dominance last game. CJ was forcing his offense, Paul was setting his big men up.

Notice CJ's playing time in the 4th. As BI became the facilitator & Green complimented Jonas with the defensive play of the rookies.

I hate to say it because I like CJ but with him focing his offense, the rookies are playing with more composure at the moment. CJ should be using the fact he's drawing the attention he is to get his teammates more open looks. Instead his 2-1 ATO is a result of passing to bail himself out from over dribbling apposed to being calculated in using the attention he's garnering as a scorer. This not factoring he's another weak link in the chain defensively.

I don't have stats nor do I know how to find specific numbets. Jonas is an excellent roll man, how many times has CJ used him as such in this series, more less this game ?. I'm just seeing more often than not CJ trying to ISO & force his offense, when getting Jonas involved would open up space for him & Jonas.

Pels have so many areas they can significantly improve upon. Like hitting their FT's. 10 left on the line in a 17pt blow out.

[Whole Truth]

You know what's funny to me. The team working the officials & shamelessly flopping because they're getting calls, is the team crying about the officiating because of FT discrepency which initself is not proof of bias.

Monty needs to look at the tape. Suns fans, show me 2 foul calls Pels got they didn't deserve, I'll raise you 4 Crowder flops awarded leading to a 15pt swing. Tell me Hayes deserved to be ejected in game 3 for a shove after showing his importance in game 2, where Suns had their biggest run of the game 3 as a result, I'll raise you CP3 hitting Herb in the head with intent after their altercation with him being too important to foul out game 4, with the game still in potential reach.

Suns, Monty, need to work the refs & flop... they not winning this series on their own.

I'm mad as **** because Pels should be going back to Pheonix up 3-1 not 2-2.

[Whole Truth]

(Top 4 pick Smith) - Jonas/Hermangomez
Point Zion - Hayes/Nance
Herb - Murphy/Naji
(8th pick Mathurin) - CJ/Graham
Point BI - Alvarado/Kira

[Duke4life831]

If CJ has an efficient game it would be nice. Suns have been living off his inefficiency, high assist to TO rate & lack of defense. NO's need him to step up.. he does & Suns are cooked.

Ya that has to be a pretty big positive for the Pels. 3 out of the 4 games CJ has shot in the 30% range and its still a 2-2 series.

BI is great and showing the rest of the league that he is THAT guy. Loved how he had 20 shots going into the 4th. They need to stop with BI and CJ being 1a and 1b when it comes to the shot differential, BI needs to be #1 on the team in attempts every game.

In all honesty it should be closer of CJ and JV being 2a and 2b, then CJ being in the top tier with BI. Feeding JV early in the 4th was really something else to watch. When he is on like he was tonight, ya he's 2b to CJ's 2a. Because that dynamic of tossing it down to him and letting him just go to work is a great switch up for the offense, especially when BI isnt on the court.

Jonas high low feeds to Ingram was good too, props to Green for the adjustment.

I mean, Jonas strength as a player is his efficiency, he's not a good defender in space. Getting 5 shots, with half coming off of offensive rebounds, while being constantly attacked defensively there was no rythym to his game. A big reason for the Suns big men dominance last game. CJ was forcing his offense, Paul was setting his big men up.

Notice CJ's playing time in the 4th. As BI became the facilitator & Green complimented Jonas with the defensive play of the rookies.

I hate to say it because I like CJ but with him focing his offense, the rookies are playing with more composure at the moment. CJ should be using the fact he's drawing the attention he is to get his teammates more open looks. Instead his 2-1 ATO is a result of passing to bail himself out from over dribbling apposed to being calculated in using the attention he's garnering as a scorer. This not factoring he's another weak link in the chain defensively.

I don't have stats nor do I know how to find specific numbets. Jonas is an excellent roll man, how many times has CJ used him as such in this series, more less this game ?. I'm just seeing more often than not CJ trying to ISO & force his offense, when getting Jonas involved would open up space for him & Jonas.

Pels have so many areas they can significantly improve upon. Like hitting their FT's. 10 left on the line in a 17pt blow out.

Yup I thought it was very noticeable that CJ didn't play the entire 4th like he normally does. This is why I've been on the GB saying the ideal scenario is moving CJ to the 6th man role next year when Zion is back. If it wasn't clear before it is now, the plan shouldn't be to get a PG to play with BI and Zion. The plan should be maximize the amount of time you have the ball in BI's and Zion's hands. Having 3 guys out there at once that want the ball doesn't work. You can do it with 2, but you can't do it with 3. And if you do that and relegate CJ to more of a off ball catch and shoot guy, it would be much better to replace him in the starting lineup with a guard with size who can shoot and defend (Mathurin or AJ like you and I have been saying for awhile).

And to be clear I like CJ as well and he is a huge reason the Pels were able to make the playoffs. But with Zion back, a starting lineup of the 3 just doesn't really make that much sense.

And ya BI and CJ's assists come in a very different way. BI's assists come much more in the flow of the offense, while CJ's is more of a dribbling the air out of the ball then a late kick out.

I agree that BI and JV have nice chemistry. I just hope that when BI sits, we continue to see a CJ/JV attack, not just a CJ attack oriented offense. JV most nights can be pretty good down low and it gets PHX in foul trouble pretty quick.

[Whole Truth]

I have nothing to add to that Duke, in complete agreement as usual.

NO's are coming out this draft luck or not with either an upgrade & future C top 4 or a 3&D upside wing/guard at 8.

[Whole Truth]

Jonas was fouled alot in this game but they are calls he doesn't usually get. Friendly whistle for sure. but alot of the calls were correct despite the discrepancy,.

It could have been worse if Crowder wasn't rewarded for flopping all over the court.