Suns @ Celtics Saturday game thread 1-18-20

1Sun

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I agree with this, however we are not as deep as the teams ahead of us in the standings. We need to build this roster, no doubt.

Sadly, the 2019 draft appears to have been a total waste. Not a single player acquired that evening, with the remotely possible exception of Jalen Lecque, appears to have any future here whatsoever. And we gave up a future draft pick on top of that. Very reminiscent of the debacle that was the 2016 draft.
 

1Sun

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It doesn't help when we were missing a starter (Oubre) and 2 decent bench players (Kaminsky and Cam)

Kaminsky might provide some erratic offense. Frankly, we are better off with Cam not being available.
 

1Sun

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Ya they would have helped but we are not a deep team at all, when you look at our games basically unless we have atleast 3 starters go off we don't win , we need to make a trade for some depth if we want any hope at making a run at the 8th seed this year

We need a starting power forward even more.

As of right now, Booker, Ayton, Oubre, Bridges and Rubio are the only real NBA players we have on the roster.
 

1Sun

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Kudos to Saric, often an unsung player, for playing 37 minutes getting 13 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists.

Suns needed everything he brought to the table tonight.

To his credit, Saric does have a game like this from time to time...like once every 2-3 weeks. It helped that Boston's line-up was tiny. Inability to jump isn't as bad of a disadvantage when you have 5 inches on your opponent...
 

82CardsGrad

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Tremendous win! Yes, the Celtics were missing Kemba & Brown, but we were playing without Oubre and Cam... OK, Boston was missing more firepower than we were, but, Boston is more talented across the entire roster and we were in Boston...
I honestly don't care at all that the Celtics made it tight in the end...bottom line is the team found the way to battle long enough and well enough to get the W. And I am certain this game will serve as another growth and learning oppty for this young team.
Ayton was flat-out balling once again. He is such an incredible deterrent on defense. Though, I still can't believe Tatum hit that 3 pointer late in the 4th with Ayton on him. The great thing about that play was the Deandre was smart enough not to put himself in a position to be called for a foul!
He missed a few bunnies... but you would have to be blind not to see his engine all revved up now. It's clear his conditioning has vastly improved since he's come back from the ankle injury. He's now played bigtime starter minutes in back to back games. He looks a little winded late in the game today, but overall he appears to be close to top form.
He's battling for boards and working hard to get into position where he can be fed the ball and do some damage.

Hard not to mention Bridge's coming out party tonight! 40 bigtime, influential minutes & 26 points, along with 2 blocks and his standard pesky defense.
Saric was up & down and largely inconsistent. But 37 mins and a +/- of +19 with his double-double.
And Booker essentially had a triple-double. Another fantastic performance for Devin.

Our bench is brutal and will keep us from grabbing some W's. No doubt a key focal point for Jones next year.

All in all, a fantastic win as this team continues to learn, develop and grow.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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Okay so props to the team. Kinda a let down to have this almost slip away when they have neither kemba nor Jaylen. But we didn’t have oubre (hardly their equivalent) and at least we didn’t lose.

big games by book and bridges!!!

mixed game by Ayton. We obviously don’t win this without him. Finally double digit free throws!!! And his rebounding was huge, particularly down the stretch. But man I watched the last 8 minutes of the 3rd through the end of the game and I saw him turn over the ball, play some dreadful no man’s land defense multiple times down the the court leading to 2 three pointers and a dunk and play some scared offense. He was afraid of contact. He should’ve ended up with 30-34 points and 4-6 more free throws if they were going to play physical but he kept shying away from contact and throwing up lousy shots down the stretch. The suns should’ve won this game going away. So like I said, mixed bag from the big guy imo. A far cry from the knicks domination, but a key contributor to a win in Boston. I’ll take it, for now.
 
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Great post @82CardsGrad.

When Ayton was out of the game the Suns defense suffered immensely.
 

Folster

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Sadly, the 2019 draft appears to have been a total waste. Not a single player acquired that evening, with the remotely possible exception of Jalen Lecque, appears to have any future here whatsoever. And we gave up a future draft pick on top of that. Very reminiscent of the debacle that was the 2016 draft.

The Bucks' unprotected 2020 pick. That's going to be #30. Thank McDonough for that wonky protection in the first year of that pick.
 

1Sun

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The Bucks' unprotected 2020 pick. That's going to be #30. Thank McDonough for that wonky protection in the first year of that pick.

Still an asset that would have been worth more to us than Saric, Cam, Jerome and Baynes combined will have been...
 

