Suns updates and discussion for the 2019-20 season

[BC867]

Kellan Olson talks about .5 on Burns and Gambo as well.

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A half a second to pass, dribble or shoot. That is dynamic!

No more tiny ball handlers dribbling the ball around trying
to decide what to do while the opposing defense sets up.

Or to draw all of the attention to our best scorer, Booker,
as the play starts.

Thanks, Maiinstreet, for sharing that interview. It is going
to be exciting watching it develop.

 

[Adrian]

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[ArizonaSportsFan]

A half a second to pass, dribble or shoot. That is dynamic!

No more tiny ball handlers dribbling the ball around trying
to decide what to do while the opposing defense sets up.

Or to draw all of the attention to our best scorer, Booker,
as the play starts.

Thanks, Maiinstreet, for sharing that interview. It is going
to be exciting watching it develop.

The Suns coaches have been talking about .5 for a long time. SSOL is a similar concept. Earl Watson was preaching .5 offense. Even KoKo was preaching it last season (yes, the words ".5 offense", and "blender"). Source: Dave King, on the latest Suns Solar Panel podcast.

Preaching it, and having the guys to do it, are different things. This season it is probably an actual feasible goal. I am hoping, at least.

 

[Adrian]

98.7 Arizona Sports (@AZSports)
10/10/19, 9:59 AM
0.5 seconds or less. That's the philosophy around the #Suns offense this season. arizonasports.com/story/2114501/…

 

[95pro]

Booker would be the biggest factor in 0.5

 

[ArizonaSportsFan]

Being the best shooter, playmaker, and passer last season, he was playing .5. It is just that every decision after .5 seconds was "get the ball to Booker"...

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Being the best shooter, playmaker, and passer last season, he was playing .5. It is just that every decision after .5 seconds was "get the ball to Booker"...

He was definitely not playing .5. I love me some book but he pounded and pounded the rock to the point of semiregularly getting trapped. If you’re driving, shooting or passing within .5 seconds there’s no ability for a trap to occur.

 

[95pro]

Hope Booker buys into it and can trust to give up the ball to his teammates.

 

[ArizonaSportsFan]

He was definitely not playing .5. I love me some book but he pounded and pounded the rock to the point of semiregularly getting trapped. If you’re driving, shooting or passing within .5 seconds there’s no ability for a trap to occur.

I agree with you. I was being facetious.

 

[Hoop Head]

I like the .5 stuff but I want to see more P&R with Rubio and Ayton. It's a money play that is finally being done right. I want to see that done so much that opponents send an extra defender to stop it immediately so we can start seeing variations of it, pick & pop's, passing out to open shooters, and seeing Rubio keep it. I'd also like to see some pick & pop with Booker and Saric. I'd like to see them try to get Saric more involved.

Minnesota was 1 game but it gave us a lot to look for, finally, and being able to see guys in action after theorizing so much was great. I'm fine with playing fast but I think playing too fast isn't the best way to utilize some mismatches that are created naturally with this squad. Ayton vs damn near anyone, Booker drawing doubles and having NBA talent on the court to bail him out, seeing Rubio create a little more beyond just getting Ayton going.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I didn't get to see much of this game but the stats worry me some. The numbers suggest that Ayton did most of his damage against Vonleh and that we were outmatched when Towns (+19) was on the court. Is that what others saw?

 

[Phrazbit]

I didn't get to see much of this game but the stats worry me some. The numbers suggest that Ayton did most of his damage against Vonleh and that we were outmatched when Towns (+19) was on the court. Is that what others saw?

No, Ayton put up 8 and 8 in his first shift of the game, entirely vs Towns.

 

[Adrian]

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[Proximo]

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Third year options?

I thought the only options on rookie contracts were fifth year options

 

[Adrian]

Third year options?

I thought the only options on rookie contracts were fifth year options

This is what I found out about third year options on a rookie contract.
www.cbafaq.com/scale17.htm

 

[Adrian]

https://arizonasports.com/story/211...ck-up-options-on-deandre-ayton-mikal-bridges/

 

[AzStevenCal]

No, Ayton put up 8 and 8 in his first shift of the game, entirely vs Towns.

