Raptors @ Suns Monday game thread 1-30-2023

OP
OP
Mainstreet

Mainstreet

Cruisin' Mainstreet
Supporting Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2003
Posts
112,537
Reaction score
51,770
Final:

Suns 114 - Raptors 106
 
OP
OP
Mainstreet

Mainstreet

Cruisin' Mainstreet
Supporting Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2003
Posts
112,537
Reaction score
51,770
Now we will see if James Jones and Masai Ujiri worked out a trade when they walked out together through the tunnel.
 

DJ Tabooh

Hall of Famer
Joined
Jul 14, 2021
Posts
1,073
Reaction score
877
Location
Austin, TX
It may have taken Bridges some time to find his place with all these injuries. However, can anybody say he hasn’t stepped it up? This isn’t a 2 or 3 game streak. This is now been going on for nearly a month. Holy crap!
It’s all a matter of confidence. Mikal is capable at times, but he often drifts in games and doesn’t always stand out. If we had Book, CP3 and DA doing what they’re capable of, it wouldn’t matter. But I just want him to be aggressive.

Shots are gonna come and go. But he needs to show a willingness to not disappear and just trust himself. He’s a really good player and borderline all-star when he plays like he did tonight.
 

Cheesebeef

ASFN IDOL
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2003
Posts
88,096
Reaction score
60,376
It may have taken Bridges some time to find his place with all these injuries. However, can anybody say he hasn’t stepped it up? This isn’t a 2 or 3 game streak. This is now been going on for nearly a month. Holy crap!
I’ll be happy as a clam with my mouth closed shut like one too if he keeps this up.
 
Last edited:

clyde2tw

Veteran
Joined
Jan 27, 2023
Posts
463
Reaction score
494
Location
abroad
Coach's substituion plan worked well this game. Both Lees had more confidence to shoot the ball, Okogie drove more instead of shooting and missing 3s. Monty paid attention there, which is effective.
 

Covert Rain

Father smelt of elderberries!
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2005
Posts
33,983
Reaction score
11,798
Location
Arizona
I’ll be happy as a clam with my mouth closed shut like one too if he keeps this up.
I am happy now. I expect that when Book comes back there will be a ton less balls to go around. Especially, if CP3 stays aggressive.
 

Phrazbit

ASFN Icon
Joined
Oct 10, 2011
Posts
19,562
Reaction score
10,282
Fun game, one of Monty's better coached ones in recent memory.

Outside of that run Toronto had at the start of the 3rd, we made a lot of good adjustments and the timeouts and substitutions were well done.
 

Finito

ASFN Icon
Joined
Oct 23, 2005
Posts
20,906
Reaction score
13,586
It’s all a matter of confidence. Mikal is capable at times, but he often drifts in games and doesn’t always stand out. If we had Book, CP3 and DA doing what they’re capable of, it wouldn’t matter. But I just want him to be aggressive.

Shots are gonna come and go. But he needs to show a willingness to not disappear and just trust himself. He’s a really good player and borderline all-star when he plays like he did tonight.

Yeah last night was a perfect example of Bridges. 23 points at half times and finishes the game with 29 points.

Completely disappeared in the second half, but it’s Bridges so Suns Twitter and Reddit are filled with Bridges is a legit option talk. Literally 2 baskets in the second half of a close game.

I feel like I’m going crazy
 

AzStevenCal

ASFN IDOL
Supporting Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2004
Posts
35,866
Reaction score
14,554
Yeah last night was a perfect example of Bridges. 23 points at half times and finishes the game with 29 points.

Completely disappeared in the second half, but it’s Bridges so Suns Twitter and Reddit are filled with Bridges is a legit option talk. Literally 2 baskets in the second half of a close game.

I feel like I’m going crazy
Why is it that the a few of the most outspoken Mikal critics are also the biggest Ayton supporters? Why is it when DA goes for 21 points all in the first quarter, it's the team's fault that he doesn't score again but with Bridges it's because he completely disappeared? Never mind that he had a couple of crucial late game baskets that helped stop Toronto's momentum and put us back up by 3.

Bridges isn't a "legit option" if by that you mean the kind of scorer that can be counted on to carry the offense when the defense decides to take him out of the scoring. To shut Booker down you usually need to have a strong defender on him with 2 or 3 help defenders hovering. To shut Bridges down, all you need is a strong defender with maybe one help defender hovering. To shut Ayton down, all you need to do is wait and he'll shut himself down.
 

Dback Jon

Killer Snail
Moderator
Supporting Member
Joined
May 14, 2002
Posts
75,794
Reaction score
32,527
Location
Scottsdale
Yeah last night was a perfect example of Bridges. 23 points at half times and finishes the game with 29 points.

Completely disappeared in the second half, but it’s Bridges so Suns Twitter and Reddit are filled with Bridges is a legit option talk. Literally 2 baskets in the second half of a close game.

I feel like I’m going crazy
If Bridges had 6 points in the first half, but 23 in the second, what is the narrative?
 

Covert Rain

Father smelt of elderberries!
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2005
Posts
33,983
Reaction score
11,798
Location
Arizona
Yeah last night was a perfect example of Bridges. 23 points at half times and finishes the game with 29 points.

Completely disappeared in the second half, but it’s Bridges so Suns Twitter and Reddit are filled with Bridges is a legit option talk. Literally 2 baskets in the second half of a close game.

I feel like I’m going crazy
You are going crazy because basketball is a game of runs and adjustments. At the end of the night, I don't care where someone's points came from or when. If they dropped 30 points they dropped 30 points. Those 30 points would be critical to the win. Teams start doubling or switching their best defensive players when someone is hot. We have seen them do it to CP3, Book etc. However, Ayton is a tad different. Many teams simply don't have anybody that can match up with Ayton or his size. We see it all the time. Ayton missing wide open jumpers left and right isn't someone shutting Ayton down.

The only time it's frustrating for me is when someone puts up huge points, the game comes down to a basket and that person misses a wide-open shot. THAT can be frustrating, but chances are without that persons 30 you wouldn't be in the game anyway. Some people lack overall perspective and are in what did you do for me in the last-minute mode.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

I'm better than Mulli!
Joined
Sep 16, 2002
Posts
59,876
Reaction score
51,168
Location
SoCal
Yeah last night was a perfect example of Bridges. 23 points at half times and finishes the game with 29 points.

Completely disappeared in the second half, but it’s Bridges so Suns Twitter and Reddit are filled with Bridges is a legit option talk. Literally 2 baskets in the second half of a close game.

I feel like I’m going crazy
I was pretty shocked how few he shot in the second half considering he was all bottoms in the first.
 

Cheesebeef

ASFN IDOL
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2003
Posts
88,096
Reaction score
60,376
Why is it that the a few of the most outspoken Mikal critics are also the biggest Ayton supporters? Why is it when DA goes for 21 points all in the first quarter, it's the team's fault that he doesn't score again but with Bridges it's because he completely disappeared? Never mind that he had a couple of crucial late game baskets that helped stop Toronto's momentum and put us back up by 3.

Bridges isn't a "legit option" if by that you mean the kind of scorer that can be counted on to carry the offense when the defense decides to take him out of the scoring. To shut Booker down you usually need to have a strong defender on him with 2 or 3 help defenders hovering. To shut Bridges down, all you need is a strong defender with maybe one help defender hovering. To shut Ayton down, all you need to do is wait and he'll shut himself down.
As an outspoken critic of both, I find it very bizarre that some don’t see the similar issues in both players games.
 

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
534,761
Posts
5,246,043
Members
6,273
Latest member
sarahmoose
Top