JCSunsfan

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Tremendous win! Yes, the Celtics were missing Kemba & Brown, but we were playing without Oubre and Cam... OK, Boston was missing more firepower than we were, but, Boston is more talented across the entire roster and we were in Boston...
I honestly don't care at all that the Celtics made it tight in the end...bottom line is the team found the way to battle long enough and well enough to get the W. And I am certain this game will serve as another growth and learning oppty for this young team.
Ayton was flat-out balling once again. He is such an incredible deterrent on defense. Though, I still can't believe Tatum hit that 3 pointer late in the 4th with Ayton on him. The great thing about that play was the Deandre was smart enough not to put himself in a position to be called for a foul!
He missed a few bunnies... but you would have to be blind not to see his engine all revved up now. It's clear his conditioning has vastly improved since he's come back from the ankle injury. He's now played bigtime starter minutes in back to back games. He looks a little winded late in the game today, but overall he appears to be close to top form.
He's battling for boards and working hard to get into position where he can be fed the ball and do some damage.

Hard not to mention Bridge's coming out party tonight! 40 bigtime, influential minutes & 26 points, along with 2 blocks and his standard pesky defense.
Saric was up & down and largely inconsistent. But 37 mins and a +/- of +19 with his double-double.
And Booker essentially had a triple-double. Another fantastic performance for Devin.

Our bench is brutal and will keep us from grabbing some W's. No doubt a key focal point for Jones next year.

All in all, a fantastic win as this team continues to learn, develop and grow.
Our bench is not so brutal when Oubre is starting and Bridges is coming off the bench. It sure is easier to add a little depth than it is to add a star player.
 

JCSunsfan

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Okay so props to the team. Kinda a let down to have this almost slip away when they have neither kemba nor Jaylen. But we didn’t have oubre (hardly their equivalent) and at least we didn’t lose.

big games by book and bridges!!!

mixed game by Ayton. We obviously don’t win this without him. Finally double digit free throws!!! And his rebounding was huge, particularly down the stretch. But man I watched the last 8 minutes of the 3rd through the end of the game and I saw him turn over the ball, play some dreadful no man’s land defense multiple times down the the court leading to 2 three pointers and a dunk and play some scared offense. He was afraid of contact. He should’ve ended up with 30-34 points and 4-6 more free throws if they were going to play physical but he kept shying away from contact and throwing up lousy shots down the stretch. The suns should’ve won this game going away. So like I said, mixed bag from the big guy imo. A far cry from the knicks domination, but a key contributor to a win in Boston. I’ll take it, for now.
Still 26 and 15.
 

1Sun

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Our bench is not so brutal when Oubre is starting and Bridges is coming off the bench. It sure is easier to add a little depth than it is to add a star player.

In terms of an actual competitive NBA roster, particularly into the future, here is where we stand:

Starters:

Rubio
Booker
Oubre/Bridges
???
Ayton

Back-Ups

???
???
Bridges/Oubre
???
???

Third String:

Lecque
???
???
???
???
 

1Sun

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As much as I rip on Frank, I really do think the Suns miss him too. He is a decent, competent backup PF.

As a deep bench scorer, perhaps, but his defense is so bad, and he really offers nothing other than shooting, such that he is a net negative on the floor every time, even when he is hitting his shot. Same problem extends to Cam and Jerome.

All three are far better suited to Europe than the NBA.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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Still 26 and 15.
Yup. And I said they don’t win without him. That’s how high my expectations are for him. But he’s going to be up and down, even within games. But he’s trending in the right direction in a big way. Hope he gains some serious consistency with this.
 

JCSunsfan

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Reading a Celtics board game thread. Fans calling for Stevens to be fired. Saying Ainge doe not know how to construct a team.
 

SirStefan32

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Yup. And I said they don’t win without him. That’s how high my expectations are for him. But he’s going to be up and down, even within games. But he’s trending in the right direction in a big way. Hope he gains some serious consistency with this.

What impressed me tonight was the moment when he got mad. He wrestled the ball away from three Celtics, got fouled as he tried to shoot and he got pissed! He yelled, smacked the ball. Booker was obviously impressed.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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What impressed me tonight was the moment when he got mad. He wrestled the ball away from three Celtics, got fouled as he tried to shoot and he got pissed! He yelled, smacked the ball. Booker was obviously impressed.
I missed that. I would’ve liked to have seen it.
 

CardsSunsDbacks

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What impressed me tonight was the moment when he got mad. He wrestled the ball away from three Celtics, got fouled as he tried to shoot and he got pissed! He yelled, smacked the ball. Booker was obviously impressed.
I recall Booker going over and pushing him, but in a friendly way.
 

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