I'm not sure why I put that post in this thread instead of the Minnesota game thread (where I thought I put it). Anyway, when I didn't get any action on my comment I checked out the Minnesota game day thread on RGM and they seemed to see it the way I did.

At least one Wolves poster asserted that Ayton did all his damage against Vonleh and others mentioned that Towns dominated the game when he was on the court. Like I said, I didn't see any of the first half but it is hard to explain Towns minutes/level of success and us winning while Karl was a +19 in just 18 minutes of game time and Vonleh was a -23 in his 14 minutes. I'd much rather believe that Ayton (+5 in a game decided by 5 points) dominated the game and his opponent when he was on the court but the numbers really do suggest something else.

 

[Mainstreet]

The shocker would have been if the Suns had not picked up the third year options on Ayton and Bridges.

This is what their contracts look like:

https://hoopshype.com/player/deandre-ayton/salary/

https://hoopshype.com/player/mikal-bridges/salary/

 

[Hoop Head]

I didn't get to see much of this game but the stats worry me some. The numbers suggest that Ayton did most of his damage against Vonleh and that we were outmatched when Towns (+19) was on the court. Is that what others saw?

I didn't see that. I missed the 1st quarter but saw from the 2nd on. Ayton and Towns were going back and forth. It didn't appear to me that Ayton was doing anything because he had an easy matchup.

I'm not sure why I put that post in this thread instead of the Minnesota game thread (where I thought I put it). Anyway, when I didn't get any action on my comment I checked out the Minnesota game day thread on RGM and they seemed to see it the way I did.

At least one Wolves poster asserted that Ayton did all his damage against Vonleh and others mentioned that Towns dominated the game when he was on the court. Like I said, I didn't see any of the first half but it is hard to explain Towns minutes/level of success and us winning while Karl was a +19 in just 18 minutes of game time and Vonleh was a -23 in his 14 minutes. I'd much rather believe that Ayton (+5 in a game decided by 5 points) dominated the game and his opponent when he was on the court but the numbers really do suggest something else.

I missed the 1st quarter but from what I saw of the game, Ayton didn't play against KAT much in the 2nd quarter because Towns wasn't on the court when I was watching. Towns played more in the 2nd half when Ayton was basically done, which helped his +/- numbers. I can't speak to the 1st quarter at all but I didn't see anyone dominate Ayton or Ayton dominate anyone. I'm fairly certain that KAT logged at least 4-5 minutes in the 3rd after Ayton had gone to the bench for the night. I don't recall the score but that would help Towns' plus/minus since he was going against Diallo and Kaminsky then.

When they were on the court together in the 2nd quarter, KAT was running around on the perimeter like a wing and wasn't guarded by Ayton, who was in the paint area playing against either Dieng or Vonleh, I can't remember which one it was but neither did much of anything. I don't blame Coach for having Ayton stay inside at that point because Saric shouldn't be guarding the rim while Ayton tries to play Towns on the perimeter. KAT will get his out there, regardless of who is guarding him, so just keep Ayton inside for boards and discouraging drives.

I watched from about the halfway point in the 2nd quarter up until 3 or so minutes were left and the game was basically over. That was some ugly basketball at the end with Harper, Diallo, and Tariq Owens sharing the floor at the end. I couldn't take it any longer after Owens launched his 2nd bad, and contested, deep shot. Okobo looked good in the 4th up until then, shame he got stuck with those scrubs because you could tell why they were G-Leaguers. Never thought Okobo would standout compared to G-League guys but he did at the end there.

 

[Adrian]

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[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

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Blah blah blah. Get to the charity stripe.

 

[SirStefan32]

Blah blah blah. Get to the charity stripe.

Agreed! He is a talker. Less talking, more action.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Blah blah blah. Get to the charity stripe.

I usually try to cut young players some slack, but his interior defense is really atrocious--especially help defense. I am not saying anything new here. We all know it.

Just watch nearly every Nugget offensive highlight in this and pay attention to Ayton's, defense (its a stretch to call it that).

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[95pro]

Like i said, scripted, rehearsed to say the right thing, he's a stat stuffer! He really is a soft 3/4 playing center.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Agreed! He is a talker. Less talking, more action.

I third this notion!